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.