10/26/18 PLC Minutes

Members Present: Vermillion, Wise, McCandless, Rahmlow,  Roberts, Montgomery, Roy

1. Unit 3 Assessment- Evolution HERE
   a. Key vocabulary terms are in a Google Doc HERE
2. College expectations of binders and science notebooks
3. Metric conversions
4. Walk-through feedback
5. Teaching photosynthesis- concept of energy, not details.

10/12/18 PLC Minutes

Members Present: Baker, McCandless, Wise, Vermillion


1. Data Review- Unit 2 Assessment
   a. AP did well, Comp not so much- Baker
   b. CER was a struggle- Wise
   c. Sentence Starter for claim- Wise and McCandless
   d. CER brought down grades
   e. Vocabulary is a struggle- Should we do a key terms for unit?
      i. Include on matching/quiz/vocab
      ii. Kahoot
      iii. Design a set of key terms for unit 3- Wise and McCandless- Created a Google Doc in the folder.
     iv. Use Unit 3 assessment to create list of vocabulary words to prepare students for success.
*We use data to drive instruction by creating vocabulary lessons to help strengthen our student's learning.*
2. Upcoming Unit
   a. Species folders
   b. District common assessment is unit test.
   c. CHANGE to lesson Oct 19- Kids present Cladograms to teacher only, while the rest of the class practices vocabulary
3. Test-Taking skills
   a. Wise- Students know the techniques, but do not use them
   b. Modeling examples of how to use test taking skills
   c. Review week at the end of the unit- utilize to go over test, practice skills
   d. Use old tests, have them analyze and reformat questions to understand what the questions are really asking.
   e. Do not teach to the test!! Build the concepts.

10/8/18 PLC Minutes

Members Present: Baker, McCandless, Montgomery, Wise, Vermillion

1. Unit 3 Planning- Evolution
   a. Lesson 1 Finch lab- Graphing and fun
   b. Schedule
     i. Only 6 species in the folder
     ii. Weds/Thurs Oct 10/11: Finch Lab
     iii. Friday Oct 12: Cladogram Introduction (copy of Cladogram PPT link)
     iv. Monday Oct 15: Evidence for Evolution Packet
     v. Tuesday Oct 16: Evidence for Evolution Packet
     vi. Weds/Thurs Oct 17/18: Evidence for evolution with species folders
          - Fact Sheet
          - Evidence
      vii. Friday Oct 19: Present cladograms (Backpack Worthy artifact)
      viii. Monday Oct 22: Reading on Madagascar- Geographic Impact on Speciation
          - Stabilizing bell curve
          - Disruptive bell curve
          - Directional bell curve
      ix. Tuesday Oct 23: Classification Notes
      x. Weds/Thurs Oct 24-25: Endangered Species/ Human Impact Poster/Ad Campaign
      xi. Friday Oct 26: Presentations (Backpack Worthy artifact)
      xii. Week of Halloween: Unit Test on Nov 2/Catch Up/ Enrichment/ Achieve3000
2. Unit 4: Cells and Body after Halloween
    a. Next Gold Day- Planning session on Unit 4