Carson completed the lab "Power Up" which experimented with how to make an electric current stronger. He recorded his data and answered the follow-up questions.
Carson completed the Electric Forces quiz. We went over the correct answers. He completed Lesson 3 Launch "Plugging In" which brainstormed how electric charges light a bulb. He built a simple circuit in the Encounter the Phenomenon "How does a circuit make a light bulb light?" He diagrammed his circuit in his workbook. He used the interactive "Simple Circuits" to complete a model circuit. He completed the lab "Lighten Up" which experimented with building circuits using a battery and paper clips to light one and two light bulbs, respectively. He recorded his observations and diagrammed his circuits in the workbook.
Today Carson and I met on Teams. We did a lesson review on properties of exponents. I showed Carson a problem from yesterday where the problem required using multiple exponent properties to simplify. Carson attempted the problem first, but had some gaps in his understanding. So we decided to scaffold the concepts. I had him grab a pen and paper and set up a box with the titles: properties, Definition, and Examples. We went through the properties together. For example Multiplication, x^a*x^b=x^(a+b), then we did an example 3^4*3^6=3^7. We discussed the properties division, power rule, and negative exponent. We did examples of each pausing to ask Carson to make sure he was following along and understanding. Once we wrote down all of the properties, we went back to the problems to put the properties to use. We will review this more tomorrow.
We continued working on the body of Carson's argumentative essay . I provided instruction on how to insert commentary that ties the evidence to his claim after which Carson completed the first body paragraph. Next, we examined how to incorporate and acknowledge the opposing claims using words such as "while, although, and however." Referring to an essay in the Lit book,Carson drafted a second body paragraph that addressed and then distinguished an opposing view thereby questioning its validity and strengthening the essay thesis..
Today he started to work on chapter 8. In this chapter, he will learn about emotions. He completed activities 1.2 and 1.3, adding new vocabulary to his notebook.
Carson analyzed the diagram of electrical conduction. He read the passage "How It Works: Van de Graaff Generator" and I asked comprehension questions. He researched how to build a DIY Van de Graaff generator, diagrammed it, summarized his findings, and presented it to me.
Over the next weeks ,Carson will be developing writing skills geared toward completing an argumentative essay, an informative essay, and last, a business plan. Today, we reviewed
Carson's outline for his argumentative essay on technology. I discussed the essay's organization, as well as elements to introduce into the first paragraph. We then examined the source material in the Lit book that can serve as evidence as well as the source of an interesting idea or statistic to use in the opening sentence. Carson then began drafting the body of his essay based on class discussion. He is doing well and understands the organizational techniques we have been studying.
