Let me first start by saying it was wonderful meeting everyone at open house. If for some reason you were unable to attend please email me with any questions! Additionally you can download the documents that I passed out here.
In an effort to recap last week let's take a look back:
Monday 9.12: I wasn't in class on Monday because I had a day long meeting but the students were able to still be highly productive and I got great sub notes back. They completed a graphing lab that helped them combine their metric skills and graphing knowledge. For homework they completed a packet that helped them practice line graphing and started the review packet for the test.
Tuesday 9.13: Today was all about reviewing for the test. We began by going over the quiz on the scientific method that we had taken. It was important for the students to see what their mistakes had been and to be able to ask any questions that they still had since there would be similar questions on their test. After going over the quiz, we went over any questions that had arisen while they started the review packet. Then we had time for a short review game - Hot Seat! It is one of my favorite review games because everyone needs to answer every question and they are constantly moving around. The rules work as follows: Each row is a team. The student in the first desk starts out in the "hot seat." If they answer the question correctly, they earn their teams 5 points. If they get it wrong I move to the next desk and the team has a chance of getting 4 points. If this student still has not yet gotten the answer correct, I keep moving back and each time the team loses a potential point. After the question has been answered by all teams and we have gone over the correct answer and why, the student in the hot seat moves to the back and everyone else moves up one seat. Overall the teams did a great job and it was tight race in both class periods! The students knew that the test was the next day so studying was in order for the test!
Wednesay 9.14.11: Test day! The test had 60 multiple choice questions and ended up taking the whole period to complete. I was pretty impressed with the 82% class average on the first test.
Thursday 9.15.11: We had a half day because of open house and finished up the written portion of the test. On this the students had to create a graph with proper labels and answer a few short answer questions. Overall, the students did a great job. Then I got to meet you later in the evening! :)
Friday 9.16.11: Today we took some time and analyzed how we did on the test. I think it is important for the students to understand what questions they got wrong and why so for each question they got wrong, they had to determine if they had gotten it wrong because after narrowing it down to a few options, they had guessed wrong, OR it was a simple mistake like a reading or bubbling error OR if they didn't have any idea what the answer was. Then they were able to tally up how they had done on each major topic of the test so that in the future when they come back to this information, they will be able to determine which areas need the most review. Finally, I had them write a goal for the next test and a plan of action to complete the goal. We will come back to all of these results after every test to see if we have completed our goals and then before the final to make sure we remember what we struggled with in each unit. Their homework for the night was to write a letter to me telling me how they felt the first unit had gone - what helped them, what did not help, what was easy, what they liked and so forth.
NEXT WEEK:
Monday 9.19.11: We will be starting into our second unit starting on Monday. This unit will focus on the molecules that make up all living organisms so we start small and look at the atom. Today we will get an idea of how small atoms are and then talk about all of the parts of the atoms and how the elements on the periodic table are different. The homework for the evening will be to complete some questions about atoms using a packet that will re-explain a lot of what we have discussed in class.
Tuesday 9.20.11: Today is our first late start day. What this means is that the school day does not start until 9:10 AM. The early part of the morning gives the teachers time to work in small groups to enhance the curriculum and discuss new ideas to implement. Since the first bell won't ring until much later than normal, each period of the day is much shorter...I will only have a chance to expose your student to awesome science for 37 or so minutes compared to our normal 50 minutes. Due to the shortened time, we will use the day to review what we have learned on Monday and then put the information to use by drawing atoms and talking about special cases. The homework will be continuing to practice this information and look into some of the vocabulary that we have been working with.
Wednesday 9.21.11: Back to a normal schedule, we will start looking at what happens when the atoms combine to make molecules and compounds. I am hoping to momentarily change your students into atoms so that they can see how this works on a much larger scale. The homework tonight will be to practice identifying molecules, compounds and how many atoms make each one up. Today we will also celebrate 80's day as we continue to reflect back on the past 50 years that Fremd has been open. Check out the following website for more information about the 50 year birthday: http://www.fhs.d211.org/events/fhs50/
Thursday 9.22.11: Today we will look at a very special compound called water - it is all around you and without some of its very distinctive properties (adhesion, cohesion and surface tension) which are all created by the fact that water has a slight charge on each end and can create hydrogen bonds, we would not have life as we know it. The video clip below shows how water molecules like to stick together which is cohesion. We will talk about and see examples of all of these and how soap and mess all of them up. Then we will review because tomorrow will bring a quiz over everything we have talked about this week. The homework for the day will be to study!
Friday 9.23.11: Today we will have a quiz on everything we have talked about all week. The best part of a quiz on a Friday is that they will not have homework over the weekend.
Enjoy the video clip below and try the experiment out yourself...how many drops of water can you fit on a penny?
In an effort to recap last week let's take a look back:
Monday 9.12: I wasn't in class on Monday because I had a day long meeting but the students were able to still be highly productive and I got great sub notes back. They completed a graphing lab that helped them combine their metric skills and graphing knowledge. For homework they completed a packet that helped them practice line graphing and started the review packet for the test.
Tuesday 9.13: Today was all about reviewing for the test. We began by going over the quiz on the scientific method that we had taken. It was important for the students to see what their mistakes had been and to be able to ask any questions that they still had since there would be similar questions on their test. After going over the quiz, we went over any questions that had arisen while they started the review packet. Then we had time for a short review game - Hot Seat! It is one of my favorite review games because everyone needs to answer every question and they are constantly moving around. The rules work as follows: Each row is a team. The student in the first desk starts out in the "hot seat." If they answer the question correctly, they earn their teams 5 points. If they get it wrong I move to the next desk and the team has a chance of getting 4 points. If this student still has not yet gotten the answer correct, I keep moving back and each time the team loses a potential point. After the question has been answered by all teams and we have gone over the correct answer and why, the student in the hot seat moves to the back and everyone else moves up one seat. Overall the teams did a great job and it was tight race in both class periods! The students knew that the test was the next day so studying was in order for the test!
Wednesay 9.14.11: Test day! The test had 60 multiple choice questions and ended up taking the whole period to complete. I was pretty impressed with the 82% class average on the first test.
Thursday 9.15.11: We had a half day because of open house and finished up the written portion of the test. On this the students had to create a graph with proper labels and answer a few short answer questions. Overall, the students did a great job. Then I got to meet you later in the evening! :)
Friday 9.16.11: Today we took some time and analyzed how we did on the test. I think it is important for the students to understand what questions they got wrong and why so for each question they got wrong, they had to determine if they had gotten it wrong because after narrowing it down to a few options, they had guessed wrong, OR it was a simple mistake like a reading or bubbling error OR if they didn't have any idea what the answer was. Then they were able to tally up how they had done on each major topic of the test so that in the future when they come back to this information, they will be able to determine which areas need the most review. Finally, I had them write a goal for the next test and a plan of action to complete the goal. We will come back to all of these results after every test to see if we have completed our goals and then before the final to make sure we remember what we struggled with in each unit. Their homework for the night was to write a letter to me telling me how they felt the first unit had gone - what helped them, what did not help, what was easy, what they liked and so forth.
NEXT WEEK:
Monday 9.19.11: We will be starting into our second unit starting on Monday. This unit will focus on the molecules that make up all living organisms so we start small and look at the atom. Today we will get an idea of how small atoms are and then talk about all of the parts of the atoms and how the elements on the periodic table are different. The homework for the evening will be to complete some questions about atoms using a packet that will re-explain a lot of what we have discussed in class.
Tuesday 9.20.11: Today is our first late start day. What this means is that the school day does not start until 9:10 AM. The early part of the morning gives the teachers time to work in small groups to enhance the curriculum and discuss new ideas to implement. Since the first bell won't ring until much later than normal, each period of the day is much shorter...I will only have a chance to expose your student to awesome science for 37 or so minutes compared to our normal 50 minutes. Due to the shortened time, we will use the day to review what we have learned on Monday and then put the information to use by drawing atoms and talking about special cases. The homework will be continuing to practice this information and look into some of the vocabulary that we have been working with.
Wednesday 9.21.11: Back to a normal schedule, we will start looking at what happens when the atoms combine to make molecules and compounds. I am hoping to momentarily change your students into atoms so that they can see how this works on a much larger scale. The homework tonight will be to practice identifying molecules, compounds and how many atoms make each one up. Today we will also celebrate 80's day as we continue to reflect back on the past 50 years that Fremd has been open. Check out the following website for more information about the 50 year birthday: http://www.fhs.d211.org/events/fhs50/
Thursday 9.22.11: Today we will look at a very special compound called water - it is all around you and without some of its very distinctive properties (adhesion, cohesion and surface tension) which are all created by the fact that water has a slight charge on each end and can create hydrogen bonds, we would not have life as we know it. The video clip below shows how water molecules like to stick together which is cohesion. We will talk about and see examples of all of these and how soap and mess all of them up. Then we will review because tomorrow will bring a quiz over everything we have talked about this week. The homework for the day will be to study!
Friday 9.23.11: Today we will have a quiz on everything we have talked about all week. The best part of a quiz on a Friday is that they will not have homework over the weekend.
Enjoy the video clip below and try the experiment out yourself...how many drops of water can you fit on a penny?