Back to reality ...
- Your child should now be able to name several organelles within a cell and state that organelle's function. We used PowerPoint slide presentations as well as illustrated analogies to help associate function with organelle. In addition, your child should have created flash cards to flip through for all the organelles and their functions.
- We created and critiqued presentation slides, recognizing the importance of proofreading when presenting information. Grammar matters, even in science!
- We continued improving our "flash card creating" technique to make studying facts more effective. Your child should have a big stack of cards, but each card should have one simple fact on it (as opposed to a list of bulleted facts or paragraphs of facts on the back).
- Specific tutorials were offered during which flash cards were reviewed to ensure completeness and correctness. There were lots of kids who attended; I hope it helped those who joined in the learning fun! (I didn't check individual's cards, but I did go over specifically what cards should be in their "deck". As I did this, kids were supposed to mark those cards to indicate correctness and completeness.)
- We are facilitating organizational skills, utilizing a pronged folder to hold science papers. If you see your child's folder, note that my rule is once papers go in, they stay in. Hopefully, this will end the "I-can't-find-that-paper-in-the-stack-of-papers-in-my-backpack-or-in-the-stack-I-shoved-into-my-locker." If your son/daughter brings you a paper to sign for science and it isn't in the pronged folder, please note that I won't give credit if the paper isn't in the prongs.
- On this week's quiz, the importance of details and specifically answering the question asked became obvious. We talked about common incorrect answers and how carefully reading the question asked is important. Attention to detail matters.
- This week we practiced nonfiction reading again. This is our third experience with this, and I am noticing an improvement in ability in this area.
All of these are skills that the kids will hopefully master over the course of the year. All are skills that will help them in the future. As always, thank you for your support at home as I try to incorporate these skills while teaching science content.
My plan for this week:
Monday 11/17: The second part of the cell project is due.
Tuesday 11/18: Quiz today over organelles and their functions
** Due date postponed - Fri 11/21: The third (and final) part of the cell project is due.
And, for those planning ahead:
Monday 11/21: Test over Unit 3
I know I've been mentioning microscopes for the past few weeks, but it has taken me a little (ok, a lot) longer to cover the other parts of this unit than I had predicted. No worries, though ... as we will cover microscope anatomy and use microscopes to view both prepared slides as well as wet mounts after the Thanksgiving holidays.
Don't forget: If you have questions or concerns, I'm just an email away!
