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Mrs.
Baggett's PEP News
For Fourth Quarter
The PEPpers will be spending their last nine weeks on two mini science units. The first will be "Matter" and then on to "Simple Machines". During the first unit, students will conduct numerous experiments to compare various forms of matter. When learning about simple machines, students will create a new machine that will make their life easier.
A great book for the Matter unit is
The Atoms Family by J.M. Patten, Ed.D. Additional information can
be discovered on the web at
http://education.jlab.org Mrs.
Haywood's Third Grade News
For Fourth Quarter
Third grade EXTEND students are beginning their fourth and final unit, "Taking Care of Business". During this history/social science-based unit, students will be involved in a government and economic simulation where they form their own "mini-society". This adventure will involve creating a county: complete with a name, government, businesses, currency, taxes, and jobs. Each session will be centered around an economics lesson- exploring topics such as the Federal Reserve System, philanthropy, marketing, investments, and (most importantly!) money management. They will also explore several local civics topics as their society forms its government. Students can learn more about money by reading The Kid's Guide to Money by Steve Otfinoski or The Story of Money by Betsy Maestro. Students may also want to check out http://www.kids.gov/k_money.htm which contains links to over 20 other sites where students can learn about money and banking. Mrs. Schwalenberg's Fourth and Fifth Grade NewsIn the unit "Whodunit?", Mrs. Schwalenberg's students are put on their Sherlock Holmes hat, don their tweeds, and think like super sleuths! This unit combines the elements of mystery, scientific investigation, reading, writing, and logic all in one. Because the mystery is layered and complex, as most mysteries are, the "detectives" have to look beyond the obvious and come up with more complicated solutions that could involve conspiracies, deceptions, and even conniving schemes. Students examine a "crime scene" and conduct hands-on forensics tests on the evidence found at the "crime scene" to help solve the mystery. In the end, each one will have to personally decide WHO was responsible for the CRIME! If your novice detective is looking for a little more training, www.kids.mysterynet.com is a good place to go on the web, and Chasing Vermeer, The House of Dies Drear, and The Westing Game are all good mysteries for fourth grade detectives!
Ms. Beazlie's Fifth Grade News For Fourth Quarter "Insect Island" is a simulation that allows the students to become true scientists as they work to investigate the mysterious reports from an island about beetles as large as twenty-one centimeters. Research teams will complete scientific investigations each week to determine if in fact, twenty-one centimeter beetles could exist on Insect Island. Student teams will then have to make a recommendation to the Minister of Agriculture based on these investigations. For more information on insects, students can visit www.earthlife.net/insects/six.html or take a look at Insects: the e- guide series by David Burnie. Ms.
Bockrath's Fifth Grade News
For Fourth Quarter
For
the fourth nine weeks, fifth graders will take a journey, “Out of
This
World”. This literature based unit will allow students to delve
into
science-fiction through various short stories and excerpts from
science-fiction
novels. The students will then "re-locate" to a new
planet and they will create an existence on that planet through creative
projects.
Students might want to check out the
following website for interesting sci-fi information. http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/pages/scifizone/bookarchive.asp Suggested readings include books by Lois
Lowry, Ray Bradbury, as well as The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, and Foundation
by Isaac Asimov.
Ms.
Beazlie's Middle School News
For Fourth Quarter
During the fourth quarter, middle school EXTEND students will explore communication styles from the past and present. Students will investigate Shakespeare and his plays and sonnets, work with a performer from Young Audiences on writing different pieces of poetry and finish the quarter with a communications writing project and presentation. For more information on Shakespeare and poetry, students can visit http://adifferentplace.org/poetry.htm or take a look at Shakespeare for Kids: His Life and Times: 21 Activities by Margie Blumberg and Colleen Aagesen. |