Stuart's Samurai Warriors - Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Last night in one of my graduate classes I was taught a valuable insight. Working on intellectual wealth (IW) is more important to the future of our country than intellectual quotient (IQ). The book "The World is Flat" questions our ability to maintain our position in the world, especially since 9-11.

It created many questions that ran around in my head as I listened to my professor. Can a young man or woman enter the world with marketable skills? Can they compete against and cooperate with a world-wide pool of talent? Are they more than just smart? Can they think and solve problems? Are they independent of needing a boss and capable of motivating themselves internally?

The answer to all these questions for me.....can they do it in my class?



READING
The morning journal work ("What I want to learn today") was taken to a new level by each student writing down the skills where they are Samurai Masters (competent) or Samurai Warriors (deficient). While I worked with the warriors having trouble with the skill of main idea, the masters in this skill worked on the areas where they are warriors. Only once did I have to ask a couple of students to get back on task.

Results of the Samurai Skill Center (where I work with a handful of students):



Yesterday: Context Clues:
Before: 67% average (7 students)
After: 98% average (5 students)
All 5 students reassessed showing proficiency in determining word meaning from context clues (2 were not available)


Today: Main IDea:
Before: 46% (8 students)
After: 83% (8 students)
All but 2 students showing proficiency in determing the main idea of a passage.

Homework:
1. Practice Book pages 139-141, 146 & 150 should be completed by now at home if they weren't able to do them in class
2. Have them read "Paul Revere" and work on their skill sets (i.e. cause and effect) in the process (i.e. write down three cause & effect relationships from the story)
3. Vocabulary they should become familar with:
ewers, porringers, congregation, colonies, coattails, engraved, portraits, bookplates, doodling, taxes, liberty, oppose, cargo, express, sentries, Patriot, dispatched, steeple, transport, spurs, petticoat, overtake, galloped, volley, green, lines, succession, militia, foundry, sheathing




SOCIAL STUDIES
Students worked on their History on Parade PowerPoint presentation. They are to write it in the first-person, as if they are the famous person they are writing about; just like future students will write about them!

MATH
Unit 3 test taken today. I feel good about it. After they finished they were to look in my data book and write down the math skill areas in which they need to be a warrior.




SCIENCE
Reflection time. Ask your child how they feel their recycled paper project turned out. Why do they think this way (explain)? How do they know this (justify their explanation)?





Homework: If it hasn't been done already, Workbook page 110A needs to be completed. This is based off of pages 343-347 in the textbook

I saw this on Dallas' shirt the other day: "The words 'home' and 'work' should NEVER be put together." Does this then mean that "school" and "play" shouldn't be put together either?