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.