Week of April 24th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/    

HOMEWORK:    Math "Remembering 4-12" and some students have a few problems from Friday's math.

MATH:  
There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab

  Monday we began our measurement unit focusing on metric units of capacity, weight, and length. We have already been working with these concepts off and on for several weeks with our morning math reviews.

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: Students are completing final drafts of their biographies. They will present these to the class. The book students read for the April book project is this biography and the rest will be done in class.
  READING:  

Students are working in groups doing Book Clubs while I sit in at various times with each group. They are working on a variety of comprehension activities through discussion and papers. Students may have finish up homework at times. I also have them redo papers that are not complete and these are homework if there is no class time.

SCIENCE: 

  We began talking about characteristics of animals next week. Our hermit crabs came on Thursday! We have 6 of them and one is HUGE. We will study them as part of our unit.
Social Studies -

This week we had fun portraying some of the events that led up to the American Revolution, as well as watching them being explained in a video.  We had the King of England, colonists and Parliament all present.  I would suggest that the kids review their notes, as there has been a lot of new information shared!

 Word Study
 The skill lesson this week is homophones. We practice the skill during the week and there is always something to study for the tests that are on Fridays.

WEEK OF APRIL 24th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/    

HOMEWORK:    Math "Remembering 4-12" and some students have a few problems from Friday's math.
 

MATH:  
There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab

  Monday we began our measurement unit focusing on metric units of capacity, weight, and length. We have already been working with these concepts off and on for several weeks with our morning math reviews.

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: Students are completing final drafts of their biographies. They will present these to the class. The book students read for the April book project is this biography and the rest will be done in class.
 
READING:  

Students are working in groups doing Book Clubs while I sit in at various times with each group. They are working on a variety of comprehension activities through discussion and papers. Students may have finish up homework at times. I also have them redo papers that are not complete and these are homework if there is no class time. 

SCIENCE: 

  We began talking about characteristics of animals next week. Our hermit crabs came on Thursday! We have 6 of them and one is HUGE. We will study them as part of our unit.

Social Studies -

This week we had fun portraying some of the events that led up to the American Revolution, as well as watching them being explained in a video.  We had the King of England, colonists and Parliament all present.  I would suggest that the kids review their notes, as there has been a lot of new information shared!

 

 Word Study
 The skill lesson this week is homophones. We practice the skill during the week and there is always something to study for the tests that are on Fridays.

Week of April 10

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/     

MSTEP: The next MSTEP test day is next Friday & it's math. 

HOMEWORK:     

MATH: Students have 2 pages marked in a morning work math packet to do for homework.

 MATH:  
There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab

  We began algebra this week and are also dabbling in some geometry and measurement activities preparing for our next unit.

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: Students began writing the notes for their biographies. We will begin the drafts at some point next week. The book students read for the April book project is this biography and the rest will be done in class.
 
READING:  

The MSTEP took up 2 of our ELA blocks this week. We began book clubs on Friday and will continue with these for the next 3-4 weeks.

SCIENCE: 

This week we began our new unit- Systems. We will be studying the human body, environmental, and animal systems. Our first lesson is focused on classification of animals. We will begin talking about characteristics of animals next week. We are also getting hermit crabs next Thursday in order to study them as part of our unit.

Social Studies -

​ This week we finished our early colonies unit and took a test on Thursday.  Next week we will be talking about the Bill of Rights, along with some of the events that led up to the American Revolutionary War. 

note: This test was a little more difficult than some others because of the vocabulary and structure of questions. I talked with my class about making sure they ask Mrs. Custer during the test if they don't understand words or what a question means.

 

 Word Study
 Students took the lesson 25 skill test. The next skill lesson is synonyms.

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/      

HOMEWORK:     

MATH: Homework lesson 7-3 - all. 

There is a tutorial and practice in the math tab.                                                                                                                                                

Puberty Lesson HW: There is a half sheet that is for discussion and to be signed and returned. It looks like the first half sheet you received.

Book Project:  Due March 29th. They are creating a Book Jacket.  

 
MATH:  
There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab 

Students who received a '1' on any standard on the division test received some practice work. They also have practice work and tutorials assigned on Khan Academy. We are reviewing concepts in class as well.

  We began algebra this week and are also dabbling in some geometry and measurement activities preparing for our next unit.

 

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: Students are writing their last persuasive piece. We will be finishing this on Wednesday. The biography is our next writing piece and the biography book students chose for their April book project.
 
READING:  

This week we read an article about the most massive dust storm in American history. It was called Black Sunday. We watched a video, completed some comprehension activities focused on cause and effect, and had some discussions about the causes/effects and how it relates to us today.

SCIENCE: 

Everyone took the remainder of their science tests on Friday. Most of our science time this past week has been replaced with puberty lessons.

Social Studies -

​We learned about the effect of growing plantations on the southern colonies and the Native Americans who lived there during colonial times.  The kids started their unit test review and will need to bring it back to class when they have social studies next week on Monday, March 27.  The test will be the first week back after Spring Break, so reviewing their chart, maps, notes and test review would be a great idea.

 

 Word Study
 Students took the lesson 24 skill test. There is no spelling lesson for next week.

Week of March 13th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/      

HOMEWORK:     

MATH: Lesson 7-2  problems 2 -10 There is a tutorial and practice in the math tab.                                                                                                                                                Book Project:  Due March 29th. They are creating a Book Jacket. Students have another book chosen and should be reading.
MATH:  
There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab 

We took the test over division content on Wednesday. There will be a retake after more practice for students who received a 1 on any standard or would like to test again if they received a 2.

  We began algebra this week although we have been doing some of these skills on our morning work for a couple months.

 

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: Students completed the Hawkeye Press articles and we began sharing. We will complete sharing these on Monday. Our next project will be a persuasive piece. Students will be able to choose from 3 topics.
 
READING:  

This week we read 2 picture books, discovered their shared themes, and how each book presented the theme. The Bracelet and So Far from the Sea are both Historical Fiction set in 1942 when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We discussed understanding the feelings on both sides.

SCIENCE: 

Students are completing their research projects about their planets and will present these next week. After this, we will complete the test. Our Objects in the Sky unit will then be completed and we will begin our "Systems" unit.

Social Studies - This week we spent time on an interactive website that helped us understand what life was like for settlers coming to the New World.  Check it out from home if you want to experience the rest of the adventure to Maryland!

http://mdroots.thinkport.org

 
 Word Study
 Students took the lesson 23 skill test. Next week's skill lesson is possessive nouns. The lesson 24 word list is on the blog which can be helpful for the proofreading section.

Week of February 27

Week of February 27

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/      

HOMEWORK:     
MATH: Homework Lesson 5-10 - ALL 

WRITING: Complete your interview in order to write it up next week!                                                                                                                                             
Book Project:  Next Book Project is due March 29. They are creating a book jacket for their book. Some students have not given me their title yet.

MATH:    
There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab 

We have had shortened math sessions because of swimming. We will be continuing to review all division concepts and have the test the week of March 10. 

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: We are writing a newspaper called The Hawkeye Press using a google form. Each student is writing interview questions and then will interview someone and write this up for the paper. Students are also working in pairs to write a true or fictional account of an event that sounds true with a partner. We are working on using appropriate tone for a newspaper among other standards.
 
READING:  

This week I shared a video showing the meteor event that occurred in Chelyabinsk in Russia a few years back. Then we read an article about this event and had some discussion. This ties in with our current science unit. Next week we will continue to work with nonfiction strategies. I shared a video about Alcatraz on Friday to prepare kids for our article about the famous island prison. If you ever get to San Franciso, it is an interesting tour!

SCIENCE: 

Students have had material to study for our upcoming Solar System assessment. It is quite short.We will then work on a project in small groups focusing on planets, and dwarf planets. After this we will have the remainder of the assessment. Students will use what they learn during this research project to answer test questions.
 
Word Study 
 Students took the lesson 21 skill test. Next week's skill lesson is using suffixes.

Week of February 20

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/      


SWIMMMING BEGINS NEXT WEEK: It is from 12-1:00 each day Monday-Friday of that week.

HOMEWORK:     
MATH: Check the planner                                                                                                                                               
Book Project:  Due March 3rd.
Students have another book chosen and should be reading.

MATH:    
There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab 

We have been practicing dividing 4 digit dividends with decimals by 1 and 2 digit divisors with decimals including when needing to add zero to the dividend. 

 

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: We are writing a newspaper called The Hawkeye Press using a google form. Each student is writing interview questions and then will interview someone and write this up for the paper. Students are also working in pairs to write a true or fictional account of an event that sounds true with a partner. We are working on using appropriate tone for a newspaper among other standards.
 
READING:  

Students took the Sign of the Beaver assessment on Friday. We also watched the movie version and compared/contrasted the two. The movie is quite different from the book.

Next week we will begin working on some nonfiction material.

SCIENCE: 

Students have completed the Gravity assessment and we are will now be working on the solar system such as planet distances, why or why not planets can sustain life, and planet temperatures and reasons for them.
  
Word Study 
 Students took the lesson 20 skill test. Next week's skill lesson is they're, their, and there. The lesson 21 word list is on the blog which can be helpful for the proofreading section.