WE ARE COMPANIONS ON A JOURNEY!
Welcome to Room 203 and Mrs. Smith's Webpage!
20 + C + M + B + 10
Parents Please note:
March 18, 2010:
Thank you to those who brought in the extra kleenex and paper towel - It is nice to know people are reading this.
8th grade should wear a purple shirt if possible tomorrow - uniform pants. Please note that there is an order form for
DEAR day snacks. Don't forget about the bake sale tomorrow at the fish fry - we have discussed this in detail in class. ** 8th grade band students - make sure you have your Battle of the Books materials for study hall tomorrow.
**Market day helpers next week are Kit, Marcus, Logan and Bennett - Bennett has sure done his fair share. Thank you for the extra help! The new hours are 4:30 until 6:00 - the kids should be there by 4 - until 6.
Don't forget about the field trip next Friday to the Milwaukee Public Museum.
The final amount that we added to our fund from last Friday was $180 - again thank you to all who helped. Please look at the list for this coming Friday. Joe's mom is helping with a raffle basket - we were hoping to put a few things in it that would be for BBQ or cooking out. I will donate a $50 Gift certificate from my family business - Lake Geneva Country Meats. If anyone else would like to contribute please send it to school tomorrow or Friday. More information about the raffle basket for the upcoming Casino night will be out soon.
Thank you to Billy's mom and Aaron's mom who will be helping out at the fish fry and to Joe's mom for putting together the raffle for Friday.
We also need more kleenex and paper towels. I will be asking the 8th graders with last names ending A-P to bring in one more box of kleenex (please not the ones with lotion or any added chemical) and those with last names ending R-Z to bring in one more roll of paper towels. We must blow our noses a lot!! Thank you
8th grade graduation pictures has been rescheduled for Monday April 19 - this is one week later than the origianal date.
8th grade Parents – the 7th/8th graders will be taking a field trip on March 26 to the Milwaukee Public Museum to see the exhibit about the Dead Sea Scrolls.
We will need approximately 3-4 chaperones for this trip.
We will only be taking one bus for all the kids – this means unfortunately that the chaperones will have to drive themselves/carpool.
The cost for adults will be around $10 – please let me know as soon as possible if you are able to come – first come, first serve.
Please note: I have attached a file Mrs. Jackson sent us - it gives information about an opportunity for kids to work with professionals through Northwestern University. Please check out the information.
Please note the Battle of the Books information - your sons/daughters should be reading their books and composing questions for their groups. This information went home several weeks ago in the Thursday folders.
A new year makes many people think about resolutions.
I am reminded of a book written by Sean Covey that I will use with the 8th graders in the 3rd and 4th quarters – “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens”.
A habit is something we do repeatedly.
Instead of looking for resolutions, maybe we should examine our habits – look for the good ones and continue them and examine the bad ones and try to reduce or eliminate them!
Think about your good habits.
Here are a few to consider that can help us be successful at school:
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taking time to organize our school papers
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using our assignment notebook daily
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exercising regularly or finding time to get outside
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praying at regular times daily (at dinner, before bed)
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reading for information and pleasure
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saying “Please” and “Thank you”
Here are a few that can be stumbling blocks and hold us back:
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complaining and always thinking the worst
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arguing
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not listening
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not taking responsibility for our own actions
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talking when others are talking
Mrs. Smith’s
Weekly News Letter Grades 7 & 8
March 1-5 and 8-12, 2010
Grade 8
_Iowa Tests of Basic Skills/ Cognitive Abilities Test will be administered this week during our morning class times – please see the file link for our daily/weekly schedule
8th grade Parents – the 7th/8th graders will be taking a field trip on March 26 to the Milwaukee Public Museum to see the exhibit about the Dead Sea Scrolls.
We will need approximately 3-4 chaperones for this trip.
We will only be taking one bus for all the kids – this means unfortunately that the chaperones will have to drive themselves/carpool.
The cost for adults will be around $10 – please let me know as soon as possible if you are able to come – first come, first serve.
Religion
We will hopefully finish up the material in Chapter 4 of the Church History book and finish up Chapter 13 – “A Believing People” in the Silver Burdett book.
Look for a test next week towards the middle/end.
Look also on my homework page for the daily spiritual challenges for Lent – the kids have really responded positively.
Math:
We will begin Chapter 7 on Exponents and powers.
We will begin with a review of scientific notation for large and small numbers and review negative exponents.
This chapter will also cover rules for multiplying and dividing monomials – power of a power, power of a product… We will also work with bases other than base 10 – including base 2 (binary numbers), base 5 and base 8.
Grade 7 – I will only see the 7th graders in the afternoon due to our testing schedule.
Social Studies:
We will continue reading/discussing the sections in Chapter 7 about the Constitutional Convention.
The kids will also some time to work independently on the “Tic, Tack, Toe” project.
The group that is reading “Chains” will be discussing the first ten chapters this Thursday, the 4th at lunch/recess.
Math:
We will be finishing up the chapter on Geometry and taking a test next week – we have been working on reviewing basic operations/concepts.
We will finish this chapter with an activity about circle graphs.
Look for us to go into the next chapter on geometry and measurement – this covers topics including area, perimeter, circumference, surface area and volume.
Religion
:
We will continue reading from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount – Chapters 5 –7 and begin a Lenten activity focused on the Works of Mercy – this project does ask that you as a parent help monitor your son/daughters choices and report on their progress.
*8th grade algebra students and parents – please look for more communication coming soon about opportunities to supplement the math curriculum with our current course 3 materials.
As it stands now, there are some areas in the math curriculum – for example, geometry, measurement, right triangle geometry, trigonometry, probability and statistics and problem solving strategies -
that for the most part are not covered in great detail in regular algebra.
I would like to provide opportunities for our algebra students to cover these areas and join our 8th grade class
– this would not be punitive at all – just an excellent opportunity to learn more in an area that is so very important for their futures.
I want to stress that this is not meant to make more work for the kids; it is meant to help them with minimal inconvenience.
Thank you for your support – I am very happy to be part of the St. Mary’s family. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Please know that I sincerely want to see your sons and daughters enjoy school and enjoy learning.
We will work very hard this year - responsibility and accountability will be stressed, but I will be available for extra help after school on a regular basis.
Michelle Smith
Check out www.PHSchool.com for extra tutorials and practice in both math and social studies.
This is an excellent resource for practice tests and quizzes which correlate to our textbooks.
Web codes can be found in the student text with each lesson.
Please click the "Be Notified" link above to be emailed when this classpage has been updated.
Thank you.
(Check box to include this section when classpage is printed:)
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