Friday, April 15, 2011

4th Grade - The word of the day was Transpire. Transpire means to happen; to become known and sounds like Vampire. John Glenn was the pilgrim of the day. In 1962, John Glenn made the first man made orbit of the earth from space. He went into space again at the age of 78. Quizzles were the warm up puzzle for the day. For more puzzles like the one we did today, go to http://www.puzzles.com/projects/AllLogicProblems.html. Logic puzzles are also a great test practice skill. They teach students to look for problems, search clues, put clues together and draw a conclusion. The Exploration lesson had students completing an experiment to understand Tectonic plates. Students completed the afternoon by researching information from the final clue sent by the CSI team. When we return to Enrichment after testing, students should be able to locate their missing family. 5th Grade - The word of the day was Parapet. A parapet is a low wall or railing and sounds like Pair of Pets. Anton Leeuwenhoek was the pilgrim of the day. Mr. Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch storekeeper who didn't want to keep a store. He enjoyed making lenses in order to study everything he could. People thought he was crazy, but his lenses led to the development of the microscope. Unfortunately, he didn't share his lenses with anyone and it would be another hundred years before the first really useful microscope was created. The SOS lesson had students searching the 4th clue provided by the CSI team to find their lost family. Once state testing is complete, students should be able to find their lost families. Students ended the day by completing an experiment that helped them gain an understanding of Tectonic plates. There was a little confusion about an icecream party for the 5th grade. With the extra time, we designed methods of crowd control that wouldn't harm people.