So many great things happening in just 17 days!

Celebrations

Our Wizards continue to receive compliments from staff all over the building about their exemplary behavior.  The PE teacher said he really enjoys his Wizard days because they are such a stand-out group. We have had multiple staff members come to us and tell us what a great group we have. GO WIZARDS!

We always have fun together!  On Wednesdays, we have "Team Time" where we do some sort of team activity.  Last week we played "Chuck the Chicken."  Ask your student about it!  We've been playing this game since last year and the kids have gotten better at developing strategies.  It's a team favorite! 

Students continue to make connections with one another! We did a gallery walk with their Islands of Personality and challenged students to find connections with others that they didn't know they had. 

Nut & Bolts

Thanks for sending in the money for our Science World subscriptions. The kids are really enjoying the engaging articles! 

Chromebooks:  Starting this week Chromebooks will not be going home.  We are in the process of setting up charging stations in our rooms.  This decision was based on the fact that we do not send work home and therefore there is no need to send devices home that are only intended for educational purposes.  This will also reduce wear and tear,  as well as ensure devices are in school, charged, and ready for learning.  We need all charging cords brought to school this Monday. 

Wizards' Daily Schedule: Click here   

Conferences:  If you'd like to touch base with us prior to our official fall conferences in November, please email us and we'll contact you about a time to meet. 

Sick Students:  We just want to take a minute to thank you all for keeping your kids home when they are sick. We know it can be a huge inconvenience to families. However, we want you to know how appreciative we are when you do keep them home.  COVID often looks like the common cold in children and so, in order to keep everyone safe, healthy, AND maintain in-person learning, it benefits us all when sick kids (and adults) stay home.  

Curriculum Updates

Science

Our first interdisciplinary science & math unit has the kids doing various experiments with collecting solar energy and then graphing and analyzing their data.  These experiments will allow them to determine the design features that they will need to have in the solar collectors they will build later in the unit. 

We observed the sunflowers we planted during step-up day last spring to infer what living things require and more specifically, why some of our sunflowers grew really well and others not as much.

Here they are practicing taking temperature measurements

Our second investigation involved the concepts of absorption and reflection, after which students graphed their data. 

On Thursday, students conducted experiments with solar concentrators.  You should have seen the excitement when the temps maxed out the thermometer! 

Language Arts

We started our first novel of the year, Ghost Boys. You can read more about the book on the author's website here.  Rhodes doesn't disappoint with this book. Here's a review to also give you an idea...

"Deftly woven and poignantly told, this is a story about society, biases both conscious and unconscious, and trying to right the wrongs of the world. Rhodes captures the all-too-real pain of racial injustice and provides an important window for readers who are just beginning to explore the ideas of privilege and implicit bias."--School Library Journal, starred review

As you have probably figured out by now, I love to teach really complex novels with important & relevant themes.   Right after we started the book, one student said, "Ms. Michael is this another book that is going to help us realize how privileged we are and have empathy for others?" In response, I chuckled and said,  "Yes, yes it is." :)  The kids know me so well! 

At this point, the students are riveted by the plot and complaints ensue when we have to stop reading each day. It's a good problem to have.  The kids are doing an excellent job defending their thinking with evidence from the text during class discussions. I am one proud reading teacher! 

Math

We began our first unit by taste-testing lemonade to develop a real-life understanding of equivalent ratios. If you have a chance to bake or cook with your student over the coming weeks, they can directly apply their understanding of ratios and equivalency.  Ask them how much of different ingredients they would need if they made multiple batches or even halved the recipe. 

Students furthered their understanding of equivalent ratios by working with different batches of a color mixture to try to match the original.