First semester grade cards will go home tomorrow, Friday (1-22-10). Grade cards need to be signed and brought back by Friday (1-29-10).
Third quarter tends to be a time when students take it easy and don’t work their hardest. We have repeatedly told the students that the first four weeks of the first and third quarters are the most important weeks of the school year. Please check your student’s grades online frequently to make sure they stay caught up.
In Social Studies, we are completing our study of Ancient China. The students will be taking the test and turning in their folders on Tuesday (January 26) for blue classes and on Thursday (January 27) for gold classes. The folder will include the following assignments:
1. Chapter 7 Section 1 (attached) (20 points)
2. Chapter 7 Section 2 (attached) (20 points)
3. Chapter 7 Section 3 (attached) (20 points)
4. Chapter 7 Study Guide (attached) (10 points)
5. Chapter 7 Jeopardy (will be completed in class on Friday and Monday) (10 points)
Students may use their foldables on the test.
Please look on the back of your student’s worksheets to see the activities that we have completed in class. Students may use the 10 terms on the bottom of the study guide on the test. They need to write the terms and definitions/descriptions on the back of their foldable.
If you would like the answers to the review to help your student prepare for the test—just e-mail me back and I will send them to you.
In Communication Arts, the students have just started reading, Number The Stars by Lois Lowry. The story is set in Copenhagen, Denmark during 1943 and three years of Nazi occupation have brought changes to the two main characters, Annemarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen. When word comes that the Jewish Danes are to be "relocated", Annemarie and her family take action to help their Jewish friends, the Rosens. An afterward to the story explains how the novel was drawn from true accounts of the Danish Resistance which actually succeeded in saving almost all of Denmark's 8,000 Jews. The students will read the entire novel in class and have several written assignments over the novel, as well as, some quizzes. Mrs. McFarland encourages parents to discuss this book with their child and help them with the some family history on who of their family actually served in World War II. There will be some class time devoted to student's telling about their grandparent's experiences during World War II. This week's Spelling List 7, "Tales from Long Ago", will be tested Thursday, Jan. 28 for Gold Classes and Friday, Jan. 29 for Blue Classes. The test will cover these words:
banish, bedazzled, bedraggled, courteous, famine, hapless, heed, heroine, lineage, majestic, malady, misfortune, pageant, plunder, reign, remedy, romantic, splendor, swoon, and wrath.
In Mathematics, we just took a quiz over the first part of chapter 6. Be sure to ask about your student’s grade! They did a fantastic job. We will be finishing chapter 6 soon. Next week we will review, and probably start testing. Check your student’s assignment book to see when their test will be given. All the chapter vocabulary from page 314 is on the test. Students have completed definitions in class, and need to review them. Pages 314-317 are great test review. There will be several questions on range, mean, median and mode, so be sure to review those also.
Please stock up on paper and pencils. I have several students that are out of both. Have a great weekend!
In Science, the students are studying the states of matter and how states of matter change in specific substances. The differences between chemical and physical changes will soon follow.
In Reading Exploratory, this week’s log will only need two entries instead of three. Students can read for 66 minutes and do two entries for full credit. Please have students proofread and edit their summaries if it is not their best work. Reading logs will be due every Friday.
