Wednesday, January 7

Tentative Midterm Exam Schedule
January 20- Chinese Listening
January 21- Algebra & Chinese Reading
January 22- Geometry & Chinese Writing
January 23- Geometry
January 27- Science
January 29 & 30- French 1 & 3, Spanish 1

Science: Students read and took notes on energy, work & potential and kinetic energy. Homework is the work & potential/kinetic energy worksheet. 

Geometry: Using similarity to solve problems. 

Algebra:  Quiz tomorrow!  Homework:  quiz practice

Pre-Algebra: Today we reviewed 4.3, reducing fraction monomials with variables. We started notes on 4.4, finding the least common multiple using prime factorization. There is no homework. The notes can be found at http://norupstein.weebly.com/pre-algebra-notes-and-homework .

ELA - Students checked in their Revised draft of their Position Paper. We then focused on conclusions (Writers Workshop Day 5) for argument/position papers.  What should be included and then revised each other's conclusions.  Polish papers if needed tonight, we will be looking at MLA in-text citations tomorrow, be sure you have your draft and your bibliography tomorrow. Homework: Journal #2.51, READ!  

RR English:

     Read every evening

     Reading log is due Monday, January 5, 1015     

     parents must sign reading logs

RR Math:

     A section of math should be completed each night

     Math packet is due Friday, January 20    

     TEST:  Tuesday, January 20

Physical Education: Essay

The March Miracle event at Norup helps to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  The money raised helps fund cancer research for a cure to leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and melanoma.  This is only one of many great causes.  Your assignment for this month is to write a one to two page paper on an organization (other than our March Miracles event) that uses a physical activity to help raise funds.  Include: the name of the organization; the activity the participants do; why you chose this event and why the money is raised.

Criteria

§  Papers should be of high quality, informative, 1 – 2 pages in length.

§  Double check your spelling.

§  A typed paper is preferred.

This homework is due on Tues., Jan. 13^th. You may turn it in before the due date, but it will be late (lower grade) if not turned in when you come to class.

Tuesday, January 6

Tentative Midterm Exam Schedule
January 20- Chinese Listening
January 21- Algebra & Chinese Reading
January 22- Geometry & Chinese Writing
January 23- Geometry
January 27- Science
January 29 & 30- French 1 & 3, Spanish 1

Science: Graphed the data that we collected yesterday, and then discussed how height affected speed. This led to a discussion of potential and kinetic energy and transfer of energy. Students then were introduced to the formula for potential energy & the concept of energy conservation. We will eventually use this to predict the speed of the car and compare that to the actual speed. energy Quest on Friday, January 16.

Geometry: Finished 4.4- similarity and triangles notes. Homework is the similarity and triangles handout. Unit 4 test on Wednesday, January 14.

Humanities: Students were introduced to chapter 8 and began to work on 8.1 section assessment in class. Homework is to complete 8.1 section assessment.

RR English:

Read every evening

Reading log is due Monday, January 12, 1015

parents must sign reading logs

RR Math:

A section of math should be completed 

Pre-Algebra: Today we started 4.3 - Equivalent Fractions. We took notes and the homework is 4.3, 1-29 odd due tomorrow. Notes and homework are available at http://norupstein.weebly.com/pre-algebra-notes-and-homework .

ELA - WW Position Papers Day 4- Students reviewed their own papers and worked on the tone. Rewrite due tomorrow - include all revisions. Homework: Rewrite as Journal entry 2.49, READ!

Spanish (Farah): Welcome back, I hope you had a restful winter break! Today we watched a Fotonovela from the textbook and filled out an accompanying worksheet. (Un domingo en familia) If you did not finish the Fotonovela worksheet, please finish at home this evening and bring with you tomorrow. 

Algebra: We discussed the method of Elimination for solving systems of equations. Homework: finish the problems from the notes (each class did different problems)

Physical Education: Essay

The March Miracle event at Norup helps to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  The money raised helps fund cancer research for a cure to leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and melanoma.  This is only one of many great causes.  Your assignment for this month is to write a one to two page paper on an organization (other than our March Miracles event) that uses a physical activity to help raise funds.  Include: the name of the organization; the activity the participants do; why you chose this event and why the money is raised.

Criteria

§  Papers should be of high quality, informative, 1 – 2 pages in length.

§  Double check your spelling.

§  A typed paper is preferred.

This homework is due on Tues., Jan. 13^th.

You may turn it in before the due date, but it will be late (lower grade) if not turned in when you come to class.

Monday, January 5

Welcome Back and Happy 2015! 

As we head into January it's time to start thinking about midterm exams. Teachers ATTEMPT to stagger these tests, but it isn't always possible. Here is a tentative schedule for midterms:

January 21: Algebra&  Chinese Listening

January 22: Geometry & Chinese Reading
January 23: Geometry & Chinese Writing (?)
January 27: Science
January 29 & 30: French

Science: Jumped back in to our unit on energy by collecting data on the track to see how drop height (and mass) affect the speed of the car. We began graphing this data and will continue tomorrow.

Geometry: Quizzes from before break were returned and we discussed the affect that order of transformations has on shapes mapping to one another. We then began section 4.4- similarity and triangles. Homework is to complete the two reflect questions. 

ELA - Writer's Workshop Day 3 - Students watched Bill Nye - Alternative Energy and noticed how evidence can be slanted or used to prove an argument. Students then looked at their own evidence and flash drafts, they decided which evidence proved their point the best.

Humanities: Students reviewed 7.3/7.4 of the text in class today. No homework. Current events due Friday.

RR English:

Read every evening

Reading log is due Monday, January 12, 1015

parents must sign reading logs

RR Math:

A section of math should be completed each night

Algebra: Welcome back! We are continuing our work with solving systems of equations. We discussed the substitution method today. Homework: 4 substitution problems and 7.1A (all). Upcoming assessments: 1/8/15 short quiz sections 7.1-7.4, 1/14/15 Chapter 7 test

Friday, December 19

Science: Discussed MLA guidelines for in-text citations as well as formatting the works cited page. Students analyzed a sample paper and identified the in-text citations along with the matching citations on the works cited page. They then practiced writing in-text citations. As long as students have all the information and citation details necessary to write their Energy Research Paper there is no homework over break.

Geometry: 4.1-4.3 Quiz. No homework!

RR English:

Read every evening

Reading log is due Monday, January 5, 1015

parents must sign reading logs

RR Math:

None, however some students are missing

assignments that could be completed over

break. The end of the semester is

January 23, 2015

Humanities: Students checked 7.3 guided reading and began to work on 7.4 guided notes (found in book) in class today. Hopefully, students finished 7.4 in class. If not, it is due when we return from break.

Pre-Algebra: Today we created a flip-chart of rules of divisibility and used it to decided if four-digit or larger numbers are divisible be these numbers without a calculator. There is no homework. Enjoy your break :)

Chinese:  圣诞快乐！Hope everyone have a wonderful holidays!! Meanwhile, please check the class blog for the assignments. 

ELA - Students used the research they produced in Science, the source worksheet, and their outline to produce a rough draft of their Position Paper in their journal for Day 2 of their Writer's Workshop. We will be working on these as soon as we return, please have your first draft of your essay done! How to write an argument & How to write a position are attached. Homework- Have a great break! 

Thursday, December 18

Humanities: Students continued to work on 7.3 guided questions. 7.3 guided questions worksheet is due tomorrow.

RR English:

Read every evening

Reading log is due Monday, January 5, 1015

parents must sign reading logs

RR Math:

A section of math should be completed each night

Math packet is due Friday, December 19

TEST: Friday, December 19

Pre-Algebra: We worked on 4.2, working with GCF using prime factorization and story problems. The homework is 4.2, 2-28 even, 29, 30. The notes and homework are available at http://norupstein.weebly.com/pre-algebra-notes-and-homework .

Please bring the following items to class tomorrow, if you have them:

-colored pencils or highlighter

-glue stick

-scissors

Science: Continued taking notes from Discovery Education videos. Tomorrow we will be discussing citations.

Geometry: Finished 4.3 and did the 4.3 handout. Students need to take the time to go over the 4.3 handout more carefully for homework. Quiz tomorrow. 

ELA - Students began their Writer's Workshop with Position Paper Day 1. This cross curricular project was started with our Informational Reading Reader's Workshop, continued in Science with research and organizational lessons, and is now coming to completion with writing the paper and practicing a presentation of the information. Today we took the research completed in Science class and organized it in an outline & used the argument checklist to analyze their progress.  I checked thesis statements and gave remarks on adjustments. Tomorrow we will be using this outline to flash draft our first draft of this paper. If your student has any missing information for their outline please have him or her complete it tonight. Homework: Grammar take home quiz, Journal entry #2.44, Read.

Spanish: WHAT WE DID: We took Part 2 of the Chapter 2 Test. We started Chapter 3 by reviewing the vocabulary, and completing exercises 3 and 4 on page 79. This is homework if it was not completed in class.  

Wednesday, December 17

Science: Students received individual feedback on the research they have done so far (5 days in class!) and some suggestions on what they still need to work on. They need to bring all of this info with them to language arts tomorrow! We then discussed different citation/formatting styles (MLA, APA, ASA, Chicago Style, Oh My!), we are using MLA for this paper with Language Arts, as well as how to properly cite a video. We then watched a portion of Powering The Future: The Green Revolution from The Science Channel and students took notes that can be used in their research paper. We will finish this video tomorrow and potentially watch a few others. On  Friday we will wrap up the science portion of this project by discussing other formatting guidelines (in-text citations and Works Cited pages using MLA). 

ELA - Students corrected their Grammar 6.2 and we moved on to 6.3-6.4 Conjunctions and Interjections (yes, of course we watched Schoolhouse Rock for both). Rewrites should be done tomorrow if not by Friday. Most have received theirs back. This will help them with their argument writing in the future. Be sure to have all research and worksheets from Science in ELA tomorrow, we will be starting our Position Paper. Homework: Grammar 6.3-6.4, Journal Entry #2.42, and READ.

Geometry: We CRUISED through section 4.3 on similarity, no homework. 4.1-4.3 quiz on Friday.

Humanities: Students checked 7.2 and began to work on 7.3 guided questions in class. 7.2 guided questions are due Friday.

RR English:

Read every evening

Reading log is due Monday, January 5, 1015

parents must sign reading logs

RR Math:

A section of math should be completed each night

Math packet is due Friday, December 19

TEST: Friday, December 19

Tuesday, December 16

Science: Last day of research for our cross curricular project with Language Arts on Alternative Energy Sources. Students took time to label all of their information according to the paper requirements (How the source generates electricity, Why it's a good choice for Michigan, Where it has been used successfully and Counterclaim rebuttal) and then turned them in to me at the end of the hour. I will be looking over how much information they have so that students know if they are missing anything.

Geometry: 4.2- Drawing dilations discussed in class. Homework is the dilation handout. Quiz o 4.1-4.3 Friday- please be sure to take the quiz early if you're going to be absent on Friday.

Humanities: Students checked 7.1 section assessment and began to work on 7.2 section assessment in class. Homework is to complete 7.2 section assessment.

RR English:

Read every evening

Reading log is due Monday, January 5, 1015

parents must sign reading logs

RR Math:

A section of math should be completed each night

Math packet is due Friday, December 19

TEST: Friday, December 19

Pre-Algebra: Today we practiced GCF and working woth prime factorization. The homework is to finish 4.1 from yesterday if not already complete.

Algebra: We took our Chapter 5 test today. No homework

ELA - Students corrected their Grammar 6.1 and we moved on to 6.2 Using Prepositional Phrases. Homework: finish Grammar 6.2, Journal 2.41, READ!