Monday, October 23, 2017

Week of October 17, 2017

Purple Curriculum Updates
Pre-Algebra I with Seema:
We are close to finishing Chapter 4 and I handed out a review packet to prepare for Chapter 4 test. My best guess is the test will be next Friday Oct 26th. I have had to put off covering new material a couple of times this week in order to review previously covered material. The majority of this group is secure with different concepts such as greatest common factor (GCF) and least common multiple (LCM). However, they need to review well so they don't get confused between them. I have emphasized thinking about what the words mean if they get stuck and figuring it out from there. I returned chapter 4 quiz 1 and they took chapter 4 quiz 2 today. This  (shortened) week we started looking at improper and proper fraction and mixed numbers and how to convert between them. The students were also introduced to least common multiple and next they will learn how to use this to find the least common denominator to order and compare fractions. We will finish up the unit with converting decimals to fractions and vice versa. 

Pre-Algebra II with Jared:
In Pre-Algebra II, we looked at how to convert improper fractions into mixed numbers, and then how to do the reverse. We also discussed how to solve complicated word problems by solving simpler problems, and then finding a pattern to extrapolate from. On Friday we took a second quiz on this material.

Pre-Algebra III with Ann:
We worked with solving systems of linear equations by graphing- including what happens when you end up with the same line and parallel lines.  After a quiz on the second part of Chapter 3, students began a transformations mini-project.  For this project, students have a choice of how they would like to learn and present the information in the last portion of Chapter 3.  All students are required to show they understand translation, rotation, and reflection.  Some students are creating flip books while others have chosen to preform transformations on graph paper and work several problems in the text.  I am excited to see what everyone comes up with as some of the brainstorming ideas were rather ambitious!


Our Chapter 3 test will be next Thursday (10/26).





Algebra I with Molly:
This week in Algebra, students learned to work with compound inequalities. They are now applying the many skills they’ve brought to algebra to new situations. They are working on very careful calculations, keeping track of negative signs, doing steps in the correct order, and sometimes changing the direction of inequality signs. These are all opportunities for mistakes and require careful attention from the students. They learned to solve absolute value equations and inequalities. And will complete Chapter 3 on early next week, review and take the test.

Language Arts with Jared:
In Language Arts, students reviewed for their vocabulary test by working in partners on a giant crossword puzzle, and by using their flashcards and working on a review worksheet. We also spent a bit of time discussing short stories, reading a few examples, and looking at their story structure. Sixth graders read "The Three Questions" by Tolstoy, seventh graders read Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," and Sawyer's "Gator", and eighth graders read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog" by Mark Twain and "The Cop and the Anthem" by O. Henry.

World Studies & U.S. History with Ann:Sixth graders had the chance to perfect and deliver their elevator speeches this week.  Seventh graders began investigating what happens when 10% of the people control 90% of the wealth.  Eighth graders worked on analyzing political cartoons. 

All students were asked to find a current event relating to technology this week.  Some of them were amazing-please ask your student what they discovered!

Earth Science with Molly:
This week in science students had a third additional day to work on their seasons essay. This should be turned in by Monday. We’re moving along with science fair. Students turned in proposals for science fair projects at the end of the week. Next week, 6th & 7th grade students will be doing some basic research about the scientific processes affecting their science project topic and 8th grade students will be researching products similar to or components of what they’re creating for their engineering design project. We began reading from the textbook, learning to take effective notes to study from.

Spanish with Corinne:
Sunshine Spanish
Sunshine A
This week we started Chapter 2A, talking about classes and school day schedules. On Friday students used class time to work on their research projects for our culture night in the spring.

Sunshine B
This week we started Chapter 6B, parts of the house a chores. Students enjoyed discussing their chores and their house layouts compared to what was listed in the book. On Friday students used class time to continue working on their research projects for the spring culture night.

HS Spanish I, part II
This week we began Chapter 6A, talking about items in a bedroom, and electronic equipment. Students enjoyed a review of colors and other vocabulary from 4th grade Spanish, and also enjoyed discussing VCR and DVD players in comparison to modern day technology such as Apple TV and Netflix. Because of the field trips this week, we did begin the grammar for this chapter.

HS Spanish II, part I
This week we began Chapter 2A, talking about daily routines. Students made lists of all of the new vocabulary words.  Because of the field trips this week, we did not start any grammar. 
HS Spanish II, part II
This week we began Chapter 5A, talking about heroic acts during natural disasters. Students made lists of all of the new vocabulary from this chapter to help with studying and familiarity with the words. We did not begin any grammar this week because of the field trips.

Art with Patti:
Sixth Grade: Art Journal: Bottles/Vases Watercolor  Using watercolor, students filled in the background of their bottles/vases composition. They thought about intensity and color choice so that the background does not compete with the bottles. Some used white pastel to create a resist. Project: Non-representational Artwork Exploring three different types of materials, create an artwork that focuses on shape, color, line, value, and emotion. You can reference the non-representational art journal pages for some of the technique exploration as possibilities to use. Your reflection will include what types of media you chose to explore, as well as which elements of art you used. Art Project: Self-Representation Students think about their likes, how they spend their time, favorite foods, hobbies, family representation, favorite places to visit, who they are as a person. They are to create an artwork that is a representation of themselves, using visuals to convey imagery of who they are, without using a self-portrait.

Seventh Grade: Art Journal: Watercolor To compare their journal paper to watercolor paper, students created background using an intermediate color (by mixing a primary color with a secondary color) on a 6 X 9" watercolor paper. They also finished their journal watercolor page by removing the Rubber Cement. Project: Chalk Drawing Using Grid First PROJECT assignment. You will create a drawing using white chalk on black paper. LIGHTLY draw a 2" grid on your black 12 X 18" paper. Choose an image to print out in black and white that has a range of values and shows contrast. Draw a 1" grid (or adjust if necessary) on top of your image. Using pencil, LIGHTLY draw major shapes you see in each square from your image onto your black paper. Move square by square, checking where the shapes meet the edges of the squares to scale correctly. Using white chalk, students fill in various values you see in each square, reference the value scale you created in your art journal. Use a viewfinder (a card cut with a hole that matches your image grid square) to help you focus on small pieces of information.

Eighth Grade: Art Journal: More watercolor techniques Students continued exploring different watercolor techniques. They started exploring transparency, used the water drop, splatter, dry on dry. Art Journal: Label Watercolor techniques Students labeled transparency, wet on wet, splatter, alcohol, salt, dry on dry, resist and water/color drops. Project: Charcoal Drawing First PROJECT assignment. Students will create a drawing using charcoal on white or neutral paper. LIGHTLY draw a 2" grid on your 12 X 18" project paper. Choose an image to print out in black and white that has a range of values and shows contrast. Draw a 1" grid (or adjust if necessary) on top of your image. Using pencil, LIGHTLY draw major shapes you see in each square from your image onto your black paper. Move square by square, checking where the shapes meet the edges of the squares to scale correctly. Using vine charcoal, start filling in shapes they see in each square. Use charcoal pencils and compressed charcoal to build a range of values in each square. Reference the value sphere you created in your art journal. Use a viewfinder (a card cut with a hole that matches your image grid square) to help you focus on small pieces of information.

Check out the art blog at http://bnsartstudio.weebly.com/

Computer Lab with Lorraine:

6th and 7th Grade
Students will start a new project.  It is a research project where students  identify a specific country's location on a map,   its capital, population, and size (add these as markers to the map as clip art).  Upon further research, students will identify  three industries for the specific country's economy. Then in detail, describe how these industries affect that particular country's  economy in a Google Slide presentation. 

8th Grades
Students will research a topic about some "type" of travel path  for a vehicle (car, train, plane, boat) i.e. Amelia Earhart flight plans, the first Transcontinental Railroad or a famous sail boat or car race). It could also be about an art tour, an animal  or insect migration, history event i.e. westward expansion, or even the manufacturing of a product as a raw material at the the beginning until the end when the product is in our home.    Using the skills learned about creating maps, students will add location markers, icons and images to their maps. Finally in Google Slides create a 4 slide presentation about their research


P.E. and Health with Matt: 

http://matthewperry.co/?page_id=174

Next week 10/23 to 10/27, the Purple roomers will be doing their Physical Fitness Testing for the beginning of the year. Please try to encourage your student to wear athletic clothing on Tuesday and Thursday. As it may be uncomfortable for students to do some of these activities in regular street clothes.

Life Skills / Sex Ed with Molly:
This week only 7th grade students had class, due to Monday off. They turned their science fair proposals in, then spent time learning about Micah’s Backpack and making posters for this month’s collection of fruit cups. Next time, 6th grade students will split into gender groups. The girls will learn about and diagramed parts of the body that produce hormones for the endocrine system. The boys will spend their independent time working on a handwriting practice book. 7th grade boys will watch a video reviewing changes that occur during puberty. 7th grade boys will respond to a questionnaire about how their year is going. 8th grade students will split into gender groups. Girls will meet to discuss breast changes during puberty, while the boys read from 101 Things To Know About Being A Guy.

Thank you from, 
The Purple Team

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Week of Oct 9, 2017

Purple Curriculum Updates
Pre-Algebra I with Seema:
We are halfway through chapter 4 on number theory and fractions. This chapter has A LOT of math vocabulary and key math concepts. The students have 2 handouts for writing definitions as we study them and this should be a reference for them in the future. We studied divisibility rules (for 2,3,5,9,10), the difference between composite and prime numbers, exponents (and order of operations with exponents included), prime factorization and finding the greatest common factor (GCF) by using a division ladder and factor trees. Occasionally, I am seeing resistance to showing work. If you could help reinforce the importance of showing all steps of a problem, I would greatly appreciate it.

I also returned their chapter 3 tests after corrections. The students did quite well on the new material. Some, however, are still struggling with place value, division/multiplication with decimals and order of operations. We will keep reviewing older concepts as we introduce new ones, but if you could look over their work and help clarify any confusion that would help as well. 

Pre-Algebra II with Jared:
In math students took a quiz on Tuesday, focusing on exponents and scientific notation. We then talked about a lot of different abbreviations – LCM, GCF, and LCD. We spent a lot of time remembering to first figure out what the abbreviations stand for, and how to solve them. We reviewed prime factorization, and looked at a few different ways of figuring out the greatest common factors of numbers. We then looked at fractions, and how we could reduce fractions to their simplest forms, and how to find common denominators between fractions.

Pre-Algebra III with Ann:
After a little extra practice, students took a (Re)Quiz for the first half of Chapter 3.  This exercise proved beneficial as students were able to demonstrate an increased comprehension of linear equations which will be helpful moving forward.  Towards the end of the week, we worked with linear equations in standard form and using the to sole word problems.  On Friday, students investigated using slope to solve a cup stacking problem.  All groups worked really hard to figure out the challenge and were successful!  Ask them how they did it!

Algebra I with Molly:
Students received their Chapter 2 tests back and will be turning in revisions. This is the last test they will be allowed to earn back ½ points on their grade. Of course, doing revisions on homework and assessments will continue to be done and will help them gain a better understanding of their mistakes. They completed their bicycle gears project this week. We also continued working with inequalities. They were reminded to switch the inequality sign when they multiply or divide a negative number across it in the process of solving for the variable.

Language Arts with Jared:
We began the week by making new flashcards on the previous 60 vocabulary words, in order to better figure out which words students had forgotten the meaning of. We then spent the week finishing our unit on 19th century poets by looking at some of Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Students worked in class on editing their own poems, and many students turned in their final drafts. 7th and 8th graders began our next unit, focusing on short stories (in preparation for NaNoWriMo in November). Each student then took an individualized spelling quiz on Friday, focusing on words that they had misspelled in their own writing this trimester.

World Studies & U.S. History with Ann:
This week we finished up our study of westward expansion at the turn of the 20th Century with a quiz. Students also presented their historical figure to the "Admissions Board" by giving an Elevator speech highlighting major accomplishments.  Each student took notes on all of the other "candidates" from their class.  Over the next week, they will listen to the recordings of the other classes and add to their notes- giving them 38 (I did one too!) individuals from which to choose for their final essays.  Towards the end of the week, 7th and 8th graders began discussing railroads and the rise of the mogul!

Earth Science with Molly:
This week in science we evaluated what we found to be the cause of the seasons. Students discussed and summarized each idea and provided evidence supporting or disproving different ideas. They began typing an essay explaining this in their own words. The essay will be due Friday, October 20th after spending several days working on it in class. 6th & 7th grade students practiced controlling variables in an experiment and began learning to interpret data. Students completed an online quiz on scientific inquiry vocabulary terms using Google Classroom forms.

Spanish with Corinne:
Sunshine Spanish
Sunshine A
This week students reviewed for and took a test on Chapter 1B.

Sunshine B
This week students reviewed for and took a test on Chapter 6A. 

HS Spanish I, part II
This week students reviewed for and took a test on Chapter  5B.

HS Spanish II, part I
This week students reviewed for and took a test on Chapter 1B.
HS Spanish II, part II
This week students reviewed for and took a test on Chapter 4B. 
Art with Patti:
Sixth Grade: Art Journal - Observation Drawing with Artistic Choice Students created a composition with three bottles/vases from the selection in the art room. Using line only, they included overlapping lines to create new shapes. Art Journal: Adding watercolor Using the bottle/vase composition that was drawn in the previous class, students explored color theory. Students were given a watercolor pallet with primary colors (red, yellow, blue) only. They explored how those colors mixed in the areas that overlapped, which created secondary colors (orange, green, violet). They also continued working on their non-representational artworks, and some have started the next project that is a representation of them without using a self-portrait.

Seventh Grade: Art Journal Watercolor: Adding on - resist Using white oil pastel, students drew gesture marks, lines, patterns, etc. on their watercolor page. They also used rubber cement to mask areas. Art Journal Watercolor: Adding on: wash Thinking about how watercolor has translucent qualities, students think about color choice and create a wash of color over their watercolor journal page. They observed how the watercolor resists the white oil pastel and Rubber Cement that was applied last class. They also continued working on their white chalk drawings.


Eighth Grade: Art Journal: Page setup Using a two page spread, students LIGHTLY drew 4 boxes on each page making sure to leave a little space in between each box. For a total of eight boxes. Art Journal: Watercolor techniques Students chose one of their journal pages with 4 pre-drawn squares to use. They practiced a salt technique, wet in wet mingling, resist, and alcohol in each square. Students also used the alcohol technique on a 6 X 9" watercolor paper. Students also continued working on their charcoal drawings.

Check out the art blog at http://bnsartstudio.weebly.com/

Computer Lab with Lorraine:
This week, the Computer Lab  practiced their typing skills and was given their 3rd assessment to work towards their  trimester goal.  Next students learned how to import data i.e. locations  from a Google sheet into their Mymaps.  Students in 8th grade started the new map inquiry project, which was to brainstorm about an event that took place in the world, which can show a time-line of how the event took place over a period of time.  The purpose of the project is to explain how human and physical geography intersect. 

P.E. and Health with Matt: 

Life Skills / Sex Ed with Molly:
This week 6th grade students split into gender groups. The boys learned about and diagramed parts of the body that produce hormones for the endocrine system. The girls will do this next time, but spent their independent time working on a handwriting practice book. 7th grade students had science, since we’ll be missing Monday’s long science class. 8th grade students split into gender groups. Boys learned about and diagrams the male reproductive parts. Girls read about breast changes during puberty. Next time, the girls will meet to discuss breast changes during puberty, while the boys read from 101 Things To Know About Being A Guy.

Thank you from, 
The Purple Team