Monday, September 11, 2017

Week of September 5, 2017

Purple Curriculum Updates
Pre-Algebra I with Seema:
After the long weekend, we spent Tuesday and Wednesday reviewing for the Chapter 1 test and the students took the test today.  I have graded the tests and will share my thoughts on where there is room for improvement next week (we are still waiting for some students to take the test). Next, we will start Chapter 2 on statistics, data analysis and graphing.

Pre-Algebra II with Jared:
This week we worked on integers, learning how to compare them on a number line, how to use the absolute value sign, and how to order numbers from least to greatest. We then reviewed/learned how to add & subtract and multiply & divide integers. On Friday we continued to practice these skills online.

Pre-Algebra III with Ann:
This week, students had the opportunity to show off their skills from Chapter 1 with our first test!  Moving into Chapter 2, we will flip our classroom most days to give each student more one on one and small group time with me.  Homework may look a little different as students will be asked to read and take notes on the information so that we can spend class time working on practice and challenge problems.  Today was our first day trying this and it went very well- groups were able to focus on the skills they needed extra help with while others practiced online or completed challenge problems.  I have posted the "By the Shapes" equation challenge online- ask your student to show you how it is done (some of them are tricky!)

Algebra I with Molly:
This week in Algebra, we completed Chapter 1 with a review of graphing in the coordinate plane, reviewed the chapter, and took a test. Quizzes have been returned and students have been given the opportunity to revise these for half the points back (during the first two chapter of the book). On Friday, we began a review of one-step and two-step solutions to equations.

Language Arts with Jared:
This week students started reading some of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poetry. We began with "Paul Revere's Ride," and discussed how contemporary issues (the impended Civil War) influenced and directed the theme and message behind the poem. Students also started presenting their powerpoint projects on a poetry type, and helped instruct the class to write their own poems in a similar style. This week we also took a short grammar quiz on prepositions and a quiz on their first vocabulary unit.

World Studies & U.S. History with Ann:
As we continue our study of Reconstruction, 7th and 8th graders have had the chance to read testimony from a freedman who entered into a sharecropping agreement in the post-war South (6th graders will get this opportunity next week). 7th graders have also begun preparing for a Structured Academic Controversy focused on how "free" the former slaves were in the South after the Civil War (8th graders will work on this next week).  6th graders have been working on reading photographs and discussing how primary source photographs can offer us glimpses into the past. 

All students should have turned in their preliminary NHD research topics this week.  We will work on narrowing the topics and developing research questions this coming week. 

Earth Science with Molly:
This week in science, students compiled the data they collected from the Sun-Earth Surveys using google classroom. It was exciting to see the spreadsheet update while they entered their numbers. We continue to investigate, prove, and disprove the different possible answers to the survey as we explore the cause for seasons on some parts of Earth. Students were guided through a journey to the sun to grasp the immense distance between the two. We also walked a scaled down version of the distance, if the earth were only the size of the head of a pin. 6th & 8th grade classes compared the elliptical orbits of Earth, Pluto, and a comet (7th will do this on Monday). 7th & 8th grade students also discussed the finer details of gravity, debating what would happen if a rock were dropped into a hollow passage which extends from one side of the earth to the other. We discussed Aristotle vs. Newton’s points of view. We continued preparations for science fair. 6th & 7th grade students explored measurement techniques using rulers, calipers, scales, and graduated cylinders. 8th grade students researched for an engineering design project by investigating and evaluating snacks packaged from our grocery store shelves and made a plan for their own packaging of a s’more.
Spanish with Corinne:
Sunshine Spanish
Sunshine A
This week in Spanish students began Chapter 1A, talking about likes and dislikes and activities. Students made flashcards for the new vocabulary and completed several activities and workbook pages relating to the vocabulary.

Sunshine B
This week in Spanish students continued working with vocabulary to talk about family. They also learned about possessive adjectives, and how to make adjectives agree with the noun. We will have a test on family, the verb “tener”, and possessive adjectives on Wednesday September 13th.

HS Spanish I, part II

This week in Spanish we finished Chapter 5A, fiestas and familia. We learned about possessive adjectives, and how to make them agree with the noun in a sentence. We will have a test on Chapter 5A on Tuesday September 12th.

HS Spanish II, part I

This week in Spanish we finished Chapter 1A, talking about school and school rules. We learned about different affirmative and negative words, and how to identify the correct place to use each word in a sentence. We will have a test on Chapter 1A on Tuesday September 12th.

HS Spanish II, part II

This week in Spanish we finished Chapter 4A, talking about childhood. We reviewed the imperfect (past) tense, and also reviewed indirect object pronouns (from the last two years). We will have a test in Chapter 4A on Tuesday September 12th.

Art with Patti:
This week the Purple Room artists explored their tie dye skills to finish their screen printed shirts from last week. They needed to think about how decision making about how to tie their shirts as well as how they applied dye would create the final pattern on their shirts. In addition to rotating through the tie dye station, student also worked in their art journal designing the word “Art”. Those that finished the word design also added a statement about art, using the text as a design element. Sixth graders focused on the purpose and meaning of art, Seventh focused on “Why artists create works of art?”, and Eighth grade students worked on a definition of art along with the purpose of art.


Those shirts create a beautiful rainbow at BNS. Check it out at http://bnsartstudio.weebly.com/

Computer Lab with Lorraine:

P.E. and Health with Matt: 
Life Skills / Sex Ed with Molly:
This week 7th grade students were the only ones who had life skills class. They responded to personal goal surveys and a questionnaire about how their year is going. 7th grade boys watched a video reviewing changing that occur during puberty. 7th grade girls will watch the female version of the same video next time. 6th grade students will shorty begin studying hormones and how they affect their bodies. 8th grade students will focus on reproductive organs.

Thank you from, 
The Purple Team

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