Science Fair Research Paper

Because SST-Discovery staff knows that cross curricular cooperation is essential for student success the English department is working with the science department to prepare students for this year’s Science Fair.  As part of the Science Fair requirements students must write a research paper about their experiment.  This year middle school students are covering expository (informational) text first, so they are familiar with what this should look like.  They will also utilize some class time to work on their paper.  This paper will be due to English teachers, as a major grade, on October 5, 2011. 

            For English class students papers must be typed and meet all of the following criteria.  English teachers will grade for structure, grammar, completeness, as well as citation format, but not the validity of the content.  This is the criteria for the English paper, students may have different criteria for their Science Fair paper.  Science teachers will discuss this.

 

Requirements:

Students may use front and back of pages, but note that Science requires front only.

12 point Times New Roman font.  Either double spaced or have 1.5 spacing.

Use single space between sections or parts. 10 points

Introduction: Paper must introduce the purpose of the experiment and have a hypothesis.  The student should identify and variables and provide background information.  10 points

Materials: List materials used. 10 points

Procedure: List steps in chronological order.  Give description of the steps.  Photos, drawings, diagrams, etc maybe used to assist in clarity of directions.  15 points

Conclusion: Students need to refer back to their hypothesis and state whether or not data agrees or supports hypothesis.  What was learned? 10 points

Work Cited page: This must have proper MLA citation and include all references and sources. 10 points   

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” -Confucius

Each morning students are given 25 minutes to read, this time is called Drop Everything And Read, otherwise known as D.E.A.R. Time.  Students read a novel of their choice and have a few moments to reflect on what they’ve read and log their observations.  This is a valuable time for students to grow their reading skills, however for students to improve their reading as efficiently and effectively as possible they need to read 45-60 minutes each day. 

Because of this students will be required to read an additional 20 minutes a day at home.  Students will be sent home with a reading log which tracks two weeks’ worth of reading.  Every week day students should log at least 20 minutes of reading and summarize their reading. Parents or guardians must sign this log for students to receive credit.  Each day of reading is worth two points, so every two weeks students can earn 20 points.

Students may read novels, magazines, or comic books.  Reading aloud to a younger sibling or reading with a partner also counts. 

Parents and guardians are encouraged to discuss the materials read with students and to ask questions to help build comprehension.  Yes or no questions should be avoided, instead, ask questions such as: What did you learn or read about?

What do you think will happen next?

Describe the protagonist.

What is the conflict? 

What about this book reminds you of things you’ve witnessed or experienced?

If you think your child is having difficulty with their texts please let me know and I will be happy to conference with him or her and make a new reading recommendation if necessary.

Happy reading!

First Day of School!

Hooray- we made it through the first day of school!  Though it was a little hectic in the morning all in all today was a success.  I enjoyed seeing returning students and getting to know the new ones.  I think we’re going to have a great year.

Today students set short term goals for the academic year, and long terms goals for after high school.  Students wrote these goals on strips of papers which I then turned into a paper chain.  The paper chain is now hanging in my classroom and will hopefully serve as a reminder of why hard work and doing your best is important. 

Our chain of goals.  The giant book will be used later.

Meet Steinbeck!

Today I purchased Steinbeck, a crowntail betta, for my classroom. Steinbeck is an Aquarius, which indicates that he is very masculine.  His hobbies include swimming and scuba diving.  He is a loner and prefers to watch activity from a distance.  His favorite foods include mosquito larvae, bloodworms and brine shrimp.

Goodbye Summer Vacation

Tonight is my last night of "summer vacation."  I start training in the morning and I'm very excited for the new year. This has been my first summer off since the summer between eighth and ninth grade (after that I worked).  As eager I am for the new year I'm sad to say goodbye to sleeping in late, long midmorning walks with my dog, laying by the pool and lots of free reading.
I hope all of make the most of the rest of their time off and I can't wait to see everyone on the 22nd!

"The Alchemyst"

    I've jumped on the "Alchemyst" series bandwagon, thanks to Ms. Martinez' urging.  The series is centered around real life alchemist Nicholas Flamel (Harry Potter fans should recognize the name) and author, Michael Scott, brings him and his wife into the modern world and creates a fantastical account of the almost 600 years since his recorded death.

I'm only a few chapters into the first book, "The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel," but I'm enjoying it.  I love that the story and history of the characters refers to actual historical events, such as the great fire of London and the Irish Famine.  I can tell I'm only scratching the surface of what this book and series has to offer and I can't wait to emerge myself in it.

     Also, as many of my students know I have a fraternal twin brother, so I love that our protagonist is a set of boy/girl fraternal twins!

    Visit Michael Scott's website (www.dillionscott.com) to read or listen to the first chapter of the book.
 

Reading Slump

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately.  I think I rushed myself to finish as many books as possible and now I'm burnt out.  I think to help get me going I'm going to start of light and read a classic that I missed out on growing up: Sid Fleischman's "The Whipping Boy." I'll update afterwords to let everyone know if my slump is over.