Pencils: It is very difficult for students to do work in class when they come without a pencil. Many of us had a set of five "loaner" pencils at the front of the class for a student to use for a class period. All have disappeared from The Mansion. Our students have become complacent about preparedness, and it's time for a reset. Please ask your child if they have pencils in their string bags. If they do not, or can't remember where they are, can you please purchase some good Ticonderoga pencils for them this weekend? Personalize them as we do! Ask your kids - they'll know how we do this.
December Book Orders went home last week in English and are due back on Wednesday, Decmber 11th to ensure delivery before the holiday break. Book orders may be placed in person with Mrs. McGuire, or online. Enter code HLB4Q if ordering online. Thanks!
Class Updates:
Social Studies: Students this short week learned about Ancient Greek culture. Specifically, we discussed fables and read The Boy Who Cried Wolf. This upcoming week, we will continue Ancient Greek culture and dive into leadership and public speaking.
Science: Monday in science students participated in an hour of code. Students were given time to experience writing code for different programs. The rest of the week we will be focusing on a nervous system lab that will be due on Friday. Students should be completing nervous systems questions each night that are part of the lab.
Literacy: The two snow days last week put us a bit behind, but students are forging ahead with their Atlas Obscura projects! They should be researching their obscurity each day at home, and taking notes on their Cornell note document on Google Classroom! Those without technology at home should be staying after school with me today and tomorrow and Thursday! We have learned to use Cite This For Me, to cite their resources, and we will be learning to check the authenticity of the images they choose. Recording the voice over will be the last step. The project will be due by Friday, December 20th.
English: Students said they really enjoyed the acting this past week at the play and that it was a nice visual for what we have been reading in class. We are nearing the end of A Christmas Carol and have been discussing the subtle character change of Ebenezer Scrooge throughout the course of the book. We've also reviewed Dickens' upbringing and how it connects to the Cratchit Family, as well as classical literature and why we still read texts that have been written almost 200 years ago. Students will have their unit test on December 18th.
Math: Students are working on solving equations. We started with learning how to create tape diagrams, for all students struggling with this process there is an instructional video on Google Class. This week we will work towards moving to the traditional algorithm. Our next test will be Thursday, December 19th. Make sure to do the nightly homework!
