Updates on Assignment Due Dates

After conversations with students and parents, and careful consideration, timelines for the realistic fiction writing assignment have been changed. New due dates: Rough Draft: Due Monday, May 3, 2010 Final Copy: Due Wednesday, May 12, 2010 State Report Project is still due on Thursday, May 6, 2010 Young Authors projects are also due on Thursday, May 6, 2010. Thanks!

Homework: April 26 - April 30

Vocabulary List #27 Categorize words by parts of speech. All nouns must be used in a complete sentence that highlights the meaning of the word. All verbs must be defined. For each adjective, list a synonym and an antonym. accumulate apprehensive boisterous collaborate composure conspicuous deluge discretion exaggerate futile Idiom Jovial monotonous Negotiate optimist predicament retaliate treacherous Puzzle of the Week: Use the state you are studying for your state report. Imagine that a wonderful aunt comes to visit for a week. She loves to see everything and has never been to your state before. Use the map scale to figure out how many different places you can visit in one week if you travel a maximum of 500 miles a day, beginning from the capital city. Use a linear measure from location to location; don't worry about curves in the road. Be sure to allow time to explore some the places you visit. I would like to see you create a table that includes miles traveled, and time allotted in each location. There is an example table on your homework handout.

Homework for April 5-April 9

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a fantastic Spring Break! Homework for this week is vocabulary and puzzle of the week. Please remember to not only complete the vocabulary assignment, but also study for your test on Friday. This week's test will on spelling, meaning, and using words correctly in sentences. Homework requires students to alphabetize the word list first, then find synonyms for all odd numbered words, and antonyms for all even numbered words. Additionally, students need to identify the part of speech for all words. Vocabulary list: 1. tamper 2. impatience 3. annual 4. combat 5.occasional 6. dignity 7. magical 8. severe 9. illegal 10.counterfeit 11. nuisance 12. reliable 13. vacate 14. deceive 15. yearn 16. anniversary 17. opponent 18. humid 19. vicinity 20. rampage 21. estimate 22.amateur Puzzle of the Week: Please remember to not only complete the math, but also answer the guideline questions for the puzzle of the week. This week's puzzle requires you to work backward to find the answer to the following mystery. Please include each step, and not just the final answer. Late one night a burglar somehow got into one of the vaults in Fort Knox and started out with a big sack of gold coins. No one really knows how much he stole. At any rate, on his way out, he was stopped by one of the guards, who caught him "holding the bag" so to speak. Fortunately for him, the burglar was able to talk his way out of trouble by offering the guard half of the money he had taken with a bonus of $2,000 thrown in. Just as he was walking away, praising his good luck at having gotten free, he was stopped by a second guard. It took the same bribe, half of all the money he had left, with $2,000 thrown in, to get by the second guard. Just as he was about to leave, you guessed it, he was stopped by yet a third guard who let him go only after receiving half of all the burglar had left, with $2,000 thrown in. By the time the burglar left the front gate of Fort Knox, he had mixed emotions. After all, he did leave with $9,000 more than he had when he arrived and he escaped a free man. (he had nothing when he arrived) But as he thought of all the money he had left behind with the guards, he wept. Oh, by the way, you now know enough to calculate how much he had taken in the first place.

Homework March 22-March 26

Vocabulary for the Week of 22-26 March Understand the meaning of each word. Pretend you work for an environmental action group. Use all words in a persuasive essay describing how and why we should protect the environment. Your test on Friday will be spelling only. acid rain aerosol animal welfare carbon monoxide climate conservation energy nuclear energy solar energy exhaust fumes global warming greenhouse effect (non)-renewable resources nuclear nuclear fallout nuclear reactor ozone layer pesticide pollution rain forest waste nuclear waste Puzzle of the Week In addition to solving the puzzle, students must also answer the four guideline questions regarding the metacognitive processes involved with problem solving. Puzzle: A Growing Proposition You may live for decades, but your hair won't. In fact, a strand of hair has a life-span of about four years for a man, and six years for a woman. If the average person has 90,000 hairs on his or her head, at any one time, what percentage of them must be replaced annually? Man: Woman: How many hairs are replaced annually? Let's say that you first started replacing your hair when you were four years old. Since then, how many hairs have been replaced on your head? Approximately how many hairs have you grown in your lifetime so far? If you live to be eighty years old, and you don't go bald-how many hairs will you have replaced on your head over that period of time? You may use a calculator for your computations and estimations. Don't forget to be reading nightly for at least 20-30 minutes!

Which study appeals to you?

Respond with your top three choices of desired study area including: global warming, wind power, hydro power, solar power, or fuel cell vehicles. Please include 1-2 sentences explaining why you are interested in this topic. Please respond by Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Thanks!

Go Green or Go Home! Unit Projects!

Go Green or Go Home Group Project Guidelines Due Date 4/16/2010 Individually respond to the class blog with your top three choices of desired study area including: global warming, wind power, hydro power, solar power, or fuel cell vehicles. After I have received all requests I will place you into groups. As a group participate in selected experiment investigations. I expect you to behave appropriately as if you are a scientist in a laboratory. Complete and submit OHEC worksheet. Write up brief description of your findings and how you and your group worked together. (4 points) Perform additional research on your study area. Use all avenues that are open to you to find out as much as you can. Try to use as many primary sources as possible. Read all you can about your topic. Do not forget to document sources in correct form. Do not plagiarize! Use the internet to gather information. You Tube videos, speeches, etc. Visit libraries or museums (if exhibits available) When your research is complete, create a visual (Poster, Science board, Magazine etc.) to support the marketing or selling of your topic. Present your group research to the class. (20 points) Introduce your topic Provide a minimum of three facts about your topic Explain why your topic is important Be creative and have fun! Prospectus for the Future: Research current developments in the scientific community using periodicals such as American Scientist, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Invention & Technology, National Geographic, etc. Find a concept that you find particularly intriguing. Formulate a concept for a future scientific invention that impact life as we know it. Synthesize information based on the research to support the hypothesis developed. Write a 3 paragraph essay about your findings and your product. You will be scored on your use of research materials and the quality of your writing.

411 of 216

Signals got crossed today, and I failed yet again to include the 411 of 216 in Thursday folders! Sorry--here is the information included: UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES: MARCH 18TH CONCERT @ SKINNER MS 6:30 START TIME, STUDENTS SHOULD BE THERE BY 6:00 PM MARCH 26, HALF DAY MARCH 29-APRIL 2, SPRING BREAK ALPS Advanced Learning Plans were supposed to be enclosed in this week’s folder. I apologize for the delay, but I have been experiencing significant technical difficulties with Infinite Campus. I hope to have all issues resolved by next week, so they can be sent home. These documents are district mandated for all gifted learners and will remain in student files for next year and throughout a student’s academic careers at DPS. This was the first year of implementation, and there was a bit of a learning curve. Please anticipate earlier notification and more parent involvement regarding these documents for the next school year. Student Work: For the last few weeks, we have completed an author study on Chris Van Allsburg. In addition to reading a number of his wonderful books, students also worked in groups to create board games related to a book of their choosing. The games were required to include evidence of vocabulary, cause and effect relationships, and sequencing related to the story. The games turned out incredibly! The students were so creative, and worked very hard. We had a sharing time, where games were showcased and played. Fun was had by ALL! A common element among all Chris Van Allsburg’s books was a sense of open endedness that allowed the reader to form concepts and conclusions on his own. An additional element of our author study required students to fill in the blanks of a story by writing a prequel or sequel. Here are some of the student’s stories: A BAD DAY AT RIVERBEND (CONTINUED) By Sadie Buchanan After everything went dark, the sheriff could move again! The slime felt wet on his face and he was determined to escape the evil light. He rode on and on until finally light appeared. But, everything yet again froze. The sheriff was very afraid. Huge hands grasped the world and carried it away. The world dropped into a dark place. Then everything moved again. All of the sudden, the world was dumped into a huge mouth. The sheriff felt himself being grinded into sticky goo, and flattened. Suddenly, he had new memories. His name was Jasmine, and he was in love with a street boy. He yelled, “What am I doing here! I am the sheriff!” “Really?” said the boy, “I’m from Riverbend too!” Zathura Epilogue By Connor Ellertson As soon Danny and Walter got home, they started to play catch. After awhile, they got tired of playing catch. They went inside, but still couldn’t find anything to do. Meanwhile, Danny and Walter’s parents were just arriving home. They were worried about their sons. They got so worried; they were about to call 911, when the two boys returned home. The boys were sent to bed. The parents decided to take a walk in the park. They found a big box in the trash. They decided to take the box home. When they got home, they opened the box. The box contained board games. When they looked through the box, they found the following games: Jumanji, Zathura, and the Wild West. They both agreed to play the Wild West. Danny and Walter rushed downstairs. Walter shouted, “Mom! Dad! No!”, but it was too late, their parents had already started the game. Also included in the Thursday folders were guideline sheets for two of our upcoming projects. Please look over with your child. Almost all work will be finished in class on both of these projects.