Howdy all, and thanks for checking in. Welcome to the 2010 school year. The kids were very excited, albeit sleepy this morning as we started back to our academic routine. Sounds like we have some jetsetters in the class!
Hopefully each of you received my voice mail yesterday. The school has purchased a very cool program that will allow me to reach out to each of you when important information is necessary to share with you. It sure beats a phone tree! The program will soon feature a parent portal that will allow you to edit contact information and preferences. The school will keep you apprised of that ability when it becomes available.
We have two short week ahead of us, so we will be concentrating on social studies, science, math and writing. We will not be working with our language program, but will venture back to it in two weeks from now.
On the science front, we are moving into a very large biome unit. The unit will be a little more than a month in length, and will hit on major environments around the planet. The kids will be making a biome study guide, similar to what we created for our Native American studies. Our text does a poor job covering biomes in depth, so we will be utilizing the Discovery "Planet Earth" series and the Enchanted Learning website to dig deeper. The kids will be tested on the content of the study unit and will also be required to write a research paper on the biome of their choice. Each student will also be crafting a Power Point presentation to accompany their report.
On the Social Studies front, we are looking at the causes and effects of the Mexican - American War. It is a rich, short unit of study.
The class voted today to begin reading Jeanne DuPrau's City of Ember. It is a unique piece of science fiction / mystery.
We began a discussion on American civil rights today in honor of the Martin Luther King, Junior Holiday that will continue throughout the week. The kids are extremely curious, and I am treating the conversation and subject with a great deal of respect. Please be aware that questions may arise from the conversations and materials that we engage with. I would encourage you each to be open to these questions, as the knowledge and understanding garnered from them is valuable.
Tomorrow, I will share some information with you regarding a computer-based writing program that our class will be testing for the remainder of the school year. It is something that I am very excited about.
Finally, the kids are responsible for the following tonight:
- Blue Folders
- Reading Log
- Nature Log entry
- Saxon Math, lesson 32, 1-20
Respectfully, Mr. Bryant
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