Book Reports Start Tonight! Due Next Wednesday!

Hi there. I had a meeting right after school, so I apologize for this being late.

EQ day 2 was even better than day one! They are really starting to click with making great choices. Yay!

The highlight of today was science! We finally learned HOW a hurricane was formed. In order to show kids how hot air rises and cold air sinks we did a quick little experiment. I had boiled some water on a hot plate. I then took an empty water bottle filled with air. :0) (So I guess it wasn't empty now was it?) I then put a balloon over the mouth of the water bottle. When I held the water bottle over the hot water, the air in the bottle rose and made the balloon stand up and fill with air. When I moved it away from the water, the balloon collapsed again, showing that cold air is heavier than warm air. This was so important to understand when figuring out how a hurricane forms. Then, we went into thermal energy (heat we get from the sun) and how it warms the water at the equator. Thus, the hot air rises at a rapid rate and cold air rushes in, heats quickly, goes up, more cold air, and so on. The moving of hot air up and cold air in creates the wind. The quickness of this is what causes the layers of clouds in a hurricane to stack up. Add in the rotation of the Earth, and there you have a pretty good chance for a hurricane to form. So the big million dollar question…How does a hurricane form? The million dollar answer: Thermal heat convection along with Earth's rotation. Wowzers! Ask your kiddo about the two youtube videos we watched today. One was where we flew into a hurricane with the USAF hurricane hunters and the other was a day by day time lapse of Hurricane Katrina. Yikes!!! I think kids think hurricanes are just a bunch wind like we get here sometimes. Now, I think they understand that it is beyond the regular wind and rain storm. The after pictures really brought it home. If your child can tell you about either video, write HUNTER in the planner for $10.

We took our NWEA Map test in reading today. I will text you your child's score tonight. This one I have data on.

Score below 179: Far below grade level
Score below 191: Below grade level
Score between 191-209: On grade level
Score above 209: Above grade level: advanced learner

Three kiddos rushed through the test today (and by rushing I mean they did 43 reading problems within 15  minutes when their classmates were only on problem 11). Those that did this got the joy of taking the test twice today. Two rushed again. One improved. I can't stress enough that doing our very best on EVERY assignment, test or simple worksheet, is imperative. Without it, kids will test  with inaccurate scores and will be inappropriately placed in learning leveled groups that are too low for them. This is a waste of my time and a waste of the kids that really do need my attention at that level. I don't put a ton of stress on kids testing, but when they just pretend to care instead of actually caring that is where I become frustrated. And why rush??? All they got to do was sit there until everyone else finished. I am hoping to see high EQ from all students on the math test tomorrow. BELIEVE!!!

Homework tonight is part one of the School Themed Book Report. I went over each part in detail with the kids today before they left. They know what parts they need to do, and they know they need to spend time and put in effort. Neatness and effort will be part of the grade. Here are my examples. At the end of four days doing this (Today, Tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday) for homework, kids will tape all four parts together and create a final poster to turn in on Wednesday. They will also have to turn in their book so I can review it when I grade it. Please note that the character quote should come exactly from the book and quotation marks should be used. Also the drawing should come from a picture in the text or a description from the author.



Kids also have a cursive homework sheet tonight. Those that get it signed by you earn $10 tomorrow.

I think that about does it for tonight. Have a wonderfully high pressured evening with NO chance of a Hurricane for Montana in the forecast! Hee Hee! (Yes, I am well aware that I am a weather dork!)

Mrs. Grewell