We are Done with NECAP EXAM week. I appreciate all the hard work and extra time students put into their testing:
Mr Jackson gave us a heads-up about laptop take-home policy. He said:
Our first "take-home" meeting will be on OCTOBER 19. There will be two sessions offered. One at 7:30 a.m. and one at 5:30 p.m. Forms will be distributed the day after and with any luck, laptops may begin going home by the last week in October to those students who fulfilled the requirements.
The Washington DC trip has a deadline for signing up with Mrs. Potvin. You should see Mrs. Potvin before October 31st to sign up. The trip itself is from May 5 through May 7. (Saturday through Monday) It is a great trip and the expense can be discussed in detail with Mrs. Potvin. Fundraisers are available, so get in early!
Social Studies: Homework is to review notes. The first test will be on Monday October 17. We have wrapped up sections 1 and 2 of chapter 20: Immigration and Urbanization. Once we are done with section 3 by FRIDAY 10/14 students will be tested on the material for the chapter. Students have vocabulary lists to study as well as a list of the questions that will appear on the test. (see SS handouts in the right hand margin of this blog for extras) Students should make sure that they are comfortable answering those questions with attention to specific details.
English: NO HW: I was pleased to see the third draft of the students' essay on something they care about. The first draft was handwritten and in most cases, more closely resembled a paragraph. In their defense, I asked them to write about something they cared about deeply, but did not instruct them as to what form their writing should take. Then we discussed how an essay is a perfect format for developing their ideas on this topic. We figured out what constituted a good essay and tried the same writing prompt again. The second time I gave detailed feedback about their progress. Then the students reviewed my feedback and adjusted their essay accordingly. I am impressed with the improvements over their first attempt to write about the topic. Good Job!
We just completed the Writing NECAP test this Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will be devoted to organizing passages for creative writing in class. At this point, there is no HW.
