Team Leader: Mrs. Calligano jcalligano@cpsed.net
Mrs. Landes Website
Team News
M & M’s: Third quarter has begun! And, the count-down begins: 5 months until High School!! We are working on the schedules for High School and a form will be going home for parents to approve, sign, and return to school. This is very important and Mrs. Conley will be speaking with each student to make sure they are able to get into the classes they need for ninth grade.
In Social Studies we have had a brief look at the first three presidents of the USA - this is a good year to study the qualifications of a good president! We will be moving into a week or two of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s-1960’s (February is African-American History Month). Do any parents or grandparents remember where you were when John Kennedy was shot? When the first schools were integrated? When Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot? If so, tell your child and let him/her share this information with the class. Each student will create a Shortcuts Page (similar to the one in the Providence Journal for kids) on a given topic related to the Civil Rights Movement. Hopefully, we will have fun making these pages and learn a lot of information pertaining to the Civil Rights Movement and African-American history. Then, we will return to learning how the US gained its territory (via, two wars, a peaceful treaty, and our buying or annexing territory!!). Our new continent is Europe (we have now completed the countries, capitals and some physical features of North & South America and Australia). Our memory verses come from the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ask your child to recite the verses they have learned (and explain them!) We have learned a verse from the Declaration of Independence, and the Preamble to the Constitution. Next will be the inscription on the Statue of Liberty. They will hear these verses quoted during their lifetime and will feel good about themselves when they understand what they mean and where /who they came from.
In English, we will be finishing up the common task which was postponed from January. Students must write an essay for this task. Also, we are starting a unit on Poetry and will learn about hyperbole, metaphor, simile, alliteration, etc… The students had an Accelerated Reader quiz on January 26th and chose new books from our library. These books should come home and they should be reading every night for at least 20 minutes. The next AR quiz is FEBRUARY 16, 2012. Please encourage your child to read.
In Math: For the last several weeks we have been attending to the PTS3 math test, the second quarter common task, and the writing student learning objective. Now that report cards have gone home, we will be getting back to regular mathematics lessons. The pre-algebra classes are currently working on the integers unit. The algebra class is now beginning their study of inequalities.
In Science class, we are completing our Interactive Science Notebooks (ISN) for quarters 1 and 2. The students should be writing their summaries of each GSE (major concepts) they learned. We are winding down the chemistry unit and should be done in the next week or two. Either right before or right after vacation, the students will be setting up their 2nd ISN for quarters 3 and 4. We will begin this book with a unit on forces and motion. As always, there is homework nightly, the majority is in the ISN on the output pages (odd numbered pages). Take a look at their books and see what they have learned! We will keep the completed books in class for future reference and to prepare for the NECAP test in the spring.
If you need to contact us, please call the Park View Guidance Office and ask for Mrs. Conley and we will get your message. If you would like a parent conference, Mrs. Conley will be able to give you a time when we can all get together. Don’t forget, you can view your child’s grades through Aspen, an online tool for parents. Also, the nightly homework is put online at: new.schoolnotes.com (then type in Cara Fitzgerald). With two quarters left to 8th grade, it is important that you constantly check to see that your child is doing homework and studying for tests. We will support you –and most of all, our students- but would be grateful for the ‘nagging’ at home as well!