Dynamic Dialogue 10/31

Happy Friday Dynamic Team!

Upcoming Events:        Nov.3 – Term 3 begins

                                      Nov. 3 – Explo 2 begins

                                      Nov. 4 – No Student Attendance

                                      Nov. 6 – Orchestra Concert 6:30 pm

                                      Nov. 7 – Term 2 Grades Mailed

Tuesday, 11 November 2014: Forces of Nature Field Trip to Powell Hall.

Important Information:    

Science Summative Assessment on Universe Goal #1 is this Wednesday, 5 November. Students will need to make a graphic organizer based on the information from 2 of the student in-class presentations and their own expertise of those objects from their own research.

English –

Susan Artkras – artkras.susan@wgmail.org

Math-

Please check the portal for updated grades. This week we spent more time on geometry concepts.  On Monday, I will show students how some of these concepts are disguised on standardized tests. And, students will learn how to solve equations with rational numbers.  

Wilma Slaughter – slaughter.wilma@wgmail.org

Science –

Learning Goal #1: I am able to interpret and analyze data to compare and contrast universe objects.

Learning Goal #2: I am able to explain in terms of gravity interactions, motions of specific objects in the universe and solar system.

Universe Objects Research Data Table is due at the start of class on Monday, 3 November, 2014.

Universe Objects Research Graphic Organizer to Compare and Contrast the 3 Objects upon which they completed their research is due at the start of class on Monday, 3 November, 2014.

Universe Objects Research Presentation is due at the start of class on Tuesday, 5 November, 2014.

Summative Assessment on Goal #1 is this Wednesday, 5 November. Students will need to make a graphic organizer based on the information from 2 of the student in-class presentations and their own expertise of those objects from their own research.

In Dynamic Systems Science the students have been doing research on 3 universe objects of their choosing. Some of their choices are inner planets, outer planets, planets, stars, moons, black holes, dark matter, galaxies, spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies, irregular galaxies, dwarf planets, comets, asteroids, rings, etc. They have had all week in class to do their research, put all the results of their research on a Google Classroom Data Table Assignment. Their report must include the MLA formatted citations for their sources. They choose one of their objects to become an expert and teach to the class by doing a presentation due on Wednesday, 5 November. The format of the presentation is of their choosing: a rap, a poster, a song, a poem, a Google Presentation, a video, a poster, a painting, etc.

In Dynamic Systems Science the student’s lab activity this week took 2 days of measuring the circumference and mass of at least 3 pumpkins and calculating the radius, diameter, volume, and density of each pumpkin. Today’s experiment the students measured the time it took for different size pumpkins to fall as well as the depth and size of the crater the pumpkin created! Not only was it TONS OF FUN, but will provide real data to analyze and interpret next week to better understand the role of gravity on universe objects!

If you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Dynamic Science Course Website

http://hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/daniels

Dynamic Systems Science – Coach Daniels - daniels.mark@wgmail.org

314-918-4603

Social Studies –

Students have spent this week exploring the geography of India.  They completed Geo Challenge 3 as well as an additional map activity.  On Thursday, students began an exploration of the Mohenjo-Daro/Harappan civilization by examining pictures of artifacts from the Indus River Valley.  Next week, students will compare the Indus River Valley with either the Nile or Tigris/Euphrates River Valleys.  Later in the week, we will look at Hinduism and the caste system.

Dynamic Social Studies Course Website:

www.hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/pettid

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org

314-918-4602

Please visit the following links for more information: Hixson home page -http://hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson Dr. Smith's blog - http://hixsonprincipal.wordpress.com/

Dynamic Dialogue

Good Afternoon Dynamic Team!

Upcoming Events:        Oct. 27^th – 31^st Red Ribbon Week

                                      Oct. 31^st – Term 2 ends

                                      Oct. 31^st – Explo 1 ends

Important Information:    

Gravity Pumpkin experiment:  Next week the students will be doing a pumpkin drop experiment. If you are able to donate a pumpkin, please have your student bring it in on Monday or Tuesday the week of 27 October 2014!

English –

Susan Artkras – artkras.susan@wgmail.org

How to support your young writer:

• Writing is thinking, so:
• provide a quiet place
• Writing is an auditory skill, so:
• read their writing aloud as the student has written it
• ask student to read it aloud
• encourage them to use Google SpeakIt!
• Writing is about making decisions, so:
• always offer more than one choice
• act as a thesaurus or use a thesaurus to offer choices
• Writing is about building confidence, so:
• reference professional writing, i.e. "This reminds me of..."
• ask, "How can you make this part as strong as this part?"
• Writing is about expressing yourself, so:
• parents, please keep hands off the keyboard (even I struggle with this one)
• let the student make the final decisions whether you agree or not

Math- 

This week students learned how to collect like terms and how to solve 2-step equations. Grades have been updated, please check the portal. If your student is missing a grade(s), I still need to conference with him/her before I record the grade.  

Wilma Slaughter – slaughter.wilma@wgmail.org

Science –

Gravity Pumpkin experiment:  Next week the students will be doing a pumpkin drop experiment. If you are able to donate a pumpkin, please have your student bring it in on Monday or Tuesday the week of 27 October 2014!

Learning Goal: I am able to interpret and analyze data to compare and contrast universe objects.

In order to be proficient the student is able to analyze and interpret data to compare and contrast objects in the universe; such as, sizes of objects, habitable properties, layers of the crust and atmosphere, surface features, orbital radius, etc.

In Dynamic Systems Science the students have been doing research on 3 universe objects of their choosing. Some of their choices are inner planets, outer planets, planets, stars, moons, black holes, dark matter, galaxies, spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies, irregular galaxies, dwarf planets, comets, asteroids, rings, etc. They have had 2 days this week in class to do their research, put all the results of their research on a data table assigned in Google Classroom. They are creating a bibliography using the EasyBib app to create a MLA formatted citation for their sources. They will create a presentation for one of their objects to teach to the class. The format of the presentation is of their choosing: a rap, a poster, a song, a poem, a Google Presentation, a video, a poster, a painting, etc.

One of the class activities on Thursday included real-time chatting with the NASA mission: “Ice Bridge Antarctica -2014.” The website link is below. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/index.html#.VEqT6fnF9u4

The students were able to ask questions which were answered by one of the scientist onboard of the DC 8 plane flying over the South Pole taking measurements of the ice sheets covering Antarctica. The questions included: What is the temperature outside the airplane (flying at 30,000 feet)? Answer: -75°C = -103°F. Ice thickness is between 2000 and 3000 meters. The clothing worn by the 25 staff members on the plane… “warm because it gets pretty chilly in the plane.” Pilots have served in the USA military. The students had a lot of fun chatting with the NASA researchers!

Please ask your student what objects they are researching.

If you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Dynamic Systems Science – Coach Daniels

daniels.mark@wgmail.org

314-918-4603

Social Studies –

Students finished up Egypt this week with a final discussion about King Tutankhamun.  We used the special Ultimate Tut to once again examine the question “How Do We Know What We Know?”  We will touch on this again when we reach The Classical World Unit.  This took a little longer than expected, so we will begin India next week.

Dynamic Social Studies Course Website:

www.hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/pettid

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org

314-918-4602

Please visit the following links for more information: Hixson home page -http://hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson Dr. Smith's blog - http://hixsonprincipal.wordpress.com/

Dynamic Dialogue 10/17/14

Good Afternoon Dynamic Team!

Upcoming Events:     Oct. 24^th – Picture Retake Day

                                   Oct. 24^th – All School Party (see below)

                                     

Important Information:    

Bus Passes were due today.

All-School Party

When: October 24

Time: 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Cost: $5.00, which includes pizza, DJ, photo booth, and other activities 

How to Attend

·         Students may purchase a wristband at lunch on October 17 - 23. 

·         Wristbands will be handed out during 7th hour on October 24. 

·         Students must have a wristband to attend the party. 

Chaperones

Parents who are able to volunteer their time as a chaperone may sign up by clicking here. 

Spiritwear

The deadline for ordering spiritwear has been extended to October 21. You may find more information about spiritwear by clicking here.

English –

Susan Artkras – artkras.susan@wgmail.org

This week in English, student worked on their editor’s mindset by honing their skills at editing. The following notes are from our discussion which may also help parents help their students:

•       requires reading intentionally

–      S-L-O-W-L-Y

–      word by word

–      sentence by sentence

–      line, by line

–      paragraph by paragraph

•       Use your EARS or use a whisper phone

–      Have a buddy read it to you or use SpeakIt! on Google

•       Focus strategies: Cover with ruler or paper, or Edit backwards from the end

–      Use a checklist to edit one convention (rule) at a time

•       Editors use Resources: grammar book, dictionary, web-based writing resources, such as Purdue OWL

Tuesday, students visited the library and practiced logging into Destiny Quest the library’s web-based management system.

And finally, the end of our unit on names has arrived with the reading of two final poems, “The Angst of Hero Naming” and “Jabberwocky.” Students read and discussed both poems before voting on which poem would move forward in our Poetry Wars competition. 

Discussion grading criteria: 

• respond with relevancy
• make eye contact
• ask probing questions
• research unknown words, etc.
• make connections to other texts, self and to the world
• refer to the text
• acknowledge other viewpoints respectfully
• come prepared with documents to participate

Next week, we will revise the name essays and begin a new unit.

Math- 

Because this was our first major assessment, I decided not to post grades from the Accentuate the Negative unit this week, because students will have an opportunity to correct missed problems.  This week in class students learned the 4 basic one-step equations and some basic geometry concepts. Next week, students will learn 2-step equations and more geometry concepts. All students have an enrichment algebra packet and a geometry packet; they should do a page or two each night for homework.   

Wilma Slaughter – slaughter.wilma@wgmail.org

Science –

Dynamic Science Course Website

http://hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/daniels

Dynamic Systems Science – Coach Daniels - daniels.mark@wgmail.org

Social Studies –

Students have continued to work on the Egypt projects this week.  They were given time in class to complete the projects.  Some students chose to share their projects with the class and some are sharing them with me alone.  I am excited to see what they have learned and how they put it all together.  Additionally, students were given two chapters to read and asked to complete the accompanying Reading Notes.  Students had access to all of the materials by Tuesday and were allowed to choose what to work on at school and what to work on at home.  They should be turning in those activities by Monday.  Next week, we will finish up Egypt with a group activity and move on to India.

Dynamic Social Studies Course Website:

www.hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/pettid

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org

314-918-4602

Please visit the following links for more information: Hixson home page -http://hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson Dr. Smith's blog - http://hixsonprincipal.wordpress.com/

Dynamic Dialogue 10/10/14

Hello Dynamic Team!

Upcoming Events:

Sept. 30^th – Oct. 14^th Book Fair

If you did not make an appointment for a parent/teacher conference, please contact Coach Daniels so an appointment can be scheduled.  daniels.mark@wgmail.org 

“Forces of Nature” Multimedia Symphony Field Trip – Powell Hall Tuesday, 11 November 9:00.

Pairing planet images and information with symphony music, audiences will be in awe at how the power of nature and various phenomena on Planet Earth and Beyond have inspired famous works.  Just added to this awesome line-up is the Theme from Star Wars!                                     

Important Information:    

English –

Susan Artkras – artkras.susan@wgmail.org

On Monday students visited the Hixson Book Fair to browse the offerings and make wish lists. Students may visit the book fair during class to make purchases. Visit the book fair and make purchases online: http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=hixsonmiddle1

Also this week, students have been steadily working to complete their essays about their names. First submissions for feedback are due by the end of class on Thursday. Mini-lessons have been provided for constructing a sophisticated introduction with both hook and thesis, organizing the points of discussion in the body, and developing a conclusion that echoes the thesis and makes an appeal to readers. Supporting documents for mini-lessons are available online on your student’s Google drive.

Early next week we will take some time away from writing to read, analyze and discuss two more poems about names: “Jabberwocky” and “The Angst of Hero Naming.” 

Math- 
Next week, students will learn how to solve multiplication/division equations (which should be a review for most students), because they learned this skill at Steger last year.  Mainly, I will concentrate on solving 2-step equations (which is a new skill for most students). Also by the end of next week, the Accentuate the Negative  grades should be posted on the portal. 

Wilma Slaughter – slaughter.wilma@wgmail.org

Science –

In Dynamic Science this week the students had their summative assessment over the Scientific Inquiry on Tuesday. Wednesday was our rapid paced half-day, 25 minute class period schedule which included both a health fair and career fair. Thursday they created a GoogleSheet data table and are in the process of using functions to calculate: average, sum, median, mode, maximum, minimum, and range. For most students this is their first time using a spreadsheet program, so the learning curve was VERY STEEP today; however, from this point on our data tables will be on spreadsheets. The next step will create graphs of their data digitally. Next week we will begin Universe Objects unit… “to infinity and beyond!”

If you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Dynamic Science Course Website

http://hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/daniels

Dynamic Systems Science – Coach Daniels - daniels.mark@wgmail.org

Social Studies –

Students have been working on their Egypt project this week.  The research will be in the form of a webquest but the product can be either paper or multi-media (student’s choice).  Students have had the entire week of class time to work on this project – please ask them to show you what they are doing.  It is due next Thursday.

Dynamic Social Studies Course Website:

www.hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/pettid

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org

314-918-4602

Please visit the following links for more information: Hixson home page -http://hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson Dr. Smith's blog - http://hixsonprincipal.wordpress.com/

Dynamic Dialogue 10/3/14

Good Afternoon Dynamic Team!

Upcoming Events:     Sept. 30^th – Oct. 14^th Book Fair

                                   Oct. 7^th, 8^th, 9^th – Conferences (see below)

                                   Oct. 8^th – Early Dismissal

                                   October 10^th – No School

Important Information:    

English –

Susan Artkras – artkras.susan@wgmail.org

Math-

Today, students finished the (Integers & Rational Numbers) assessments, and we will grade these in class next week.  Also starting next week, I will combine two units Comparing & Scaling (Ratio, Proportion and Percents) and Variables and Patterns (Introducing Algebra), students will receive two books for this unit. 




Wilma Slaughter – slaughter.wilma@wgmail.org

Science –

In Dynamic Systems Science the students finished up the Scientific Inquiry unit skills which we will continue to develop over the course of the year. The students will take the Summative Assessment on Tuesday, 7 October, 2014. They should be finishing studying for the test this weekend.

This week the students were enrolled into  Google Classroom.

If they did not finish their GoogleClassroom Goal Check/Study Guide they should this weekend.

If you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Dynamic Systems Science – Coach Daniels

daniels.mark@wgmail.org

314-918-4603

Social Studies –

Students have been exploring ancient Egypt this week and practicing completion of assignments through my website.  Students have been emailing me assignments and on Wednesday began an interactive assignment on Egypt.  It is located here.  Next week, students will be working on their Egypt project.  The research will be in the form of a webquest but the product can be either paper or multi-media (student’s choice).  Students will have the entire week of class time to work on this project, but you should see them working on it at home.

Dynamic Social Studies Course Website:

www.hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/pettid

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org

314-918-4602

Please visit the following links for more information: Hixson home page -http://hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson Dr. Smith's blog - http://hixsonprincipal.wordpress.com/