Stuart's Samurai - Monday October 2, 2006

Kenny's back! Kenny's back! After being out sick last week, I now have my buddy to sing with and say the pledge with during morning announcements. Glad to have you at my side again. (I have no idea what the Ohio State flag is doing in the picture :-)

READING
To your Baffle Stations! Students worked in flexible small groups on different tasks. At the Samurai Skill Center we worked on two main skills that are "baffling" some students. The first group worked on Word Meaning & Context Clues. The second group attacked Main Idea & Supporting Details. We went over incorrect answers on the assessment and why. Each group was then given a packet to take home and work on. Tomorrow we will go over this packet and then reassess this skill. The goal is to show proficiency in this skill and move on, having the ability to now do what they couldn't do the day before!



SOCIAL STUDIES
We interpreted data using a blank world map. Students practiced identifying where the dots were by trying to name the country it was in. Congratulations to the group "Pretty Committee" for naming the most countries. This group consists of Devan, Summer, Mahrukh, Serena, and Brianna.



MATH
We went over the Unit 3 review sheet. Any highlighted problems means he or she is still having trouble on this type of problem. Serena made the wonderful suggestion of making up your own problems and trying to solve them. It is this type of Doing Big (taking responsibility for one's own learning) that allows someone to Be Big.


Ask your child to explain how he or she knows any straight line has an angle measurement of 180 degrees (i.e. two right angles = 180, a circle is 360 degrees, so half of a circle is 180). They should also be able to explain and demonstrate why every triangle consists of 180 degrees (by opening or unfolding the triangle into a straight angle). Ask them how I and some other students demonstrated this using a stapler and a plastic spoon.



SCIENCE
Testing was done today on Unit 10. Thank you Amanda. The review cards you made over the weekend were a great way to quiz us as we came back from specials.


Nick, I liked how you went throught the line twice on your own just so you could get that extra review. That's the "fire in the belly" I've been talking about. As Ovid said 2,000 years ago, "The gods favor the bold." Both you and Amanda showed your boldness.