Wednesday, December 19th
Today we organized our notebooks so we would be prepared for January.
There are no new tasks but the following should be in their notebooks.
Grade 8
Current Work should contain:
page 32 A&G with graph, Big Fun and Get Reel
page 37#19, Jonah and Anchee - allowances
page 38#25 Transcontinental & Intercity Express
Vocabulary:
linear relationship including y = mx + b, y-intercept, slope, and rate

Grade 7
Current Work should contain:
page 22 and all 5 wumps
pages 28 & 29 # 1-3
Vocabulary:
ratio, proportion, corresponding angles and sides, similar

Tuesday, December 18th
Math
Both 7&8 are doing work to try and solidify concepts as we approach the holiday.  Students are being asked to have their notebooks organized so they can find the material when we return in January 2013.
8th grade
*new tasks: page 41-43 #44-55 These deal with slope as a fraction, decimal or percent, stories paired with graphs, and similarity
*Every one should have page 32 A&B with a graph for Get Reel and Big Fun
page 37#19 about allowances, and page 38#25 with Transcontinental and Innercity.
7th grade
*new tasks; pages 28-29 #1-3, students make characters and determine if they are similar, one of them they create and another is work with a parallelogram.
* Students should have all 5 members of the wump family in their
 "Current Work" section from page 22
*Vocabulary includes; ratio, proportion along with similar and corresponding angles and sides from this booklet "Stretching and Shrinking"

Science 7/8 Wish List

Mr. DeCicco’s Holiday Wish List

As the holiday season approaches many people are appreciative of all around them. Sometimes this includes teachers or classrooms. I am always grateful that others are so thoughtful. I am delighted when I can give these thoughtful gifts back to the classroom. This is what gives me joy as a teacher. This benefits all students. I understand this is a wish list and there are no expectations for families to buy for the classroom.

Wish List Materials:

Magnets, Markers (all colors), Colored Pencils, Tape Measure, Sharpies, Sticker Labels, Staplers, Dry Erase Markers (thick/thin), Poster Paper (large sheets), Scissors, Meter Sticks, Book Stands, 3 Ring Binders, Construction Paper, Paper Clips, Brass Fasteners, Pens (blue/black), Folders with Pockets, 3-4 Backpacks OR other basic supplies.

Sixth Grade Language Arts

Narrative Final Draft Due Wednesday, December 19.

I will be collecting students' published drafts of their most recent stories on Wednesday. First drafts and revision conferences were completed in class. Students have their first drafts in their writing notebooks which they were asked to bring home.
Final drafts may be typed and printed, typed and emailed to me (rmarsh@mtsd-vt.org) or hand-written on white-lined paper. This assignment was given to students last Thursday.
Papers will be graded on the use of narrative strategies (character, setting, plot development and dialogue), sentence and paragraph structure, spelling, grammar, and puncutation.

Monday, December 17th
Math
8th grade
Please encourage students to get work handed in and have their notebooks up-to-date so they will have  smooth re-entry after the holiday.
*Priority: Corrections on a separate sheet of paper and put in the tray if an 85 or greater was not earned on the assessment.
*pages: 32 A&B plus a graph, page 37#19, and page 38#25 should be complete and in the "Current Work" section
*Vocabulary section should contain Frayer Models for
linear relationships (y = mx + b, slope, y-intercept, rate) should all be in the explanation

7th grade
Please encourage students to get work handed in and have their notebooks up-to-date so they will have  smooth re-entry after the holiday.
*Priority: Corrections on a separate sheet of paper and put in the tray if an 85 or greater was not earned on the assessment.
*pages 22 A-C all 5 of the Wumps should be graphed and put in the
"Current Work" section
*Vocabulary: ratio, proportion were the two new words added today.
They should also have Frayer models for : similar and
corresponding sides and angles(page 10 can be helpful)

Friday, December 14th
Math
8th grade
*priority:
Corrections done a separate sheet of paper and attached to the original
*new task: page 38 #25 Transcontenintal and Inner City Express comparisons
*Big Fun and Get Reel page 32 A&B with graph should be done
*Challenge: Page 38 #20 -23 has been changed to a challenge assignment

7th grade
*priority:
Corrections done a separate sheet of paper and attached to the original
*page 22 Mug Wump, Zug & Lug should be done
makin all 5 of them would be the best

Math Grade 6
Choose six problems on each of the two pages to complete
(Mixed Number Division G and Mixed Number Multiplication
G).

Thursday, December 13th
Math
Grade 8
*Check-up corrections on a separate piece of paper and attached to the original if not 85 or better
*page 39#19, page, weekly allowances and chores
and page 33 #20-23 Solving equation (show your work on both sides)
graphs of those equations

Grade 7
* page 22 & 23 make at least two of the figures
We are being introduced to the Wump family and will be connecting this to the concept of similarity.

All House A students have two papers to return to school. Please make sure your children have given you this paperwork. Permission forms went home yesterday (12/11) and breakfast forms went home today (12/12). Students may return forms to their advisors or core teachers. Thank you!

• Field trip permission slip
• Breakfast input form (blue)

Wednesday, December 12th
Math
8th grade
*page 32 A&B also graph
Big Fun and Get Reel Attendance and how it is impacted by the probability of rain

7th grade
*new task   Skill: Similar Figures
*collected: /page 10&11 with Table
page 13#5
Skill: Using Percent
Additional Practice Investigaton #1

Field Trip Form

House A students will be taking an ice skating field trip to Cairn's Arena on Thursday, December 20th. We will leave from school at 9:15 and return at 2:00 pm.  There is a $9 bus fee associated with this field trip and permission slips were handed out today in their classes.  Please sign and return the permission slip with the bus fee as soon as possible.  If you have any questions, please contact one of the house teachers.  We would like everyone to attend and have found that students really enjoy this trip.  Thank you!

Science 7/8

Students received a sheet entitled, "Calculating Density."  We started it in class but they should finish it for homework tonight.  We will review this sheet for tomorrow's class.

Grade 6 Math Homework
Pages 57 and 58
Problems 11-14

Tuesday, December 11th
Math
8th grade
*no new tasks
*pages 27-29 for finding equations for different stories given different types of information
and
Skill: Patterns and Predictions should be complete

7th grade
*no new tasks but there is  a check-up tomorrow
*Tasks listed yesterday should be complete.  It will help them with the check-up, quiz, tomorrow.

Monday, December 10th
Math
8th grade
*Skill:Patterns&Predictions, page 27-29 Car Washes,
should be complete - students should be able to present their work on these in class.

7th grade
*page 10&11 A-E with table, Goal: relationship between copier sizes and new figures. ( Hint: the realationship for area is different from that of perimeter and it is realated to exponents)
*page 13#5 doll house floor plan, Skill: Using percents,
Additional Practice: Investigation 1 all of these were introduced previously and students should be prepared to present their ideas in class.

Sixth Grade students received a family update letter today. It is on blue paper. Please make sure that your child gives it to you. Enjoy the weekend.

Friday, December 7th
Math
8th grade
*handout Skill: Pattern and Prediction
*Our check-up was today

7th grade
*no new tasks
* measurements on Labsheet 1.3, table they created and relationships to the copy sizes should be complete (pages 10&11)

Science 7/8

Students should look at the world around them and think about the various objects in it.  They should pick two or three objects and think about their density.  How compact are these objects?  Try to imagine what is going on inside that object at the microscopic level and draw what you think you'd see if you were able to zoom in at that tiny level.  Write down any questions you may have.  This assignment is due tomorrow at the beginning of class.

Thursday, December 6th
Math
8th grade
*Check-up tomorrow on best-fit lines and equations
*Car washes and analysis including equations for the situations
pages 27 - 29
*Practice on pages 34 & 35 #5&6, 4 if time

7th grade
*pages 10&11 for scaling up and scaling down should be complete with perimeters for the rectangle of the hats and areas for the triangles
The relationship of the copy size to the figures should be reflected upon
*Floor plan of a dollhouse is practice on page 13#5

Sixth Grade Humanities

Homework has been light the last week or two. We are tying up some loose ends as we close out the marking period, complete assessments, and finish our research and writing projects. Please encourage your children to be reading 20-30 minutes per night at home.

Students have done some reading and research in class about an explorer. In the next two days, they will write a summary/short report about their explorer to present to the class next week. The written piece will be due at the end of class on Friday. Some students may opt to do their publishing at home. Their project may be hand written or typed. It must include the five W's, including the explorer's motive for exploration, and a reference list that identifies sources used.

Wednesday, December 5th
8th grade
We had a work day today. Students were to have :
*Labsheet 4.2, Finding Slope handout, page 33#1-3 with Labsheet, page 25A, and page 40#35-36 done and submitted.  All of these assignments are related to linear relationships.

7th grade
We had a work day today. Students were to have:
Page 12#1 about scale, page 14&15 #8-12 with formulas, substitutions, values and units, page 15&16 #14-19 percentage work and a word problem submitted.

Tuesday, December 4th
Math
8th grade
*Car Wash situations page 27 equations for the first three bullets
*page 28 A

old work:
page 40 #35&36 work with tables & equations some needing the use of the distributive property

7th grade
* new task : page 10&11
table with measurements & A-E on page11
*First Challenge of the second trimester:
page 18#24 the possible paths for the ants

at this time:
page 12#1, finding height from reference
page 14 & 15 #8-12 formulas, substitutions, values and units
page 15 & 16 #14 - 19 percentage work, and a word problem
should have been submitted
(They will be entered in Power School after report cards are printed.)

Monday, December 3rd
Math
8th grade
new tasks:
*page 40 #35 & 36 work with formulas in a problem solving situation
*Distributive Property Sheet

Page 25 A and page 33 #1-3 are to be shared tomorrow in class

7th grade
new tasks
*fraction handout,  equivalence
*page 18#4
Collecting pages 15&16 #14-19 tomorrow Dec 4th