Academics

Welcome Back!

I have listed some of the things I plan to accomplish during the month of September.

Student Council – Campaigning and elections will take place during September 7 – 10, with installation of officers on Friday, September 17.

Math help is available on Thursday afternoons, from 3:00 – 3:45. Students may come in for extra help on their math homework.

6th Grade English – We will cover units 1 through 5 in spelling. We normally cover a unit a week with the test being on Friday. A pretest is given on Monday, and students spelling all words correctly will only be tested on the challenge words. In English, we will cover Unit 1, Sentences. The units are quite long so I will be giving two tests per unit.

6th Grade Reading – We are beginning the book, Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan. There will be vocabulary words and a number of activities throughout the book. This story begins in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and progresses to southern California. Most of the story takes place in the 1930s. Due to unforeseen circumstances, a young girl and her family immigrate into the United States and encounter a very different way of living.

5th Grade Math – Students are reviewing place value of whole numbers, comparing, ordering, and rounding whole numbers. We will then review adding, subtracting, and multiplying whole numbers. Students will spend a great deal of time expanding on division of whole numbers. Quizzes will be given throughout the chapters, with a test at the end of the chapters.

6th Grade Math – Students are reviewing decimal place value, estimating, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals. This will be followed by an introduction to variables. Quizzes are given throughout the chapter. Each chapter will end with a test and a project. I will let students know when calculators can be used.

7th Grade Math – Students are reviewing operations with decimals. We will then move into operations with integers and solving equations. We will have quizzes throughout the chapter. The chapter will end with a test/project. I will let students know when they can use calculators.

8th Grade Math – Students will begin with algebraic expressions, operations with integers, and then solving one- and two-step equations. There will be quizzes throughout the chapter. The chapter will end with a test/project. I will let students know when calculators can be used.

8th Grade Algebra – We will begin with algebraic expressions, grouping symbols, properties, combing like terms, and solution sets. The first chapter test will be the week of September 6, 2010. Students will be allowed to use calculators after chapter 2, mid to late September.