We are beginning a new unit on Transportation and Alternative Energy for the next ~ 6 weeks. This unit is new for me also so it will truly be a learning experience, but exciting. This is a four day week so look for your child's progress reports on Thursday. Can you believe that we are already half way through the second marking period? It is going by so quickly.
EXTRA CREDIT
Also, just a reminder that your child can at any time, complete extra credit work by reading a book from our Milwood library that comes from the 500's and/or the 600's section and pertains to science. If the book has a dot on the side of it, it is an Accelerated Reader book. Take the Accelerated Reader computer test, bring me your test score of 80% or better and I will give you the extra credit points for it. If the book is not an Accelerated Reader book, write a one page edited book report on it and I will give you the extra credit points. Continue to watch for other ways to also earn extra credit, but you can always get extra credit this way too.

Monday, October 30th

Science

Students will be taking a pretest on what their prior knowledge is about Transportation and Alternative Energy. This is not a graded test, but it helps to get them thinking about what they already know about the subject and helps the teachers to know what areas we need to focus on. The class will also discuss how energy is used in their life, what sources the U. S. currently uses the most of, and how energy affects others around the world. They will then watch the video, Powershift. Students will probably not finish the entire video today and continue it on Wednesday.

Connections

Students will continue with their Literature Circle books and meet in their groups to conduct discussions on their readings. Students have assignments to complete between each of these class periods. They have a red folder with their assignment and their jobs.

Tuesday, October 31st

Science

Students will watch some gross science called, Nightmares of Nature. They will see some creepy animals and insects and the science behind them. Really fun!

Wednesday, November 1st

Science

We will continue with the video, Powershift, and finish answering our questions about the video as listed in Monday's lesson. If time permits, we will begin to brainstorm everything that we can about transportation. These brainstorming posters will be displayed around the room and we will refer back to them continuously throughout the unit.

Connections

Students will continue to work on their Literature Circles, complete their weekly self evaluation and receive their progress reports. A large part of their grade is participation in class, so continue to encourage your child to take a positive role in this. Thank you.

Thursday, November 2nd

Science

We will continue on with the brainstorming of Transportation. We will do what is called, "Mining the ideas" and really dig into each idea from the students. We may also see a 2 minute video on transportation.

WATCH FOR YOUR CHILD'S PROGRESS REPORTS TO COME HOME TODAY FROM ALL CORE CLASSES.