No bells and cow bells

OK....if you ring a bell and your student says, "Moooooo...." - I swear I had nothing to do with it! (PS - thank you for sharing such funny and witty kids with me this year - I am thoroughly enjoying them all!). In English: Shakespeare is under way. I have previously taught this unit at the end of the year - but it made sense to me to teach about the time period in England to help students understand the motivation for the Colonists to set sail for America. Most of our work on the play is in class. Very interactive - and very entertaining. So far we have dabbled in insults (more to come) and tried on a bit of improve. So far, so good --- your students are great at buying in - and I believe this will be a lot of fun! In Social Studies: We are continuing with the Pilgrims and the Puritans and how they interacted with the native people of America. Ask to see your student's worksheet or notes. There is a lot to think about and discuss! They have a quiz coming up next week that will cover the characters in Midsummer Night's Dream and the bio/time period info. They will also have a small quiz over the video series for Social Studies. Happy Weekend! kw

The last year of middle school begins

Hope to see many of you at open house tonight - if not, I'm happy to send a packet home with your student if you are interested. This week - we turned in our first essay and our first history assignment. We are beginning our study of early Americans. The PBS American Experience is our primary source as well as a borrowed book from PHS. Please ask to see your student's packet -- you may find the questions interesting for discussion. Students also have an ongoing quarterly choice book assignment. Look for them to be working on a dialectical journal throughout the year.

The END is near....the end of the year that is! Such a great group of kids! Thank you so much for sharing them with me this year --- I look forward to hearing of their successes at the high school level. Last bits of business - Civics Books have been collected (for 4 days!) If your student has not returned their book by tomorrow - they will go on the fine list in the main office. If you see any other "borrowed" classroom or library books - please have them return those as well. In ENGLISH - We are delving into Midsummer Night's Dream --- challenging and fun! There is very little outside work for this play since students should be focused on getting adequate sleep during our testing season (we still have MAPS and the EOCs for math). They will have a quiz over the characters, a verse from the play and a biography packet. They have the materials to study for this exam which will be Wednesday next week. Their final choice book dialectical journal is due on Monday (5/19) - most students are already finished - please push yours if they haven't quite completed this project. In history - we are still working on Frontier House --- we will finish up with a quick look at industrialization in Washington and then finish up with Japanese American Interment and a final quick look at Washington in the present day. Whew! We will be BUSY right up to the last day of school!

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 :)