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.

Week 5

October 2nd - 6th

DC Fundraising 

Payment checks payable to Bayside Middle School. Pick up will be Thursday, October 12, 2017, from 2:45-5:30 in cafeteria.

All credits from Butterbraids, car wash, cookie dough and donations will be made to NationsClassroom by Oct. 12. Ms. Knippen will be sending individual emails to families with the breakdown of the credit made to the accounts.

Math

Ms. Knippen

jknippen@foxbay.org

We will have our Ch. 1 tests this week. In 1st and 8th hours, it will be on Wednesday and 3rd and 7th will have their test Friday, with a quiz this Wednesday. 
Hours 1 and 8-Ch. 2 will begin on Tuesday. It is a unit on linear equations.
Hours 3 and 7 will start work on triangles and angles next (Ch. 3)

English

Mr. Heimerl

zheimerl@foxbay.org

This week we will continue our exploration of the free modifier, specifically taking a look at the appositive phrase. Students will have an "Appositive Poem" due next week Monday. Details are posted on the Google Classroom.

Beyond grammar, we will revisit the memoir and begin to explore elements of narrative structure, exploring character motivation and how that relates to conflict – the essential ingredient in any story, fiction or nonfiction.

Reading

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

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

Our short story unit is coming to a close this week. We will finish analyzing short stories with an enjoyable text, “Charles”, followed by a discussion regarding irony. The unit test will occur in class Tuesday through Thursday. Students will have to demonstrate their annotating skills along with higher-level thinking in their written responses.

There will not be any new vocabulary assigned this week.

Social Studies

Mr. Blahnik

bblahnik@foxbay.org

We have finished the Constitutional Convention and are now learning about the ratification process of the United States Constitution.  This week, students will be looking at the different Articles of the United States Constitution to understand the roles and responsibilities of the federal government and the three branches of government.  Students are reading the viewpoints of the Federalists and Antifederalists on ratification of the United States Constutition for Monday.  Students will then start preparing for the debate over the ratificaiton of the United States Constitution.  Students will be split into two groups.  One group will argue and present information for the ratification of the United States Constituiton from a Federalists point of view and other group will do the same from an Antifederalists point of view.  The goal is for students to be ready on Friday for the debate.