November+3rd+-+November+7th

=Week at a Glance =

===This week students in high school will be working on researching and taking notes for their zoology project. Since they are in the Ecology unit, that's where their focus will be in learning about their specific animal. There will be a note-taking guide handed out as well as a writing sample this week about the ecology/habitat of their animal. High school students will also be taking a test on Ecology terms and ideas on Thursday. ===

=== Students in middle school will be learning about the different atmospheric levels and which cloud types fit into them as well as topographical features and how they affect weather patterns. Their writing sample this week will be about friends--what personal qualities make a good friend? How does a good friend support you? Are you a good friend? ===

=Thursday, Novermber 6th, 2008=

__Middle School__
=== Students took their final spelling test of the 1st quarter and then spent the rest of the period working on missed/late assignments or an extra spelling activity. ===

__High School__
=== Students took their final spelling test of the 1st quarter and then took an ecology vocabulary test. This was a verbal test using large-sized flashcards. A single student would work with a teacher and attempt to give definitions of all 8 words that were placed in front of them. Upon identifying the word the flashcard was taken away. After all 8 words were attempted, the teacher shuffled the cards and put them out with the definition side facing up and students attempted to provide the correct vocabulary term. There were 16 points possible. ===

=Tuesday, November 4th, 2008=

__Middle School__
=== Today we started by recognizing the students who won October website awards. I showed the results on the projector and students clapped when classmates were recognized. Short discussions followed. (about 7-8 minutes total) === === Next, students read the first page of the [|troposphere.pdf] outloud as a class and answered the first 4 questions. I drew diagrams on the board (or asked students to draw them) to show the general shape of the troposhere and then students worked on pages 2-3 on their own. The main points for this handout were 1) what is the troposphere? and 2) why is it shaped the way it is? === === Lastly, students worked with a partner to go online to the following interactive "clouds in art" website. The purpose of this activity is to have students view famous paintings and attempt to identify the cloud types shown. Working together, the student-pairs guessed the cloud types and wrote them onto lines 1-25 of the last page. THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE AT THE END OF CLASS THURSDAY. (students in 5th period may receive an alternate assignment due to difficulties with partner work or transitioning to computer activities. Stay tuned for any modifications) ===

[|Interactive "Clouds in Art" link]

===HOMEWORK ALERT: The "Interactive Clouds in Art" assignment is due at the end of class Thursday. It may benefit your child to ask how far they are and do some at home. It's a safe bet that there will be only time for 10-15 during class.===

__High School__
===Students started the class with a review of ecology terms using flashcards in preparation for the test Thursday. The words are the ones listed on the pink worksheet from last week. After going through the list once as a class I demonstrated 3-4 different ways to practice these words with a partner. Each pair of students received a set of flashcards and worked for 15 minutes on the terms. Teachers walked around the room and aided in the study or challenged students with tougher methods. (A couple sets of students decided to "up" the ante and made each other do 10 pushups for each incorrect answer!) ===

=== The last half of class students received a blue packet on [|interactionswithcommunities.pdf] and either read silently or read aloud with a partner. Questions 1-5 are due Thursday. ===