Friday, April 28, 2017

The Willow Weekly April 24-28



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.

Important Information: 
  • Six Flags information- The cost for each student this year is $33.00.  This fee includes admission and transportation to and from the park.  Students must turn in their permission slip (click here for a copy) and pay this amount no later than Monday, May 15, 2017.  Students who already have passes to the park will need to pay a $6.00 transportation fee.  Checks should be made payable to Webster Groves School District.  Please place the signed permission form and payment (cash, check or money order) in an envelope with your student's name and team on the envelope.  Please turn the envelope in at the main office.
    Buses will depart Hixson at approximately 9:30 am and leave Six Flags for the return trip to school at 4:30pm.  We should arrive back at Hixson at approximately 5:00pm.  You may pick up your child upon our return to school.  Hixson students who use transportation provided by VTS will board the activity bus at Hixson for the trip home.
    Students with significant disciplinary offenses in Term 6 may not be allowed to attend the field trip and will instead spend the day at Hixson providing community service.
  • May 12th is a half day and Track Day!
  • Please remind your students to charge their Chromebook every night! We have had many students come to class with dead Chromebooks, which slows down instruction
  • This is also a good time to check in with your students to make sure they are finishing the year strong. We've had an increase of late work and off-task behavior as we've entered this last term.
  • After school help sessions and activities are after school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday until 4:00. 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.
  • Information about next week's canned food drive can be found here.


English –
We finished our summative assessment over argumentative writing this week. Students looked at two articles about the United States's recycling program, one in support of continuing it and one against. They were asked to weigh the evidence each article presented and to write a response explaining which author made the stronger argument. 

Because many students in third and fourth hour missed the first day of the test, some may need to arrange to finish it next week, either by coming in during lunch or during Discovery. No further class time will be given to finish the assessment, as we are starting The Outsiders on Monday! We will be reading the novel in class in a "book club" style approach, where students will have short weekly meetings with their club to discuss what's happening in the story. I love The Outsiders, and I'm excited to end the year with this wonderful book! 

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

Social Studies –

Students have been making good progress in their study of ancient Rome. They worked cooperatively to create concept webs about Roman geography, religion, cultural achievements, government. and social structure. I was very proud of the creative way each group displayed their learning. On Thursday, students were given their study guides. We will grade them on Tuesday and the test will be next Wednesday.

Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org
314-918-4602


Math- 
Algebra- Students took the EOC on Wednesday. We are finishing chapter 10 and they will have a take home test next week. We are finishing the year with chapter 11, then a project and a final. EOC scores should be released hopefully before the end of the school year.

Math 7-  Students who are wanting to reassess the last summative need to do corrections and get a parent/guardian signature on test. Reassessments will then be on those types of questions and need to be completed asap. 

We are learning target 2 in our Geometry area and angles unit. Their formative will be on Monday. There test over LT 1-3 will be the following Monday, May 8th.


Ashley Porter 
porter.ashley@wgmail.org

Science –
We are wrapping up the Growth, Development and Reproduction unit next week.  There will be a summative on Thursday or Friday May 4th or 5th.
Each student will be doing a Growth of Plants project in class on Monday and Tuesday - they may need some time at home to research the 7 Factors the affect growth of an adult plant.

  • Ask your students about the tree trunk piece we had the opportunity to examine today and how it might be a catalyst for their "Growth" projects.
  • Ask your students if they need to repair any grades or want to take advantage of the Extra Credit options available.
Please feel welcome to contact me 



Contact info for Mrs. Krueger, Willow Science long-term substitute


Please visit the following links for more information:

Friday, April 21, 2017

Willow Weekly 4/17-4/21


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.

Important Information: 
  • Please remind your students to charge their Chromebook every night! We have had many students come to class with dead Chromebooks, which slows down instruction
  • This is also a good time to check in with your students to make sure they are finishing the year strong. We've had an increase of late work and off task behavior as we've entered this last term.
  • After school help sessions and activities are after school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday until 4:00. 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.


English –
We finished up our argumentative writing unit by looking at a final "hot topic" issue: whether technology is helpful or harmful. They read articles on either side of the issue, weighed evidence and determined which piece made the stronger argument.

Next week, students will complete their summative assessment where they will demonstrate the same skills with a new topic and articles. We will begin testing on Tuesday.

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

Social Studies –
For our post-MAP time this week, students have been researching and creating idea webs on Ancient Rome. They are creating posters with information on Roman cultural achievements, geography, social structure, law, and religion. I am looking forward to seeing these!

Students have their graded vocabulary activity to study for the Vocab Test on Monday. Next week we will wrap up Rome.



Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org
314-918-4602


Math- 
Algebra- EOC is on the 26th of April

Math 7- Starting new unit on Geometry


Ashley Porter 
porter.ashley@wgmail.org

Science –
Students have been learning about Natural Selection, Variation and Mutation/.
They will have a formative on Monday, April 24th.

Here are the study materials for Monday's 4/24 Formative.
  • Review the Vocabulary Slides Presentation.
  • Review GC 97-100
  • Practice Quizizz
1. Open https://join.quizizz.com in your browser
2. Enter the 6-digit game code 456033  , and click "Proceed"
3. Now enter your name and click "Join Game!"
4. You will get an avatar, and then see a "Start Game" button. Click it to begin!
(This is also available as an announcement on the Willow Science Classroom)

The next unit will be for the Learning Goal:

Students will use evidence to explain
  • how characteristic behaviors of animals increase the odds of reproduction.
  • ways that plants reproduce including those that depend on animal behavior and specialized features.
We will be working on these topics all next week.

All students have the opportunity to repair the last Vocabulary Formative if they scored below an 85% - they should see Mrs. Krueger if they wish to do so.
There is also an opportunity for an Extra Credit Project (to be done outside of class time) to repair a summative grade (80%) - these opportunities are already available on the Willow Science Classroom.

Please feel welcome to contact me 


Contact info for Mrs. Krueger, Willow Science long-term substitute


Please visit the following links for more information:

Friday, April 14, 2017

Willow Weekly 4/10-4/14


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.

Important Information: 
  • MAP testing is coming up. Willow students will be taking their MAP test April 17th (Math), and April 18th (ELA). Please make sure if you know your students will be absent those days let us know in advance. If they miss one of the testing days there will be a make up day for all students.
  • Students will need headphones for MAP testing on Monday and Tuesday. If your child does not have headphones and you are unable to provide them prior to the MAP testing dates, please contact the team.
  • Please remind your students to charge their Chromebook every night! We have had many students come to class with dead Chromebooks, which slows down instruction
  • This is also a good time to check your student's supplies. Many students have been asking us to give them paper and pencils during class.
  • After school help sessions and activities are after school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday until 4:00. 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.


English –
This week, we continued looking critically at argumentative pieces by finding evidence and determining what it says as well as what it is leaving out. Students are learning to weigh evidence and determine its effectiveness with respect to supporting an argument.

Next week, we will continue this work with a new issue (technology use for kids). Students will read two articles, one in support of technology for students and one against. Students will be independently reading the articles, locating evidence and weighing it to determine which article is stronger. This is exactly what their post assessment will be like, so I will be meeting with students who are still struggling in order to help them prepare for the final assessment, which is tentatively scheduled for April 26th and 27th.

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

Social Studies –
Students have been exploring Ancient Rome  this week.  A Vocabulary Activity was given on Friday and is due Wednesday.  After MAP testing on Monday and Tuesday, students will be working cooperatively to gather information on the achievements of Rome.


Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org
314-918-4602


Math- 
Algebra- Tested over chapter 9, EOC is on the 26th of April

Math 7- Tested over Geometry Scale factor unit- MAP test on math is Monday the 17th!


Ashley Porter 
porter.ashley@wgmail.org

Science –
Science classes are studying Growth, Development and Reproduction.
We have just finished looking at Parent Traits and Probability of Offspring.  

Ask your students about how to figure out the potential offspring of two Homozygous or Heterozygous parents!

Vocabulary for this unit 

  • natural selection
  • genotype
  • phenotype
  • variation
  • mutation
  • heredity
  • sexual reproduction
  • asexual reproduction
  • chromosomes/Gene/DNA
  • allele
  • recessive
  • dominant
  • homozygous
  • heterozygous

Contact info for Mrs. Krueger, Willow Science long-term substitute


Please visit the following links for more information:

Friday, April 7, 2017

Willow Weekly 4/3 to 4/7


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.

Important Information: 
  • MAP testing is coming up. Willow students will be taking their MAP test April 17th (Math), and April 18th (ELA). Please make sure if you know your students will be absent those days let us know in advance. If they miss one of the testing days there will be a make up day for all students.
  • Students will need headphones for MAP testing. If your child does not have headphones and you are unable to provide them prior to the MAP testing dates, please contact the team.
  • Please remind your students to charge their Chromebook every night! We have had many students come to class with dead Chromebooks, which slows down instruction
  • This is also a good time to check your student's supplies. Many students have been asking us to give them paper and pencils during class.
  • After school help sessions and activities are after school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday until 4:00. 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.


English –

  • Our argumentative writing is off to a strong start! Students practiced finding evidence for both sides of an issue, letting that evidence lead them to an informed claim, and structuring an argument that provides a clear position, reasons and supporting evidence. The issue for this week was whether competitive sports are harmful or helpful for students, and students put their hard work into action by engaging in a short debate today with a peer. The amount of evidence and thoughtful analysis that went into this work was amazing to watch!
  • Students who participated in the Slice of Life Challenge in March are invited to the Slice of Life Party on Tuesday, April 11th after school. This party is for students who wrote for either 17 or 31 days in March. Pizza will be provided!
Don't forget to stay updated with what's going on in ELA by visiting Ms. K's blog.

Social Studies –

This week, we wrapped up our tour of Ancient Greece. Projects were due on Monday and so many of them were very well done. I really appreciate all of the hard work and creativity that went into them. We finished the week with a "How Do We Know What We Know?" moment that involved Archaeology, Anthropology, and Genetics. Next week - Rome!



Lisa Pettid – pettid.lisa@wgmail.org
314-918-4602


Math- 
Algebra- We are finishing up chapter 9 and will be testing the end of next week. EOC is April 26th

Math 7- Finished up learning target 2 in our Geometry scale factor unit. Will go over learning target 3 over the next two days and expect to test next Thursday or Friday. MAP test for these students will be April 17th.

Ashley Porter 
porter.ashley@wgmail.org

Science –
Here are suggested conversation starters for your young engineer:
  • What is a the hair color if the offspring is purebred recessive? (blond or red)
  • What does it mean that a trait is dominant
Goal 1: I describe factors that impact reproduction.
I am able to draw conclusions from cause and effect relationships concerning:
  • parent traits and probability of offspring traits,
  • interaction between plants and animals and the probability of successful reproduction,
  • and humans altering genetic outcomes.
The cross-cutting concept have been:
  1. Structure and Function: The way in which an object or living thing is shaped & its substructures determine many of its properties and functions.
  2. Cause and Effect: Investigating and explaining causal relationships may predict & explain  of events.
Activities students participated in this week:
  1. This week the students worked using Punnett Squares to predict the probability of traits in offspring. An example for this would be 25% homozygous dominant, 50% heterozygous, and 25% purebred recessive genotypes if both parents are heterozygous.
  2. The students had a vocabulary formative on Wednesday.
Emphasis this week:
  1. }Target: Developing Punnett Square skills.
  2. Vocabulary: Allele, Asexual reproduction, chromosomes/genes/DNA, Dominate, Genotype, Heredity, Heterozygous, Homozygous, Phenotype, Recessive, Sexual Reproduction.
NEXT WEEK the students will be working on understanding genetics and interactions between plants and animals.
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: