Oct 20-24

Events this week:

• Eighth Grade Picture Day Tuesday, October 28 at 10:50. 
• Middle School  Fright Night Halloween event on Wednesday, October 29 from 5:30-7:30.  Cost will be $3.00 and includes pizza, costumes, games and music!  Tickets on sale after school this week.
• Halloween is this Friday.  Students may dress up. Please no masks, weapons and respect others' cultures race or ethnicity when deciding what to wear.
• Recycling Drop off Friday mornings curbside or any time in room 509. We can take cans, plastic or glass bottles .

We are now using Fresh Grade for student portfolios.  You can see assignments, photos and assessments here.  I will update weekly by Sunday evenings.  Access it in "Links I Like"


In Math, students practiced using slope and y-intercepts in linear equations.  By now, students should be familiar with:

• Identifying slope and y-intercept from a graph.
• Writing a linear equation from a graph.
• Writing the equation for a line in the form y = mx + b given only slope (m) and y-intercept (b)
•  Identifying the slope and y-intercept given a linear equation.
• Using a table to find slope by looking at the change in y values and the change in x values.
• Determining the slope given two points.
• Determining the y- intercept given a point and the slope.
• Determining the y- intercept given two points

During Writers' Workshop,   students read short stories including Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day." They used a template to write summaries of the stories by stating how a character did something in the story in order to accomplish a need and what he/she learned because of that action. They will use Bradbury's story to write intro paragraphs this week, with the goal of a full essay by the end of the month.  See tips on how to write an introductory paragraph here

We kicked our new project, 'Where's the Water? From Drought to Deluge'.
This week included gathering information.  We watched a documentary, "Drought To Deluge", a film that examined life in one of the wettest places on earth as well as one of the driest places on earth.  We were able to learn how people can survive with minimal water, as well as with an abundance of water. We discussed reading technical writing while reading an article about the 1934 Dust Bowl. Click here to view the article. We also used the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) to create questions about 8 topics we plan to learn about while participating in this project. For information about the QFT, scroll to the bottom of this post. This coming week we will gather information about El Nino, La Nina and other weather patterns that effect California. 

Our Friday fun day included a morning meeting with our Kinder/First grade buddies.  Buddies interviewed each other about some of the things they like.  Friday Sci-day included a discussion about matter and its different phases, solid, liquid, gas and plasma.  We learned about an anomaly called a non-Newtonian fluid by creating oobleck.  How many substances do you know of that has both solid and liquid characteristics?





Our class has taken over the recycling program at our school.  The proceeds will go toward our 8th grade trip.  Please collect cans, plastic and glass bottles and bring them to school!  We are working with an organization who gives high payback for our recyclables. Our students are collecting recyclables curbside on Fridays as well as going from class to class at the end of every school day.

Have a safe week!




WHAT IS A QFT?



Source: The Right Question Institute




The QFT applies to all levels of schooling and can be employed "to introduce students to a new unit, to assess students’ knowledge to see what they need to understand better, and even to conclude a unit to see how students can, with new knowledge, set a fresh learning agenda for themselves." The QFT basically validates students' natural inquisitive sense when starting new research or beginning to write an essay. It formalizes in a helpful way what can sometimes become rushed or quotidian.

Source: The Right Question Institute, ASIDE

The essential QFT process is student-initiated, with the teachers as facilitators. The six QFT steps, as originated by The Right Question Institute, are as follows:

1. Design a Question Focus (or QFocus) - With a prompt, a dilemma, or a guiding statement, the teacher frames the inquiry to point the children in a beneficial direction.
2. Students produce questions - Using a set of guidelines (listed above), the children generate questions based on their own curiosity and wonder.
3. Students improve their questions - The groups of students then refine and modify their lists based on an understanding of open- and closed-ended questions.
4. Students prioritize their questions - Through discussion and debate, the students choose specific questions they would genuinely like to probe further.
5. Students and teachers decide on next steps - As a group, the kids and adults together decide how to use these core questions to guide the coming days and weeks of classes.
6. Students reflect on what they have learned - By looking back over the process they have just pursued, students explore the value of self-initiated experimentation.

Week of October 13-16

Events Coming up:

• Eighth Grade Picture Day Tuesday, October 28 at 10:50. 
• Our next fundraising opportunity will be our Middle School Halloween event on Wednesday, October 29 from 5:30-7:30.  Cost will be $3.00 and includes pizza, costumes, games and music!  Many 8th graders have volunteered to help with this event. I could use a parent or two to be there too!

I can't believe October is almost over!  We crammed a lot into our very short work week. I enjoyed meeting with all of you for Student Led Conferences. We had almost 100% participation last week and plan to meet with the last 3 families this coming week.  I so appreciate all parents' support in learning at IA.  As mentioned during our SLCs, links for Math XL for School and Fresh Grade can be found in the "Links I Like" section to the right of this blog --->



In Math, students worked on their ACE 2 problems 1,2,7,8 due Monday Oct 20.  We used geo-boards and rubber bands to demonstrate an understanding of slope and y-intercept.  Students were given a quiz to check for understanding on Wednesday.  We will finish Investigation #2 and start Investigation #3 this week.
During Writers' Workshop, students were given graphic organizers for writing essays.  They worked on writing intro paragraphs. 
In Science, students learned how hydrochloric acid (HCl) reacts with rocks from the Grand Canyon. The "acid test" included placing a drop of dilute HCl on a rock and watching for bubbles of carbon dioxide gas to be released. A positive reaction of bubbles signaled the presence of carbonate materials such as calcite.
We displayed our Walk A Mile In My Shoes and Poem artwork for SLCs outside the classroom.  I hope you had a chance to see your student's work as well as other poems and shoes.  I was quite impressed with the beautiful poems created by our 7th and 8th graders. The work will continue to be on display within our classrooms.


This week we begin our new project, 'Where's the Water? From Drought to Deluge'
One essential question we will attempt to conquer is "How can we use what we know about El Nino weather patterns and the history of droughts in California to more effectively capture and utilize water'?
Some topics we will investigate include:

• How does the ocean regulate the planet's weather
• Why do ocean temperatures change during El Nino and La Nina?
• What geographical areas are affected by El Nino and La Nina?
• What is a drought?
• What effects are we feeling because of California's drought?
• How do we measure weather patterns in history?

We hope to take a field trip to a home that has been retrofitted to collect water.  Another field trip is planned on November 20-21 to Borrego Springs where we will hike to Palm Canyon, a natural palm oasis and (weather permitting) spend an evening stargazing and practicing what students have learned about space in Science class with Wes.

 

Week of Oct 6 - Oct 10

We had a fast and busy week!
Reminders:

• Student Led Conferences this week.  
• Minimum days Monday through Thursday. School releases at noon each day.
• No School Friday

I wanted to thank our room parent, Elise for helping us with our Friday BBQ Fundraiser that wasn't meant to be.  Unfortunately, there was a mishap with the food beyond our control.  I know our 8th graders who were ready to help and serve food were disappointed, but I am glad for their enthusiasm and willingness to jump in where needed.  Thanks to Robert for creating flyers for the school and Carson for sending out a phone blast to IA.  We will definitely have more successful events in the future.

Our next fundraising opportunity will be our middle school Halloween event on Wednesday, October 29 from 5:30-7:30.  More info about this event will be announced later this week.

Last week in math, we started our investigations into linear equations in slope-intercept form.  We discussed the definition of functions,  slope and y-intercept.  During science, students explored air pressure inside two syringes and what happens to them.  We enthusiastically finished reading and watching 'Lord of the Flies'! During Writers' Workshop, students discussed themes of Lord of the Flies. They also completed an in class essay assessment using various writing prompts such as cell phone use, eating and listening to music in class.  We started looking at current events.  Our first one is due Monday Oct. 13.  We completed our final edits and final decorations of our Walk A Mile In My Shoes artwork.  They will be on display Monday afternoon through the end of this week under the overhang between mine and Tony's classrooms. Their permanent home will reside within our classrooms after that. Come check them out!

I look forward to meeting with everyone this week during SLCs.  Your students will be discussing their academic and personal goals for this year with you.  I will be discussing new useful resources for you such as Fresh Grade and MathXL.

Have a great week!

Week of Sept 29 - Oct 4

• Don't forget to sign up for SLCs!  Link is on my last blog post.  
• We need help after school on Friday.  I am hoping 5 or 6  8th graders (and a parent or two) will join chef Fred in serving Hawaiian BBQ after school.  The proceeds will go toward our 8th grade trip!

Our week was full of surprises and changes to our normal schedule. We started Writer's Workshop with Melissa, an expert teacher in humanities. She has a personal insight into high school English courses, having been a long term sub at a few high schools in our area. Her experience will greatly benefit our class as they prepare for the rigors of high school. 

In science, students started a lunar log as they learn about why we have night and day. In Zingy science, students learned about the periodic table, elements and the structure of atoms.  We created human balloon atoms. Students used red balloons to represent protons, white to represent neutrons and blue to represent electrons. It was hilarious to watch the neutrons and protons squashed together to make the nucleus as the neutrons ran (orbited) around them. 

Math time included finishing up ACE problems and deriving equations with two variables using triangle patterns. 

We started our art project, decorating shoes to complement our Walk A Mile In My Shoes poems. Niki was instrumental in making arrangements with the owner of ReInterpret to donate various supplies to our school so students could decorate their shoes.