Science Fair

Here is some useful information you can use for preparing your experiment.

Science Fair - April 28th and 29th

We hope that, with your enthusiastic encouragement, your child will participate in the fair by preparing a project. This will be an exciting experience for your child!

Although students receive help at school from teachers, parent support and assistance are essential to your child’s success. This is one of those opportunities for families to work with children and brothers and sisters to help each other.

Below is a list of websites that can help your child choose a topic:

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas.shtml

http://www.education.com/science-fair/second-grade/

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/

http://www.surfnetkids.com/science_fair_ideas.htm

http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/scifair/index.html

http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/

http://www.fatlion.com/science/

http://www.reekoscience.com/

Timeline for G3 Science Fair:

• Students find a partner and decide on experiment (March 1)
• Form a question they want to find an answer to. (March 4)
• Research the problem and form a hypothesis. (March 7-18)
• Conduct the experiment to find out if you were right. Do your experiment at least twice and compile proof by recording data. (March 20-April 1)
• Form a conclusion, checking your hypothesis. (March 29-April 1)
• Communicate your results, writing about how what you learned applies to the real world. (April 4-8)
• Create science fair board. (April 11-22)
• Practice presenting in front of your family and classmates before the science fair. (April 25-27)

Dominican International Science Fair Scoring Sheet

Student Name(s):

__________________________________________________

Project Title:

______________________________________________________

	No  (0 pts)	Somewhat (1 pt)	Mostly (2 pts)	YES! (3 pts)
Appearance of Project:      Is the board well organized?
Is the text easy to read and the headings and      title easily visible?
Did they use appropriate graphics, images,              models  or demonstrations to help make their         ideas clear?
Purpose: Did the group explain why their project is      important and interesting?
Hypothesis: Did the group suggest an answer to their      question?
Did they explain why they think so?
Did they use background research to help form              their hypothesis?
Materials: Are all the materials for the experiment listed?     (Did they list quantities?)
Procedure: Are the steps of the experiment clear?
Data (quantitative and or qualitative):  Is the data presented clearly (In tables, charts,     graphs, photos, etc)?
Results: Did they make observations about their data?
Did they explain their observations clearly?
Conclusion: Did they say if their hypothesis was correct or         not?
Did they try to explain why or why not?
Did they talk about possibility for future      experiments (*extra credit for Grade 1-3)
Oral Presentation: Were the students able to talk about their     experiment?
Were they able to answer questions?

Feb. 26, 2016

Today was the last day of February classes! It's shocking to say that there are only 3 months left for this school year.

We started the day with Mass, and then had the spelling test before recess.

After recess we had our class picture, and I'm sure everybody showed their best smile. Following the picture we had a little show and tell with a deer skull that was given to us. We then watched a couple videos about animals that are extinct and predicted why they aren't around anymore.

Before the kids went out to play, we celebrated Ayrton's birthday! Again, thanks to both Nathan and Ayrton for sharing wonderful birthday treats the past 2 days.

 

The rest of the day was all non-homeroom classes.

HOMEWORK:
1) Science p. 299-300
2) Reading Logs
3) Work on Science Fair

New Spelling Words: dodge, creative, impressive, certificate, presentation, poncho, squirm, guess, supper, delete, snatch, crouch, tumble, swift, unimportant, urgent, tardy, intent

*A little note about spelling words - I am now adding words from the Vocabulary text we have barely used. In the Daily 5 program, students will be doing Word Work with these spelling words (finding definitions, practicing spelling, writing sentences and stories) in class.

NOTICES:
- NO SCHOOL on Monday as it is Memorial Day
- the Final Exam study guides should have gone home yesterday, please contact me if you do not have one
- students have also brought home more useful information and guidance in regards to the Science Fair. You may change your experiment if you wish, but the deadline will be Tuesday. If you have any questions, please send me a message. I have also put a new Blog Post called "Science Fair" which will have more information for you.
Finally, there are some planning sheets I have handed out to help with the process (1 per team).

That's it, that's all. Enjoy the extra day of February this year as it won't happen again for another 4 years.

Have a nice long weekend.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Feb. 25, 2016

Greetings and salutations!

On this day, the students worked hard completing numerous tasks.

The focus lesson in the Daily 5 today was choosing a topic for writing a personal narrative. This personal narrative will be counted towards part of the final exam in Language Arts and Spelling. After the students completed their Daily 5 rotation, they wrote the quiz on Capitalization and Punctuation.

For Math, we did some problem solving and then played division review games.

 

Science consisted of observing the weather and recording it in our notebooks. The students also began a small project on drawing the water cycle. They will be presenting/explaining it next week.

Today is a special day for 2 of our Terrific Third grade boys - Nathan and Ayrton. Coincidentally, their birthday is the same day. In order to share the sugar celebration, Nathan brought in some cookies today, and tomorrow Ayrton will be sharing his treats.




HOMEWORK:
1) Journeys p. 156
2) Journeys Reading - p. 409-416
3) Reading Logs - perfect opportunity to hand in your Reading Log because you're all reading "The Science Fair" in Journeys


NOTICES:

• tomorrow is Class Picture Day - we will be taking class and individual pictures for the yearbook. Please wear your formal uniform, and bring your casual uniform to change into later for PE.
• the Final Exam schedule and Study Guides were handed out today. Please take a look and feel free to ask any questions.

Have a splendid evening.

Mr. Y

Feb. 24, 2016

Half of the week is complete.

Language/Reading classes consisted of the Daily 5, and one of the rotations was Read to Someone where the students read the new story in Journeys - The Science Fair. Our focus lessons were: Use pictures throughout reading, using quotations in sentences, and we read an example of a Personal Narrative.

We practiced ways to divide by 9, and played a division game called Monster Race.

During Science we described parts of the water cycle and how it works, and continued taking observations for our weather experiment.



The students were able to see what it's like to be patriotic as we looked at different examples of patriotism, including country anthems, and patriotic symbols of Taiwan.

HOMEWORK:
1) Eng. p. 98
2) Social Studies p. 28
3) Reading Log

NOTICES:
- please review English for the quiz tomorrow on Punctuation and Capitalization
- Library tomorrow, please bring your card and books
- Mass and Class Pictures are on Friday morning

Enjoy your night.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Feb. 23, 2016

Greetings, parents and students!

This morning we began by kicking off 3 rotations of the Daily 5, and our focus lessons included: being a voracious reader, what to include in a personal narrative, and using commas in a series.

Math consisted of using different ways to divide by 8. Students completed problems and then played a division game in partners.

We followed up with 2 experiments we are doing in Science, and completed a new one as well. We got to watch and explain how water can change states.


In Social Studies, we read about a couple more famous Americans and discussed what it is to be a hero.

In ECA, Mr. Chao came to speak about the Science Fair and what is expected.

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 80
2) Science Flip Flap - please write a definition and draw a picture to go with the vocabulary word. You may color it as you please.
3) Reading Logs - be a voracious reader and read today!
4) Science Fair experiment - you have until Friday to let me know what experiment you will be doing.

NOTICES:
- PE tomorrow, please wear casual uniforms
- please return quizzes from last week (and also before CNY)
- English quiz on Thursday

Have a nice evening.

Mr. Y

Feb. 22, 2016

Gooooooooooood evening, everybody!

Here's what we did today:

1) Assembly
2) Reading - wrote our new spelling words in the Daily 5 binders, and shared our weekend stories
3) Math - learned different ways to divide by 7 (used manipulatives and practiced problem solving)
4) Social Studies - read about Hellen Keller and Martin Luther King, Jr. and discussed how they perseverance and being a hero

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 79
2) Daily 5 binders - please write the definition of the words you do not know. You may also decorate the colored pages
3) Reading Logs

IMPORTANT NOTICES:
- English quiz on Thursday on Capitalization and Punctuation, Spelling Test Friday
- Science Fair topics - it's fine to have any experiment (it does not have be an Earth Day theme)
- Friday we will have Mass in the morning, followed by Class Pictures (please have your best formal uniform clean and available for this day), and bring your casual PE uniforms to change into.
- Next week is exam week for non-homeroom subjects - the exam schedule will be posted soon

Have a nice evening.

Mr. Y

Feb. 19, 2016

Welcome to Friday!

This morning we completed the Spelling test, and then after our focus lesson we proceeded to a new Daily 5 option - Listen to Reading. The students had to focus on thinking of questions throughout while reading.

In Science we learned about water and how it can appear in 3 different states in nature. We then made observations for our weather experiment, and began a new water experiment.
Our hypothesis for this one: Fresh water will evaporate quicker than salt water. We will observe on Tuesday to make a conclusion.

 

In Math we had to draw pictures to solve problems. Drawing pictures using the information given in the problem makes for better understanding.

HOMEWORK:
1) Writing Assignment - yesterday the students wrote 4 different topic sentences. They can choose one of the topics to write about in the writing assignment and continue from the topic sentence they already wrote. Please write at least 10 sentences, and you may write in cursive if you wish. Also, please remember to double space.

2) Science Fair letter - please find a partner and an experiment you wish to do. This website has some really good ideas: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/
I will provide more information along the way as to what steps to do next, and so on.

3) Reading Log

NEW SPELLING WORDS:
indigo, mammal, patio, timber, president, stampede, excellent, glance, partner, stare, threw, slumber, butterscotch, nibble, fractions, gobble, growl, amusing

The weather should be beautiful, so enjoy it this weekend.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Feb. 18, 2016

Good afternoon people!

This morning we continued with the Daily 5 program (only 2 rounds today), and our focus lessons were:
1) when to use "would" or "will" in sentence writing
2) topic sentences

In Science, we continued to learn about weather, more specifically the types of clouds there are and how to be prepared for weather. We also recorded information about today's weather for our experiment.

We did not have Math today as the teachers were involved with Professional Development.

HOMEWORK:
1) Science p. 313-314
2) LA topic sentences - students chose 4 examples of topics to write about, and they need to write a topic sentence for each. In this topic sentence, the intent is not to give the answer to the question/topic they are writing about.
3) Spelling Test

NOTICES:
The flu season is upon us, so please make sure we carry on the practice of washing our hands regularly.

Have a splendid evening!

Mr. Y

Feb. 17, 2016

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Today was a busy day, in which we accomplished many things.

1) LA/Reading - began with making supporting details for topic sentences, then we had a quiz on "Jump!" and finally, we practiced using introductory words in sentences (and completed 2 rounds of Daily 5 in between)

2) Math - learned different ways to divide by 6. Students shared their strategies for finding quotients.



3) Science - began a 2 week long experiment on how to measure the weather.

4) Social Studies - made our Responsibility quilt and read about famous Americans. Thank you for your help with making the Responsibility quilt. The students worked hard putting it together.

   


HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 77 (if you have time, please complete all questions, but if time is limited, you do not have to complete #15-22)
2) Eng. p. 91
3) SS p. 24-25 (tomorrow is the last day to hand it in)
4) Reading Log

NOTICES:
Just one friendly reminder to have your child arrive to school by 8:25am when the first bell rings. Prayers begin at 8:30am and class starts immediately after. Having students arrive before 8:30am allows them to complete their routines before we begin the Daily 5 at 8:35am. Thank you.

Have a wonderful evening.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Feb. 16, 2016

G'day everybody.

On this chilly day we.......

•  kicked off the Daily 5. In the Daily 5, we start with a focus lesson (something that needs to be learned and practiced such as phonics, grammar, sentence structures, sentence writing), and then proceed into the first round of independence. Students will get to choose between Word Work, Work on Writing, Read to Self and Read to Someone. Fridays will be Listen to Reading. Once the first round is finished, we have a quick group meeting, and then the next focus lesson is taught, followed by the next different round of Daily 5 (students much choose different activities in the same day), and so on. Today went very well and we focused on opening and closing sentences.
• used different ways to divide by 4. We also played the snowball game and had to find correct or incorrect division sentences.

 

• began a new unit in Science - Water and Weather. We began to learn about the atmosphere and also what weather is and how it can be measured. 
• explained the interaction between rights and responsibilities (continuation from yesterday). 

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 76
2) Social Studies worksheet - PARENTS WE NEED YOUR HELP - students please complete 3 responsibilities, and 3 responsibilities can come from your family members. Your child should be able to explain the difference between a right or responsibility for you.
3) Reminder Social Studies workbook homework p. 24-25. The last day to hand this in is Thursday.
4) Journeys quiz on "Jump!"

NOTICES:
- There were a couple quizzes (Social Studies and Math) that were returned before Chinese New Year, please have a look for them and return, please.
- Tomorrow is PE, so please wear appropriate uniforms.

Have a nice evening.

Mr. Yaremchuk

PS - If you're looking for something to do, the Lantern Festival is at the Love River all day and evening and goes until February 22.

Feb. 15, 2016

Welcome back!  I'm happy to hear everyone had a good, safe Chinese New Year break.

There are now only 3 weeks left until Q3 exams, and plenty of work to do before then.

This morning we discussed some of the things that occurred over the Chinese New Year holiday, and then reviewed the branches of government. We then learned about some duties that the President has.

In Math, we learned different ways to divide by 3.

The students completed the final preparations needed to begin the full Daily 5 program tomorrow. Please read the letter your child brought home today regarding the Daily 5.

ECA - taking care of odds and ends, including hanging up our conservation posters around the academic building.

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 75
2) Social Studies p. 24-25 (can be handed in anytime from now until Thursday). This was supposed to be the homework over the break, but I wrote down the wrong pages, I apologize for any confusion.
3) Reading Logs - let's get 10-20 minutes of reading done tonight and write it in your Reading Log. This week's reading log will again start counting toward a weekly mark for Reading and Spelling.

NEW SPELLING WORDS:
tulip, inhale, blouse, apology, nectarine, suspenders, Tuesday, champion, raisin, power, melody, minnow, trumpet, April, twelve, weather

IMPORTANT NOTICES

• Reading quiz on Wednesday on the Journeys story, "Jump." Please study the key vocabulary words and be prepared to answer comprehension questions.
• Please read the letter regarding the Daily 5 that was sent home today.
• information regarding the Science Fair will be coming out very soon. The Science Fair will be held on April 28-29. Start thinking about ideas, or partners to work with are convenient to meet with after school.

Have a great evening.

Mr. Y

Feb. 5, 2016

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

The students had a fun day today doing the following:

- Spelling test (ok, maybe the least fun)
- Chinese New Year art (dragon puzzle, monkey dot art)
- in the cafeteria they did a little painting

 
    
  


- cleaning the classroom
- Chinese New Year dance performance - excellent job everybody, you looked great!


HOMEWORK:
1) Social Studies workbook p. 20-21
2) Social Studies Writing Assignment - students will see homework sheet for details, but basically they will write some paragraphs comparing Christmas and Chinese New Year. They can do some work each day.
3) Reading Response (optional) - if you hand in this homework, you will earn Dojo points
4) Reading Logs - you can earn a maximum of 5 Dojo points for Reading Logs

Thank you parents for coming to watch our Chinese New Year performance. 

     



I wish you all a safe and happy Chinese New Year holiday. Drive safe, eats lots, spend time with family, and relax. 

See you all in the new year. 

Mr. Yaremchuk

Feb. 4, 2016

Thursday's in the books!

This morning the students worked really hard and completed their Science conservation poster project. Excellent work, everyone! We will find great places in the school to hang up the posters.





We then worked on a Chinese New Year puzzle with the little time we had before the rehearsal for the Chinese New Year performance. Here's a sneak preview.....

  

 

The afternoon consisted of Chinese, Library, Music, and ended with Reading and Phonics. The students did one round of Daily 5 and built their stamina. They are also becoming more familiar with the routines and activities for Word Work.

HOMEWORK:
1) Spelling Test
2) Picture Dictionary - choose 8 words
3) Eng. p. 90

NOTICES:
- Bring an old t-shirt or apron for the morning Chinese New Year activity in the cafeteria
- Bring a white long-sleeve shirt to wear under your costume for the performance
- the students already brought home some books to keep over the holidays

TOMORROW'S AGENDA
1) Spelling Test
2) Chinese New Year activities
3) Lunch
4) Chinese New Year activities in the classroom and get changed into costumes
5) Chinese New Year performance - it will begin at 2pm
6) change out of costume and get ready for Chinese New Year holidays

Thank you for your responses regarding homework over the holidays. I will have things that will need to be completed, along with additional (optional) homework if the students want to earn extra Dojo points for. This will all be explained in tomorrow's blog.

Whew! That's a lot of information for today.

Have a wonderful evening, and I hope to see you all at tomorrow's performance.


Mr. Yaremchuk