Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Hello Parents,

Our end of unit celebration was a success.  There were many very good student presentations that reflected a lot of hard work and energy.  We will continue working on building presentation skills throughout the year.  Thanks to all the parents who helped their son/daughter prepare food for our "international food festival" which accompanied the presentations.  This was a real treat for all students.

I hope everyone has a safe, restful holiday filled with family time.  Merry Christmas!

Mr. Burton

STAR reading

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Humanities-Social Studies: 12/15-12/19

Hello Parents,

We are entering our last week before break.  This is also the week we are wrapping up our unit on immigration, "From Many, One".  We will culminate with a celebration of student work.  We would like to extend an invitation for you to see your son/daughter's presentation.  Today they were all given their presentation time.  Presentations will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.  Please check with your son or daughter for their specific time.  We are encouraging (not mandatory) students to prepare the recipe that they have chosen in their projects to share during the presentation times.  We are also encouraging students to dress as their character for the presentation.

Deadlines for the week are as follows:

TUESDAY (by end of class):  students will finish #7 on the assignment sheet - 4 items their character carried with them on their journey
WEDNESDAY:  "Things They Carried" project due
WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY:  Project and narrative presentations

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Also, please check in with you son or daughter about their project as there are many students who are not meeting the deadlines.  Thanks for your help.

Mr. Burton

To House D Students and Families,
You have probably all heard by now but, unfortunately, the ice skating field trip is canceled.  We had to cancel the field trip due to district-level decisions regarding funding and non-academic field trips.  Thursday will be a regular school day and will include student presentations in Humanities.

On Friday, teachers have planned several celebration activities after the Star Reading Assessment.  All students on House D will be taking the Start Reading Assessment online starting at 9:00 on Friday morning.  

Humanities- Social Studies: 12/8 - 12/12

Hello Parents,

I hope everyone was able to dig out from the storm.   This week we have been continuing to work on "The Things They Carried" project.  Students are taking the main character from the narrative they have been writing in Mr. Badeau's class and developing it through this project.  The project is due on Wednesday, Dec. 17.  Deadlines for this week are:

Tuesday, 12/9 - Completed MAP (make sure they review requirements - #2 on assignment sheet)
Thursday, 12/11 - Recipe- by the end of class this should be in project booklet
Friday, 12/12 - Traditions/Portrait/Pictures - by end of class these need to be completed in project booklet.

Report cards are/have been sent home.  There was not enough room in the Humanities comment section for both Mr. Badeau and mine.  Below is a "general" comment that pertains to Trimester 1 in Humanities-Social Studies.  Let me know if you have any questions.

COMMENTS:

In Humanities-Social Studies, this trimester we began with a short unit on Geography skills. Students focused on location, hemispheres, maps, map types, and seasons related to latitude. The geography skills will be used throughout the year as we explore various aspects of the world through the remaining units of study. We then moved into a unit on immigration, “From Many, One”. Within this unit students gained background knowledge with a look at historical migration including theories around Native American origins, as well as a look at different European groups in early colonial time. We then moved to more modern immigration and the various reasons why people move, contributions of different immigrant groups, and the various issues faced as new arrivals.

 

Have a good week.

 

Mr. Burton

Schedule for Homework

Immigrant Story Schedule

Name:________________________

Below is the list of tasks that your child needs to compete for homework each night from now, until winter break in order to complete their “Immigrant Narrative”.

Please note that this schedule is not permanent; things may be rescheduled or modified as needed.

12/9/14

Finish writing your 3 “hooks/openers”.   Begin typing your story.

Finish any research you have not completed.

12/10/14

Finish typing your story

12/11/14

Revise your story by expanding your sentences to add more detail.

12/12/14

Do any revisions or editing that your teacher has told you to do

12/15/14

Revise your story to add dialogue for more realistic detail.

12/16/14

Edit common grammar errors. Print story

House D will be taking a field trip on Thursday, December 18th to go ice skating at Cairns Arena.  We will leave school at 8:45 am and return at approximately 1:15 pm.  

The cost of the field trip is $12.  This covers the cost of the bus, ice time, and ice skating rentals.  Students can bring a lunch or money for the snack bar.  

Students must wear a helmet on the ice this year.  It can be any type of helmet (bike, ski, etc.) If a student does not have a helmet at home or cannot borrow one from someone else, let us know and we will try to find extras.  Protect your brain!

Immigration Story Project

Immigration Story Research:

Our students are about to embark upon a task that has them researching the story of and immigrant and then writing that story as a finished product.  

The first step in this process is to identify who each student will be writing about.  Below are some of the suggestions for how to identify a good candidate for your child to write about.

1^{st -} If you have a relative or a member of your social circle whom you trust and respect that is an immigrant, then could your child interview and use their story for this project?

2^nd - If you have a relative or member of your social circle that you trust and respect who knows someone who was an immigrant, but is no longer living, then could your child interview that person about that immigrant and use that information for this project?

3^rd - If you have a relative or a member of your social circle whom you trust and respect that moved a large distance (minimum of changing from at least one US state to another), then could your child interview that person and use their story for this project?

4^th - If you have a relative or a member of your social circle whom you trust and respect that knows someone who moved a large distance (minimum of changing from at least one US state to another), then could your child interview that person and use that information for this project?

Please contact me if you do not have anyone who fits any of the above criteria.  If you have more than on option, then the best fit would be for your student to use option 1, with option 4 being the least preferable, but still acceptable option for this project.

Humanities - Social Studies 12/1-12/19

Hello Parents,
      I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We are back in action. Mr. Badeau and I have the next three weeks mapped out to wrap up our Immigration unit. In Mr. Badeau's LA side, students will be writing a narrative from an immigrant perspective. On the Social Studies side, we will develop the main character in a project called "The Things They Carried" (I have attached the assignment in Edmodo, which includes description, rubric, deadlines and checklist). If classtime is utilized well, students should be able to complete all work in the classroom. We will culminate with a celebration on Dec. 17-19. Students will read part of their narrative, present their "Things They Carried" project, and hopefully be dressed in character. As part of the project, they will be researching a recipe of a food from their character's home country. Not mandatory......but on the day of the presentations (we will announce the specific day a student presents) we would love for the student to bring in a prepared dish from their recipe for an "international food day" as part of the celebration (small dish). This will be a fun way to wrap up the unit. Let me know if you have any questions.

 Mr. B