Read/discuss information about Botswana - a dry country in South Africa. It is sparsely populated. The sale of diamonds, copper, coal, and millions of beef cattle raised every year largely support its relatively small population. Watch videos of the village life there (videos by students who volunteer to work there during their summers). Devon is learning about this part of Africa since she will be going there in a few weeks. The videos were very enlightening.
Fast Forward1
Reading - continue reading/discussing orally "Lafff" a science fiction story - briefly summarize the beginning of the story read yesterday, then finish story and answer comprehension questions. Devon was not familiar with science fiction stories...but she really enjoyed this one. Good session
Vocabulary - review unit 21 words - give definition of each word and use in a meaningful sentence - quiz tomorrow.
In the editing phase of our claymation project we reviewed our camera work from Monday. We listed all images that required some photoshop work (to hide wires, or remove unwanted items that ended up on the image. Devon quickly completed the photoshop repairs. We then noticed that several shots had a lighter exposure than others. I was unable to explain how that happened, but we separated the images that were too light - and Devon created a repair action in photoshop, and we programed a batch repair. This took the remainder of our class time - however we had some more detailed repair work still to do in our next class.
Devon and I had not had a dedicated class to science since before Earth day, so today we returned to our unit on the Brain and nervous system. I asked if she was aware of the two hemispheres of the brain, and she did admit to hearing something about that, but unsure what it meant. So we divided some activities into those that are more logical, and those that are more creative - and I explained how one half the brain is more involved with each activity than the other. I then explained that each hemisphere has four sections, that relate to different aspects of perception. We had a detailed conversation about how a single activity could be both logical and creative - and how the different perception areas relate to these aspects of our lives. We ended the class with a bit about the areas of the brain that are basic and control functions that are neither creative or logical, such as growth. Devon was interested in how these areas are in different animals, so we investigated some examples of animals using their brain functions, including an elephant dancing to jazz, and a chimpanzee investigating a dead frog - both showing how their mammalian brain is much like our own.
Review: (continued) Devon did a great job with her review, multiplying and dividing decimals, solving simply equations, and arranging decimals in order from least to greatest. Great job Devon.
Fast Forward
Reading - introduce vocabulary - glumly, tinkering, honorable, formally, destination, immigrated, unsteady, and fidget - then read/discuss orally "Lafff" - a science fiction story about a family who immigrated from China. Devon had a good session.
Writing - finish writing ballad; type final copy (include picture), and table of contents.
Vocabulary - review unit 21 words - unruly, nimble, solitude, armada, fruitful, robust, facade, occupant, awe, and summit. Quiz on Thursday. Devon did very well today. She will put her poetry booklet together on Thursday…she has done a great job!
