Be sure your son/daughter checked their email on Friday. I was off campus, but I sent an email with some important information. It was sent to each student's wcsks account.
This past week ...
Kids are getting more accustomed to the flash card method of studying. Please continue to remind your son/daughter to flip through the flash cards multiple times each day. The stack should be at least forty cards for the current unit; I know some kids have over 75 for this unit already. Again, more is better than less! {Please pick up a few packs of flash cards to keep at home. We have almost used up the 100-150 cards each student brought in at the beginning of last unit. Your son/daughter will need to have access to cards at home to complete future assignments.}
I was happy to see kids taking personal responsibility for their individual study tool, coming to a formal tutorial this week that was designed to confirm "correct & complete" sets of flash cards. I hope your son/daughter is finding this a reasonable way to study and that he/she is finding success as a result of this study tool. If yours isn't seeing a positive result, please encourage him/her to come to tutorials, specifically to create a "correct & complete" set of cards to study.
On Monday {11/10}, please send your child to class with a three pronged folder, preferably without pockets. I have realized that seventh graders lack some organizational skills, evidenced by the number of kids who "lose" papers or come to class unprepared and leave to go to lockers to retrieve forgotten papers or cards. In science, these papers serve a purpose when studying, so keeping papers is an important skill. I'm going to require that science papers be kept in the three pronged folder, held by the prongs. Shoving papers into pockets will not be acceptable. Folder organization will receive a grade with each unit. Hopefully, knowing that organization will be connected to a grade, kids will put forth some effort to meet my expectations. Effective Monday, if you see a science paper laying around, you might want to remind your child about the folder! We will begin organizing on Monday.
There is a project linked to this unit to allow students to demonstrate knowledge of cells, with a flair of creativity. Details are posted on the blog in the file cabinet. The project is a set of three assignments, each with their own due date. Because of my absence Friday and because we are taking more class time than I expected to review organelles & functions, I have altered the original due dates for each of the three choices (and updated the file in the file cabinet). I am not giving any class time to complete the project parts, nor am I discussing the project in class, as the posted directions are clear. Kids were supposed to read the requirements Wednesday nights and I did field a minimal amount of questions on Thursday about the project. Of course, if your son/daughter has a question, he/she just needs to ask! Project parts may be submitted earlier than the due date.
This week: {Click on homework tab above for specific due dates}
- Finish notes on organelles & functions
- Use analogies to describe organelles' functions
- Quiz: Prokaryotic cells, Eukaryotic cells & Domains
- Learn microscope anatomy
- Make a wet mount
- Project, Choice 1 due
Remember, I'm an email away ... if you have a question/concern!
