Fractions and Balloons!

Team Enterprise worked hard today reviewing for their Chapter 3 test. The test will cover pages 142-177 and the students know which sections we covered. The review sheet will help the students study. Because we reviewed in school, we should be very well prepared for the test.
Just a reminder that the balloon cars are due on Monday! We are excited to race our cars in the gym on Tuesday!!!
Homework:
Math: Chapter 3 Test
Science: Balloon Cars and packet
Reading: Finish reading the Westing Game and complete roles for Thursday

Mystery Theater!

Our mystery theater presentations went very well in McD's Cafe. We moved our desks to create a stage, and each group had a chance to present their short skits. The skits had to be true to the story and actors had to use their good speaking voices so that the audience could enjoy the acts. Many groups used interesting props and creative costume ideas. Every skit was well received by the audience at the cafe.

A new link has been added to the right side of the blog. It's called The Westing Heirs! It's loaded with games, puzzles, and more! Now that we've read most of the story, it should be a lot of fun! Try it out!

Homework:

Language Arts - Finish The Westing Game and prepare your role for next Thursday.
Math - Review packet for Chapter 3
Social Studies - Continue to review Section 2 notes
Science - Your car is due on Monday
WEAR YOUR STEELER CLOTHES TOMORROW TO SUPPORT OUR GREAT TEAM!

Showing Steeler Pride!

We had an exciting day at N.S.I.! We started our day with our whole school Spelling Bee Final in the auditorium. Our team was well represented by Ashley and Nate. The bee was won by Natalie, who spelled each word with confidence. We were proud of all of the participants. It couldn't have been easy to spell in front of approximately 300 people.

Our team then finished our Steeler door! Every classroom at N.S.I. is decorating their doors to support our team.

McD's groups had one last chance to meet and iron out their skits for The Westing Game. We're all looking forward to our big acts tomorrow. Everyone seems to be ready.

During learning center time this afternoon, we attended two of four stations. The stations included coordinate plane exercises, a persuasive devices exercise related to the story The Winter of the Brown Bat, First in Math on computers, and Social Studies review.

Math classes worked extra hard today in the afternoon on fractions and decimal comparision. We changed fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions. There are many steps needed to make the comparision.

Homework:
Language Arts - Read pages 103-140 in The Westing Game and prepare your role.
Social Studies - Study notes and pgs. 40-45 in book (section 2). Test next Wed.
Science - Balloon Powered car due Feb. 7th.
Math - Pg. 178 (10 through 23)

Ice, Ice Baby?

Last night, our weather forecasters were describing a mix of weather that sounded like we were getting everything but the kitchen sink thrown at us! We thought we'd wake up to a town made of crystal, but for the most part, we were lucky. Some who live to the north had some slippery roads, but most of us had rain....thankfully. Who knows what tonight will bring?

Team Enterprise didn't let the gloomy weather get us down! We came ready to work! We started the day getting into our McD's Cafe groups to work on our skits. Each group chose a favorite scene from The Westing Game to act out. We planned and practiced a bit before lunch. Everyone came up with some creative ideas! Skits must be true to the book and students must speak loudly enough for the audience to hear. Mrs. McIlvaine and Mrs. Haddox are looking forward to the performances on Thursday. We hope to share them next Thursday, when we conclude our discussion of The Westing Game.

In Language Arts, we took our quizzes for Saving the Sound. Our spelling quiz was a challenge this week because the list had words with few sound clues. Hopefully, we'll all be proud of how we performed on the quizzes.

In Math, we discovered how to change decimals to fractions and back again. We need to remember to place our decimal correctly and to always state the whole number in our answer. Science classes are excited to race our balloon cars. They are due February 7th.

We all have Steeler Fever! To show our support for the team in the Super Bowl, we are decorating our doors along with others in the building. When finished, we'll post a picture of our doors for you to see! So cool! Go Steelers!

Homework:
Language Arts - Read pages 103-140 in The Westing Game and complete your role. Practice your role for your skit.
Social Studies - Study your notes and pages 40-45(section 2). Your test will be next Wednesday, due to delay.
Math- Reteaching 3-8 Worksheet
Science- Balloon Cars and packet due February 7th

Staying Warm and Toasty!

In Science, we learned that there are two ways to heat a room, through steam heat and forced-air heat. Conduction means that the air in the room comes into contact with the hot pipes of the radiator. Radiation means that waves of energy spread throughout the room. In forced-air heating, it does not involve change of state, like steam heating. Why do we use more of forced-air type of heating today?

Math classes converted improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice-versa. We enjoyed using the mini-white boards to practice our math skills. Tomorrow we will be converting decimals into fractions.

We continued our study of Renaissance and Revolution today by looking at how the Age of Revolution impacted science and government. We discussed reasons why people began to question the power of monarchs, as well as questioning science that was based on religious beliefs. Notes were taken in class, and those notes should be studied.

In Language Arts, we took a closer look at language used in Saving the Sound. At one point in the story, the author writes that Prince William Sound is coming to life. We were asked to think about this statement and what it means. We responded to the prompt in writing; supporting our thinking with details and information from the story.

Our Writing class today was about staying focused on a particular topic. We continued our practice of this skill by studying a poster with information about a summer camp. Since the poster was designed to entice children to go to camp, any details that did not support the thought were eliminated. We also practiced responding to questions with focused answers. We will use our answers to these questions to write a letter with well organized paragraphs tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will be decorating our doors in support of our awesome Black and Gold!

Homework:
Science: How Can Gases Drive a Car worksheet; (204 only: Page E 77 Questions, graded with a rubric)
Math: Worksheet 3-5 Reteaching
Social Studies - Study your notes. Quiz next Monday on pgs. 40 - 45 (section 2)
Language Arts - Read pages 103-140 in The Westing Game. Complete your roles. We will work on our skits in exploratory this week.

Lights! Camera! Action!

Students,

Consider your favorite parts of The Westing Game. This week, you will choose a scene to act out with your McD's group. Lights! Camera! Action!