One more post to share some last pictures. With the added two weeks off after March break, any hope of me returning for a short time is now dashed, as my due date will have past and my official leave will have begun, baby or not.
I will be back, of course, to introduce baby and would love to attend festival and graduation, so I don't need to say goodbye right now. I worked VERY hard last week to leave everything ready to go for when school resumes. I hope that things are able to continue just as they have been and just as I would want them to. You should see how organized and well-labeled my desk and binders are!!
I wanted to share a few more pictures from the last week, including the graphite and pastel drawings that I put up just in time.
We also took all the news articles that all the grade 5s and 6s had done for science and assembled them into 9 newspapers. They all have a unique name, headings, a table of contents and page numbering, some even have ads! They look like real papers, and each student received a copy of the newspaper that features their article. I love these! (FYI, students received their rubric for the news article, but I did not require them to have it signed.)
The grade 6s, in their last science class with me, made a flying device (they were all airplanes) of their choice and then tested it at three airports. One was a long distance, flying straight challenge, the second was a steering challenge, and the final airport featured a tricks challenge, such as a loop or sharp turn. After the build and tests, we compared the planes that were most successful at each airport. We noticed that the top two planes for distance were short and compact, with a heavy middle using straws, paper clips and lots of folds. The top two planes for steering had turned up flaps on their wings. Many of the planes that did tricks were long and light without flaps or many folds. Très interesting!
If you are looking for educational sites throughout this time away from school, do check out the right side bar of this blog, as there may be some useful links. You can also consider assigning your researcher another independent project on a topic of their choice - I think they all enjoyed doing these (at least one asked me if we could do it again!). Our next science units are on changes in matter (5s) and electricity (6s), so these would be excellent areas to begin researching, especially since I have suggested to the next teacher that he/she use the independent projects that I pre-created, which are just like what we did at the beginning of the year, requiring some independent research, writing and investigating. In fact... hang on while I find the actual suggested research and hands-on questions...
Grade 5 Research questions:
- Identify properties of solids, liquids and gases and state at least 2 examples of each.
- Identify and describe 3 specific changes of state in matter that we witness regularly (e.g., ice cube melting). Using scientific vocabulary, describe each change and explain why it is a physical or chemical change.
- Research and discuss the positive and negative aspects of using chemical preservatives in food. Consider the perspectives of food manufacturers, store owners, farmers and consumers.
Grade 5 Hands-On Tasks:
- Test various materials commonly used for cleaning up liquid spills (e.g., sponge, towel, paper towel) and draw conclusions. What properties of each material makes them most useful? What is the environmental impact of each?
- Find and follow a simple recipe that involves both a physical and chemical change of state. What caused the changes to take place?
Grade 6 Research questions:
- Using scientific vocabulary, explain the functions of the components of a simple electrical circuit and give examples of every day items that use electrical circuits. What is the downside of series circuits v. parallel circuits?
- Using the principals of static electricity, explain a common electrostatic phenomenon (e.g., the attraction of pieces of clothing to each other when they come out of the dryer, the attraction of hair to a balloon once rubbed).
- The James Bay Hydroelectric Project was one of the biggest hydroelectric developments of the past century, but it also had a serious impact on the environment and the James Bay Cree people. Explain the project and both sides of the issue. What is your opinion?
- Design, build and test a device that produces electricity. For example, a battery built from a potato or a wind turbine. How does it work?
- Design, build and test a device that transforms electrical energy into another form of energy in order to perform a function. For example, build a device that makes a sound, moves or lights up. How does your device work?
There you are! Imagine if this project was already done upon returning to school??? How impressive!
Also, the one thing I insisted the kids take home for March break was their Club de Lecture material. Though they may only have questions for the next 1-2 weeks of group meetings, there's nothing stopping them from reading the whole book, which will speed up the work they have to do between meetings once school resumes.
Take care, enjoy your families and thanks once more for such a great 7 months in grades 5 and 6!
Tamara