Friday, October 11

Geometry: Took the chapter 2 test, they did AWESOME! No homework.

Science: Finished collecting data for "How Fast Am I?" and talked about graphing. Students need to complete the research this weekend. We will continue working on the lab all next week. 4-7th hours will peer review on Wednesday, Oct. 17 and final drafts will be due on Friday, October 19. 2nd & 3rd hours will peer review on Friday, October 19 and final drafts will be due on Monday, October 22. Click here for a copy of the rubric and see Wednesday's post for a copy of the planner.

Humanities: Unfortunately, I am out of the building today. Students worked on chapter 2 assessment in class. Chapter 2 assessment is due Monday. We will share current events Monday.

Art 8 : (1st hr.) Students are finishing up the relief sculpture landscapes. The tissue has been applied and crayon rubbing added to enhance the relief. Reliefs are being mounted onto black paper and rubrics are being completed. These are due Monday Oct 15.

Art 7/8 : (5th and 6th hrs.) Students are still working on cityscapes. A variety of building shapes, overlapping and texture must be included. Students are currently adding the black marker to their cityscapes. Painting of the background will begin next week with a demonstration of the painting technique on Monday. Color theory will be discussed and students must choose one color family to use in the painting portion.

Advanced Art 8: Pasta still lifes have been designed and I spray painted them silver to make the value more pronounced. Students made viewfinders and chose a portion of their pasta still life to enlarge using the viewfinders. They have finished the layout of their drawings and have moved onto the value portion. Daily still life #3 is still in progress.

ELA - Morning classes were minimally interrupted with the Fun Run...and boy was it fun! 3rd through 7th hours took their Vocabulary #4 Quiz and AR quizzes for the marking period.  When we reviewed who was on target with AR and who wasn't a few students were confusing Summer Reading with the independent reading they need to do for each marking period. Yes, they had three books to read over the summer, beyond that they have two books due for this marking period. We have been reminding them in class to read now while we are doing Writer's Workshop, before we start our first novel unit The Giver by Lois Lowry. We know that it would be hard to do a novel unit and read another book for independent AR reading.

Pre-Algebra: We took a quiz today. Homework: Fractions worksheet and Like Terms triangle. Have a great weekend!

Algebra: Homework: Practice B 6.2 and 3.2 worksheet (evens only).

Thursday, October 11

Fun Run is tomorrow!

Geometry: Went over the practice test and also practiced doing proofs. Homework is the chapter 2 review (odds).

Science: Collected data for "How Fast Am I?" IB unit. See yesterday's post for the lab planner.

ELA - Students were at different places due to the MEAP and the Fun Run tomorrow, hope you can follow this! 1st & 2nd hrs took their vocabulary quiz today, 3rd hour had sentences - quiz is tomorrow, 4th-7th viewed a video on Science Fiction and will have their vocabulary quiz tomorrow. Homework: READ! (The Giver is coming, please make sure your student has two books read and quizzed by the end of next week.)Study for Vocabulary Quiz, Come prepared for the Fun Run!

Course 3: 1st, 2nd, and 4th hour- We started to talk about the commutative and associative properties of addition and multiplication. Homework is worksheet 2.6, # 1-4, 5 - 31 odds. 3rd hour- Students took a quiz today. No homework. 5th hour- No class today due to MEAP.

Pre-Algebra: Quiz tomorrow. Simplifying Expressions.

Algebra: Worksheet 3.1/6.1/6.2 All

Spanish I: If you did not yet find a Spanish song for your project, find one by Monday , Oct 15th. Print out lyrics, so that I can approve them. We will NOT be going to the lab tomorrow, so come to the classroom. Don't forget to study your words for the quiz on Monday, Oct 22nd. (1.2 words part 1)

Wednesday, October 10

Science: Today we planned our next IB lab "How Fast Am I?". Students will begin collecting data tomorrow (except for 3rd hour which did not meet today due to MEAP) so they must bring in any supplies required to collect data to school tomorrow. Students also need to complete the research for homework by Monday. Click here for a copy of the lab planner. 

Humanities: Students completed the second day of MEAP testing in the morning and analyzed campaign commercials and statistics in the afternoon. No homework. Current events due Friday.

Spanish I: No homework except studying 1.2 words for the quiz on Mon Oct 22nd.

Course 3: I did not meet with 1st hour and 3rd hour today.  2nd, 4th, and 5th hours had a quiz today.  3rd hour will take it tomorrow.  No homework for all classes.

Algebra: Started notes for Chapter 3/6.  Classwork was problem #1-19.  It is homework if not finished in class.

Tuesday, October 9

Students took the Day 1 Reading MEAP during 1st & 2nd hours today, 1st hour met during 3rd hour. MEAP continues tomorrow with Day 2 Reading during 1st & 2nd hours.

Science: Continued discussing graphs and slope.

Geometry: Went over the 2.7 homework and started working on the chapter 2 practice test. Practice test is homework (for Thursday, geometry class does not meet tomorrow). Chapter 2 test is Friday. We also talked about Catch 22's

Pre-Algebra: We did not meet today because of the MEAP. Homework 2.3 (#1-25) is due on Thursday. Quiz covering sections 2.1 - 2.3 on Friday.

Algebra: Chapter 1/2 Test today. No homework.

Humanities: Students took the MEAP test in the morning and analyzed campaign commercials in the afternoon. No homework. Current events due Friday.

ELA - it is MEAP time! As we only saw 1st, 4th, 5th, & 7th hours today, those hours were checked for their Vocabulary Definitions, the remaining classes will be checked when we see them (2nd hr tomorrow, 3rd hour on Thursday). With the Fun Run on Friday - the Vocabulary Quiz will be on Thursday for hours 1 & 2, the rest will quiz on Friday. Poems final draft with illustrations are due tomorrow, Wednesday. I'm sorry about the lack of a blog yesterday, I was at Oakland Schools all day at a conference and did not have access to a computer. Homework: Definitions or Sentences depending on wether you attend ELA in the morning or the afternoon (I know, crazy schedule for the next two weeks :) READ!!!!!!

Monday, October 8

Tomorrow is the first day of MEAP! This week 8th graders will take the Reading MEAP Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Science: Today we practiced graphing and calculating slope. We then used famous fairy tales to practice analyzing the shape of graphs of motion. Homework is to complete graphs of motion worksheet. #4 should have ten steps!

Geometry: Discussed the homework and 2.7 notes (angle pair relationships). Homework is the 2.7 worksheet. Chapter 2 test is Friday.

Spanish I: No homework

Course 3: Today we did a review for our quiz on lessons 2.1 - 2.5.  Students will have a quiz the next time that I see them.

Pre-Algebra: We will not meet again until Thursday. :( The homework that is due on Thursday is worksheet 2.3B all. Please get a scientific calculator, if possible. We have a limited amount of them, so some students end up not having one. Also, students will need one for the MEAP next week!!

Algebra: Test tomorrow!!! Students have known about this for a week and a half. Everyone is responsible for taking the test tomorrow unless they have made prior arrangements.

Friday, October 5

Science: Today we visited several websites that allowed us to manipulate objects and see how that motion would appear on position/time and speed/time graphs. Quizzes were also returned and we discussed quiz corrections. CHECK OUT THE WEBSITES WE USED IN CLASS TODAY! Position/Time Graph, Position/Time Graph 2, Position Time & Speed Time Graph, Position Time & Speed Time Graphs of 2 Cars

Pre-Algebra: We spent the hour brushing up on our Distributive skills and finding area skills.  They may have homework, depending on how far they got during the hour.  They have a packet of worksheets.  Have a great weekend!

Algebra: We are gearing up for our first unit test (this coming Tuesday).  Students received a review packet.  We reviewed properties and number sets today.  We will review and check the review packet on Monday.  I am available during lunch Monday and Tuesday in room 205.  I have attached the review packet and some property practice.  Have a great weekend!

Geometry: Discussed the "logic" of advertising and 2.6 notes (proofs!). 2.6 worksheet is homework. The chapter 2 test will be Friday, October 12.

ELA - Students took Vocabulary Quiz #3.  Graded papers were returned, and missing assignments were reviewed.  Please have your student check the grade book system weekly to see if they are missing any assignments or need to make up any quizzes.  All assignments are posted on the blog and majority are on my web-page on the Berkley Website. Students were given the opportunity to start working on their final draft of their poems.  We had the COW in the room and will have it again on Monday.  Final drafts should be one letter (8 1/2 x 11) page with colorful illustrations.  We do not have access to a color printer therefore students were informed that if they did not want to draw their illustrations they should add images at home and print it on a color printer at home.  Final Draft is due Wednesday, October 10th.  The Poetry Anthology will be available at Parent Teacher conferences for your reading pleasure. Have a great weekend....and remember to READ!

Course 3: We worked on dividing integers and finding the mean of numbers when integers are involved.  Homework is worksheet 2.5, #1 - 21.

Humanities: Students discussed the presidential debate and shared current events in class. Homework is to complete summaries for 2.3.

Thursday, October 4

Science: Today we took our first quiz, no homework!

Geometry: Went over the 2.5 homework, we will continue to get used to proofs and logic. Work that is challenging is exciting! We also took the 2.1-2.4 quiz. Homework is to analyze a commercial or ad and come up with the conditional statement implied in the advertising message.

Course 3: Today we talked about good and bad financial transactions.  We also worked on multiplying integers.  Homework is worksheet 2.4, # 1 -21 odds and 24 - 31 all.

Pre-Algebra: Homework: Distributive worksheet (use your notes to help you)

Algebra: Worksheet 9.1 all of the problems

Spanish I: Exs 16, 17 & 18 pgs 39-40. Due Monday. Study for 1.1 quiz (part 2) on Monday, October 8th

ELA - Students revised their poems using the information from yesterday's Reader's Response session and then evaluated their poems using the rubric we will use for grading. They were then given time to read, take AR quizzes, or work more on their poems. Writer's Workshop Day 8 Teaching Point: Students will analyze their poem using rubrics to remind themselves of strategies they can use to revise their writing. Homework: READ! STUDY - Vocabulary Quiz #3 tomorrow. The words have been loaded into studyblue.com look for my class! It is free, easy, online, and has a mobile app for those lucky kids with smart phones! http://www.studyblue.com/