WRAPPING UP MARKING PERIOD 1
I hope your child has had a chance to catch his or her breath this past week (and this three-day weekend). The first marking period has been a whirlwind, to be sure! We spent this past week in class having students stand up and share the purpose, procedures, results, and applications of the journal article they selected way back in September. Across the board, these students have done an amazing job wading through very challenging technical vocabulary, analyzing very complicated mathematical results, and summarizing their articles both in writing and by speaking. Every single one of them should feel very accomplished! Reading our textbook a few pages at a time this week as we move into Chemistry should seem easy compared to what I asked them to do in September! If your child has any missing assignments (NS) or is planning to retake our first Common Unit Assessment (Unit 1 Exam) or is planning to resubmit any project documents or lab questions for a higher grade, he or she has until my deadline of Wednesday, October 28, at 3:10 p.m. to submit work for the 1st quarter. As I told the kids all last week, I intentionally gave them no extra homework either last week or over this long weekend so that they could focus on tying up any loose ends from MP1. We did not learn any new content this past week, other than what we learned from each other by sharing our scientific research summaries. If there are any grades with which you or your child are not satisfied at this point, those items should be resubmitted by Wednesday. The students received a rubric containing detailed feedback for all project phases that should assist them in perfecting their work. Missing assignments or homework assignments should be in their binders or can be found on Schoology in the Unit 1 folder. MOVING FORWARD What lies ahead this week, as we start (at least as far as grading is concerned) the 2nd Marking Period?
What should you be seeing at home? I will not be assigning another project for awhile - like December or January. The next project will not be nearly as heavy in terms of the research or the time students will have to spend reading and writing. Starting Wednesday of this week, however, your child is going to have nightly reading assignments for class. As I mentioned above, we take Chapter 2 in two or three page increments, so that we have time to digest all of the delicious vocabulary that our textbook authors (Michael, David, and Sophia - your kids love them!) throw at us. In some cases, this means that I am going to be checking their notes to see that they're including definitions and examples of new vocabulary terms. In other cases, I have comprehension questions for them to answer in advance of class. They should use these questions to guide their reading and help them identify the most important information they should be picking out of the text. I will attach our schedule for Section 2.1 (the next two weeks of class) to an email containing the link to this post. As I have said before, I believe one of my most important jobs as your child's Foundations of Science teacher is to provide just that - a foundation for all of their future science classes, both at Ephrata High School and beyond. That makes me more than a science teacher! To me, this means that I need them to internalize the most essential vocabulary from chemistry, physics, and ecology. This also means that I want to help them grow in their ability to organize information, read academic texts, and write scientific explanations. Foundations of Science is a very challenging course for all students. I am so proud of your child's hard work this marking period and for the way he or she has demonstrated a growth mindset by accepting my feedback, doing extra practice, and doing things a second or third time to get them right. It's going to be a great year . . . and the fun is finally beginning! |
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