Daily Archives: February 24, 2019

Game of Stones Update — Week of 2/25

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Here’s upcoming dates of note for Game of Stones:
Tuesday:  LTP Cornell Style Notes due.  Students are researching their LTPs and should have notes from five different sources recorded in their journals by Tuesday.  They’ll need to meet with me during class to show me these notes.
Thursday:  Air Poster Due at the end of class.  We are in the process of doing a number of air related experiments / labs to help us understand its mysterious nature.  Students will be creating a poster to share their findings due at the end of class.
Friday:  We are doing a bus/hiking tour of Dinosaur Ridge to learn about various Geology sites.  Students will need warm clothes and a sack lunch.  We’ll be leaving around 10:30am and we’ll be back at school by 2:10ish.  If you are interested in joining us, please let me know,
Thank you for all your continued support!  -JF
Ps.  In early March, we are going to start plate tectonics and students will be using Makey-Makey to understand this conceptually.  I’m looking for some flat cardboard. I don’t need a ton, but if you have a few extra boxes lying around, send them in (and thank you!)

8th Grade Seminar Update — Weeks of 2/25 and 3/4

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Hi Everyone,

Here’s what’s happening in 8th Grade Seminar for the next couple of weeks!

We have started reading To Kill A Mockingbird.  The first few chapters are really challenging in that Harper Lee throws you into the middle of things and there are a lot of characters that can be confusing.  To help us sort that out, we are going slow and reading the first few chapters as a whole class.  We’ll also be conducting our first round of book groups on Tuesday.  We’ll be focused on keeping the conversation flowing (and on topic!) as we try to better understand To Kill A Mockingbird.  Here is a sample book group menu fyi…

Upcoming Due Dates:

Every night: Read 30 minutes.  Students should not be reading ahead in TKAM, so they will likely need a book on the side to meet the CHOICE reading requirement.  I’ll be recommending books in class (and students are always welcome to email me) — but here’s also a padlet of book recommendations.  We also may do some “book dating” in the library as time allows.

Tuesday:  Chapters 1 and 2 in TKAM with questions.

Wednesday:  Check-in #1 Due by 8am

Tuesday, March 5th:  Chapters 3 and 4 of To Kill A Mockingbird with annotations

Monday, March 11th:  Chapters 5-8 of To Kill A Mockingbird with annotations.  Possible “surprise” reading-check quiz on that day.

There’s a myriad of ways to read TKAM.  Some students may read it independently.  Others may join us for “read-aloud” during class.  I also have audio links here.  Students are welcome to listen to the story so long as they simultaneously track with a book in hand.

Also fyi…. there are a number of students who may need a resupply of writing pens/pencils.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to teach your student!  Have a great week,  -JF