We kicked off our Narrative Writing Unit this week with learning about the different plot elements. Students will continue to learn about other narrative writing techniques including the use of descriptive details, dialogue, and figurative language that enhance their writing. Students are building a short story that will entertain their classmates. These will be shared in a competition at the end of the week.
-We will continue working with measures of central tendency and deviation. Finding the mean will be reviewed and finding median and mode will be learned this week.
-This week we will wrap up Chapter 9 by learning about Box-and-Whisker plots, and reviewing for and taking our Chapter 9. We are nearing the end!
We will be finishing up our unit on Greece with a column study and vase project, A god/goddess research pennant, and readers' theatre. Students are gaining collaboration skills through group projects that require patience, compromise, and delegation of tasks.
Welcome back to school! This week and next we are reviewing our knowledge on atoms and starting our atom builds! Please be aware that while I have some supplies, I can not supply for every group's build. Your child may ask you to get some craft supplies for their atom. Thanks ahead of time for supporting them and their build!
We will be completing a 2-week exploration of life in Ancient Sumer. Students have worked through stations that help them understand the daily lives of those in the Sumer city-states. We will then take a look at The Code of Hammurabi, compare it to today's laws, and discuss if we think his laws were just. The unit will end with students getting to play the oldest board game in the world, The Royal Game of Ur. which dates back to 2600 B.C.E.
We have finished our unit on understanding the difference between the subject and the predicate of a sentence and have moved on to understanding the difference between an independent and a dependent clause. Then, students will be using these two clauses to build three different types of sentences: simple, compound, and complex. Students can be playing Blookets on Parts of Speech, Clauses, and Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences (all posted in Google Classroom).
This week we will be working on solving equations with two variables and writing two step equations. We will also have a mini team day due to our Field Trip to the Career Academy on Tuesday!
Students will be working on different tasks to identify the difference between chemical and physical changes. We will also have a mini team day due to our field trip to the Career Academy on Tuesday!
This week we will be doing a symbolic self portrait project to show how we want ourselves to be seen and remind ourselves how our online behavior can affect the way others view us. P.E. is Monday and Wednesday.
Weekly PE Update
This week, we had some fun with Rollerblades! Next week we will play some Mazeball and Trenchball. **If you have ordered your child a new PE shirt, please email me or have your child let me know. I do not get updates when orders are made, I apologize if your child has been waiting on a shirt. As you see, fitness test grades are entered into the grade book, and students were graded on the number of categories in which they showed improvement. The fourth quarter is primarily graded on the PE Performance standards.
I am adding daily PE “collected only” assignments to note PE attire and any class-related comments. Blank entries typically indicate a student did not have PE clothes, with comments added when needed.
We assess based on these areas:
Hygiene: Dressing out daily (PE shirt, shorts/sweats/leggings, tennis shoes).
Integrity: Following game rules and expectations.
Communication: Using kind words, advocating for needs, and a positive tone.
Safety: Using equipment properly, following directions, and no horseplay.
Participation: Engaging in moderate to vigorous activity. Our goal is for every student to run a 400m lap without stopping by the end of Q1.
Students can use a 10-step rule: walk 10 steps, run as far as possible, repeat as we work on building up cardiovascular endurance. We understand there are different ability levels and healthy progressive training is encouraged.
Forgetting PE attire
Horseplay or unsafe behavior
Poor communication (yelling/rudeness)
Unsafe use of equipment
Low participation, lack of movement
If you haven’t paid yet, no problem—send it when you can. We’ll check off payments as they come in.
If you see a drop in your child’s grade, it may be due to attire issues, unsafe play, or lack of participation.
Thank you for your support at home—your encouragement helps students build confidence, safe habits, and a love for movement!