Group 1 Announcements:
News from the week of February 19-23:
* Additional information from teachers
February 19-23:
In math, kids have been working hard on multiplication and on fractions. The multipliers worked on describing carefully the patterns they could see in the skip counting charts to 100 (multiples of 2, 3, 4, . . ., 10). With revision, they wound up providing much more detailed descriptions. We've started looking at prime numbers by noting that some numbers can be expressed as equal groups in several different ways, and some can only be shown in 2 ways. For example, 9 can be expressed as 1 X 9, 9 X 1, and 3 X 3, whereas 11 can only be written as 1 X 11 or 11 X 1. Those numbers that can be written in exactly 2 ways are prime numbers, and we have been checking to see which numbers are prime and which are not by seeing whether or not we can find a way to break the number into equal groups without using 1. My teacher brain has to maintain a tight hold over my mathematician brain so that I don't go on at great length about all the places where prime numbers appear in higher mathematics. This work of splitting numbers into equal groups will also ease us into work with division.
I have counseled the fraction folks that they need to have some patience with this topic: it is very common to take awhile to develop a full understanding of how fractions work, and many people continue to find them mysterious as adults. The kids are doing some great work, and they are becoming fairly proficient at multiplying fractions by whole numbers. As usual, we began with a visual, concrete approach to finding "fair shares." If there were 3 brownies and 5 kids, we learned to cut each brownie into 5 pieces (fifths) and give everyone a piece from each brownie, making their share 3/5 of a brownie. After doing these sorts of problems over the course of a week, they began to see the pattern of how to find people's shares without having to draw pictures. Similarly, we've worked on finding fractions of whole numbers (like 2/3 of 14) and the products of mixed numbers and whole numbers (like 3-1/5 X 21) by drawing lots of pictures and looking for patterns. In the process, we've had to review how we approach long division.
We traveled with Group 1 to China on Friday afternoon to celebrate Chinese New Year. The kids had a wide variety of activities available to help immerse them in Chinese culture. They explored the landscape of China on maps, made the Chinese flag, drew pastel dragons, played Chinese jump rope, constructed Chinese paper lanterns, smelled and tasted some of the spices from the area, and enjoyed tea, rice, and dumplings. Thanks to M's Mom for providing dumplings.
Our science work has focused on simple machines. We were fortunate to have O's Dad come in on Monday with lots of models of simple machines. We developed a much better understanding of mechanical advantage and of the trade-offs that simple machines require. We will continue exploring simple machines and how they work.
In Gym, we've started working on basketball. We practiced dribbling and passes last week, and we will build on those skills over the next couple of weeks.
In History, we are studying the American Revolution. We asked kids to pick a person from the time period to research. We will work together, step by step, to research, organize, and write reports on their person. Today kids received their research folders, where the material they collect and produce will be stored. One of their first tasks is to find at least 2 sources of information. On the back cover of the folder (labeled "Sources"), they need to write down what they've found. We talked about the general format of a citation, but they may need your help. Our goal is not to be graduate-research accurate, but to help kids develop the understanding that they need to give credit to the people whose ideas they are using.
Dates to Remember:
We began our second workshop week of the year. Group 4 chose from a variety of classes for first period. The second period kicked off our play, "Adventures of a Comic Book Artist" for all of the Group 4 students. Third period was the start of a two week long class. The kids picked from four choices. Kate is offering Making a Difference where the students in addition to going out into the community to do volunteer projects, will put together a newsletter for other kids in the school about volunteer opportunities. Marilynn is offering The Magic Flute. The kids will be making puppets and sets and putting on the play. Ray is offering Science Experiments where the students will have an opportunity to study hands-on science in more depth. Sean is offering Forensic Science where the kids will be learning different techniques of forensic science and applying what they learn to solve a crime.
In Writing class the students are working on persuasive essays. They are researching a controversial and current topic about which they will be writing an essay that will attempt to sway the reader to their position. We have discussed the three different methods of persuasion that Aristotle thought imperative to an argument: ethos - the credibility of the author, pathos - emotional appeal and logos - using logic and reasoning. The kids are looking at how to use these ideas when writing a strong essay.
In Research class we are studying the plight of the Native Americans and what happened to them following Lewis and Clark's expedition and subsequent westward expansion. The kids took notes on a movie and are responsible for reading a three-page article on the subject. They have 6 questions that they need to answer about what they have learned from the movie and article. Each student has been assigned a Native American tribe that they are to research and answer questions about.
During the next phase, the kids will merge with two other tribes from their geographical region to do more research as a group and to present information to the rest of the regions and tribes at a multi-tribal council meeting.
The kids are studying Geometry in Math class. They are reviewing shapes and angles in order to apply what they know when they begin studying area and volume.
The Chemistry unit is wrapping up. The kids have been conducting several different experiments using combustion. The most recent one was simulating a grain elevator explosion using a fine powder. They have also been making an apparatus that is used to bend glass which will then be used for future experiments.
On a future Lewis and Clark note, we have scheduled an overnight trip to Greenbank Mills for a super in-depth Lewis and Clark experience. The dates are May 17th and 18th. We'll give you more information as the dates get closer.
The students are still working on rehearsing and video taping their plays. As there are logistical issues with times and groupings to work out, the process is taking awhile and we were stalled with workshop week. It is really great to see how enthusiastic all of the kids are about their own and their classmates' plays. I am so proud of all of the hard work that they have put into this process.
Delaware Theater Company announced the finalists for their Young Playwright's Festival and out of 200 second round entries, our own D.H. has made the final eight! He will go in to meet with DTC for a final interview on March 8th. Three of those eight plays will be chosen to be performed by DTC. The class is excited to have one of their classmates make it this far. DTC wanted to let us know that the NCCL students' plays were very creative and thoughtful and they were impressed with the level of writing from our class.