Friday, August 27, 2010

Just a Quick Update

Hi Class and Parents!

I just wanted to remind all of my students that you DO NOT have math homework this weekend, but you DO have a science project due on Tuesday. Make sure you make a travel brochure and a poster with all the correct information (climate, ecosystem, animals, plants, food chain, landforms, what countries have that ecosystem). Your presentations will be during science on Tuesday.

You DO NOT have school on Monday.

You have a half day on Wednesday because of the musical. On Wednesday, you need to be at the theater at 5:00 PM--NOT 6:30 like the circular said. There will be a route to pick you up.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Social Studies Homework

In social studies class we are going to learn the countries in North America and Central America.

There are three main countries in "North America." They are Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico. See the map below.

There are three important bodies of water: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. The Caribbean Sea is also very important. It is part of the Gulf of Mexico.

Central America is between North America and South America. There are also many islands in the Caribbean Sea. We will learn those later.


Homework... Answer the questions below.
1. What is the capital of the USA?
2. What is the capital of Canada?
3. What is the capital of Mexico?
4. What large island country in the Caribbean Sea is south of Florida?
5. What country in Central America borders Colombia?
6. What countries border Mexico?
7. Which countries in North and Central America touch both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean?
8. Which country only touches the Pacific Ocean?

Please write these answers down in your social studies notebook and bring them to class tomorrow.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Writing Fiction: Your Assignment

Hey students! I just wanted to write a quick post to help you with your language arts assignment.

First of all, your rough draft is due on Monday. If you finish it early, I can look at it on Friday and try to help you with corrections. The rough draft needs to be AT LEAST 4 pages long in your notebook. You should have a beginning, middle, and end. You should have characters with names. Your characters should have feelings. They should talk.

Pretend you are writing a story that you are going to read to the kids in Little School or second grade. It needs to be interesting!

Remember that your story should read like a real story, like a book. It should not be a summary. It should not be confusing. To make it easier, try reading a book right before you start writing. That will help you create the right "sound" to your writing.

Also, you should make your plot very interesting. It should all fit together. The problem at the beginning of the story should be the problem that is fixed at the end. There should only be one problem. If you write a long story and the main problem is about a fifth grade teacher who can't speak Spanish, at the end of the story the teacher needs to speak Spanish. That should be the most important part of the story. How did she learn Spanish? What were her problems while she was learning? What was hard? What was the biggest problem? How do we know she spoke Spanish at the end? How did she feel she reached her goal?

Make sure you don't add unnecessary details, like the name of the main character's best friend's sister's cousin's dog. No one cares.

Also, focus on time and setting. Because we have to write stories that are about the 15 year anniversary of Liceo Pino Verde OR the 200 year anniversary of Colombia's independence, parts of the story will need to be true. For example, you can't write a story about Colombia's independence, but have Colombia get independence in 1998. That won't make sense, because then Colombia has only had independence for 12 years, not 200!

Make sure you are using your best grammar, spelling, and words. You should use perfect English, but next week we will fix any grammar problems you have. Right now, I just want you to write the best story ever.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Answers to Cell Review



Please look above... you need to know everything except lysosomes.

1. A cell is the building block of life. Cells are the smallest unit of life. Some animals and plants can be uni-cellular--made of only one cell. Other cells that make bigger plants and animals (like us), attach to each other and build animals or plants by joining each other.

2. The two types of cells are plant cells and animal cells.

3. See the picture above so you know what parts to label. You need to label a plant cell. You should know these parts: cell wall, cell membrane, vacuole, ribosome, nucleus, nucleolus, chloroplasts, endoplasmic recticulum, golgi apparatus, cytoplasm, and mitochondria.

4. Here are what the parts do:
Cell wall: Protects the cell and gives the cell and plant structure
vacuole: Stores water and helps give the cell shape
nucleus and nucleolus: Holds DNA information and directs and manages the cell. (It tells the cell what to do.)
chloroplasts: where photosynthesis occurs
ribosomes: hold protein in the cell
mitochondria: supplies energy for the cell

Quiz over Cells, TOMORROW!!!

You need to know...

1. What is a cell?

2. What are the two main types of cells?

3. You need to label a plant cell. You should know these parts: cell wall, cell membrane, vacuole, ribosome, nucleus, nucleolus, chloroplasts, endoplasmic recticulum, golgi apparatus, cytoplasm, and mitochondria.

4. You should know what the cell wall, vacuole, nucleus and nucleolus, chloroplasts, ribosomes, and mitochondria do.

(I will post the answers to these questions at 7:00 p.m.)