Weekly Update

Reading
In reading we have been reading the giver and looking at elements of a story. Them, Power Imbalance, Setting, Mood & Tone. We have read both All Summer in a Day by Neil Gaiman and read about half of the Giver by Lois Lowry. Both have these been used to talk about elements of fantasy/distopia and we have written quite a bit about both. Investigating central ideas and theme's of literature.

Social Studies
We watched the following video and are getting ready for looking at American colonization.
Native America before European Colonization

Science
We did our last experiment in our stream tables this week. Student's conducted experiments to test their own experimental question. These ranged from, "What is the effect of the state (ice) of water on erosion and deposition" to "What is the effect of obstacles on erosion and deposition?" and much much more. The students had a great time conduction their experiments and are writing up conclusions to go along with them.

That will conclude our land and water unit and when we get back we will be doing a short, two week unit on space. Looking briefly into seasons and gravity.

Weekly Update

Science
This week in science we ran our last set experiment on our water tables. Using grass seeds to model trees and scrubs we saw the effect of vegetation on erosion and deposition. Next week we answer our own experimental questions about streams and every group is different. Ask your student what their experimental question is and how they think it models something in the real world.

Science Update

We have been working with our stream tables to investigate erosion and deposition for a while now and we are getting to the point where we are designing our own investigation. I am very excited to see the questions they have come up with in action. We will be doing those last investigations next week and the following week. After that I will be packing up the science kits to go back and we will start a short unit on space.

Ask your student what their question is and how they are going to prepare their stream table. They are looking forward to the chance to design and run their own tests. Also ask them how erosion effect the surface of the Earth. They should be able to go into great detail about the water cycle, erosion and deposition and the components of soil.

Have a great weekend.

Shakespeare Details

Shakespeare performances are happening in one month! The students are so excited to show you their excellent work.  Please note the dates and times for all classes below.

We prefer parents to come to the evening shows (the theater is reserved just for parents on those nights), however, you are also welcome to come to a matinee.  Just let Ms Savage know if you're going to do that and how many guests.

All shows are in The Little Theater located in the building behind the school (sort of behind the big auditorium).  The best way to access the theater is from 43rd Street.

Students will need to arrive at the theater by 6:15pm in order to warm up and change into costume.  The show will run about one hour with no intermission.

Thursday Dec 10

10am Savage Homeroom 

2pm Hill Homeroom   

Monday Dec 14

10am Savage Homeroom  

2pm Hill Homeroom 

7pm Savage Homeroom

Tuesday Dec 15

7pm Hill Homeroom  

Wednesday Dec 16

2pm Underdahl

7pm Underdahl

Thursday Dec 17

2pm Underdahl

Volunteer Needs

I would love to have several volunteers from each class to help with the show.
Here's what I need:

-Greeters and ushers (two or more people to give out programs and tell people where to go night of show)

-Kid water/snack manager (make sure kids have access to water and provide take away snack for after--in goody bag preferably)

-Photographer (someone to take still photos during dress rehearsal)

-Videographer (If we happen to have parents who can do a good taping of the shows, then I might cancel the professionals so we can do this for free)

Please email Ms. Savage if you would like to volunteer. ejsavage@seattleschools.org

Update

Conferences

If you haven't had a chance to sign up for conferences, here is the link http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0f4da9ab2ea7fb6-2015. There are still some spots left. I also wanted to encourage you to bring your child because I think it is good to involve them in these things and they will have a good insight into what we are learning. If there are some concerns that you would rather not share in front of them, we can make time during the conference, that they can sit in the hall and read.

Math

This week in math students learned to add and subtract fractions. This was a review for some but was complicated by the new negative numbers information that was put into play! Next week we will work with mixed numbers before moving on to multiplication and division.

Reading

Students are enjoying their work with science fiction! We have looked at setting and how characters respond to setting. They are starting to look at theme and common character types in fantasy literature.

Science

We are still working with our stream tables but have begun to think of our own scientific questions. This week, students will formalize their group question and write a procedure for it. I have already heard some great ideas and I look forward to seeing them in action.

Writing
This week in writing we continued our exploration of poetry.  The students are working on creating a poetry anthology of their own writing which is due Nov 16.  This is an in-class writing assignment.  My goal is for them to complete the whole thing at school.  However, there may be students who want or need to work on it at home.  However, it should be student only work.  We are continuing to work on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the students are really outstanding.  I’ve booked a professional company to video tape the shows.  They DVDs cost $35 each.  I need to estimate whether it’s worth it for them to come by finding out how many of you might order the DVD.  They need a total of 35 orders (over three classes) for them to come.  They do any amazing job with professional sound equipment, etc.  It’s an awesome keepsake of hard work.