Happy Holidays!

Dear Students, Parents, and Fellow Teachers:

I hope you are all having a good break, are spending time with family and friends, traveling or enjoying quiet times at home, eating lots of good food, giving (and receiving) gifts, and, of course, not forgetting everything you worked to learn during the first semester! ;-D

I am very much looking forward to seeing you again soon.

Enjoy the snow pictures and video :)

KF

Things to Achieve before the End of Semester One: December 13-16

Hi everyone!! I can't believe it's already the end of Semester One, that I've been in Honduras for half a year, and that a week from right now I will be hanging out in Houston's airport waiting for my connecting flight back to Iowa!!!

I hope you have all had as great of a first semester as I had...I learned so much, had so many great times, and have truly enjoyed the parents, students, and staff at Discovery School. What a great place this is!!

Anyway, we do have a few things (quizzes) to do before we scamper off for break.

**Students and Parents: if you know you will be gone before the official end of the school year, you need to make arrangements to have quizzes done BEFORE you leave...otherwise we will have a very hard time coming to a final grade!**

6th grade: Great job on your presentations today!! On Monday you will have your final period-one rehearsal for Songfest with the 5th graders...your dance is looking so great!! Tuesday we will have a review session for the quiz and Wednesday we will take the quiz!! Thursday we will have fun and play Native American games--you are welcome to bring some food to share with the class.
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7th grade: Remember, you will be giving your group presentations on Monday! You won't have any class time for last-minute preparation, but you are welcome to come to the room during lunch. Tuesday we will play a review game, and Wednesday will be the quiz!! Don't forget your timeline or DBQ are due on Tuesday! Thursday will be a game day.
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8th grade: Monday we will play a review game for Tuesday's quiz, and of course will take the quiz on Tuesday!! Wednesday we will go back over the themes and information we learned throughout the Semester...and Thursday will be a game day.
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Seniors, I had a great first semester with you...good luck on your finals!!
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Well, have a fabulously-awesome weekend, and we'll see you next week! :)

KF

Final Senior Blog Post of 2010: Due Monday, December 13

Seniors!

Can you believe the first half of your senior year is almost over?! I hope you have found it to be fulfilling, fun, and full of learning and stuff...

Here is your last blog post for the semester and the year 2010:

You all did a GREAT job with your demonstration speeches, and I would like you to take a minute to reflect on it. Answer the following questions:

-How did you think the speech went?
-Was your audience 3rd grade or 5th grade?
-How did the audience affect your speech? Was it positive or negative?
-What did you learn from giving the speech to a younger audience?
-How will your experience change the next speech you give?
-Any other reflection you want to make?

I really enjoyed having your class this semester! I hope you feel like you have learned something...I hope you have a great holiday season and break, and that you come back refreshed and ready to sprint to the finish of your senior year!! :)

KF

Model United Nations

Students in grades 9-12:

Anyone interested in joining the Discovery School Model UN team should plan to attend a meeting on Tuesday, December 14 during snack break. This will be an informational meeting, and we will discuss Discovery's participation in the National Model UN conference in April 2011.

Hope to see you there!

KF

Are you ready for Songfest?

Hi everyone!!

Hopefully you already know that Songfest is next Thursday, December 16 (my mommy's birthday!!!). It will officially start at 6:00, but there will be yummy food and a guitar/piano prelude before, so you want to get here early!

Also, please remember that the Tegucigalpan traffic on the Anillo can be a bit...heavy...around that time of the day, so, again, I would encourage you to leave home and get here early! That way you know you and your student will on time and ready to perform! Your student has spent a lot of time and energy practicing for this event: you don't want your student to arrive too late and miss their class' time to shine!

6th grade: I want you here NO LATER than 5:30, ready and dressed appropriately (t-shirt and jeans).

Parents, there will be a few changes from previous years: the sales of food will be stopped when the Songfest begins, and there will be no intermission. We will have designated seating areas for each class and for parents, and the classes will be expected to sit together with their teacher for the entire Songfest event. You may not take your student home early, and they will not be allowed to sit with you when they are done performing. Consider Songfest an extension of the school day. Please leave your cell phone in the car or turn it off when you enter Songfest. Enjoy the show, and be attentive not just when your student is performing, but watch all the other classes that have worked hard as well. There will be a designated area for photos--please be courteous to all who want to see the show.

I am excited for my first Songfest, and I hope to see you there!! :)

KF

7th Grade: Timeline/DBQ Deadline Update

Hi 7th grade:

Because I realize you have a lot of homework/stuff to do/a life outside of school I have decided to move the deadline for the individual project (timeline or DBQ) back to Tuesday.

The group project is still due Monday. Come ready to present.

There is, however, a catch--because I moved back the deadline, I will not accept any DBQs or Timelines past Tuesday when I leave school. Don't forget them/leave them at home/let your dog eat them because I WILL NOT ACCEPT THEM ON WEDNESDAY!

Have a great weekend!

KF

Things to do on the Last (Full) Week of School before Break: December 6-10

Hi Everyone!!

It is very chilly today--good thing we will be keeping busy in class!

6th grade: I hope you are enjoying the Native American project...we will have most of this week to work on it, and tomorrow I will be modeling (showing you) what I want your project to look like. You will be presenting your projects to the class Thursday and Friday, so keep working hard!! Your quiz over Native Americans will be next Wednesday, December 15!
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7th grade: I hope you are enjoying the Ancient Africa project...we will have 3 days this week to work on it. You will be presenting your projects to the class Monday, December 13, and your Ancient Africa quiz will be next Wednesday, December 15!
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8th grade: I hope you are enjoying learning about Ancient Rome! We will continue answering the question "Who killed Marc Anthony?" this week, and will finish up with the fall of Rome on Friday. Your Ancient Rome quiz will be next Tuesday, December 14, and you will have a semester review on Wednesday, December 15.
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Seniors: Speeches this week!! Remember, no outline, no speech, no grade!
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I hope everyone has a great week!

KF

7th Grade: Africa Links

Hi 7th graders:

As promised, here are the links from the Africa project...

But first, scroll to the bottom for a list of major civilizations in your area of Africa (North Africa, remember Egypt is not an option for you):

http://www.africanculturalcenter.org/4_4tradekingdoms.html

(you're welcome!) :)

Here are the links. Just click on them and they will take you to the sites:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/africa/africasbook.html#African%20Societies (primary sources)

http://africa.mrdonn.org/index.html (overview)

http://www.teacheroz.com/Non_Western.htm#africa (overview)

http://www.historyworld.net (search for your region)

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/africa.html (artifacts and information)

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/CIVAFRCA/CONTENTS.HTM (African civilization info)

http://www.historylink101.com/africa.htm (overview)

http://www.archaeolink.com/ancient_african_civilizations.htm (Civilization info)

http://wysinger.homestead.com/africanhistory.html (African history)

http://www.missmax.netfirms.com/africa/1_african_project_04.html (another class’ project website, includes good info)

http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0093-african-civilizations.php (good civs info)

http://wysinger.homestead.com/ancientafrica.html (overview)

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/AfCivIT.html (overview)

http://ezinearticles.com/?Great-African-Civilizations&id=425428 (an online magazine article)

http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/history/hisking.html (history)

http://history-world.org/africa.htm (overview)

http://www.mrdowling.com/609-test.htm (overview)

http://www.africankingdoms.com/ (whole website dedicated to Ancient African kingdoms)

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=846464 (pictures)

http://www.theancientweb.com/explore/index.aspx (search for your civilization)

Have a great weekend...remember, these projects will be presented MONDAY, DECEMBER 13! :)

KF

A Fun 7th Grade Discussion (and web links)

Hello again 7th graders:

I enjoyed our discussion about Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How today...I hadn't thought about those questions and what they mean for a long time.

To refresh your (and my) memories:
Who = People
What = Things
When = Time
Where = Place
Why = Reason
How = Process

ALSO: Here are the links of the pages you were looking at in class. Enjoy!

The secondary source (the one with the maps and pictures) was from here: http://library.thinkquest.org/13406/sh/

Primary source #1: http://web.archive.org/web/20010210035839/http://www.humanities.ccny.cuny.edu/history/reader/ghana.htm

Primary source #2: http://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/materials/handouts/k_o_ghana.html

REMEMBER: If you have questions, please please please please please contact me!!

KF