Week of February 22, 2016

Purple Curriculum Updates

Pre-Algebra I with Bina:

This week, we finished chapter 9 on basic geometry. I sent the chapter 9 study packet home yesterday. I recommend that the students make flash cards with the formulas for perimeter, area, circumference, surface area, and volume of various geometric figures. They will not be given the formulas during the chapter 9 test. They may also want to make flashcards to identify metric units and practice metric unit conversion. Next Monday and Tuesday we will review in class, and the students will take the test on Wednesday, March 2^nd skills, rather than beginning new material prior to spring break. We will begin chapter 10 after the break.

Pre-Algebra II with Jared:

After learning about finding the area of various polygons last week, we took the concept further to find the surface area of various 3D objects. Students cut out nets, built models, and then calculated the total surface area. We then talked about the pythagorean theorem, and introduced volume.

Pre-Algebra III with Emily:

We continued practicing dividing powers with the same base and dividing numbers written in scientific notation. Students learned how to simplify expressions where a power is raised to an exponent as well as write and solve equations for scientific word problems where some or all the quantities are written in scientific notation. The class took a quiz on 7-1 – 7-3, and we started the last section of the chapter, 7-6, which is about working within a binary number system. 

Algebra I with Molly:

This week students continued our adventure into computation with exponents. They learned to multiply and divide numbers with exponential expressions, as well as large numbers in scientific notation.

Geometry with Holly:

This week we continued the study of Transformations.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday,  we studied reflections, rotations, and dilations, Then on Thursday the students took a quiz over the first three sections.  On Friday, I was out of town (and will still be away on Monday), so the students studied symmetry with Kerstin.

Language Arts with Jared:

Sixth graders were introduced to the Greek mythology that forms the basis of their next novel, The Night Tourist, by reading a few myths, and then watching a Jim Henson adaption of the myth. (The Night Tourist, by Katherine Marsh, is a reworking of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in modern-day New York City.) Seventh graders and eighth graders read summaries of the Trojan War and its aftermath. This will set the stage for the seventh graders' next novel, Nobody's Princess. (Nobody's Princess, by Esther Friesner, imagines Helen of Troy's life before she was abducted by Paris.) Eighth graders used these summaries as a preface to reading the graphic novel of "The Odyssey." (The Odyssey, written and illustrated by Gareth Hinds, tells of Odysseus's long adventures after the Trojan War, which delayed his return home.) Students also took a brief grammar quiz on verb tenses.

World Studies with Emily:

All three class finished their ancient Greek poster presentations. I showed all classes an image of the very famous statue Discobolus (Discus Thrower) and they did a See, Think, Wonder activity about the statue. They shared what they had written, and then I shared some information about why it is a representation of Classical Art and what it tells us about ancient Greek ideals.  All classes  took a quiz where they had to briefly describe significant Greek contributions. 6th graders read from our textbook, as well as listened to me read aloud a short essay about ancient Greece. I divided students into groups and assigned each group a Greek myth, which they read. They have started planning their performance of the myth, and will finish and perform next week. Of course, we had History Night this week, so classes also spent a class period viewing their classmates' projects and offering feedback to one another. I am proud of everyone's hard work! Thank you, parents, for supporting not only your child's efforts, but so many BNS purple-roomers!  :)

Life Science with Molly:
This week students observed and took notes on our long-awaited luna moth. This interesting creature doesn’t have mouth parts and survives from the fat stored in its body long enough to lay eggs. This week we set up an egg osmosis lab. Each group soaked an egg in vinegar to remove the shell, then chose a kitchen-safe liquid to soak the egg in. They will observe the eggs taking a variety of measurements every several days for two weeks. Students also worked in small groups on cell division posters. This will help them prepare for their coming test. 

Spanish with Olga & Corinne:

Morning Spanish

This week in Sunshine Spanish we began a new chapter, which focuses on clothing vocabulary, stem changing verbs, and demonstrative adjectives (these, these, that, and those). Students also spent a day reviewing all of the verb forms and tenses that they have learned so far. 

Spanish B

This week we continued learning the forms of the past tense, with verbs ending in -ER and -Ir, and the irregular verb to go. We practiced the verb forms with a game on Friday.

Spanish C

We continue learning the two past tenses and looking at more uses of the imperfect. We also learned reciprocal pronouns, and continued to talk about cultural differences when greeting people. We also talked about the Basque country in Spain, and their language (Euskadi and Euskera).

Spanish D

We practiced using the conditional tense and talked about what we "would" do if we "could". We also learned how to say "to wonder" by using both the future and the conditional tenses. We started learning the imperfect (past) subjunctive, and learned how to form it by using the preterite third person form as a root. 

Spanish D+

We joined sSpanish D for a review of imperfect (past) subjunctive.

Art with Patti:

This week in art students continued working on a project based on an artist of their choice.

Computer Lab with Holly:

This week the students continued researching their Week 2 clues for the Landmark Game.

Life Skills / Sex Ed with Molly:

This week the 7^th grade students watched a short section from a Skills for Healthy Living video about Analyzing Media Influences and specifically how food is marketed to us. We discussed the media influence on what we crave and what we choose to eat. 7^th & 8^th grade students watched a documentary critiquing the Disney prince and princess stereotypes. 6^th grade students didn’t have life skills this week due to History Day activities. We will continue our focus on body image in the media in future classes.

Thank you from, The Purple Team