October 25 - October 29

Media Literacy

All three grade levels have been hard at work at their internet research. Third grade is researching animals, writing down the site they found their information from, and what search engine they used to find the site. Fourth grade is evaluating web sites about sunken ships (i.e. Titanic, Edmund Fitzgerald, etc.). They must pick 2 web pages about their topic, writing down information on who created the site and what they say about the ship. They must then determine whether or not their site is a good overall resource about their topic. Fifth grade is also evaluating 2 web pages, but their topics are more difficult: topics such as Crop Circles and Bigfoot where it's more likely to find web sites with inaccurate information. The students are doing a fine job of determining which sites are credible, and which are not.

Moved to this week is the library call number review. Students were so busy in the lab last week that most classes didn't have a chance to get to the library. This review will help students to become more familiar with how the Call Numbers are sorted on books, with the intent that they can more easily find resources they are looking for in the future.

P.E.

Unfortunately, an out-of-order pole standard prevented us from playing 4-square volleyball last week, so most classes have finished with our volleyball unit. We will be able to revisit 4-square volleyball later in the year as a review activity when the pole standard is fixed.

For this week, students will be learning the 5 components of fitness: Cardio-respiratory Endurance, Muscular Endurance, Muscular Strength, Flexibility, and Body Composition. Then, students will have a chance to play various games and complete different activities that help to build their abilities in the different components. For example, a tag game helps to build Cardio-respiratory endurance, while tumbling activities can help with flexibility. In the near future, once students are familiar with the components, they will be taking a fitness test and setting a goal for a specific component. Then, near the end of the year they will be re-tested, and they can see how much they have improved in their goal area.