Friday, January 29, 2010

General Announcements:

• Friday, Feb. 5: Prisms' Coffeehouse! St. Mary's Church, Haydenville, 6-9 PM — Dinner, dessert & entertainment! Tickets now available for purchase! $5/person, $20/family
• Eighth Grade project documents available here, including Phase 2 calendar (updated 1/22/10).
• You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.

Math:

• 7th Grade:
  • Due Mon, 2/1: Study Ch. 1-4 for a check-up test on Monday. Study the assignments you have done through Ch. 4. Read comments. As part of the review, complete "Additional Practice" on p. T-153 (handout): #1, 4, 5.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Mon., 2/1: Complete 2.3 on p. 21 according to directions. Lengths of segments are to be written as whole numbers or as a square root—not as a decimal or fraction. There are 14 possible segments that can be drawn on the paper given. Refer to handout describing how to find area for any square.

Social Studies:

• None Assigned

Science:

• Due Mon., 2/1: Write Experiment Report following format given (typed or handwritten). (See Format for Experiment Summary)

Language Arts:

• Test Mon, 2/1: Study Grammar Lessons 6 & 7 on helper verbs, past/present participles, and action verb tenses (present, future, simple past) for test on Monday. There will be review questions as well on Lessons 1-5.

Atelier:

• Due Tue., 2/2: Complete Golden Spiral collage piece and bring to Atelier by noon.

Spanish:

• 7th Grade:

• 8th Grade:

Moment of Zen:

Bunch of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger

CORNISH, NH (The Onion)—In this big dramatic production that didn't do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud. "He had a real impact on the literary world and on millions of readers," said hot-shot English professor David Clarke, who is just like the rest of them, and even works at one of those crumby schools that rich people send their kids to so they don't have to look at them for four years. "There will never be another voice like his." Which is exactly the lousy kind of goddamn thing that people say, because really it could mean lots of things, or nothing at all even, and it's just a perfect example of why you should never tell anybody anything.

Format for Experiment Summary

Attach the Standard Heading Title: Purpose: 1) Describe what relationship or question we are interested in. 2) State your hypothesis. Procedure: Describe the steps for the experiment, so that it can be easily reproduced by someone else. Data: Show the Data (the results) you get in organized tables and graphs. Write down any interesting observations of what happened. Do not include explanations of what happened. Analysis and Conclusions: 1) Identify trends in the data. 2) Address whether your hypothesis was correct. 3) What did you learn from this experiment - were there any errors that may have affected the results?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

General Announcements:

• Friday, Feb. 5: Prisms' Coffeehouse! St. Mary's Church, Haydenville, 6-9 PM — Dinner, dessert & entertainment! Tickets now available for purchase! $5/person, $20/family
• Eighth Grade project documents available here, including Phase 2 calendar (updated 1/22/10).
• You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.

Math:

• 7th Grade:
  • Due Fri., 1/29: Complete 4.2 according to directions. Also, do #1-3 on p. 38. Write in complete, edited sentences. Back up with data and show how you got your answers.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Fri., 1/29: Do. #4 only on T-ed p. 138, "More Practice." Staple photocopy of p. 138 to dot paper with #4 on it. Use ruler for straight lines.

Social Studies:

• Due Fri., 1/29:
  • Read pgs. 107-112 in packet. Highlight/underline the main idea of each ¶.
  • Final, edited draft of Julius Caesar essay.

Science:

• None Assigned

Language Arts:

• Due Fri., 1/29: Complete Grammar Lesson 7 worksheet.

Spanish:

• 7th Grade:

• 8th Grade:

Moment of Zen:

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

General Announcements:

• If not already done, bring in the rest of your $75 DC Trip share. Refer to the Balance Statement handed out today or check with Grace for amount still due.
• Friday, Feb. 5: Prisms' Coffeehouse! St. Mary's Church, Haydenville, 6-9 PM — Dinner, dessert & entertainment! Tickets now available for purchase! $5/person, $20/family
• Eighth Grade project documents available here, including Phase 2 calendar (updated 1/22/10).
• You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.

Math:

• 7th & 8th Grade:
  • Due Thurs., 1/28: Math's Mates 2.6, work for * problems shown on separate sheet of paper. Corrections for MM 2.5 on a sheet other than original worksheet (can be same as sheet for 2.6 work).

Social Studies:

• Due Fri., 1/29: Final draft of Julius Caesar essay.

Science:

• Due Thurs., 1/28: Give three examples of a direct relationship and three examples of an inverse relationship.
  • In a direct relationship between two variables, when one increases, the other also increases.
  • In an inverse relationship between two variables, when one increases, the other decreases.

Language Arts:

• Due Thurs., 1/28: Memorize helping verbs listed at the top of the grammar Lesson 6 page (10 words). Be ready for a quiz.

Spanish:

• 7th & 8th Grade: Clean out your binder to make room for new book sections (Piratas/Robo en la noche)

Moment of Zen:

What's your caption?

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

General Announcements:

• Wednesday, Jan. 27: Final trip contributions due. Turn money in to Grace before 8:30 on Wed. morning. If you're not sure how much you have remaining to fulfill your $75, please check in with Grace at school or by e-mail (grace DOT mrowicki AT gmail). If you have a concern about being able to get all the money together by Wed., 1/27, please see Jane or John.
• Friday, Feb. 5: Prisms' Coffeehouse! St. Mary's Church, Haydenville, 6-9 PM — Dinner, dessert & entertainment! Tickets now available for purchase! $5/person, $20/family
• Eighth Grade project documents available here, including Phase 2 calendar (updated 1/22/10).
• You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.

Math:

• 7th Grade:
  • Due Wed., 1/27: 4.1 on p. 36 & Follow-up (you will need ½ cm grid paper). Write responses in full, edited sentences with math data backing up responses.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Wed., 1/27: Complete 2.2 on p.18 and 2.2 Follow-up #1-3. Answer questions in complete sentences restating the question in the answer. There are 8 possible squares, inlcuding given examples.

Social Studies:

• Due Wed., 1/27: Rough draft of essay on Caesar as a leader due (use Connections sheet completed today to help you develop points and organize, and for reference to format and length). Draft should be typed and saved in .rtf format.

Science:

• Due Wed., 1/27 (Gp.1): Read text, pp. 27-31. Answer #1-3 (p. 36) on lined paper. (Gp. 2 folks - this was due today for you!)

Language Arts:

• Due Wed., 1/27: Memorize the list of subject, object and possessive pronouns on the form provided. There will be a quiz on Wednesday, 1/27 covering these pronouns and their function.

Spanish:

• 7th & 8th Grade: Clean out your binder to make room for new book sections (Piratas/Robo en la noche)

Moment of Zen:

Boiled Dry Leaves, and Yet, So Much More

Although we're having a nice little January thaw reprieve from the severe cold, it is still solidly hot tea season. Here are some creative ways folks have come up with to infuse your day with a little warmth.

Monday, January 25, 2010

General Announcements:

• Wednesday, Jan. 27: Final trip contributions due. Turn money in to Grace before 8:30 on Wed. morning. If you're not sure how much you have remaining to fulfill your $75, please check in with Grace at school or by e-mail (grace DOT mrowicki AT gmail). If you have a concern about being able to get all the money together by Wed., 1/27, please see Jane or John.
• Friday, Feb. 5: Prisms' Coffeehouse! St. Mary's Church, Haydenville, 6-9 PM — Dinner, dessert & entertainment! Tickets now available for purchase! $5/person, $20/family
• Eighth Grade project documents available here, including Phase 2 calendar (updated 1/22/10).
• You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.

Math:

• 7th Grade:
  • Due Tue., 1/26:
    • Have tools.
    • Complete Extension #7 on p. 33. Follow direction in book, plus cut out each pentomino and label each by writing the area and perimeter on the pentomino itself. Answer questions on separate paper, as usual. Place cutouts in envelope with tiles.
    • Rewrite an edited first draft of friendly letter to Reds and Oranges about their performance on Friday. Follow model format. Be specific, avoid, "cool," write in pencil or erasable pen. Staple first draft to model format.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Tue., 1/26: Have tools. Complete 2.1 and Follow-up on p. 17-18. Record area of each figure next to the figure itself. You may show or explain the strategy in words.

Social Studies:

• Due Tue., 1/26: Complete worksheet on Connections (begun in class today).
• Due Wed., 1/27: Rough draft of essay on Caesar as a leader due (use Connections sheet to help you develop points and organize, and for reference to format and length).

Science:

• Due Tue., 1/26 (Gp. 2) or Wed., 1/27 (Gp.1): Read text, pp. 27-31. Answer #1-3 (p. 36) on lined paper.

Language Arts:

• Due Wed., 1/27: Memorize the list of subject, object and possessive pronouns on the form provided. There will be a quiz on Wednesday, 1/27 covering these pronouns and their function.
• Due Tue., 1/26 Group 1 Only: Bring in a different photo or other personal item to use as a conversation starter at Overlook.

Spanish:

• 7th Grade:

• 8th Grade:

Moment of Zen:

Images From the Factory Farm

Artist Nathan Meltz has taken the evocative idea of the "factory farm" in a very concretely visual direction in his recent art series "Animal Farm," where he imagines farm animals more as robots and integrates the same mechanical aesthetic into a wide range of farm-related images. Click the image above to see more from the Animal Farm series (including the "Chicken Coup" animation) and read an interview with Meltz by sociologist Gwen Sharp (from the fabulous Sociological Images blog, which breaks down a wide range of images from pop culture into what they can tell us about ourselves as a culture.).