Week ending 08.22.25
Week ending 08.22.25
• Math… and Science!
Our review of adding and subtracting fractions is going well, and 5G students feel ready for a test on this subject later in the week.
(As noted in the Parent Orientation, we do not grade while students are learning and/or reviewing subject areas: we want students to feel free to ask for help in areas they don’t understand. Testing comes after competency—even mastery—is achieved!)
Our review of graphing led to (a) observing patterns in the data and (b) generating hypotheses to explain the data. (A hypothesis is a fancy work for “guess.”)
Question: If our hypothesis for Hermione’s dip in performance is due to lack of sleep (or the casting of a spell, or trouble with the prompt), how do we go about proving or disproving our hypothesis?
Long discussions ensued. Test! Experiment!
But how to construct an experiment to prove/disprove each hypothesis. Do the experiments look the same, or different, for testing lack of sleep, spells and prompt difficulty?
While some scholars and historians believe the foundation of science is experimentation, others argue that science always begins with hypotheses. If we don’t have a question—a guess—about observed phenomena, what are we creating an experiment for? Also: All hypotheses are based on assumption! (More about that later!)
Students also feel ready for a graphing test, although they’d like us to provide the table of data!
• Student Council Elections
Our ballot grew and shrank, grew and shrank!
We’ll know Thursday who will “show up” to give their pitch re. why s/he would be a great 5G Student Council representative.
• Reading/Writing Grades
Students saw the Excel spreadsheet that incorporates the scoring rubric they co-created.
Students saw, too, how their scores translated into grades.
To a student, all were pleased with their first set of grades! (Lots of As and A+s!)
• Adding & Subtracting Fractions TEST
5G students have been great at sharing what they don’t know, aren’t sure of, don’t feel confident with and/or want to go over again.
Monday night’s Math homework is an IXL “quiz” to help students identify what in the Fraction Universe they aren’t yet sure of.
• Social Studies / History — Poverty Point
After learning about the Nor-che Chico (Caral Supe) civilization of Peru (more than 4,500 years ago), today we dived into the history and archeology of colossal mounds constructed at Poverty Point (built about 3,800 years ago).
If, like Dr. Cat and Ms. Cunningham, you too have been unaware of what North American hunter gatherers were capable of at about the same time as the Egyptian middle kingdom, you can learn about Poverty Point here.
• Naptime!
And what would 5G be without naptime?
A nap was requested by 5G! they may have heard 6G wants naps too!
Must be the exhaustion of fast-growing bodies and brains!
• Extreme Writing
In our 10-minutes of start-the-day Extreme Writing, 5G continues to challenge itself to write more words in the time set.
The class has decided that when we all hit our 10-minute ceiling, we’ll extend the Extreme Writing time to 15 minutes!
• Holes – Chapter 10
5G learned that they could read a chapter (with Ms. Cunningham) and discuss the answers rather than write about them! Joy all ‘round!
• Adding & Subtracting Fractions Review
Last night’s Math Quiz helped identify our adding and subtracting fractions learning edges!
In our two small math groups we tackled converting improper fractions and mixed numbers, finding least common denominators, and writing fractions in lowest terms.
Many math “light bulbs” went off!
• Oceanography
After a 10-minute nap, 5G dived into Oceanography (har, har). In two pair and one threesome, students took a good look at the oceanography books available in the classroom, then wrote answers to five “what might oceanography be?” questions.
This early “research” will put 5G in good stead for working with 6G on our upcoming Innovation-&-Coding Projects, which start on Wednesday and Thursday.
• PreK Break with Photos!
Brain Breaks on the makai playground have revealed that 5G is quite taken with PreK— and visa versa.
Today, Ms. Eveland shared a few photographic surprises!
With a little DeNoise, color-correction & scratch-removal magic—PreK Dean, Ava, Tai, Theo & Nicson shine again as PreK’ers! (And gosh darn cute too!)
• Microscope Fever
5G is intrigued by the 3 microscopes (and many microscope slides) we have in the classroom. Students have managed to get one of the microscopes — the only “non-electric” one – working.
Given the fragility of microscopes and the many glass slides, a Microscope Mini-Lesson was in order!
Back in the (high school) day, Dr. Cat wanted to be a Biologist. He has many happy Microscope Memories — and looks forward to introducing the Wonders of the Microscopic World to 5G!
• Homework Test Prep!
Homework Tuesday night focused on preparing for our “Adding 7 Subtracting Fractions” and “Vocabulary” tests!
Students requested a Kahoot! — and got one!
• Microscope Mania!
The 5G microscopes are attracting attention!
We need to get our other two microscopes up and peering into the microscopic world!
• Fractions Review / Test Prep
Our Fractions Review (adding and subtracting) continues, with more ah-ha lightbulbs going off!
From our Parent Orientation:
Our Adding/Subtracting Fractions Test will be on Friday. For Homework Wednesday night, 5G students were able to target their fractions learning edges, with many choices re. what to tackle.For example, those still finding LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) difficult, a review of factors was an option. For those who feel pretty good about where they are, an option to “continue reviewing” was available. For those who feel they’ve nailed it, 6G-level (intro) fractions was on offer!
Note: Knowing your learning edges and making decision about your own learning is important students in 5G and for the rest of their educational careers.
• Spelling Pre-Test
There’s nothing like a pre-test to focus the mind!
Our Kahoot! identified 25 words 5G students want to use — they were all found in sentences students chose to use — but find challenging. Today they took a pre-test to identify those words that were still on their learning edges.
Students can study their words tonight. Tomorrow, Thursday, is the test!
• Innovation & Robotics with 6G
Wednesday afternoon 5G & 6G kicked off their joint “Innovation & Robotics” initiative!
With two teams, each comprised of 5G & 6G students, a little team building was the name of the game!
Returning to the classroom, 5G students signed onto the “Innovation & Robotics” Google Classroom set up by Ms. Kieburtz to coordinate our 2-class efforts!
• Thursday Morning Chapel Singers
The “5G Singers” has expanded to the “Thursday Morning Chapel Singers”!
This morning five 4G students joined us. Next week we’ll have new 3G singers too!
With “Peace Like a River” and “Father Abraham” they rocked the three chapels!
• Meanwhile… Hidden Treasure
Those 5G students who chose not to serenade PreK & K, and then 1G, 2G & 3G, “The Parable of Hidden Treasure” awaited them!
Dr. Cat remembers his Religion classes in the UK.
Great Britain had a state religion — the Anglican (Episcopalian) tradition, thanks to Henry VIII — and so there was no separation between state and religion!
So, in school, Religion was an academic subject!
It’s good to know the core stories!
• Our First Spelling Test!
After Chapel / World Religion — and the first Fire Drill of the year — 5G dived into their first spelling test — and did great!
• 5G & 6G Religion
5G joined 6G for Religion with Rev. Jenn this afternoon — and so enjoyed it they asked to do it again next week!
• Innovation & Robotics
5G continued collaborating with 6G as everyone transitioned from Religion to Innovation & Robotics!
We split into our two mixed-grade working groups, with both working groups (a) beginning their innovation research and (b) beginning to get a handle on both the Lego robots as well as the “sphere”!
5G & 6G look forward to finding real-world problems, innovating possible solutions, and programming our Lego and Sphere robots to prototype those solutions.
• 5G Student Council Elections
The Big Day arrived!
With three students running for two open slots, the speeches were animated, articulate, detailed and inspiring.
Speech Tournament anyone? Toastmasters?
• Reading/Writing Homework: The Atom
As 5G students were curious about atoms — and what the components of atoms might be — tonight’s Reading/Writing homework is about… atoms!
And may 5G never see atoms — as most of us have — as little solar systems, with electrons orbiting the nucleus.
Today we see electrons as moving in a cloud, and within clouds of specific shapes (not unlike balloon animals!)
• Student Council Election Results: 5G
The 5G Student Council members this year will be: Avatar & London.
• Math Test! OMG!
Today was the Big Day!
Students worked hard at their first Big Math Test!
It’s worth remembering, 5G student asked to review fractions! : )
• Family-Style Lunch
Today 6G chose not to join us.
So, the girls sat at one table, the boys at another!
• Library
Our first trip to the library was a roaring success!
Nicson and Koa discovered nanobots, and how they might be used one day to target viruses and cancer cells in the human body.
• Naptime!
Believe it or not, a 10-minute “nap” is very popular in 5G!
With some students actually falling asleep, and others waking up with “blurry eyes,” we are entertaining requests for 15 minute naps! : )
• Birthday Celebration
And today we celebrated our first 5G birthday! Happy birthday to Dr. England!
With 5G “all sugared up” we moved operations to Osco Field.
5G students ran and ran and ran and ran and ran…
— we had never seen our students so active on Osco Field! —
… and ran and ran and ran…
And finally exhausted themselves!
“Funny” true story:
Once upon a time when Dr. Cat had teens, on the night before we left as a family for a cruise, one of our boys began having “pain around my heart.” We called an ER nurse friend and said, “Do we need to be worried about this?”
The answer was, “Yes! Get him to an ER! Teens… pop pills sometimes, and don’t know what they’ve taken.”
So off we went to the ER.
And the long and the short of it? Yup. Our boy had been to his first lacrosse practice and, for the first time in his life, experienced upper body muscle strain!
And after our post-birthday celebration run-run-run on Osco Field?
Walking back from Osco Field, several students started talking about how hot they were.
“Why’s that?” Dr. Cat asked.
Well, it was the sun. The air. The lack of clouds. The summer.
“What have you just been doing?”
Hun?
“You’ve all been running and running and running and running — for about 20 minutes. What does all that running do to your body?”
No one was quite sure…
: )
Picture Day!
Wednesday, August 27.
As this is a PE day too, students will need to bring BOTH PE dress and school uniform!
And don’t forget hairbrushes!
Looking further ahead:
Always check the HNS eBlast
And you can check our calendar too!