Yesterday, we stopped for a moment and talked a bit about why were doing some certain things in class: specifically, the way we are approaching some of the texts. One of the most difficult challenges we will face is learning to read and interpret non-fiction tests appropriately. When we are reading, and asking questions, and recording citations, and discussing the material, the intent is not to waste time. The intent is not to write down some set number of questions. The goal is to understand the text more completely, to engage with it and ask important questions to clarify our understanding.
Ideally, we should be looking at high levels of engagement, because overall this skill is a critical one for overall success. (We also did stop to talk about engagement and what we want to look for in classrooms. )
Remember, in science we also need to work on setting up for Science Fair: next Tuesday (11/4) a few things are due. (Exactly what is due differs slightly if it is an engineering project.) You must have your:
- Topic
- Hypothesis (or Problem Statement)
- Identify independent, dependent and controlled variables (or the design requirements.)
- list the required materials and amounts.
- Have a detailed procedure for how to set up and run the experiment (or build and test the engineering project.)
In social studies, we were able to exchange papers in most classes and read through the Birth of Christianity CAR responses to analyze what kinds of papers or responses are higher quality work, and how they're distinct from others. We'll talk about that more on Monday.
moving_matter_handout.docx |