What’s Up for the Week of February 28 to March 4, 2011

Agenda Book Update:

1. All 4 classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

2. High school registration process begins this week. 8th graders tour the high school on Thursday, March 3.

3. Weekly spelling test and Word Study Sheet #16 due on Friday, March 4. Remember, the spelling test must done at home this week; we will not be doing the test in basecamp on Friday; everything is due to your basecamp teacher on Friday at the beginning of class.

4. Make sure your reading list is up-to-date; you will be completing a first/second semester reading evaluation soon.

What we are doing today in class:

1. Page numbers for reading workshop.

2. Pass back and review graphic organizers on Egypt.

3. Add spelling words from graphic organizer to personal spelling list.

4. Read comments left on the organizer and the comments on Power School for this assignment.

5. Update on unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. What going on in Libya?

What’s Up for Today, Wed. or Thur., Feb. 16 or 17, 2011

Here’s what’s up today:

1. I’ll be taking page numbers today and be ready to share with me what you’ll be reading over vacation; you are responsible for 260 pages by the time we get back after vacation.

2. Each group needs to finish and share your graphic organizer created on Google Docs with me.

3. Your graphic organizer notes will be collected at the end of class.

4. You need to complete learning log #3 and share it with me. Here’s the prompt:

Summarize what you learned about Egypt since we began following this story two weeks ago. Your summary should be written using Times New Roman and 12 point font. Proofread your response out loud in your head for GUMS. Your entry should be a minimum of 12 sentences. If questions makes more sense and help you to dig deeper, here are some to think about:

What did you learn about Egypt from all the sites you read, viewed, and studied? What surprised you why? How did your background knowledge about world affairs change after keeping track of a breaking news story over the past two weeks? How important was this event in your opinion? What similiarities did the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt share in common?

5. When you are finished with the above, read your book or read today’s New York Times.

We will continue to follow the story in Egypt and the protest that has spread to other nearby countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Be ready for a test on all of this after vacation.

What’s Up Today in Class for February 15, 2011

Continue working on what we went over on Monday in your group.

Take your notes on the handout and not on Google Docs. This may be a change for some groups. You may get a copy of the graphic organizer handout on Monday’s post.

After you view all the links we went over yesterday, taken notes, discussed the information, and viewed each video link at least three times, go to this new link below and do the same thing. Takes notes on the back of the graphic organizer or take notes on a clean sheet of paper and attach it to the graphic organizer. Here’s the link:

The New York Times: Spreading Revolution

View, read, discuss, and take notes. Dig deeper, ask questions of each other, and further your understanding of what is happening in this part of the world.

What’s Up For the Week of February 14-18, 2011

Happy Valentine’s Day. That sure was a short weekend.

Here’s what’s up for this week:

•All 4 classes Monday and on Tuesday this week.

•3-block rotation on Wednesday and Thursday.

•After UA classes on Tuesday, report to basecamp for the New England League of Mathematics Contest test. All middle school students take the test. We begin regular classes after lunch.

•Page numbers on Wednesday or Thursday this week. Make sure you have a book for vacation reading next week. You will be responsible for having read 260 pages when you check in with me on the first day back from vacation.

•Weekly Word Study Sheet and Spelling Test #15 on Friday, Feb. 18.

This week we will focus on making sense about what happened for the past 18 days in Egypt.

Today you will be begin working on a graphic organizer in your table group in Google Docs. Take notes on the graphic organizer handout.  Here’s a link to a copy of it:

Handout—Graphic Organizer: Egypt

We will also look back at the presentations you made last week and evaluate them together—lots of room for improvement.

Here’s the link to the Web site we will begin using today:

The Choices Program: Egypt’s Uprising