Wednesday, February 3, 2010

General Announcements:

• Please bring in all Coffeehouse props and decorations supplies (e.g. lights, extensions cords)
• 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. Parents - please buy your tickets in advance
• 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., 2/4: Math's Mate 2.7, according to new MM protocol.
  • New Math's Mate Protocol:
    • Begin new MM by circling problem numbers which were incorrect from last week's MM. Do these problems first.
    • While you do not need to write corrections for problems you got wrong last week, you do need to complete any left blank last week and turn those in.

Social Studies:

• None Assigned

Science:

• Due Thurs., 2/4: Calculate average speed and average time for all trials completed today. (Average speed = Distance/Avg. time)

Language Arts:

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

Spanish:

• None Assigned

Moment of Zen:

Local History: 223rd Anniversary of Shays' Rebellion

On February 3, 1787, a militia led by Daniel Shays, a farmer from Pelham, MA, stormed the Springfield (MA) Armory and took control of it. The group, which had been slowly collecting over the last six months, were concerned about the way that debtors were being treated in the post-Revolutionary War but pre-Constitution country. At that point, one could be jailed for debts as small as $5 and repayment had to be made in gold or silver - most of which had been removed with the British loyalists. Widely varying responses to this event dramatically changed the shape of the nascent country; it was among the reasons inspiring the Constitutional Convention held later that year and a profound impact on the way the country's financial institutions developed.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

General Announcements:

• Tuesday, Feb. 2: Complaints for choir due today by 5 PM in writing: blog comment, email, or note on Grace's desk (desk deadline is end of Homework Club). Complaint Submission Guidelines here.
• 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. Parents - please buy your tickets in advance
• 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., 2/3: Complete 5.1 and 5.1 Follow-up (p. 46 in CMP book) according to directions. You will need the handout from Jane. You must show how you got your answers, but do not need to write out your strategy if shown clearly.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Wed., 2/3: Complete #5-12 on T-Ed 138-139 (handout).

Social Studies:

• None Assigned

Science:

• Due Wed., 2/3: "Experiments & Data" - Read Ch. 2.2 in Physical Science textbook (or photocopy of textbook) and answer #1-6 on p. 43.

Language Arts:

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

Atelier:

• Due Wed., 2/3: If not already completed and turned in, bring Golden Spiral collage piece and deliver to Atelier ASAP.

Spanish:

• None Assigned

Moment of Zen:

It Feels Like Home: Repurposed Dwellings

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle aren't just written in that order because it sounds snappy—they're also listed in order of importance, but they also entail several other verbs with that prefix, notably reimagine and repurpose. Repurposing what would otherwise be trashed reduces both the need for new materials and waste from old ones. Living spaces, which can consume quite a lot of materials, can be creatively reimagined using existing structures no longer needed for their original purpose. This article details 13 different items which have been imaginatively repurposed into homes. They range from shipping containers to missile silos (and the airplane pictured above), but despite their wide range of origins they all now have at least one thing in common: to someone, they feel like home.

Whine At Me For a Change

So, the Complaints Choir is on! While the question of who will perform it is still up in the air, I will be compiling the complaints and turning them into a song tomorrow night. Deadline is 5:00 PM tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Complaint Submission Guidelines:

• Complaints must be submitted in writing: blog comment, e-mail and notes on my desk are all acceptable
• You may submit as many complaints as you like, and I will try to incorporate all submitted, but some may not work.
• Complaints may be reworded to fit in the song
• Complaints should ideally be petty and childish, but if you want to complain about wanting world peace, just be sure to do it in a suitably whiny manner.
• Complaints may not reference specific people in the school (public figures from outside school okay).
• Whining about very specific things is funny.

Monday, February 1, 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 Tues., 2/2: Study Ch. 1-4 for a check-up test on Tuesday, 2/2. Complete "Additional Practice" on p. T-153 (handout): #2 &3. Also, answer #5-8 on p. 40 of CMP book. Use a cm ruler and find measurements to the nearest tenth of a cm. Show calculations clearly. You will need cm grid paper.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Tues., 2/2: Complete 2.3 Follow-up, #1 only, using all line segments from your assignment last night. You need a cm ruler for part (a). Use a calculator for part (b) to turn your answers in &sqrt; form into numbers rounded according to directions. Also, complete #8 on p. 23, #9 on p. 24, and #15 on p. 25. You will need dot paper and your assignment from last night.

Social Studies:

• None Assigned

Science:

• Due Wed., 2/3: "Experiments & Data" - Read Ch. 2.2 in Physical Science textbook (or photocopy of textbook) and answer #1-6 on p. 43.

Language Arts:

• Test Tues., 2/2: Study Grammar Lessons 6 & 7 on helper verbs, past/present participles, and action verb tenses (present, future, simple past) for test on Tuesday. 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:

Axe Cop: Or, What Happens When a Five Year-Old Scripts a Comic

But not just any five year-old. The kid in question, Malachai Nicolle, happens to have an older brother, Ethan, who works as a professional comic artist. While hanging out at Christmas, Malachai, who had been running around with a toy fireman, told Ethan that he was Axe Cop. As Ethan asked more questions about who Axe Cop was and what he did, a story was born (click here for more about the origins of Axe Cop). The result is nutty in a way that threatens to totally fall apart at any moment, which, somehow, only makes the comic more engaging (I'll let you find out how Flute Cop evolves into Uni-Avocado Cop).