endings and beginnings

Almost 1/2 way!!! This week is full of new novels (To Kill a Mockingbird - aka. TKM), old tests (MAPS reading), and the ending of chapters (WSH ch. 9) --- students should have a TKM question packet - they need to be through ch. 3 by Friday --- MAPS is on Thursday, this week and next --- and there is a chapter 9 WSH quiz on Friday as well as the due date for 5 paragraphs on possible notable choices (they will make their requests for their notable on Friday too) --- I'm fully aware this seems like a lot of fires going at the same time, but I am trying my best to weave it all together. WSH and English, while taking place on opposite ends of the country, are both dealing with racism and the constitution (this will be a nice transition over to Civics) - and Night of the Notables requires an early start in order for students to use time outside of class. In regards to N of N - they will be getting their packet that outlines all the requirements next week after everyone has their notable approved. From then on, much of the research will need to take place outside of class - at least for blocks 2 and 3. Happy short work week - enjoy our brief hint of Spring :) kw

P.S. grades are mostly finished - only a few small things left to add - for most, WSH will be an obviously passing grade (A, B, or C) at semester, so the small bit of work we have left 2nd semester won't impact their ability to pass - for a few students with a D or an F, I will be communicating the importance of trying to raise that grade as we work on WSH into 2nd semester. Remember that all students must pass this course in order to graduate from high school in Washington.

Happy New Year

Happiest of New Years to you all!!!! Today we went over the graded and returned Native American Diaries - they were generally quite spectacular this year! This is a very creative bunch :) I also returned book projects that had been on display and reminded them all to check their grades on-line --- as we near the end of Washington State History (there will be overlap into 2nd semester though) - they need to make sure they are not in danger of failing since the course is a requirement for graduation and an F would mean retaking the course in high school (and that really isn't ideal) --- tomorrow we will capping our disablitites lit. circle with the movie I am Sam - they are being asked to think about the challenges a developmentally disabled adult would face trying to negotiate the social welfare and legal system -- and also to pay attention to how different people treat the characters in the book. It is a thought provoking film that they should also enjoy. By the end of the week we will be covering ch. 9 in the Wa. St. History book and discussing options for a final project - I will have more on that later. In English, we will be reading To Kill a Mockingbird next - probably starting early next week if not sooner. Have a great week! kw

first of all, sorry it has been a bit since my last post - my oldest daughter was in a car accident a week and 1/2 ago and things got a little hectic. thankfully the car and the lap top were the biggest casualties - her injuries should heal soon. in regards to class, i have apologized to the students that their native am. diaries will not likely be returned until after break - but all other work should be posted by the end of next week. This week we finished up our lit circles with a creative water color paper on themes - they also did an in class "on-demand" writing for about 15 minutes. the watercolor pieces and plot-cartoons (selected by each group) will be displayed next week (come take a look if you get the chance - they really are quite good!!!) --- they also worked in class for 2 days on their ch. 7 wsh graphic organizers while we did the geography bee. these too turned out very well :) we will use them as resources for an in class competition on monday. additionally, we have continued with the video series "frontier house" - the kids enjoy this and it opens up quite a lot of conversation regarding changes that society has seen in the past 100 years or so. enjoy the weekend!!! next week we will review ch. 7, play a game, cover ch. 8, finish frontier house, and possibly read a short story (I am Sam is also a possibilty to end our lit. circles. ) --- thanks for your patience. kw oh, and block one, to add to our study of Al Capone Does My Shirts, baked lemon cake with the help of mrs. tippett :) we are thankful for her time and talents!

Welcome back! We now have 15 days of school before Winter Break which means we will be working very hard to wrap up our literature circles and finish the video Frontier House as well as a couple more chapters in Washington State History. There will be a quiz on ch. 5 WSH this Friday (questions due on Thursday). Everyone looks pretty tired today though. I'm assuming that late nights and too much turkey and pie is to blame. Hopefully an earlier bedtime tonight will get everyone a bit more energized by tomorrow (of course the quiet wasn't such a bad thing). kw

Happy Thanksgiving Break!!! While i did not give a large amount of work for the break - i did ask that the kids (those who had not finished) to catch up and finish the second section of their literature circle book and the assigned portion of the packet. This should not take more than an hour for the average reader. Hopefully they are enjoying the book so it won't seem like such a chore! Hope you all enjoy the week and that the students come back rested and ready to work for 3 weeks up to our next vacation!

first blog while it's snowing :) or :( depending on how long it lasts --- ok - just a heads up in case you have a student that wonders why they have a zero for their ch. 4 quiz --- for some reason, a few kids did not turn their quizzes in to the person who alphabetized them and gave them to me. therefore, they have no score --- they need to give me their quiz on monday and we'll chat about the confusion. also, i decided to lower the value of the quiz to 28 from 30 - after looking more carefully at our book and one of the questions, i decided the book didn't cover York in enough depth to fairly hold students accountable for the question about how he was treated by the Mandans. We'll talk about it next week. Also, next week will be filled with sharing the completed diaries which are due on Monday - they have had nearly a month to work on these so i am looking forward to seeing quality projects. we will also continue lit circles - these are in class so don't expect to see books at home unless your student needs to catch up. we will also be watching smokesignals or starting the video series frontier house - which should be fun going into thanksgiving vacation. happy 1st snow :) kw

a couple of due dates - Block 1 should be through ch. 3 in Al Capone Does My Shirts by tomorrow 11/6 ---- Blocks 2 and 3 should have ch. 4 in the WSH book read and the questions at the end of the chapter done by Thursday. ---- Also, blocks 2 and 3 should spend 10 minutes or so tonight looking at www.pbs.org/weta/thewest they then need to search under "people" and read about Chief Joseph and the Whitmans. If you don't have access at home they may use the 2 computers in my room or in the library in the AM.