Projects: Week 4 and Week 5

Hello everybody! I hope you had an awesome Labor Day Weekend! I know I did!

I wanted to give you an update on what we are doing this week and next week in Projects. As I stated in my last post, this new unit is about the six primary body systems (muscular, circulatory, excretory, nervous, respiratory, and digestive).

Last week the students learned about all of the systems and did some independent research. At the end of the week, their groups (which I assigned this time, since they got to choose last time) chose what system they would focus on.

This week, the groups conducted their own research on the system they chose. Their task is to create a life-sized poster that depicts and explains the function of the major organs of their system as well as two diseases or disorders that impact that system. They will be teaching their system to the class (more details regarding the expectations for their "lesson" to come, depending on the time we have). At this point we are planning on having the posters due 9/14, next Wednesday, but that is dependent on how quickly the students are working. If they are working diligently and need more time, then I am willing to be flexible. However, if they are wasting class time, then I will make the 14th a hard due date. The test will follow either on the 15th or the following Monday.

I have finished grading their Cell Final Projects and am sending the rubrics home for you to sign. My reason for doing this is I want you to see exactly why your student scored as high or low as they did. For those boxes with a score but no written feedback, ask your student what we discussed in our conference with their group. Overall I was very pleased with the projects! I am confident that the projects will get better and better as the year goes on.

Finally, I just wanted to let parents know that I updated student grades to include their Cell Final Project, their Peer Evaluations for that project, and their Cells Final Test scores. If you have any questions regarding grades, please let me know via email.

Thank you for all you do to support your student! I hope you have a great week!

-Ms. Williams