Summer SAVY, Session 1 Day 1, Common and Practical Chemistry (5th – 6th)
Dear Parents,
We are excited to welcome your child to SAVY 2024- Practical and Common Chemistry! Here’s a brief overview of what was achieved today. We began our day by setting daily expectations and establishing a positive rapport with one another. We used the letters of SAVY to help us with defining expectations (be Safe; be Accountable; You are Valued; Yield to help others). To build our classroom culture, students engaged in icebreaker activities, created their own rules for the lab and campus, and embraced the SAVY principles.
As students got to know one another, I also got to know them. I gave them a multiple intelligence survey that identified their unique learning styles. I will use this to engage students and nurture their strengths. I also think it’s important for students to understand their strengths and what will make them successful in academic settings.
Since we will be doing multiple experiments this week, we spent time understanding and demonstrating proper safety procedures in the chemistry lab. It’s vital to teach essential safety measures when conducting experiments in a lab.
After we got to know one another and became established with the rules of the course and the lab, we learned about one of the foundations of chemistry, matter. Our goal was to define matter, identify its different states, and recognize examples. Through discussions and experiments, students defined matter and differentiated between solids, liquids, and gases. They also made elephant toothpaste (you will have to ask your child about this)!
How You Can Support:
- Encourage Communication: Discuss their favorite activities and what they learned each day.
- Reinforce Safety: Remind your child of the importance of following safety procedures.
- Celebrate Curiosity: At the end of each day, your child will receive a choice board on the topic that was discussed during the day. The activities are voluntary. If he/she decides to complete one of the activities, a prize will be awarded the following day.
We look forward to a fun and educational experience this week with your child.
Ms. Alford and Ms. Horton