Tech Day

We had a very busy day today in Room 137! We had a full class for the first time in a while, as all my students seem to have successfully fought off a wicked flu that was going around. We focused very heavily on math today, with a particular eye on modelling subtraction of decimals. This was a good activity using tile blocks, the SmartBoard and written answers.

We also had a researcher from MUN come in to observe our use of technology in class, which was interesting. She had lots of good questions, and will be offering some feedback down the line to help improve my procedures and use of technology in class. We did an activity to follow up on last night's Question du Jour, which asked the students to make observations and pose questions about our hockey pool. On that note, Sid the Kid's triumphant return has shaken up our pool greatly. I feel as though my chances are now circling the drain....

We looked at the story of The Prodigal Son in religion class today, and talked about how this parable and many others in religious and secular traditions talk about forgiveness, reconciliation and justice. Tonight's Question du Jour asks a hypothetical moral question, and I have asked students to consider the story and reflect on how they would act.

We will be starting to read Number the Stars in the next week, as a guided reading/response activity. We introduced this book yesterday with an activity that had students respond to the cover and back jacket of the book. The class seems very into the process of response to reading, and I hope to use this interest to help increase the enjoyment and depth of their own independent reading. Today we had a "practice session", as I walked them through the process of guided reading with a chapter from one of my favourite books called Maniac Magee. I was very impressed with their work, and I think that reading Number the Stars will be a very fruitful exercise. As always, I encourage parents to discuss their child's reading with them and encourage them to ask questions and look into their reading with ever-increasing depth.

The first reporting period is over, and I am very happy with where my students are in their progress. I look forward to seeing all the parents/guardians of my class in the following couple of week, and will be more than happy to meet with you whenever/wherever if you have any questions or concerns.

Back from the Mainland

After a lovely few days visiting my grandparents in Ontario, I'm back in class. It seems as though the class didn't miss a beat, left in the capable hands of Ms. Bishop. They continued to move along in the curriculum over the 3 days I was absent, and completed some important evaluation pieces in the meantime.
Our Social Studies projects are now completely finished, and students are most of the way through a cumulative health project. This project has them creating a mobile that reflects themselves in a variety of ways past, present and future. Students have shown some ingenious ways of demonstrating their interests, strengths, weaknesses and relationships through text, visuals and other media.
Today's Question du Jour is about what we are doing in Math. To help comprehension, it is in English with a supporting video on KidBlog. I would encourage all students to take a look at this video again, as we will be applying the principles therein to decimal subtraction tomorrow. I also told students that we will be using their french reading material in class tomorrow, so it was crucial to read in French tonight.
I don't have much more to add right now. I'm wading through the things the kids did while I was away, and finishing up my first term reports (if you can believe it). Parent-teacher meetings are coming up in a few weeks, so in preparation we will be doing some introspection activities in class to encourage the students to reflect on their learning and set goals for the rest of the year. Some of these activities will be take-home projects, so expect to see them popping up in the next couple of weeks.

What a big day!

Today marked the conclusion of two big projects we have been working on over the last while. Students presented their projects about John Guy and the Beothuks, and they also wrote their science test. I feel that both went very well, and showed just how much they have learned, experienced and accomplished since the beginning of the year.

Much like the Becoming an Expert projects that some students completed last year, the social studies projects were a very wide-ranging, exhaustive study. They required students to work in gradual steps, with a focus on being thorough and maintaining a clarity in their work. They had to create their project within the parameters laid out by Mme Curtis and I, while making their own decisions along the way.

The bulk of the material the students drew from as they completed their projects was taken from folders of information that were created by the class last month. These folders covered a variety of topics, and were 100% student-generated. We feel as though this clearly showed students that research is a worthwhile process with very tangible results. It also meant that every student was included (in a way) in everybody's project.

The end result was a wide array of projects that covered many topics related to our study of colonial and pre-colonial Newfoundland and Labrador. It was interesting to see how the information was interpreted by students. The interpretations were a reflection of their own tastes and abilities, the medium we chose for them to present in, and the interactions between group members. Even though current wisdom suggests that this hands-on method is a very good way to teach, I am always amazed by how much students are able to retain after going through an experience like this.

The students in my class seemed very comfortable with their science tests, which I was happy to see. The format of the test was very open-ended, with no matching, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks or definitions. All 6 questions were somewhat open-ended, with a focus on letting students show what they have learned. It was great to see so many students taking this as an opportunity to give great explanations and details on a variety of topics (and including personal anecdotes and examples from class as well). Due to the amount of material we covered and the nature of the questions I asked, these tests will not be returned until Wednesday.

We have our Remembrance Day assembly on Thursday, as marked on the November calendar. There will be a more detailed note going home prior to the big day, which will have more detail about timing (1:30pm) and what else needs to be done. As always, I encourage parents to come along if possible. The kids love to see you there, and they have some very heart-felt things prepared.

Tonight's homework is related to Remembrance Day. We received a mail out from the Department of Veterans Affairs that contained some great bilingual resources, which we will be using throughout this week (and perhaps beyond). I have ask students to read at least 2 articles in a newspaper that I sent them home with, of which at least one must be French. It is important that they complete this work, since we will be using what they have read tomorrow in class.

Typing Tutor

For those that are taking my typing classes, here is a link to purchase the typing tutor we will be using. It is also possible to borrow it from me to install, but that will take a couple of weeks to get a copy to everybody.

http://www.amazon.com/Mavis-Beacon-Teaches-Typing-18/dp/B0014ZQMXO

Tomorrow may be a letdown...

Today the class enjoyed the spoils of victory. The main feature was a pizza party, which was "payment" for a successful KidBlog assignment in October. The kids had a great time, I think. We also redeemed our reward for our successful 20 minute run, which was 1 free hour of gym. We were one of two classes in the school that accomplished this lofty goal as a whole class. I was very impressed by the achievement, as was Ms. Tapper.

We concluded our Science review and worked on some written and oral responses to math questions about our hockey pool. This afternoon, we finished up our Beothuk projects for presentation tomorrow. Should be a good time! Mme Curtis and I are both very happy with the results.

Tomorrow will be back to the grindstone a bit, since Day 7 has no gym or music class and we have lots to accomplish. On that note, have a great night and talk to you all tomorrow.

Post coming soon

Typing and a few other things ran late, so check back for a post after 8pm please.

A big day tomorrow!

As the title leads you to believe, tomorrow will be lots of fun in Room 137. I sent home a science study guide for students to complete to the best of their ability (using their text and notes), which we will complete and correct tomorrow. We are also going to be finishing up our Beothuk/John Guy projects to present on Friday! I think there's something else....

OH YEAH! IT'S PIZZA PYJAMA PARTY THURSDAY!!!!

As a reward for completing a task on KidBlog earlier in October, students will be enjoying a Pizza/Pyjama Party tomorrow. They have been working very hard lately, and I think this is good timing. The class also has music and gym tomorrow, so it's shaping up to be a pretty exciting Thursday.

In terms of the science review, my expectation is that students will define, respond to and diagram the things I have asked them to. They had time today to create notes on some key points, and they have their texts at home as well. All of the answers are found in the text, in images, and in the glossary at the back of the book. We also went through a sample test in English today, to familiarize students with the material a bit more and practice our test-taking skills.



See? Everybody likes to read. Turns out
Darth was his father after all.

 It seems that most students are reading nightly, but I can't overstress how important it is to keep this up. I would suggest changing up the type of reading students are doing, and monitoring their understanding and enjoyment. If you feel I have misjudged their level of understanding or interest with a certain selection, please let me know so I can help them find something more appropriate. Some strategies you might try at home are:

• Reading aloud, or taking turns
• Reading your child a book before bed or when waiting for something else
• Encouraging your child to look up things that interest them in a book or on the web
• Taking trips to the library to change up books frequently and explore different types of text (comics, novels, picture books, etc.)
• Discuss things you have read or heard, or things that your child brings up.
• Refer to things I have mentioned on the blog, or encourage them to show you some of their favourite posts from KidBlog.

Believe it or not, there are only 3 lessons left in this chapter of math. my hope is to test this chapter before my reports are due on November 18th, and then focus more heavily on problem solving for a week or two. That being said, things change all the time and we never know for sure what will be coming up the next week. I will keep you up to date, and please encourage your child to tell me when they are having trouble with anything in math or other subjects.

I sent home a memo about my typing classes today, outlining what days they will be offered in November. Even if your child will not be able to participate (or is not interested, which is fine), there is an option to bring home a CD-ROM  and install the typing program I will be using in class. It went very well yesterday, and I will continue it as long as it seems beneficial.

Have a great evening, and talk to you all soon.

A day of moving and shaking

I feel like today was a very constructive day in Room 137. We got some great work done in math, everybody is pretty much up to speed on assignments and projects, and the fact that they were still coming down off their sugar high meant that everybody was very docile.

There are a few things for homework tonight, as I am trying to make sure some key concepts and processes hit home. There is a math question to answer on KidBlog, I assigned words of the week to help with math and science learning/review, and there are a few messages as well. I was very happy with the results of last night's "Halloween Math" homework.

I will be sending home a science review package tomorrow, which will focus on putting things we have learned into practice. This unit has been very hands-on and focused on experiential learning, but Mme Curtis and I feel that it is necessary to test students' knowledge of the basic concepts, terms and processes as well. Students will be tested on their knowledge of the effects of the sun, the nature of climate and weather in general, clouds, and a few other terms related to the water cycle and atmosphere. It will not be an overwhelming amount of material to know, but students will be expected to prepare using their guide.

I promised students a pizza party earlier in October, when a critical mass of them answered a question on KidBlog correctly. The toppings will be picked by those that took the time to answer the question, and we will have the party on Thursday. Students will not need to pack a lunch on this day, and we will also be doing some other fun things.

Our classes will be presenting their Beothuk/John Guy-themed projects on Friday. We are very happy with the progress and results of this project. It will be an important building block to more independent, ambitious projects over the rest of the year. If you are interested, the projects will be on display on Friday after school (except those which are performances). Videos, pictures and websites will be linked on KidBlog.

Have a great evening, and let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If you wish to follow the progress of my Movember moustache, check out mobro.co/MrPaterson. mobro.co/MrPaterson

A chilly Halloween

I will keep today's post brief, since I sent home a long email today with many details that I would have otherwise posted here. I will take this space (and time) to talk a bit more about some things we are doing in class over the next couple of weeks.

Health is one of the oft-forgotten subjects, overshadowed by its siblings Language Arts, Math and Science. However, I believe it is of increasing importance as students move into Grade Five and beyond. This unit in health talks about interpersonal relationships, and proper ways to give and receive compliments and criticism. I have been talking about this at length with the class, and it will be an integral part of a project they will be doing in about a week from now.

In math we are moving right along with decimals, specifically the rounding, addition and subtraction of units, tenths, hundredths and thousandths. For those who have time, it is always worth practicing math on the sites linked on the right sidebar (over there -------->). I know it's Halloween, but I also assigned homework tonight that will ask students to use numbers from their trick-or-treating to solve a problem.

I am participating in Movember, an international movement to increase awareness of men's health issues and raise money for cancer research. I will be talking about this in class, as we address ideas about voluntarism, community involvement and social action. If you want to track my progress, go to mobro.co/MrPaterson. Should be fun!

We have a science test next Monday. Hooray!! I will be sending home a study guide this week, so no need to panic on the home front. We will start moving along more quickly in science as we finish up our busy unit in social studies.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Until next time!

Friday, Friday!

Have a great weekend.

Now to make up our minds... Front seat or back seat? Here's a favourite from last year, a song that was voted "Worst Ever" by my Grade 4 class.

Hallowe'en Fair tomorrow!

I don't have much to post today, just to remind parents that tomorrow is our annual Hallowe'en Fair and mention tonight's homework. Students who did not finish a second draft of a project we're working on are tasked with finishing it tonight, and I have asked them to read aloud again.

Tomorrow we will be participating in the usual Hallowe'en madness, with some fun in-class activities as well. I'm sure that I will see many of you around. I would suggest that students bring their bookbags and lunchbags as they normally would, since I will have things to assign for next week and they will be exchanging books, etc. Students should also bring along a few dollars if they plan on buying any snacks or playing games (like the cakewalk). That being said, I will have some treats of my own to share with the class and students can bring their own treats as well.

Have a good rainy evening, and talk to you all soon. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Things are getting a bit spooky...

I hope everybody had a great day yesterday! The kids certainly had a few stories to tell about what they had gotten up to, and seemed quite....shall we say... energized after their day off. I had a great professional development day, guided by two French program directors from Eastern School District. They introduced us to and familiarized us with two programs that I know plan to use at some point this year. One of them takes our KidBlog projects to a next level (voice recording), and the other allows students to create their own storybooks online. Both are easy-to-use, secure sites that will offer plenty of opportunity for students to share their ideas and knowledge in a fun, interactive way.

I will not be introducing these sites just yet, but here are the addresses if you are interested in checking them out:

http://voicethread.com

http://www.storyjumper.com

A couple of notes went home today, so please check you children's bookbags just in case things got forgotten. There is a reminder about the Halloween Fair on Friday, specifically the Sock Hop in the afternoon.

We are moving along with decimals in Math, specifically using money to communicate and practice some core  concepts. I sent home a sheet at the beginning of the year with ideas for helping support math learning at home, and one of them was to involve your child in discussions about money and prompting them to help calculate, count, estimate and handle money. I would suggest this as a technique now more than ever, since it will help familiarize them with what we are doing in class. This can include shopping excursions, ordering things online, counting out lunch money, etc.

Mrs. Fillier gave a presentation to the students in my class today. She spoke about a a trip she took to Boyd's Cove, and shared a number of slides, artifacts and pieces of information about the Beothuk people and her experiences there. Students took notes, and will be expected to post a few sentences tonight on KidBlog about what they found to be interesting. As always, writing it down in their Question du Jour books is also an option.

Tonight I have asked students to read aloud to somebody else. We had a read-aloud exercise today in class that went very well, so I want students to reflect on what we learned today and practice their read-aloud skills at home. They can read in English or in French, and can read to a parent, their cat, the stove, whoever! The important thing is that they practice their reading strategies (pronunciation, voice, volume, etc.). We will be going over their experiences tomorrow.

If there are any parents who would like to volunteer for the Halloween Fair on Friday, please let me know. Have a great evening and try not to get too wet tomorrow!

Onward toward colonialism!

Tomorrow we head off to Cupids, to see the archaeological dig and interpretation center. It is a great experience for the kids to have, and will be invaluable when they are working on their final project in the upcoming week or two. I don't have many more notes for today, but here are a few details.

We have moved on to Addition/Subtraction in math. There were a few memories to be jogged, but the class seems to be pretty up-to-speed with the concepts and processes we will be using. In the coming weeks I will put up links on this blog that will offer practice opportunities and fun games on this theme. One major way we will be teaching the addition and subtraction of decimals will be with money. This lends itself well to a number of fun games and activities, with our current favourite being a whole-classroom store that students have to select from to spend a fixed amount of money.

I have to leave school early today, so please check bookbags for a note I sent home with additional information. Wish me luck for tomorrow!

What a commotion

Today was our school's Healthy Commotion day. It is a day when students are encouraged to reflect on practices that help them stay healthy, and participate in a variety of healthy living-themed activities. Today many students brought extra-healthy snacks (which we compared and sampled), and spent the afternoon engaging in trivia games and a lengthy period of dancing/walking/running around the school. Our class made a great effort, and they all kept moving for twenty full minutes of intense activity. Way to go!

We will be touching on topics about healthy living throughout the year. It comes up in our health and art curricula, and it is also something I will be personally focusing on in a variety of my in-class activities. The class already seems to be very conscious of things they can do to stay active, and most are participants in martial arts, hockey, dance or some other activity.

Our next unit in math is Addition/Subtraction, but I am taking a few classes to touch on some other interesting topics. The first was patterns, which we explored using several techniques. One way is by starting a pattern or writing numbers following some rule (adding 1, going in a circle, etc.), and then trying to pick out patterns that emerge without even trying. Another way was by starting some repeating geometric or mathematical sequences, then looking at what characteristics they share.

The second topic I touched on was graphing. Today we started a graph in each student's math book that will help them track their team's progress in our hockey pool. This is just the first such activity we will be doing with graphs; as I type, Mme Curtis is developing a graphing project to go with our weather observation data that was collected last month. If you (or your child) are ever looking for more fun games/activities to explore math at home via doodling, solving puzzles or creating questions for the class, please let me know and I can direct you to some relevant websites.

We received a very interesting package from The Rooms today, containing 40 prints from their permanent collection. It includes well-known works from artists like Mary Pratt, Gerry Squires and David Blackwood, as well as more contemporary pieces and some beautiful aboriginal art. We did an art-response activity, and I have assigned another small activity on KidBlog as well. I was impressed by the how in depth students got into their work, and how profound many of their observations were.

Students' work on their Social Studies projects (The Colonization of Newfoundland/The Beothuks) is continuing at a good pace. They have begun to work on their projects, and will have some homework relating to the project over the next week. We will send home more detail as it becomes necessary to do so.

Some housekeeping notes before I sign off:

• "Family Night" at the book fair is on Monday, October 17th. Please note that this is different from the previously announced date.
• We will be going to Cupids this Friday, but students will be able to take buses as they normally would to and from school. We have enough volunteers, so thanks to all who responded.
• Some students in Band and Strings will start bringing home extra work at night to make up for missed time in class. If this causes any issues, please let me know so I can make arrangements.
• Tutoring for Tuition is starting up again soon, so please let me know if you are interested in your child  participating. I am also considering starting a typing program if people are interested, so please let me know.

Have a great evening, talk to you all soon.

A short (but busy) week in Room 137

Sorry for another short post; things have been very busy in my family over the past few days, but I will be back to long-form, daily blogging tomorrow. For today, just a few pertinent notes.

• I gave back students' math tests today. I was very happy with their performance, and I think they were quite happy with the results as well. Mme Curtis sent home her tests with a rubric attached, and while I did not send one home I am happy to supply more specific detail if it is required.
• We are looking for a couple of volunteers to accompany us to Cupids on Friday, so please let me know on the form I sent home if you are available.
• Tomorrow we are having a healthy living day. This involves exercise and hopefully healthy (or healthier) eating as well. I have encouraged students to make a special effort to choose healthy options for their lunches tomorrow, and I will bring in a few things for them to try as well.

Thanks for all your help; I will post a longer entry tomorrow when time permits!

A mighty wind is blowing...

Today was blustery, inside AND outside the classroom! A fair bit of time was taken up with the Sweat-a-Thon assembly, and a fire drill interrupted our Hockey Pool draft in the afternoon. We finished up our work with decimals, and students had 1/2 hour to work on their practice test. I will update more later, but a few notes for now:

• Students must finish their practice tests tonight. This test follows the exact same format as tomorrow's test, so if students feel comfortable with this material they will do just fine. If your child has trouble with a question, please look through their DuoTang de Maths with them (or their exercise book), and find other examples that mirror those on their test.
• I will help students with any remaining questions they have in the morning. However, I am disappointed when students ask how to do something, but haven't done any workings in an effort to solve it themselves.
• 8 students successfully answered the question I posted on KidBlog yesterday. This meets my requirement for the activity, and therefore students will get a pizza party before the end of October. Good job, everybody!
• The school raised nearly $20,000 in the Sweat-a-Thon. This will be a great help in our fundraising efforts, and I wholeheartedly appreciate the huge effort you all made to help us out.
• Tomorrow I will be assigning new "Words of the Week", as well as giving out a new book and testing students on the book they read this week. We will also continue working on our Social Studies project and have our Math test in the afternoon.

Today's Hockey Pool draft was lots of fun! The kids picked their respective teams, and I created them online. Students can now go look at this pool, which will update daily.

The address is www.onlinepools.com
The username is 143530
The password is Paterson

Have fun! I will be upgrading to a Premium package tonight, which will allow even more features within the next week. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

October is here with a vengeance!

We're really moving along this week, easing into new routines and getting used to new responsibilities in class. I have reminded students once again to make sure they check their schedules at home to know what they are responsible for each day, since it makes things move so much more smoothly.

First off, a bit of fun as we head in to fall. My wife posted this on her blog this morning, and I had to repost. The original can be found at modelcitizensvintage.blogspot.com, and here is the video:



Ah, the Swedish Chef. Never gets old.

Back to real things! We are having our math test on Friday, not Thursday. This will allow time on Thursday for a practice quiz (in the same format as the "real" test on Friday). I am happy with students' progress, and I stressed to them today that their best means of studying is to PRACTICEPRACTICEPRACTICE. This can be done by re-doing questions on their review sheets, visiting sites that I have posted for them to visit in the past few weeks, or having a family member write out other example questions for them to solve.

Students were split into groups of 3-5 today to begin working on their project that will draw our unit on the Beothuk and early Newfoundland colonization to a close. Students were given a medium to use (Video, diorama, written text, etc.) and were asked to think it over at home tomorrow and come back with some ideas on Thursday. They will be given ample time to complete these projects in school over the next 2 weeks, but several students have already asked to work on them at home.

We had lots of fun in Art class today. I taught students a few doodling techniques that reflect some mathematical theories related to patterns, graphing and other concepts. Perhaps your child can show you the theory of what we did, and if not here is a video that has a humorous explanation of some of the techniques.



The class is full of energy these days, so I have had to ask them to remember our rules about taking turns and taking care of our own business first. I am excited to see the enthusiasm, but feel free to reiterate my desire to have students stay in control of themselves at all times and focus on the task at hand.

On another fun note, we will be having our 2011-2012 NHL fantasy draft tomorrow. This was a great way to get students interested in numbers, data management, and a variety of other topics last year. This year we are using an online pool that will reduce the amount of work involved, as well as smaller rosters. We will use this data for a variety of things in class throughout the year, and many students enjoy the competitive spirit of the activity. Even if students are not interested in hockey, I will help them pick a team and they will be able to follow along throughout the year. Mme Curtis' class will also be participating in a similar pool. Today I sent home a cheat sheet for students to look over if they are interested. These are pre-draft rankings to help students think about who they would like to pick.

Enough for today! Havve a great evening and let me know if you have any questions. Keep an eye on KidBlog tomorrow afternoon!

Another interesting video and a new link

Last year in Grade 4, we spoke at length about different ways of producing light. Students found out about how light can come from the sun, from a burning substance and from electrical devices to name a few. It was a very hands-on, interesting unit that students enjoyed very much. More than any of these ways of producing light, students were fascinated to learn about bioluminescence.

This is a phenomenon wherein light is generated chemically by living things. The most easily-relatable example would be the Angler Fish, aka "the one with the glowing thing on its head that almost ate Nemo". Plankton can also show bioluminescence, and can make water glow brightly when they are disturbed at night. I found this link on a teachers' resource site, and was amazed by what it showed.

During a time of high plankton levels (a Red Tide), surfers spent the night riding waves filled with bioluminescent creatures. The results are.... well, I'll let you see. Click on Full Screen to get the full effect! Remember that there is almost no artificial light, just plankton!

 
Red Tide Surfing San Diego 2011 Bioluminescence from Loghan Call on Vimeo.

I was amazed by the range of colours! As promised, here is another curriculum-related link. This link goes to a game that will help refresh some of the knowledge your child acquired last year about mapping. It is quite simple, but has some good reminders and is very interactive.

http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/toolsforadventure/games/adventure.html

It pays to become a noun!

Wanna Live Forever? Become A Noun from NPR on Vimeo.

Weekend Update

Happy weekend, everybody! Hope you're all enjoying this unexpectedly sunny fall day, and on a weekend no less! Hopefully this isn't just the calm before the storm (uh-oh, Ophelia), but let's enjoy it while we can.

As our first month has now come to an end, I'm reflecting on some of the things we have done so far. Lots of projects, some fun role-playing and plenty of writing projects so far with lots more in the pipeline! I'm very happy with how homework is going, and students are more and more prepared for work every day.

Things are getting very busy now with the onset of Intramural sports, Prefecting, Band, Strings, Environmental team and other activities, our days are now very full. This means added expectations on students to be organized, on-time and informed about what is going on in class to make sure they don't fall behind or miss out on things. I will be making an even greater effort now to let parents and students know about things ahead of time, so work can be started on early. Especially when students have busy home lives/practices/rehearsals etc., I don't want to heap any surprises on you.

The students' use of KidBlog has been very impressive so far. I like the initiative I am seeing, and I am happy with student's efforts in French. Students have been informed that they can post any homework they want on KidBlog (it's a great way to share and archive their work), and likewise they can create any "KidBlog assignments" with pen and paper if they would prefer.

Our Beothuk-themed Drama in Education project is ticking along very well. The classes (mine and Mme Curtis') split into groups this week to brainstorm, pose questions about, and think of presentation ideas for a number of topics. These included language, interactions with Europeans, transportation, housing and other topics. On Monday we will split into different groups (a technique called Jigsawing) to start working on projects that use all the information they have generated so far. The focus will now shift to online research, discussion and the creation of a final project.

I will post some links tomorrow, so check back. Have fun in the sun for as long as it lasts, and maybe suggest that your child check out this link to keep tabs on our next big weather concern:

http://www.stormpulse.com/