Weekly Newsletter
February 7, 2020
Hi Team 8!
Math
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me!
Karissa Hammock
785-717-7765
Science
American History ~ Mrs. Reilly
We are officially in Road to War!! This week was a good week of content! We got to explore several fascinating aspects for this unit we are in. First we discovered what sectionalism is in our country and why it was such a dividing factor. Next we did a jigsaw activity where every student became an expert of their own topic and then taught the rest of the members in their group about the Compromise of 1820, 1850 and a man named Nat Turner.
On Wednesday we had a special even studying about slavery. We immersed our senses in the "Senses of Slaver"
Sight - The kids looked at pictures and painting of "Whipped Peter", a slave auction, and a "Slaves for Sale" poster. These images were hard to look at. They included names and ages of enslaved people being sold and some were our ages.
Smell - Often the Enslaved people were in charge of burning the fields for a new crop season. I brought in liquid smoke to symbolize the smoke and ash that would fill their lungs.
Touch - Picking cotton was a hard job. The cotton was razor blade sharp and would cut any hand. I made "cotton" out of cotton balls and sand paper for the student to feel the roughness. We also looked at artifacts like a Hippopotamus hide whip and a Metal Brand and asked ourselves "how would this feel?"
Hearing - The entire hour I had enslaved workers music on and if you were at the hearing station you would hear and read about how music was not just for emotional support but it also saved many enslaves people's lives with different code songs.
Taste - This was the station the students were most excited to get to AND leave from!! I gave the students the statistics of how many calories the average person needs, how many calories, the average Enslaved person needed and how many calories they would've burned in a day. Once they had read that I gave them each a piece of (low sodium, no flavor) rice cake and asked them if that could sustain them for a 15 hour work day. Most hated it and that was my goal!
It was a really cool day to see how positively most of the students responded to this activity. Teaching about this dark period in our history is so hard, and SO important!
Next week we will continue with road to war and really get into "Bleeding Kansas!"
If you have any questions or comments please contact me at Jillianreilly@usd475.org
Or at extension 4864
Instagram: mrs.reillyu.s.history19_20
Practicing Signatures in WINN
Hello JCMS Parents and Students!
We are reaching the end of To Kill A Mockingbird as students need to be finished with the novel by Monday, 12/9. Our end of semester assignment will involve students shooting a short, documentary-style movie analyzing the growth and changes made by the main characters of Jem and Scout throughout the novel. This will be a BIG assignment so it is crucial that students are fully prepare by having read the book.
If at any point you have questions about class, please feel free to email me at christophedelay@usd475.org and I will be happy to respond. I am looking forward to a great year!
Foundations Language Arts
Students have finished winter MAZE & ORF diagnostic testing, and I am so proud of the progress they have made, and the effort that they put forth! Way to go!!! We also finished Interim testing.
We just wrapped up UNIT-2, which focused on Writing/writing skills. Students worked with identifying incomplete sentences, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, using commas and writing with dialogue, and writing a Narrative. We are on our way into Unit-3 now.
Students are required to write in their agendas each day when they enter the classroom prior to completing their bell-work. It is a participation grade each week, and parents can see what students are doing in class each day.
HOMEWORK: NO HOMEWORK THIS WEEK DUE TO SCHOOL-WIDE DIAGNOSTIC TESTING! Students receive a homework reading log at the beginning of each week, and it is due every Friday. They are required to read at home for at least 15-minutes each night (Monday-Thursday), and complete the log/questions. Students must remember to turn in on Friday. The reading log was placed in Schoology this week so that students could access it electronically as well if they would prefer to type it.
JCMS T-Shirts
Parents support your students and their school! Buy the Student designed JCMS T-Shirt and Hoodies. All funds made from these sales support teacher grants and Renaissance program.
ORDER ONLINE and pick up at JCMS!
Please Don't Be Absent!
Encouraging regular school attendance is one of the most powerful ways you can prepare your child for success—both in school and in life. When you make school attendance a priority, you help your child get better grades, develop healthy life habits, avoid dangerous behavior and have a better chance of graduating from high school.
When students are absent for fewer days, their grades and reading skills often improve—even among those students who are struggling in school. Students who attend school regularly also feel more connected to their community, develop important social skills and friendships, and are significantly more likely to graduate from high school, setting them up for a strong future.
But when kids are absent for an average of just two days of school per month—even when the absences are excused– it can have a negative impact.As a parent, you can prepare your child for a lifetime of success by making regular school attendance a priority.
For more information, you can visit http://absencesaddup.org/importance-of-school-attendance/