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!".

Here we are in the middle - the middle week of our 3 between breaks - To Kill a Mockingbird is humming (no pun intended) along :) We are doing a mix of in-class reading/listening and at home reading. We have answered the questions in the packet for ch. 2 - 4 (5 - 7 are due tomorrow) and we will continue along these lines up until Winter break. We took a small quiz yesterday on ch. 6 WSH covering Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce - and we may look at chapter 7 next week as well. Block 1 finished up our look at Lewis and Clark and we will be working with some related short stories in the literature book and will move forward with another WSH ch. as well. In addition this week - we are working on the National Geographic Geography Bee - all students participate in 7 rounds in class and our top performing students will advance to another all school round at a later date. Block one finished all 7 rounds today, and blocks 2 and 3 will finish up tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your week --- look for that TKM book to be read at home!!!

Welcome to the 3 weeks between breaks....lots to do, lots of energy, and waning desire to "do school"...please help your student keep up with this hectic season by gently reminding them to stay organized (use their agenda!), get enough sleep and avoid procrastination etc.... In English this week we will be starting To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee -we will watch a video on the Scottsboro Boys (the case on which the book is based) and then you should be seeing the book and a packet with questions on a regular basis. This book will likely take us into January so there will be a few chapters assigned for Winter Break just to keep connected with the book. In History we are forging ahead into the Western Frontier and statehood. Ch. 6 questions are due on Thursday. Today we started a fun activity on Chinook Jargon - the kids like this - ask them to share a bit with you just for fun :) Final "blurbs" are due tomorrow. Hope the weather cooperates this week, but the beautiful clear sky and calm air at bus duty screamed of, "calm before the storm"! INTERIMS are turned in on WEDNESDAY...please help your student check their grade before then - if it's later on Tuesday - a quick email with any questions would be helpful :)

In class this week we will be continuing our look at Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest (and a few others in other locations) ---Today we discussed the history of government schools and reservations and moved on to more recent efforts to improve education and cultural pride. I show a few videos to address these issues - and we will culminate with Smoke Signals on Wed. and Th. --- in addition - to piggy back on the theme of passing on family tradition and culture - we will be writing a short essay on this idea. Students need to brainstorm 5 ideas for a paper that address a tradition, a ceremony, or a routine that started with a previous generation of their family. Some students will choose religious or cultural events while others may choose to focus on something their family does routinely or annually - like a trip to a family cabin etc.... We will work on the outline in class - and the rough draft - but the final should be typed up at home and turned in on Friday.

Cause and effect paragraphs on significant events in Native American history and the 10 event timeline will be finished in class on Friday --- I hope many students also took the time on Thursday to look at some of the Veteran's Day topics on www.va.gov/opa/vetsday --- our assembly on Wednesday was so moving and I'm sure many students would love to have conversations about their family history with the military - please engage them in those converstaions if you have the opportunity to do so. We will start To Kill a Mockingbird on Monday - this is a challenging and rewarding book for most of the students - more details on this to follow! Enjoy your weekend! kw