The Bear Teaches Science

Wow! The 19th already?????

prekprincess — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:17:49 +0000

This is a slow kind of week. The 6th graders had a test today and will do a Unit review for the next two days. They will work in partners.
5th grade had a song about viruses today. They will review tomorrow for their test on Thursday and their Unit review will be on Friday and Monday.
8th grade have a test review today for a test tomorrow and their Unit review on Thursday and Friday.
7th graders are finishing their Unit review today and then moving on to Chapter 9 on Invertebrates. They will have a song tomorrow and an Internet Scavenger Hunt on Thursday. Friday they will work in their textbooks and study guides.

Happy New Year!

prekprincess — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:44:07 +0000

I’m happy to be back. Tired, but happy.
Every grade has their Drug Poster due on Friday, Jan. 8th and their drug booklet due on Monday, Jan. 11th. I will be sending home permission/entry forms for the drug posters later this week. We are not going to spend any more class time on the posters or booklets so all remaining work must be done at home. We are jumping back into the textbooks!
The 6th grade will be reviewing their human body chapter 1 this week with puzzles and a bingo game, with a test on Thursday. The 5th grade will also review their human body chapter 1 with puzzles and a bingo game with their test on Friday.
The 8th grade are finishing up where we left off with minerals. Today, they made mineral shapes, tomorrow they sing about minerals and we will review on Thursday and Friday for a test on Monday.
The 7th graders will pick up where they left off on plants. Today they made a Venn diagram on gymnosperms and angiosperms. Tomorrow Mr. Willis will take over the class for me and they will finish the diagram and label a flower. I will out attending a a good friend’s funeral. Thursday we will research on the internet about meat eating plants – fun! Then Friday is early release.

Christmas Pageant Practice!

prekprincess — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:04:39 +0000

Since we are so deeply engrossed in pageant practice, now is a good time to work on the Drug Abuse and Alcohol Awareness posters for the annual contest. So that is what all 4 grades will be doing when we are in the classroom and each grade also has a Drug Awareness Booklet to work on while we are at practice, at home, whenever they can. The booklet is not due until we come back from Christmas break – January 11th. Drug and Alcohol posters will be due before Christmas break but we should be able to get them done in class. I asked all classes to bring a white posterboard but only a very few students have brought them. I bought a bunch this weekend and students can buy a posterboard from me for a quarter. I hope this sounds fair, it will cover the cost of my buying 25 posterboards.

Welcome Back!

prekprincess — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:34:29 +0000

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! This week is the beginning of the infamous pageant practice marathon!! Some work will go with us to practice, some will stay in class – it is the time to be flexible!
6th graders will be finishing up Chapter 1 of the Human Body unit with a review on Thursday and test on Friday. We will be talking about nerve cells and the endocrine system this week.
5th graders will learn about oxygen and cell wastes this week. We will also be singing about our cleansing kidneys and the digestive system later this week. 5th graders will not have any tests.
7th and 8th graders will stop whatever they are doing in their respective classes to focus on Drug Awareness. They will both receive drug awareness booklets to read and work on while at pageant practice, in class or at home as well as working on a rough draft and final product for the Drug and Alcohol Awareness Poster contests. I will assign a due date for the drug booklets later this week.
That’s it – I am looking forward to seeing everyone in the morning!

November 16 – November 20th

prekprincess — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:12:12 +0000

The 6th grade are working on their brains this week. They will do an internet scavenger hunt and then focus on senses. They will be doing a lot of writing – poetry and sentences that are all about their senses. They will also be watching their own eyes expand and contract to see.
The 5th grade is finishing up Unit A on Monday and we will then be skipping to Unit D on the human body. They will do an introductory activity that is a pretest on what they already know and then we will be talking and singing about respiration. Finally, Miss Frizzle will be flexing her muscles on Friday to show them how the muscles, heart and lungs work together in times of exertion.
The 8th grade will be working on minerals after a review on Monday and a test on Tuesday. They will learn all about their properties and write a short report on their birthstones.
The 7th grade is finishing non-vascular plants with a review on Tuesday and a test on Wednesday. They will be moving on to the next type of plants – vascular plants. They will be singing alot about plants at the end of the week.

Sunday Evening in the Gentle Rain

prekprincess — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:37:31 +0000

I am enjoying the gentle rain today. I am sorry I didn’t post last week. As most of my students know, my friend Cherry is very sick and I have been spending a lot of time with her in the hospital and in the nursing home. Not making excuses, just explaining. Thanks for all my kids who have been praying for her and her family. You are very much appreciated.
Monday is a NET retreat for 6th, 7th and 8th grades in Dubina. This is a fantastic day for the kids. Lat year was amazing. Don’t forget to bring your lunch!
On Tuesday, it will be back to work! 6th graders are starting on Unit D-the Human Body. We will be making a skeleton and learning about the nervous system in the book and on the internet.
5th Grade is finishing up the last chapter of the Life Science Unit. They had a review on Thursday and will review some more with some fun activities on Tuesday. Wednesday is the test and Thursday/Friday will be a Unit A review but it is not a test.
8th grade have begun the Earth and are working on the smallest forms of matter – atoms. We will do the ELectron Dance this week as well as working on forms of matter and having a Chapter 5 review on Friday.
The 7th grade will make a study fold on the different types of algae as well as learning about fungi, lichens, slimemolds, liverworts and mosses. Fun stuff, huh? They will get to taste at least two forms of fungi on Thursday.
All this is dependent on working around the Veteran’s Day program of course so things may have to be pushed back one day.

What a Gorgeous Day

prekprincess — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:47:40 +0000

Seriously, my kind of weather. I love the cool wind and the beautiful sunshine.
For the upcoming week – 6th grade is going to work on biomes and habitats. We will do some searching on the internet as well as in the book. They have a test review over Chapter 4 on Thursday and a test on Friday. This is the end of the Life Science Unit so we have a two-day until review and move onto to Unit D – the Human Body.
5th Grade will be doing some serious singing next week. They have songs to learn about ecosystems, biomes, the water cycle and decomposers. We will also do some graphic organizers on food webs.
8th Grade finished their first unit this week and will move onto unit 2. The rest of the year will really focus on the Earth and geology. They will sing about geology, watch a movie about the properties of matter. It is short science week for them and 7th grade since we will be going to Rachel’s Challenge on Friday afternoon.
7th grade will enter the fabulous world of sarcodines, ciliates, flagellates and sporozoans this week! Basically, microscopic organisms. They have a chapter 6 test review on Wednesday and a test on Thursday.

Fabulous Fall Friday!

prekprincess — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:01:00 +0000

We finally got our cool weather back! It was so nice to sit in church with the windows open and the breeze passing through. Thanks again to all the students yesterday for helping the day run so smoothly even with all the visitors and changes. Let’s talk about next week:
Remember that Thursday is Report Card Day. Teachers will be in classrooms from 1:00 until 5:00 for you to meet with about your child’s report card. If you don’t make it to the conferences, the report card will be sent home on Friday. I will be here until 4:15 only because of volleyball. It is an away game. Please feel free to e-mail or call me to schedule a specific conference time, otherwise, I’ll see when I see you!
The 6th grade continue to work on organism interactions and will sing about the food chain. We will talk about biomes all over the world and do some research on the internet.
The 5th grade will finish chapter 3 on Monday, have a test review on Tuesday and have their test on Wednesday. As promised, I have re-written the test to contain the same information in a different format. They we will start on ecosystems and watch the Magic School Bus go to the Rainforest.
8th grade will review on Monday for the Chapter 4 test on Tuesday. They will have a unit review both Wednesday and Friday.
7th grade also have a chapter review on Monday for a chapter 5 test on Tuesday. They will sing about Protozoa on Wenesday and make protzoan art on Friday.
That’s it for the week! I think it is easier for me to post about the upcoming week on the Friday before and let everyone know ahead of time about the week ahead.
Please feel free to add comments to the blog!!

Father’s Funeral

prekprincess — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:19:32 +0000

I have to write quickly to say that all of the students here are doing such a good job remembering to bring their lunch, being polite to visitors and carrying onwith their work even though today is a little different. I’m so proud of them all!

It’s Monday!

prekprincess — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:40:59 +0000

and I’m posting!! It’s going to be a busy week with two volleyball games and a football game as well as the upcoming special funeral.
6th graders will watch an IMAX film this week on adaptive behaviors in animals as they travel for food and breeding. They will have a test review on Thursday and a test on Friday for Chapter 3.
The 5th grade are working on adaptations. They will make a study fold, learn all about a shark’s adaptations on an Internet Scavenger Hunt and see a video about animals adapting to urban scrawl. No tests for them this week.
8th grade is off to the Moon! They will be making a phases flip book, researching on the internet and doing an experiment with rocket science. Rememeber to bring a plastic bottle of any size or shape by Friday please!
7th grade have a testing week. They have a chapter test today on Chapter 4. We reviewed on Friday. They also have a Unit 1 Test on Tuesday and Wednesday. I like to give them two days since it a longer test than the chapter ones. Then they will be singing about viruses and bacteria on Thursday and Friday.
Sorry if the grades being out of order irritates you – I write by reading off my lesson plans and that is the order of my classes!