Week 16

January 2nd - 5th

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

Hours 1 and 8 – Algebra – We will start Ch. 5 on sequences. Students have already been introduced to arithmetic sequences. We will look at how they compare to geometric sequences. We will write formulas and display the formulas in graphic form.

Hours 3 and 7 – Math – We will continue to work with the Pythagorean Theorem. Most students are doing a great job and working hard in class. A calculator is essential and there are several kids that come to class without one. Can you please be sure your child has a calculator? (A scientific TI-30X is perfect.)

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org

When the students return from winter break, we'll be working on an investigation where the students will be exploring weather maps and using those to determine why "Tornado Alley" exists. Then we'll have a short reading on greenhouses and the greenhouse effect before beginning our next engineering activity. In this activity, the students will be using their knowledge of heat transfer and the greenhouse effect to design greenhouses that capture the most amount of heat from the sun. Be watching for a post from your child on Seesaw at the end of this project. You'll be able to view their designs and reflections on the engineering process.

English

Mr. Heimerl

zheimerl@foxbay.org

Once we return from break, students will begin right where we left off – analyzing their independent dystopian novel. Some students are taking advantage of the time during break to reread their novel. This will be very helpful; however, it is not mandatory. What they WILL need to do, however, is get a copy of their independent novel if they don't have currently one.

Once classes resume, we will hit the ground running, working toward the literary analysis essay. After exploring thematic concepts within their independent novels in their writing journals, they will pin down a theme that they would like to explore. With a specific theme in mind, students will then return to their independent novels and begin looking for specifics from the text that could support the theme they have decided to write about.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

Welcome back from break! Hopefully everyone enjoyed their time off.

This week begins our Civil War literature circle studies. The students will read and work independently each week to prepare for their weekly group discussion. It is important that students take on each ‘task’ based on their perspective, and hold higher-level conversations in the same fashion.

It is very important that your child find balance with his/her independent reading and the class novel. Your child should be done reading his/her first book by now (due 12/22). The second book, nonfiction, is due on 1/26, and the third book, choice, is due on 2/23. A final project/presentation will be done at the end of the trimester.

Greek and Latin vocabulary will resume the week of January 8.

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

We will be starting a new unit on Americans in the Mid 1800s. The first chapter of this unit about major reforms that are happening in America at this time period.  We will be examining to what extent the reform movements improved the lives of Americans in the mid-1800s which can be found in Chapter 17 of the textbook.  In this unit, we will also examine the different worlds of the North and the South which is chapter 18  and we will learn about how African Americans faced slavery and discrimination in the mid-1800s which chapter 19 of the textbook.  After this unit, we will be examining the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Week 15

December 4th - 8th

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

Hours 3 and 7 – 8th grade math – We are studying a unit on Pythagorean Theorem! The unit develops beyond what is in the book. Students will need to take notes to refer to when completing worksheets and for studying for assessments. It is imperative that students have a calculator for this unit!

Hours 1 and 8 – Honors Algebra – We will finish our unit on systems of equations this week. We will then do a bit of Mathcounts and then after break we will begin Ch. 5, Sequences. And after Ch. 5, students will be taking the  Nicolet first semester exam. Students will be given a review packet and I will highlight our semester with students in class. They will then be on their own to review and ask questions.

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org

This week in science the students will learn about convection (hot liquids and gases rise and cool ones sink). This process drives the movement of air and water around the planet creating weather. This connects to the things they see on weather forecasts every day: high and low pressure systems, warm and cold fronts, patterns of precipitation. As we do the reading the kids will view some demonstrations, and apply what they've learned to different weather maps.

Hopefully we will get to do a Socratic Seminar by the end of the week. And then it's off to Winter Break!

English

Mr. Heimerl

zheimerl@foxbay.org

This week in English, we will finish up our mini-unit for on-demand writing, culminating in the writing assessment that will be used to determine placement for their English classes at Nicolet High School. This assessment will occur during normal class time on Tuesday.

After completing the on-demand writing mini-unit, we will return to our literary analysis unit in which we will continue to analyze dystopian literature for theme. To reenter the subject, we will revisit the dystopian short story “Just Do It” and will begin long-form journals it which students will engage in exploratory writing relative to the themes presented in the story. After that, students will begin to do the same with their independent novels.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

This is our final week analyzing our class novel, Fever. The students will continue holding higher-level discussions as a whole class and in small groups in order to best prepare for the final assessment on Wednesday.

It is very important that your child find balance with his/her independent reading and the class novel. All students should be well into their first book (historical fiction) by now. Journaling continues in class each Friday. “Due dates” were provided in order to help the students balance their reading time throughout the trimester. A final project for these three books will be due at the end of the trimester.

Greek and Latin vocabulary continues! Per the usual, contextually rich sentences are due Wednesday followed by a quiz Friday.

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

Students are completing their study guides for chapters 15 and 16 and will have their Unit 3 test on Thursday which is about the expanding west in the early to mid 1800s. On Friday, we will work on some map skills and will review some major concepts that we have learned so far in US History class. When we return from break, we will start our new unit which is on Americans in the mid-1800s.

Week 14

December 11th - 15th

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

Hours 1 and 8 – We are working in Ch. 4, Systems of Equations. We will use graphing calculators to determine the point of intersection and then different methods for solving the equations.

Hours 3 and 7 – We are wrapping up our unit on slope. We are reviewing Monday, the 11th, and then having our quiz and test.

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org

We'll begin a lab this week on how the angle of light affects heating. Towards the end of the week we'll begin the next section of reading which discusses weather topics such as how heat is transferred in the geosphere, how air moves, air masses and fronts, and high and low pressure systems.

English

Mr. Heimerl

zheimerl@foxbay.org

This week, we will take a hiatus from the dystopia literary analysis unit and focus on on-demand writing to prepare for the Nicolet writing assessment that will determine their placement in 9th grade English.

In particular, we will focus on how to move through the on-demand writing process – how to formulate an argumentative claim, how to find/think of evidence to support that claim, how to provide sufficient reasoning of the evidence, and how to organize it and provide effective transitions.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

We continue to analyze our class novel, Fever. Our focus for this novel is to analyze how individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. Students are analyzing how the main character gains new strengths through new experiences and handles the yellow fever epidemic in 1793. Students are reflecting on their reading through considerate, in-depth discussion questions and class conversations. Quizzes every couple of days will continue up until the end of the book -- it is important that your child comes prepared with vocabulary sticky-notes.

It is very important that your child find balance with his/her independent reading and the class novel. All students should be well into their first book (historical fiction) by now. Journaling continues in class each Friday. “Due dates” were provided in order to help the students balance their reading time throughout the trimester. A final project for these three books will be due at the end of the trimester.

Greek and Latin vocabulary continues! Per the usual, contextually rich sentences are due Wednesday followed by a quiz Friday.

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

This week in US History we are starting Chapter 16 which is about Life in the West.  We will be examining the motives, hardships, and legacies of different groups that moved west in the 1800s.  Students finished presenting our Manifest Destiny Projects on Monday and the project debrief form is due on Tuesday.  Students will also be assigned a group that moved west at this time period and will have to make a presentation to the class on the motives, hardships, and legacies of the group they are assigned.  There will also be a Guidance Lesson for students on Wednesday in class that will be lead by the Guidance Counselor.  We will finish this unit next week and have an assessment.

Week 13

December 4th - 8th

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

8th grade math – Hours 3 and 7  – Our work on slope continues. We are calculating slope from graphic representations, ordered pairs, and situations. We have been writing y=mx+b equations and determining the y and x-intercepts and slope for given situations. Students were able to nicely tie in the work with did we translations (how far a coordinate is slide on the coordinate plane) to slope. It was an awesome connection.

Algebra – Hours 1 and 8 – We finished Ch. 3. Test is Tuesday. Monday we will go over the pattern sheet for Mathcounts. Wednesday we will begin Ch. 4, Systems of Equations.

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org

On Monday students will be completing the concluding section of their first engineering lab. We will also spend some time going over any questions on the review sheet prior to Tuesday's unit test. On Wednesday we'll begin our next unit Earth's Changing Climate. In this unit students will study weather patterns and principles of heat transfer. We begin our unit with some background reading followed by a Socratic Seminar.

English

Mr. Heimerl

zheimerl@foxbay.org

This week, we will continue to explore the dystopian genre to prepare for our literary analysis essay, this time focussing on the short story “Just Do It.” We will discuss the author’s craft and how it works to create the theme of the story.

Concurrent to the work on dystopia, we will continue to study relative clauses and subordinate clauses, exploring how they may be used to add extra details to sentences. There will be a quiz on Friday, December 8th.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

We have started our next class novel, Fever. Each week students will have a handful of assigned chapters followed by discussion questions to thoughtfully and thoroughly respond to. Students will have comprehension checks in the form of quizzes every few days. Our focus for this novel is to analyze how individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Students visited the library last Friday and learned the independent reading expectations for Trimester 2. They were also given time to check out their first book - “due dates” were provided in order to help the students balance their reading time. A final project for these three books will be due at the end of the trimester.

Greek and Latin vocabulary continues! Per the usual, contextually rich sentences are due Wednesday followed by a quiz Friday.

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

This week we started our new unit in United States History that is examining the expansion of the United States from the early 1800s to the early 1850s.  We are currently learning about Manifest Destiny and the Growing Nation.  The students are also starting a project on Manifest Destiny.  The students can choose either Louisiana Territory, Florida, Texas, Oregon Country, or the Mexican-American War to research and investigate its significance in American History.  The project is scheduled to be due on Friday. Details are included on the class’s Google Classroom page.

Week 11

November 13th - 17th

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

Math hours 1 and 8 – We are multiplying binomials and factoring quadratics (but only as a "puzzle" at this time). When we finish the last lesson in the second session there will be a quiz (Thursday perhaps). Mathcounts workout 3 will be collected Friday for a graded assignment.

Math hours 3 and 7 –Tessellation creations are due on Tuesday for a homework check grade. The tessellation was an application of our translation (slide) unit. We are working on two other transformations this week-rotations and reflections.

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org

This week the students will complete an investigation of the planets where they will explore the difference between mass and weight, examine the structure of the terrestrial planets and create a model of the solar system. We will have a concept check-in and begin the reading for the last part of the unit. Towards the end of the week we'll start on our first engineering lab where students will design a shield to protect a satellite from damage due to meteoroids. By the end of the week look for a review sheet for the end of the unit test to be posted on Google Classroom.

English

Mr. Heimerl 

zheimerl@foxbay.org

This week, we will continue our exploration of the dystopia genre, specifically focussing on the short story “Red Card.” It will be our goal to not only understand the story at a factual level, but to understand it at an analytical level. We will slowly walk through the thinking process involved in understanding a story’s theme. Moving beyond topics like “love” or “suffering” or “authoritarianism,” we will ask ourselves what the author says about love or suffering or authoritarianism. We will look to the motifs, repeated images and ideas, that occur throughout the story to get a deeper, more analytical level. This process will culminate in analytical writing that will be due after Thanksgiving break when we return for second trimester.

For grammar, we will continue to practice with and review the relative clause and the appositive phrase. There will be a quiz on Friday, 11/17.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

The Silenced comes to a close this week. After several weeks analyzing the text and discussion irony and foreshadowing throughout, the students are prepared for their final assessment. The unit test will take place in class on Wednesday, November 15 and Thursday, November 16. It will be in the form of a double-journal entry.

As noted before, it is very important that your child find balance with his/her independent reading and the class novel. All students should be well into their second book for the trimester by now. Journaling continues in class each Friday.

There is no Greek/Latin vocabulary this week!

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

This week in Social Studies we finished examining the Foreign Policies of the President's Washington through Monroe.  Students are currently presenting their Presidential biographies in class.  We also started Chapter 14 which is about President Andrew Jackson and the Growth of America.  This essential question for this chapter is How well did Andrew Jackson Promote Democracy?  We will then examine the different policies of President Jackson throughout this chapter and examine their impact.  Students will have a unit test on Tuesday, November 21st.  

Week 10

November 6th - 10th

Our fundraiser for the DC scholarship fund is November 10. Students have signed up in teams to participate in a dodgeball tournament. A very exciting event!! We are in need of baked goods for the bake sale that same afternoon. Please help us by making and packaging goods to be sold. Your items can be dropped off at school any time on Friday. Thank you!

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

Hours 3 and 7-We are studying transformations. We started with slides and an art project that uses slides. We will look at flips and turns as they relate to the coordinate plane.

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org

After studying the Earth-moon-sun system last week, the students will now read about the other planets in solar system. While reading they will be practicing the reading strategies of selective highlighting and magnet summaries. Ms. James is coming in on Wednesday to do a guidance lesson. In the last part of the week, the students will do a lab investigation where they will see that the mass of different planets affects the gravitational pull and therefore the weight of objects. They will also compare the surface features of the terrestrial planets and create a graph illustrating the comparative structure of the internal layers of those planets. I will be out for the week first presenting at a conference in Boston and then attending the National Science Teachers conference here in Milwaukee. I look forward to returning to the classroom the following week.

English

Mr. Heimerl 

zheimerl@foxbay.org

This week, we will begin discussing dystopia, in preparation for our next major unit – literary analysis. To do so, we will look at many examples, both in writing and in video, and discuss what makes dystopia the genre it is. Moreover, we will begin to explore CER, an acronym that stands for Claim, Evidence, Reasoning – the three major skills we will develop as we analyze the literature we read. To start, we will focus on evidence, exploring how to choose good evidence and how to sufficiently contextualize it for our readers.

Beyond lit analysis, we will continue our study of the relative clause. There will be a grammar quiz on the relative clause and the absolute phrase next week, Friday, 11/27.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

This week, we will discuss chapters 44-56 in the novel, The Silenced. The students continue analyzing this novel at a deeper level through the literary elements irony and foreshadowing. Many outstanding conversations have been had as the suspense continues to develop! This class text will come a close soon; the final assessment is scheduled for Wednesday, November 15 and Thursday, November 16.

As noted before, it is very important that your child find balance with his/her independent reading and the class novel. Students should be reading their third and final book by now while having written their seventh journal entry last week. All journal entries are to be written in the double-journal entry format.

This week’s vocabulary root word is -fer...meaning “to carry”, “to bear”, “to bring together”. Contextually rich sentences, with proper grammar and mechanics, are due Wednesday; the quiz follows on Friday.

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

We are finishing up the Chapter on Foreign Affairs of our Young Nation.  We have learned about the Foreign Affair policies, dilemmas, and responses to Foreign Affairs events of President Washington and President Adams.  Next week, we will be studying the Foreign Affairs events of President Jefferson, President Madison, and President Monroe.  The Students are also finishing up their project where they selected a Foreign Policy Affair and event that a President experienced at this time period.  The students are providing a summary of the event and then creating a question that they have about the event that they want to further explore.  From this research, they are developing a claim that is supported by Evidence and Reasoning.  They are presenting on Tuesday.  The next Chapter we will study is on A Growing Sense of Nationhood that is developing in the United States at this time period.

Week 9

October 30th - November 3rd

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

Math 1 and 8-Test will be on Tuesday. Students know to finish Closure and to use the parent guide (link can be found on Google Classroom) to review. Monday I'll go over any questions they may have and then move on to Ch. 3. We'll go over the answers to the Mathcounts sheet on Tuesday.

Math 3 and 7-Test will be on Tuesday. Students should do page 136, the practice test, to review for the test. Monday, I'll go over any questions they may have and then move on to Ch. 2 on transformations.

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org

 Monday we will have a Socratic Seminar on the Earth-Sun-Moon system. Tuesday and Wednesday the students will be preparing a visual model of this system and analyzing that model to describe the role of gravity in the position and motion of Earth and the moon relative to the sun. They will also use this model to explain moon phases and eclipses. This activity will be followed by a concept check-in so students can evaluate how much of the material they understand. At the end of the week, we will begin the second section of reading in our text which covers the other planets in the solar system. 

English

Mr. Heimerl 

zheimerl@foxbay.org

After finishing up the memoir, we will be moving on to our next unit – literary analysis. Specifically, we will be analyzing dystopian literature, so this week will primarily focus on (re-)familiarizing  ourselves with the genre and practicing with shorter texts and videos before diving into the next essay.

 Beyond literary analysis, we will continue our grammar studies by returning to the appositive phrase and beginning to look at the relative clause. A grammar quiz is tentatively scheduled for this Friday, 11/03.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

 The Silenced continues to be analyzed at great levels, focusing on irony and foreshadowing. The students are holding solid discussions as they also look at how character development and imagery play a role with the plot of a story.

 As noted before, it is very important that your child find balance with his/her independent reading and the class novel. All students should be onto their second book for the trimester by now. Journaling continues in class each Friday.

 This week’s vocabulary root word is -ono, -nym, -onym...meaning “word” or “name”. Contextually rich sentences, with proper grammar and mechanics, are due Wednesday; the quiz follows on Friday.

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

US History: We are starting Ch. 12 Foreign Affairs in the Young Nation on Monday.  We will be examining the Foreign Policy of President Washington, President Adams, President Jefferson, President Madison, and President Monroe.  We will also be going in depth on the War of 1812 and looking at the results of that war. Students will be starting a project on the war of 1812 next week.

Week 7

October 16th - 20th

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org
We've just started our Polymer Bounce Lab where students will make a polymer and study how changing the proportion of reactants influences the bounciness of the resulting material. I've been very impressed by how quickly the students are becoming independent learners during lab. Towards the end of the week we will have our final concept check (test) for the unit. Look for a study guide to be posted on Google Classroom by Monday

English

Mr. Heimerl

zheimerl@foxbay.org

This week, we will continue working with the memoir. Students should have the bulk of their stories finished by class on Monday. We will work on how to bring the memoir to a resolution and how to incorporate a theme, or a "Big 'T' Truth," as we're calling it. 

I will be checking for a full rough draft (complete with an opening, body, and resolution) on Wednesday, October 18th.

From there, we will move into the editing phase and work on incorporating sensory imagery, dialogue, and some specific grammatical constructions. 

The final draft will be due next Friday, October 27th.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

We are off to a great start reading James DeVito’s novel, The Silenced! The students continue analyzing this novel at a deeper level through the literary elements irony and foreshadowing. Many outstanding conversations have been had as the suspense is already developing!

As noted before, it is very important that your child find balance with his/her independent reading and the class novel. All students should be onto their second book for the trimester by now. Journaling continues in class each Friday.

This week’s vocabulary root word is -log...meaning “word”, “idea”, “reason”. Contextually rich sentences, with proper grammar and mechanics, are due Wednesday; the quiz follows on Friday.

Week 6

October 9th - 13th

General News

DC Fundraising-Cookie Dough Pick UP!!!

Thursday, October 12, from 3:00-5:30PM, in cafeteria

Payments are due in full at pick up.

Ms. Knippen will send out emails to families with the breakdown of the credit amount being sent to NationsClassroom from Butterbraids, car wash, cookie dough and donations.

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

Hours 3 and 7-We will be moving on to Ch. 3-angle measures. Students will need to know vocabulary terms for this unit. There will be a quiz on the terms as well as needing to know them to follow directions.

Hours 1 and 8-We are working in Ch. 2-this is a unit on writing equations and slope. We will be using graphs, tables, equations and situations to represent given problems.
Mathcounts continues. Students have Workout 7 to complete for next week.

Science

Ms. Waller

twaller@foxbay.org

On Monday students will be completing a chemical reactions investigation where they will look for evidence of a reaction, determine if the reaction is endothermic or exothermic and apply the law of conservation of matter. We will then begin preparations for our next lab in which students will make a polymer and adjust the proportion of reactants to test which results in a more elastic bouncy ball.

After we complete each section of reading, do our Socratic seminar and participate in a lab, I will give students a concept check-in (like an ungraded quiz) so they can get some feedback about how well they can apply the concepts from that section. I will use those results to individually assign review and practice activities. Although they will not count towards the grade, I will be posting these scores on the Infinite Campus portal so that you can check on your child's progress and encourage that extra review and practice when necessary.

English

Mr. Heimerl

zheimerl@foxbay.org

This week we will continue our exploration of the free modifier, continuing to practice with the appositive phrase and introducing the absolute phrase.

We will also continue exploring the memoir, specifically looking into how to start the memoir with an effective opening. Beyond the opening, we will also explore how to create a vivid setting with sensory imagery and how to use characterization to build conflict that pushes the plot forward.

Reading

Ms. Brinnington, Ms. Traska, Ms. Hiir, Ms. Allen

dbrinnington@foxbay.org, straska@foxbay.org, ghiir@foxbay.org, jallen@foxbay.org

This week we begin our first class novel, The Silenced. This dystopian novel, written by James DeVita, tends to be an 8th grade favorite - it touches upon the true story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. Students will begin discussing the importance of identity, differences, and the courage to speak one’s truth.

Since our class novel has begun, it is extremely important that your child finds balance with his/her independent reading. As a reminder, each student is to read three books this trimester: a memoir, a dystopian novel, and a book of choice.

This week’s vocabulary root word is -sed, -sid, -sess...meaning “to sit/settle”. Contextually rich sentences, with proper grammar and mechanics, are due Wednesday; the quiz follows on Friday.

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

This past week, students examined the Bill of Rights that were amended to the US Constitution.  Students interpreted each of the Ten Amendments into their own words and decided if it was an individual freedom, protection against government abuse and power, and/or rights of people accused of crimes.  Students then continued to work on their Federalist and Antifederalist debates in class.  Students are finding primary and secondary sources to defend their stances on whether or not the US Constitution should be ratified.  The debate will be on Tuesday, October 10.  On Friday, October 13th Students will have a test on the Constitution Unit.  We will then begin our next unit on Launching the New Republic which will examine the Political Developments, Foreign Affairs, Growing Sense of Nationhood, and Andrew Jackson in the United States from 1789-1839.