The Practicality of a Teachable Moment: How Can I Clean These Records So I Can Play Them?

Rarely do I take a teachable moment and create a full blown production out of it. Usually it is a matter of time, since I rarely have enough. Today I made time to do the experiment and record it as a lesson.

Saul found a bunch of 45 records on a piece of property he is helping to clean up. He brought them to school to show me. He asked me, "Can we play these?"

Unfortunately, the answer was no. One reason was because we didn't have a record player at school; the second reason was because the 45's were incredibly dirty. I decided we could do an experiment to see how we could best clean them.

You can watch the video to see the start of the experiment.

If you watched the video you noticed that I quickly discussed the PH balance of the solutions I used. I felt that this was a good way to introduce the information, without having to do a full blown lesson on acids and bases. I don't have anything against lessons on acids and bases, it just isn't what we are concentrating on now. Remember this started as a teachable moment, not a planned lesson.

Hopefully, when the students do have a unit on acids and bases they will remember this lesson. I suppose they are much more likely to remember me trying to play the 45's in class. That reminds me... Do any of you have a record player I can borrow?

UPDATE

Here are some pictures I took after the records sat in the solutions for about 18 hours. The solution that is brown looking was the lemon juice. It looked like that when I poured it. I thought it was interesting that the labels held up as well as they did. Draino was the solution that basically dissolved the label . After I rinsed the records off in the sink, Saul wiped them with a soft paper towel to see how clean they were.

Watch this video to see and hear Saul's conclusion to the experiment.

We still need to borrow a record player to see if they will play.

Exploring Simple Machines

What would happen if you found out you had a test tomorrow on simple machines? Questions you would have to answer include:

1. What is a simple machine?
2. How many simple machines are there?
3. Can you name all the simple machines?
4. Can you identify five simple machines in this school?

How would you answer these questions and be ready for the test? You would need to do research! Here are sites you can look at to find some of the answers to these questions. Answer these questions on paper with your partner and be ready to post your answers on Monday.

You may not need all the information from each site. Make sure you are only using information about simple machines.

Remember to not follow links off the web sites and do not click on any ads.

http://www.mikids.com/Smachines.htm

http://www.coe.uh.edu/archive/science/science_lessons/scienceles1/finalhome.htm

http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/InventorsToolbox.html

http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/frame_loader.htm

http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/glossary.htm

ERWIA Presentation from February 10: Watersheds

Here are the videos I recorded with Ustream from our live video feed. We streamed Roger and Sandy Hughes' presentation with chat enabled. (First time!) We had five different people come to the ustream page to watch.





This is a picture of the chat room that I set up for the presentation. My daughter, Teal, who is a student at the University of Arkansas showed up. I asked her to find a link to an online version of the video we watched.


This is a picture of the setup I had for doing the streaming. I used my laptop for the audio/video and the desktop to take care of the chat room.

Elk River Watershed Association Live Stream.

Today we are joined by Roger and Sandy Hughes from the Elk River Watershed Improvement Association. (ERWIA). Roger and Sandy have graciously allowed me to stream and record their presentation to the class.

If you would like to ask questions I have set up the chat at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mr-cs-class-show.

Here is a link to last years post on the ERWIA visit. Click the picture below to go to an interactive map of the Elk River Watershed.

Update

The Elk River Watershed Improvement Association visited our class today. The showed us the video "After the Storm" produced by the EPA and the Weather Channel. If you would like to order a free copy of this video click here. You can download a version on your computer click here. You can find information from the video here.

The EPA has a kids site found here you may want to check out.

History Club Trip to Pea Ridge National Military Park

The history club will be visiting Pea Ridge National Military Park on Friday, February 13. Pea Ridge was a very important battle which helped keep the state of Missouri for the Union. Here are some interesting facts taken from the web site:

Almost half of the enlisted troops and many of the officers in the Union Army of the Southwest at the Battle of Pea Ridge spoke German as their first language.

When Confederate General Van Dorn heard news that Curtis pushed Price out of Missouri, he set out to take personal charge of an attack on Curtis, along with Price and McCulloch. He arrived at Price’s headquarters in an ambulance, braving a severe illness resulting from falling into an icy stream.

There were four Medal of Honor recipients in the Battle of Pea Ridge: Private Albert Power, Captain William P. Black, Colonel Eugene A. Carr, and Colonel Francis J. Herron.

Reposted from Noel History Club

Keep your eyes out for a post next week with tons of new info on Pea Ridge.

First Semester Honor Roll

These are the students that earned all A's (superior) for the first semester.
These are the students that earned only A's (Superior) and B's (Above Average) for the first semester.

Terrific Tigers for January

Third through eighth grade Terrific Tigers for January.How did they get to be Terrific Tigers?

Tyler

Rubecca

Zeke

Repost: Postcards from Stanley: Is It Ever Okay to Lie?

My students wrote postcards pretending to be Stanley Yelnats. Stanley's letters lied about his activities at Camp Green Lake. He told her that he was swimming and canoeing instead of digging holes. He did not want his mother to worry about him.

We had a good discussion in class about if Stanley did the right thing. We decided that Stanley really had three choices: to lie, to tell the truth, or to not write at all. Which would you have chosen? Explain your answer.

This was reposted from the blog A Novel Approach to Reading.

Boys Basketball and Cheerleading

Cheerleaders performing at halftime of the 7-8 grade boys game.


7-8 grade boys playing against Southwest City.



5-6 grade boys playing against Southwest City.

Are Dams Necessary? Taking Sides on this Controversial Issue

One of our fifth grade objectives is to examine the human role in nature. We looked at the role the Bureau of Reclamation played in the creating of dams, specifically here the Hoover Dam. We read an excerpt from John McPhee's Encounters with the Archdruid and discussed the reasons why some people were for the creation of dams while others were against their creation. The students were asked to create persuasive paragraphs taking one side of the issue.

Here is Zac explaining why he is for the creation of dams.


Here is Megan explaining why she is against the creation of dams.



Here is a link to a great video created by the Bureau of Reclamation as the dam was being built.
Video of the Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) construction.

Here is the link to the persuasive paragraphs.

Academic Accolades for February 3

Congratulations Natalia, Shayla, and Wendy!

Sharing Holes with Mr. Lamshed's Class

Mr. Lamshed's class in Adelaide, Australia is reading Holes at the same time we are. We are going to do something different and post on his blog for this assignment. He has 3 reflection questions over chapters 1-7. I want you to choose one of the questions and leave a comment on his blog.

Make sure you use correct grammar and punctuation. Use your first name only and add the address for this blog so they can track it back.

Here is the link to the blog.

Examing the Impact of Dams: Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee

Today I am particularly pleased to be reading some of Part 3 of Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee to my class. We have been studying water all year and now we are talking about dams. The section I am looking at today introduces the students to David Brower, Floyd Dominy, and their meeting where they discussed the damming of Glen Canyon.

This excellent narrative describes two very powerful and influential men disagreeing over the need for the dam to be built. Dominy loves building dams, while Brower believes all dams are bad.

The purpose of this lesson is for my students to see both sides of this issue and to help them think critically about how we should solve problems. It is important to be reminded that there are always more than one side to any issue and that being able to examine both sides can usually help create an acceptable solution.

I would highly recommend reading this book. Not only is it very informative about the most important early leader of the conservation movement(with the possible exception of John Muir) , it is also a wonderful example of narrative prose. If you are interested in reading this book, here is the Amazon link.

Character Traits: Stanley Yelnats IV

In chapters 1-4 of the novel Holes by Louis Sachar we were introduced to the main character, Stanley Yelnats IV. As we read the chapters we found out what Stanley looked like and what his character traits were. Here is Seth's take on Stanley:

Here is the link to the post if you are interested in reading the rest of the responses.

Sharing History: The Barak Obama Inauguration

During my teaching career I have had many shared experiences with my students. I was in class the day one of my students was accidentally killed by his brother in a hunting accident. I was in class the a former school student that was helping coach basketball was found dead in her bed. I was in class the day of the space shuttle Columbia tragedy, and of course no one forgets September 11, 2001. These were, and still are defining moments in my teaching career. They also happen to be extremely sad events.

That is why this presidential inauguration was so wonderful. Regardless of your political leanings the simple fact that 45 years after MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech resonated throughout our country a African-American was elected President of the United States. There are so many sad shared experiences that I have with students that something this positive uplifts me.

I am quite aware that many of my , if not all, don't truly understand the incredible event that took place yesterday. At 39, I don't truly understand exactly what it means. I grew up during a much more tolerant time than those older than me. I watched the Cosby Show on television and listened to rap music in high school. I do know that my students will be able to look back at this event when they are older and will be glad they had this experience. It was wonderful to have a good shared experience with my students for a change.

Academic Accolades 1/20/09

Pictures created at: http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/

Inauguration Trivia Hunt

Here is a link to Education World's Inaugurals of Presidents of the United States: Some Precedents and Notable Event. Here is the link to the Inauguration Trivia Hunt.

History: The Obama Presidential Inauguration

Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream"

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Since this is the day before the inauguration of the first African-American President, how has the country changes since this speech was given 45 years ago?

Here is Samantha's take:

Novel Study Holes by Louis Sachar

We have started reading the novel Holes by Louis Sachar. We will be focusing on character development and plot throughout this novel. We also will cover setting to help keep track of the time shifting elements. This is one of my favorite books to teach and I am really looking forward to the next few weeks.

We will be posting information about the story on our blog A Novel Approach to Reading.