NEXUS: "For eighteen hours it came down in blinding sheets three feet and more. It buried cars, it covered streets, It weighted down branches on the trees, it dusted roofs, It snarled the roads, The winter storm did as it pleased." ~John F McCullagh

Sunday, January 25, 2015

"For eighteen hours it came down in blinding sheets three feet and more. It buried cars, it covered streets, It weighted down branches on the trees, it dusted roofs, It snarled the roads, The winter storm did as it pleased." ~John F McCullagh

We start our week with the threat of a Nor'Easter/Blizzard moving into New England on Monday night. The Weather Channel says it's shaping up to be "historic" and will move up the coast, most certainly affecting my three children whose homes span the Maine coastline from Portland north to Bangor. They can expect to get smacked -- 50-60 mph winds and upwards of 2 feet of snow are predicted at this juncture. What we'll get this far inland remains to be seen. Still, the potential for a snowstorm is no small matter and we would be wise to pay attention to local weather forecasts and prepare ourselves "just in case."

WEATHER.COM

WINTER SAFETY CHECKLIST

BE SAFE. . .

ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE WEEK OF

JANUARY 26 - 30

SCIENCE

Monday: Water Unit Review -- Look over information from previous weeks' blogs. Review Vocabulary, Water Cycle (another Interactive Water Cycle can be found HERE), Conservation, Oceans, and Bottled Water Check your Drive for your very own personal study sheet. Woo-hoo!

Thursday: Water Unit Test

Take THIS interactive quiz on the Water Cycle! Great test prep--you'll see some of this information again on your BHT!

Here's 8 minutes of engaging vocabulary review in a great video format:

NASA/THE WATER CYCLE: "Water is the fundamental ingredient for life on Earth. Looking at our Earth from space, with its vast and deep ocean, it appears as though there is an abundance of water for our use. However, only a small portion of Earth's water is accessible for our needs. How much fresh water exists and where it is stored affects us all."

Take this Interactive Question & Answer Game *- A flash animated game that gives the Answer. You have to choose the correct Question from three possible answers. The game lets you know instantly if you have the right answer. Play the game as often as you'd like to improve your score. When you're done, click on "print" to save to Google Drive and send it to me.

Want to learn more? Check out these 6 Drinking Water Bloopers. Write each of them in a sentence
(or two) explaining why each one is a blooper -- as part of your test grade. Can you think of any more?

INTERESTING, INTERESTING, INTERESTING. . .

Water Facts of Life - Amazing facts about water.

Water Trivia Facts - Fun water facts continue - how long can you live without water.

Want to be puzzled? Click HERE!

SOCIAL STUDIES

Tuesday: Finish Pyramid, by David Macaulay and associated activities. Focus for this lesson: the mummification process. Way cool activity to follow! (See Video 2 below.)

Friday: Introducing Independent Egyptian Book Project. Stay tuned for directions and lots of opportunities to create!

Two short videos to watch this week:

Try this ALL ABOUT MUMMIFICATION trivia quiz.

Although these instructions will vary slightly from ours, it clearly shows how to use paper mache and a few common supplies to create a sarcophagus. This is a project that will take several sessions to complete.

The written directions can be found HERE.

DONATED SUPPLIES WE COULD USE:

Small soft butter tubs with lids

small stick-on gems/sequins for decoration

metallic markers or paints in various colors

LANGUAGE ARTS

Monday - Wednesday: Complete 2nd draft of Personal Narrative.

Highlight in blue your great beginning. On the margin, write down the kind of lead you chose.
Highlight in pink any examples of setting.
Highlight in yellow all dialogue.
Highlight in orange all examples of "Show Don't Tell."