Vanishing September!

The month of September certainly disappeared !  Routines are established and expectations are being met.  We have had many events such as the Tug O’ War, Mini-rewards for September, Cross Country events, Art and Culture Day events.  We have also focused on curriculum for the month.

Highlights:

Language Arts

·         Journal entries – students write daily for 10 minutes on a particular topic.  Sometimes it is a topic I give them such as write a paragraph about a girl named Dot but you can not use any letters with dots (j and i). Sometimes students choose a topic from the list of 100 items that they came up with. The goal is for students to write continuously for 10 minutes even if they have writers block.  They can say, “I am not sure what to write about but I notice the leaves are exhibiting their beautiful hues.”  You get the idea.

·         Novel Study – I Am David by Anne Holm

The students were certainly engaged in the novel.  Students listened and read the novel while choosing 3 items to look for while writing their ideas down on a sticky note.  They could listen for a unknown vocabulary word, a connection , something that surprised them, a quote, something they want to learn more about. 

Students used the information to complete a chapter sheet to prove their comprehension.

·         The Movie – I Am David.  The overwhelming response was disappointment. (I didn’t think the movie was that bad).  It was quite different from the book and students compared and contrasted the events.

·         DEAR – students are given time to read books of their choice while working towards creating a book talk on their reading material.  This assignment was handed out on Thursday, October 2, 2014.  The due date will be in approximately 6 weeks.  November 13 – 20^th.

·         Read Aloud – students are listening to a novel call Wonder by RJ Palacio.  Ask your kids what it is about!

Math

·         We have completed our first math unit on Representing Data.  Students will be assessed on their knowledge by completing a unit test for each unit.  I expect all students to have their parents sign their tests and return them to school.

·         Ratios, rates and proportional reasoning has been our focus the last several weeks.

·         Students are using their knowledge of rates and proportional reasoning to complete a Thanksgiving project that has students find the unit cost of 10 items they would like to have for Thanksgiving dinner.

Social

·         Mapping

·         Current Events

·         Worldview

·         The Renaissance

·         How did the Western Worldview grow out of the Renaissance

·         Students have been learning how to take notes and how to effectively read a textbook

·         Students are currently working on a project on The Plague!

Science

·         Mr. C teaches 8B and 8C Science this year.

·         The focus has been lab safety and WHIMS

·         Mix and Flow of Matter

Some of our Cross Country Participants

One of our Art and Culture Day Participants!