To culminate our desert unit, the students will complete desert projects. All students will complete research and a visual aid on a desert plant--a cactus. In addition, Primary students (grades 1-2) will choose to complete 1) a PowerPoint on a Desert Dweller OR 2) a Nature Scrapbook on a hot/cold desert Intermediate students (grades 3-5) will choose to complete 1) a PowerPoint on a Desert Dweller and the Nature Scrapbook on a hot/cold desert OR 2) a Desert Game which includes a hot desert's animals, plants, climate, and food chain. More information will be given to students in class. The description of each project is located on the Links tab. I hope to complete these projects over the next couple of weeks in class. However, some parts of the projects MAY need to be done at home. Students may certainly bring items from home for the Desert Game or even the Nature Scrapbook if needed. *If you have shoe boxes that can be donated, please send them in. Primary students may create shoe box dioramas if time allows.
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We studied some facts about Emperor penguins who are super awesome! We created postcards with drawings of Emperor penguins and wrote facts on the back. I will send the postcards in an envelope to a U.S. Research Center in Antarctica. A researcher named Jean Pennycook who studies the Emperor penguin colony and leopard seals will return the self-addressed postcards back to us at the school. This will be REALLY cool because they will come back with the Antarctica postmark. The postcards will be displayed on the Showcase tab before they go and after they come back. Students have a special page in their Science Journal where they will keep the postcard. If you would like to send a postcard from home, please follow the instructions below. No commercial postcards will be accepted. All postcards must be postmarked before December 31, 2014. Postcards should be self-addressed with a stamp. Send the postcard in an envelope and Jean Pennycook will return it with the Antarctica postmark. More information can be found at http://www.penguinscience.com/education/src/Penguin%20postcard_2014.pdf Students in grades 3-5 focus on Depth & Complexity concept "Change over Time" as they discuss Climate Change, Greenhouse Effect, and Global Warming. Students in grades 4 and 5 saw videos and participated in experiments which illustrated rising sea levels due to melting glaciers and water expansion. The videos are included on the Links tab. The activities were noted in the Science Journals. If your student is in grades 3-5 and has not completed this activity, s(he) will do it this week.
Ellison - We started the I.C. Club on Wednesday October 15th after school. I am happy that almost 40 students returned forms to participate. I was able to take 20 students. This will be an exciting new club that I hope the students will enjoy. I know some GT students were not able to get in. If I can add another class, I will. If parents would like to help, I would be glad to have you. Braun Station - We started the I.C. Club on Thursday October 16th after school. I am happy that almost 60 students returned forms to participate. I was able to take 20 students. This will be an exciting new club that I hope the students will enjoy. I know some GT students were not able to get in. If I can add another class, I will. If parents would like to help, I would be glad to have you. This week we will finish our desert mini-unit. We will complete our technology project "Me and Biomes". I will be posting photos of our Scholarly Behavior project that was completed by most classes a few weeks ago, a creativity project "Cactus Squiggles", and the "Me and Biomes" pictures. You will be able to find them on the "Showcase" tab on this website. Please check next week for any additions to these as some students wanted a little more time to complete them.
I added some thinking challenges to the GT binders for students to work on if they finish an assignment early or at home. Each child should complete the packet by the Christmas/Winter holidays. I will them for progress periodically. The grade levels have different packets--analogies, code breakers, and word roots. We have completed several activities in the science journals. These may vary by grade level and some activities may yet to be completed by some classes.
We have done the following: Desert Free Write -- What I Already Know Language of the Discipline - Deserts -- Vocabulary Deserts video - Basic Information (discussion - not in science journal) The Top 10 Deserts of the World -- Categorization and Variety of Deserts Deserts- Myths and Facts -- Correcting stereotypes Plant Adaptations -- Change over Time and Survival Traits Playdough Recipe - Some students wanted to make playdough at home Animal Adaptations -- Change over Time and Survival Traits Next week: Activities from above that have not been completed and... Hot and Cold Desert Comparison -- Categorization and Characteristics Deserts - Energy vs. Habitat -- Environmental Issues (5th grade only) Wordle - Big Idea and Details -- Summation of Information and the Most Important Idea We will examine climate change before we move into Background Knowledge on Grasslands Remember that we will get Background Information on each Biome, choose a research topic, then revisit each Biome in more detail. |
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April 2015
AuthorMs. Longoria is a GT/Enrichment specialist at Braun Station Elementary and Bonnie Ellison Elementary Categories
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