Monday, December 4

Science

Students will be completing the class time line today. We will have a seat activity to go along with this that will be turned in tomorrow. If it is not finished during class, please bring it back tomorrow completed, it is homework.

Tuesday, December 5

Science

Classes will be working on gathering together our notes for this unit on Transportation and Energy. Students should use this to prepare for the test that will occur on Monday of next week.

Creation Station

We will be looking at how scribbles and doodles can be a form of self expression. Students will have an opportunity to try this with music and then look at the nonsense poem Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. Students will then create their own words and others will create the definition to it.

Wednesday, December 6

Science

We will begin our last lesson on personal decision making and automobiles. This will take two lessons. We will be taking notes and reading about U. S. driving habits and gasoline consumption. Then we will be working on the statistics.

Thursday, December 7

Science

Finish Wednesday's lesson on personal decision making and automobiles. We will then be brainstorming what we can do to curb global warming. Then, the teacher will introduce Feedback Loops to the class. Students will then work in their groups to answer the following question using a Feedback Loop: What is the relationship between a change in the earth's temperature, snow and ice cover, and driving automobiles?

Creation Station

We will be focusing on imagination. There is an imagery script that we will use to help us visualize what we are imagining. The class will discuss imagination and be given a dream journal that they will design the cover for and keep record of their dreams for one week. These dreams will be kept private, but at the end of the week, we will talk about what different parts of dreams mean.

Friday, December 8

Science

Jeopardy Game to review for Monday's test.

Now that we are entering the third marking period for eighth grade, we are going to take another step toward preparing for high school. When assignments are assigned, students are expected to turn them in completed to the best of their ability on the due date. If an assignment is going to be late, the student has two weeks to get it turned in before the assignment will not be accepted any more. There will be exceptions for students with illnesses or extunating circumstances. If the assignment is past two weeks, there is new learning going on that needs to be focused upon and attended to. Also, it is important for students to stay on top of the learning going on since each new item builds upon the items that were learned earlier. Grades for late assignments that are handed in within the two week block will be adjusted accordingly.

After the 4 day weekend we should all be well rested and ready to get back to work. This week we will be wrapping our brains around the issue of Global Warming. We look forward to seeing you bright and early Monday morning !! (Don't forget, we have a vocabulary test on Friday)

EXTRA CREDIT
Also, just a reminder that your child can at any time, complete extra credit work by reading a book from our Milwood library that comes from the 500's and/or the 600's section and pertains to science. If the book has a dot on the side of it, it is an Accelerated Reader book. Take the Accelerated Reader computer test, bring me your test score of 80% or better and I will give you the extra credit points for it. If the book is not an Accelerated Reader book, write a one page edited book report on it and I will give you the extra credit points. Continue to watch for other ways to also earn extra credit, but you can always get extra credit this way too.

Monday 11/27/06

• Science

Vocabulary Word boxes are due today. Don't forget to bring them to class. Also I will be grading the questions you did on gasoline (How it's made. Where it comes from. Etc.) from the previous week. So be sure you have that with you as well. Today we will do a quick review on the 4-stroke engine and discuss the different "states" or "phases" that an element can take. This will prepare us for our discussions on Global Warming and how the burning of fossil fuels contributes to it.

• Creation Station

For our first day in this new class, we will work on some projects that will help us to get to know one another. We will also work on creativity mapping and do a creativity inventory.

Tuesday 11/28/06

• Science

Today we will dive into some chemistry as we discuss "matter and it's properties" and how the combustion reaction in a 4-stroke engine works.

Wednesday 11/29/06

• Science

We will take a very close look at global warming as we begin watching an important movie on the subject. We will be stopping the movie at specific points to have class discussions on specific topics and to add to our note taking journals. Be prepared to pay close attention and use your brains to think through these tough ideas.

• Creation Station

Today we will be working on a couple of different projects. "Inside and Out Creativity" and "You are Unique".

Thursday 11/30/06

• Science

Today we will continue to discuss and watch the movie on global warming. We will be looking for your thoughts and ideas on how we can help to slow down this process. We will also discuss the future troubles that continued global warming may cause. Be sure to have your note taking journals with you when you show up for class.

Friday 12/01/06

• Science

Vocabulary test today !! After our vocabulary test, we will spend the remainder of our class time organizing our thoughts on global warming. We will go over what we have learned and try to summarize the main ideas/concepts. This should help to prepare you for when we eventually take our "final exam" on the transportation module we have been studying.

• Creation Station

Today we will finish the "You are Unique" project.

FYI:

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is already here. Time is flying by. This week will be short and sweet due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Monday and Tuesday are normal school days. Wednesday is a half day and there will be no school on Thursday and Friday. Since the week is short, we will all need to stay focused. We look forward to seeing you all on Monday !!

Monday 11/20/06

• Science

Students will work on their class transportation time lines and begin vocabulary word boxes using words from the transportation unit.

Tuesday 11/21/06

• Science

Students will complete their word boxes and take a quiz over what they have been studying in this transportation unit over the last couple weeks.

• Connections

Students will present their literature book projects to the class.

Wednesday 11/22/06

• Science

Wednesday is a half day. The students will view an educational video on transportation that should help to broaden their understanding of the unit we have been studying over the past couple of weeks.

FYI:

We will be closing the grade book for the second marking period on November 16th. Be sure to have any missing work to us before then. We look forward to another great week with you all !!

Monday 11/13/06

• Science

The students will be meeting in the library to discuss how their research groups are working and to finish the research on their project. They will be using books from the library and our new wireless laptop computers.

Tuesday 11/14/06

• Science

Students will work on completing their transportation time lines and begin investigating gasoline as an energy source.

• Connections

Students will work in their literature groups to complete their books and their packets.

Wednesday 11/15/06

• Science
  

Students will be continuing Tuesday's activities.

Thursday 11/16/06

• Science

Today the students will be researching the internal combustion engine.

• Connections

Students will be working in their literature groups to complete their books and packets.

Friday 11/17/06

No school today. Enjoy your 3 day weekend.

Wow, here we are in the first part of November already! Time is really flying. PROGRESS REPORTS WENT HOME TODAY FOR SCIENCE! Your child should bring back their signed progress report as an assignment for 10 points on Monday. If there are any concerns, please write me a note on the progress report, e-mail me, or leave a phone message. I will get back to you as soon as possible. Any late work can be turned in until Monday. Remember that there is extra credit possible also (See last week's blog). Homework Hub is available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the library after school and Mr. Burtis and I are here every lunch time for help. Enjoy your three day weekend!

Monday, November 6th

Science

We will be finishing our mind mapping activity on the topic, "Transportation". One of our focuses at this time is being able to brainstorm with others and celebrating other's good ideas. This activity should take most of the period.

Tuesday, November 7th

Science

Using our mind maps from Monday, we will be choosing 10 important modes of transportation and deciding where on a timeline we think they should be and approximately when they were invented.

Connections

We will continue working on our Literature Circles. Our books are due to be completed on November 10th. Literature Circle job packets and summaries are due this day also. They will also listen to The Skin I'm In.

Wednesday, November 8th

Science

Students will work in teams to choose one of the modes of transportation that was deemed important. They will then research it over a period of approximately 100 years. They will focus on 5 questions: 1) How did the mode of transportation change over time? 2) How is this mode of transportation being used today? In what parts of the world is this being used? 3) How do you feel about this mode of transportation? Do you feel it should be increased, decreased, changed, re-designed, etc. in the world today? 4) Provide a visual of the chosen mode of transportation at the beginning of your time period. 5) Provide a visual of the chosen mode of transportation at the end of your time period.

Groups will decide on their Research Plan today and their Interaction Plan.

Thursday, November 9th

Science

Students will review their Research Plan and their Interaction Plan and begin their research today during class.

Connections

Today is another day for Literature Circles and working to finish the packets before the November 10th deadline. They will also listen to The Skin I'm In. Students will complete their weekly self-evaluation sheet.

Friday, November 10th

Science

Groups will work today to complete their research and to put it into the timeline.