Monday, October 31

Happy Halloween!

I made it back to the states after a wild adventure with polar bears, and to no surprise my 7th graders were awesome while I was gone. Today was so fun telling the class about the arctic ecosystem and showing them my photos of the polar bears and other denizens of the north.  

Just a quick reminder, there is no reading or math homework tonight. Enjoy the time out with your kiddos and be safe out there! I also wanted to thank everyone that supplied treats for both the middle school dance and our party this afternoon. You guys rock.

I’m happy to see that so many of you have already signed up for our parent/teacher conferences on Friday. If you haven’t had a chance to sign up, there are still quite a few open slots. Also, if you have any questions or need a different time/date, please do not hesitate to contact me.

This week….

We are starting a new project this week focusing on heredity. This week the class will be studying dominant and recessive genes as well as Mendel's theory of inheritance.

This week in reading we are continuing to move our way through the novel, Two Miserable Presidents and dive even deeper into a few of the 10,000 battles of the Civil War. I love how well the class has done with tracking the parallels between Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln during this time of war.  

During writing, the class is honing in on their argumentative writing skills. So if you find that you kiddos is backing up their arguments with reasons and evidence, give them a high-five for me!

8th grade reading is taking off on Middle Ages. We will be beginning our King Arthur novel soon. I am excited to see what the class already knows about this exciting time in history.

October 10th

Welcome to the last week of the quarter! I’ve got a couple announcements for you.

*Thank you so much to those of you that have already signed up to bring treats to our Middle School Halloween Dance. You guys are seriously such an awesome group of parents, I don’t know what we would do without you.

*We’ve got auctions on Wednesday. Please have your kiddo bring in something that they would like to make available to the class to bid on with their class cash/dojo points.

*It’s Fall Break next week! No school October 17-21

*Mrs. Byrd- In Canada the week after fall break photographing polar bears. We have Mrs. Swan as our amazing sub that I have no doubt will take excellent care of your kiddos while I am out.

*Middle School Dance - October 28th Oasis 6:00-10:00
Costumes $5 / No Costume $7

Projects- We are continuing with our research of endangered species. The groups are really becoming experts on their animals and coming up with great plans on how to get them closer to getting off the endangered list. They will have the Monday we return from Fall break to practice and rehearse their presentations, then the real deal will be on Tuesday the 22nd.

7th Grade Reading- We are continuing with our Two Miserable Presidents novel, this week the focus has been on why both the Northern president Lincoln and the Southern president Davis were indeed so miserable.  

7th Grade Writing- The class is finishing up their three causes of the Civil War cause and effect essays. At the end of the week we will research an animal and compare and contrast it to a family member, example: My Grandmother is a Sea Turtle.

8th Grade Reading- The 8th grade class is finishing up the quarter with reading and researching world religions, Students will work in teams to create presentations that identify and describe the five key world religions: Christianity, Hindu, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.

Monday, October 3rd

Hello October! We have a busy week ahead of us as we make our way into the end of the first quarter.

Projects- We are moving deeper into ecosystems and researching endangered species as teams. Each group will work as research scientists to educate themselves about an endangered species and determine what has caused to be on the endangered species list. Next they will take what they have researched to develop a plan of recovery to present to “Congress.”

7th Grade Reading- This week the class will move further into our Two Miserable Presidents novel, focusing on a few of the key leaders for the Confederate and Union armies.

7th Grade Writing- Students will use the book Two Miserable Presidents to cite evidence for writing about three causes of the Civil War. Through using their cause and effect reading and writing strategies, students will compile their informative essays.

8th Grade Reading- Our 8th graders continue to respond to critical thinking questions and class discussions about the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. At the end of the week, they will have a checkpoint to assess their knowledge of ancient civilizations and their societal, religious, political and technological influences on modern society.