Math
Zoomshrooms started the week with Stock Market Game time. We then moved on to complete a performance task about purchasing supplies for a lemonade stand. This allowed each pair to practice everything they learned in their ratio unit. Wednesday we finished the last lesson in our unit, measurement conversions. Thursday they played Find Someone Who to practice measurement conversions. Each student had to find someone who could complete a problem on their worksheet.
Shockwave students spent Monday working on the Stock Market Game. One Shockwave group is currently in first place in the region! Tuesday they started their Geometry unit with angle relationships and triangles. Wednesday they applied their algebra skills to angles and triangles working on problems scattered around the room and hallway. Thursday was another exciting story time. We read Sir Cumference and the First Round Table and Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi both written by Cindy Neuschwander. These two books taught them the vocabulary associated with circles and the formula for pi. After story time they completed a worksheet on calculating circumference.
Algebra students jumped into system of equations. All week they worked on solving system of equations using three different methods: graphing, substitution, and elimination. For a sponge activity (an activity to sponge up their time), some students created houses in the graphing calculator program desmos. They were curious about curved graphs, so I introduced them to parabolas. We will be learning about quadratics soon.
Geometry students focused on triangle congruence proofs all week. They used SSS, SAS, ASA, AAS, and HL. That’s 5 different ways to prove triangles are congruent. They also learned that corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent (CPCTC).
Language Arts
New quarter, new theme, new novel study! This quarter our theme is World Wars, and we are learning about WWI through the eyes of a horse in our novel, War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.
On Monday students set up reading logs in their ELA journals; each week students will independently read a few chapters of the book and note what they learn about the characters, plot, setting, imagery, and new vocabulary.
In class this week we learned the difference between patriotism and nationalism. We listened to the song “Over There” written by George Cohan and read a poem by Rudyard Kipling called “All That We Have and Are.” Students learned the backgrounds of both authors and analyzed the words to the song and poem. They were quick to realize both were used as recruitment tools for America and Great Britain.
We ended the week by working in pairs to consider how those works of literature would be accepted in our modern society. Would those same recruitment tools work? Partners worked together to create a social media post from the perspective of a person or thing in WWI. Maybe a Snapchat from a rat in the trenches….maybe a Pinteresting soccer mom posting recipes for a care package. An explosion of creativity and fun!
Theme
It was supposed to be the WAR to end all WARS. Delta students started their investigation of the World Wars this week by learning and interpreting critical vocabulary. We discussed the meanings behind and the applications of these important words to understanding the war’s imagery both home and abroad.
On Tuesday, the students got to experience first hand the unique fighting tactic of Trench Warfare. They gathered in Mr. Steve’s dugout trenches in the green room and related quotes and pictures, along with film depictions of life in the trenches of World War One. Students made great observations, diagramming the parts of the trenches. They also gathered and documented words and phrases relating to the sensory perceptions of Life in the Trenches: how they smelled, tasted, looked, sounded, and felt to the soldiers that spent years in them.
On Wednesday, students turned their experiences and observations into a project that included a Sensory Poem, and 3D model of Trench Life. In their partner groups, they designed and outlined their plans for the project. They completed their poems on Thursday. There is excitement in the air to get started on the models next week. Please read the email from Mr. Steve regarding materials needed for their 3d Models.
