Post date: May 24, 2015 6:41:20 AM
Hello Room 25 Families.
Happy mid-weekend day! As much as I love schooldays, these 3 day weekends are a nice treat. House is clean, laundry is done, plants watered (yay greywater system), and I've even read a bunch of essays. Great accomplishments for a Sunday-turned-Saturday!
I was really glad that so many of you came to the evening meeting on Monday. I hope that the details of the rafting trip made sense, as I so disjointedly explained them. I've been rafting with groups of kids many times and the adventures abound, whether it be navigating rapids, drifting calmly through the valleys, or playing water games en-route. The unstructured times at camp will give the kids lots of time to be with friends and the whole class. At the parent meeting I was appreciative of the feedback you gave me about the goings-on in class and the experiences that the kids have had over the past year (or two).
Recap of the Week: We had a typical smooth-sailing week in class, punctuated by science and standardized tests, and highlighted by a great war/police/law discussion with Mark Alvarez. Our lessons of the Civil War ended with some research into current similar conflicts plaguing the world today. In science the kids took the test of sound waves (and got them back) on Friday, and next week we'll get into light and optics, followed by the final unit on other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our time in English was focused on the compare and contrast essays, which should be in draft form by now and get finalized over the weekend. We still have about 17 days of school left and, as always, I'm hoping to have them be as important and meaningful as possible; we'll be working and playing until the very end!
Coming Up (in a bit more detail this time)
Tuesday, May 25: Science (STAR) Test: this is the old-school on-paper test covering 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science.
Thursday, May 28: Lavi has volunteered to teach us about the Constitution of India
Thursday, May 28: Family Game Night and Pasta Dinner
Friday, May 29: GPS class (probably) to Great America
Friday, May 29: Student-staff basketball game
Friday, May 29: The final middle school dance
June 3 to 5: Rafting the South Fork American River
Wednesday, June 10: Talent Show
Wednesday, June 10: Maker Day
Thursday, June 11: Last day of selectives
Thursday, June 11: Geometry class to Great America
Friday, June 12: Field Day
Monday, June 15: Beach Day
Wednesday, June 17: Graduation practice and graduation
Thursday, June 18: Last day of school
Friday, June 19: Staff work day