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Terrier News
Heating Up
With Mrs. Bizaoui
Putting Ourselves in Their Shoes with Mr.
Gould
In science, we are still
studying how heat is transferred.
The next segment in our quest for
understanding heat energy will be
to design and test solar ovens. Students will work in
groups to research and design their own ovens. They
will then have a chance to modify their designs to try
and increase the temperature obtained by their ovens. We will then have a short unit on chemistry;
learning about atomic structure, elements and a bit
about molecular bonding. Students will research an
element and construct a huge periodic table that will be
hung in the back of the room. The wall is waiting!!
7th: Our Independent Study Project was a great success, and we have
now shifted our focus to the Civil War. Students read the novel Soldier's Heart's by Gary Paulsen in Reading with Mr. Strothman and recently completed Behind Rebel Lines by Seymour Reit in Social Studies. To demonstrate their understanding, students wrote an essay arguing which book did a better job teaching what the Civil War was like.
8th: Our Independent Study Project was a great success, and we have
now shifted our focus to World War II. We are currently reading
Night by Elie Wiesel, an autobiographical account of his survival in a
Nazi death camp. Students will be writing a comparative essay for
Social Studies and Language Arts. They will compare and contrast
Elie Wiesel's experiences in Night with Anne Frank's experiences.
Making Music with Mrs. Dunbar
In 5th grade general music, we will be working on
learning to read notes and rhythms, and playing
music with the Boomwhackers. We will also be
learning about music from the Baroque, Romantic,
and Classical Periods. In 6th grade, we are working
on Recorder Karate. Students earn belts for their
recorders by playing different songs for each
belt. The 7th graders are working on their radio
shows, and will eventually be moving on to the history of country music. In 8th grade, students are
writin g and performing music artist interviews and
will later be creating album artwork for their
"bands." In chorus, we are preparing for the Spring
Art’s Night, which will be on May 22nd.
What Is Our Role?
With Mr. DesMarais
As spring approaches 8th grade reading moves into our most dynamic portion of the year. We’ll be reading plays, investigating a
variety of non-fiction sources like news and other types of journalism, and talking about different styles of writing including music
and poetry. Our reading class will continue self selecting fiction for independent reading as books as we increase the level of nonfiction that we tackle in reading, social studies, and language arts.
What should the role of the United States be in the world? We continue to ask this as Mr. Des Marais’ grade eight social studies
classes continue our exploration of US and the modern world. Coming out of World War II, we’ll look at how the cold war shapes
modern life in the United States. We’ll work towards understanding our country’s place as a dominant power in the world. As we
round out the year, we will begin to integrate current events into our curriculum as we approach the war on terror and begin to study
public issues and world affairs.
Mr. Des Marais’ grade eight language arts class returns to expository writing as we move into the final portion of the year. Although
we will continue to write about a variety of topics in order to hone our skills as writers, we’ll align much of our work in language arts
with our work in social studies. Keep your eye on the blog to stay up to date with everything that we are both reading and writing in
class. Visit www.studythehumans.com for more information!