Tuesday, February 9th

Today we all chose our book share dates.  All students MUST choose a book share activity by Friday, February 12th.

We had some time to research our presidents today with our partners.  I reminded the students that there is NOT a deadline or due dates set yet.  I want to give the students all the time they need to work in class.  Once I see that they have started wrapping up with their research or if they are not focused-in during research time, then I will set due dates.  Also, there is no need to research at home unless the student wants to.  However, I would hope that parents will have conversations with their students about the president who the student has chosen.  Sharing your knowledge about history is very important to them.  They will remember your words much more than any text book they read on the same topic.

In Reader’s Workshop today, we took the Post-It Notes we created from our reading yesterday. We put these into our Reading Journals and organized them into categories.  We then shared what we had learned from our reading.  Tonight, the students should continue reading – for at least 20 minutes – and continue to make notes on Post-Its as they read.

We only had about 20 minutes to work in our reading groups on our novels today.  Many students are forgetting details of how to answer a question from text.  There are 4 rules: 1) Put part of the question in your answer. 2) Prove it – write the page number where you found your answer. 3) Write in a complete sentence with correct spelling. 4) Have a detailed answer.

In math today, we reviewed how to create a bar graph and we compared bar graphs to circle graphs.  Circle graphs are based on percents.  It is important that the students have a firm grasp in understand how to read a circle graph.  Tomorrow we will create circle graphs ourselves.

Finally, in science today, Skylar presented a set of headphones as a system.  There was a lot we did not know about this system and a lot we could not see.  Basically we concluded that the electrical energy is transformed into sound energy.  But this really dovetailed our science lesson for today in that this system was really a conceptual mystery to us.  We call this a “black box” in that we can not see and do not know what is inside the system.  We talked about other conceptual scientific mysteries that exist like: outer space, the center of the earth, and the bottom of the ocean.  All of these places we have not travelled to.  However, we can make conceptual models to help us draw conclusions on what is happening in these places.  We had been making conceptual models of what we thought was inside our black boxes in class.  Tomorrow we will create physical models to try and replicate the actual black boxes.  Then we will draw conclusions on our theories.

Monday, February 8th

I was gone on Friday, but I heard very nice things from the substitute teacher.  This group of students works very hard and is very respectful to others.  It is such a relief to know that I can take a day to care for sick family and know that the students will continue learning and working hard, just as if I was there with them.

Today we had some time with Mr. Harvey.  We looked at the school library’s card catalog and how books are categorized there.

We started Reader’s Workshop.  We were paired up with a partner and got Post-It notes and our non-fiction books.  We discussed HOW to read non-fiction.  Unlike reading we do in line at the supermarket – where we browse the magazines, reading captions, looking at pictures and only the first few lines of a paragraph – we will attempt to REALLY read these non-fiction books.  Sometimes we don’t read non-fiction from cover to cover.  Sometimes we read and re-read different sections to really understand what is written.  But every time we read non-fiction, we will write on Post-It notes when we decide something is important to us.  We practiced this in class and we will do the same at home tonight.

We met briefly with our reading groups – here we are all reading fiction novels.  We will continue to meet and work in these groups until the novels are complete.

In math today, we played Fraction/Percent Concentration and Frac-Tac-Toe with Percents.  These games help us transfer between fractions and percents.  For example: 1/4 = 25%. These games are homework tonight.

In science, we worked on explaining how our groups came to consensus on our last investigation with a black box.  This was a challenge.  Most students are very brief in their descriptions.  We will continue to work on being detailed in our science writing.  Next, we had a discussion on how we use models in science and whether these models change or not.  This too was a challenge.  The students were not sure how to explain their thinking.  I know that our school’s scores on the science portion of the state test tend to be low in drawing conclusions and explaining thinking.  Today was evidence that we need to continue to work on this skill.  Most students will continue their explanations for homework tonight.

Thursday, February 4th

We started our day with an article about Afganistan.  We got a very small glimps into this very different world.

After that, we looked at some non-fiction texts for our February book shares.  Many students have chose narrative non-fiction books.  These are great reads, but we need to choose more expository, informative and descriptive texts.  We will go to our school library tomorrow to look for some more.  We will be working with these books on a daily basis – so they need to go home and come back to school every day.

We had a little time to work in our Reading groups. Some groups have homework tonight.

Then we got partners matched up for our research projects on the Presidents.  We will continue to work with the same partners on these projects throughout this unit.  This way, every student gets to know 2 Presidents!

In math today, we did a little problem solving with fractions.  this is homework tonight.  We also played a game called “Frac/Tac/Toe”  this is also homework – due on Monday.

Finally we continued our science unit with the black boxes. Today the students looked at their conclusions and came to a consensus in their groups.  They then presented their observations with explanations – just like REAL scienctists do!

Wednesday, February 3rd

A short day, but we did a lot!

We started out the day reading an article in Junior Scholastic about foods we eat in America.  We learned a couple of interesting facts: 16% of children are obese in this country and corn is used in many food as a filler.

Next we chose our Presidents that we will focus our research on for the next few weeks.  We will be spending a lot of time in class doing this project.  The students are more than welcome to work at home too, but it is not required.  They were each given a packet that organizes their research into pre, during, and post presidency.  I also provided scoring rubrics to clarify what would be necessary for completion as well as some good websites to gather information.  On note to parents:  I am trying to dissuade students from using Wikipedia.  While this site has a lot of information readily available, it is not always reliable.  Students tend to plagiarize this site a lot and I would like to teach them to gather information from MANY different sources and put it into their own words.

We worked with our reading groups for about 2 minutes.  I was pleased to see the students really cooperating and helping one another to understand and find answers in the text.  Many students have homework in this work tonight.

In math, we reviewed all of our strategies for converting fractions to decimals.  We will practice these in homework tonight.

Finally, I had the students look at last month’s work and their goals.  I only had 5 students meet these goals last month.  :(   Specifically, they are waiting to do their math sheets until the very last week and then not getting them done.  This month, we are going to try to set goals with math sheets weekly.  Hopefully this will help us get close to reaching our goals and help them learn about how to plan out their time better.

Tuesday, February 2nd

Yesterday, Ms. Mandel was not in class.  The report was that generally the students had a normal day…

Today, we started a little word search activity to give us some spelling practice.  The students will finish this for homework.

In social studies, we listened to the They Might Be Giants song: James K. Polk.  We learned a lot about this amazing president.  Not only did he annex much of the southwest from Mexico, but he also purchased the Oregon Territory.  Why don’t we remember this guy?!  We found a discrepancy  in facts from a text book and we had to do some more research.  The big learning here: check and double-check your facts!

Tomorrow each student will each pick the President that he or she will focus on for the next month.

We had a great class meeting and we established some great communication norms:

* be positive

* focus on yourself – not others

* don’t whisper, point and giggle

*

In math today, we looked at more conversion of decimals into fractions.  We will practice this for homework tonight.

Finally, we looked at a great juicer system from that Ruby brought in.  We looked at all the parts and discuss what energy was transfered or transformed.

Then we started our Models and Designs science unit.  We talked about “black boxes” as conceptual models.  The students explored boxes that were sealed tight.  They needed to make observations and decided what was actually inside the boxes without looking inside of them.

Thursday, January 28th

First off, let me send out the dates for Camp Orkila.  Mark your calendars: June 9-11.

We are still working to complete our monthly goals on time.  While we had more weeks this month than last, many students procrastinated and did not meet their goals.  We will keep working on this!  I believe there is a lot of learning here.  The worst thing that happens when a student in room 14 does not meet his or her monthly goals:  He or she will not be paid a paycheck that month.  We will start over in February.  We will set new goals and see if we can meet them.

We had our last day of puppet making.  While we did not finish our puppets, we made a lot of progress.  We could really see them take shape. It will be exciting to see what the classes next week will do to complete them.

In math, we worked on converting fractions.  Basically, we identified 2 ways to change a fraction:

1. The multiplication rule of fractions: multiply the numerator and the denominator by the same number.  1/2 x5 = 5/10

2. The division rule of fractions: multiply the numerator and the denominator by the same number. 10/40 divided by 5 = 2/8

Finally, we had 6 book shares today.  There were some really fun presentations.  Next month, we will re-design our scoring rubric.  We found that we need to be more specific for the scores.  Some details were not addressed on our old rubric – like color on the project or energy level of the presenter.

This weekend, the students should be working on their reading group work.  Please be sure to ask them if they have completed it.  The rest of the group is depending on the individuals to do the work so that the entire group can move forward on Monday.

Wednesday, January 27th

We are in the Ballard News Tribune!  Check us out: http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2010/01/27/features/loyal-heights-students-becoming-puppet-masters

Tomorrow will be our last day of puppet making.  I am really impessed with what the students have done.  What a fun experience.

In math, we used yet another strategy for comparing fractions: a fraction stick.  We will use this for homework tonight.

We had a great assemebly where we watch The Taproot Theatre perform “Alexander and the Dragon.”  This was fucosed on anti-bullying.  We had a little discussion on where bullying happens at Loyal Heights and we discussed how NOT to be a bystander.

Finally, we had 3 great bookshares by Evan, Anna and Bridget.

Tomorrow is the last day of January that we are in school.  That means that all monthly goals need to be completed and turned in.  Many students are in a panic – they have procrastinated their math sheets.  I rewarded any student who finished his or her goals by Monday, January  25th with $300!  Only one student did: Connor Mount!  NICE JOB!  (and thanks for not putting so much work on me to correct at the end of the month!)

Monday, January 25th and Tuesday, February 26th

We have a new spelling list this week – of 26 words, but we won’t have school on Friday.  So the next spelling test will be one Friday, February 5th.  That gives us lots of time to study.  Please remember, the students only need to get ONE more word correct from the previous week. 

We have seen some fabulous book shares from Kerry, Douglas, Leif, Skylar, Aidan, Sarah, Ashlin, Isabel and Mason.  Many students are getting disappointed with getting a score of a 3.  I have 2 responses to that: #1 We aim for 3’s – so GOOD JOB! #2 work on making your presentation skills more outstanding…practice at home.

In math, we are mostly reviewing what we have learned in the Bits and Pieces unit: fractions, mixed numbers and comparing fractions. 

We had a lovely assembly today where we watch the students who play musical instruments. 

Finally, we began a new unit of study in social studies today.  We started finding fun facts about the Presidents of our country.  Did you know that James Madison was the first President to wear full trousers rather than knee breeches?!

Friday, January 24th

We made more progress with our puppets.  Thanks to all the volunteers, we seem to be staying focused and getting the work done.  We will have 4 more days next week. I can’t wait to see how they turn out!

We took our weekly spelling test today.  The students attempted to get one more word correct than they did last week.

In math, we played Fraction Top-It today.  Some students played by comparing fractional parts.  Other students tried adding fractions to see what was the largest part.

Giani and Florence gave two great book shares.  A note to parents: I am REALLY pushing the students to avoid procrastinating their school work.  When they wait until the night before the due date to complete their work, many times there are difficulties.  Please help me by asking the students at the beginning of the month when their book share date is.  Mark it on your calendars and help them organize their work time to meet this goal on time – or even before the due date!

Due to the tightness of our class schedule, I cannot have students present book shares on a different day than the one they sign up for at the beginning of the month.  The one exception I make is when a student is out sick.  If  a book share presentation day is missed due to illness, then the student will present his or her book share the day that he or she returns to school.

Also, if you are ever having printer problems at home, simply email me your documents: demandel@seattleschools.org and I can print it for your student.

Next week, the students do NOT have school on Friday, January 29th.  It is the last week of the month and ALL monthly goals are due.  Please ask your student how he or she is doing with these.

Thursday, January 21st

We had another fun day of puppet making.  Thaddeus said he was impressed by the amount of work that the stduents accomplished today.  Hopefully we will be as productive tomorrow and maybe we will finish these projects by the end of our time next Thursday.  Thank you to those who have volunteered to come in.  At this point, we still need someone for next Thursday.  The more volunteers we have, the more work seems to get done.

We had our math assessment on Bits and Pieces #1 today.  We will begin Unit 5 tomorrow: Fractions, Decimals and Percents.

We had 2 book shares today.  Spencer scored a 4 and he had a fantastic timeline of his story!

Anita, Corbin, and Alex all presented systems.  We broke them down and explored the energy transfer and transformations.

Homework tonight is spelling – I just wouldlike the students to study the words in any way they choose.  They will turn in some evidence of studying the word to me tomorrow.