January Newsletter
Course letters for 8th grade coming soon!
Science-
January has flown by, and we have been very busy learning all about ecology - the study of the environment. We started by discussing renewable and non-renewable resources, and took an in-depth look at where the energy on our Earth comes from. The students are now learning about what makes up organisms, ecosystems, and populations, and how populations are measured. We will be moving on to discussing food chains and food webs, how energy flows through ecosystems, and different predators within trophic levels. We will take an in depth look at how organisms interact with each other through symbiosis, as well as within predator-prey relationships. I am hoping to be able to do some fun and interactive predator - prey simulations and maybe even an in-school biome project, if time allows! Please continue to regularly check Google Classroom for important assignments, test/quiz dates, and other important information. Also - please continue checking in with your student(s) about their Weekly Research Assignments. These are posted on Monday, and due on the Friday of that same week! Stay warm and let it snow!
English-
This has been a great month! We concentrated a ton on writing, and revisited proper English conventions. We’ve been focusing on short stories and extracting different information for research purposes. It’s important that the students continue to go back to the readings/texts to find their answers.
Prepositions are around the corner. There will be song to help the kids learn and memorize the prepositions. There will also a be an extra credit project around this topic. Everyone will have the opportunity to make a music video using our preposition song to share in class. This will be an at home project and totally voluntary. More details to follow.
Mid-February and into March, we will be dedicating ourselves to our research project. A packet of information will be coming home about the project. (It will also be posted to Google Classroom.) It will contain outlines, calendars with strict due dates, checklists, and everything your child needs to be successful with this project. It’s a great project, but very involved. So, it’s important that they adhere to the calendars in their packets.
Please keep checking Google Classroom!
Social Studies-
We are finishing January right at the end of our Ancient Egypt unit. We have listened to Egyptian songs, did an "escape room" style activity, learned about Egyptian religion, and even looked at the mummification process online! We even made our own Papyrus! It’s been an exciting month for sure! We will be ending the unit with a chapter 3 vocabulary quiz and there will be a chapter test, extra help will be available after school. After that, we will be traveling to Ancient Greece. Students should be reviewing the material on a regular basis as well as checking Google Classroom for homework each night. Students can make up homework if they come to talk to me!
Math-
I take it for granted at times, but I wanted to take a minute and tell you how great your kids are. Mrs. Perrault and I always talk about how easy these kids make it to teach every day. We finished up with some expressions and geometry in January, and we are going to look at percent markups & markdowns and some more topics in Geometry (3d shapes, angles, area/perimeter). We will be having our first test of term 3 before February vacation.
E & F blocks will have their test on Wednesday February 13th
A, B, & C blocks will have their test on Thursday February 14th
Reading-
Students did a great job learning about Amelia Earhart. We focused on close reading strategies and inferencing. We continued to tackle higher order thinking questions which promotes a deeper level of comprehending. We discussed many “how”and “why” questions. I was impressed with their hard work. Way to go! To finish off the unit, students will be presenting Google Slideshows supporting the idea of bravery.
Up next, let’s read a book! Gary Paulsen’s, Harris and Me is a fun adventure story about a boy who is forced to live on a farm with his overactive, daredevil cousin. We will experience the memorable summer of the narrator and meet the many characters that contribute to the story. We will incorporate a variety of reading methods. Students will sometimes listen to the story, sometimes partner read and also read independently. There are chapter questions and vocabulary words that they will be responsible for. I will continue to update Google Classroom with assignments.
Thank you for the at-home support!