Weekly Willow Nov 14-18

Welcome to the Willow Weekly.  Here you will find all of your Team Willow news and information.  Please sign up for automatic updates and you will be notified whenever an update is made.

Upcoming Events:

Thanksgiving Break November 23-25
Jug wars start November 28th!
Winter break December 21- January 3rd

Important Information: 
If you are interested in contributing to a Hixson Holiday Basket you can find information here.

After school help sessions and activities began Sept. 6th. At least one teacher from Willow will be available for help on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until 4:00. A list of other after school opportunities can be found here.

Please pay for your Team Willow T-shirts! $8 to Ms. K before Thanksgiving break!

English –

Don't forget to stay updated with what's going on in ELA by visiting blog.katiekraushaar.com

Social Studies –
This week in Social Studies, we have been working towards the summative test.  I moved the test to Monday since students also had another test this Friday.  We have reviewed information together and students were given several days of class time to complete their study guides.  Today I posted the answers to the study guide on my website.

While students were working on their study guides, I continued conferencing about projects.  Please ask to see them – they are wonderful!

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

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org

314-918-4602

Math- 

The students took a test this week over learning targets 1 through 3. We started solving equations this week!!

algebra finished chapter 4 and will be taking their test next week!

 Check out my blog for some of the great things we've been doing in class. 

I found a nice website, check it out! Sign up for Table Talk Math here! The goal of this site is to provide clarity for what students could be doing to increase their math fluency and also provide prompts to discuss around the dinner table (or anywhere, for that matter).

To sign up for math homework updates message @math7port to 81010

algebra homework updates- message @a493a to 81010 

Ashley Porter 

porter.ashley@wgmail.org

mathrm214.blogspot.com

Science –

Willow Science

Gravity and Moon Summative was today.

Here are suggested conversation starters for your young engineer:

• How did you feel/what did  you think - about the gravity test today?
• How did you feel/what did  you think - about the gravity test today?

The targets this week have been:

1. Goal 2: I am able to develop and use models to describe the role of gravity
2. Goal 3:  I am able to develop and  use models  to describe cyclic patterns of lunar phases..

The cross-cutting concepts have been:

1. Patterns: Observing patterns & events guides organization and classification & leads to understanding of relationships.
2. Cause and Effect: Investigating and explaining causal relationships may predict & explain events.

Activities students participated in this week:

1. Monday - Reviewed gravity & Moon concepts and began study guide review questions.
2. Tuesday - Formative Assessments on gravity and moon via www.quia.com/web
3. Wednesday - Self-assess readiness, updated goal and vocabulary tracking, completed review questions, students asked questions needing clarification.
4. Thursday - Corrected Review Questions and studied for Summatives.
5. Friday - Gravity and Moon Summative was today.

Vocabulary Emphasis this week:

1. }Moon phases Cause & Effect = Explain why we see each of the moon phases?
2. Vocabulary: Axis, Ellipse, Gravity, Orbit, Revolution, and Rotation.

NEXT WEEK the students will be working on understanding the causes of seasons next week.

Goal 4:  I am able to develop and use models to describe cyclic patterns of Earth’s seasons.

4	I demonstrate innovation, in-depth inference(s), or advanced application(s) with the learning goal. In addition to level 3 I am able to: critique models to demonstrate understanding motions that cause Earth’s seasons.
3	I am able to model motions that cause or result from Earth’s seasons: axial tilt. sunlight intensity. change in shadows.

Goal 5:  I am able to develop and use models to describe cyclic patterns of eclipses.

4	I demonstrate innovation, in depth inference(s), or advanced application(s) with the learning goal. In addition to level 3 I am able to: critique models to demonstrate understanding motions that cause eclipses.
3	I am able to: model motions that cause eclipses.

If you have any questions or concerns please email me!

Team Willow Science – Mr. Daniels - daniels.mark@wgmail.org

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/

11/7 - 11/11

Welcome to the Willow Weekly.  Here you will find all of your Team Willow news and information.  Please sign up for automatic updates and you will be notified whenever an update is made.

Upcoming Events:

November 17th- Session one After School Activities end 
Gravity and Moon Summative Assessment is next Friday, 18 November!
Thanksgiving Break November 23-25

Important Information: 
If you are interested in contributing to a Hixson Holiday Basket you can find information here.

After school help sessions and activities began Sept. 6th. At least one teacher from Willow will be available for help on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until 4:00. A list of other after school opportunities can be found here.

Please pay for your Team Willow T-shirts! $8 to Ms. K before Thanksgiving break!

English –

We have begun drafting our realistic fiction pieces! Ask your students about their "crappy first drafts" that they started today in class. For more about my philosophy about this approach to drafting, check out my blog below! 

Don't forget to stay updated with what's going on in ELA by visiting blog.katiekraushaar.com

Social Studies –

This week in Social Studies, we began wrapping up our time in Ancient Egypt with a little detour to the modern world.  On Monday, students participated in KidsVote, and cast their votes in a mock election.  Their ballot looked just like yours, so they were able to vote on everything.  On Wednesday, we discussed the results of both the mock and the real election (which were very different).  Projects were due on Wednesday.  I’ve been conferencing with students individually and have seen some wonderful work.  Any revisions should be in to me by next Wednesday.

The summative test over Mesopotamia and Egypt will be next Friday.  I will hand out a study guide on Monday, and students will be given time in class to fill it out. www.hixson.webster.k12.mo.us/pages/Hixson/Classes/pettid

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org

314-918-4602

Math- 

7th grade will take a test soon over those three learning targets of combining like terms, distributing and factoring.

Algebra students started chapter 4 this week about functions, patterns and linear vs nonlinear.

 Check out my blog for some of the great things we've been doing in class. 

I found a nice website, check it out! Sign up for Table Talk Math here! The goal of this site is to provide clarity for what students could be doing to increase their math fluency and also provide prompts to discuss around the dinner table (or anywhere, for that matter).

To sign up for math homework updates message @math7port to 81010

algebra homework updates- message @a493a to 81010 

Ashley Porter 

porter.ashley@wgmail.org

mathrm214.blogspot.com

Science –

Willow Science

Gravity and Moon Summative Assessment is next Friday, 18 November!

Here are suggested conversation starters for you young engineer:

• How long is a moon day and a moon year? {both are 27.3 days}
• How long does it take us to see all the moon phases? {29 days}
• Why the difference? {Because the Earth is revolving and rotating at the same time as the moon is orbiting.}

The targets this week have been:

1. Goal 2: I am able to develop and use models to describe the role of gravity
2. Goal 3:  I am able to develop and  use models  to describe cyclic patterns of lunar phases..

The cross-cutting concept have been:

1. Patterns: Observing patterns & events guides organization and classification & leads to understanding of relationships.
2. Cause and Effect: Investigating and explaining causal relationships may predict & explain events.

Activities students participated in this week:

1. Monday - Students had a Moon Phases ‘pretest’ on www.quia.com/web .
2. Tuesday - ELECTION DAY!
3. Wednesday: Moon goal introduction and Google Classroom #017 Moon formation and moon characteristics video and answering questions.
4. Thursday: Reviewed moon concepts with demonstrations and class discussion covering inclined elliptical orbit concepts and positions related to eclipses.
5. Friday: Students Q&A over moon concepts and did modeling of moons on a stick to see the moon phases in  relationship to the position of the Sun, Earth, and Moon

Vocabulary Emphasis this week:

1. }Moon “Day” & “Year” are both 27.3 days Cause & Effect = we only see one side of the moon.
2. }Moon’s elliptical orbit- sometimes the moon is closer and moon is further away. .
3. }Ellipse - a “lopsided circle” where one edge is much closer to the center, the opposite edge is much further away and the side are in between and equidistant from the center.
4. Vocabulary: Axis, Ellipse, Gravity, Orbit, Revolution, and Rotation.

NEXT WEEK the students will turn in their Formative Pumpkin Experiment lab report on Monday and complete lunar phases goal understanding the cause and effect relationship between the Moon and Earth.

Goal 3:  Student will develop and  use models  to describe cyclic patterns of lunar phases.

4	I demonstrate innovation, in depth inference(s), or advanced application(s) with the learning goal. In addition to level 3 I am able to: demonstrate additional understanding of motions that cause lunar phases.
3	I am able to: model motions that cause lunar phases.

If you have any questions or concerns please email me!

Team Willow Science – Mr. Daniels - daniels.mark@wgmail.org

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/

Willow Weekly 10/31 - 11/4

Welcome to the Willow Weekly.  Here you will find all of your Team Willow news and information.  Please sign up for automatic updates and you will be notified whenever an update is made.

Upcoming Events:

End of term is November 4th!
Election Day is November 8th - there will be no student attendance
November 17th- Session one After School Activities end 

Thanksgiving Break November 23-25

Important Information: 

After school help sessions and activities began Sept. 6th. At least one teacher from Willow will be available for help on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until 4:00. A list of other after school opportunities can be found here.

T-Shirts Are Here!

We'll be ordering Team Willow shirts this year! Shirts will be $8, and we would like to have shirts ordered by the end of parent-teacher conferences. Please visit this form to place your order today! https://goo.gl/forms/asheaGU5cgJsXeXG3

If you wish to receive the text message reminders or email reminders of homework, please sign up by: 1) sending a text message to 81010 and put in the message as “@hxwillow”, and/or go to https://www.remind.com/ and enter the classcode: @hxwillow.

English –

We committed to our story ideas this week in ELA! Ask your student what they will be writing about for our realistic fiction unit.

Page goal check-in is on Monday, so don't forget to read this weekend.

Writing invitations are posted on Google Classroom for those students wanting to go above and beyond as writers! 

Don't forget to stay updated with what's going on in ELA by visiting blog.katiekraushaar.com

Social Studies –

This week in Social Studies has been devoted to working on the summative Egypt Project. Students have been given every day to complete their research and project, and will receive time on Monday, as well.  The project is due Wednesday.  Please ask to see what they are working on – they are doing a great job!

On Monday, we will be voting in the KidsVote election.  Students filled out registration cards and will use a ballot that looks just like those in the actual election.  We are excited to encourage their development as citizens.

Next week, we will begin wrapping up Egypt and getting ready for the summative test on Mesopotamia and Egypt.  I will be handing out a study guide for this at the end of next week.

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

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org

314-918-4602

Math- 

7th grade math students started their new unit on expressions and equations we finished up combining like terms and distributive property. We are now working on factoring and will take a test soon over those three learning targets

Algebra students just finished chapter 3 and took their test. We will be starting chapter 4 on Monday.

 Check out my blog for some of the great things we've been doing in class. 

I found a nice website, check it out! Sign up for Table Talk Math here! The goal of this site is to provide clarity for what students could be doing to increase their math fluency and also provide prompts to discuss around the dinner table (or anywhere, for that matter).

To sign up for math homework updates message @math7port to 81010

algebra homework updates- message @a493a to 81010 

Ashley Porter 

porter.ashley@wgmail.org

mathrm214.blogspot.com

Science –

Willow Science

Pumpkin Drop Experiment on Monday!!

Here are suggested conversation starters for you young engineer:

• What are you learning from the Pumpkin Experiment?
• How did you do on the Gravity formative quiz this week?

The targets this week have been:

1. I am able to develop and use models to describe the role of gravity.

The cross-cutting concept have been:

1. Patterns: Observing patterns & events guides organization and classification & leads to understanding of relationships.
2. Cause and Effect: Investigating and explaining causal relationships may predict & explain events.

Activities students participated in this week:

1. Monday - Collected 3 sets of data from the 2nd story window Pumpkin Drop Gravity Experiment. The pumpkins were models of asteroids measuring time falling, crater depth, and crater diameter.
2. Tuesday - Analyzed Pumpkin experiment data tables to correct for mistakes and experimental errors.
3. Wednesday: Students had the entire class period to analyze and interpret their set of data and write up their lab reports.
4. Thursday: Students had a formative assessment www.quia.com/web quiz “Gravity Formitive #1” and began critiquing lab reports.
5. Friday: Students learned to critique lab reports in order to be able to critique their own lab reports and make corrections before submitting on Monday, 7 November.

Vocabulary Emphasis this week:

1. }Gravity - 1)the attractive force between any objects with mass. 2) Gravity distorts space and time.
2. }Rotation (rotate)- spinning on an axis; cause and effect = night and day, 24 hours, Earth and Moon rotate counter-clockwise, CCW.
3. }Revolution (revolve) - one object moving around another object; cause and effect = years = 365.25 days
4. }Orbit - same as revolution. All the planets and our Moon orbit counter-clockwise.
5. }Ellipse - a “lopsided circle” where one edge is much closer to the center, the opposite edge is much further away and the side are in between and equidistant from the center.
6. Vocabulary: Axis, Ellipse, Gravity, Orbit, Revolution, and Rotation.

NEXT WEEK the students will turn in their Formative Pumpkin Experiment lab report on Monday and complete lunar phases goal understanding the cause and effect relationship between the Moon and Earth.

Goal 3:  Student will develop and  use models  to describe cyclic patterns of lunar phases.

4	I demonstrate innovation, in depth inference(s), or advanced application(s) with the learning goal. In addition to level 3 I am able to: demonstrate additional understanding of motions that cause lunar phases.
3	I am able to: model motions that cause lunar phases.

If you have any questions or concerns please email me!

Team Willow Science – Mr. Daniels - daniels.mark@wgmail.org

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/