Sunday, November 25, 2012

Happy Holidays and updates!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! First of all, I wanted to let you know that I am thankful for all of my wonderful Blossomwood students! It is a joy teaching you every week.  I was just informed about a "Gifted Advocacy Group" in the North Alabama/Huntsville area and you can check out more about this at this link:

https://www.facebook.com/NorthAlabamaParentsOfGiftedChildren


TWO NEW UNITS:

4th Graders will be working on a "Walking on Wall Street" Concept Based Unit:


Concept Based Unit & Lesson Plans
Walkin’ on Wall Street:  The Stock Market Game

Focus:  Stock Market Investment
Rationale:  Simulating stock market investing gives student exposure to complex concepts in an exciting and motivating format.  In order to play the game well, students must remain in close touch with current events, learn basic economic principals, read and research current and past economic trends, use technology and trade books to read in content areas about real companies, compute and problem solve using sophisticated mathematics, practice persuasive writing, predict, make decisions, and use creativity in order to be successful.  In addition, cooperation and interpersonal skills are honed since students must form teams to participate in the game.  The Stock Market is an interdisciplinary unit that combines academics with multiple levels of thinking.
Macro Concepts:  Cycles, Balance, Interdependence, Globalization, Patterns
Micro Concepts:  Economics, Business, Needs vs. Wants, Investing
Professions / Careers
Stock broker                      Business Lawyer                   Investor                      Investment Lawyer                                               Philanthropist                       Inventor                                  Manager    CEO                                                                Entrepreneur                                                              Economist

Skills:
Technology:  computers, Power Point, Internet research, Web search, using links
Research:  Using trade books, Internet, newspapers and magazines.
Reading:  Reading for content, note taking, summarizing, skimming for specific information.
Math Concepts:  Percents; decimals; figuring commission; profit, loss, and overhead; positive and negative numbers; graphing; reading and creating charts and graphs.
Writing:  Metaphors, paragraph construction, essay writing (formulating a thesis statement and supportive paragraphs), persuasive writing, grammar, punctuation, editing, business letter writing.
Predicting with supporting evidence
Cause and Effect
Decision Making
Productive Thinking (fluency, flexibility, elaboration, originality)
Using Graphic Organizers:  Mind mapping, Plus-Minus-Neutral Charts, Venn Diagrams, Flow charts, Structure maps.
Social Studies:  Reading and creating charts (flow charts, organizational charts, informational charts); culture studies; historical events with economic repercussions; careers, supply & demand, needs vs. wants; business organization.

Vocabulary
stocks                                    stock market           Wall Street               invest
stock exchange                  mutual funds                        stocks                                    Dow
Nasdaq                                NYSE                            profit                         loss    
Overhead                            Credit  balance         debit                          deficit                                   
Bankruptcy                         commodities             services                     goods
raw materials                     bull market                bear market             junk bonds
CEO                                       Board of Directors   labor                          interest
Principal                              needs vs. wants        inflation                    deflation
Optimism                            pessimism                  management           blue chip
junk bonds                         supply & demand

Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions:
I.        Enduring Understandings:
Economic trends can be cyclical.
Needs and wants may change over time, affecting economic investment trends.
Essential Question:  What causes economic trends?

Scaffolding Questions:
1.        What is a cycle?  Use Productive Thinking to name many, varied, unusual examples of things that follow a cycle.
2.       What are economics?  What is an economy?
3.       What is a trend?  Name many, varied, unusual examples of things that are trends.
4.       Based on the above, what is an economic trend?
5.       What is the difference between “needs” and “wants?”



5th Graders will be working on a MYSTERY unit:

 
Unit Title:   Marvelous Mysteries

Disciplines Involved:               Science, Literature, Social Sciences

Conceptual Lenses:                   Truth

Unit Summary:                While investigating various kinds of “mysteries,” students will
                                                examine what it means to find the truth.  Students will explore                                                  different tools and technologies that aid us in determining the                                                   truth.  In addition, students will compare the different ways in                                                   which investigations are conducted, based on the nature of the                                                            investigation: criminal, forensic, historic, etc.

Enduring Understandings:     
§  Mysteries can be found across many different disciplines.
§  Science, technology, and logical reasoning all are useful tools in gathering information and evidence to determine truth.
§  One gathers and weighs evidence in order to determine the truth.
§  Not all mysteries can be solved conclusively.

Essential Questions:
§  What is a mystery? What makes something a mystery?
§  How do different disciplines go about investigating and gathering evidence?
§  How is truth determined?
§  What do we do when we cannot determine the exact truth in a given situation?



 

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