Daily Archives: February 15, 2019

Game of Stones Update — Week of 2/19

Here’s the latest and greatest from Game of Stones.

1) Chaperones wanted. If you are interested in joining us for geology related fieldwork on Friday, March 1st or Meteorology fieldwork on Friday, April 5th, please let me know.

2) LTP. We’ve been modeling Cornell style notes as a research tool to gather information. Students are continuing to fine-tune their research questions and conduct background research on their topic. Students are planning missions all over the solar system. We have a student going to Europa to find out what lies under the ice of Jupiter’s ocean moon. We have a student going to Ikea to learn how they use Geothermal energy to heat their stores. We have missions being planned to the Mariana Trench, Great Barrier Reef, the moon, and much more…

3) Atmosphere. We are just starting our unit on meteorology. Students are learning about the atmosphere and we’l be doing a station lab to learn about the pivotal relationship between temperature and pressure. (We are not going to study the PV=nRT equation, but we are going to talk about it in middle school terms.). There will be 7-8 stations for students to try different experiments with air.

Upcoming Due Dates:

Wednesday, February 20th: Atmosphere Drawings and assignment due.

Tuesday, February 26th: LTP Cornell Style notes from at least five sources. (These can be from text, online, video, etc.)

Have a fantastic long weekend! -JF

Co-op Update — Weeks of 2/19 and 2/25

Here’s what’s happening in co-op over the next several weeks:

1) With special events and other activities, our portfolio workdays are few and far between this time of year. I did review the end of the year reflections with students on Tuesday. None of these are due anytime soon, but something to keep in mind.

2) On both days — Thursday, February 28th and Friday, March 1st — students need to bring a sack lunch. CHOICE will be doing a field trip on the 28th for a performance by “Up With People” in Erie. March 1st in our 2nd ADI Field Trip.

3) Eighth graders have author’s night on February 20th at 6pm. (Sixth and Seventh graders are welcome to attend.) Eighth graders will also be signing up for HS Course Selection on March 1st. You can find course selection sheets on High School websites. (I have an 8th grader myself so I am doing the same thing!). It’s really helpful to have those conversations now so that when March 1st rolls around, your student has a clear idea of their course preferences.

4) Our next athletic day is Friday, March 22nd. Look for information about that soon. Students will have the option to go skiing at Eldora ($25 fee if they don’t already have lift passes) or go to the APEX recreation center (free)

5) Friendly reminder that third trimester LA/Math classes start on Tuesday the 19th. (Crazy to think we are 2/3rds of the way through the school year.). Second Trimester math and LA rubrics will go home the week of February 25th. We are hoping to have honor roll recipients finalized by March 1st. We’ll let award recipients know via email. The honor roll breakfast will take place on Friday, March 8th before school.

Thank you for all your continued support! -Josh Feiger

8th Grade Seminar Update — Week of 2/19

Hi Everyone,

I’m super excited to start 8th grade seminar on Tuesday. Here’s what to expect:

Tuesday: We’ll be having a conversation cafe about prejudice, stereotypes, assumptions, and the beginning of class.

Wednesday: We’ll be reading a chapter from Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, exploring the IAT Test, and learning about what (if any) biases we bring to our perspective.

Wednesday is also 8th Grade Author’s Night from 6pm-7pm. We look forward to celebrating your 8th grader’s writing with you.

Thursday: We’ll be talking about Jim Crow and introducing a small poetry activity to learn about some of the big themes of To Kill A Mockingbird.

Friday: We’ll begin reading To Kill A Mockingbird in class. Students will have the option to read independently, as a group, or using an audio copy. We’ll be focused on important passages.

Upcoming due dates:

Wednesday, February 20th: 8th Grade Author’s Night from 6pm-7pm. We look forward to celebrating your 8th grader’s writing with you.

Tuesday, February 26th (that’s the following week):

Important passages (as modeled in class) brought to class.
Chapters 1 and 2 complete in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Wednesday, February 27th: Check-in due via email by 8:30am

Students are expected to bring the following to class:

Writing pen(cil)
Composition Notebook. (Students can use their existing LA notebook if they have one. All notebooks are welcome to be stored in my class)
To Kill A Mockingbird book. (I’ll hand these out in class on Friday)
Choice Novel

Have a fantastic long weekend! -JF