Welcome

The purpose of this blog is to create an easy and fast form of communitcation for my classroom. On the blog you will find weekly updates in class assignments, events and changes. The blog will also provide links for extra work, assignments and/or information, I feel may be helpful.



Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Test Retake on Thursday 11/1/12

    Students will be given the opportunity to retake their vocabulary assessment this THURSDAY 11/1/12. Students can use a 3x5 (only 1)  index card to put any helpful information. The assessment will be given at lunch this day and students are responsible for showing up with a signed copy of their original assessment. STUDENTS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO RETAKE THE ASSESSMENT WITHOUT A SIGNED COPY OF THEIR ORIGINAL ASSESSMENT.

Famous Quote 10/30/12

"These people are very unskilled in arms ... with 50 men they could all be subjected and made to do all that one wished."
                                 -------- Who said this..?

Monday, October 29, 2012

School Wide Events

  • Cookie Dough/ Candle Sale: Each student was given packets for our last fundraiser before winter break. All orders and money are due by FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9th. More information can be found in each packet.

  • 1st Quarter Awards Ceremony: The first quarter awards assembly will be on Wednesday, November 7th.  The times are as follows:

    1st/2nd grade: 8:30am - 9:15am
    3rd/4th grade: 9:30am - 10:00am
    5th/6th grade: 10:15am - 10:45am
    7th/8th grade: 11:00am - 11:30am

  • Spirit Week:   October 29th- November 2nd
Monday– Crazy Hair Day
Tuesday– Twin Day
Wednesday– Costume Day
(FREE Dress Down; no scary or gory costumes allowed)
Thursday– Sports Day
Friday– Super Hero Day

7th Grade Homework 10/29/12 DUE TUESDAY 10/30/12

Geography Skills- Students were given a map of Italy and instructed to do the following:
1. Color each state of Italy as seen on pg 35 in textbook.
2. Answer questions on worksheet:
       -Place:
              1. In which state was Pisa an important city?
              2. Who controlled Corsica and Sicily?
       -Location: On the map locate, create a symbol and label each
              a. Florence
              b. Venice
              c. Rome
              d. Papal States
              e. Duchy of Milan
 3. Short Answer: Based on the map, why was Venice in a good position to trade with the Muslim world?
             

8th Grade Homework 10/29/12 DUE TUESDAY 10/30/12

Voyage 1
Voyage 2
Voyage 3
Voyage 4





Part 1: Directions: Complete the table to help summarized the main details about each one of the voyages Christopher Columbus lead.

Part 2: Direction- Read Christopher Columbus' Journal Entry on pg 34 in your textbook. Then, answer the following questions:
1. What impresses Columbus most about the ppl he meets?
2. Why do you think Columbus wanted to make the people he meets Christian?
3. What are some ways this entry shows the intentions of Columbus?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Famous Quote of the Week (Extra Credit)

"Life well spent is long."

                 ----Who said this? (15pts Extra Credit)

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Friday, October 19, 2012

Weekend Homework

There will be two things that students should be working on this weekend they are as follows:

1. 3x5 Vocabulary Cheat Sheet/Study Vocab- There will be a vocabulary quiz on MONDAY 10-22-12. Students will be able to use a 3x5 index card to place any information they will like to help them on the quiz.

2. Discussion Question #5-  DUE TUESDAY 10-23/12  Student must answer the following discussion question. Responses must be at least 1-page doubled spaced. Students must have the question written on their response (this does not count as part of their 1-page response)

Question # 5- What is the importance of Bully/Drug Awareness Week? How can the dominant "norm" of your society be a cause of bullying/drug use? How can it be a solution?

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Famous Quote of the Day

"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." --- Who said this???? (Extra credit for the 1st three students to respond.)

Monday, October 15, 2012

Report Cards/ Parent-Teacher Conference Reminder

1st Quarter Grades are in and ready to go!!! ALL parents must attend a conference in order to receive your student's Report Card. Junior High Parent-Teacher Conferences are set up in a open-house format on the following dates:

Tuesday 10/16/12 4pm- 7pm
Wednesday 10/17/12 1pm-4pm
Thursday 10/18/12 4pm-7pm

Report Cards will be with your student's homeroom teacher but a conference can be held with all available teachers on the above days. If you can not make the schedule times, other arrangements must be made with your student's homeroom teacher in order to receive their report card.

Extra Credit Opportunity

In an effort to help students become more invovled and aware of the current Presidential Elections, students may earn extra credit for watching the Presidential Debate this TUESDAY 9/16/12

Topic: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location:
Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York (Tickets)
Sponsor:
Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Candy Crowley (CNN Chief Political Correspondent)


The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which citizens will ask questions of the candidates on foreign and domestic issues. Candidates each will have two minutes to respond, and an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate a discussion. The town meeting participants will be undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization.

In order to recieve extra credit students must provide a 3 paragraph summary of the debate.
1st paragraph- Summarize President Obama's argument
2nd paragraph- Summarize Governor Mitt Romney's agrument
3rd paragraph- Who do you feel won the debate? Why?

New Unit Vocabulary DUE TUESDAY 10/16/12

Unit 2: Chapter 1 The Renaissance Vocabulary (7th Grade)

  1. Renaissance
  2. Florence
  3. Medicis
  4. Lorenzo de’ Medici
  5. Patron
  6. Christopher Columbus
  7. Nicolaus Copernicus
  8. Humanism
  9. Humanities
  10. Francesco Petrarch
  11. Isabella d’Este of Mantua
  12. Donatello
  13. Perspective
  14. Women artists
  15. Gothic style
  16. Leonardo da Vinci
  17. Michelangelo
  18. Raphael
  19. Baladassare Castiglione
  20. Niccolo Machiavelli
  21. Engravings
  22. Vernacular
  23. Thomas More
  24. Utopian
  25. William Shakespeare
  26. Printing revolution
  27. Indulgence
  28. Recant
  29. Martin Luther
  30. Predestination
  31. Theocracy
  32. Annul
  33. Canonized
  34. Compromise
  35. Scapegoats
  36. Ghetto
  37. Heliocentric
  38. Hypothesis
  39. Galileo Galilei
  40. Gravity




Unit 2: Chapter 1 Age of Exploration Vocabulary (8th Grade)

*** Must provide a definition and sentence for each word.

  1. Christopher Columbus
  2. Casco Nunex de Balboa
  3. Ferdinand Magellan
  4. strait
  5. circumnavigate
  6. conquistador
  7. Hernando Cortez
  8. Montezuma
  9. plantation
  10. encomienda
  11. Bartolome de Las Casas
  12. mission
  13. penisular
  14. mercantilism
  15. John Cabot
  16. northwest passage
  17. Henry Hudson
  18. Samuel de Champlain
  19. coureur de bois
  20. Jaques Maguette
  21. alliance

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Extra Credit Opportunity DUE FRIDAY 10/5/12

After Fall Break our class will be starting a Unit on the History of Advertisements. In order to do a final project we will be in need of old used magazines. Students will receive 10 extra credit points for each magazine they bring in. (6 max)

News Broadcast Presentations

Students will be working in groups of 3-5 researching world-wide and national current events. Each group will be presenting their research through a News Broadcast this FRIDAY 10/5/12. This will be the final grade for 1st Quarter.

Each Student must turn in a written report (30 seconds to 1 minute). The report must be on their part of the presentation (i.e. Current Event, Sports, Weather, Special Events, Human Interest, Commercial, etc.) Students have decided their topics with group in class.


EXTRA CREDIT: students may receive extra credit for their presentation by showing creativity through (costumes, prop and presentation of information) Please encourage your student to get creative with this fun project.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Porfolio Check 3 DUE FRIDAY 10/5/12

The last day to turn in work for 1st Quater will be this FRIDAY 10/5/12. The following is a list of assignments that must be in each student's portfolio and turned in NO LATER than FRIDAY:
Mini Posters (7th)/ Oral Traditions (8th)           10pts
Unit 1 Review Packet 20pts
Unit 1 Full Assessment  10pts
Full Assessment Signed  10pts
Heavy Hitters (Political Cartoon Questions) or Discussion Question#3    10pts
Political Cartoon (Final and Paragraph)            10pts
Ancient Greece Vocabulary                          10pts
Missing Assignments Sheet (signed)             50pts


                                      Total points: 140pts

Discussion Question 4: Last Day to turn in on 10/5/12

Discussion Question 4: What makes a man a “man” and a woman a “woman”? Describe what the expectation is for each gender in today’s society.)

Please answer this question with complete sentences in essay format. Minimum requirement is 1-page double-spaced and Maximum 2-pages.