Friday, December 3, 2010

General Announcements:

• If you ever notice something missing or wrong on the blog, comment to let me know about it - I don't always have the whole picture. -Grace
• Parents! Signup sheets for conferences are up in the entranceway to the Prisms' River Classroom, and slots are going fast! Check in soon to make sure you get your choice of time, and remember that conferences will be with the teacher, parent and Prism student.
• Parent Meeting Tues., 12/14, 6:30-8 PM The meeting will take place in the third-floor classroom. We will start planning for Coffeehouse, Graduation (which is put on by the 7th Grade parents) and let you know what's coming up for 8th Grade Project.
• Fri., 12/17 - 6-7-8 Dance!: A production of HCCPS Student Council and the dance committees now forming, we invite HCCPS students in grades 6-8 to get their best moves on from 8-11 PM. A snack or drink to share is your admission ticket!
• We need tissues! Cold season is upon us and we need nice tissues for sore noses. If every Prism family donated one box of tissues, that would almost certainly get us through the worst of tissue season.

Math:

• :
  • All: Nada

Language Arts:

• Due Mon., 12/6: Bring the following to class:
  • Read ch. 1 & 2 in ...Sarah Barker.
  • Write a well-developed and well-edited journal entry: What does it mean to be "unshakerly"? To Sarah? To Abel?

Social Studies:

• Nada

Science:

• Nada

Spanish:

• Grade 8: Nada
• Grade 7: Nada

Moment of Zen:

In Case You're Not Sure What To Do With All Your Free Time

Here's a maze in the shape of Einstein's Head. Click for full size version.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

General Announcements:

• If you ever notice something missing or wrong on the blog, comment to let me know about it - I don't always have the whole picture. -Grace
• Friday PE: This Friday afternoon, PE will be tied into our study of Hinduism by yoga practice with John. Bring a mat if you have one and loose clothes.
• Parents! Signup sheets for conferences are up in the entranceway to the Prisms' River Classroom, and slots are going fast! Check in soon to make sure you get your choice of time, and remember that conferences will be with the teacher, parent and Prism student.
• Parent Meeting Tues., 12/14, 6:30-8 PM
The meeting will take place in the third-floor classroom. We will start planning for Coffeehouse, Graduation (which is put on by the 7th Grade parents) and let you know what's coming up for 8th Grade Project.
• Fri., 12/17 - 6-7-8 Dance!: A production of HCCPS Student Council and the dance committees now forming, we invite HCCPS students in grades 6-8 to get their best moves on from 8-11 PM. A snack or drink to share is your admission ticket!
• We need tissues! Cold season is upon us and we need nice tissues for sore noses. If every Prism family donated one box of tissues, that would almost certainly get us through the worst of tissue season.

Math:

• Due Th., 12/2:
  • Grade 7: None
  • 7A: 4.2 on p. 56
  • Grade 8: Read pp. 54-65 carefully. Do 5.1 - you'll need access to a set of stairs at the beginning of this assignment. Follow all directions carefully. Show all calculations clearly.

Language Arts:

• Due Fri., 12/3: Bring the following to class:
  • From One Experience to Another to turn in
  • Your current independent reading book.

Social Studies:

• Nada

Science:

• Test Fri., 12/3: This test will cover our study of river ecology.
• Due Fri., 12/3: Final version of cover for your science notes featuring an image from some part of our River Ecology study, colored with colored pencil. The cover must also include the title "The Ecosystem of our River"

Spanish:

• Grade 8: Nada
• Grade 7: Nada

Moment of Zen:

Can You Have Your Flag and Eat It, Too?

When Project Food Blog, a competition between food bloggers for attention and a cash prize, announced that contestants would have to reimagine and present their distinctive version of pizza, Taiwanese-American participant Jen of Tiny Urban Kitchen was a little stumped. Despite her extensive knowledge and experience with Asian cuisine, she'd never made a pizza.

As pictured above, her unique take was to make turn pizza-making into a travelogue of sorts: each of her pizzas takes the form of the flag of a country she's visited, and is described not only in terms of its toppings, but with photos and brief anecdotes from her travels. Click above to read about her travels and how she managed blue for her flag pizzas without food coloring.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

General Announcements:

• If you ever notice something missing or wrong on the blog, comment to let me know about it - I don't always have the whole picture. -Grace
• Friday PE: This Friday afternoon, PE will be tied into our study of Hinduism by yoga practice with John. Bring a mat if you have one and loose clothes.
• Parents! Signup sheets for conferences are up in the entranceway to the Prisms' River Classroom, and slots are going fast! Check in soon to make sure you get your choice of time, and remember that conferences will be with the teacher, parent and Prism student.
• Parent Meeting Tues., 12/14, 6:30-8 PM
The meeting will take place in the third-floor classroom. We will start planning for Coffeehouse, Graduation (which is put on by the 7th Grade parents) and let you know what's coming up for 8th Grade Project.
• Fri., 12/17 - 6-7-8 Dance!: A production of HCCPS Student Council and the dance committees now forming, we invite HCCPS students in grades 6-8 to get their best moves on from 8-11 PM. A snack or drink to share is your admission ticket!
• We need tissues! Cold season is upon us and we need nice tissues for sore noses. If every Prism family donated one box of tissues, that would almost certainly get us through the worst of tissue season.

Math:

• Due Th., 12/2:
  • All: Update supplies as necessary. To be checked in Th. 12/2:
    • calculator
    • small stapler
    • glue stick
  • Grade 7: #8 on p. 57-58
  • 7A: #13 on p. 29
  • Grade 8: #28 on p. 51 using the symbolic method we discussed in class (refer to your notes).

Language Arts:

• Nada

Social Studies:

• Nada

Science:

• Test Fri., 12/3: This test will cover our study of river ecology.
• Due Fri., 12/3: Final version of cover for your science notes featuring an image from some part of our River Ecology study, colored with colored pencil. The cover must also include the title "The Ecosystem of our River"

Spanish:

• Grade 8:
  • Prueba jueves, 12/3(Test Th., 12/3): Prueba sobre los conjugaciones de los verbos regulares. (Quiz on conjugations of regular verbs)
• Grade 7: Nada

Moment of Zen:

Enough Rockets

Always thinking of new and interesting ways to view the world, the folks at National Geographic made the map of the US based on translations of place names from their origins in Native American languages. While not exhaustive, they picked some remarkable ones. Guess which place's name means, "It makes a loud noise over there all the time," which means, "A good place to dig potatoes," and where "Gnat Town" is. Click the picture above to go to NG's interactive version of the map, where you can magnify different areas to read the fine print. Click here to read about the process of translating these names through their many origins to their current form.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

General Announcements:

• If you ever notice something missing or wrong on the blog, comment to let me know about it - I don't always have the whole picture. -Grace
• Friday PE: For the next few weeks, PE on Friday afternoons will be tied into our study of Hinduism by yoga practice with John. Bring a mat if you have one and loose clothes.
• We need tissues! Cold season is upon us and we need nice tissues for sore noses. If every Prism family donated one box of tissues, that would almost certainly get us through the worst of tissue season.

Math:

• Due Wed., 12/1:
  • Grade 7: #2 on p. 55
  • Grade 8: #27b on p. 50
    • In the table for each of the equations, use the x-values:
      -1, 0, +1.
    • Make tables on lined paper.
    • Use a ruler to make tables & draw straight lines.
    • Show all calculations

Language Arts:

• All:
  Due Wed., 12/1: The homestudy needed for Tech - due to Jane by 8:30 am.

Social Studies:

• Due Wed., 12/1: 3¶ write-up about your god/goddess, following structure on project sheet.

Science:

• Test Fri., 12/3: This test will cover our study of river ecology.
• Due Fri., 12/3: Final version of cover for your science notes featuring an image from some part of our River Ecology study, colored with colored pencil. The cover must also include the title "The Ecosystem of our River"

Spanish:

• Nada

Moment of Zen:

Rocket Week Continues

While the US Government documented its nuclear experiments in excruciating detail, most of those images are still highly classified. German newspaper Der Spiegel recently ran a story about some of the military photographers who worked on this during its heyday in the mid-late 20th century, including a slideshow of some of those images that have been released. Images of the blasts themselves, like the one above, were shot on special XR (extended range) redscale film, which makes them look like something surreal.

Monday, November 29, 2010

General Announcements:

• If you ever notice something missing or wrong on the blog, comment to let me know about it - I don't always have the whole picture. -Grace
• Friday PE: For the next few weeks, PE will be tied into our study of Hinduism by yoga practice with John. Bring loose clothes and a mat if you have one.
• We need tissues! Cold season is upon us and we need nice tissues for sore noses. If every Prism family donated one box of tissues, that would almost certainly get us through the worst of tissue season.

Math:

• Due Tues., 11/30:
  • Grade 7: #1 on p. 54
  • Grade 8: #27a on p. 50
    • Each table of x-values for each equation should have -2, 0, +2.
    • Make tables on lined paper.
    • Use a ruler to make tables & draw straight lines.
    • Show all calculations

Language Arts:

• All:
  Due Tues., 11/30: Complete a quality sketch of the essay visual to be produced in Tech classes. Use the essay info in your LA journal but make the sketch on separate 8½ by 11 plain, white paper.
  Bring to pm class with Jane.
• Grade 8 Only:
  Due Tues., 11/30: In LA Journal, write at least 3 topics you are interested in researching for your 8th grade project. They are to build on a connection to the Prism curriculum this or last year (see "Possible Curricular Touchstones for 8th Grade Project" for some ideas from LA and Math).

Social Studies:

• Due Thurs., 11/30: Artistic representation of your Hindu god/goddess. See details on project sheet.
• Due Wed., 12/1: 3¶ write-up about your god/goddess.

Science:

• Due Tues., 11/30: Design a cover for your science notes featuring an image from some part of our River Ecology study, colored with colored pencil. The cover must also include the title "The Ecology of our River"

Spanish:

• Nada

Moment of Zen:

The Russian Space Program still rents its land from Kazakhstan, near a town the USSR built for the purpose and named Baikonur (Kaz. "rich with light"), and fires off its rockets about as far inland as you can get. While most of the USA's space program cast-offs splash down in the water, Russia's land out in the desolate scrub of the steppe, which better resembles the expanses of Nevada where the US performed its nuclear tests in the mid to late 20th century (incidentally, Kazakhstan was the major proving ground for the USSR's nuclear program as well). There, they are quickly harvested for their titanium-rich scrap metal. Click the picture to see more photos of space junk harvesting.