Opening
| Anya | Choose and lead song |
| Ellie | Prayer |
| Fielding | Scripture/Thought |
| Hyrum | Pledge of Allegiance |
| JudySue | Joke of the Day |
| Lenora | Lead Memorization |
| Lucy | Show and Tell |
| Talmage | Treasurer and Snack |
Poem and Shuffle Dance
Don’t forget to practice your shuffle dance!
We’ll learn the next stanza of our poem this week:
If You Were Busy Being Kind
by R. Foreman
If you were busy being kind,
Before you knew it you would find
You’d soon forget to think ’twas true
That someone was unkind to you.
If you were busy being glad
And cheering people who seem sad,
Although your heart might ache a bit,
You’d soon forget to notice it.
If you were busy being good,
And doing just the best you could,
You’d not have time to blame some man
Who’s doing just the best he can.
Finally, our next book club book is Sweet Home Alaska by Carole Estby Dagg.
Here’s a checklist for this week’s assignments: (except add the Valentine’s Party Assignments below!)
Electricity and Magnetism
This week we’ll be exploring two forms of energy that are really two examples of the same force – electromagnetic force. In fact, many scientists refer to electricity and magnetism as two sides of the same coin. A moving electric field can generate a magnetic field and vice versa. If you’re confused, don’t worry. Hopefully our reading this week will help clear this up for you.
First, read Clang: Wile E Coyote Experiments with Magnets (p 7-33).
Next, watch this video about electricity.
Can you see better now how electricity and magnets are related?
Now that you know more about electricity and magnets, I hope you’re excited to explore these amazing forces more. Normally, I give you things to try at home, but this week we’re going to save them for in class. Get excited!
Science Journal
To help you remember what you’ve learned, I’d like you to define each of the following terms in your science journal.
- Magnet
- Lodestone
- Polarity
- Repel
- Attract
- Electricity
- Circuit
- Conductor
- Insulator
Remember, you can use short phrases or even pictures to help your brain remember. Look at this cool example of notes taken with lots of pictures and just a few words.
William Kamkwamba
Shifting gears a bit…I want you to learn about an amazing man from Africa named William Kamkwamba. He is an incredible example of someone who worked hard on his own to learn as much as he could. His work ended up making a huge impact on his family and his village! Watch this book and see what he did and how it relates to electricity.
Think like William Kamkwamba – How It Works Presentations
Can you believe William learned how to harness electricity from the wind without a formal teacher?? It’s pretty amazing what our minds can do when we stretch them.
This week, I want you to stretch your mind a bit as you prepare a presentation for us.
Have you ever wondered how electricity or magnetism makes something work? Here are a few questions you might have:
- How does a toaster work? Why does the toast pop up?
- Why does a compass point north?
- How do cars run on electricity instead of gas?
- Why do lights not come on until we flip the switch?
- Where does the electricity in our homes come from?
This week, I want to you to prepare a presentation about how electricity or magnetism makes something work. Sign up for a topic here (or get ideas if you need them). Like William, you will need to do some research at the library (or online) as you seek to learn more. I hope you work and think hard. Come to class prepared to share what you learned with the rest of us. Remember, there are many great ways to give a presentation so be creative! You might even want to combine your presentation with your Valentine’s box! (See below)
Valentine’s Party!
We are having Valentine’s Party in class this week!
- Make yourself a Valentine’s mailbox that represents something you have learned about in Vanguard this year.
- Bring Valentines for each of the other Juniors for our Valentine exchange. Here are all of the Juniors’ names: Hyrum, Fielding, Talmage, JudySue, Lenora, Lucy, Anya, Ellie, BONUS Honorary Junior: McKade 🙂
