Upcoming events

• STAR testing is this week and next:Please make sure your students are there. Because of the 8th grade Sacramento trip, we won't have time to makeup tests later.

Tues May 4:

10:00-11:30 Language Arts Part 1(7th and 8th grade)

1:15-2:45 History Part 1 (8th grade)

Wed May 5:

10:00-11:30 Language Arts Part 2 (7th and 8th grade)

Thur May 6:

10:00-11:30 History Part 2 (8th grade)

Tues May 11:

10:00-11:30 Math - Part 1 (7th and 8th grade)

1:15-2:45 Science Part 1 (8th grade)

Wed May 12:

10:00-11:30 Math - Part 2 (7th and 8th grade)

Thur May 13:

10:00-11:30 Science Part 2 (8th grade)

• Sacramento Trip WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR OUR TRIP! During class council on Tuesday, we will go over the itinerary and packing list. We are scheduled to get on the road bright and early Friday morning May 14 and will return Saturday May 22. Parents will also be receiving a final itinerary, packing list and other important info in an email by the end of this week. We will be sending daily updates during the trip! Those students who are not going will be staying with Tony's class with eighth grade work provided for them.
• Fuddruckers hamburger coupon booklets are still for sale. For $10 dollars they get 8 buy one get one free and 8 buy one get one half off coupons. We get to keep $5 for each coupon book sold. This is a great deal. Will help fund Magic Mountain grad nite (Friday June 11) and Eighth grade promotion (Thursday June 17 at Adrian's home)
• Family nite Thursday May 13

Science news

We have been having tons of fun in both 7th and 8th grade.

Seventh graders have been learning about populations and ecosystems. They started by learning how to identify items as individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems. They learned the difference between biotic and abiotic factors.

We used chips to learn how to create a dichotomous key. The best part was eating them afterwards. We learned another classification technique (cladogram) that helped us to determine how a platypus, a whale, a cat and a human relate to one another. Students were able to take what they learned to classify the students in our class.

We learned about aquariums and terrariums by creating mini ecosystems. They are thriving(with the exception of a few unfortunate guppies). We will be observing the changes to the populations throughout the next month. We hope to see babies soon!

Eighth graders are finishing up their rollercoaster physics project. As one student observed, my classroom looks like it is on life support with all of the tubing connected to walls and chairs for their rollercoasters. They have learned how to determine velocity using measurements from their tracks and the time it takes to complete the track. They predicted and observed how changes to their tracks affect velocity. We learned about the physics of rollercoasters in order to understand potential energy, kinetic energy, gravitational force, centrifugal force, Newton's laws of motion, inertia and momentum. We also learned about how these concepts relate to the physical changes that happen to our bodies when these forces are put on them. The kids are excited to go to grad night at Six Flags and experience firsthand the physics they learned.

Help! Drivers needed!

DRIVERS NEEDED! (This is an all day field trip. Takes about an hour and a half to get there). On Friday the seventh and eighth graders will be going to Blair Valley for a field trip to see the ruins of the home of Marshall South. He and his family lived at the top of Ghost Mountain in a home built from the earth. They had no electricity or running water. This trip will culminate our unplugged project. We will have 34 students going so the more help the better. We plan on leaving at 9:00 and coming back at 3:30.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/sets/72157603562436150/

Busy Week! We have Spring Fever!

Last week's events:

Field Trip to Science Tech Fair in Del Mar:
(A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARENT DRIVERS! WE COULDN"T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU)
Seventh and eighth graders got the opportunity to visit over 50 science exhibits from various companies around San Diego. They had fun hands on experiences and learned a lot of information. There were seven different science strands so students were able to choose what areas they were most interested in:

Biotech / BioMedical: The science of using living things, and components of living things, to produce goods and services. It involves manipulating and modifying organisms, often at the molecular level, to create new and practical applications for agriculture, medicine and industry.

Clean Technology / Energy: Clean Technology applies science and engineering solutions to three critical areas: reducing the consumption of energy and natural resources; reducing waste and harmful emissions; and harnessing renewable energy and materials for sustainable development.
Conservation/Environmental Science/Agriculture Technology: Focus on current and future conservation of our natural resources; the science and technology of sustaining our wildlife, forests, coastlines and oceans; and technological advances in farming that help better serve the needs of the public while protecting the environment and increasing output.

Engineering / Aerospace / Transportation: Focus on the application of science to practical uses such as the design of structures, machines, and systems.

Healthcare Technology: Focus on the systems within which health is protected and maintained, including prevention and rehabilitation, emergency medicine, medical devices, and technology for monitoring the health of a patient remotely. Dental technology is also included in this strand

High Tech / Computer Technology / Telecommunications: Focus on highly specialized, complex technology, including computer applications and telecommunications.

Robotics: Focus on the technology associated with the design, fabrication, theory, and application of robots.


Field Trip to Health Sciences High and Middle College:
Eighth graders visited HSHMC on Thursday. Two of IA's alumni from our first graduating class last year were our tour guides. I have information if you are interested in this school.


Parent Night Thursday Night: We had an awesome turn out from our eighth grade parents. Thank you for coming to get more information about the Sacramento trip and graduation festivities. My apologies for miscommunication to those eighth grade parents who went to the general meeting instead. Please contact me to get information you missed.

SCIENCE NEWS:
7th graders have been learning more about heredity and DNA. We should be recieving our chick eggs in the next week. We will be incubating and hatching them! This will coincide with our unit on populations and ecosystems.

8th graders have been learning about atomic structure and bonding. We will be finishing up our chemistry unit in the next two weeks. Coming soon... walking on water and rollercoaster physics!

Before our science field trip both 7th and 8th grade students created KWL charts to show what they 1) (K) Know about their selected science strand, and 2) (W)Want to know. After the trip we talked about 3) (L)What they Learned after the trip.

Feb 1 - Feb 5

UPCOMING EVENTS:

-FAMILY NIGHT:

• Thursday, February 11th hosted by the kindergarten class. FIRST check in at the front desk from 5pm-6pm to sign in and receive directions and a schedule for the evening.


• From 5pm-6pm chili will be served in the kindergarten classroom. Please bring it upstairs to be eaten in our classroom. If you are not purchasing food, after checking in please come to my classroom anyways.


• At 6pm the general parent meeting will take place in the commons upstairs. During this time students will go to DeeDee’s room for crafts.


• Parents with more than one child: I understand it is difficult to make it to each classroom. If you cannot make it please contact me so I can pass along any information to you.


• $3 chili, cornbread and drink (Vegetarian chili will be available)


• $3 hot dog, chips and drink


• $1 for 2 baked goods

-PRESIDENTS WEEKEND: No School Friday Feb 12th and Monday Feb 15th

-VALENTINES PARENT NIGHTOUT FUNDRAISER: Sunday Feb. 14

• 8th graders will be babysitting 5:00 - 9:00pm
  

LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:

• Special thanks to Adrian's mom for the In-n-Out run for lunch on Tuesday!


• We were on the news! During our buddy time with the 3rd graders, some of our 8th graders were on film. You can see it at: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Charter_School_Struggle_San_Diego.html


• Council member Donna Frye came for a visit and loved our school!


• Our Parent Night Fundraiser brought in $120! We had a great time! And we have lots of parents interested in the Valentines Night Out next Sunday.


• We got a lot of information about high schools for next year. I sent home Innovations Academy's recommended high schools list, as well as a booklet showcasing schools around San Diego that includes magnet schools. Many schools have a deadline to enroll. San Diego magnets(choice schools) need to be in by FEB 15. If you have questions, please contact me or Danielle.

In Math, students learned more about the coordinate system and the slope of a line with our giant floor coordinate plane. Next week we put it all together with the scale map of our school we made.

In Science, we finished Unplugged Science mini lessons. 7th graders are continuing with heredity and genetics. 8th graders are continuing their study of atoms and elements and the periodic table.

Wow January flew by!

UPCOMING EVENTS this week:

• Report Cards are out on Monday
• Visit from King Chavez High School (parents welcome) Tuesday 9:30-10:30
• 8th grade fundraiser Parents’ Night Out: Friday Feb 5 6:00-10:00
• Field trip to Health Sciences High and Middle College(next week): date TBD
  

The wet week of Jan 18-22 could be considered one of the strangest. We had a three day weekend and then we had a three and a half day weekend! The rain, although welcomed, wreaked havoc on our schedule! Some highlights:

• We welcomed a new student this week! Canelle: Hooray another girl!
• We started our math-graphing project. Both the 7th and 8th graders measured the upstairs area of IA. After all rooms were measured, students created a 2D scale model on graph paper.
• Continued working on our unplugged project. Students were preparing their pod casts and worked on an essay explaining what it would be like to live without the five “plugged in” things they absolutely cannot live without.
  

Last week Jan 25-29 seemed to fly by. We crammed a lot of things in that we missed out on from last week.

• Reading Buddies: On Monday mornings we meet with the 3rd graders for reading and fun.
• Edudance is in full “swing”. Not only are students learning how to dance, they are getting learning about manners and etiquette while they dance.
• Current events: students have signed up every other Wednesday for science and social studies currents events. Our first Wednesday started off slowly as not everyone who signed up was prepared. Those who were, did a excellent job!
• In order to catch up on our “Unplugged” project we took a short detour from ecosystems (7th grade) and chemistry (8th grade). We learned about energy, renewable and nonrenewable resources, pollution and conservation. On Friday, students were assigned to choose and complete ONE of the following activities using the 5 “plugged in” things they can’t live without:
  1. Create a graphical representation of consumption levels of common plugged in items.
  2. Research what happens to used “plugged in” items. Recycled? Dumped?
  3. Estimate the amount of money it costs to buy and/or replace your items over two years. We also started recording pod casts. Can’t wait to hear them all!

TWO concerns:

• My supplies are dwindling not from use but from misuse! This past week three of my rulers were broken. I started the school year with full drawers of markers, pencils, pens, scissors, etc. I bought most of it with my own money. I am down to hardly anything. I do not mind students using my supplies but I do mind when those things disappear or are destroyed. Talk to your student about how they can help to keep our classroom community running smoothly. Beginning this week, students can check out supplies from me, but they will need to return them at the end of the period.
• Cell phones and electronics: Students are allowed to use phones, computers and electronics during breaks ONLY unless otherwise cleared with Tony or I. I WILL take them away if they are used during classtime.

Happy New year!



A lot of changes have happened in our class since "last year"!

• Although we lost a couple of students, we gained three awesome new kids: Amanda, Nicholas and Lucas.


• We have a new schedule. We found that lots of time was being wasted with our old schedule and this new one seems to be working wonders.


• Our new MAPS classes include Edu-Dance(you should see their moves!) and Art(wire sculptures)


• We have a class pet. He is a ball python named Steve. He is the most loved reptile in the universe. Who would have thought kids would line up to hold a snake? His favorite place is on someone's wrist during class.

Morning Meetings:
Our morning meetings as always are my favorite time of the day. I love how tight knit our homeroom class is.

Math Skills:
7th graders have been working on mastering integers. 8th graders are working on inequalities in algebra. We have really focused on getting basic skills mastered. Next week both classes will start a graphing project that includes putting the entire school on a coordinate system. Seventh graders will concentrate on the coordinate system and plotting points on an xy graph. 8th graders will learn how to use graphing to solve algebraic equations.

Science:
7th graders kicked off our unit on populations and ecosystems. We are currently learning about genetics and heredity. Ask your student what a larkey is! We plan on incubating chicken eggs in the next couple of weeks.

8th graders kicked off our unit on chemistry. We are currently learning about elements, compounds and mixtures. Ask your student to tell you the difference between a metal and a nonmetal.


Our Unplugged project is well underway. Students are learning about the importance of electricity and what things we need to be "connected" to our society. All students should be done reading "the People of Sparks"by now. We are currently working on gathering information for their podcasts. Each student was to collect three articles pertaining to the topic they chose about energy, electricty or conservation. We will begin Podcast recording next week.

Upcoming events:

• 8th graders are planning a babysitting night fundraiser for Friday February 5 . We hope to turn it into a monthly event where IA parents and maybe parents from the community can drop their kids off for a date night while 8th graders babysit. More details coming in the Sunday nite IA call.
• We scratched the 8th grade Washington DC trip for this year and are planning to go to Sacramento instead. Details are coming! Look forward to a call or email from Clarissa's mom about how we can make this trip a reality.
• For February: Winter Olympics 8th grade Science Service Project. We will be learning about potential and kinetic energy, motion, velocity and acceleration. Hoping to involve the whole school in Winter Olympics games created by us.