Second-to-Last Week: Week of May 31-June 3

Hello again:

I can't believe there are only 7 days left of school!!!

This week is a wind-down week for most of the students:

6th grade: you will be with Ms. Valencia for my class on Tuesday to practice for graduation. On Wednesday and Thursday we will be watching a movie about immigration so you can evaluate it for some of the trends we discussed earlier in the quarter. And, on Friday, you graduate!! :)
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7th grade: Your DBQs are due Tuesday, so I hope you have worked hard on them over the weekend! On Wednesday we will review for the quiz, and on Thursday we will have your final social studies quiz of 7th grade!! Friday you will be attending the graduation ceremonies.
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8th grade: Good luck on your final exams this week!!
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Seniors: Congratulations on your graduation!! :)

Sprint to the finish everyone! :)
KF

Three More Weeks: Week of May 23-27

Hi everyone!

We're winding down the school year VERY quickly!

Just want to say a GREAT congratulations to Mr. Fenn and all the students who participated and won awards at the Chronicles of Discovery Gala last Friday...it was a great event and really showcased how AWESOME our Discovery kids are! Way to go!



















(By the way, if you want to get your hands on the Chronicles of Discovery magazine, let Mr. Fenn or myself know and we'll make sure you get a copy! What a great way to support our students' literary and artistic endeavors!)

Anyway...here's what's up for this week:

6th grade: CONGRATULATIONS to each of you for passing your National Anthem Exams!! I am so proud of you! You have just a week+ left as 6th graders...let's make them great! This week we will finish up our look at Westward expansion with various looks at the Mexican-American War...you will have your last 6th grade social studies quiz on FRIDAY!!!
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7th grade: We will continue looking at African Imperialism this week with a second segment of the Queen Victoria movie and the resistance movements in Africa. We will also have a DBQ at the end of the week!! :) 7B...sorry for you, you have no class this Friday. :(
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8th grade: Review review review, that will be the word for you this week. I hope you are ready for your first round of final exams next week...and I'm sure you will be after this week! We will be working on both your study guide and an artistic review activity as well...I hope it will be a fun but worthwhile review week for you. Also, don't forget, due to Friday's half day you will not have class on the 27th.
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Seniors: I was very impressed with your multi-genre projects! Thank you very much for all your hard work this school year. It was a pleasure being your teacher, and I wish you all the best in the future! :)
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Well, there you have it...3 more weeks! Sprint to the finish! :)

KF

Four Weeks Left?! Week of May 16-20

Hello everybody!

Here's what's happening in class this week!

6th grade: I know this is going to be a busy and stressful week for you with your National Anthem test coming up on Thursday, so this will not be the most tasking week ever, but we still have things we need to accomplish. SO, this week we are going to continue focusing westward, but we are going to shift our sights southward, to Texas. We will "Remember the Alamo" this week by doing some groupwork with primary source accounts of the seige of the Alamo, as well as looking at both the US and Mexican versions of the Mexican-American war. You will not have class on Thursday due to your National Anthem Test.

Your last Social Studies quiz of 6th grade will be next Thursday, May 26!
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7th grade: Well, you're on the home stretch!! This week we will look at our final area where European Imperialism was heavily apparent, Africa. We will spend the week looking at both primary sources a movie that show different elements of African imperialism. 7B will only have class Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday due to MAP testing.

Your last Social Studies quiz of 7th grade will be next Thursday, June 2!
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8th grade: We will finish this week with a look at Calvinism, the English Reformation, and finally, the Catholic Reformation, all elements which were touched on in last Friday's movie...you will have your Reformation quiz this Friday, May 20!

Just FYI, next week we will begin reviewing for the final exams!
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Seniors: You're almost there!! I know you have a big week ahead of you, but you can DO IT!!! You will not have class Thursday due to your National Anthem Test, and Friday your final version of the Multi-Genre project is due!!!

It has been a pleasure to work with you this year, and I wish you tons of good luck in the future!
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Someone told me there are less than 20 days of school left...let's make sure we sprint to the finish here and and make the most of those days!!

KF

Senior Blog Post: Due Monday, May 16 (LAST ONE!!!)

Seniors!

This is your last blog post!!

Are you so excited?!

In this last post I would like you to reflect on the blogging experience...what did you think of it? Did you enjoy blogging? Do you think you will keep it up, or will you delete your blog the minute your final grade is posted? Do you think the blog was a good addition to the class, or just a waste of time (be honest, I don't mind!)

Thanks for your participation this year! Good luck on your National Anthem Quiz on Thursday!

KF

UPDATE: MAP Test Schedule (7th Grade Only!)

Hello 7th graders:

Due to Friday's quiz (which I had scheduled before I knew about the MAP tests) you will have a change in your MAP test schedule.

This Friday, May 13, the MAP schedule will be as follows:

7th Grade A: 11:40-12:55
7th Grade B: 1:15-2:30

Thank you for being flexible with this change.

KF

Five More Weeks: May 8-12

Hello everyone!

This school year has gone so quickly! Only five weeks left!

Here's what you can expect in room #4 this week:

6th grade: We are going to continue looking at westward expansion, starting with the Homestead Act of 1862...we will use a couple other "Little House" books to compare how this important legislation affected the Ingalls family. Later in the week we will look at the impact of Westward Migration on the Native Americans, again using the "Little House" books.
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7th grade: This will be a funny week for some of you, because of the MAP test schedule. Either way, you will have a quiz on Friday, May 13, over Chinese Imperialism. To get ready for this quiz, you will be studying Chinese resistance movements and Western impacts on China during imperialism. (PS: your LAST SOCIAL STUDIES QUIZ [in 7th grade] will be Thursday, June 2. FYI)
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8th grade: Hopefully you all did the "homework" from the weekend and know a little bit about Martin Luther's experience at the Diet of Worms...this week we are going to focus on this historical event by trying Luther ourselves in class. We will spend Monday and Tuesday researching and writing questions, and will have the trial on Wednesday. Thursday we will finish the Martin Luther movie, and Friday will move on to other Protestant movements from the Reformation.
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Seniors: Guess what?! You have more time to work on your projects this week! :) Don't forget this Friday's deadline of your final 2 genres!
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Keep working hard and don't slack off now!! There are still 5 more weeks to learn!

Sprint to the finish!

KF

MAP Test Schedule- May

Hello all:

Here's the MAP test schedule for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades:

Tuesday, May 10
10:05-11:20: 6th grade
11:40-12:55: 7th grade B
1:15-2:30: 7th grade A

Wednesday, May 11
8:30-9:45: 8th grade

Friday, May 13
10:05-11:20: 6th grade
11:40-12:55: 7th grade B
1:15-2:30: 7th grade A

Monday, May 16
8:30-9:45: 8th grade

Wednesday, May 18
10:05-11:20: 6th grade
11:40-12:55: 7th grade B
1:15-2:30: 7th grade A

Thursday, May 19
8:30-9:45: 8th grade

Friday, May 20
Make up time for all grades

KF

Senior Blog Post: Due Monday, May 9

Hellooo, Seniors:

Some of you, I am sure, are very tired of me ;)

As you probably noticed, it's been a while since you've had a blog post assignment...so I figured I couldn't miss this opportunity today! (For those of you who are counting down: counting this one, only 3 more left!)

This week I want you to look to the future. Most of you have decided on your plans for next year, and I'm wondering what you are going to do to prepare this summer? Maybe you can use this blog post as a checklist, or just a place to organize your thoughts...

Have a great week.
KF

Believe it or not...6 Weeks Left: Week of May 3-6

Hello again to everyone!

Hasn't this year gone quickly!?! Wow! Only 6 weeks left!

REMINDERS FOR THIS WEEK:

Wednesday, May 4: Midterm. Remind your student to double-check for any missing assignments.
Thursday, May 5 at 6:00 PM: General Assembly. All Discovery School parents are highly encouraged to attend, because both the 2011-2012 budget and calendar need to be approved by a quorum of parents. The Discovery choir will also be performing, and works of art from all Discovery students will be on display at the Annual Art Exhibition (opens at 4:30). Activities will be provided by the Discovery School staff for any/all children who come along.
Friday, May 6: Half Day. Due to all of Thursday night's activities, the Discovery School administration has decided to make Friday, May 6 a half-day for students. Please arrange to have your child picked up promptly at 11:45.
Monday, May 9: MAP Testing begins. I will post the schedule as soon as I have it!
Wednesday, May 11: Progress Reports go home. Please be sure to ask your students for these important (and final) grade reports before the final grades of the year!!

Also, I want to CONGRATULATE! our Model United Nations team...this past weekend we participated in the ABSH Model UN Simulation at the Mazapan School in La Ceiba.

Seven Discovery students attended, and we came home with two Honorable Mention medals (2nd place) and a 4th place! Other prizes awarded to our delegates were Best Dressed Delegate, Best Alliance, and Encyclopedia (for knowledge).


I am so proud of the hard work our students put into this competition, and of all the positive comments I heard about ALL our students from other faculty advisers and students participating in the simulation. WELL DONE! :)

Now, for this week:

6th grade: This week we will continue looking at the idea of Westward migration through the eyes of people who experienced it. We are going to be reading selections from the books "My Antonia" by Willa Cather and "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder to help you better understand why people went west and how it affected their lives. We will also be exploring the Homestead Act and looking at its impact as well. You will be with Ms. Campbell for an art activity on Wednesday.

**Due to Friday's half-day schedule, we will only have this class Tuesday-Thursday this week**

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7th grade: Hopefully you worked hard on last week's assignments, because we are going to move right on to new topics this week. On Tuesday we will go back over the idea of imperialism, and read some primary source justifications for the practice. Then we will start looking at the effects of imperialism on China...this week we will look at important things like trade imbalances and wars over opium...can't wait!
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8th grade: I hope you enjoyed the past few art-filled weeks! We are going to move from the Renaissance to the Reformation this week, and take a deep look at the man who started it all...Martin Luther. We will be watching the PBS movie Empires: Martin Luther and going through a timeline of the man's life on Friday.
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Seniors: Please remember to keep meeting your project deadlines! We have 3 more genres due this Friday! Also, the goal for this week is to FINISH the yearbook!! I will be contacting you to get anything you are missing for me by the end of the week.
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So that's that...another week!

Students, sprint to the finish!
Parents, please continue to support your students as they work hard to finish the year strong!

KF