Well...the students ended up with me instead of Mr. Harms today - the ELL training I was scheduled to attend was postponed until 3/8 since the presenter was snowed-in up in Freeman --- :( --- Actually worked well, since so many were absent for the Jazz festival on Thursday - I was able to check off research progress for Night of the Notables - nearly all have made excellent progress! Please check with your student to make sure they have at least 3 sources (one preferably a book) with a least 2 different types of sources.

The answers to their questions for the evening event are due on Friday of next week! We will have a computer lab work day on Tuesday which should help everyone finalize their research! I will be giving guidelines for the essay late next week or early the next - look for future due dates on this assignment!

Also in Civics - there is a quiz covering the ch. 4 section one questions and the Bill of Rights on Wednesday - if they know the "gist" of each of the first 10 amendments and the answers to the questions from ch. 4 - they should do quite well! I suggest flash cards :) ---

In English, the students have chosen their literature circle novels - all were able to be placed with their first or second choice --- please ask at home about their progress with these books - they should have some great thoughts and hopefully questions as well! ---

OK - enough thinking for the night :) Warm thoughts to all since it currently says we are at -9!!! BRRRR!!!! Enjoy your weekend! kw

Does anyone other than me believe that the start of the track season is more likely than a groundhog's shadow to cause 4, or 6 or 12 more weeks of winter! That being said, after this week, if you need to speak with me - before school, my 5th period prep or by email would be your best bet since I will be at the PHS track in the afternoon.

This week Mr. Harms will be teaching on Tuesday and Friday while I attend a required ELL workshop at the district office. The students will be working on an in-class small group project on the Bill of Rights - they should also be studying their ch. 4 questions in preparation for a quiz the first week of March (I'll post the exact date on Wednesday) ---

This week we will also start our literature circles on novels with themes that center around disabilities. Students have selected the books they would most like to read, and I have placed them into their groups. We will be reading these books in class due to a limited number of books - but some additional research on specific disabilities may be required.

Finally - Night of the Notables research should be ongoing --- this Thursday I will be checking sources and next week they will be expected to have completed their "fill in the blank" worksheet. Happy President's day :) Hope you enjoy the beautiful sunshine!!!! kw

Sorry....technical difficulties...meant to post this on Monday....clearly that didn't happen :( OK - quick update - we turned in letters on Japanese American Internment today and had a day for Night of the Notables research in the computer lab. Most students at this point are focused on time-lines and quotes from their notables. Next Thursday students will be required to show evidence of their research - they need to have a minimum of 3 good resources - one should be a book if at all possible - the others should be as reliable as possible --- we will be doing APA worksheets in class so they need to have all of their source information with them on the 24th. The fill in the blank worksheet will be due the following week. In Civics we are studying the Bill of Rights - we ended Japanese American Internment with the issue of Civil Rights and are now moving on to the Civics Book - ch. 4 and taking a broader look at the first 10 amendments. We should be starting our literature circle next week as well. This will tie into the constitution as well and our study of the constitution/disabilities act. Hopefully your student will find this an engaging topic as well - I was quite pleased with how well they attended to the topic of internment! Obviously we are quite busy -- most homework should be Night of the Notables related since the rest of our work is mostly in class for the next few weeks - please check in on their progress from time to time. :) Happy 4 day weekend in advance!!! p.s. Jerry Harms will be with the classes on Tues. and Fri. as I will be attending a manditory ELL training at the district office - the kids reallyenjoy having him in their room and his knowledge of the constitution is beyond compare - he is more guest-speaker than sub :)

1/2 way through another week of February...meaning, a few more days closer to Spring!!! In class we are working our way through Japanese American Internment which will lead us into our study of The Bill of Rights --- Your student should also have their Night of the Notables handout to show you - you will be able to see all the requirements for the event. The different assignments will be divided between Civics and English. Please note the date of the required evening event - Monday March 21st --- should be fun!! The kids have made some very insightful choices for their notables :) As we go through these weeks up to Spring Break - we will also look at some other notables that appear in our curriculum - this week we're looking at Maya Angelou. Enjoy the rest of your week :) kw

Happy February :) This is month we start the Night of the Notables project...please ask your student to show you their packet by the end of the week - this will give you an idea of the expectations for research, writing, costumes, etc.... The event itself, as advertised in the LMS newsletter, will be the Monday or Tuesday - the week before Spring Break --- please encourage your student during this week of Notable exploration to seriously consider the positive contributions to society a person has made vs. how famous they are. Additionally, students turned in their Family Vacation project for WSH today (remember we are still doing a few WSH items since we covered some Civics topics throughout 1st sem.) --- we had a few glitches in the turn in....many students neglected to use their assignment sheet as a check list and forgot a few items....the use of agendas, check lists, etc... is truly lacking and many students need some serious encouragement from home to use these resources for success!!! Please help your student be successful by holding them accountable for due dates, project expectations etc..being self reliant will be critical for high school success!!! :) Good news though...full credit still available tomorrow (even though they lost "on 15 time turn in" points - or a portion of these points) --- 1/2 credit available through Wednesday (unless of course a student has been absent etc...) ---- Next up...ch. 9 WSH/the Bill of Rights and Japanese American internment.

As some of you may have heard, I was out of the classroom for most of last week. My youngest daughter tore her meniscus in her knee and we spent a lot of time in the ER, at the dr's office, and getting used to a brace and crutches. Hopefully this week will be less eventful although we are still awaiting word on surgery. Your students were fortunately at a spot in the curriculum that didn't need me a whole lot (although I'd like to believe I'm needed). We finished up TKM with Mr. Thornton and Mr. Gwynn on Wednesday - they took the final test with them as well and then spent Thursday and Friday watching the video and attending the Martin Luther King assembly with Mr. McCain. Today and Thursday they are all in the computer lab for MAPS testing. (reading today and math thursday) - For the rest of the week, we will be finishing up Frontier House video series - selecting a topic for a small research project for Washington State History -- and beginning to peruse ideas for Night of the Notables in the library as they finish their MAPS. Thank you for your patience with grades - I should have them completely updated on Thursday.

I started the week by announcing that it was now 2011....the year they all start high school! :) And that being said....they need to maintain their momentum (or build it if that is the case) so they feel they are prepared come Fall. I'm not sure, based on the number of tired faces I saw, that they are quite as enthusiastic as I am about this journey, but I trust most of them will come along for the ride anyways :)! Your student should have finished through ch. 24 in To Kill a Mockingbird over the break and as of tomorrow be through ch. 26. We have been taking some time to read in class and today we started a "TKM plot-tree" project. The book will be finished by Monday, and we will take the final test and begin the movie on Tuesday. All should do well as long as they have actually done the reading and answered the questions. In Washington State History, we are continuing to work throught he Frontier House video series while we discuss how fast change occured in the West after the turn of the century. We will be covering ch. 8 and 9 in the WSH book over the next couple of weeks, doing individual reports on a current event/person/issue and then doubling back to cover Japanese American Internment as part of Civics. You will see some overlap in the WSH and Civics curriculum since we spent a fair amount of time on the elections earlier in the semester. Oh, and just thought you'd find it entertaining to know what a student told me yesterday, after he got in trouble for running in the hall - he said, "Mrs. Walker....you're like a ninja...you blend in, we don't see you, and then we do stupid stuff right in front of you!".