Good Afternoon,

The temperature has dropped quite a bit and we are sure in the season of fall.

Starting tomorrow, November 1st, the students are not allowed to wear shorts.

Parent-Teacher conferences are Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. Please make sure you signed up. This round of conferences is mandatory for every student to meet with their homeroom teacher.

In ELA we are working on strategies to analyze four of Wilbur Wrights letters to his family and the Smithsonian Institute. The students been using their inference skills along with finding textual evidence to support their statements.

We are also working on writing a DBQ. We are just in the process of analyzing six documents and will in the near future begin writing the essay.

The Adventure Book Bag project is due November 8th. The students have and will have a few days to get a start on it in class. They need to be working on it at home. The speeches will start on November 8th as well. Please make sure your student practices at home so that they are not just reading from their note cards or bag.

The students are also working on adjectives. They have  been encouraged to make note cards to help them remember the different types and use it as a great tool to study for the test.   (November 7)

In Social Studies we are continuing to learn more information about Ancient Egypt.  So far we have studied about the following topics: geography,  pyramids, religion, and the Old Kingdom. Tomorrow we will begin the process of mummifying an apple and it will take about 15 days of observation to complete the activity.

Hello,

Progress reports went home today. They need to come back with a parent signature no later then Monday. If there are questions about the grade please contact the teacher that teaches that subject. Also, please keep in mind that this grade is not set in stone. The students have until November 21st, when the trimester ends, to raise their grade. Also, another helpful took is to check in on Power School weekly will help both you and your child stay on top of your child's grades.

In Social Studies we have finished up the Ancient Mesopotamian unit and are now onto Ancient Egypt. We started this week talking about the geography of Egypt and going over vocabulary terms that we will see throughout the chapter.  I am/will be encouraging each of the students to make flashcards of the vocabulary words so that they can easily study them and become familiar with them throughout the next few weeks. During this unit we will mummify apples and make pyramids out of tooth picks and marshmallows. The students will also have to write a compare and contrast essay explaining which civilization, Egypt or Mesopotamia, was better situated based on its geography. We will also be analyzing a primary source hymns and poems to formulate and answer a DBQ (document based question)

During ELA class the students have been working really hard at understanding different pieces of literature. We have taken apart commencement addresses, poems, and short articles. The students participated in a fish bowl discussion and had a great time talking about central idea and point of view. (Who would've thought that a middle school student would think those topics were fun?? :)

During centers the students have been working at understanding nouns, learning their Words their Way words, and responding and writing to two bingo what if prompts.


As always please reach out and let me know if I can help or answer any questions.

Good Afternoon,

The students were very busy today starting their Mesopotamian Marble Run ziggurat activities. It has been wonderful to see each student working with their group members to predict, brainstorm, and reflect on the strategies they need to do to make the best ziggurat. 

I showed the students their Mesopotamian Test and those will come home early next week for a parent signature. The grades are also already in power school so please make sure to check there. The students that got lower then a C will have the opportunity tomorrow to do test corrections and earn half a point back for each one they get correct.

In ELA we read a poem by Phillip Larkin entitled, "The Failure." This really challenged the students as we worked through the older words and paraphrased each of the lines. They do have homework tonight to finish the TP-CASTT form that goes along with the poem. Tomorrow we will read "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.

Friday the students will have their second Words Their Way test and their center folders are due Monday October 9th.

Mrs. Bonner