Thursday 1/28/2010

7th & 8th Grade General Science: Today in science students completed a third lab relating to magnetism and magnetic fields. This lab focused on students discovering different materials that "shield" the magnetic field of a magnet.
Homework: Finish lab questions if they were not completed in the class time given

7th Grade Math:
Students spent the class period working on their choice of one of three practice/review activities for the Chapter test tomorrow.
Homework: Chapter 4 test will be tomorrow.

8th Grade Math: In math students completed an activity to check the prices of the stocks they "purchased" earlier this month. Students calculated the profits or losses that they have had over this period. During the second half of class students spent time studying and adding to their notes for the chapter 4 test. Due to a number of students who are missing school Friday, the test has been rescheduled for Monday of next week. Students will continue review activities for the test in tomorrow's class period.
Homework:

• Review #2 is due Monday of next week
  
• Chapter 4 test will be Monday of next week.

Wednesday January 27th

Wednesday January 27th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students continued working with magnets and magnetic fields. Students were to learn that by increasing the distance from the magnets pole, the magnets magnetic field decreases. Today's activity had students working together to determine the strength of the magnet their group was working with. They did this by connecting individual paper clips to the magnet until the group of paper clips became too heavy for the magnet to continue to hold. Then students layered tape incrementally on the magnet and continued with the same procedural steps. Students filled in a worksheet, answered questions related to the activity and graphed their results in class.
Homework: None, unless students did not finish the worksheet in class.

7th Grade Math: Today students began class with their flashmasters, before moving on to grading their homework from section 4.7 as a class. Students then began working on the chapter 4 test in the book in order to help guide them on the areas they should focus their studying for the actual test on Friday.
Homework: Chapter 4 test will be Friday of this week.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders were reminded of scientific notation and negative exponents, before going into an online activity with Mr. Kovach. This activity helped students understand the importance of using scientific notation when dealing with numbers of extreme magnitudes, in this instance space exploration.
Homework: Chapter 4 test will be Friday of this week.

Tuesday January 26th

Tuesday January 26th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students shifted gears and we began a new unit on magnetism and electricity. After a brief introduction to the idea of forces in nature, and a quick powerpoint describing these forces, students were introduced to the days activity. Students were given two bar magnets and a small amount of iron filings and a worksheet. Students were instructed to conduct the experiment and answer some questions involving some critical thought as to what they expected to happen with multiple magnetic fields.
Homework: None, unless students did not finish the worksheet questions in class. Those questions will be due first thing tomorrow (Wednesday).

7th Grade Math: Today students began class with some problems to practice their skills involving converting fractions to decimals and vice versa. Students then spent the rest of the hour completing the section 4.7 worksheet in class.
Homework: Section 4.7 practice worksheet is due tomorrow. Review Homework #1 due Wednesday. Chapter 4 test will be either Thursday or Friday of this week.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders began beginning the review process for the test later this week. Students were instructed to organize or prepare notes for sections 4.1 and 4.2. Tomorrow the students will focus their review activities on sections 4.3 - 4.5. Students then took a small table group quiz on sections 4.1 and 4.2. Finally, students were introduced and did some practice problems from section 4.7 and scientific notation, more specifically, negative exponents.
Homework: Review Homework #1 is due Wednesday. Chapter 4 test will be later this week.

Monday January 25th

Monday January 25th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students picked up where they left off last Wednesday, and continued working with ionic bonds. Students quickly reviewed how to write formulas for compounds formed during the activity last week, and they spent the first twenty to twenty five minutes of class today finishing the Bonding with a Classmate worksheet, and they turned in the finished product by the end of class. Students were then given a reading from the text on ionic bonding, and were asked to read the section and answer the section review questions at the end.
Homework: None, unless students did not finish the section review questions in class. Those questions will be due first thing tomorrow (Tuesday).

7th Grade Math: Today students began with a pop quiz covering the conversion of mixed numbers to improper fractions and vise versa. Students were then introduced to section 4.7, Fractions and decimals. After a bit of instruction and a few examples, students were asked to convert two problems at their desk and Mr. Olsen came around and checked for progress.
Homework: Review Homework #1 due Wednesday. Chapter 4 test will be either Thursday or Friday of this week.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders began class with a quick flashmasters activity. Next, students were asked to complete a reflection on the beginning of a new quarter, by answering four questions posed to them. Students quickly reviewed section 4.6, before doing a couple of example problems that will help lead us into section 4.7 tomorrow.
Homework: Review Homework #1 is due Wednesday. Chapter 4 test will be later this week.

Wednesday January 20th

Wednesday January 20th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students were introduced to the concept of chemical bonding. Students were given an element with an oxidation number on the tag, either positive or negative, and students were instructed to find the opposite of their sign in order to form a compound. Students were given a worksheet to fill in during the class activity, and after forming a list of compounds, students went back to their seats and figured out the formulas for each compound they formed during the activity. We will revisit this activity next Monday.
Homework: None

7th Grade Math: Today students began class with their FlashMasters. Afterwards, students were introduced to section 4.6 in the book dealing with mixed numbers and improper fractions, and how to convert between the two. After a bit of instruction, students were set free to complete the section 4.6 worksheet with the remaining class time.
Homework: None, unless they did not finish the section 4.6 worksheet in class. It is due on Monday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders began class with a quick flashmasters activity. Next, students were given about 12 minutes to finish up the section 4.5 worksheet from yesterday, before being introduced to section 4.6, Negative and zero exponents. After a bit of instruction, and a few examples, students were set free to complete the sectio 4.6 worksheet in class to avoid any homework over the weekend. See you up on the hill the next two days!!
Homework: None, unless they did not finish the section 4.6 worksheet in class. It is due on Monday.

Tuesday January 19th

Tuesday January 19th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students worked on another periodic table activity. In this activity students were handed a worksheet that had some puns, or play on words, descriptors that students then had to determine the best element to connect with the pun.
Homework: Finish the pun worksheet if not finished in class.

7th Grade Math: Today students began class with their FlashMasters. Students were then reminded of ways to find the LCD, and given time to finish section 4.5 worksheet in class. If they did not finish the worksheet in class, it is homework.
Homework: None

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders were given the first ten minutes of class to finish up writing their quizzes, before actually taking a 45 point quiz as a class. After the quiz, we dove back into the book and began talking about section 4.5 and the rules of exponents.
Homework: None.

Thursday January 14th

Thursday January 14th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students learned about phases of matter and energy transfer by engaging in an activity that involved making ice cream. After a few minutes of being introduced to the activity and having a group discussion, students were asked to mix their ingredients and produce their own baggie of ice cream!
Homework: None.

7th Grade Math: Today students were taken to the library to engage in MAPs assessment testing.
Homework: Review Homework #4 is due Friday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders finished up an activity that involved the students creating their own quiz on the material covered in chapter 4. They also created their own answer key related to the quiz they produced. On Friday, students will take each others quizzes.
Homework: Review Homework #11 is due Friday.

Tuesday January 12th

Tuesday January 12th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students spent the class period finishing up their advertisement for the "Selling an Element" project.
Homework: Finish their advertisement if they did not finish in class, as it is due first thing Wednesday morning.

7th Grade Math: Today students began class correcting the section 4.3 worksheet as a class, before being introduced to section 4.4 and the Least Common Multiple. After a few examples on the board, and the students trying a problem at their desks, they were handed the section 4.4 worksheet and were told to finish the even problems front and back for tomorrow.
Homework: Section 4.4 practice worksheet is due on Wednesday (evens only). Review Homework #3 is due Wednesday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders reviewed section 4.4 and the Least Common Multiples, before being handed the worksheet for section 4.4 and had the class period to finish the worksheet.
Homework: Review Homework # 10 is due Wednesday.

Monday January 11th

Monday January 11th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students finished up their rough drafts of their "Selling an Element" advertisements. Students were to have their rough drafts checked off by Mr. Kovach or Mr. Olsen before leaving class, as the final product will be due at the end of class Tuesday.
Homework: None

7th Grade Math: Today students began class using their flashmasters, before transitioning back into section 4.3 and working on their skills relating to equivalent fractions.
Homework: Section 4.3 practice worksheet is due on Tuesday. Review Homework #3 is due Wednesday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders graded section 4.3, before being introduced to section 4.4 and the Least Common Multiples.
Homework: Review Homework # 10 is due Wednesday.

Friday January 8th

Friday January 8th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students began the planning process for their rough draft of the advertisement that will be due at the end of class on Tuesday. Students were to have Mr. Kovach or Mr. Olsen sign off on their rough draft at the end of class today.
Homework: None

7th Grade Math: Today students began class with a quiz, before reviewing section 4.3, doing a few examples together, and began working on section 4.3 practice worksheet.
Homework: Section 4.3 practice worksheet is due in class on Monday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders reviewed section 4.3 in the textbook and spent the rest of class completing the section 4.3 worksheet.
Homework: Section 4.3 worksheet is due first thing Monday if students did not finish in class, it is homework!

Thursday January 7th

Thursday January 7th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students continued working on researching their assigned element from the periodic table, and should be nearing the next step of developing a plan and putting together a rough draft of what their ad will look like and what will be included within the ad.
Homework: None

7th Grade Math: Today students reviewed section 4.2 and finished up the worksheet in class. Students were than introduced to section 4.3 and equivalent fractions.
Homework: Review homework #2 is due Friday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders continued their work in the Life Math unit. Students learned how to research companies on the stock market and completed a worksheet in the process, and started choosing stocks to invest in themselves. After twenty minutes of class time, students shifted gears and began working on section 4.3 in the text book, Equivalent Fractions.
Homework: Review Homework #9 is due Friday. Students should also finish their worksheet on their initial stock investments.

Wednesday January 6th

Wednesday January 6th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students reviewed the components of an ad, before being handed the scoring guide the the project. Students were randomly assigned an element from the periodic table and they were to begin researching their particular element to fill out a study guide to help guide them in their quest to build an advertisement for their element.
Homework: None

7th Grade Math: Today students reviewed section 4.2 and began working on the 4.2 practice worksheet in class. Students are to have the front side of the worksheet done for class tomorrow.
Homework: Review homework #2 is due Friday; Front side of section 4.2 practice worksheet is due Thursday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders continued their work in the Life Math unit, and continued working with the stock market and the DOW Jones Industrial Average. Students learned how to research companies on the stock market and completed a worksheet in the process, and started choosing stocks to invest in themselves.
Homework: Review Homework #9 is due Friday.

Tuesday January 5th

Tuesday January 5th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students were introduced to the next activity which is entitled "Selling the Elements." Today, students were involved in a discussion about how advertisements are put together, and what they are trying to get across to the consumer. Students were handed a worksheet and asked to find an ad in a magazine and describe the target audience, whether the ad is targeting Ethos (ethics), Pathos (emotions), or Logos (logic). This assignment should have been completed in class, and if not, it is homework as it is due first thing Wednesday morning.
Homework: Finish up the What's in an Ad worksheet if not finished in class.

7th Grade Math: Today students finished up the section 4.1 worksheet in class and handed it in before they were introduced to section 4.2 and the Greatest Common Factor.
Homework: Review homework #1 is due Wednesday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders continued their work in the Life Math unit, and continued working with the stock market and the DOW Jones Industrial Average. Students learned how to research companies on the stock market and completed a worksheet in the process.
Homework: Review Homework #8 is due Wednesday.

Monday January 4th

Monday January 4th

7th & 8th Grade General Science: In science students continued working on their periodic table activity. Students should be finished by the end of class and if not, it is considered to be homework, as the activity is due first thing Tuesday morning.
Homework: Finish up the periodic table activity tonight if students did not finish in class.

7th Grade Math: Today students were introduced to chapter 4.1 and prime factorization. After some in class instruction, students were given a worksheet to practice their skills.
Homework: Review homework #1 is due Wednesday.

8th Grade Math: Today 8th graders continued their work in the Life Math unit, and were introduced to the stock market and the DOW Jones Industrial Average. Students worked on a worksheet that dealt with trends over time associated with the stock market.
Homework: Review Homework #8 is due Wednesday.