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Summer Prep School: Week 3 |
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Important Dates:
July 21: Activity day Class
Summaries: Week 3 | Class Photos 5th Library:
Candice Lucas, Stacey Ehrig HEROES: Our hero projects are completed! Our posters are beautiful. We made a calendar to organize our work schedule, learned how to use the middle school's library catalog, navigated the Internet and even learned how to print pictures responsibly (without violating copyright or wasting paper!!). We sure learned a lot from our heroes. We used their admirable qualities, and ours, to compose our own Mission Statement. You can create your own Mission Statement CONFLICT RESOLUTION We watched a cool video that taught
us how to avoid unnecessary conflict.
Through discussion and role-play, we practiced the new
techniques. Ask us about: ·
Getting the Facts
We will use these skills next week when we work in groups to complete another web quest - this time about volcanoes!! We can't believe that we only have one week left!! In anticipation of our free time in August, we created a booklist for our new friends. 5th English:
Judy Adair, Stephanie Perlet All of our fifth graders should be
enjoying that sweet feeling of accomplishment after working through the
entire writing process and successfully publishing their compare and
contrast essays! The week
began with the students writing their first draft based on their
prewriting work. After
drafting the essay, both independent and teacher-guided revising and
editing occurred. Everyone seemed to be proud of his or her final copy!
Great work everyone!! The rest of our class time this week
was spent READING! The children read more spine-tingling, eerie, spooky
stories independently, with a partner, or in a small group.
To help the students focus on the main story elements, story maps
were completed. As always, encourage your students to continue reading!! 5th Learning
Skills: Andy Morrow, Jennifer Soloman What does it take to be a STAR in
sixth grade? For the answer- ask your son or daughter! This week in
Study Skills we focused on test taking responsibilities. To be a
test taking S.T.A.R. We discovered
that we need to:
In addition we spent time on the
responsibilities of a sixth grader and how these relate to success. We
also outlined the different types of questions that show up on exams and
the various strategies that can be used in each situation. Students
finished the week by being introduced to their final project for the
course. Come to the Summer Prep Celebration Thursday night and see our
students shine! 5th Math:
Raina Debboli, Heather Kitchen Decimals were introduced at the
beginning of the week. We discussed how decimals are used in the real
world. Many of the students realize that you need to know how to use
decimals with money. We discussed all of the places that money is used,
such as stores, restaurants, and movie theaters. Once the students were
aware of why decimals were important, we reviewed place value.
The students practiced writing and saying decimals. On Tuesday,
the students were given a menu called
“The Spectacular Student Café.” Part of the menu had been
designed, but another part needed development. Therefore, the students
had an opportunity to develop some of their own prices and items that
would be a part of the menu. After the menu was designed, we
reviewed adding and subtracting decimals. The students were given some
scenarios where they had to apply addition and subtraction of decimals.
The next day, we taught the students how to multiply and divide
decimals. Again, the students used the menu and their knowledge of
multiplication and division of decimals to figure out different
problems. On Thursday, the students had a chance to order their own meal
from the menu. They had to use the skills that they had learned
throughout the week to figure out the total cost of their imaginary
meal. At that point, they
worked with a partner and figured out the total for their group of two.
The next task was for each group to pay for their meal at the cash
register. Unfortunately, our restaurant did not have real cash
registers! So, the cashiers
had to figure out the change on pencil and paper. The groups of students
switched roles, so that they were able to shop and act as a cashier. Ask
your child what happened if they ordered a sundae from the menu. All in
all this was a practical learning experience that the kids enjoyed and
had some fun with. 6 – 8 Upper School English: Pamina
Abkowitz, Jill Wahl We busily revised, edited, and
created final copies of our song reviews this week.
One on one writing conferences were held to support the students
throughout the writing process. The trickiest parts were making sure all
the essential details were included and incorporating powerful
adjectives. To continue reading comprehension
skills practice students read a short selection called “A Street
Kid’s Guide” from a collection called Chicken
Soup for the Teenage Soul.
Students then responded to several open-ended questions using higher
levels of thinking and their own experiences. The selection prompted
some reflection and discussion of real life goal setting. Later in the
week a short story called “Parting Ways” from Bluejean
Magazine, a local publication of student work, provided the scenario
for interpretation. The theme was friendship and students were asked to
not only analyze the story, but to link real life situations to the
plot. The week was rounded out by a review of parts of speech in a
passage about Troy Aikman. To complete this week on a creative
note, students composed acrostic poems about their experiences in Summer
Prep. Remember to take a look at these reflections next Thursday at the
Open House. hey will be on
display in Room 406 along with the writing binders for the program.
Learning Skills:
MaryLynn Gleason, Dave Providence, Brett Provenzano The premise of the Study Skills
course has been about developing life long skills that help all students
become effective learners. We
have given your children the processes and the formula for success.
Fundamental themes include: The success formula: Organization +
Attention + Effort = Success
These higher-level skills are
fundamental to all learning experiences and have been reiterated
throughout this course. It
has been inspiring to see your learner’s enthusiasm and engagement in
our activities. Each
student’s involvement and personal knowledge have invigorated our
skills’ class. This week our student’s were
actively engaged in solving the State mandated Document Based Questions.
We analyzed documents that focused on leaders and their impact on
society. From Gandhi to
Martin Luther King we evaluated primary sources and assessed the
critical attributes of leaders.
Students have taken risks to reveal
what they know and have leaped from the concrete to the abstract.
In particular, Hari and Thar were indispensable when we discussed
a document dealing with Mohandas K. Gandhi.
Other insights from Dan and Ian brought their respective classes
to new levels with a clear and deeper understanding of leadership.
Students will follow-up this activity next week by writing their
essay on leadership in English class.
We feel confident that each one of
our students will excel and flourish in any academic environment.
They have exemplified the many necessary skills to experience
success. Now, we are
relying on you, the parents, to reinforce the processes that we have
begun in Summer Prep. Please
encourage your child to apply the fundamental skills, which they have
learned. Some simple activities
include, reading the newspaper, using context clues, keeping a daily
learning log and writing a “to
do” list. Remember that everything worth doing well is about process,
practice and implementation. Thank
you for your support! Math: Kathy Curtis, Jeremy
Duntley, Kim Mrva Math 6: This week
6th graders discovered the meaning of proportional by exploring real-world examples having a constant
ratio. Students have been sharpening several basic skills to prepare
them for a culminating project involving a variety of concepts. Topics
reinforced this week have included decimal operations, ratios,
proportions, measurement, and solving word problems using proportions.
Students, for example, calculated the unit price of items and also
modified a recipe based on different serving amounts. These problems
have enabled them to see many practical applications involving
proportions in everyday life. Math
7: This week 7th
graders have been reviewing the area of various geometric figures.
Students have been solving problems incorporating real-world situations
that require area and/or perimeter to be applied. In addition, complex
problems have been introduced in which students have been encouraged to
work together, as well as share their problem-solving techniques with
the whole class. Students have created and solved their own shaded area problem involving at least 3 figures. Throughout the
week many topics have been reinforced including decimal operations,
geometric figures, area formulas, estimating, and problem-solving
strategies. Math 8:
At the beginning of the week the 8th graders reviewed the
concept of graphing lines using a table. Students also learned and
practiced another method used to graph lines, which will be frequently
used in their math class next year! In addition, graphing calculators were used to graph
several equations and discuss various relationships between lines.
Concepts reinforced this week have included integers, isolating
variables, order of operations, graphing, and patterns. Technology: Brian
Holliday, Terry VanDerLinden The 6th grade students launched their water
rockets on Thursday. They
will check the best water to air ratio for their size bottle to reach
the optimal altitude of the water rocket.
In addition to this they will also be calculation the altitude of
the water rockets. Most
reached heights of 350 ft. on average.
The students will also find out how aerodynamic their rockets are
by visual inspection of the flight and add that into their analysis of
the rockets. The students are currently working on their own personal
web pages that will be posted on the Summer Prep 2000 web page. The 7th grade students will launch their solid
fuel model rockets. All rocket engines are the same so the biggest
factor in the height the rocket will reach is the overall aerodynamics
of the rocket. Factors that
affect the rockets are the smoothness of the rocket body tube, how
straight the fins were placed on the body tube and the total overall
weight of the rocket. Students
will also be calculating the altitude that the rockets attain.
Most rockets reached heights on average of 380 ft. The students
are currently working on their own personal web pages that will be
posted on the Summer Prep 2000 web page. The 8th grade students have finished their personal web pages so parents and friends will be able to access them through the Summer Prep 2000-web site. The 8th grade students are also working on maintaining a student section of the Summer Prep 2000-web site. In addition to their personal web pages students have been assigned to various subjects that the Summer Prep program covers. Using their English skills in report writing students will update the web site every week. There will also be pictures of Friday Fun. |