Homework and Notes from 10/30/14

Homework:

Math:

Simplifying Proper Fractions Worksheet



Notes:




Halloween Dance tomorrow from 12:45 to 1:45! Feel free to wear a costume! No masks please :)



Today in Current Events, we read the article Is This Video Game Collection Worth $164,000? from Time's website. He has a video game collection that he is willing to sell. More than 4,000 of the games are Nintendo-related, says seller reel.big.fish, with the majority from the 1980s and 1990s (he calls this period “the golden age” of gaming, which, just forget all the problems with such nostalgic labels, identifies the demographic the eBay sale’s targeting). The collection includes “multiple complete sets from Nintendo and Sega,” and “arguably” every retail game Nintendo put out from 1985 to 2000 (in the video below, the seller notes he’s only missing Stadium Events, though he has a reproduction cart). Other systems represented in the software mix include Atari, PlayStation, Sega, TurboGrafx and Xbox.



We baked Brownies for the Halloween Dance tomorrow. The class did a great job working together and following directions to make delicious and fudgy brownies.

Homework and Notes from 10/29/14

Homework:

Math:

Pick 10 questions from Multiplying Fractions Worksheet
(same as classwork, use scrap paper for showing work)

English:
Grammar Worksheet

Notes: 



Today was Picture Day! Everyone did a great job smiling for the camera.



Friday is the Halloween Dance. It will be during school. We encourage you to dress up in your finest costumes! Here is the letter from Mrs. Gagliardi!






In Social Studies, we continued to read about Reconstruction in the South. The 17th U.S. President, following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Johnson presided over the Reconstruction era in the four years after the Civil War. His position favoring the white South came under heavy political attack and his vetoes of civil rights bills embroiled him in a bitter dispute with Radical Republicans, ultimately resulting in him becoming the first President to be impeached, though he was found not guilty.
 

Homework and Notes from 10/28/14

Homework:

English:

Finish Chapter 11 Questions for Red Badge of Courage
(Folded in book)

Chapter 11

Questions
What separates Henry from this column of infantry?
What is it that prevents Henry from going back to the front?
What is Henry's line of reasoning through the last several paragraphs?
What theme does Henry dwell on throughout this chapter?

Math:

Multiplying Fractions Worksheet

12 Questions

Notes:



Picture Day is on tomorrow Wednesday October 29th! Just a reminder!


Friday October 31st is our Halloween Dance. It will be during school! You are encouraged to wear a costume!

Homework and Notes from 10/27/14

Happy Monday!

Homework:

Math:

Rational Numbers

1-15 Worksheet
*Turn Fractions into Decimals

Notes:


Today in Current Events, we read an article entitled World's Biggest Spider Weighs As Much As a Newborn Puppy from Dogo News and written by Meera Dolasia. If you shriek in fear at the sight of the tiniest of spiders, you may want to avoid the rainforests of Suriname, Guyana, northern Brazil and southern Venezuela, where the Goliath birdeater dwells! Listed in the Guinness World Records as the world's biggest spider, the terrifying-looking arachnid weighs a hefty six ounces, (almost the same weight as a newborn puppy), and has a leg span that extends out a foot (the size of a child's forearm). The giant terrestrial creatures that belong to the Tarantula family, live inside deep burrows in marshy or swampy areas are nocturnal and take between 3 to 6 years to mature. Though the males die soon after, females can live for up to 25 years



In Social Studies today, we started Chapter 3! We are talking about Reconstruction and rebuilding the South after the damage that was done during the Civil War. In the history of the United States, the term Reconstruction Era has two senses: the first covers the complete history of the entire country from 1865 to 1877 following the Civil War; the second sense focuses on the transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877



Picture Day is on Wednesday October 29th! Just a reminder!


Friday October 31st is our Halloween Dance. It will be during school! You are encouraged to wear a costume!

Homework and Notes from 10/24/14

Homework:

NO Homework! Have a great weekend

Notes:


Today we took our Chapter 2 Test in Social Studies! The students did great! I am so proud of all of them! Our average grade was 88.6%! Great job!





We had our weekly duty of Cafe Clean Up. Room 209 knocked it out of the park, leaving the cafeteria squeaky clean! Great job guys!




Picture Day is next Wednesday 10/29/14.

Homework and Notes from 10/23/14

Homework:




Social Studies Test on Chapter 2
STUDY for test on Review Sheet

Math:
Rational Number worksheets
#29-40 on worksheet
*Some finished in class

Notes:



Tomorrow is Friday! Pizza will be ordered for 2 dollars a slice.

Homework and Notes from 10/22/14

Homework:

Math:
Textbook page 88-89
#s 40-60 (made a copy of textbook pages)

Social Studies
Chapter 2 Test on Friday!

Notes:



In English, we read Chapter 7 and 8 from Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Here are the questions we answered in class.

Chapter 7

Questions

Do you think this is a fair way to look at what had occurred?

Henry was looking for solace and justifications for his actions. Do you think he found them? What is the significance of his finding a dead body instead?

Chapter 8

Questions

What realization has Henry arrived at here?

What makes Henry uncomfortable in this place?

Why would Henry not want to talk about the battle?

Do you think there is a central moral or theme in this chapter? Why not, or what is it? In Health, we learned about the Respiratory System. All of the systems in your body work together. Each system has its own job to do, but each system also depends on the others. You will see how this works as you learn about the respiratory system. The respiratory system is the system that takes in oxygen that you need to live and gets rid of the carbon dioxide wastes from the cells. It includes your nose, nasal passages, windpipe, lungs, and diaphragm. Every minute, your respiratory system breathes in about thirteen pints of air. It starts with your nose. You inhale fresh air about twenty times every minute. The air is drawn through your nasal passages, which clean the air by filtering out particles that you wouldn't want in your lungs. Mucus takes care of this part of the job. That's why it's so sticky, to capture unwanted stuff in the air. Sometimes, when your nose feels like getting rid of this yucky stuff fast, you sneeze.

Homework and Notes from 10/21/14

Homework:

Math:

Rational Numbers Worksheet
#s 1-28


Notes:

Don't forget to wear Orange for Anti Bullying Day!!



In English today we read Chapter 6 in Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane.  We discussed many of the recurring themes in the story. We also tackled these questions and answered them in our English notebooks.

Chapter 6

Questions

Do you get a good impression of the death and destruction being caused by soldiers? As you continue to read, pay attention to how the battle, and associated casualties reflect the realities of the war.

Explain this sudden change within the regiment from contentment to horror.

Explain this paragraph in your own words.

What are these guns engaged in at this moment?

Explain what has happened since Henry ran from his line. As In Current Events we read an article entitled A Peek Inside The World's First Carbon Neutral City from Dogo News. As the world becomes more aware of the risks of climate change and the importance of sustainable energy sources, individuals and communities are increasingly taking measures to reduce their carbon footprint. Some are building "passive homes", to take advantage of natural sun and wind patterns, while others are installing solar panels or windmills, to power their homes. But never before has there been an entire "green" city - one that relies solely on renewable energy sources and smart design elements, to eliminate its carbon footprints.

Homework and Notes from 10/20/14

Homework:

Math:

Rational Numbers Worksheet
#s 1-28

Life Skills
Bridging People and Places Life Skills Packet
Reading Comprehension, Cloze and Spelling Activity

Notes:

National Anti-Bullying Day

Wednesday 10/22/14 is National Anti-Bullying Day. Please wear orange!



We completed our Orienteering Activities today where the students had to work together and use problem solving skills to solve riddles around the school. Thanks to Mr. Mergl and Mrs. Giordano for the awesome activity. We are looking forward to future trips in the community where we utilize these skills.



In Social Studies we have been reviewing ALL of Chapter 2 about the Civil War. We have a test on Friday 10/24/14! Just a friendly reminder :)



In Math, we started Chapter 2 and took on the challenging on understanding Rational Numbers

A Rational Number: Any number that can be made by dividing one integer by another. The word comes from "ratio".

Examples:

1/2 is a rational number (1 divided by 2, or the ratio of 1 to 2)
0.75 is a rational number (3/4)
1 is a rational number (1/1)
2 is a rational number (2/1)
2.12 is a rational number (212/100)
-6.6 is a rational number (-66/10)

Homework and Notes from 10/17/14

NO HOMEWORK

Notes: 

Have a great weekend!! 

--

On Monday 10/20/14, we have two Orienteering activities at school from 10:00-11:00 and 1:00-2:30. It will be facilitated by the transition department. Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point.

Picture Day is on October 29, 2014.

We have a Halloween Dance on Friday 10/31/14. You can wear a costume that is appropriate at school.

Homework and Notes from 10/16/14

Homework:

Math:

Integers Math worksheet Review
Questions #s 54-65

English:

Finish Chapter 1 of Red Badge of Courage Questions

What season is being described here?

What do you think would lead the private to believe the time of wars was past?

Explain in your own words what theory is captured in this paragraph.

What inspired Henry to enlist?

Which side of the civil war will Henry fight for?

Explain in your own words what effect all of the praise and attention had on Henry.

What distinction is Henry drawing in his self-awareness?

What is the major message in this chapter?

Notes:

Pizza Friday

Tomorrow is Friday which means we have Clubs from 1:00 to 2:00. We also will be ordering pizza. If you would like to buy some, they are 2 dollars a slice!

In English we started to read our first novel of the school year entitled The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. The Red Badge of Courage is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane. Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle.

In Current Events we read the article entitled No Step Goes Wasted on This Soccer Field from Dogo News. The kids that live at the Morro da Mineira slum in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro love to play soccer on the nearby community field. However, thanks to constant power shortages, they could rarely extend their games beyond sunset. Now, thanks to some innovative thinking and extraordinary technology, the young players will be able to use the field all night long if they wish, provided . . . they keep running! That's because at this newly renovated soccer pitch, all the kinetic energy expended by the players is harnessed and used to power the lights. The hi-tech field, which was officially opened on September 10th by legendary soccer player Pele, was spearheaded by Royal Dutch Shell's "Let's Go" initiative that encourages people to find new ways to deliver energy from cleaner and more sustainable sources.

Check out the video about the article!

In Health we continued our Healthy Eating Campaign. We also continued to work on our Powerpoint presentations that we will present in order to create healthier options at the Gersh Academy School Store.

In Social Studies, we finished Chapter 2 in our textbook today. The Civil War has been finished and we are ready to learn about Reconstruction. We will having our Chapter 2 Social Studies test on Friday 10/24/14. We will be completing our review sheet during the week and use it as a study guide!

Homework and Notes from 10/15/14

Homework:

English:

Syllables worksheet 
(write the number of syllables each word)

Social Studies:
Jefferson Davis writing prompt
Answer in complete sentences

Jefferson Davis did not want to be President of the Confederacy. He supported states' rights but did not want the Union dissolved. How would this make his new position more difficult? ANSWER IN COMPLETE SENTENCES

Notes:



In Science today we continued our unit about the Solar System. We talked about stars and how they are created.What is a star? A star is a giant ball of gases held together by gravity. It makes heat and light. Different stars produce different amounts of energy. The amount of energy given off determines the star's surface temperature and color. Red stars are cooler, yellow stars like our sun are a little hotter, and blue stars are the hottest.



In Social Studies we talked about Prisoners of War during the Civil War. When the Civil War began, there was no real need to build prison camps. Prisoners were exchanged right after the battle was over or within days after the fact. One private was traded for another, a general for a general, and so on. If there were not enough men of a certain rank to exchange, they could be paroled instead. The specific rules for this were worked out in the July 1862 Dix-Hill Cartel. A parolee was under promise not to return to the battle until the right number of men had been exchanged to even the balance. The Dix-Hill Cartel soon failed due to several problems. The Confederate government refused to exchange black prisoners, saying they would be treated as runaway slaves. Also, many Southern parolees did not honor the agreement. They quickly returned to duty, which is what happened after Vicksburg. An interesting pattern began to develop regarding exchanged prisoners. Those from the Union often went home after being exchanged. Those from the South often went back to their units to continue fighting. They were in it for the long haul, and their experience made them more valuable. Union Secretary of War Edwin Stanton decided in October 1862, that prisoner exchanges would stop. The Federal government was well aware that the Confederacy had limited resources, and if the North couldn't win on the battlefield, they would do it through depletion. By forcing the South to house, feed, and guard prisoners, they could use up valuable resources.



In Health we talked about strong muscles and how to keep them that way. Like all of the body's systems, the muscular system needs proper care and attention to stay in good shape. Muscles that are in good shape will be both strong and healthy. Luckily, it's not hard to remember what you need to do to maintain healthy muscles because what is good for the rest of the body is good for the muscles, too. Muscles are bundles of cells called muscle fibers, and like all cells, muscle cells need energy to do their job. Their energy comes from the food you eat. Some people say that for lots of energy you need special food, like extra amounts of carbohydrates, energy bars, or special sports drinks. While some adult athletes do eat a special diet, this is not necessary for younger people. A well-balanced diet will provide all of the energy that your muscles need.



Our job interviews have been underway from many job openings around the school! The students have been doing such an excellent job during the interview process. Great job!