This month we have started our adventure into the Klondike. We’ve spent time exploring what life was like during the 1898 Gold Rush. This is the setting of our latest novel, The Call of the Wild. We are about halfway through this detailed masterpiece. Their book and packet should be coming home every night. If not, they both can be found on Google Classroom. There is a quiz after each chapter, which is directly linked to their homework packet. We will continue reading throughout December and, hopefully, we will wrap the novel up by December break.

Please keep checking Google Classroom for assignments and upcoming events.

This month we’ve finished Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. While reading, the kids had different opinions on who the real monster was. Was it Victor or the creature he created? They had to state their opinion and back it up with facts/ quotes from the story. It was interesting to see how their opinions flip-flopped throughout the novel depending on who was narrating the story: Victor, the monster, or Captain Walton.

We’ve finished the novel with an essay and a scavenger hunt around the school.

We have moved on to The Giver Unit. We’ve started with a debate, where the kids had to find the pros and cons of a Utopian society and defend their choices. In the end, all students were against the ideals of Utopian society and preferred a more diverse world. I love their open-mindedness!

Please keep checking Google Classroom for assignments and upcoming events.

Our Robin Hood adventure continues! We have been working hard on completing the different activities from the hyperdoc as well as reading and focusing on comprehension fill-in notes. We will continue to talk about inferencing and character traits while we read on as a whole group or sometimes independently. We will finish the book this week and have our test tomorrow or Monday. After-school review sessions were announced for Wednesday and Thursday. Continue to check Google Classroom for announcements.

Up next? Here's a hint... Bah Humbug!

Science class has been very exciting with the end of Unit 1, and finally completing our first major exam! The students worked diligently to prepare for this test by completing a review sheet, studying quizlet, going over their interactive notebooks, and asking and answering key questions! Look for exam grades on Aspen within the next few days!

I am excited to start our next environmentally-conscious unit about energy sources - where our energy comes from now, and where we can get energy in the future. The topic always raises some very thought-provoking questions, discussions, and sharing of ideas. We are also going to review the water cycle and states of matter, as well as start to focus on ecology and how organisms fit into their environments. Please continue to check Google Classroom for updates, assignments, and other information, as well as to monitor weekly research assignments, and check in on Aspen! Hoping everyone has a warm and delicious Thanksgiving!

Science class has been very exciting with the end of Unit 1, and finally completing our first major exam! The students worked diligently to prepare for this test by completing a review sheet, studying quizlet, going over their interactive notebooks, and asking and answering key questions! Look for exam grades on Aspen within the next few days!

I think we are all ready to move on from space and earth science and begin our life science unit. We begin by focusing on the differences between genes, DNA, and chromosomes, and build on this understanding to complete Punnett Squares and determine how genes are related to traits that are exhibited by an organism. We use characters from SpongeBob and Harry Potter to get a realistic understanding of Mendelian Genetics. Students will also get to figure out traits for their own baby dragons, and solve a parentage mystery for a monster named George during this unit - it is a lot of fun! Please continue to check Google Classroom for updates, assignments, and other information, as well as to monitor weekly research assignments, and check in on Aspen! Hoping everyone has a warm and delicious Thanksgiving!

It was great to see so many of you sign up for conferences. If you ever want to sit down with me, please feel free to send me an email and we can plan a time to meet. I know middle school math can be a very difficult time, and I never want you to think I don’t want to talk with you. I really enjoy working with the students, and I want to do whatever I can to help them learn the middle school curriculum. Keep in mind all of the assignments (besides the weekly online assignments) are expected to be worked on in class and not at home. If you want your student to work at home, feel free to have them practice anything on Google Classroom, but I am not requiring them to work on it at home.

Our next test for both grades will be Thursday, December 5th for A, B, & C blocks and Friday, December 6th for E & F blocks. Our last tests of the second term will be on Thursday, January 23rd for A, B, & C blocks and Friday, January 24th for E & F blocks. We have been working with angles in both grades, and the 7th grade will begin to look at equations after our next test while the 8th graders will continue to work with graphing equations. We will continue with the weekly IXL and Khan assignments. IXL will have two topics and the students need to get a 70 each week. On Khan Academy, the students need to complete the given exercise, IXL has a various amount of topics that students can do at any time.

I will continue to be after school most days Monday-Thursday, but you may want to check in case something comes up. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

We just finished with our unit on Ancient Israel. We watched an old cartoon with the Exodus story, we were history detectives, made Instagram posts, and really looked into proving history in many different ways! Students did higher-level thinking with primary and secondary source analysis and did fantastically! Great participation from all students! Students enjoyed “No Homework November” in my class and did Exit Tickets before leaving each class. We didn’t do less work, we did different work. I think the students appreciated this! They are awesome and I wanted to make November a little less stressful. We will be moving into Native American Cultures before Thanksgiving and when we return we will begin Ancient Egypt! All grades are posted on Aspen, keep up to date on google classroom! Email me with any questions! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

This month has been awesome, we are continuing with CNN 10 news and it is great to keep up with the news. We have been working on the Declaration of Independence and we are on the road to the Constitution. We are simulating the Convention by researching and representing a delegate. This was simulated in class and did a great job! Students should be working on NHD. It will be due in January, it must be done outside of school, please feel free to stay after or see me in powerblock!