English:
This week we took our second inquiry. Students got back their scores on Wednesday. Please ask them about their scores. We also started discussing characterization and plot development in Freak the Mighty. We will continue to work with this novel for the next several weeks. In addition, pen pal letters have been finalized for our team project and are ready to be mailed. We will expect responses by mid January. Next week, we will take an X-skills test. This will measure the students' skills progress regarding understanding plot, main idea and details, character development, conflict, cause and effect, and vocabulary. They can study the vocabulary pages for the selections we read in the Expert 21 workbook.Health:
This week in health we are beginning the stress unit. Students have been engaging in different activities that cover positive and negative stress and will be identifying how stress impacts their daily lives. The "Music with a Message" projects are due today, Friday October 17th.
Mathematics:
All students took a test on Friday. That will be the last test for Quarter 1. There will be many quizzes in the next few weeks.
Accelerated - We will review on Monday before we move on to Chapter 4. I want to spend one more day on Expressions and Equations before we start Inequalities. I hope that you are taking advantage of the Big Ideas website. There are tutorial videos for each lesson. If your child is struggling at home with the homework, they should make use of the website.
Regular - We will start Chapter 3 on Monday. The students will learn about Expressions and Equations for the next few weeks. I hope that you are taking advantage of the Big Ideas website. There are tutorial videos for each lesson. If your child is struggling at home with the homework, they should make use of the website.
Science:
Students spent this week in the library conducting science fair research for their science fair experiment and writing the research paper and work cited page that is due, Tuesday, October 21. Students should be experimenting at this time or begin as soon as possible to allow enough time to collect data. Science research club will begin on Wednesday November 22. Next week, we will be having our first unit test on Thursday November 23. The topics covered on this exam are, Biological Sciences, Life Functions, and Scientific Method. Review sheets will be given on Monday November 20. Class notes and homework notebooks are also great study tools if anyone wants to begin reviewing now. Homework notebooks will be collected and graded next Friday November 24.
