The Pike Road Bulletin
Community 8 : May 1
World's Fair is May 5th
- maps
- natural resources
- imports/exports
- games/sports
- visual and performing arts
- traditional celebrations
- costumes/jewelry
- architecture
- foods associated with the country
- spoken language
- public services
- power sources/services
- currency and conversion to American dollar
- type of government
- role in any major wars if any
- any additional information they find interesting or important enough to share
Since this is a "Fair" instead of just an exhibit, we discussed in great detail the importance of providing extras like food and entertainment.
We will also ask students to complete evaluations on their group members.The evaluation form will be used to help determine if each learner met standard SL.8.1 "-Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on Grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, coming to discussions prepared and building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly." A combination of teacher observations, learner evaluation forms, and daily documentation in the group's Google Doc will all help us determine each learner's level of mastery.
Victoria, Anna Lei, and Janice
Ataria and Alana
Robert
Ayanna and Jordan
Jonathan and Morgan
Alana, Ataria, and Jahkiah
C8 wants to send a big Thank You shout out to Bonnie Plant Farms for donating plants for our garden!
Since April was Poetry Month, our C8 team spent some time sharing a few of their favorites around campus.
Poetry Slam
We have chicks!
Team Building fun after a morning of ACT testing
Upcoming Learning Objectives
English Language Arts (ELA) / History
LANGUAGE ARTS
During our last month of school, we will focus on providing opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery of previously assessed standards. One way we will do this is through a study of "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes.
We will also be partnering with some of our younger patriots by designing games and activities to go along with multicultural picture books. Our C8 learners will research best teaching practices for teaching reading to younger children and use some of those strategies in the creation of reading materials designed to help strengthen reading skills, real world connections, develop relationships between big patriots and little patriots, and increase appreciation for various cultures. In the process, our C8 learners will be developing their own critical and creative thinking skills, as well as reading and writing skills.
WORLD HISTORY
Several groups have already presented their world history projects and have done a fabulous job! We just might have a few teachers on our hands.
Other learners are still actively participating in the learning process as they continue to research a world history standard of their choice. For this assignment, they have been asked to gather, analyze, and interpret, all aspects of life in a particular culture during different times throughout history based on the particular standard you selected. After compiling the research, they are expected to create a short unit of study to share the information with your classmates.
Each LEANER within the group will be assessed individually and as part of the group.
- 3-5 domain-specific vocabulary words with definitions
- a typed report of their findings (expository text standard W.8.2a-f)
- APA format bibliography created with Citation Machine
Each GROUP’s unit of study should include the following items.
- report of their research findings which fully addresses the standard (W.8.9) (W.8.2)
- 5-10 domain-specific vocabulary words relating to the standard (L.8.6) (L.8.4)
- a bibliography (W.8.8)
- multimedia visual aids (SL8.5) (W.8.6)
- a quiz to assess understanding (W.8.6)
Math
Learners in math are working on a Life Project. This project is due April 29. These are the details that the learners have to research and use in their project.
Find a career
Need to know the yearly salary
Divide the yearly salary by 12 to get the monthly
Shelter
Apartment
House
Taxes
Food
Bills
Electricity
cable/internet
Water
Cell phone
Clothes
Car - optional
If you choose to not have a car, you must have a reasonable mode of transportation; i.e. in new york the subway or bus are fine, but in montgomery you must have a car
Kids - optional
Also consider the age of the kids, you might need to budget for daycare, diapers, formula, their clothes, etc.
Create a monthly budget
Pie chart
- Bar graph
Science
For Physical Science, we are continuing on catching up on work that needs to be redone or remediated. We will continue to work on coding. We are also going to start something new. Mrs. Kenny and I have decided to start teaching our students how to do computer programming with Hummingbird Robot kits. Our learners will learn valuable programming and design skills. Robotics is a very lucrative and important part in today's world. Our learners will also get to teach the younger communities how to build robots! Here is a link to the Hummingbird Robotics page if you would like to learn more.
http://www.hummingbirdkit.com/learning/using-visual-programmer
Classroom Wish List
- pencils
- electric pencil sharpeners
- Loctite fun-tak mounting putty to hang posters to walls
- double-sided tape
- construction paper of various sizes and colors
- higher level fiction and nonfiction books for classroom libraries (new and used)
- small animal bedding
- empty tissue boxes
- Clorox wipes
Please Help Us Stock The Shelves
Instructional Tools
Edmodo is our learning management system where assignments are posted. Here, you will see assignments, due dates, late notifications, tutorial and resource links.
Parents may access this through a unique code found on your student's Edmodo home page. Signing up is easy-just go to www.edmodo.com, sign up as parent, enter your access code and fill in the required information.
Composition Notebooks
While our learners have laptops, we continue to use Composition notebooks for notes, assignments, practice work, lab work and journaling.
Please make sure your child has a composition notebook for their respective classes.
FreshGrade is the reporting tool used to communicate what skills are being introduced and how our learners are performing on these skills. As lead learners, we continue to attend professional development opportunities and collaborate with our peers on the most efficient ways to use FreshGrade and ensure that you are provided with a clear and accurate view of what your child is learning. One thing we have recently discovered is that parents are not seeing the lesson descriptions and additional resources that teachers are adding along with the title of the activity or standard being assessed. To view these, just click on the blue "show" in the top right hand corder of the box. We hope you will find this information to be helpful.
While learners may not have formal homework assignments other than reading nightly, there my be times when your child will need to continue working on an assignment they didn't complete in class or work on a project which will span over a longer period of time. Learners are also encouraged to identify skills that "have not met expectations" and review the learning notes, tutorials, and practice activities. Once students believe they have a better understanding of the concept/material, they should speak to their lead learner about the best way to reassess that particular standard.
HOW CAN I BEST SUPPORT MY LEARNER AT HOME?
*READ! READ! READ!
All learners should be reading daily. Find something your child is passionate about and fuel that passion by encouraging them to read about it. Get them to describe what they've read to you in detail. You might even want to read the same book and discuss it.
Some of the many benefits of reading daily include...
- increased knowledge
- vocabulary expansion
- exposure to a variety of quality writing styles
- improved writing skills
- mental stimulation
- stress reduction
*Ask your child SPECIFIC questions about their learning.
Examples:
"I read in the Smore newsletter that you are learning different world cultures through the reading of Cinderella. What are some of the versions of Cinderella you have read in class, and in what ways have you learned about other cultures?
I read that you are analyzing the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass and speed of an object. What activities did you do to learn about this? Which activity did you enjoy the most? Can you tell me how speed and energy are related?"
*PLEASE REMIND YOUR LEARNER TO BRING HEADPHONES AND CHARGE THEIR COMPUTER EVERY NIGHT.
A Day in the Life of an 8th- Grade Patriot
12:30-1:00 Lunch
1:00- 2:00 PE, art, drama, or music elective
2:00-3:00 Project time
Please feel free to contact us anytime.
Mrs. Rice mailto:carolyn.rice@pikeroadschools.org
Mrs. Harp mailto:mallory.harp@pikeroadschools.org
Mrs. Kenny mailto:catherine.kenny@pikeroadschools.org
Ms. Kitchens mailto:samantha.kitchens@pikeroadschools.org
Mr. Temple mailto:kevin.temple@pikeroadschools.org