Dear Parents,
I’m sure you and your families are looking forward to
Thanksgiving, and I’m sure your students especially are looking forward to the
short week of school. Monday and Tuesday will be ordinary school days, but
Wednesday will be a half day with pick-up starting at 12:00 instead of 1:15.
Thursday and Friday are off. As usual for half days, there is no lunch time so
students do not need to bring lunch on Wednesday unless they are in Athenaeum.
No hot lunch will be served.
In math, we will continue studying division and reviewing
area and perimeter. We will also continue practicing column multiplication by a
two digit number. At least one two-digit column multiplication problem will
appear on all math homework assignments through the end of the quarter because
it is such an important skill for students to have. I have spent a great deal
of time tutoring students on this topic in math lab. It would be extremely
helpful if you could also look over the column multiplication problems they
complete on homework assignments to further ensure your students’ success on
this important topic.
In science I was intending to have students start their
at-home geology project this week. However, several parents have mentioned a
strong preference to have the project start after Thanksgiving in order to make
this holiday week easier. For this reason, I will be postponing the project
again. It will start on the Monday after Thanksgiving week.
I have tried to be clear in my communications about the
geology project, but I have still received many questions. The geology project
will be for students to make a model of Earth’s interior. It will be a
cross-section, made to look as if Earth was cut in half through the center and
one could see inside. STUDENTS WILL BE COMPLETING THE PROJECT AT HOME. The
project will have five steps, so students will complete one step each day that
week for homework. During the week of the project each day’s science class will
be spent discussing the information students will need to complete the step of
the project assigned that night. Students will then go home and complete that
step of the project for homework that night. At the end of the week, students
will have a complete model of the earth’s interior.
The project will have the weight of a test in the students’
second quarter grades. This should be good for their grades in that they will have
complete control over how well they do on the project. Students that follow all
the directions and include all the features required will receive full points
for the project (unless their work is sloppy or careless).
In case you
and you student have not yet obtained the supplies for the geology project here
is the list: 1. A can of red play-dough 2. A
can of yellow play-dough 3. A can of orange play-dough 4. A can of
black or brown play-dough (one or the other; not both) 5. A can of blue
play-dough 6. A metal or metal-looking bead at least a ¼ inch in diameter
(to be the earth’s iron core) 7. A black Sharpie for writing
labels 8. A green Sharpie for drawing land masses
You
should be able to pick up the supplies at Walmart easily enough. That’s where I
got the supplies for the sample I made. I did have a little trouble finding the
black can of play-dough. If you can’t find black or brown, even purple would be
fine.
Those are all the notes I have for you this week. As always,
please feel free to contact me through your Jupiter Ed account.
Sincerely,
Miss Wycklendt
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