Friday, November 30, 2012

Friday, November 30

Hello, All!!!

Well, we made it to the weekend!  The students took the vocabulary quiz over atoms today.  Included in the quiz was an atom they had to label.  I put some extra credit at the end where they had to build an atom that was given to them from the periodic table.  Many students did very well with that.  I wanted to give you a heads up for next week.....

The kids are going to use their atom vocabulary terms to write a song on Monday.  Then, on Tuesday, they will be performing those songs.  My student teacher had let them hear the atom song that uses the Addams Family tune and the kids loved it!!!  I had let the kids hear a few other songs about atoms, too, using up-beat and peppy songs.  I thought the kids would get a kick out of doing that.

On Wednesday, they will reviewing for their test over atoms.  The test will be on Thursday and Friday.  The test is going to take two days because I am going to be using a different format than they are used to.  I was telling Mr. Lloyd about this computer tool I found that was so cool and so much fun to use!  I wanted to use it for a test, instead of typical paper and pencil test.  It is called glogster.  This is a program that lets students create posters.  My student teacher will have written up everything that she would have asked the students on a test and we will just have them put all that information into a poster.  The first day will be showing the kids how to use the program and getting started.  The second day will be more where the putting of the information will take place.  If we need to, I will let them use Monday to finish up.  Mr. Lloyd was very excited about it and wants to come up and take a look, when we get started with it next week.  I am very excited about it, too, and hope that the students enjoy taking a 'test' this way.

Have a super great weekend and I will talk to you again next week.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Wednesday, November 28

Hello!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  The kids came back and said that the break went by way too fast! ha! ha!  Of course I reminded them that Christmas break was coming up in three weeks and three days.  Sorry about that.  We are still working with atoms this week.  My student teacher is having them review the parts of the atom and how to build the elements from the periodic table.  On Friday, there will be a quiz over the 12 vocabulary words and the parts of the atom.  There will also be an extra credit part, where the students will be given an element from the periodic table and put into a model the correct number of protons, neutrons, and electrons.  They will use the information given from the periodic table to figure out these numbers.  I worked on this with them yesterday, because Miss McFarland was ill and left early.

Next week, we will be wrapping up atoms.  The students will be writing a song with the vocabulary words and the test will be at the end of the week.  Miss McFarland will be reviewing with them everything they need for the test.  She will tell them, next week, what they need to study from, so they can study at home.  I will give you more on that next week.  Well, that is about it for this week.  Until next week.........

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Tuesday, November 20

Hello, Everyone!!!

It is Thanksgiving week and the kids are really wired!  It is hard to keep them focused, but I think we have found a way to do it. Ms. McFarland, my student teacher, had them creating a model of the atom yesterday and today, we are in the computer lab.  The students have vocabulary terms on atoms and notes they have taken on atoms that they need to be going over every evening.  This is not information they can cram for in one evening and understand it for the test.  They have handouts with information, too, that they need to be reviewing.  They have looked at the orbits around the nucleus of the atom, what is in the nucleus, how to find how many protons and neutrons are in the nucleus and how many electrons are on each orbit around the nucleus.  The formula to find that number of electrons on each orbit is 2 (n - squared), where n represents the number of the orbit you are working with.  The students have worked with the atomic number and atomic mass, too.  These numbers help in finding the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons are in the elements.  They will be picking up with the computer activity from today on Monday, when we return from Thanksgiving break.  I will let you know next week what my student teacher has planned.  I hope everyone has a great and safe Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Friday, November 9

Wow!  What a week we have had!!!  We were not sure if our student teacher was going to be able to start on Monday or not, so our lesson plans were questionable.  Well, we found out that she had some family issues going on and would not be starting until next Monday, so I had to come up with something for the students to work on for the week.  I decided to have them complete a project on different forms of energy.  I gave each group a different energy form and had them complete 4 parts.  They had to tell me what their energy form is, how it is created (where it comes from), give me 3 examples, and then go through the energy transformations (changes) of those examples.  We put the information on photo story.  It is a computer tool that uses images and allows students to record their information, instead of standing in front of the class and telling them.  There is music that can be put to the images as well, if the students choose to put it in.

I was hoping to have these projects completed by the end of the week, so that we could show them, but we have had some computer issues and will not have them all finished.  Here is what I am going to do.  I have saved as many as I can to my flash drive.  The rest of them are saved to the student's name.  I am going to wait until my student teacher has completed her time here and then show the stories.  I don't think it will be a problem.  I really hated it that the computers have been such a pain this week for the kids.  They kept freezing up and not letting them get onto sites and this keeps them from completing the assignment.  When this happens, I have to make adjusts to my time schedule.  Things happen and we have to work with them.

My student teacher will be starting next week and she will be teaching them about atoms.  She will be going over the vocabulary with them and giving them the basic notes they will need first, just like I do.  We have found some activities for the kids to complete, as well.  I will let you know next week more about what we are doing.  Have a great weekend!!!!