Team 8-2 News
Mrs. Bense, Mr. Frazier, Mrs. Madera, Ms. Waxman
General News! Week of Oct. 10-13th
Tuesday Greetings!
Quarter 2 began last Friday, and students received their new connections class schedules. Their regular schedules will remain the same.Report cards will be coming home with students tomorrow, October 11th. Please sign and return the envelopes, as soon as possible.
Although this week is a short one, it is a busy one. Tomorrow our 8th graders will be able to enjoy a visit from some Revolutionary War Re-enactors. I'm sure we will all enjoy the chance to see history come to life! On Friday we will begin our first RRAP Day schedule. Students will have the opportunity in each of their classes to re-engage with content that they are working on. These sessions will provide some smaller group work as well as some variation from our typical day.
"After School Thursday" permission slips will go home with students tomorrow, Wednesday. Permission slips must be signed and returned each week for students to be able to attend. Please be sure to include the way they will be getting home on the form. This is from 2: 40-4:00 pm. Don't forget, if you child has been invited to After School on Thursdays they really should be staying. We are trying to target specific groups each week, and if they are not attending, they are missing out as well as someone who could take their place.Thanks!
Hope you all have a great week!
SMMS Yearbooks are on sale now: ( order online at)
SMMS Spirit Bobcat shirts and drawstring backpacks will go on sale beginning Thursday morning from 7-7:30 in the rotunda and during 6th, 7th, and 8th grade lunches in Student Services.
Large Youth - Large Adults $10.00
XL – 4X will be $12.00
Drawstring backpack $5.00
Have a great week!
Upcoming Dates to Remember:
October 11&12-SMMS Spirit Days...wear your school colors, red & blue!
October 12th-Chick-fil-a Spirit Night 5pm-8pm
October 13th- SMMS"PINK OUT DAY" show your support for breast cancer awareness...wear your PINK!
October 13th- 8th grade performs with CHS at Chris Gilman Stadium
October 20th- School Pictures- Just wanted to give you a heads up on this one!
Language Arts- Ms. Waxman
Hello from Language Arts!
As we begin this 2nd quarter, students were asked to look over the assessments and activities that we have been working on since the beginning of the year. I asked them to evaluate their own personal progress so far. Some students easily recognized their strengths and weaknesses, as well as being able to give some thought as to possible steps they can take towards their own improvement. I look forward to seeing their growth!
As we continue our story EMPTY, we will see our key characters face many new obstacles. Point Of View will be our literary focus. Students will have the opportunity to put their own spin on things as we change up the POV in some well known stories, as well as in our novel.
Review and reinforcement of the "R.A.C.E. writing strategy" will be utilized as we progress with the novel. Some students seem to be right on track with this , while others need considerable work and reinforcement. We will get there, I promise.
Our current root word set, "Backward and Forward " has a link for a STUDYSTACK in students Google Classroom. We will be taking a quick check quiz on these this next Tuesday.
Last week, students added TweenTribune, as a new weekly homework assignment. Many students jumped right on board with this, and are doing a great job, as well as reading some interesting articles. However, there were quite a few students who did not even take advantage of the class time that was provided for them. This assignment will continue for this grading period as a weekly grade, so if your child has not started working on these, now is the time! Students are asked to go to: tweentribune.com, and read at least 5 articles each week, and then take the quiz that follows. Each quiz is worth 3 points, so the goal is to earn 15 points each week. Students should use a split screen to take the quizzes, and locate "textual evidence" that supports their answers. These are to be completed each week by Friday afternoon at 3pm. Homework is approximately 30 minutes of reading time each day. The next Independent (Choice) Reading book is due by October 20th. There will be a total of 3 Choice Reading books due 2nd Quarter.
Thanks for all you do at home! Enjoy your week!
Science- Mrs. Madera
Physical Science-
Last week we began to explore The Periodic Table of Elements. Students took notes on Atomic Theory, Atomic Structure, and Atomic Masses. They began creating Bohr Models and Lewis Dot Structures. Students will have a test this Thursday on the content listed above. There are Vocabulary review links posted on Google Classroom as well as the presentations and notes found in their notebooks.
NEXT UP is understanding and deciphering the patterns of The Periodic Table of Elements.
Students will be taking notes in class on this content and asked to review each night. Students will have frequent check for understandings on this information throughout this week and into next week.
On Friday, students listened to the Periodic Table Song. We will be focusing on the first 20 elements on the periodic table this year. Students should be practicing memorizing the first 20 element names and the corresponding element symbol.
Science homework will be to review notes and vocabulary every night. Our Matter Mastery Assessment on States of Matter, Phase Changes, Physical and Chemical Properties, Physical and Chemical Changes, Atoms, and the Periodic Table is scheduled for the last week of October.
The "Atomic Theory and Atomic Structure" Vocabulary can be found by visiting my Quizlet link below. The “Periodic Table of Elements” Vocabulary can also be found by visiting my Quizlet link below.
https://quizlet.com/join/kRj6Jgpam
Please check google classroom for additional practice links and simulations.
Social Studies- Mrs. Bense
The new quarter has started and this week we will be studying Georgia in the American Revolution. Students will have the opportunity to watch reenactors portray Georgia Revolutionary figures.
Georgia in the American Revolution vocabulary has been placed on Google Classroom and can also be found at the following links:
Quizlet: https://quizlet.com/231642588/georgia-in-the-american-revolution-flash-cards/
Study Stack: https://www.studystack.com/flashcard-2020474
Nightly homework is to study the vocabulary and review any graphic organizers that were created in class.
Mr. Frazier
This week, Team 8-2 Mathematics will begin studying Unit 2: Exponents and Equations. We will begin the unit by studying Squares and Square Roots and Rational vs. Irrational Numbers. In 7th grade, the students learned to convert rational numbers to decimal form and understood that rational numbers terminate in 0’s or eventually repeat. This prerequisite will be invaluable to your child’s success in this first week. I’ve included a YouTube link below that will assist your child to recall this important information. Though we will review the prerequisite, I highly encourage all students’ to practice and review the standard at home.
Also, each student is required to know the square of all numbers from 1-25 and their inverses (square roots). The student’s will be assessed on a timed quiz in which they have three minutes to write all the squares. The students are also required to know the cube of all numbers from 1-10 and their inverses (cube roots).
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
MONDAY (9 OCT): Teacher Workday
TUESDAY (10 OCT): Worksheet #1
WEDNESDAY (11 OCT): None
THURSDAY (12 OCT): Worksheet #4
FRIDAY (13 OCT): Notebook Check
QUIZ/TESTS
FRIDAY (13 OCT): Quiz: Squares 1-25 in less than 3 minutes.
KEY VOCABULARY
Irrational Number: A number that cannot be written as a fraction such as a non-perfect square, non-terminating decimal or a non-repeating decimal.
Rational Number: A number that can be written as a fraction, terminating decimal or repeating decimal.
Perfect Square: A number whose square root is an integer.
Set: A collection of objects (Usually a collection of specific numbers in Mathematics)
Subset: A set of which all the elements are also contained in another, larger set.
RESOURCES
1. Math Antics – YouTube Pre-requisite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do_IbHId2Os
2. Khan Academy – Exponents, radicals, and scientific notation – https://www.khanacademy.org/math/pre-algebra/pre-algebra-exponents-radicals
3. Math is Fun – Irrational Numbers – http://www.mathsisfun.com/irrational-numbers.html
Teacher Contact Information
Mrs. Bense- tbense@camden.k12.ga.us
Mr. Frazier- ajfrazier@camden.k12.ga.us
Mrs. Madera- kmadera@camden.k12.ga.us
Ms. Waxman- bwaxman@camden.k12.ga.us
Location: 205 Martha Drive, Saint Marys, GA, United States
Phone: (912)-882-8626