What's happening?
Week ending June 14
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week, we presented our Full Meal Projects and selected winners from each class who will face off to become the Exploration Team Top Chef. We made summer reading plans and reflected on our academic performance during trimester three by completing a grading questionnaire. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) All Algebra and grade 8 students have been taking their final exam this week. (Lawlis) Students worked on end of the year tests and review.
In Science: Students have finished their standards, and we are finishing the year with a NOVA Documentary, 'Earth From Space'...which ties together all the THMS sciences (Earth science, Life science, Chemistry and Physics). Enjoy the summer!
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Shark Tank presentations. Final edits to projects. Students are also wrapping up their "taking action" requirements. Parents, please ask your students to show you some of their work. (Warren)
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: Wrapping up the year with improvised/scripted courtroom scenes.
In Art: Students are working on a final mixed media portrait.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending June 7
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we completed a reading check in to set goals for our reading for the remainder of the year and for over the summer. We also completed a journal entry on our reading. We spent a day "reading at the beach," and enjoyed the sun and the sound of waves crashing as we got cozy with a great book. During Writing Workshop, we continued to work on our Full Meals that are due June 12. (Warren) This week, students have been working on their last project of the year, Family Connections Project. It entails writing and researching about family, significant events, customs, conducting interviews, and looking ahead to their future. This culmination of writing is due on June 14.
In Math: (Nardone) (Lawlis) Mrs. Lawlis's classes are studying for final exams.
In Science: Students have finished the assessment for units 2&3...and concluded the standards for Force and motion. The year will conclude with a small unit on Waves.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Final week for getting the 5 projects done. Shark Tank competition starts next week. Many students still need to "take action" with 3 of their 5 projects. Parents, please ask your student to show you one of their projects (that counts as taking action...) (Warren) This week, students have been working on their last project of the year, Family Connections Project. It entails writing and researching about family, significant events, customs, conducting interviews, and looking ahead to their future. This culmination of writing is due on June 14.
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: Theater arts classes are writing, blocking and performing scenes based on famous movie quotes.
In Art:
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending May 31
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week, in Reading Workshop we created book shout out post it notes to decorate our classroom door with titles of books that we have enjoyed throughout the year. In Writing Workshop, we started our final writing project of the year. Students are individual restaurant owners who must prepare a "meal" (a variety of different writing activities) for me, their food critic. They will be judged by their peers as well as by me on creativity, originality, writing quality, presentation, and completeness. One student from each class will be selected as the top chef. The top chefs from each class will compete to be selected as the 8th Grade Exploration Academy Top Chef. A copy of the menu with all of the choices can be found on google classroom. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) (Lawlis) The Algebra class had a brief introduction to Calculus as an aid to graphing functions. The PreAlgebra class has been reviewing proportions and similarity. The Geometry students are finishing up their work on theorems and postulates relating to circles. ELP kids took NWEAs for tracking growth.
In Science: Students are finishing up the reading about Newton's (3) laws of Motion.... and completing the outdoor surface trials for their propeller cars. Assessment will be next week.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) More work on individual projects - everything is due June 7! (Warren)
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: Theater Arts has been scriptwriting, lip syncing a scene from The Office.
In Art: In art class, students finished clay works, plaster sculptures, and worked on preparing their presentation for Student Led Conferences.
In Health and Phys Ed: 8th graders in Health are finishing up their unit on Noncommunicable disease. The quiz will be on Monday.
In 8th Grade Seminar: Students had to interview an adult in their lives who have a full time job and we visited the Hutchinson Center to learn about their Early College Program.
Week ending May 24
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Writing Workshop, we peer conferenced on our Salon writing piece rough drafts. We offered our partners praise and specific feedback as to how they could improve their writing piece. We also practiced Salon style discussions on minor debate topics where we politely agree, disagree, ask for clarification or invite other participants to speak. In Reading Workshop, we returned to some independent reading as we push ourselves to meet our independent reading goal for the year. We talked about active reading strategies that good readers use such as visualizing, rereading for understanding, questioning, connecting and predicting. We reconnected with some great books to help us power through the end of the year. We held our 8th grade wide Salon on Friday, inviting parents, families and community members in as well. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have chosen a Mathematician and are working on a report/presentation which is due next Thursday. Algebra classes are working on rate of change. (Lawlis)
In Science: Students are adding a load to their propeller cars and designing an investigation to test their hypothesis...as well as reading the textbook for the science knowledge that will help explain the results.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We're quickly approaching the June 7 deadline for all projects to be completed. We had a nice treat this week when high schooler Erin Hayes came in for the day to talk about her recent trip to Malawi. (Warren)
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: Theater Arts are performing scenes from episodes of kids shows. We are also working on voiceovers.
In Art: This week students used plaster to make sculptures and started to paint and/or cover with tissue paper to give their work the first layers of color. Some students started glazing or painting their clay works as well.
In Health and Phys Ed: This week, 8th grade Health is working on Non communicable disease. We also have a guest speaker from New Hope for Woman on relationships and media. We'll be practicing Mindfulness with Mrs Bailey on Friday.
In 8th Grade Seminar: This week students have been learning about Job Applications and Maine's Laws of the Employment of Minors.
Week ending May 17
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we learned about the non-fiction text structure: problem/solution. We completed a graphic organizer using the structure on a class article and on an article for our Salon topic research. We finished up the rough drafts of our Salon writing pieces that we will be sharing with a public audience. We also finished up our research and note taking. We then completed a Salon Talking Points Organizer to help us organize our thoughts and research to help facilitate our Salon discussions that will be taking place on May 24 at 7:45 am. Look for a letter from your student with more information and an invitation to join us! (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are working with scatter plots and correlation. Algebra classes are in Chapter 8 and are working on scientific notation. (Lawlis) Geometry students have finished with circle related theorems and celebrated with a day programming robots. Algebra students have finished the book and are celebrating with ice-cream. Pre-Algebra students investigated census data to characterize Maine compared to the US, and Belfast as compared to other towns in Maine.
In Science:
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) More in-class time to work on individual projects. We also took some time to talk about expectations for student led conferences. Our final package to Ukraine went out this week filled with letters, candy, and small gifts. (Warren)
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts:
In Art: Students are making plaster sculptures. Some students make a structure to hold the plaster while others are using molds or their own faces to make masks. There will be a wide variety of subject matter during this unit of study.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar: My students are finishing up their work on their Good vs. Bad Interview Videos today. They will be presenting them on Monday and then we will be moving on to Job Applications.
Week ending May 10
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week, we continued to work on our Salon Research and writing piece. We also learned about a new non-fiction text structure: cause and effect. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have been using prime factorization to find Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple. Algebra classes are in Chapter 8 and are working on simplifying expressions with exponents. (Lawlis) PreAlgebra classes are beginning work on understanding functions as a mathematical concept. The Algebra class is finishing a chapter on Probability and statistics.
In Science: Students are starting trials for the propeller cars and understanding how Newtons 3 laws of motion applies to the car.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) This was an interesting week that took us to the Cole Land Transportation Museum to learn about the history of motorized vehicles and to interview veterans. We had only 2 days this week to work on projects. We also took a day this week to talk about our upcoming trip to Camp Wavus. Students had a chance to talk about their concerns and what they are looking forward to. (Warren)
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: We are directing scenes from Newsies, creating the blocking.
In Art: This week students are finishing up two works made of clay: one functional, and one sculptural. Next week students will be starting plaster sculptures!
In Health and Phys Ed: 8th graders are finishing up their disease unit. Barbara Crowley will be in next week to talk about the dangers of vaping.
In 8th Grade Seminar: We are working on our Good vs. Bad Interview videos.
Week ending May 3
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we learned about two new non-fiction text structures: sequence and compare and contrast. We practiced organizing the information found in articles utilizing this structure together as a class and then students found articles on their Salon topic that utilized the same structure and took notes. In Writing Workshop, we looked at examples of four possible types of writing to create as our final product to accompany our Salon research: editorial, letter, public service announcement, or a speech. Students started drafting their writing pieces using an outline that can be found on google classroom. We also continued working on our research. (Warren) Students spent all week researching topics for the Salon Project which will be taking place, academy-wide, on May 24. They are taking notes, reading magazine, newspaper, and journal articles and preparing for discussion.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have been working on prime and composite numbers and prime factorization. Algebra classes are in Chapter 8 and are continuing to work with expressions with exponents. (Lawlis)
In Science: Students will be turning their coaster cars into propeller cars...and have been introduced to Newton's (3) laws of motion, and how they relate to the cars.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Students are still cranking away at getting individual projects done. We took a quick look at possible Shark Tank ideas (saving a sinking city, storing nuclear waste, using otters to help humans increase fishing yields) and ways to select problems to solve. (Warren) After watching a short news report last week about The Ghost Army in WW2, I purchased a documentary DVD of the amazing story of these American GIs who helped to bluff the Nazis again and again, and were crucial to Allied success. We watched this documentary and engaged in several rich discussions about the men, the mission, and the secrets.
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: Theater arts is performing scenes from Newsies.
In Art: Students are working with CLAY! They have been taught various methods for building with clay such as: coil, pinch pot, and slab. Students will make two works; one that is functional and one that is more sculptural in nature.
In Health and Phys Ed: 8th graders in Health are working on their prevention and disease unit. Ms Bailey is coming in for Mindfulness on Friday.
In 8th Grade Seminar: We are in the middle of our unit on communication right now and will be heading into our unit on Job Interviews next week.
Week ending April 26
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we have finished up our Literature Circle Readings and meetings. In Writing Workshop, we launched our new research project - the Salon (more details can be found on google classroom). Students are researching an issue facing the world today that they think is important and needs to be addressed in some way. They are learning about the issue as well as possible solutions and will share their findings at a grade wide Salon on May 22. More information will be coming soon! (Warren) This week we have been busy writing and sharing poems. We are also gearing up for an academy-wide research project that we'll be officially starting next week.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are finding surface area and volume of spheres and volume of cones. Algebra classes have begun Chapter 8 and are working with expressions with exponents. (Lawlis)
In Science: Students are assessing on Unit 1 of Force and Motion...the concepts that go with their coaster cars. MEA Science assessments are Monday (29th) - Wednesday (May 1), during science classes.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Students are beginning to turn in the first of their 5 projects. This is our final current events week of the year, also. (Warren) Our focus this week has been on current event issues. Students have worked both individually and collaboratively, researching and reporting to the class about local, national, and worldwide events in the news.
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: we took a quiz on the creative team and timeline of a play or musical. We are now reading the script and watching the Broadway musical Newsies.
In Art: We looked at the art of MC Escher to get inspired to make their own tessellation drawings!
In Health and Phys Ed: We are working on the immune system and diseases.
In 8th Grade Seminar: Students in Miss. Joy's 8th Grade Exploration class have started their unit on Communication this week.
Week ending April 5
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we learned about different text structures in non fiction texts with a focus on description. We practiced mapping out the information found in a couple of nonfiction articles on a description graphic organizer. In Writing Workshop, we learned about logical fallacies so we can avoid using them in our position papers. We also learned how to consider the connotation of words that we use in our position papers in order to set the tone of our piece. (Warren) Students learned the difference between mood and tone by participating in some fun and interesting activities this week.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have working on a project involving surface area and volume of cylinders. Algebra classes are working on Chapter 7. We have begun solving systems of linear inequalities. (Lawlis) Mrs. Lawlis received 20 Edison robots to use in introducing her classes to Computer Science using programming in Python (a Friday activity starting after April vacation for some classes). The Geometry class has finished a Trigonometry Unit and will be moving onto circles/chords/sectors/tangents - our last chapter.
In Science: Students are doing speed trials this week, collecting data, analyzing data, and learning how to label the forces that are acting on their coaster cars...to understand the overall Net Force(s) acting on the car.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) More work on individual projects. Many students are getting close to completing their first project draft. We also had a guest speaker (Ms. Imane Naji) from Morocco. Many thanks to her (and Ms. Emily Davis for bringing her to us.) (Warren) This week, students read news articles about world and national current events, and shared them in class. As a result, we engaged in many meaningful discussions.
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: We are finishing up set designs for Mary Poppins.
In Art: Students are working on a Pop Art inspired work. Some examples of student work include collages of band logos, paintings of celebrities, and images from pop culture.
In Health and Phys Ed:
Week ending March 29
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we set goals for reading our literature circle books and assigned roles for one another. We read and completed our role sheets in preparation for our Friday literature circle meeting. In Writing Workshop, we learned how to take a piece of evidence and angle it to fit our argument and practiced doing so in our violent role playing games essay drafts. We also furthered our research with more articles on violent role playing and video games found online. (Warren) We spent most of this week catching up with Reading and Writing Notebooks, learning more about literary devices, and, of course, doing some MEA testing. Our eighth-graders had the opportunity to visit some college campuses, which was very exciting!
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are working on surface area and volume. This week we worked with cylinders, and are currently working on a group project to calculate how many gallons of paint it would take to paint one of Belfast's water tanks. Algebra classes are working on Chapter 7. We have worked on solving systems of equations by graphing and substitution, and are currently working on combinations. (Lawlis) The geometry class is finishing up a trigonometry unit. The Algebra class is starting a Geometry unit that includes calculating surface area and volume of three dimensional shapes.
In Science: Students are testing their cars with different components, and collecting data/evidence, to see what components increase the performance of their coaster cars...and trying to understand why.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) This is our first full week working on individual projects. Students are choosing some great topics and are getting into the habit of writing about their progress at the end of each class. I also ask them to tell me something interesting that they learned, what they need help with, and what their plan is for the next work day. (Warren) We had fun in social studies classes this week debating hot topics such as animal testing and plastic bag usage.
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: Students are working on scenic designs for Mary Poppins.
In Art: Students are working on learning the technique of grid drawing. This is the first part of a Pop Art inspired unit of study.
In Health and Phys Ed: 8th grade Health will be moving on to using the role of medicine, using medicines safely, and substance use and abuse.
Week ending March 22
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we updated our book brackets and made our guesses for which books will make it to the Final Four. We also completed fluency checks and chose books and roles for our Literature Circles that will meet starting next Friday. Students chose from the following non-fiction books: 42, Hidden Figures, Obsessed, Freedom Summer Murders, Outcasts United, Let Me Play, I Am Malala, and Warriors Don't Cry. We will be researching the topics that our books are centered around and learning about different non-fiction text structures and features as we read these books. In Writing Workshop, we launched into our next writing focus - position papers - a combination of persuasive and informational writing. We started by reading a non-fiction text "High-Jinks: Shoot-Out" by Guy Martin to look for supporting evidence for both sides of the argument: Teens should/should not be allowed to play violent role-playing games. Students exercised their ability to find convincing evidence by debating both sides of the issue and flash drafted an essay on their chosen side. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have been working on surface area and volume. This week we worked with cylinders. We also spent some time preparing for MEA's next week. Algebra classes have begun Chapter 7. We worked on solving systems of equations by graphing and through substitution. (Lawlis)
In Science: Students have designed and built a coaster car, that they will use the entire trimester for test trials...and they ran their first set of trials, for distance and veer.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) This week we heard a few more current events stories. We also got started on our big 5 Projects assignment. All students are required to choose topics to do projects on in the following categories: Country/City; Commodity; Conflict/Controversy; Shark Tank; and Choice. They will have until June 7th to get it all done. We also watched a short video on 3/21 about World Down Syndrome Day - the message? -- "They're kids, just like you." (Warren)
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: Theater Arts is finishing watching Mary Poppins before this weekend's drama club performances (Friday/Saturday 7pm, Sunday 2pm). Quiz next week on analyzing/comparing/contrasting the movie and the musical, as well as the timeline and creative team of a theatrical production.
In Art: 8th grade students finished up their ribbon art work, and they spent some time making kites, clouds, and silhouettes to make our hallway a festive place for our school musical, Mary Poppins Jr! The musical opens tonight March 22 @ 7pm! Check out the ribbon art and our Mary Poppins decor on Facebook @ARTTHMS
In Health and Phys Ed: 8th graders in Health are finishing up a unit on non communicable diseases.
Week ending March 15
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week, in Reading Workshop, we reviewed common literary devices such as similes, metaphors, alliteration, hyperbole, idioms, allusion, and onomatopoeia by listening to songs and identifying the literary devices found within them. We added colorful notes to our Reading Notebook to help us remember. We elected new classroom librarians for trimester three and thanked our librarians from trimester two for all of their hard work in helping us keep our classroom library neat and organized. We also voted for the books in our book tournament that will advance to the Elite 8. In Writing Workshop, students took a grammar quiz in which they were asked to find as many errors as possible in grammatically incorrect sentences. (Warren) We finished writing the final drafts of our thematic essays this week, and are all looking forward to moving on to something new and exciting!
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have begun working on surface area and volume. This week we worked with triangular prisms, and began working with cylinders. Algebra classes are wrapping up Chapter 6. We reviewed mean, median, and mode, worked with stem and leaf plots, and box and whisker plots. (Lawlis) Geometry students got a preview of how their Trigonometry skills will be used when they take physics in high school and will also be learning some more advanced Trigonometry.; Algebra class has finished the high school curriculum for Algebra I and will be doing some more advanced Algebra topics including probability and statistics. Pre-Algebra classes will continue reviewing laws of exponents.
In Science: Students are beginning to start Trimester 3 - Force and Motion....and we will begin to build test cars, for trials, at the beginning of next week.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Students presented to their classmates about various local government departments. We had a chance to talk about the impacts of bringing big box stores to Belfast and what decisions need to be made about affordable housing in Belfast. On Wednesday, students made Irish soda bread. On Thursday. we learned a bit about Ireland and St. Patrick's Day, had tea, and ate our bread. (Warren) Both social studies classes are gearing up for debates.
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts: In theater arts we started a new trimester and are reading Mary Poppins the musical in class, in preparation for watching the drama club's production next week.
In Art:
On 3/11, the third trimester began, and a new bunch of 8th grade students walked into the art room for the first time this year! We begin the trimester with a group watercolor ribbon project. Check out pictures on facebook: @ARTTHMS
In Health and Phys Ed: 8th graders are learning about non communicable diseases. Causes, prevention, cures and hereditary factors.
Week ending March 8
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we made our guesses on which books would be selected to move on to the Elite 8 in the Tournament of Books. We also worked on productive independent reading to help us meet our trimester book goals. In Writing Workshop, we made appropriate changes to our thematic essays based on the feedback from our peers and submitted them to Mrs. Wyman for review. We also completed Trimester 2 SEBR check ins to reflect on our effort and behavior performance during trimester 2. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have begun working on surface area and volume. This week we worked with rectangular prisms. Algebra classes are solving and graphing absolute value linear equations and inequalities in two variables (Chapter 6). (Lawlis)
In Science: Students have finished the assessments for the Energy Trimester #2...and they are in teams or groups of 3, snd are designing and building Rube Goldberg machines to demonstrate for the class.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We finished up our debates and are moving in to our final civics lesson. We'll be looking at what local municipal departments do to "address local problems and promote the common good." (Warren)
In Tech Ed: This was the last week of Tech Ed for our 8th graders. Students finished the catapult competition and a prize will be awarded to the winners of every class. Overall we've had a fun and rewarding trimester with many students demonstrating mastery of engineering standards. Two years of TE has also improved many students level of confidence and ability to use tools and materials safely and effectively. It has personally been a pleasure working with this exceptional group of eighth graders. Parents should be very proud their students.
In Theater Arts:
In Art: Students are finishing up the trimester by painting plaster sculptures. Student have made a variety of sculptures including: masks, cats, pigs, ducks, 3D letters, dogs, and more! Hooray!
In Health and Phys Ed:
Week ending March 1
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week, in Reading Workshop, we did reading check ins and shared books we are currently reading through Status of the Class. Students were asked to do a self check in to see how they were doing at meeting their personal book goal as the trimester is ending next Friday, March 8th. Also during Reading Workshop, we continued presenting our Comparison projects where students compared the structure of the three fiction stories they have read. ("Harrison Bergeron," "The Lottery," and The Giver) In Writing Workshop, we continued to work on our Thematic Essay Drafts, making changes based on our findings with the blue, green, purple and red pen and printing out a draft with those changes in place to be part of a peer conference. Students read one another's work and gave suggestions for improvement and celebrated what each writer did well in their pieces. Final Drafts with changes in place from the peer conference are due Monday, March 4th. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have been working with the Pythagorean Theorem. Algebra classes are solving and graphing absolute value equations and inequalities. (Lawlis) The Maine Math Science Alliance is featuring the video our Geometry class made of how Emergency services are provided in Waldo county (https://mmsa.org/projects/exploring-computer-science/mmsa-video-showcase/); other students are consolidating their skills in solving equations.
In Science: Students are finishing up Energy Unit 5, with an assessment on Monday March, 4th.....and will spend next week designing and, possibly, building Rube Goldberg Machines.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Students are spending the week doing research for debates. Topics include: school dress codes, decreasing the age at which you can get a driver's license, standardized testing, etc. We also conducted our second "draft" for Fanschool. For the next 10 weeks, each class will watch their 5 countries to see how often they are mentioned in the New York Times. (Warren)
In Tech Ed: Students in Tech Ed have completed construction of their catapults and are now busy troubleshooting and calibrating them in preparation for our competition. It is at this stage that students develop strong skills in engineering and problem solving. Their success in creating solutions to engineering problems can be very rewarding and often is a boost in their self confidence.
In Theater Arts:
In Art: Students finished up printing-making early in the week, and now students are creating small plaster sculptures for their last work of the trimester.
In Health and Phys Ed: Students are finishing up common communicable diseases. Also continuing working on Mindfulness with Mrs Bailey.
Week ending February 8
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we began working on our Comparison Project. Students are tasked with comparing the structure (plot, characters, conflict, setting and theme) of The Giver, "Harrison Bergeron," and "The Lottery." An overview of this assignment can be found on google classroom. It is due Monday, February 11. In Writing Workshop, we continued to revise and edit our rough drafts of our Thematic Essay using red/pink and purple pen. More details on pen colors can be found in the images of posters from our classroom on google classroom. On Thursday and Friday, we enjoyed watching the movie The Giver. (Warren) After finishing the reading of “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, students wrote an extension of the novel explaining what they hoped had happened at the end of this ambiguous story. We then watched the movie by the same name and compared/contrasted the novel to the cinematic version. Earlier in this unit, we had read some dystopian short stories, two of which were “Harrison Bergeron” (Vonnegut) and “The Lottery” (Jackson). To meet the standard of comparing and contrasting the structure of two or more texts, students are working on a project that compares these two short stories with “The Giver”. This project includes:
â—Ź A brief summary of each text
â—Ź Quotes from each text (w/ explanations)
â—Ź Similarities/differences in terms of:
â—‹ Structure
â—‹ Plot
â—‹ Characters
â—‹ Setting
â—‹ Theme
â—‹ Conflict
â—Ź A One-Pager (collage, abstract, hand-drawn) with a written explanation included
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are finding square roots of perfect squares and cube roots of perfect cubes. Algebra classes are solving and graphing one-step and multi-step inequalities. (Lawlis) The Geometry class is starting work on right triangles and will soon be studying Trigonometry. The 8th grade PreAlgebra kids are studying polygons, angles, and parallel lines.
In Science: Students have started unit #5 ( electrical energy and magnetic energy)...and started making electrical circuits.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We prepared our draft lists for the next round of FanSchool. That's where each class picks 5 countries to track for the next ten weeks and the team whose countries are mentioned in the New York Times the most wins. We also chose debate topics and talked about the difference between deliberating and arguing. Additionally, Belfast city councilors, Eric Sanders and Mike Hurley, came in to Block 6 to discuss city government. (Warren) We have just begun our study of the 1960s. Part of our exploration includes a novel study. Students have chosen such titles as “The Watson’s Go to Birmingham”, “Fallen Angels”, “The Rock and The River”, “Amaryllis”, and “Warriors Don’t Cry”(1957).
In Tech Ed: Students in TE wrapped up our water transportation unit with an assessment on terms and concepts associated with shipping. We also started design and construction of our final engineering challenge for this trimester. For this project students will design and build a catapult to be used in a competition for accuracy. The device must have a hands free trigger mechanism, safety device and be adjustable to hit multiple targets.
In Theater Arts:
In Art:
In Health and Phys Ed:
Week ending February 1
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we finished up The Giver and discussed its ambiguous ending. We will start a mini-project to compare the text of The Giver with the short stories: "Harrison Bergeron" and "The Lottery." In Writing Workshop, we are learning colorful revising strategies to help us identify, analyze and improve problem areas in our writing of our Thematic Essay rough drafts. We have learned to use blue pen to look for sentence length variety and run ons and green pen to look for sentence structure variety. We will learn to use red and purple pen in the next Writing Workshop. Students are learning to be more self-directed with strategies to help them continue writing when they are stuck and to revise their work when they are finished. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have wrapped up Chapter 4 and have begun Chapter 7 and are currently finding square roots. Algebra classes have been writing equations in point-slope form and standard form. (Lawlis) The Geometry class held a screening of the video they created on how technology is used in Emergency Services in Waldo County; both Algebra and Geometry classes finished the High School's midterms for their subjects.
In Science: Students are finishing Unit 3 (thermal energy and chemical energy) with a study guide...and will be assessing on Feb. 5th.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Finishing up our examination of historical photos and cartoons. Moving on to civics. (Warren)
In Tech Ed:
In Theater Arts:
In Art: Students had three days of observational drawing practice this week. Students laughed through blind contour portrait drawings of each other and drew plant and skull still lives. We also started to glaze or paint pottery! A very busy week in art class.
In Health and Phys Ed: 8th graders have started Health Education for the 3rd quarter. Diseases, Medicine, and Substance abuse is on the agenda to be discussed. Mrs Bailey will be in for Mindfulness Education as well.
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Additionally this week: Bill Allen, retired Lieutenant Game Warden, came in as a guest to talk to students considering a career in Conservation Law.
Week ending January 25
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop we continued reading The Giver (chapters 13-17). In Writing Workshop, we continued working on the rough draft of our Thematic essays that are due on Friday, January 25. We read examples of past student work and a teacher mentor essay to help us structure our essays effectively. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are working in Chapter 4. This week we worked on writing equations when given the slope and a point, and when given two points. Algebra classes have been taking their mid-term this week. (Lawlis) Geometry students started preparing for their midterm next week and putting finishing touches on their video. PreAlgebra classes worked on categorizing real numbers and on operations with rational numbers.
In Science: Students are learning about thermal energy (temperature, heat, conduction and convection) and chemical potential energy (stored in chemical bonds.)
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We're moving on from economics to history. We're taking a look at historical photos and political cartoons to practice making inferences, determine context, and think about perspective and bias. (Warren)
In Tech Ed: Students in TE have spent the week completing their boats and testing them in our racing tank. Modifications have been made to improve the performance and speed of the boats in preparation for the final competition in Monday.
In Theater Arts:
In Art: Students are finishing up clay works. Their sculptures are made by pinch pot, slab, or coil methods of building. The work should be going into the kiln early next week. Be on the look out for pictures on facebook @ARTTHMS.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending January 18
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we read and discussed Chapters 6-12 of The Giver. In Writing Workshop, we continued working on our Thematic Essays by learning to look closely at critical scenes in the text, looking for craft moves the author makes and how those craft moves and the details of the scene connect to the theme of the text. We reviewed what makes a great essay (having a strong claim; using an essay structure; including evidence; writing an introduction that: names the author and the story, summarizes the text and names the claim; summarizing parts of the story in ways that fit the claim; explaining how the evidence shows your ideas; using transitions; and using standard conventions and grammar) and we began drafting our thematic essays on Google Classroom. (Warren) We continue to enjoy our reading of The Giver.
In Math: (Nardone) 8th grade classes are working in Chapter 4. This week we worked on equations of parallel and perpendicular lines. Algebra classes have been doing review work and preparing notes for the Algebra mid-term that will be next week. (Lawlis)
In Science: Students finished the assessment for units 1 & 2 in Energy (kinetic energy and potential energy)....and they are beginning unit 3 (thermal energy and chemical energy).
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Rough drafts of economics essays have been turned in. We're talking about world trade this week - outsourcing, tariffs, embargoes, boycotts, etc. Students are doing some brief role playing to see how well they understand the new concepts. (Warren) Students began presentations of Project #3.
In Tech Ed: Students in Tech Ed continued to construct their boat hulls for our water transportation unit. Some students have completed the hull and were able to test them for the required weight capacity. With every unit we do, we take the time to learn about the science that is being applied to our engineering problems. With this unit we are learning about buoyant force and density so we spent a day this week discussing those topics and how they apply to our assignment.
In Theater Arts:
In Art:
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending January 11
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we did a Community Experiment simulating what it would be like to live in a dystopia. We were all given roles to fulfill and referred to one another as Community Member Number X. The next day, we wrote about our experience and thought about what it would be like if the world were "perfect" and what that meant to each of us. We also started reading The Giver together in class. Students then reflected on the chapter with discussion questions posted on Google Classroom. (Warren) We have begun reading the dystopian novel, "The Giver", by Lois Lowry. Students will benefit from thoughtful discussions and engaging vocabulary activities throughout this unit. We will be also using Reader Response Journals to :
*Make connections between this and other texts they have read (experiences or situations as well)
* Evaluate the characters in the story
*Summarize events in a chapter
*Record questions about what was read
*Create notes on the images and /or feelings the text evoked
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have begun Chapter 4 and are currently working on finding the slope of a line when given two points, and finding a missing coordinate when given the slope and a point. Ex: (4,3); (6,y) m=3. Algebra classes are working on Chapter 5 (Writing Linear Equations). We are currently working on writing equations for a line of best fit. (Lawlis) The Geometry class is editing their video and continuing work on similarity. The 8th grade PreAlgebra classes are working on functions, linearity, Domains, Ranges, and independent/dependent variables.
In Science: Students are finishing up chapter 2 (kinetic energy and potential energy)...and will assess on chapters 1 & 2 next Wednesday.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) It's a current events week, so students will be presenting their findings from all over the world to their classmates. We've also completed our research questions for economics essays. Rough drafts are due next week. (Warren) Students have begun SS Project #3 (Country/State Project).
In Tech Ed: This week in TE we started our water transportation unit. Students were assigned the task of designing and building a boat hull that will be powered by an electric motor and compete in a race. Students are all well underway in constructing their hulls. More to come on the topics that will be covered in this unit.
In Theater Arts:
In Art: Last week (1/4) students finished a second art work that was inspired by the Pop-Art movement. This week (1/7- 1/11) students made Elements and Principals of Design cubes. Check out the art on facebook @ARTTHMS
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending January 4
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week, in Writing Workshop, we previewed and picked dystopian short stories to dissect and explore as we practice writing thematic essays. In Reading Workshop, we completed a reading check in to track our progress toward meeting our book goals for trimester two and created a plan to help us reach our goals. We shared titles of books that we are reading in hopes to help others find books that they would enjoy. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) 8th grade classes have begun Chapter 4 and are currently working on finding the slope of a line. Algebra classes have begun Chapter 5 (Writing Linear Equations). We are currently writing equations give a point and the slope. (Lawlis) The Geometry class filmed an interview with Officer Rick Smith, police detective with the Belfast Police Department as part of our video on computer technology in the community. Other 8th graders began learning about functions and their Domains and Ranges.
In Science: Students are discussing factors that effect the potential energy and kinetic energy of objects...and how to design a procedure to investigate this concept.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We're diving into more economics terms and concepts. Students are populating a spreadsheet with economic data from the CIA website. This data will be used to look for economic trends in the world that can be further researched and written about. (Warren)
In Tech Ed: Students in Tech Ed are wrapping up our flight unit with an assessment on the aerodynamics of flight. The assessment will be given on Friday 1/4. After the quiz students will be given a chance to use our PC based Microsoft Flight Simulator. Next week we start a new unit.
In Theater Arts:
In Art:
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending December 14
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week we have finished up our guided reading group books in stations during Reading Workshop. In Writing Workshop, we have started to do some writing and thinking about themes in the story "All Summer in a Day." Students will soon be reading their own short stories and writing a persuasive essay on the theme they have selected for the text. (Warren) Crafting a good essay was the main focus of class time this week.
In Math: (Nardone) 8th grade classes have begun Chapter 4 and are currently graphing equations. Algebra classes have been working on function notation, and until Christmas break will be working on the Pythagorean Theorem. (Lawlis) Students are gradually completing assessments on linear equations; Geometry students are working on similar polygons and have gotten the video/audio recording technology figured out and done some test recordings for our video project.
In Science:
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We finished viewing student iMovies about drought, deforestation, acid rain, etc. Next -- on to economics! (Warren) The first part of the week we finished our WW2 unit. During the latter part of this week, we worked in small groups reading and discussing several current news articles.
In Tech Ed: This week in Tech Ed students were introduced to our Flight unit. Students were paired up and assigned the task of designing and building an electric airplane. Students were able to complete their design work and start construction of the wing. Instruction has been given on basic aerodynamic forces in flight and the history of flight.
In Theater Arts:
In Art: 8th grade art students are working on sketching candy logos (using a grid drawing method) for a warm-up lesson focused on the Pop Art movement! Check out some photos by following on Facebook @ARTTHMS
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending December 7
In Language Arts: (Wyman) In Reading Workshop, we continued reading our memoirs in guided reading groups. In Writing Workshop, we revised and finalized our final drafts and turned our memoirs into digital iMovies! (Warren) All classes finished reading the novel"Tuck Everlasting" and watched the film of the same name. Students shared observations of similarities and differences between the novel and the cinematic adaption. From these discussions, they will write an essay comparing and contrasting the two versions.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are wrapping up interior and exterior angles of polygons. Algebra classes are working on writing equations in slope-intercept form, direct variation, and graphing. (Lawlis)
In Science: Students are finishing up the assessment for the end of the Chemistry unit....and we started the Energy unit for trimester 2.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We spent most of the week working on iMovies about geography topics. Part of the challenge was figuring out how to import clips from YouTube and stitch them together to form a streamlined "story." Ask your student to show you their finished product. (Warren) Students created and presented projects about the WW2 novel or memoir they recently read in small groups. This was a good opportunity for lots of collaboration and partnering.
In Tech Ed: This has been the first week of Tech Ed for the 8th graders who had Theater Arts first trimester. Students were given an overview of projects and topics that will be covered this trimester. Students have also completed their annual safety training and quiz. We also spent a class period reviewing and practicing three view drawing technique. This serves as preparation for design work on the engineering projects to come.
In Theater Arts:
In Art: This week was the first week of art classes for some 8th graders. We made two collaborative art works: a drawing of a ribbon and a banner that says "Explore" to hang in the 8th grade wing. Pictures of the work coming soon on Facebook: @ARTTHMS
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending November 30
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we continued meeting in our memoir guided reading group stations. In Writing Workshop, we reflected on our performance thus far in ELA as well as revised and edited our memoirs based on Mrs. Wyman's comments and suggestions. (Warren) This week, students continue to locate examples of similes, metaphors, and personification in their novels, as well as creating some of their own in practice. We are nearly finished reading "Tuck Everlasting". Next week, they will view the movie of the same name, and write a compare/contrast paper.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are working on interior and exterior angle measurements of polygons. Algebra classes are working on finding the slope of a line given two points. (Lawlis) 8th grade classes are starting to work on linear equations including calculating rate of change and initial values from data points. Geometry kids are finishing up a chapter on Quadrilaterals and getting ready to tackle Trigonometry. Algebra students are working on laws of Exponents and Exponential functions.
In Science:
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Students have been continuing to research drought, acid rain, desertification, deforestation, and slash and burn agriculture. They're almost ready to create short iMovies that will serve as PSAs to inform people about their topics. This was also a current events week, so students have been getting us caught up on what's going on around the world. (Warren) Students have finished reading the first of the novels selected in our study of WW2. Each reading group is preparing a project which they will present to the class next week.
In Tech Ed: This was the final week of Tech Ed for eighth graders. Monday they will begin Theater Arts with Mr. Bannister. To wrap things up in Tech Ed students were given information and an assessment on water transportation. This includes primarily information on different types of ships. Some classes were given time to finish small projects in the shop while others were given welding instruction. Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this exceptional group of students and wish them well.
In Theater Arts: Trimester 1 is wrapping up. We've been creating scenes using famous movie quotes. Fro trimester 2, students who were in theater arts move to tech ed, and those in tech ed move to art.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending November 16
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we have continued our station rotations with guided reading groups. We are reading the memoirs: The Glass Castle, Ugly, King of the Mild Frontier, I am Malala, Bad Boy, Knots in My Yo-yo String, and Hey, Kiddo. In Writing Workshop, we have begun to draft our memoirs by connecting our small moment stories together by sharing what we learned about ourselves through those stories. Our rough drafts are expected to be typed and submitted to google classroom by the end of this week. (Warren) Students have been finding examples of imagery, symbolism, and figurative language in their whole-class novel, "Tuck Everlasting", working in their Writer's Notebooks and participating in class discussions.
In Math: (Nardone) 8th grade classes are working angle measurements of triangles. Algebra classes have begun Chapter 4 and are working on graphing equations. (Lawlis) Geometry students started working on their Computer Science in Maine project, identifying some potential businesses to interview; this is a continuation of the Friday Computer Science Day we started last year. Other 8th grade classes are wrapping up their work on the Pythagorean Theorem and beginning a new unit on linear equations.
In Science: Students are finishing the Periodic Table of Elements information and are beginning to learn about plastics (hydrocarbons)...they also just took a vocabulary Quiz (Thursday).
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We finally finished our Belfast water presentations and sent them to Mr. Kankam's class in Ghana. We're waiting for feedback, questions, and for them to send us slideshows about water in Ghana. We also got started on participating in a "Candy Around the World" project that is being offered by a school in Chicago. More on that later. Also, we're just starting to examine video footage of some geographic issues that the planet faces - drought, acid rain, desertification, deforestation, and slash and burn agriculture. (Warren) Students are currently working in small reading groups. Each is reading a WW2 historical fiction novel, participating in discussions, journaling, and conducting short research projects.
In Tech Ed: This week we finished modifying boats and held our final boat race in several classes. Competition always proves to be a great motivator for students as they scramble to improve their race times. Be sure to ask your student how they did in the competition.
In Theater Arts:
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending November 9
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we began our Guided Reading Group Stations. In Guided Reading Group Stations, students are reading memoirs, doing vocabulary activities connected to the text, and completing writing pieces in connection with what is happening in the story. Ask your child what memoir they are reading! In Writing Workshop this week, we continued working on our memoirs by writing more anecdotes-small moment, stories that we are going to string together to develop a theme or message in our piece. We looked at mentor texts to help us think of writing techniques and strategies we can use in our own memoirs. We will begin typing our rough draft during Writing Workshop next week. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) (Lawlis)
In Science: Students are studying the Periodic Table of Elements and will begin to study the properties of different plastics (Polycarbons).
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We ate crickets this week! We've been discussing alternative food sources that use less water and emit fewer greenhouse gases. We're almost ready to send presentations to Ghana about our water situation here in Waldo county. We've been chatting online about their situation in the city of Accra. We also took a few minutes to talk about election results. (Warren)
In Tech Ed: This week students have been hard at work building boat hulls in preparation for racing next week. Modifications have been made to any boats that don't meet the requirement to hold 500 grams of weight. We also spent a day this week learning about buoyant force, density and displacement. Other topics related to this unit that will be covered include shipping, cargo and water transportation systems.
In Theater Arts: We're comparing and contrasting movies with the Broadway musicals that have been made out of them.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending November 2
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week, in Reading Workshop, we learned about symbolism in colors and objects. We read the story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe and discussed the symbolism in the story. We created a one page illustration of all of the symbols we've found in all the stories we've read together. In Writing Workshop, we've transitioned into writing our personal memoir. We brainstormed first times, last times, special people and special places to help us write anecdotes from our lives. We will use the anecdotes to string together to showcase a lesson or message we've learned throughout our lives. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are working Multiplying and dividing numbers in Scientific Notation.Algebra classes have wrapped up Chapter 3 (Solving Linear Equations), and had a chapter test on Friday. (Lawlis) Geometry class is participating in a National Science Foundation research project and will be identifying a local business to investigate for their computer applications. The output of the project will be a video that will be shared across research groups and used in future programs that the NSF develops with MMSA. The other 8th grade classes are finishing up a unit on the Pythagorean theorem.
In Science: Students are learning about Elements and the Periodic Table of Elements...then bonding of elements into compounds.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We worked on creating questions to send to our partner school in Ghana about their water situation. At the end of each month, we take time out to learn about a country - this month (October) was Peru. We also talked about the origins of Halloween and other fall traditions that we have here in Maine. We'll be recording short videos about those traditions and sharing them with students in Ukraine via Flipgrid. The Ukrainian kids will do the same. (Warren)
In Tech Ed: The last engineering challenge students will be working on for this trimester is an electric boat challenge. Students have been designing and building wood boat hulls that will be raced in a test tank here in the shop. More to come about what water transportation topics will be covered in this unit.
In Theater Arts: Students are taking on other students' original scenes in performing with costumes and props.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar: Classes went to the Hutchinson Center and worked on quote posters to liven up the hallways of the school.
Week ending October 26
In Language Arts: (Wyman) In Reading Workshop, we learned about theme and finding evidence from the text to support our chosen theme. We read the short story "The Monkey's Paw" to determine the possible themes. In Writing Workshop, we went live on our blog W218 News! (Check out our work at w218news.edublogs.org) (Warren) Students learned how to find the theme of a story, first through some non-text examples(video clips) then reading the story, "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. They found that any theme can be considered valid if it can be supported with textual evidence and that stories usually have several themes.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are working on the putting numbers in Scientific Notation in order from least to greatest. Algebra classes are re-writing equations to solve for one of the variables (Chapter 3; Section 7). (Lawlis) This week the Geometry class Started working on triangle congruence. Other 8th grade classes have been working on exponents and roots and starting the Pythagorean theorem next week. Homeroom students in all homerooms are starting to plan for job shadowing.
In Science: Students are studying the science of materials (aluminum, glass and plastic)...specifically, as a (student) Material Engineer who is asked to research and choose a container for a new drink product.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) It's a current events week. Students are reporting news from all seven continents. We continue to inform ourselves about water issues around the world. Our plan is to connect with a school in Ghana in the coming weeks and discuss water related problems. (Warren)
In Tech Ed: This week students in Tech. Ed. have been finishing up testing and modifying their catapults. This project requires a considerable amount of engineering as the catapult is required to be capable of hitting multiple targets as well as fire with a hands free triggering mechanism and safety feature. Several classes have begun the final competition and we've seen some excellent results.
In Theater Arts: Students are writing their own scenes.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar: Students researched a career of their choice and are giving presentations on the career today in class.
Week ending October 19
In Language Arts: (Wyman) In Reading Workshop, we learned about the difference between integral and backdrop settings and read the story "All Summer in a Day." We learned about the four main Points of View in fiction: First Person, Third Person Limited, Third Person Omniscient, and Third Person Objective. We read the story "The Lottery" and identified the point of view from which the story is told. We have also categorized the points of view of all of the other stories we have read so far. ("The Stone," "The Bass, the River, and Sheila Man," "All Summer in a Day," "The Dinner Party," and "Raymond's Run") In Writing Workshop, we flash drafted our investigative journalism piece and published it to Google Classroom. We will be putting our pieces up on the blog next week. Please make sure your child has returned his/her permission slip! (Warren) We practiced identifying points of view in fiction, using the various short stories we've read over the last two weeks. Students learned about first-person point of view, and the three subcategories of third person point of view: objective, limited, and omniscient.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are working on the "Quotient of Powers Property" and "Zero and Negative Exponents". Algebra classes are continuing to work on solving multi-step equations. (Lawlis) Our Geometry class is finishing up a chapter on parallel lines and will move on to proving triangles congruent next week; other classes are working on Scientific notation and exponents.
In Science: Students have assessed on Unit A (Oct 19)...and are beginning Unit 2 of Chemistry.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We continue to work on global water awareness and SDG #6 - Clean Water and Sanitation. Students also researched what countries they think will be newsworthy for the next 10 weeks. Each class will be "drafting" 5 countries and our FanSchool program will track how often those countries are mentioned in the New York Times. Finally, we had a session to discuss job shadow opportunities in the Waldo County area. Parents, please ask your student about their job shadow ideas. (Warren) Students presented their social studies projects. Students gathered in Mr. Hamlin's room and met with Mrs. Davis regarding Job Shadow creation and continued interest work surveys.
In Tech Ed: .Students have been hard at work constructing their catapults using the tools and equipment in the shop. Besides learning basic woodworking concepts, groups are also applying basic math skills as they use their scale drawings to measure and mark wood for cutting, drilling and assembly. As always student safety is reinforced and closely monitored.
In Theater Arts: We've been studying Hamilton the musical.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar: My students have begun to explore various career interests and to begin their career research project.
Week ending October 12
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we charted the different types of conflict found in the stories we are all reading. In Writing Workshop, we talked about the narrative writing strategies we already know that will help us better write our narrative non-fiction news stories. Ms. Davis also visited our classes to talk about career interests and matches with our personalities and values. (Warren) We spent some time charting the plotline, and finding the internal and external conflicts of the main character, Victor, of Gary Soto's short story, "Seventh Grade". We also participated in Book Pass. This is like speed dating......with books.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes are working on exponential notation. Algebra classes have begun Chapter 3 and are currently solving multi-step equations. (Lawlis) Geometry kids are having fun with parallel lines and transversals; tricky seeming problems are solved with the aid of a dozen theorems and postulates. Other 8th grade classes briefly reviewed order of operations and are starting on exponents.
In Science: Students are measuring Volume, with three different methods, and are using it to calculate Density...that will be used to identify the material the objects are made of.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We took a look at our personal water consumption patterns. Now we'll put that data into a format that can be shared with students in Ghana. We also got started on our FanSchool picks - it's like fantasy football, but instead of drafting players, you draft countries that are predicted to be in the news for positive reasons. (Warren) Students are working on a project of a subject of their choice, timeline 1900-1920's. The presentation is on Thursday and Friday next week.
In Tech Ed: This week students were introduced to their next engineering challenge. Students have been placed in teams and will design and construct a catapult that will be used in a class competition. As with any engineering problem there are several guidelines that teams must follow. Teams are currently finalizing their designs and creating scale drawings. Next week we head into the shop to begin construction. This is always a fun but challenging activity for students.
In Theater Arts: We are studying Hamilton the Musical.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar: 8th graders have been learning about resumes, and have been creating their own, using an online resume generator.
Week ending October 5
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week in Reading Workshop, we learned about internal and external conflict and the six different types of conflict: character vs. character, character vs. self, character vs. nature, character vs. supernatural or fate, character vs. society, and character vs. technology or machine. We read "The Dinner Party" by Mona Gardner or "The Stone" by Lloyd Alexander and identified the various types of conflict in the stories. In Writing Workshop, we have been promoted to investigative journalists! We are beginning to find issues that are significant to our community that we are passionate about and we are going to begin investigating stories surrounding those issues so that we can get our readers to care about the issue! (Warren) We read short stories and recognized examples of internal and external conflict within these stories, and then charted them in our Reader's Notebooks. Students also continue to work on their memoirs.
In Math: (Nardone) (Lawlis)
In Science: Students are measuring volumes of substances...and then they will be using that information to learn how to calculate density.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) More geography vocabulary. Students learned about Indonesia's education system, clothing, food, puppets, music, customs, etc. We also started our personal water inventory assignments. (Warren) Students continue to revise and edit their essays.
In Tech Ed: Students in Tech Ed have been using their artistic talents to paint and burn decorative graphics on their boomerangs. This was the last part of our flight unit and every student made boomerang that flew successfully when tested outside. Next week we move on to another engineering project/competition. More to come on that next week.
In Theater Arts: Scene study with Alice in Wonderland and The Snow Queen.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar:
Week ending September 28
In Language Arts: (Wyman) In Writing Workshop, we have worked on revising and editing our news stories to be able to publish them on our class blog! Please make sure your child returns his or her permission slip to allow their work to be displayed on our blog. In Reading Workshop, we have worked on recognizing character traits in our own independent reading and finding textual evidence to support the traits we chose for each character. (Warren) This week, students had the opportunity to read several short memoirs and study the structure and characteristics of well-crafted pieces. They are now creating their own.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have wrapped up Chapter 1, and will begin working on Scientific Notation next week. Algebra classes are continuing to work in Chapter 2 and will be starting Chapter 3 ( Solving Linear Equations) next week. (Lawlis) The 8th grade PreAlgebra classes have been working on solving equations and making sure they are skilled working with fractions, negative numbers and decimals. The Geometry class has been working on theorems involving angles.
In Science: Students are identifying the unknown substances, in the mixture they separated, with a series of tests to determine the physical and chemical properties of the substances.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Current events presentations. Connecting with a classroom in Indonesia. More geography vocabulary. (Warren) Students are continuing a unit on US immigration, focusing on early twentieth-century movement.
Time was also allowed students to work on their Patriot's Pen essays, which are due on October 29th.
In Tech Ed: For a fun follow up to our flight unit, students in Tech. Ed. are now making wood boomerangs. These are individual projects that students will be able to use at home. Students are currently finishing those up and creating artistic designs for them. Next week they'll be tested outside and taken home. They can be somewhat dangerous when flown so students should be reminded of that when using them.
In Theater Arts: We performed our scenes from School Daze. We will now begin reading the stage version of Alice in Wonderland.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar: Students finished up their videos on Good Vs. Bad Interviews and presented them to the class this week.
Week ending September 21
In Language Arts: (Wyman) In reading workshop we read "Raymond's Run" and "The Bass, The River and Sheila Mant" and determined which characters were major/minor, flat/round, static/dynamic. We also learned how to diagram the plot of the stories, looking for the exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. In writing workshop, we looked to expert, Roy Peter Clark, an award winning journalist, to learn strategies to raise the level of our news stories. (Warren)
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have been working on solving two-step equations and had an assessment on Friday. Algebra classes have begun chapter 2 and are working on operations with real numbers. They also had an assessment on Friday. (Lawlis)
In Science: We have started Chemistry and are producing a procedure to separate an unknown substance, which we will be separating Friday ...and starting to scientifically identify the components of the mixture next week.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) Starting geography section with a look at land and water formations. We also took some time to research relief efforts for Hurricane Florence. Current events next week. (Warren)
In Tech Ed: Students in Tech Ed have been testing and modifying their airplanes and taking a turn using Microsoft Flight simulator. Students have also taken an assessment on basic terms and concepts associated with flight. Next week we'll be making and flying boomerangs as a final wrap up of our flight unit.
In Theater Arts: We're acting and directing scenes from the Fall play, School Daze.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar: This week students have begun work on their Good Interview vs. Bad Interview videos.
Week ending September 14
In Language Arts: (Wyman) This week, we have tried out our hand at becoming investigative journalists as we roamed through the school looking for potential news stories! We discovered some late breaking news that was happening all around us. We also started reading the short story "Raymond's Run" and reviewed main, minor, static, dynamic, flat and round characters. (Warren) We have written a pre-assessment narrative prompt. All classes are setting up their Reading and Writing notebooks. There has been lots of excitement getting to know one another and selecting independent reading books.
In Math: (Nardone) My 8th grade classes have been working on solving one-step equations and had their first assessment on Friday. Algebra classes are wrapping up chapter one working with equations, expressions, and inequalities. They also had an assessment on Friday. (To encourage note taking, notes can be used on tests.) (Lawlis)
In Science: We are finishing up the Whirligig Challenge Unit with a 'Best-darn-whirliggig-ever' Drop Contest on Friday, in the stairwell, and an assessment on Monday. We will be starting Chemistry next week.
In Social Studies: (Hamlin) We spent the week getting to know the Sustainable Development Goals and began talking about how to look at topics geographically. (Warren) Throughout the week we've been tracking hurricane Florence. We remembered hurricane Maria and the struggles the Puerto Rican people faced and what the southern US is now facing. We watched video clips, read newspaper articles and listened to new and audio clips of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America. Both SS classes are also learning the names and locations of all of the US states.
In Tech Ed: Students have been designing and building airplanes while learning about the history and aerodynamics of flight. Next week we'll be testing and modifying the airplanes.
In Theater Arts: We have been learning about improv. Now we're working on scenes from the the Fall drama club play, School Daze.
In Health and Phys Ed:
In 8th Grade Seminar: We talked about Effective Verbal Communication, Non-Verbal Communication and began our discussion of how to perform well in a job interview.