Mr. Joe's Class MBM: March 2014

Sorry for not updating sooner, but I have been busy with the birth of my first child.
Jameson was born February 10, 2014 at 9:55 at Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Thank You to all parents that sent gifts. We really appreciate you thinking about our family.

What Have We Been Up To In Class?

English

We have started to learn about persuasive writing. When we write persuasively, we try to convince someone to do something, to buy something, to go somewhere. What I have been telling the class that to persuade is to convince.

The students have been doing numerous activities where they will write about an object that they are trying to sell to their friends or Mr. Joe. They have even been writing about places that Mr. Joe should visit. The students have been doing a great job with this.

In the last few weeks that English and Arabic classes have been reading the book: The Solar System. This book gives much information on different planets such as: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. We have even learned a song that will help the students remember the planets in order.

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_EIdZrvaU

The Students have also been reading the story Let's Go To Mars. This is a Non fiction story that tell different facts about Mars. The students will be doing a BIG WRITE activity on persuading the class to take a field trip to the Planet Mars.

Our Advanced Readers have started to read the book: Seasons of the Sandstorms. This is a wonderful book where two students take an adventure back in time to Ancient Middle East, and learn about the culture. This is a multi-chapter book where students have been reading a chapter every week and writing about what they have read as well as what they believe will happen next.

Math

We have been learning about geometry and the many things that go with it.

3D-Shapes-We have been learning all about 3D-Shapes and their properties. We have learned about how many faces, edges, and vertices each 3d shape has.

Lines- We have been learning about parallel and perpendicular lines. The following picture should help you understand the difference.

Angles- We have been learning about the different angles that make these 3D shapes. The angles are Right, Acute, and Obtuse Angles.

Tessellations-We have been using different shapes to make tessellations in class.

Symmetry- We have been talking about what is symmetry and what has symmetry.

Science

We have been learning about the life cycle of a plant. We have discussed the different stages a plant goes through from a seed all the way to a flower. We have also talked about how seeds are dispersed and how new plants grow. We have planted our own bean plants to see if they will grow.

We have also stared to talk about the life cycles of a frog, butterfly and human being. We have compared these to plants and discussed the differences and similarities of both.

We will begin talking about animal adaptations and how animals can survive in different weather or different surroundings. We will also talk about animals different habitats, and goes as far as talking about endangered and extinct animals.

In the next few weeks we are going to begin talking about weather and the different changes of weather and the effects they have.

EMSA

The EMSA test is coming up soon. Please bring a flash drive so I can put the EMSA review on it so you can practice the EMSA at home. This is an important test which will test your students knowledge on what they have learned.

Pictures from the last month: