Monday, March 23, 2015

"Thirst drove me to the water where I drank the moon's reflection." ~Rami


Midnight Moon

Ahhh, that crazy moon. It is the thing of poems. . .and eclipses.

On March 20, 2015, people from all over the world flocked to Svalbard, Norway, an archipelago about 500 miles north of the mainland, and the remote Faroe Islands, about 186 miles north of Scotland and 370 miles west of Norway, to witness something extraordinary -- a "supermoon total eclipse," which coincided with the spring equinox -- a rare occurrence that won't happen again until 2034. 

If you read last week's blog, you probably knew I'd want to share this, right?
Just do me a favor--
Check this out before viewing the eclipse video so that you'll understand what you're seeing. . . 
  1. As the moon's irregular shape nearly covers the sun, look for something called the "The 'Baily's Beads Effect' at positions of around 9 and 11 o'clock. These look like dots of light around the disc of the moon's shadow.  They are simply  "beads" of brilliant sunlight shining through in some places and not in others
A really spectacular visual phenomenon that occurs during a total solar eclipse is called "The 'Diamond Ring Effect'.  It's part of Baily's Beads. When only one “bead” is visible, you'll briefly see something that resembles a diamond ring. This is caused by the sun's corona layer (creating the ring part) and a dazzling dot of its photoshpere shining at the edge.


Now, this will amaze you! Out of the total blackness of the eclipse, the sun's Corona -- the outer atmosphere of the Sun -- will become visible. Normally we can't  see the corona because of the brilliance of the sun. A total eclipse, when the moon's shadow completely covers the sun's surface, provides us with a brief, rare glimpse of the solar atmosphere.  Watch for an amazing display once the eclipse is total (around 1.24).


Now that you know what to look for,
Be Ready to be Amazed!

 


OUR GUIDE FOR THE WEEK OF
MARCH 23-27

Oh, and by the way,

LANGUAGE ARTS

This week we're going to continue our discussion (See the March 9-13) about the value of MISTAKES in learning. Let's start with a brief video; do you recognize this guy? Listen to what he has to say.



The Real Work 
by Wendell Berry
It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

Monday:  20-word GIST  of above poem. (Another great GIST resource can be found  HERE)

Tuesday:  Question of the day:  Do you think everyone is born with a certain amount of intelligence -- you're either smart or you're not -- and that's the way it is? Let's begin our inquiry by gathering some information. Today, you'll complete a "Mindset" Survey. You'll create your own Mindset Profile and reflect a bit by answering Question 4 at the bottom of page 12.Resources found HERE.




Wednesday:  Using THIS handout, you'll continue writing summaries of sorts, utilizing both sides of your wonderful brains. 


Are you "growing" like grass, or can
you only hold so much, like the glass?


Thursday:  What is the difference between "literal" and "figurative" language?

Take a piece of 9" X 12" art paper and fold it down the middle. Title the LEFT side, "This Is Your Brain When It's Not Learning." Title the RIGHT side, "This Is Your Brain When It's Learning." Now be your wonderful, creative selves draw figurative interpretations of these statements. (Remember to use borders for your work.)


Friday:  No class.  We're stimulating our dendrites at VUHS this morning.

SOMETHING AMAZING TO SEE. . .



Check HERE for some fascinating facts about your brain!

Has your BRAIN made the connection, yet?  If you have a growth mindset and understand that you possess the ability to learn and improve, you are more apt to welcome challenges.  If you have a fixed mindset, on the other hand, you will likely have an aversion to challenges simply because of the potential for failure they may create.   

Carol Dewck, a Stanford University Professor has devoted her life to researching "the power of believing that you can improve." She gave an example of students who made vast improvements on their test scores once they learned about growth mindset: “This happened because the meaning of effort and difficulty were transformed. Before, effort and difficulty made them feel dumb, made them feel like giving up, but now, effort and difficulty, that’s when their neurons are making new connections, stronger connections. That’s when they’re getting smarter.”



 



SBAC PRACTICE
Monday, Tuesday, Thurday (2:00 to 2:50) 




SOCIAL STUDIES
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME:
COMPARISONS & CONTRIBUTIONS
(Patience, please: a work in progress. . .) 
  • Monday:  3-Part Assignment: Ancient Greece:Geographic Setting (4 constructed responses); "Where in Ancient Greece?" map activity; label & color a map  Due Thursday. 
  • Tuesday:  Click on THIS link to complete an Ancient Greece Webquest.
  • Wednesday:  No school this afternoon (1/2 day inservice)
  • Thursday: Life in Ancient Greece (It's all Greek to me!)
  • Friday: Finish up Webquest and other Greece activities.
JUST FOR FUN!
HORRIBLE HISTORIES--GROOVY GREEKS






MATH


Monday:  Review and Redo Chapter 5 Test
Tuesday:  Converting Units of Length - SUCH a good lesson/discussion/practice time using the 2 videos. No assignment.
Wednesday: Converting Units of Length -  pages 221-222 & 6.1
Thursday: Converting Units of Capacity - pages 225-226 & 6.2
Friday: Going to the Thee-ah-tah.  Shall not have Math today.


A Really Simple Way To Do Unit Conversions



Different Approach, Same Result! 
(Great lesson/practice)


READING 


Why can't you skip your 20 minutes of reading tonight?  Look HERE to find out!

important:  Reading is going to look much different now as we move into the 3rd trimester and increased classes in both Science and Social Studies. Expect that your independent Reading requirements will continue and that occasional work will be sent home for homework. 





 UNIT 14 
TEST FRIDAY


PLEASE READ:

On Friday, March 20.  I attended another in a series of UDL (Universal Design for Learning) Conferences.

UDL is a framework  for providing flexible curricula and instruction that is engaging and accessible for all learners. I was reminded of these interesting statistics and wanted to share them with you. 













Language Arts Lessons derived from http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ & Brainology--www.brainology.us
If You're Here...  Hunters. . . Punctuation Saves Lives  Egyptian grammar  Grow Your Intelligence Worksheet  Calvin & Hobbs  Writing image