What Do You Think?

This new graphic biography is getting a lot of buzz... what do you think about it?

History Day Documentary Links

We uploaded the 7th grade History Day documentaries to YouTube as a backup plan in case we had technology glitches at the big event. But, now that they're there, everyone can enjoy the hard work of the documentary groups. Enjoy!

Oba's documentary on Child Labor

Logan & Nathan's documentary on the Cuban Missile Crisis

Hannah & Madelyn's documentary on the Scopes Monkey Trial

Jacob's documentary on Genetic Modification

Brennan & Dain's documentary on Dropping the Atomic Bomb

Weekly Preview: 3/14-3/18

First of all, Happy Pi Day, everyone! :)

It's a crazy week... it's the end of the quarter, it's the week before spring break, it's the week of History Day, and it's the week of Images of Greatness. Hang on to your hats, folks!

6th GOAL: We'll be finishing up our unit on consumption by sharing what we learned in our oral history interviews and then comparing our consumption log data. Remember that consumption logs are due Wednesday!

7th GOAL: Tuesday is History Day! Students need to be at school by 7:45 a.m. to get ready for the big event. The rest of the week will be spent reflecting, assessing, and grading projects.

8th GOAL: Thursday is Images of Greatness! Students will need to be at school by 6:30 p.m. to get in their costumes and to get their display boards and foods ready to go. Images of Greatness begins at 7:00, and the public is invited to attend.

7th Language Arts: We'll be working on Parts of Speech this week by finishing up group presentations, making a Parts of Speech study guide, and then taking the P.O.S. quiz. Spelling p. 154 is due on Wednesday along with pretest corrections.

Week 25 Spelling Words

monopoly

dual

unique

biennial

monotony

duplication

unite

monocle

unify

duo

binoculars

university

monorail

duplex

unison

monotonous

biannual

monotone

universe

monogram

3/8 Booktalks: Iowa Teen Award Nominees

For today's booktalks, I highlighted some of the nominees for the Iowa Teen Award. If students read at least 2 of the nominees, they'll have the opportunity to vote in the next few weeks for the winner!

Airman by Eoin Colfer

Elephant Run by Roland Smith

Football Genius by Tim Green

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

Bye Bye Birdie Recap

Click here for a great Animoto movie recapping the celebration following Bye Bye Birdie!

Weekly Preview: 3/7-3/11

6th GOAL: We're in the middle of our unit on consumption. On Monday, student will be presenting their "stuff" posters, looking into the secret lives of everyday things in our lives. Later in the week, we'll be starting personal consumption logs and looking into the journeys taken by the "stuff" in our lives.

7th GOAL: This is the last week to work on History Day. The competition is next week, and I can safely say WE'RE BEHIND! Be prepared to put in some major time this week to make sure our projects are done and ready for competition!

8th GOAL: This is the last week to work on exhibits for Images of Greatness. Display boards and costumes are due Friday. This week should also be spent memorizing Bio-Riddles. Next week, we'll practice on stage, and then students will present their projects next Thursday night, March 17, at 7:00 in the FMS Cafetorium.

7th Language Arts: We'll start the week by finishing Parts of Speech presentations. We've had some very memorable ones so far. :) When those get finished, we'll move into a writing activity based on the interdisciplinary unit on epidemics that 7th graders are finishing. This is a spelling maintenance test week, so we'll be reviewing and studying words from weeks 19-23. Book pages 147 (1-20), 148 (1-20), and 149 (1-10) are due Wednesday. The maintenance test will be on Friday.

Have a wonderful week!

Images of Greatness Exhibit Examples

8th graders are working on their exhibits for Images of Greatness. They are due next Friday, and some are having trouble envisioning how to put their information together. To help this process, I've displayed some exhibits from previous years to give students some examples.

Weekly Preview: 2/28-3/4

6th GOAL: We're starting a new unit on consumption. We'll start by taking a pretest on Monday. For the rest of the week, we'll look deeper into some of our everyday "stuff" to see how it's made and how much is really consumed. The truth is shocking!

7th GOAL: We're working on process papers and annotated bibliographies for National History Day competition. History Day is 2 weeks from Tuesday, and we're starting to really feel the pressure!

8th GOAL: We're starting to put together our exhibition trifold displays for Images of Greatness. We'll also be tweaking our papers, timelines, and bio-riddles so they're ready for the big night on March 17!

7th Language Arts: We'll finish up our parts of speech review, and then we'll be working on a writing assignment based on the 7th grade epidemics interdisciplinary unit. Spelling book p. 141 will be due on Wednesday to accompany this week's words.

Week 23 Words

abstract

complicate

persist

attractive

strict

replica

distract

consist

restrict

insistence

duplicate

resist

constrict

detract

resistance

complication

attract

insist

retract

consistent

Plus, don't miss this year's FMS production of Bye Bye Birdie this Thursday and Friday night, March 3 & 4, at 7:00 p.m. in the FMS Cafetorium. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for students. Middle School Activity Passes get in free. Come see how hard the students have worked, and be entertained by this rocking musical!

Images of Greatness Timeline Tools

8th grade GOAL students might need some time this weekend to finish up Images of Greatness timelines and bio-riddles. Here are a couple of online sites that might help... they're new to me, but they might be worth checking out:

Timeglider

Timeline tool from readwritethink.org

Here's a blog entry talking about different timeline tools w/ web addresses included.

Timeline Maker from Teachnology

XTimeline.com (thanks, Mr. Munford!)

Students are always welcome to do their timelines the old-fashioned way too with nice printing and pictures or with printed captions actually glued to paper. Many word processing tools have great options for making a nice visual timeline too.

Weekly Preview: 2/21-2/25

6th GOAL: Students will be finishing up their oceanography unit this week, completing the activities that accompanied Great Ocean Rescue.

7th GOAL: We seem to be starting the week a little behind already, but I'd hoped students would be able to start building exhibits, compiling & recording documentaries, and practicing performances. I'd like the projects finished this week because History Day is not going to wait for us. This will probably mean homework if we're going to get back on track with deadlines.

8th GOAL: Papers and annotated bibliographies are due today (Monday). The rest of the week will be spent on writing bio-riddles and creating timelines. Both are due Friday.

7th Language Arts: We'll be working on Spelling, Week 22 (Frequently Misspelled Words). Book page 136 (1-20) is due on Wednesday. We'll also be finishing our persuasive presentations and dipping into parts of speech if we have time.

Week 22 Words

laboratory

auxiliary

mischievous

salary

temperature

accidentally

remembrance

veterinarian

disastrous

athletic

separately

laundry

temperament

principally

miniature

partially

hindrance

incidentally

privilege

maintenance