Week of September 29th

Purple Curriculum Updates

Pre-Algebra I with MaryAnn:

The students have been learning about variables, numerical expressions, and algebraic expressions. Next we move on to solving algebraic expressions. I returned Unit 2 tests to the students on Thursday. They are to make corrections to these tests and return to me on Monday. Please take a look at their corrections before they return them to me. Some students are just trying to get the task done and not really taking the time to see where or what their mistakes were. Your help in this would be appreciated.

Pre-Algebra II with Jared:

In Pre-Algebra II, we spent the week exploring inequalities. We started with one-step inequalities, and focused on how a sign change is required when multiplying or dividing by a negative number. We also looked at how to write inequalities to match the description in a word problem, and to re-read the word problem to double-check that equations/inequalities were written correctly before solving. Our test is on Tuesday, and we spent much of Thursday and Friday reviewing the many concepts we've covered.

Pre-Algebra III with Emily:

This week we practiced writing equations to solve word problems as well as solving  one-step and two-step inequalities by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing and graphing the solutions of the inequalities. Students took a quiz on Chapter Two , sections four through seven. Our Chapter Two test will be this coming Tuesday. 

Algebra I with Molly:

This week in Algebra, we continued our focus on word problems. Students learned to apply the distance formula in a variety of ways, including one way travel, round trip travel, and two vehicles traveling away from one another. They now seem to have a good grasp of how to write and solve equations for a variety of situations. At the end of the week, students learned to solve for a single variable in formulas with multiple variables. Next week we will complete the chapter and have a test on Chapter 2 on Thursday. 

Geometry with Holly:

This week we started Chapter 3 and the study of parallel and perpendicular lines.  The students began their study by using Geogebra software to explore some aspects of parallel lines.  On Tuesday we began by discussing the properties of parallel lines, and on Tuesday we discussed the converse of these by learning how to prove lines parallel.  On Wednesday we discussed parallel and perpendicular lines, and finished the week by discussing parallel lines and the triangle angle-sum theorem.  We have started writing proofs which require a detailed, precise understanding of the theorems and postulates we are studying, and we have been reviewing material to make sure the students fully understand the subtleties.

Language Arts with Jared:

In our 19th century American poets unit, we focused this week on Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and read "The Last Leaf" and "Old Ironsides." In creative writing, students continued presenting their power point tutorials, and the rest of the class worked on writing similar poems. And then in grammar, students took their prepositions test on Tuesday. All of the classes will have their vocabulary quiz next week.

World Studies with Emily:

In our once-a-week meeting for World Studies this week, students turned in their preliminary NHD topic selection worksheet. They will get these back  next week with comments.  Also, this coming Thursday we are planning on taking a trip to the VA Tech library so that students can check-out books. They will prepare for this field trip during computer class on Monday. The class heard a summary from each student about the current event he/she read about, and we began our geography study by labeling all the oceans and most of the seas and gulfs around the world on our fold-up world maps.  In US History class, students in eighth grade closely studied the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Constitutional Amendments. All three grades did some more reading about Reconstruction in our textbook and from another source. 7^th and 8^th graders read several examples of different states’ “Black Codes” and answered questions where they had to put themselves in the shoes of a freedman or freedwoman in varying scenarios and figure out if they were breaking a Black Code, which one, and what section.  7^th and 8^th graders looked at and discussed several visual primary sources, mostly from Harper’s Weekly. 6^th graders will discuss these next week.  We will finish up our study of post-Civil War Reconstruction next week.

Earth Science with Molly:

Students had a busy week in science. They completed the seasons unit by turning in their Sun-Earth Survey Essay. They received their Three Topic Ideas sheets back with my feedback and chose an experiment to do for science fair. In class, we used the laptops to begin a written proposal for their chosen experiment and students began researching the underlying scientific principles for their experiment. They completed these proposals for Thursday’s class. We also began our study of the moon phases and I have asked students to record 10 observations of the moon over 14 days. They may take an observation each day or do more than one observation on the same day tracking the moon’s progress through the sky. They also learned of an upcoming total lunar eclipse, which will occur at 6:30am Wednesday morning. Hopefully that morning’s weather will be cooperative!

Spanish A with Rebecca:

The students spent Monday and Wednesday reviewing vocabulary for different activities, how to express which activities they like and don't like to do, and agreeing and disagreeing with each others likes and dislikes. Today (Friday), they took the test on Chapter 1A. On Monday, we will begin Chapter 1B and also take a few minutes to learn the basic step to one of the dances they learned about in the last chapter!

Spanish with Olga:

Spanish B

This week we continued talking about and describing our bedrooms. We learned how to compare two things or two people. We revisited the concept of stem changing (boot) verbs, and learned two new verbs of this type.

Spanish C

This week we continued talking about extracurricular activities. We reviewed comparisons of equality and learned how to ask and say for how long someone has been doing something.  This is a very common, yet confusing, structure in Spanish.  We will have an assessment next Wednesday.

Spanish D

This week we practiced using the present perfect. We worked with more verbs that take an indirect object. The students worked together to come up with a plot and a scene for a movie. They had fun doing that!  We started watching a miniseries. The students will have an assessment next Friday.

Spanish D+

The students had the second assessment, which included a comprehensive review of the two verbs that mean "to be", and special uses of these verbs- where either verb could be used grammatically, but changes the meaning of the sentence. They did a wonderful job! The tests should be in their portfolios. They continue to work independently and efficiently on their own. They started reading a book "Viviana y su gran aventura mexicana".

Art with Patti:

The Purple room art students have finished re-scaling a drawing of their chosen photographs to a larger paper. They have been doing an excellent job decoding their photographs to create paintings using colors that are complimentary, giving thought to value changes, and thinking about how to treat colors that are neutral. 

Computer Lab with Holly:

This week we continue our study of topics in Digital Citizenship.  In our Monday classes, we discussed the topic of cyber-bullying and the importance of being an "upstander" instead of a "bystander".  In the grade level classes, the students continued working with their partners on preparing their internet safety presentations.

Life Skills / Sex Ed with Molly:

This meeting (7^th Fri, 6 & 8 next Mon.), we began with a read-aloud book Bugs in my Hair, by David Shannon. We discussed more about head lice, prevention, and treatment. We continued our focus on character traits this week. Students chose the one character trait they think is the most important and wrote a persuasive statement to put on the bulletin board to share. We defined ethics and students wrote about why they think ethics is important. Next time, we will focus on how we develop character traits.

Thank you from, The Purple Team