First Week Out

Welcome And Welcome Back!

 I am so happy that you are with us. I am full of energy and optimism and I can't wait to see the harvest from the seeds that we have planted this week. 

This week:

We spent a lot of time testing. I made sure the students were acquainted with procedures and philosophy. I will be posting the results from the pre-assessments on Engrade. Please keep in mind that pre-assessments DO NOT count towards your child's grade. This is simply a tool that I use so that I can measure their growth throughout the year. 

We focused a lot on outlines and methods for planning our writing. 

We also went on our first field trip to the Blackstone library.  The students drew so many comments as they walked the ivy-lined sidewalks. (Those uniforms were worth it.)

"Are these children as smart as they look?"
remarked one motorist as she cruised by.

At the library, the students became familiar with the tools the CPL provides for research and recreation. (I think I'll be giving extra-credit for library cards.) 

Vocabulary that we've used this week:

Scientific Method, Irony,Source

Don't ask your child for a definition of the word, ask them for an example.

Next Week:

Science: 
We will be studying the fundamentals of the Scientific Method. Last week's project has shown me that an introduction/ review is needed before we get into the science fair season. 
Vocabulary: Hypothesis, Control, independent variable, dependent variable, objective, and subjective

History:
According to the pretest, 47% of my students can not place the city of Chicago on a map. A few of them weren't able to place the city in Illinois. So we will begin our unit on geography with local, national, and global regions. We will also be learning about time line structure. 
Vocabulary:

Hemisphere, district, county, western, eastern, first-world, third-world