Harper

Friday, January 29, 2010

Greetings:
This is just a quick addendum to the over all blog to make mention of a Homework Club that Mrs. Meyer and I offer. It is open for any 5th or 6th grade student and is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week. We let the club out at 4:15pm and escort the students to the parent pick up area which is located at the front of the building.

Thanks

Mr. Harper

These are the projects from hours 3 and 4.

European Colonies in the New World

Greetings:

We have wrapped up our look at the European settlement in the New World. The projects came out looking very nice. The students put quite a bit of hard work into them.

I am uploading a picutre of the word the students did in first hour. An accompanying post will have uploads of hours 3 and 4.

Best

Mr Harper

Friday, January 15, 2010

3rd Quarter

Greetings
I thought I might add to the blog that the 13 Colonies Flipbook Project is due this Monday, the 18th. We've worked on this for 30 to 45 minutes each day this week and have made books available for checkout for overnight, as well.

Seeing that we have a Monday due date, the final few minutes of our day today were used for book checkout. Each student was asked if a book was needed for the weekend. If the student deemed it necessary, a book number was written down and the book sent when we dismissed.

This is our first large project score for the third quarter and the students seemed to have enjoyed working through the material in this manner.

Thanks and if any questions arise please email at mharper@pleasanthillschools.com

Best

Mr. Harper

Monday, January 11, 2010

New Social Studies Project

In Social Studies we are engaging in an new unit on the English Colonies in the New World. We are including a foldable for our note taking and project focus. I am including a photo of the foldable for you. The accompanying photo is one with an example of the table that is to be filled out with all the pertinent information.

Planner / Homework

Bellwork is in Social Studies this week.

SS - We are working on the Causes of the Civil War.

Monday: Finish Notes on Causes Civil War

Tuesday: Go Over Notes / Start Time Lines

Wednesday: Time Lines

Thursday: People / Civil War

Friday: People of the Civil War

Science - We are going to be looking at Clouds and Weather.

Monday: Hour 1 - WS - HW
Hour 3 - Finished notes
Hour 4 - Start Notes

Tuesday: Hour 1 - Check WS
Hour 3 and 4 - Go Over notes / WS - HW

Wednesday: Go Over WS

Thursday: Clouds

Friday: Clouds

Bellwork is something we have in front of us in the beginning of each period. It is made up of review questions from previous units. It has the students engaged in an educational pursuit during the time when I am required to take attendance and other paperwork for the school. (Please see the following reference for more information - "How to Be an Effective Teacher" by Harry Wong, page 121, et al.) The Bellwork alternates from Science to Social Studies weekly.

Classroom Procedures

Sharing Subjects Procedures

Of a given day, we endeavor to split each period to include both Science and Social Studies. Times vary slightly, but are held as close to an even amount of time as possible, as per DESE. The only times when this may differ widely is when we are to incorporate DARE, Counseling, or Information Literacy classes into our timeframe. The planner entries will reflect this when it applies.

Textbook Checkout Procedures

I thought I would let everyone know how we handle the situation with Textbooks in Social Studies and Science.

In Science we actually check books out to individuals who are then responsible for keeping track of them throughout the school year. Periodically, we take a few minutes in a class to see if the books are, indeed, the correct ones. This also gives us a chance to implement a quick search of the room and desks for books that may have been misplaced or left behind.

In Social Studies, we implement a system to where an individual can check out a book for night. The individuals are asked to come in to check out a book at Team Time, which is right before the end of the day. In doing it this way, we are sure to protect instruction time in the core classes, as per administrative edict.
The individual, in checking out a book, is asked for the book number. The person's name is also recorded. That individual is then responsible for the book for the night.

Returned Papers Procedures

As papers are graded and entered into the computer, they are kept in a file, at my desk. On Fridays, as a part of our normal Bellwork time when the students are to AR read, the papers are passed back and are then to be taken home. This is done to maximize instructional time during the previous days of the week. It also helps to assure a minimum of interruption to our day's program and procedures.

Assignment Book Procedures

For the last 5 minutes or so of class each day we engage in a "Planner Time." During this time the studnets are asked to write the day's activities in their planners that are taken from the north maker board in the room. The planners are then signed by me or the team teacher in the room. The teachers also make note, in the planner, or any late or missing work as a means of communication with you at home. While we don't require that the planners be signed, we do strongly recommend refering to it nightly for information on homework and as a method of understanding what is happening in the classes.

Harper

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