8th Grade Parent Newsletter

October 5, 2009

 

 

 

8th Grade Parents,

 

Good morning.  We hope you had a nice weekend.  We have a very busy week ahead!  Here’s some information on what’s happening in Block:

 

In language arts, students have been working on essay-writing.  Students learned about the 6+1 Traits of Writing, a system of evaluating writing based on these characteristics: ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, conventions, and presentation.  Last week they revised their summer essay or wrote a new one.  Students also wrote a reflection on their writing.  We’ll be reading this and providing feedback next week for students on their writing.  This week they will begin reading The 7 Habits of High Effective Teens by Sean Covey.  This will be our primary focus through most of October.

 

In literature, students continue to read Saturnalia.  It corresponds with the colonial unit in social studies.  We really enjoy the wit and layered characters of this story.  Students are keeping notes on the characters and plot in their notebook.  This is a short but complex novel; therefore we’re taking it slowly and reading a lot in class.  We encourage students not to read ahead. 

 

In social studies, students are currently studying colonial America.  They’ve studied the early settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth, and they should be able to list the 13 original colonies by region: New England, middle, and south.  This week they’ll be working on a small project that compares each colonial region in a table.  This assignment is also part of their technology class with Ms. Byrne.  Next week students will look more at colonial culture and government. 

 

Miscellaneous announcements and reminders:

  • Thanks to everyone for their gift wrap orders!  The school is only about halfway to our goal, so please keep on selling for the final tally day, which is this Wednesday.
  • We will finish ITBS this week.  Students who have been absent need to schedule times to make up missed tests.
  • 10/6: Bishop Blanchet High School visit to ASB
  • 10/7: Picture Day and School Mass (nice free dress OK)
    1. If you haven’t sent in your picture order form, please do so by Wednesday.
  • 10/9: No School (in-service)
  • 10/12: Noon Dismissal
  • 10/16: Midterm
  • 10/23: Progress Reports
  • Coming Soon: This year we will be asking 8th graders to sign up to bring in food for Northwest Harvest.  We’d like to send a bag or two with the 6th graders when they go each Tuesday.  We’ll be putting together a schedule soon.

 

Have a great week!

 

 

Abby Drake and Mike Szott