Happy Easter...
What a great and busy spring it has been in and around Room 8! First and foremost, our 8th graders confirmed their relationship with God and the church on April 13. Archbishop Allen Vigneron and Father Bob McCabe presided over the Confermation ceremony.
Our St. Pius baseball and softball teams are populated with many of our 8th grade students. Go Pirates!
Our first middle school field trip of the season took place on April 7, at Zap Zone in Taylor. Our class had a great time playing Laser Tag, Balladium, Slime Bucket, Jump Zone, and Mini-Golf. I highly recommend the pizza if you ever get back to the Taylor Zap Zone.
Grandparents' Day took place on March 10. We played "Grandparent/Grandchild Jeopardy" in Room 8. Categories included pop culture questions from the 1960s, 1970s, 2000s, along with a "Cars" category. The goal was to have something for everyone. When the dust settled, Lauren Mann and her grandfather put up quite an impressive performance. He could even spot a Ford Pinto!!
March was reading month. We created posters commemorating some of the books we have read this school year: Romeo and Juliet and To Kill a Mockingbird. We also created a poster to keep track of the amount of minutes each day students spend reading. We teamed with Mrs. Wiggins' class and read with our first grade "buddies."
Because of all the hard work our 8th grade class has done in and around St. Pius this year, the Detroit Tigers have graciously given our class tickets to the Detroit Tigers game on Thursday, April 28. We will have parents drive our students to and from the game. We will be participating in the Tigers' Career Day activities before the game, so we will be leaving school at 9:30am (after Mass) and returning at the conclution of the game (we will probably leave Comerica Park around 4pm). Let Mr. Baker know if you are able to drive. Thanks!
Be on the lookout for more information on May Crowning (the Morning of Tuesday, May 10), Torch and Ribbon Ceremony (Thursday, May 19, after Mass--about 9:15am), 8th Grade Graduation (Tuesday May 24, at 7pm), 8th Grade Dinner Dance (Friday, May 27).
On to the Academics...
8th Grade Vocabulary: We are currently studying Unit 11. Words include: appease, belated, calamitous, cite, conventional, decoy, delve, ensue, gallantry, impart, judicious, mediate, milieu, outlandish, overbearing, pert, quirk, regale, shiftless and taint.
8th Grade Math: Mr. Baker's algebra class is currently studying Polynomials after completing quite a successful unit on systems of equations, where our test scores were the best we have had all school year. Great job, kids!
8th Grade English: We are finishing up a unit on public speaking. This week, students will be giving speeches on topics ranging from this school year to NBA All-Stars. We have watched public speaking videos, learned the ways to successfully execute a speech (remember content and delivery!) and done hours of research on our topics. We are all looking forward to the finished products.
8th Grade Literature: We are finishing up our mystery unit. We read and watched Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famed "Speckled Band" story. We have also read at least 8-10 short mysteries, and studied the various elements of making a great mystery that will pull the reader in and keep them turning the pages.
7th Grade Math: We are finishing up a unit on proportions. A highlight of the unit was our trip out to the playground. We paired up, measured ourselves, measured our shadows, and measured a shadow of a tall object. We then took that information and found the height of that object.
7th Grade English: We just finished a unit on verbals, such as gerunds, infinitives, and participles. These are words that look like verbs but actually act as nouns, adverbs, and adjectives. For example, "Running makes me feel great." 'Running' is a gerund. "To know me is to love me." In this sentence, "To know" and "to love" are both infinitives. Infinitives can be spotted because they are verbs with "to" in front of them. Participles are phrases usually blocked in with commas, and modify a word around it. For example: "The dog, praised by its master, was happy. With 'praised by its master' being a participle.
7th Grade Literature: We FINALLY finished The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. After 42 chapters and almost 400 pages, the students did a great job on the test. Many students really enjoyed Huck, Tom, Jim, the Duke and the King's adventures down the Mississippi.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
March 10, 2011
We have had quite a month since our last blog here in Room 8 at St. Pius School.
Our 8th graders collected more box tops in the month of February than any class has in the entire school for the entire year. 1,536 strong! Way to go!
Both our boys and girls varsity basketball teams placed second out of eight teams as they hosted the annual St. Pius basketball tournament. Nice work, teams!
Grandparents Day here at St. Pius was a hit for all who attended. The eighth grade put on "Goldielocks on Trial," a performance based on "Goldielocks and the Three Bears." After just a day of rehearsal, they did a great job and had the audience in stitches.
Onto academics...
Eighth Grade Vocabulary: We are currently reviewing Units 7-9. Beginning the week of March 14, Unit 10 will be covered. Unit 10's words are: accord, barter, curt, devise, dexterous, engross, entail, ferret, habituate, impending, personable, rue, scoff, transition, trepidation, upbraid, veritable, vex, vitality, and whimsical.
Eighth Grade Math: My math class is in the middle of Ch. 6: Stystems of Linear Equations and Inequalities. This basically means finding the solution to two equations, or finding out where those two lines would cross on a grid.
Eighth Grade Language Arts: We just finished writing a Compare/Contrast essay where students had to take two items (Coke and Pepsi, spring and fall, etc) and give similarities and differences of those items. We just began working on verbals, which are words that are formed from a verb and acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Examples are gerunds (Writing a book is hard work.) and infinitives (The fair is a place I would like to visit).
Eighth Grade Literature: Red Badge of Courage is our final novel of the year. It is about a young soldier caught in the middle of the Civil War and his attempts at coming to terms with his emotions of battle, fatigue, and comraderie.
Seventh Grade Math: We just began studying ratios, proportions and similar figures. An example is if a basketball player made 5 baskets in 10 attempts, he makes one out of two shots, or 1/2, or 5:10.
Seventh Grade Language Arts: We just finished writing a paper where we replicate our favorite author's style. To practice, we formed groups, wrote stories in the form of authors we have alreay read (Mark Twain, SE Hinton, etc.) and performed those stories as a skit. Next we will be studying pronouns.
Seventh Grade Literature: We are nearing the end of Mark Twain's legendary, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." This will also be our third and final novel of the year. Our others were "Our Town," by Thornton Wilder and "The Outsiders," by SE Hinton.
Our 8th graders collected more box tops in the month of February than any class has in the entire school for the entire year. 1,536 strong! Way to go!
Both our boys and girls varsity basketball teams placed second out of eight teams as they hosted the annual St. Pius basketball tournament. Nice work, teams!
Grandparents Day here at St. Pius was a hit for all who attended. The eighth grade put on "Goldielocks on Trial," a performance based on "Goldielocks and the Three Bears." After just a day of rehearsal, they did a great job and had the audience in stitches.
Onto academics...
Eighth Grade Vocabulary: We are currently reviewing Units 7-9. Beginning the week of March 14, Unit 10 will be covered. Unit 10's words are: accord, barter, curt, devise, dexterous, engross, entail, ferret, habituate, impending, personable, rue, scoff, transition, trepidation, upbraid, veritable, vex, vitality, and whimsical.
Eighth Grade Math: My math class is in the middle of Ch. 6: Stystems of Linear Equations and Inequalities. This basically means finding the solution to two equations, or finding out where those two lines would cross on a grid.
Eighth Grade Language Arts: We just finished writing a Compare/Contrast essay where students had to take two items (Coke and Pepsi, spring and fall, etc) and give similarities and differences of those items. We just began working on verbals, which are words that are formed from a verb and acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Examples are gerunds (Writing a book is hard work.) and infinitives (The fair is a place I would like to visit).
Eighth Grade Literature: Red Badge of Courage is our final novel of the year. It is about a young soldier caught in the middle of the Civil War and his attempts at coming to terms with his emotions of battle, fatigue, and comraderie.
Seventh Grade Math: We just began studying ratios, proportions and similar figures. An example is if a basketball player made 5 baskets in 10 attempts, he makes one out of two shots, or 1/2, or 5:10.
Seventh Grade Language Arts: We just finished writing a paper where we replicate our favorite author's style. To practice, we formed groups, wrote stories in the form of authors we have alreay read (Mark Twain, SE Hinton, etc.) and performed those stories as a skit. Next we will be studying pronouns.
Seventh Grade Literature: We are nearing the end of Mark Twain's legendary, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." This will also be our third and final novel of the year. Our others were "Our Town," by Thornton Wilder and "The Outsiders," by SE Hinton.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
February 3, 2011
Happy snow day! Once again, lots going on in Room 8 over the past month. Let's get right into it...
8th Grade Vocabulary: We are studying Unit 8 out of 15 units, so It's looking like we are right on schedule. Every unit, the students get into groups at random and create a story from the unit words and then perform it in front of the class. It's been amazing to see the positive progression of these performances. There are recurring characters, recurring themes, and exciting action. This week's words are: abut, attire, avail, crony, cryptic, divergent, enmity, fervent, gaunt, infiltrate, nullify, perceptible, plummet, proclaim, proxy, rankle, scavenger, stint, stoical, and unflagging.
8th Grade Algebra: My math class is currently studying inequalities, and ways to solve them. For example 8a + 5 < 21. We just completed the mid-chapter quiz, so the test for Chapter 5 will be either the end of next week or the beginning of the following week.
8th Grade Literature: After finishing the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird," we are currently watching the critically acclaimed film, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Duvall. "Mockingbird" was written in 1960 by Harper Lee, winning her the Pulizer Prize for Literature in 1961. A 1991 survey by the Book of the Month Club and the Library of Congress Center for the Book found that To Kill a Mockingbird was rated behind only the Bible in books that are "most often cited as making a difference". The test on the book will take place the middle of next week. Remember, AR is due Feb. 4!
8th Grade Language Arts: We have begun writing persuasive essays. So far, we have studied their design, importance, and used peer influence to help students improve their own stances on topics of their choosing.
7th Grade Math: We are currently studying Multi-step Equations and Inequalities. The first lesson of the chapter dealt with areas and perimeters of two-dimensional objects and how, many times, it takes two steps to solve equations when working with these measurements.
7th Grade Literature: We have begun reading Mark Twain's classic "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." This is probably the most famous of any American Book ever written. It is also very long, so students should expect a bit of reading for homework over the next month. It has been said it is one of the most influential books in American history, so I believe it is important to expose students to a book that has influenced many of the contemporary books they are reading. AR is due Friday, Feb 4!
7th Grade Language Arts: We are in the throws of creating compare/contrast essays. For example, one might compare softball and baseball to help them decide which to play in the spring. We have studied how to design these essays, good topics for them, and how to express themselves using unity, coherence, and sensory details.
Go Pirates!!
8th Grade Vocabulary: We are studying Unit 8 out of 15 units, so It's looking like we are right on schedule. Every unit, the students get into groups at random and create a story from the unit words and then perform it in front of the class. It's been amazing to see the positive progression of these performances. There are recurring characters, recurring themes, and exciting action. This week's words are: abut, attire, avail, crony, cryptic, divergent, enmity, fervent, gaunt, infiltrate, nullify, perceptible, plummet, proclaim, proxy, rankle, scavenger, stint, stoical, and unflagging.
8th Grade Algebra: My math class is currently studying inequalities, and ways to solve them. For example 8a + 5 < 21. We just completed the mid-chapter quiz, so the test for Chapter 5 will be either the end of next week or the beginning of the following week.
8th Grade Literature: After finishing the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird," we are currently watching the critically acclaimed film, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Duvall. "Mockingbird" was written in 1960 by Harper Lee, winning her the Pulizer Prize for Literature in 1961. A 1991 survey by the Book of the Month Club and the Library of Congress Center for the Book found that To Kill a Mockingbird was rated behind only the Bible in books that are "most often cited as making a difference". The test on the book will take place the middle of next week. Remember, AR is due Feb. 4!
8th Grade Language Arts: We have begun writing persuasive essays. So far, we have studied their design, importance, and used peer influence to help students improve their own stances on topics of their choosing.
7th Grade Math: We are currently studying Multi-step Equations and Inequalities. The first lesson of the chapter dealt with areas and perimeters of two-dimensional objects and how, many times, it takes two steps to solve equations when working with these measurements.
7th Grade Literature: We have begun reading Mark Twain's classic "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." This is probably the most famous of any American Book ever written. It is also very long, so students should expect a bit of reading for homework over the next month. It has been said it is one of the most influential books in American history, so I believe it is important to expose students to a book that has influenced many of the contemporary books they are reading. AR is due Friday, Feb 4!
7th Grade Language Arts: We are in the throws of creating compare/contrast essays. For example, one might compare softball and baseball to help them decide which to play in the spring. We have studied how to design these essays, good topics for them, and how to express themselves using unity, coherence, and sensory details.
Go Pirates!!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
January 2, 2011
It's a new year and an exciting time for all of us in Room 8. We are hopefully refreshed and ready to take on the 2011 portion of the school year.
Looking back, our entire school got rave reviews for its performance in the annual St. Pius Christmas concert on the evening of December 9. While reading student journals over the past few weeks, it is obvious that the students themselves are very proud and fulfilled by the success of the concert. The reception the students received along with the many comments I heard after the concert really showed that all the hard work by our students paid off. Mrs. Seward did a fantastic job of directing the concert and bringing in some very talented music minds to help make the night a success. All the hard work paid off, kids!
Another great event that was held by the eighth graders was the poinsettia sale that took place the weekend of December 10. Thanks so much for all those who contributed their time, money and efforts to help our students raise money for our class trip. While our destination is still being ironed out, it is narrowed down :) And now our options are somewhat less limited because of the funds created from this sale.
One more fundraiser that will help us is the bottle/can drive to raise money for our 8th grade dance. Mrs. Cortese has spearheaded this with what looks like great results. Thanks for all those who helped and contributed!
One more initiative that has yielded positive results is our creation of an 8th grade scrapbook. Thank you to Mrs. Russell who has done a wonderful job of coodinating the scrapbooking efforts. I have to admit I stuck a peek at some of the pictures and can't wait to see the finished product. Keep your eyes peeled for emails regarding this and our fund raising efforts. We won't be shy about sending them!
Mid-term exams will take place the week of January 10. Study guides from my classes were emailed before Christmas. Each student will also receive copies this upcoming week in class.
The second card marking ends January 14. Check Gradelink to make sure your child is up to date on his/her work. They will be receiving a list of missed work on January 6. More of an emphasis has been placed on each student to comeplete work on time and more of an emphasis will be placed on this as we move along.
Looking back, our entire school got rave reviews for its performance in the annual St. Pius Christmas concert on the evening of December 9. While reading student journals over the past few weeks, it is obvious that the students themselves are very proud and fulfilled by the success of the concert. The reception the students received along with the many comments I heard after the concert really showed that all the hard work by our students paid off. Mrs. Seward did a fantastic job of directing the concert and bringing in some very talented music minds to help make the night a success. All the hard work paid off, kids!
Another great event that was held by the eighth graders was the poinsettia sale that took place the weekend of December 10. Thanks so much for all those who contributed their time, money and efforts to help our students raise money for our class trip. While our destination is still being ironed out, it is narrowed down :) And now our options are somewhat less limited because of the funds created from this sale.
One more fundraiser that will help us is the bottle/can drive to raise money for our 8th grade dance. Mrs. Cortese has spearheaded this with what looks like great results. Thanks for all those who helped and contributed!
One more initiative that has yielded positive results is our creation of an 8th grade scrapbook. Thank you to Mrs. Russell who has done a wonderful job of coodinating the scrapbooking efforts. I have to admit I stuck a peek at some of the pictures and can't wait to see the finished product. Keep your eyes peeled for emails regarding this and our fund raising efforts. We won't be shy about sending them!
Mid-term exams will take place the week of January 10. Study guides from my classes were emailed before Christmas. Each student will also receive copies this upcoming week in class.
The second card marking ends January 14. Check Gradelink to make sure your child is up to date on his/her work. They will be receiving a list of missed work on January 6. More of an emphasis has been placed on each student to comeplete work on time and more of an emphasis will be placed on this as we move along.
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