Weekly Memo (December 2-6)
They All Died— But That’s Not Necessarily So Bad
Well, our redworm habitat experiment was a bust. A major one. We made the habitats on a Monday, and by the following Wednesday, they were all dead. By Friday, they smelled awful and we paid our last respects before sending them to the great compost pile on the other side of town.
Most classrooms would call it a bust and move on, but not us. Instead, we wanted to know why the little guys didn’t make it, and then developed a plan to see if we could do better a second time around. After finding an article about vermicomposting, we analyzed how we did in these four critical areas:
- Moisture
- Temperature
- Air Circulation
- Food
With a solid evaluation of our first go round, today we developed a hypothesis for Redworm Habitat Experiment Take Two and are giving it another shot.
Will it work this time? Will the redworms make it?
I don’t know, but that’s the fun of learning, right?
Isn’t that what science experiments are supposed to be all about?
Having a hypothesis and a lab design, and then observing to see if it’s correct?
It was disappointing when our first redworms didn’t make it, but it wasn’t necessarily so bad because now we get to learn through our own failures, and that’s really the best way to learn.
What We’re Learning This Week (if all goes as planned)
I’ll mark each thing we get finished, and you can check back each day to see what we were able to get accomplished (and what we didn’t quite make it to).
Monday (Computers; PE)
- Bible
- Journal ✓
- Memory Verse Practice ✓
- The Tabernacle ✓
- English
- Daily Language Review Week 14 (Monday and Tuesday)✓
- Courage Draft #3 (hopefully, the final one!) ✓
- Math
- Grade Lesson 45 ✓
- Pre-Test ✓
- Science
- Decomposition and Redworm Habitat Lab Take Two ✓
- Spelling
- List 16 (pp. 78-79) ✓
- Reading
- Independent Reading (100,000 AR Words due December 19) ✓
Tuesday (Field Trip to Harding University 8:30-2:30)
- Bible
- English
- Math
- Science
- Redworm Habitat Observation
- Spelling
- Reading
- Independent Reading (100,000 AR Words due December 19)
Wednesday (Computers; Music)
- Bible
- Journal
- Memory Verse Practice
- Moses Test Review
- English
- Daily Language Review Week 14
- Adjectives Review
- Diagramming Practice
- Math
- Test (Lessons 1-45)
- Science
- Redworm Habitat Observation
- Recycling
- Spelling
- List 16 (p. 80)
- Reading
- Journeys story— "Storm Chasers"
- Focus: Historical Nonfiction
- Independent Reading (100,000 AR Words due December 19)
Thursday (Art; Computers; Track Attack)
- Bible
- Test over Moses
- English
- Daily Language Review Week 14
- Adjectives Review
- Math
- Go over Test
- Investigation
- Science
- Redworm Habitat Observation
- Food & Nutrients
- Spelling
- List 16 Pre-Test
- Reading
- Journeys story— "Everglades Forever"
- Independent Reading (100,000 AR Words due December 19)
Friday (Book Buddies; Library)
- Bible
- Joshua and Caleb are Faithful
- Memory Verse Test
- English
- Daily Language Review Week 14
- Adjective & Diagramming Practice
- Math
- Lesson 46
- Science
- Food & Nutrients
- Spelling
- List 16 Test (if necessary)
- Reading
- Vocabulary & Comprehension Quizzes
- Independent Reading (100,000 AR Words due December 19)
This Week’s Memory Verse
"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go."
Joshua 1:7
This Week’s Spelling List
- Printable List— Download PDF
List 16 (p. 78)
- mailbox
- nearby
- into
- sometimes
- sunset
- anything
- daylight
- something
- haircut
- notebook
- earthquake
- hideout
- textbook
- volleyball
- horseback
- handwriting
- kickstand
- rattlesnake
- fireplace
- housework
This Week’s Tests & Quizzes
- Wednesday
- Math Test (Lessons 1-45)
- Thursday
- Spelling Pre-Test
- Bible Test (Moses)
- Friday
- Spelling Test (if necessary)
- Journeys Comprehension & Vocabulary Quizzes
- Bible Memory Verse Test
Upcoming Projects
- 2nd Nine Weeks AR Guidelines (100,000 words by December 19)— Download PDF
Chapel This Week (note changes in red below)
Monday
- Song-- Gus
- Song-- Connor
- Song-- Hayden
- Prayer-- Jude
- Scripture Reading-- Aidan
- Pledge/Patriotic Song-- Ella & Elizabeth
Tuesday
- Song-- Jonah
- Song-- Luke
- Prayer-- Robert
- Scripture Reading-- Carson
- Pledge/Patriotic Song-- Aster & Micah
Wednesday
- Song-- Gus
- Song-- Leo
- Prayer-- Austin
- Scripture Reading-- Hayden
- Pledge/Patriotic Song-- Kaylin & Abby
Thursday
- Song-- Carson
- Song-- Robert
- Prayer-- Jonah
- Scripture Reading-- Connor
- Pledge/Patriotic Song-- Sterling & Karsen
Friday
- Song-- Aidan
- Song-- Austin
- Song-- Jude
- Prayer-- Leo
- Scripture Reading-- Luke
- Pledge/Patriotic Song-- Stella & Lily
Safety Patrol Rotation
Important Dates & Upcoming Events
- Monday, December 2-Friday, December 6— 5th Grade Chapel Week
- Tuesday, December 3
- Field Trip to Harding University (Harding Holiday Band)
- Dress Code: Students should wear their purple CAC field trip polos
- Depart at 8:30 AM (after chapel)
- Return at 2:30 PM
- Destination: Harding University (Searcy, AR)
- Transportation: Bus
- Lunch: Harding Cafeteria ($7.00 will be drafted from FACTS account around December 3)
- Thursday, December 5
- Track Attack at the Secondary Campus
- Dress Code: Students may wear spiritwear - long shorts or nylon/sweatpants & a CAC t-shirt.
- Depart at 11:55 AM
- Return at 2:45 PM
- Destination: Secondary Campus
- Transportation: Bus
- Lunch: Students will eat lunch at PV campus prior to leaving to attack the track.
- Friday, December 6
- Final Day for Coupon Books Sales
Resource of the Week
Helpful Links
Classroom Resource Page (for class schedule, safety patrol rotation, textbooks, etc.)
Google Classroom (students may access this from their Google drive account)
Class ShowMe Page (video tutorials)