Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Elk Club Begins
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Science Fair VS Science Inquiry Project
For the next month and a half, our class will be investigating a science inquiry project of their choosing. This is an exciting time, as rarely do students get to choose a topic within a subject 100% on their own to study. We will be calling this our SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT.
Basically, as we model the steps of science (question, hypothesis, procedures, carry out investigation, collect data/observations, conclusion) with our class inquiry project, students will be just a few days behind with their personal SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT. Just about all science grades taken in the next 6 weeks will be based upon their personal SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT. On February 18th, their project will be due and we will hold a mini "Science Conference" in our classroom. Students will have 5 minutes to present their project and findings and celebrate the science they have accomplished.
I have planned this project during the same time of science fair. Now, I am not requiring any student this year to "do" SCIENCE FAIR. They may turn complete another science fair project and turn that in, OR they may simply use their SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT and enter that into the school's science fair. My goal is to simply excite students about science. Rather they want to be judged upon their project this year is up to them. However, their SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT will be of very high quality because of all the effort and discussions/modeling that will take place in the classroom. It would be an easy fit.
IF your child choses to enter a project in the school's SCIENCE FAIR, a packet will be going out this week. The entry form and IRB form (if needed) have specific due dates.
Please help build the excitement at home with their personal SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT. We will begin developing our class inquiry project next week based off of student questions we have been compiling on a list in the classroom. We will build mini "inquiry project notebooks" next week for their personal projects (this is where 90% of my grades will come from). They will develop their question/hypothesis/procedures next week after I have modeled them with our class project.
Basically, as we model the steps of science (question, hypothesis, procedures, carry out investigation, collect data/observations, conclusion) with our class inquiry project, students will be just a few days behind with their personal SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT. Just about all science grades taken in the next 6 weeks will be based upon their personal SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT. On February 18th, their project will be due and we will hold a mini "Science Conference" in our classroom. Students will have 5 minutes to present their project and findings and celebrate the science they have accomplished.
I have planned this project during the same time of science fair. Now, I am not requiring any student this year to "do" SCIENCE FAIR. They may turn complete another science fair project and turn that in, OR they may simply use their SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT and enter that into the school's science fair. My goal is to simply excite students about science. Rather they want to be judged upon their project this year is up to them. However, their SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT will be of very high quality because of all the effort and discussions/modeling that will take place in the classroom. It would be an easy fit.
IF your child choses to enter a project in the school's SCIENCE FAIR, a packet will be going out this week. The entry form and IRB form (if needed) have specific due dates.
Please help build the excitement at home with their personal SCIENCE INQUIRY PROJECT. We will begin developing our class inquiry project next week based off of student questions we have been compiling on a list in the classroom. We will build mini "inquiry project notebooks" next week for their personal projects (this is where 90% of my grades will come from). They will develop their question/hypothesis/procedures next week after I have modeled them with our class project.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Fossil Making
We are back and running full speed again, after a wonderful Winter Break. This week we focused on an inquiry science project to try to duplicate the fossil making process. We will know for sure which method works best later next week. Our class has also created a "Scientific Question Board" where I am encouraging students to observe the world around them and come up with questions which they think would be fun to investigate through a scientific inquiry process. We will choose one of these to deeply investigate as a class in a few weeks. Please encourage your child to look around the world around them to find something interesting that they feel would be fun to discover an answer to.
In social studies we have been focusing on the French and Indian War, building the background for why the colonists will be taxed so high...leading to the Revolutionary War. We are currently writing our last "practice" essay before we beging the writing test during the week of January 25th. Our class is ready and well prepared for this!
In math, we have been working on the order of operation. Ask your child how he/she remembers which order to perform when. We are moving into positive and negative numbers, including adding and subtracting them. Perhaps conversations about money and temperatures at home could help your child further understand these concepts as we get into them.
The school wide World-a-Thon jump started yesterday during an assembly. For the fifth graders, their task is to memorize where each state is located and what the capital of each state is. We will be practicing for this each morning, but students will need to dedicate 15-30 minutes a night doing the same at home. The test for this will take place on Friday, January 21st.
January 21st also happens to be the day book reports are due. Although many students are already done with theirs, due to the five and a half weeks since the last one, I have been encouraging them to finish this before the night it is due. The next book report will be over a genre of their choice once again. It will need to be an Accelerated Reader book as well.
The school-wide Skate Night at Roller Kingdom will occur on Tuesday, January 18th. I hope to see many of our students there, as it is always a fun event.
In social studies we have been focusing on the French and Indian War, building the background for why the colonists will be taxed so high...leading to the Revolutionary War. We are currently writing our last "practice" essay before we beging the writing test during the week of January 25th. Our class is ready and well prepared for this!
In math, we have been working on the order of operation. Ask your child how he/she remembers which order to perform when. We are moving into positive and negative numbers, including adding and subtracting them. Perhaps conversations about money and temperatures at home could help your child further understand these concepts as we get into them.
The school wide World-a-Thon jump started yesterday during an assembly. For the fifth graders, their task is to memorize where each state is located and what the capital of each state is. We will be practicing for this each morning, but students will need to dedicate 15-30 minutes a night doing the same at home. The test for this will take place on Friday, January 21st.
January 21st also happens to be the day book reports are due. Although many students are already done with theirs, due to the five and a half weeks since the last one, I have been encouraging them to finish this before the night it is due. The next book report will be over a genre of their choice once again. It will need to be an Accelerated Reader book as well.
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