Team Update: Week of March 19

Spring is coming!  Spring IS coming!

Class Updates:

Social Studies: This week we spent a lot of time investigating the early Middle Ages and Charlemagne and the impact that he had on the Medieval World. This upcoming week we will learn a little bit about the Vikings and their role in the Middle Ages and learn about the social class system known as feudalism. 

Science:  This week we have answered the question, why should we care about an invader and asked a lot of questions about the trout and sea lamprey interaction.  Click HERE to see more about what we are doing in class.  Next week we will investigate the anatomy of the trout and sea lamprey to try to answer our questions.  Homework is to study as we have a test coming soon!

Literacy:  Can you believe it?  Another snow day! The majority of our week was spent learning from the Historical Fiction presentations!  Students are becoming great public speakers, and we have all enjoyed learning from the research done by classmates!  Monday we will be in the computer lab to do a writing module to practice for the statewide assessment that students will take in April. We'll also dive right into Latin Unit 10!  Expect another Omnictionary Benchmark, and keep an eye out for some really creative Word Art!    

English:  Students began the week with poetry pages, which is a part of March Reading Madness. They had a lot of fun designing their poems and came up with some really creative ideas! We started our new unit this week as well, which will focus on the novel, The Giver. Students spent this week learning about some background and vocabulary, and next week we will begin reading and discussing the text. There will be a quiz on sentence fragments and run-ons next week. We will be reviewing this material in class and students will be receiving homework assignments as additional practice. March independent reading projects are due in just about 2 weeks! Students should be working diligently on this project and finishing up their books within the next week so that they have time to write about their found objects.

Math: We spent more time going over composite figures.  I was out sick last Thursday and Friday so we didn't get as far into the curriculum as I had hopped. I will be staying after Monday if anyone is struggling or missing quizzes/tests, because the last two Thursdays have been cancelled. Next week we will be moving onto Surface Areas of Prisms.  Just a reminder, the Go Figure is due Friday, March 31st. 

Team Update: Week of March 12th

Team Update: 

Jim Parks came to introduce us to his birds!  

Class Updates:

Social Studies: We kicked off our next major unit this last week covering Medieval Times. Students did a great job formulating questions regarding the Middle Ages to help spark their curiosity and ultimately guide their upcoming learning. We will continue this process this week and take a mapping assessment Tuesday. 

Science:  This week we looked more closely at symbiotic interactions.  Students presented examples of different symbiotic relationships that they researched to the class.  Ask your students about the ones that were difficult to look at!  Click HERE to see more about what we are doing in class.  Next week we will apply what we have been investigation to our anchoring phenomenon:  What happened to the trout.  Homework this week will be to study as we have a test coming soon!

Literacy:  One of the important aspects of our class is to learn to speak fluently in front of a group of people.  Many were hesitant at the beginning of the year, but as we began the Historical Fiction presentations last week, students have shown amazing growth.  Far too many students were not prepared for the test last week, which was disappointing!  Presentations continue this week, as well as introducing Word Art for our March Reading Madness!  

English:  The students finished up their persuasive essays this week. It was a long and arduous journey, but there was a lot of growth in navigating the writing process. The March Independent Reading Project has officially been assigned! This month students will be creating a "book in a bag" and presenting their work in front of the class. This project is due on Monday, April 3rd. This project is more demanding than previous projects, so it is important that students get started reading right away. We will begin a unit on The Giver this week that will challenge the students to think critically about their world in comparison to the world that Lowry has created in this famous young adult novel. We will also be doing some fun activities like Poetry Pages and Spooky Stories as a part of March Reading Madness.

Math: We are continuing to work through our geometry unit.  Last week students learned about complex figures, which we will extended this week into surface areas of prisms. March's Go Figure went out last Monday.  This month has many different parts, so be sure not to wait until the last minute! It's due Friday, March 30th! This past week we have also started our SAS practice students will compete against the other classes, the class with the most points will not have to do the April Go Figure.  

Team Update: Week of February 19th

Team Update: 

No School Monday, February 19th!

Class Updates:

Social Studies: Students worked incredibly hard this week! This was the final week in which we spend time on Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Students started their final performance task on Thursday and will wrap it up Tuesday when they come back. This performance task will demonstrate their mastery of the lasting legacies of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

Science:  This week we looked more closely at predator and prey interactions.  We started to investigate competition.  Click HERE to see more about what we are doing in class.  Next week we will continue looking at different interactions.  On Tuesday, we will have a Guidance Presentation during science class.

Literacy:  What a week! We were fortunate to have the chrome books in Literacy class this week to begin the work on their Historical Fiction projects!  I collaborated with Ms. Scotti to have the kids select historical fiction books for the February IRP for English, so that I could have the kids research an actual historical event that took place during the same time period!  They're all working very hard, and should try to complete their reading this long weekend!  We'll be in the Library on Tuesday, and if we're very, very efficient, schedule the Latin 9 test for Friday.  Happy long weekend!

English:  We continued working on the persuasive essays this week. The students are working hard and are really challenging themselves to become better writers! It has been slow going on this essay, but we should finish up very soon. Next week we will be taking a break from the essay and doing some work with word choice, peer editing, and conclusions. Don't forget that February Independent Reading Projects are due on Friday, February 23rd!

Math: Last Wednesday we quizzed on inequalities to finish up our equations unit.  The students did very well overall.  We then started our geometry unit by learning about circles.  We talked about circumference, radius and diameter at the end of last week.  This week we are going to learn about area of circles.  The Go Figure is on Friday, February 23rd!  Time management is key, don't wait until the last minute. It's exciting to see that many students have already turned in their projects. I have started to stamp kids agenda's daily to ensure they have written down the homework.  We do have homework most days and they can always be working on their long term projects. 

Team Update: Week of February 12th

Team Update: 

Please return your progress report envelopes to your advisor.

Class Updates:

Social Studies: This week we wrapped up our unit on Classical Civilizations. Students investigated what caused the Roman Empire to collapse and what caused the Byzantine Empire to succeed and live on. Students will be assessed on this material Tuesday following a major review on Monday.

Science:  This week we figured out five different interactions that organisms have with other populations.  We watched video clips to observe these interactions.  On Friday we started looking more closely at the predator and prey interaction.    Click HERE to see more about what we are doing in class.  Next week we will continue looking at different interactions.

Literacy:  Students took a serious look at Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech in an effort to unlock the rhetorical devices used by each of the orators, and to learn to analyze the more complex passages to understand the messages delivered.   We ended the week with a mastery test on Latin Unit 8.  In the week ahead students will be introduced to the research and presentation project based upon the historical fiction book they are reading for the February IRP in English class!  We're lucky to have the chrome books in class for most of the week! 

English:  This week in English we continued working on our persuasive essays. The students finished up their outlines and ended the week by beginning to write their essays. Next week we will continue to work on the essays and workshop them in class. Students should be working on their independent reading projects that are due next week!

Math: Last week we learned how to solve one-step and two-step inequalities. February's Go Figure was handed out and January's was graded and returned.  For the upcoming week, we are going to learn how to graph inequalities to wrap up the topic.  There will be a quiz on Wednesday, February 14 on inequalities.  To end the the week we are going to start our Geometry unit. 

Team Update: Week of February 5th

Team Update: 

Progress reports will go home on Tuesday!

Class Updates:

Social Studies: Students completed their Roman research projects this week. Be sure to check the gradebook to see how you scored! This upcoming week will be the final week that we cover the Roman Empire. We will learn how the Roman Empire collapse and will start preparing for upcoming assessments.

Science:  This week we figured out that resource availability affects populations.  On Monday we pretended that we were deer looking for food, water and cover.  We studied the populations of June suckers, Mountain Plovers and Hummingbirds.    Click HERE to see more about what we are doing in class.  Next week we will start answering our questions about interactions between organisms.  We will start of the week with a quick assessment on how resource availability affects populations.

Literacy:  Students learned about intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation when we looked at Omnictionary slides on Monday!  Those who understand intrinsic motivation will take the constructive comments offered by classmates to improve their slide shows!  We saw some great ideas!  We also discussed rhetoric - and the devices that are used in famous, powerful speeches.  We viewed a couple of very interesting performances of Rap - including the oldest one on record, Ya Got Trouble from The Music Man, set in 1912.  Students later analyzed Lincoln's Gettysburg Address!  Next week we'll tackle MLK's dream speech and get ready for Latin 8 test on Friday!

English:  This week in English class the students continued working on their argument essays. Thesis statements were finalized early in the week, and then the students worked on their outlines to plan out their essays. The students also did some work with counter argument to learn how to strengthen their arguments by refuting the other side. The February independent reading project was assigned; this month we are focusing on historical fiction! Students should begin reading their historical fiction books over the weekend to get a jump on this project!

Math: Friday we wrapped up our equations unit.  Anyone who didn't turn in their January Go Figures needs to do so quickly! Next week we are going to learn about inequalities! It's similar to equations but a little different.  We will also be handing out February's Go Figure on Monday.  It will be due Friday, February 23rd.  

Team Update: Week of January 28th

Team Update: 

Grades close Wednesday, January 31st!  Progress reports will go home the following week.

Class Updates:

Social Studies: Students researched Roman inventions this past week and ultimately continued their journey learning how Ancient Rome has influenced our world today. This week we will start our in-class research project. This is a 100% student centered project. Students will choose what standards they want to be graded on, pick a topic, create a project that aligns to the standards that they've selected, and finally on Friday they will assess their project and justify why they graded themselves the way that they did. Have a great weekend!

Science:  On Friday we had an assessment, completing our investigations around the question:  How does matter and energy move through an ecosystem?  We figured out that the trout in Lake Michigan do have enough food but there is an organism called the sea lamprey that we have a lot of questions about.  Click HERE to see more about what we are doing in class.  Next week we will start answering our questions about the sea lamprey.

Literacy:  We finally had the opportunity to watch The Children's March, a documentary heralding the thousands of children who became the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Cotton Balls - don't forget your essays!  Friday was the first benchmark date for the Omnictionary.  The plan is to present a few slides from each show to offer constructive comments for each student.  We've also begun Latin Unit 8!  

English:  This week in English class students began to work on their argument essays. The students were working diligently on brainstorming their evidence and fine-tuning their thesis statements. January independent reading projects were due this week, and the project for February will be introduced next week. Students will continue to outline and plan their essays next week, and towards the end of the week the students will begin to write their essays.

Math: The end of the month is fast approaching!  January's Go Figure is due Wednesday, January 31st. Make sure to explain and show your work to get the maximum amount of points. This week we will continue to work on two-step equations, be ready there will be a test on solving equations next week!  

Team Update: Week of January 9, 2018

Team Update: 

Our team will administer the iReady test in both Reading and Mathematics next week, Thursday and Friday.  We will not assign any homework on those days, and encourage you to have your students turn their phones off and get to bed early!  Well rested students perform much better on these computerized tests! We want so much for each one of them to show growth on both tests, as they've worked hard this year.  We appreciate your help!

Class Updates:

Social Studies: We officially wrapped up the Roman Republic this week and started to research the Roman Empire on Friday. Ask your child who claimed to have turned the city of Rome from being built with bricks to being built with marble! Have a great weekend!

Science: What happened to the trout in Lake Michigan?  Students continue to investigate our anchoring phenomenon.  Click HERE to see more about what we are doing in class.  This week we figured out what the trout eats and how food webs work.

Literacy:  Students are settling in to their new groups quite well, and we're really proud of them! We have been working around our snow days, so completing the seventh unit of Latin roots has been a bit of a challenge, but the kids were very logical in wanting to keep the test date at Wednesday, January 17th!  We've also begun our unit on Tolerance.  They entertained one another by listing the the things they can't tolerate!  Open mouth chewing was at the top of the list!  We'll continue with this unit after iReady testing next week, by examining some primary source materials chronicling intolerance in history.  There are some fantastic, short documentaries for kids, and some powerful print articles.    

English:  This week in English we wrapped up our unit on A Christmas Carol. We watched the film version of this classic tale and we discussed our final conclusions about the meaning of this story. We spent some time checking in on the status of our January independent projects, and on Thursday the students took a summative quiz on A Christmas Carol. We ended the week by beginning our unit on persuasive writing. Next week we will continue with our notes on persuasive writing and engage in some fun activities like speed debating to enhance our persuasive skills. Students should be working diligently on their independent reading projects. Two weeks may seem like a long time, but the time will zip by quicker than we think!

Math: Friday we quizzed on expressions, student had a combine like terms and use the distributive property.  Make sure you understand these two skills, as we are going to continue using these skills to solve equations.  Next week we will be starting our solving equations unit, we finally will be finding the value of a variable.