January 8, 2010

Homework:
None

Check out the updated ant debate page.  I listed the winners and posted some pictures:
http://www.mrboz.com/MrBoZ/Ant_Debate_2009_10.html


Today:
Daily Drill (see below)
Reviewed vocab words because on January 19 the students will retake the big test they took in the fall to see if their score improves now that they have studied 7 units.

I started the students thinking about science fiction today.  I reviewed early technologies and moved forward through today's technology.  For example, we have gone from clay tablets to files stored on a hard drive.  We have gone from letters to text messages.  Back when people barely understood how the phone worked, they could not conceive of cell phones let alone e-mail or text messages.

Today I had the students begin to design a future personal entertainment device.  Believe it or not, our children's children will laugh at our iPhones!  The computer I had 13 years ago is useless!  I want the students to think about the most useful device they can think of.  They don't even have to know how it would be made.  They just need the idea.

However, science fiction also points out things about our culture and the solutions we need now.  In their brief presentations next week, I want them to explain how these entertainment devices will help humanity.  But, I also want them to think about some of the bad things that their device might cause.  But that is hard.  Think about texting.  Did we think there would come a day when we had to have laws to stop people from killing people because they texted while driving?  Who would have thought about the dangers cell phones could pose when most children have them?

Eventually, the fiction piece the students will write will include a futuristic technology that they imagined.  Their technology will be a solution to a problem we have now.  Their paper may also show some of the dangers of the new technology if it is appropriate.  We will read lots of examples so the students know what I want them to write.

I will be explaining these things in the weeks to come.  Right now, I want to awake their creative side.  I look forward to seeing what we will be using 25 years from now.  Did you see the iPhone coming 25 years ago?  Who would have thought?

Friday, January 8, 2010 (M5)
1. “Carl will you help me with my home work afterschool”

2. “No not today because I have to go out of town with my mom and dad”

3. That is ___________ electronic game.

4. (Their, There, They’s, They’re) going to meet us in the lobby after the movie.

5. What does “Go fly a kite” mean?