Weekly Preview 4/15-4/19, 2013

It's hard to believe we're at the 3-week reporting period for the last quarter already... this year is flying by!  Here is what's happening in room 101 this week:

6th GOAL:  Students are working hard in literature circles.  They meet every day to discuss the reading and read again for the next day.  All books fall under the theme "Moral Dilemma."

7th GOAL:  Students are preparing sets and characters for their animated movies.  We start filming next week!

8th GOAL:  Students are conducting interviews, researching their topics, and finding pictures for their documentary films.  Next week we'll be writing and recording our scripts.

8th Critical Concepts:  Students are finishing up their financial literacy unit by talking about job applications and taxes withheld from paychecks.  On Friday we'll have a posttest for the whole unit.

Weekly Preview: 4/8-4/12, 2013

April Showers bring May flowers... we need to keep that in mind this week!  Here's what you can expect in room 101 this week:

6th GOAL:  Students will continue with literature circle discussions this week.  Their books all center around the theme "Moral Dilemma."

7th GOAL:  Students will be brainstorming ideas for their animated movies.  Filming will start next week.

8th GOAL:  Students will be finalizing topics for their documentary films.  They will be setting up the interviews they'll be filming, and they'll be starting research on their topics.

8th Critical Concepts:  Students will have a guest speaker this week.  Kyle Selberg from Cambridge Investment Research will be coming to discuss investments vs. spending.  For the rest of the week, students will be playing the Game of Life and documenting all their expenses and income.  After the game, we'll be talking about how different decisions affected the outcome of the game and how that compares to real life.

Make it a great week, everyone!

Stop-Animation Examples to Embed

Stop-Motion Examples to Embed

Weekly Preview: 4/1-4/5, 2013

Welcome back from Spring Break!  Here's what is happening in Miss Nelson's room this week:

6th GOAL:  As a follow-up to our Great Ocean Rescue collaborative activity, we'll be exploring more oceanography resources.

7th GOAL:  This week, students will start blogging on their very own blogs.  We will also look at new examples of stop-motion animation in preparation for our upcoming animated movies.

8th GOAL:  We'll start the week reflecting on the whole Images of Greatness project.  From there, we'll see some examples of documentary films and start brainstorming for our own documentary film projects.

8th Critical Concepts:  As part of our financial literacy unit, we're starting the week talking about change and how to count back change.  We'll end the week playing The Game of Life and documenting all our income and expenditures as we play.

Weekly Preview: 2/18-2/22, 2013

I hope all you students enjoyed your day off from school on Friday.  I enjoyed meeting many parents at conferences last week.  If you parents and guardians didn't get a chance to stop in, e-mail me at tena.nelson@fairfieldsfuture.org, and we can set something up.

Here's what is happening this week in room 101:

6th GOAL:  This is our final week of preparation before the Jefferson County Science Fair on Saturday, February, 23.  Display boards are due on Tuesday at the end of class, and we'll spend the rest of the week practicing our presentations and getting ready for judges' interviews.

7th GOAL:  Students will be working hard on National History Day projects this week.  We have websites, performances, documentaries, and exhibits all in the works.  History Day is one month from Tuesday, so the deadline is quickly approaching!

8th GOAL:  Students finished researching last week for Images of Greatness.  This week, they'll be taking all they've learned and writing a historical paper about their Image of Greatness.  Papers are due Friday.

8th Critical Concepts:  After taking a week off from career explorations to complete the Design-An-Ad for the Fairfield Ledger, students will be presenting their posters and career information to the class and then to another group of students in a career fair-type setting.

Also, don't forget to mark your calendars for this year's musical, The Little Mermaid, Jr.  It will be presented on February 28 & March 1 in the FMS Cafetorium at 7:00 pm.  Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for students, and activity passes will be accepted.  Bring the whole family to enjoy this fun show and to support the kids' hard work!

Career Information

Critical Concepts Students, you can use the following websites to help in your career exploration:

http://www.bls.gov/k12/
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/about/sources-of-career-information.htm
http://www.careeronestop.org/
http://www.collegegrad.com/careers
http://www.ams.org/careers/
http://www.careeroverview.com/
https://career.berkeley.edu/Infolab/CareerFields.stm

Weekly Preview: 1/27-2/1, 2013

It's January in Iowa, so that means crazy weather.  It's only Tuesday, and we've had an ice storm, dense fog, and a high of 65 degrees.  Tonight we're expecting 2-4 inches of snow.  It feels a little crazy in school too, so it's only fitting.  Here's the scoop for room 101 this week:

6th GOAL:  This week, we're learning how to graph data on Google docs, and we're going to be analyzing the results of our Science Fair experiments.  Experiments should have been done last week, but we have a few stragglers.  Get those experiments done so we can start getting the data ready for our display boards!

7th GOAL:  This week, we're up to our eyeballs in History Day research.  Friday is the last day we have a computer lab reserved for this, so extra work will need to be done at home to find enough resources to make a good History Day project.

8th GOAL:  This week, we're finishing the creation of 4-year plans for high school, and then we'll transition into researching for Images of Greatness.  Topics should be chosen by the end of this week.

8th Critical Concepts:  This week, we'll also be finishing 4-year plans, and then we'll move into an in-depth career exploration.  Students will becoming an expert on a career, and they'll be sharing what they learn in a project.

Weekly Preview: 1/21-1/25, 2013

I hope you were able to watch a little of the Inauguration footage today.  I showed a bit to my classes, and it makes me tear up every time I watch it.  So many people excited to be a part of history.. it makes me so proud.  Between that and remembering Martin Luther King Jr. today, I'm reminded of the very best of America. 

Here's the scoop in room 101 this week:

6th GOAL:  We're working hard on science fair projects this week.  Hypotheses were due today, and students should do their experiments this week.  In class, we're talking about how to professionally contact experts to get more background information, how to make and record good observations, and about how to document all the necessary information for our display boards.

7th GOAL:  We're finalizing History Day topics and working hard to research in the library.  We'll have two weeks of research before organizing our projects.  Titles of projects will have to be finalized by next week so we can get registered for the competition.

8th GOAL & 8th Critical Concepts:  We're working on our 4-year plans for high school, examining possible career choices and looking at how high school classes might lead us to those career goals.

Weekly Preview: 1/14-1/18, 2013

Happy New Year!  After a blogging hiatus, it's back to the trenches.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to keep this blog more accurate and updated.

6th GOAL:  We were happy to have two new students in our class today.  Welcome!  This week, we'll be finalizing topics, doing background research, locating experts, and developing hypotheses for our projects for the Jefferson County Science Fair. Upcoming weeks' Science Fair work will include: 1/21: Hypotheses due, do experiment, take pictures, consult experts; 1/28: Take photos record observations, make graphs, summarize results; 2/4: Finish experiments, complete charts, record all data, write conclusions (this week we'll be doing a lot of typing); 2/11: work on display boards; 2/19: display boards due, practice presentations; Saturday, February 23: SCIENCE FAIR!

7th GOAL:  We are just dipping our toes into our History Day projects.  This week, we'll be talking about primary resources, we'll be dissecting and analyzing the History Day rules, we'll be looking at project examples, and we'll be brainstorming possible topics for this year's theme: Turning Points in History.

8th GOAL & 8th Critical Concepts:  We are working with Project HOPE from the University of Iowa this week to explore Healthcare Career opportunities.  Next week, we'll start our 4-year plans for high school.

Weekly Preview: 10/22-10/26, 2012

I apologize for not updating in a couple of weeks.  Last week, Jennifer Mangler and I presented at the 2012 ITEC (Iowa Technology & Education) Conference in Des Moines.  I learned so much in two days.  It was a great conference.

This week marks the end of the quarter.  Where did it go?  We're busy in room 101 wrapping up first quarter business.

6th GOAL:  Students are finishing up their 2nd mock trial.  This one is a civil case instead of a criminal case.  The kids have learned a lot and are playing their parts well.  On Wednesday, independent reading contracts are due, and students will complete self-evaluations to assess their progress.  After our mock trial unit is finished, they will move on to independent research projects.

7th GOAL:  Students are in the middle of their literature circle unit.  They have daily discussions on a book that their group has chosen.  All the books tie to this year's theme of Culture Clash.  This will be the only time this year where GOAL students have daily homework.  On Wednesday, independent reading contracts are due, and students will complete self-evaluations to assess their progress.

8th GOAL:  Students are working hard on research for their independent research topics.  This is the time of year where they determine their own learning, investigating a topic that is a learning passion for them.  We have everything from geckos to the Manhattan project to Vera Wang.  I'm looking forward to seeing what they learn.  After we're done with library research this week, students will have a week to compile their projects, and then we'll take a week to present.

8th Critical Concepts:  Students are in the middle of presenting their How-To speeches.  They are doing a great job remembering all the parts of a speech and all the skills that go into good oral presentations.  We will hopefully finish up this week.