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.