We have completed #24 on The Roaring 20′s and will be starting the introduction the The Depression Era later in the week.  Previous to that, we are finalizing Oral History Presentations on people/ events from the 1920′s.  The students as well as myself are critiquing these two minute presentations.

Lang Arts/Literature

We are two thirds of the the way toward completion of our fourth novel, Swallowing Stones.  It is a wonderfully engaging novel that deals with a random gun shooting in which an innocent man is killed.  Upon conclusion, we are receiving a trunk set of books from the Illinois H0locaust Museum on February 15th to utilize in our social studies unit on WWII.  The students will then choose their literary circle books, read and discuss them.

In grammar we have completed five chapters and will finish #6 on adjective usage this month. 

In vocabulary we are completing #12 of a #15 chapter text.  The students have incorporated the wording into their writing on a weekly basis.

We have also spent two weeks discussing  persuasive writing techniques which encompass a myraid of different strategies.  Look for their personalized Person of the Year papers in the middle school hallway.

Science Fair

Congratulations to all the students for completing their science fair projects.  All of you deserve a big round of applause for all of your hard work. This year’s winner was Ian Farnan with second and third place going to Keith Lenz and Emma Decker respectively. Congratulations!

REGULAR ALGEBRA  We are closing up the chapter on writing a linear equation this week. We will have that Chapter 5 test next week. I am ahead of last year at this time and that speaks to the hard work of these students this quarter. They have really stepped to the plate and mastered some difficult topics and homework is being completed in a more timely fashion. It is very difficult to succeed in math without doing assignments as it creates holes in the learning process. Then it makes it difficult to build on those holes. I think the students are getting that fact so they are working better than before. The more we can cover this year, the easier it will be next year.

ACCEL ALGEBRA We are testing Chapter 8 at the end of this week and will begin Chapter 9 next week.  Before the year is out we need to complete chapters 9 and 10 completely along with portions of Chapters 11, 12 and 13.  We are on track to do that but can’t waste one minute along the way.  I am disappointed in the fact that I am getting more dedication and a better work ethic from the regular group than the accel group overall. Many are working well and hard but many are not. On a recent quiz grades were very low despite 100′s on homework. There’s something amiss here.  I’m not sure what it is specifically, but I do know it tells me that homework isn’t being learned while it’s being done. Working in groups, copying, rushing, taking my work as your own during class explanations are all contributing factors. There is no substitute for hard work and knowing what you need to know for the next level.  Many thanks to those who are already there!

RELIGION  We are beginning sesion 5 out of 8 toward Confirmation and I am enjoying the process. I hope the students are also. Test scores in the second quarter were low in spite of the whole test being mapped out ahead of time. I tell the students exactly what to know and even share the essay questions prior to the test date.  Those who prepare as I outline do well, and those who don’t prepare have those low scores. We will have 4 more tests in the Confirmation series and then return to our study of Morality to finish out the year. Discussions are good and projects are well done, now let’s get those test scores up where they belong.  We will attend Mass on Tuesday this week for Catholic School’s Week. Let’s appreciate the fact that we can worship together during our school day!

The students recently completed a week of oral presentations in preparation for the upcoming science fair. In the following two weeks we will complete our look at phase changes and begin taking an in-depth examination at how we measure gases and their behavior under certain conditions. We will be exploring Boyle’s Law, Gay-Lussacs Law, and Charles’s Law.

 Science Fair

As mentioned above, the students just completed a week of oral presentation in preparation for the science fair which will be held on Thursday Jan. 26^th between 3:00 and 5:30pm. At that time only students and judges will be allowed in Morrissey Hall. All projects will be on display during our Open House Sunday January 29^th.

 Students are to bring their display board to school the morning of Thursday Jan. 26^th. They will be stored in their homerooms until it is time to move them to the gym. Upon completing of the science fair the boards will remain at school until they are displayed again during our Open House. The students will be required to taken them home Monday January 31^st.

ACCEL ALGEBRA The semester exam took place this week and I will share the results with the students next week. I feel we had plenty of time to review and prepare, but I don’t think the students took full advantage of that. The cumulative review I collected on Monday after the break was some of the poorest work I’ve seen to date. I asked the students to have that document signed so you can see the level of time and effort put into it.  Of course, some were fantastic, but others were very poor. Daily I am trying to instill strong work policies in these young people so they can be successful in the future, but they seem not willing to invest the time it takes to be successful. Those who do choose to invest the time are very successful at this point and I thank them for that.  We will proceed with Chapter 8 starting next week and that is about exponents and exponential functions. I must say the work will become more difficult now so it will be imperative to stay on task and keep up with the daily expectations. The week of 1/16/12 we are off Monday and the rest of the week we will cover 8-1 & 8-2 with a quiz, then on to 8-3 & 8-4 and a quiz. I’m not sure of the dates yet. Probably 8-3 & 8-4 will be the week of 1/23/12 with the rest of Chapter 8 completing that week. 

REGULAR ALGEBRA  The Christmas break came before we could test Chapter 4 so that happened this week.  I will return them to the students as soon as possible and then next week we will start Chapter 5. This is about writing the equation of a line, which isn’t difficult but requires a few steps so it will be important to take notes and use them to process homework.  The week of 1/16/12 we will cover sections 5-1 to 5-3 and review them. We will take a quiz on those sections then the week of 1/23/12.  We will continue in Chapter 5 with sections 5-5 & 5-6 with a quiz on those two also. I will go back then and pick up section 5-4 to join with 5-7 and get ready for Chapter test.  This will all be in the third quarter as time won’t permit too much getting finished before next week is over.  Most of the students are working hard in this group and I am really proud of the progress many have made. As always we have our challenges, but I think most of them understand the work it takes to keep up in this class.  I thank them for working hard most of the time.  Those who have chosen not to work hard and keep up  are are well aware of the cost.    As always taking class notes is a must for success. 

RELIGION  We tested session 3 at the end of this week and now we have session 4 titled “Empowered by the Spirit”. We will learn the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how Confirmation will enhance our lives.  We will ask how we intend to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We will devote about a week and a half to this session with a test during the week of 1/23/12.  Confirmation is March 18th at 2:00 so it is closer than we think. We have four more sessions to study and about 7 weeks.  We will spend about one and a half weeks on each session to be completed just before Confirmation. Then we will return to the Morality series for the rest of the 8th grade Religion curriculum. Please be sure to attend Mass as a family, especially now as we embark upon this beautiful sacrament.    

We have completed our first unit in our Social Studies text due to our previous Constitution curriculum.  We have now started #24 in the text which deals with the Roaring 20′s.  We will then move immediately into the Depreession Era.  The Roaring 20′s unit is a brief glimpse into this decade while the 1930′s is much more involved as far as coursework.

Language Arts

As is usual, the next quarter’s work will be divided among  grammar, vocabulary, and various styles of writing.  We are now completing #10 in our vocabulary series and will easily complete the text  next quarter .  We are also in the midst of studying pronoun usage, and next week we will focus on persuasive writing.

Literature

We have completed three novels thus far this year and have started preliminary work on our fourth novel, Swallowing Stones.  This will be augmented with supplemental resources that I will generate.

Science Fair

 The students have work extremely hard and have completed approximately 80% of their projects. The next due date is January 10^th (the date was originally Jan. 9^th but has been changed). At that time the students will be handing in their completed project in a binder for grading. During the second and third weeks of January students will be presenting their experiment to the class. They will be required to put together either a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation explaining their experiment. More information will be given to the students next week.

8th ACCEL ALGEBRA We are right on target with half of Chapter 6 accomplished and time to finish up before too much of December passes.  We will head for Chapter 7 and some review before the holidays and be ready to take our semester exam at the end of the week we return.  I plan to test Chapter 7 before the holiday break and then review upon our return. These students have done a great job participating in all the contests we’ve entered. We competed in Academic Bowls at St. Ignatius (4th) and Nazareth (1st). We also competed in Math contests at Nazareth (3rd) and Fenwick. I thank the students for their time and talents. I am very proud of each one.

ALGEBRA We are finally finished with Chapter 3 which was a long process. It was worth the time though as the students did master balancing equations pretty well.  We will study linear functions next with graphing and solving for ordered pairs. This is a staple of Algebra I and encompasses the next 2 Chapters. I hope to finish Chapter 4 before the Christmas break so we can relax and focus on Chapter 5 in January. Most of the students are working hard, but it will take focus and dedication to keep on top of things over these 2 chapters.  I do ask that all work be shown so I can help those who are struggling. You should definitely see math work being done at home. It is too long of a process for them to say they did it in school unless they stay after with me for help.

RELIGION We have begun the work toward Confirmation with the red book and the series entitled Call to Celebrate Confirmation. Each session is divided into sections named celebrate, remember, live, and journey together. In the celebrate section we do a prayer service together, in the remember section we study some Bible history or Church tradition, in the live section we learn about people who have lived their faith and ask how we will live ours, and in the journey together section we will have some feedback on what we plan to do to move forward in our faith. I will be asking the students to access their sponsors via phone or email to do some interviews and collaborative work. I will allow plenty of time for this to happen before something needs to be turned in about the exchange. Hopefully this will serve to strengthen their relationship and create a lasting bond of faith for them.  If you have any questions please email me. The commitment forms and sponsor forms should have been completed and turned in by now.  If your child has not done so, please be sure to get those turned in.

GENERAL NEWS Time is really flying by and here it is Thanksgiving already.  I know we are all reflecting on what we’re thankful for and offering prayers for being among the fortunate.  I am thankful for you, the sacrificing families of St. Cletus who share their time and talents readily every day.  I am thankful for the students who enrich me everyday and with whom I am overjoyed to work and play.  I am thankful for supportive colleagues who make the work day so fun. I am thankful for the expert guidance of administration, staff,  and priests. I am so very grateful for our loving God who continues to bless us and keep us in His care.  I’m sure we all can’t wait for the fabulous dinner with family and friends, too, not to mention a little time off from the routine.  I wish all of God’s blessings to you and yours this wonderful Thanksgiving!

If you are looking for something fun to do over the holidays, I am performing with the Choral-Aires on 2 Christmas shows. The first one is Dec. 10th at Hemmens Cultural Center  in Elgin with the Elgin symphony. I am singing on the afternoon show (3:30) but not on the evening show (8:00). The second is on Saturday, Dec. 17th at the Harper College Performing Arts Center in Palatine at 3:00pm. We are singing with the men’s chorus The Brotherhood of Harmony. Tickets are available through me if you’re interested for $20/$18 (different sections) with $3 discount for seniors or students.

click to enlarge this photo- retrieved from wikispaces.com

Since the world of technology is constantly changing and more and more technology applications are based in the cloud; students are encouraged to explore Web 2.0 tools and teach the class how the Web 2.0 tool of their choice works.

Technology tools provide oppurtunities for learning to go beyond the walls of the classroom. St. Cletus recognizes that technology integration can and will make learning more exciting while meeting the needs of diverse (visual, auditory, etc.) learners. 

Web 2.0 extra credit is offered all year long. Your child will be given 10 minutes to teach the class about something they learned independently online. If your child is interested in showcasing a Web 2.0 tool they can access this Web 2.0 wiki site or Google “Web 2.0″. Click here for the extra credit rubric and see how their presentation will be scored. For more information on Web 2.0 and their impact in schools read A day in the Life of Web 2.0

Please contact me with any questions, and happy surfing!     ~Mrs. Flickinger

Social Studies

The Class of 2012 have all successfully completed the Federal and Illinois State Constitution tests-yeah!!!

In this new quarter we are starting our study of American History.  We are beginning with WWI and then continuing chronologically through history.  The students will be required to take notes  as part of the class.

Further, the students have due on Monday, November 21st their first essay on “America’s Contitutional Freedoms“.  the length is 250 words/ typed with correct format followed.They are also asked/ required to bring in a xeroxed copy of a WWI poster torecreate for this study by Friday.

Language Arts/Literature

We have completed our second novel, Animal Farm, and have started orally reading The Giver.  As is the theme this year all novels reflect the study of “perfect worlds” that are not.  This current book is a wondeful resource in an eighth grade classroom.  I would encourage parents to read it as well-please do not give the ending away, however.

We have also completed three chapters in our grammar text and are now studying/ memorizing the correct forms for verb conjugation.  This fourth chapter will be completed after Thanksgiving. 

In our Vocabulary series we have completed six chapters.  There will be no assignment due next week, however, the cumulative review for chapters 4, 5, 6 is due Thursday, and the Mastery test on the same chapters is due Friday of this week.

Additional Information

The students will be taking the Explore Test next Monday and Tuesday.  Please make sure they are in attendance.

The class is also coordinating the school Giving Tree/ Food donations project.  Also, the class will celebrate an advent liturgy with their buddies on Dec. 22nd at 9:00 am.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend-enjoy family and friends and thank you for all you do!!