Supplies and Drivers needed

UPCOMING:

• A possible change in Friday lunch fundraiser: We are going to try out Panda Express or Subway Sandwiches for the month of March.
• Beach Bums Club Field Trip Change: We will be going to La Jolla Children's Pool on Friday during clubs. Drivers needed.
• 7th and 8th grade Camp Pendleton Hovercraft Fieldtrip Tuesday March 8. DRIVERS NEEDED. We need license plate numbers for military clearance for all drivers asap by Wed March 2.

MATH:
EVENT PLANNING PROJECT is well under way. Students are planning activities and troubleshooting snags in their planning. This past week students learned how to convert decimals and fractions to percentages.

SCIENCE:
Our HOVERCRAFT PROJECT started Monday. Students were introduced to Newton's First Law of Motion while building mini hovercrafts with cds and balloons. On Tuesday and Thursday, students were given a set of instructions and a supply list for the construction of their 4ft hovercrafts. If you can help with the supplies, we would really appreciate it. Our goal is to start working on the construction next Tuesday and Thursday. I will have the plywood cut outside of class. Students have decided within their groups their team name and theme. The designs are looking fantastic! Students should be well into Zingy Learning. On Wednesday we worked on Lesson 6: Topics 1-3 in class. If your student is not that far, please help them work on it at home.

BEACHBUMS:Our Beach Bums Club went to Sea World last Friday. The storm held off long enough for us to have a beautiful afternoon. Our guide was Keith Yip, curator of mammals. He took us behind the scenes where we got to learn how the animals are fed and cared for. We saw a baby harbor seal, a green sea turtle and a deaf pilot whale, all rescued from the wild and otherwise would have died. We also got up close and personal with many other animals. Mr. Yip was very impressed with how well our students listened and paid attention during the tour. I hope we can build a relationship with Sea World so we can do this again.

Projects Projects!

Time is flying by!
UPCOMING THIS WEEK: Whole school yearbook photo on Thursday at 2:00. Turn in Vons receipts and Box Tops. Pizza Friday(we need help picking up pizza)

MATH:
We are well on our way into the planning process of our EVENT PLANNING PROJECT. Our essential questions for this project is "How do the PARTS contribute to the WHOLE? Throughout the planning, students will incorporate the math concepts of fractions, decimals and percentages into their planning.

• 7th graders chose to work on 3 events: Field Day for grades 6 thru 8, School Sleepover(Lock In) for grades 4 thru 8, and a 7th grade Beach Bonfire.



• 8th graders are working on 4 things. One event is 8th Grade Promotion. The other three involve our Sacramento Trip. One group is working on Food and Supplies, another is working on the Itinerary and the last group is working on Lodging.

SCIENCE:
We finally started Zingy Learning! Students were given their own username and password so they can use this program at their own pace at school or at home. We are currently completing Lesson 6 - Motion. This coordinates with our HOVERCRAFT PROJECT starting Monday. Students will learn about speed, velocity, acceleration, bouyancy, friction and momentum during this fun project. Students will be constructing 4 ft diameter hovercrafts out of plywood, plastic and a leafblower. If anyone has access to plywood or gas powered leafblowers, please let me know. The plywood does not need to be new.

BEACHBUMS:

Our Beach Bums Club went to Mission Beach last Friday. We braved the weather and had a great time picking up trash and walking on the jetty. We almost had to cancel because we did not have enough drivers. Thank you Jaq's mom and Austin's mom and Fortunately we had some non parent drivers who also helped out. Thank you Luisa, Julian and Michelle.

Our next trip this upcoming Friday is behind the scenes at Sea World. Again I need help with drivers! This trip is a rare opportunity that not many kids get to get up close and personal with dolphins, pilot whales and other sea animals.

******I have a special request: It seems that some 7th and 8th graders do not feel a sense of urgency to turn in work on time. All Detective Reports were due on Tuesday. Out of 10 groups, I only have 3 group's reports turned in. I would like to debrief both classes and uncover the guilty suspect but I will not do that until all reports are in. Please ask your student if assignments have been turned in.

End of Semester

This past month has been a busy one! We went on two field trips, had an eighth grade beach bar-b-que, had an awesome intern, Katy with us as well as do a lot of school stuff!

In math, students studied the properties of equality, solving one, two and multi-step equations and combining like terms. We learned about factoring and the beginnings of fractions. We are kicking off an "Event Planning" project next Tuesday where we are looking at "How do the parts contribute to the whole?" We will be investigating in detail the concepts of fractions, decimals and percentages.

Our science mystery is almost solved! Students interviewed suspects and investigated evidence for a mock arson this past month. They are putting their finishing touches on their Detective Reports as I write this. After wrapping it up next week, I am introducing our new Zingy Learning Online Science program. This will be an ongoing program that will be integrated into our science curriculum. Our next science project is buiding hovercrafts. More info coming soon!

Clubs started this month. I am part of the Beach Bums Club. We are learning about sea creatures from the ocean and will have three fieldtrips coming up in the next few Fridays. Some of our eighth graders are in my club. Ask your student which club they joined.

Report Cards went out this past week. If you have any questions or would like to come in to discuss them or your student, please see me.

Spring is in the air and our middle schoolers are maturing. It is so fun to watch how much they have grown since the beginning of the year.

Last week before the holidays!

Two thank yous:
I neglected to acknowledge all of those who helped with our last Family Night Potluck. We had an amazing turnout! It was nice to visit with everyone and enjoy the yummy food. Thank you to everyone who contributed!

Our UCSD fieldtrip was a great success because of the help of our drivers. We couldn't have done it without you. Our Student Ambassador, Bijan, told us that he thought we were a great class and he appreciated how well behaved and attentive we were compared to most middle school student tours he gives!

Upcoming Events
• Pizza Friday Fundraiser $3 one slice $4 two slices

• 7th Grade Bake Sale: Friday

• Winter Break: Dec 20-Jan 2

• No School Monday Jan. 3: Professional Growth Day for teachers

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. So far we have these drivers: Lisa(6), Tony (4), Crystal (4), Kaleb (4), Andrew C (3), Andrew G (3), James (4), Elena(5), Brittney (?)


Class Happenings
Math:
Students had a math test today covering functions and graphing. Our next unit includes solving algebraic equations in single step, two step and multiple steps. The goal of this unit is to help students look at an equation and break it apart into smaller, understandable steps. Algebraic equations are all around us. We use them in science, money, measurement, food etc. My hope is to take away the fear of "the algebra monster" by giving students the tools to solve any math problem.

Science:
We are almost ready to present our "second round" of posters. Students chose elements or groups of elements from the periodic table to create a poster and presentation. I have seen a great improvement as well as dedication to researching the information compared to the first time around with the atomic theory posters. We took a little more time than I expected to finish up but the results far outweigh the time lost. I am using this time to teach the importance of doing excellent work as opposed to mediocre work. During presentations of their elements, students will also be assessed on their listening as well as speaking skills.

Two weeks left until winter break! We have much to do!

Upcoming Events

• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD
So far we have enough drivers for 35 students. We need 40. Here is what I have so far. () = number of passengers:
Lisa(6), Andrew C (3), Maggie (4), Crystal (4), Eddie (4), James(4), Brittney (6), Tony (4), Andrew G (?)

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. So far we have these drivers: Lisa(6), Tony (4), Crystal (4), Kaleb (4), Andrew C (3), Andrew G (3), James (4), Elena(5), Brittney (?)


Class Happenings
Math:
Students continued learning about and identifying the slope and y-intercept. We finished the Stretching Slinkies Project and started Who Wins the Race?, an inquiry into how do we figure out a word problem? Students are using graphs diagrams and words to explain how they came up with their conclusions. Eventually students will use their conclusions to determine slopes and y-intercepts.

Science
We critiqued our posters about the discovery of atoms and will be using that information to create even BETTER posters to represent the periodic table, metals, nonmetals and metalloids. This information will be used for the mystery next week.

Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving break!

Upcoming Events

• Family Night this Thursday Dec 2 Potluck!
Please bring favorite dishes according to your last name:
A-K: Main Dish to serve 6-8 people
L-R: Side Dish plus 1- 2Liter drink
S-Z: Dessert plus 1-2Liter drink

• No School Friday Dec 3 Teacher Professional Development Day

• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD(drivers needed for 40 kids. please let me know asap if you can drive)

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. Drivers needed!

Class Happenings
Math:
Students continued learning about and identifying the slope and y-intercept. Using pattern blocks, we determined equations of lines. We also learned how to graph a line in just a few seconds using only the slope and y-intercept.
Science:
Before the break, students designed posters to present information they learned about the discovery of atoms and elements. We also"created" edible cookie atoms to understand the structure of the atom and where protons neutrons and electrons are located. We are gathering more information about elements this week before our actual investigation into a “crime scene” that takes place at IA next week.

Fundraising update: We earned over $100 at our second Pizza day! We have over $1100 in our account for Sacramento. Our goal is $10,500 (500 per student)though so we have a lot of work to do!

****A special thank you Crystal’s Family for hosting our garage sale on November 6. Thanks to donations from IA families, we raised $695.37 for our Sacramento trip!

Upcoming Events
• Pizza Fridays I need parent help setting up and picking up pizzas!
• No School Next Week Nov 22-26! Happy Thanksgiving
• Family Night Thursday Dec 2 Potluck! Bring your favorite family dish
• No School Friday Dec 3 Teacher Professional Development Day
• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD(drivers needed)

Class Happenings
The last couple of weeks in math have been devoted to introducing functions, function rules and the Cartesian coordinate plane. We played Human Twister to solidify the meaning of the origin, the x-axis, y-axis and graphing ordered pairs. Students are learning how to define slope and y-intercept and use them in linear equations written in the slope-intercept form. We started an ongoing Stretching Slinkies experiment where students gathered data about pennies and nickles. Students graphed the information they gathered and will be using those graphs to find function rules, slope and y-intercept for their data.

Science this month was devoted to more hands on labs. In the wrap-up of our "What's the Matter?" unit, we investigated solids, liquids and gases and their characteristic properties. Students created a non-Newtonian fluid – sometimes known as oobleck or sticky sand. It’s a liquid, no, it’s a solid, no wait, it’s a liquid again! We discovered that one plus one does not always equal two by measuring the height of two cups of water and then measuring the height of one cup water plus one cup sugar. We watched a Styrofoam cup painted like a witch “melt” when set in acetone. We just started our new unit on Atoms and Elements. Our culminating activity will include an investigation into a “crime scene” that takes place at IA.

If you haven’t heard, the 8th graders have been busy raising money and learning real life math skills at the same time. Before our first Friday Pizza Day, students estimated that about 1/3 of the students at IA would order pizza. They calculated the cost of supplies, a breakdown of individual meals, and profit margin. It was exciting to see that our estimations were spot on! We estimated we would sell 67 meals and the actual total was 65. Our class profited $105 after expenses. We look forward to doing it again this upcoming Friday.

FYI the Academic Language Quiz 5 included the words: Domain, Range, Coordinate Plane, Axis, Origin, Ordered Pair, Function, and Function rule I was impressed with how many students did really well on this quiz! I think they are getting the hang of it!
Academic Language Quiz 6 is this Friday(Nov 19)
Math terms:
Slope
Y-intercept
Linear Equation
Slope-intercept Form
Science terms:
Atoms
Model
Theory
Nucleus
Electron
Electron Cloud