Weekly blog - a little belated

Final Countdown for Research Papers - DUE THURS.

We are in the last days of research papers.  Student had their first drafts returned on Thursday or Friday and have been making revisions to content.  Today they worked on proofreading and checking for use of topic/concluding sentences.  Tomorrow they will polish drafts and begin to revise outlines so the content matches the order of details in the outline.  Wednesday is our "finishing touches" day.  ALL PAPERS ARE DUE THURSDAY in a clear report cover.  Students should turn in their first draft for comparison and any printouts of web resources.

Our six week research unit has allowed us to learn many things about research and organizing information.  We also are becoming more skilled at computer skills.  The purple folders the students have been using contain wonderful tips for writing future papers (such as a Social studies essay or a poet project bibiliography).  Students have been encouraged to hang on to these.

GRADES?  The bulk of the points for daily work has been for completion of steps in the writing process and showing progression in the structure of the paper.  Quality of content will be assessed in the final paper.  Mr. Braddy will be grading the content and I will look at the writing/grammar.  The final paper counts as a TEST grade in SCIENCE and ENGLISH.

Sharing God's Love - Fitness Testing with the 1st Graders

Last Monday we were asked to help the first graders with their physical fitness testing.  This is the first time the younger ones have ever done testing.  I was so proud of the 6th graders for their words of encouragement, smiles, hugs, and hive fives they gave our 1st grade friends.

Meeting our partners

Sit and reach

Down time led to wonderful cup-stacking towers

Hanging out - waiting for the next group

Counting curl-ups  21....22....23

Earth Day Clean-Up

As a culmination of our pollution unit, students used our S.S. periods today to walk the campus and clean up trash.  It was interesting to compare what may have been dumped (purposefully or accidentally) and what may have blown in (compared to the transboundary pollution examples we studied.)  God gave us a beautiful dry day for the clean up and we rejoice in helping care for His creation.