Hello! Sorry for the long break between postings. I have been quite sick - down with a fever for nearly 2 weeks --- and while I'm back at school, things are still a bit slow. English - we are reading 2 different books in class - Shakespeare's Secret and Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet. Both books are modern young adult novels designed for reading pleasure and to help us ease in to our study of Shakespeare and Midsummer Night's Dream. Students have a question sheet and a reading schedule - Books and all the questions should be completed by Tuesday of next week (4/23). There will be a book project assigned upon the completion of the book. History - We completed our study of the Native American experience in the Pacific Northwest. And culminated with a quiz on Tuesday and the movie Smoke Signals (which we will finish tomorrow) Next up is the pioneer experience and the beginnings of cities in Washington - as well as environmental impact and social stuggles of a growing population. Choice books for 4th quarter may be the other book offered in class....a poetry anthology....a another book of their choosing.

Fabulous night! Hope you all enjoyed the show! I'm so proud of the kids! I'm sorry to be home sick today; I will miss out on their post-event euphoria. Ah well, hopefully they will still bubble about it on Friday :) hope you all enjoy a well earned break. Please encourage your student to get going on their 4th quarter choice book.

Spring break is near...

1. Night of the Notables is Wednesday 3/26. Students need to arrive between 5:35 and 5:45. Students report to the multipurpose room. Parents go to the cafeteria. Please arrive in costume and EAT before you come! 2. The 3rd quarter dialectical journal is due on Monday. Students should have had it completed today...but clearly the use of an agenda and long term planning are not popular amongst 8 the graders right now. Please encourage your student to develop a method of organization .... Especially for long term assignments and goals. 3. Please make sure costumes are ready to go....Q & As rehearsed, their statement to reveal their notable memorized, and we should be good to go! Hope to see you all on Wednesday!

Another week on the lab. The N of N Fill in the blank worksheet should be finished and the Questions for the evening event are due by the end if the week. Progress on the essay is also underway. Many students are beginning work on their rough drafts and I expect many more will make major progress on Thursday. We also discussed Thursda's trip to PHS. Please discuss future goals and which classes will best suit your student's needs for their post HS goals. We have a quiz on Friday covering Chapter 3 in WSH. Students should be studying their questions and answers from the chapter. PS. N of N costumes should also be in progress :)

March! March! March!

Let the MARCH towards Spring and Night of the Notables commence! These will be busy weeks leading up to March 26th and our evening event. Much, if not all, of your student's research, writing and Prezi production will take place during our 6 scheduled visits to the computer lab. Please cross your fingers for smooth technology sailing! Each student has selected an approved notable. They are required to read a biography on their person if one is available. If not, we will work to put together a collection of smaller print sources. Research on the notables era is strongly encouraged! Please ask to see their packet for expectations, due dates and the BIG 6 research process. In Washington State History we are moving on to study the tribal history of our region. This is a rich unit with complex intersections of culture. We will do a brief review of ancient history (much of this was covered in 4th grade) and delve more in depth into the impact of White settlement on Native culture.

Welcome to N of N

First...we will cap off our Washington State Map project with a test covering the items the students were required to place on their group map. Students have been encouraged to use spare blank templates that I provided to study. Hopefully they have heeded my advice...but the 5 hours of map construction help a whole lot as well :) Secondly....Night of the Notables is upon us! Students will have library and computer time to finalize their choice of a notable. They will receive a packet on Monday detailing the project in it's entirety. I have 2 days each week scheduled for research, question answering, paper writing and prezi production. Should be a grand adventure! PS. I have suggested students use a biography for their notable as their 3rd quarter choice book. This is just a suggestion :)

This week: History....Map construction. Map template and region chart due Monday. TEST over the entire map on Friday. English...A personal narrative essay is due Friday. The prompt is below: Harper Lee was the voice of her generation. If you were the voice of your generation, what would be your most important message? This needs to be 1 page typed. Normal margins. Size 11 or 12. Proofed and edited. Encourage your student to read their essay out loud so they can hear glitches. Finally, Night of the Notables research time is upon us. We will review the research process on Friday. We are using the district recommended method. You can find this on the district web site. A week from Monday, we will be in the lab and library to select our notables and then we will be off and running with research, prezi production, forms, essays, presentations and finally our Night on 3/26.