SHOJ - English Language Arts

Parents, Here is an outline of the presentation your child heard Friday from the Sunflower House. The focus of the presentation was how to stay safe in the world of technology. Sunflower House Presentation 12-13-13 Title: “Let’s Talk” Age : 6 th -8 th graders Main talking points: ·          Students need to Recognize, Resist, and Report ·          Personal safety is a priority ·          Students need to be aware of their personal space. ·          Students were asked the following questions: 1.       How many of you are familiar with social networking (100% yes) 2.       How many of you have access to some type of device that allows you access to the internet?  (100% yes) 3.       How many of you use instragram?  (Approximately 90% answered yes) 4.       How many of you have a twitter account  (29 students) 5.       How many of you have a facebook account? (15 students) 6.       How many of have snap chat?  (Approximately 20 students) 7.       Ho

Below are dates for 7th and 8th Grade upcoming projects/ tests.  Please use your time management skills to study ahead of time rather than cramming the night before/ day of a test!  These are wonderful opportunities to raise your grades as the semester ends! 8 th  Grade ELA project due Thursday 12/12 7 th ELA (Reading) Thursday 12/12- Anne Frank/ Holocaust 8th Grade Science Quiz Friday 12/13 7 th Grade Math (mini) Celebration Monday 12/16- solving equations* 7th Grade Religion Monday 12/16 8th Grade Religion Monday 12/16 8 th Grade Math part 1  Monday 12/16- Linear equations, systems* 8 th Grade Math part 2 Tuesday 12/17* 8 th  Grade ELA (Language/ reading) Tuesday 12/17 7th Grade ELA (Language) short quiz Wednesday 12/18 7th Grade Science Poster due Wednesday 12/18 (class work day on Tuesday) *Review session 8th Grade Math Friday 7:30 am (in addition to two review classes) *Review session 7th grade Monday 12/16 7:30 am (in addition to two r

We have had an exciting week in Science! The 7th graders have been learning about Potential and Kinetic Energy. To gain a better grasp of the concept, they performed a Roller Coaster lab activity. On Friday, they had the chance to design their own roller coaster! On Monday, we will have other groups try to recreate each others roller coasters. Below is a group of kids working hard on their design! The 8th graders have been learning about Ionic and Covalent Bonds. This has included referring to the Periodic Table and drawing a number of Lewis Dot Structures of their compounds. Below two students are working on the Lewis Dot structure of a specific compound on the Smart Board.  Earlier in the week, to kick off Advent, the school was split into Faith Families lead by 8th graders. Each family consisted of members of various other grade levels. It was a great way for the older students to get to know the younger students. Excellent feedback was heard from young and old alike.

To finish out the year, students are working hard to wrap up their novels. 7th graders are finishing their diary for Anne Frank, which is due Monday. They will have a test next Thursday over Anne Frank and the information on their Holocaust webquest with a matching section for their Holocaust vocab words (both in their ELA notebooks). We'll spend some time watching a movie about Anne Frank next week. 8th graders seemed to really enjoy going to A Christmas Carol  this morning. They made some great comparisons between the play and the novel they read. We have been working on their theme essays in class. Their projects for A Christmas Carol  will be due next Thursday. We'll also be watching a version of our novel. In language, they have been working on verbs, especially active and passive verbs. Next week, we will work some more with verbs. They will have a test over A Christmas Carol and their verbs information during the last week of school before Christmas. They can go over

7th graders, Our lab activities today: 1. Spend some time with the vocab words from Act 1 and 2. Q uiz yourself (under Spelling Bee or Learn this List). To log in, my username is  sarah.rajewski@shoj.org, and the password is learn.  Act 1:  https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/259369#view=notes   Act 2:  https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/259372#view=notes 2. Explore the Secret Annex online: http://www.annefrank.org/en/Subsites/Home/ Write a blog post explaining something you learned. 3. Visit KidBlog. I've posted an optional prompt.  Choose this one or write about something else you would like!  Thank you!

Students are working hard on their novels and on their projects. 7th graders voted to finish Scenes 1 and 2 of Act 2 this weekend before the break so that it will be fresh in their minds! We've been writing their diary entries in class, so they'll just need to type those up at home. 8th graders are also working hard on Christmas Carol. We've had some work time in class, but they've also been reading on their own outside of class. They'll vote tomorrow whether they want to finish Stave 4 over the weekend or over the break. Students, remember we've got a class period to work on your projects next Monday. Don't forget your supplies and your flash drives! Remember to be signing up for your book talk at the end of the semester. Spots are filling up! You don't have to finish the book to sign up and reserve a date later in the quarter. Thanks. -- Miss R.

Students, Some of you asked for the link to the audio book of a Christmas Carol, so you could listen and annotate at the same time. Here you go! Click on the play button next to the stave you would like to listen to. https://librivox.org/a-christmas-carol-by-charles-dickens/ Thanks! Miss R.

8th graders, Here's the video I promised to post to help you study for your quiz next Wednesday. } https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=- F2JWKY63K0 Also, if you want to practice with the game we played today, here's helping verb "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" http://www.quia.com/rr/121293.html We'll be playing Jeopardy tomorrow. You can practice at home from this game:  https://jeopardylabs.com/play/action-linking-and-helping-verbs . Here's another game to practice with:  http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/usergames/Nov201145/game1320938820.php

7th grade: First lab activity: 1) Visit this website:  http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/a2z.php?type=idcard 2) Pick a Holocaust victim with a last name that starts with the same letter as your own.  3) Read their biography, and post your own five-sentence summary of their life onto your blog.  Second lab activity: Visit the Kidblog site and create another post for the day. I've given you an optional prompt.  Third lab activity (if you have time): Quiz yourself (under Spelling Bee or Learn this List) on Act 1 vocab words.  https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/259369#view=notes  My username is sarah.rajewski@shoj.org, and the password is learn.  8th grade:  First lab activity: Visit  http://www.pat heos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/christmas-according-to-dickens/ . Scroll down to the second entry " Dickens: The Man Who Invented Christmas?." Read that whole entry (until you see " The Real Business of Christmas, according to Charles Dickens.") Summa

In ELA this month, we'll be keeping busy. Hard to believe it's already November! Where does the time go? This week, 7th graders will be starting work on the play of  The Diary of Anne Frank , which includes reading outside of class . Ms. Vyhanek and I are aware of the sensitive nature of the Holocaust As parents and guardians, we would appreciate if you could be checking in with your child and letting us know if you have any concerns. 7th graders are also finishing up a unit on prepositional phrases, and we will be starting working with pronouns next week. In their writer's circles, students are working to publish a writing draft. Students should definitely  have scheduled a meeting for their book talk(s). As the quarter winds down, those spots will fill. Students should sign up while there are openings! Eighth graders will be starting A Christmas Carol this week in preparation for attending the play in December. Students will have outside reading. Most of the items for

8th grade has a Celebration of Knowledge over solving equations on Thursday, November 7th. 7th grade ELA quiz over prepositions Friday, November 8th (both 7A and 7B) No School Monday, November 11. 7th grade math Celebration of Knowledge over proportions, ratios, scale drawings, similar figures, and percents on Tuesday, November 13. *Under "math" in the links tab, I believe the most recent notes can finally be accessed without a Google account.  If students miss class, they can refer to these notes and print them off if interested.

8th Grade will have a Ch. 7 Test Friday, Nov. 8th!

7th Grade Social Studies 7th Grade was given a project outline/requirements/instructions in class today.  This project will take the place of a written exam over chapter 3.  Students will be responsible for creating a written and oral presentation over a location they have chosen.  Students will need to complete research over the weekend so they are prepared to work in class Monday.  A helpful website has been posted under Social Studies Links for this project.    All projects will be due Thursday, Nov. 7th.   The oral presentations will take place in class Thursday and Friday; students are encouraged to have props and be creative!

The students worked hard on their narrative videos and poems. They are excited to share them. :) What a blessing their lives have been! Students, if you are wanting to save your video to your computer so you can have it forever without the link, log into your account. Then click on your published video. On the right side of the page, you will see the word "Download." Choose the MP4 option, which is the only one available for our type of account. It will save to your computer.  Brenna   Isabella Cassie Drew Camden Jackson Owen Kane Mary Owen Emma Emma Billy Alexis   Nick Lily Aidan Reid Alex Catherine Cory Ryan Will   Halle Megan Katy Lindsay Joe Anna Sam Maddi Lexi Jack Nick Lee Isaac Parker Caroline Jillian Rachel Savas Rio Josie Carolyn Tyler Megan Jordyn Brooke Reed Hannah

Explore and play these games to practice solving equations and combining like terms.  A Skills Showcase will be given in the last 15 minutes of class. Solving equations: http://www.math-play.com/Two-Step-Equations-Game.html http://www.math-play.com/equation-puzzle/equation-puzzle.html http://www.math-play.com/System-of--Equations-Game.html Combining Like Terms: http://www.quia.com/rr/195128.html?AP_rand=1724459040 Other: http://www.math-play.com/Equation/Equation-Game-Online.html SJA Placement test samples: http://www.sjakeepingfaith.org/

Dear 8 th -grade families, This week students are looking at one of the purposes of writing: to express ourselves and reflect on life. One of the most powerful tools for expression of memories are photographs. Over this week and next week, we will be creating a narrative and descriptive poem with an accompanying video. Today we talked about the videos and the expectations, which we will continue to cover over the next week. We’ll work with the poems starting tomorrow. Students will have some time in the lab to work at school, but some of the work will be done at home. We are working to create Animoto videos, which will be presented to the class. If you do not have any digital photos, I have told the student to let me know and we will work together. Here is an example of the video I made of my life.   Animoto accounts are private. The only way to access a video is if someone provides the link. My goal with these was to post them in a special section on my blog, wh

Dear Families, We'll be placing our order on Nov. 6th for November and December. Please check out the catalog or the reading brochures your students brought home!  To Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub One-Time Class Activation Code: L7ZJ6 Due by 11/6 With Scholastic Reading Club: - Every book you buy earns FREE Books for our classroom library - You can choose from handpicked, grade- and reading-level-specific books for your child - You'll find the best values on a variety of formats, including eBooks Each month, your child will bring home Reading Club flyers. Together you can choose from books hand-selected by teachers and experts, and then order online or by returning your order form and payment to me. I 'm excited to get our class reading! Thank you for your support, Miss R. If This Is Your First Time Ordering Online: - REGISTER at scholastic.com/readingclub - ENTER the one-time Class Activation Code from the top of this letter - CHOOSE

Students worked hard on the Price Chopper contest of designing a book cover. We talked about quality, and how we can all make it -- even if we're not artists. :) Here are a few! (Sorry that they're all sideways!)

Check out the posters students made last week in House. Each House incorporated a quote from their saint and reflected on what it means for them. Siena House: "If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire." -- St. Catherine of Siena

For our Global Read Aloud book, we're about 14 chapters into our book , Out of My Mind.  Students have been using their reading comprehension skills to make connections from the text to their lives. Today, 7th graders found some of the most important words in the text and made a Wordle. The story is about a girl named Melody who has cerebral palsy.

First Quarter Report cards were sent home today.  Be sure to read the attached letters and skills sheets for ELA and Math.  This is a good time to reflect on grades and set goals for 2nd quarter and the rest of the school year! See you at conferences tomorrow.  God bless.

7th grade will continue working with ratios, rates, and unit rates.  Today they learned how to find the "best buy" at the store.  Is it better to buy 12 for $14.99 or 1 for $1.15?  Encourage discussions like these at home! 8th grade is continuing their mastery of Scientific Notation and will be starting functions and linear relationships!  Just remember, y = mx + b :)

7th graders Skype with a class in Iowa for the Global Read Aloud.  In 8th grade, the past two weeks, we worked on figurative language. Though students reviewed this last year, we refreshed our brains! Many of the questions from the pre-test were on the test. On their tests, students took a passage they had not seen from St. Therese and applied their knowledge of figurative language for literary analysis. 8th graders also worked on online citations for their patriotism essays, so we can avoid plagiarism. We finished up finding subjects and verbs after working for several weeks and playing lots of parts of speech games during MTSS! 8th graders have been working on hard this week on their presentations of advanced parts of speech -- like participles and direct/indirect objects. They will be teaching the class next week, and I'm looking forward to it. They've also started the Global Read Aloud book for middle school, Out of My Mind.  In 7th grade, we finished our ITBS tes

See the attached flyer if you or your child are interested in a Math + offered at Rockhurst!  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwNvdkA6WcUAaktNNnhtMlVnc0E/edit?usp=sharing

Middle School P-T Conference Time! Yes, it is that time of year for our conferences. The middle school teachers would like our parent-teacher conferences to be a collaborative effort to help the individual student be successful and continue to improve in his or her academics; it is not mandatory that parents meet with middle school team, but understand the middle school team always enjoy seeing parents and students (even if it is only for a few minutes), so that we can express our appreciation for allowing us to develop relationships with you. To schedule a conference, please contact the office .

Students, Remember that I added time to conference this Tuesday, Thursday, and next Tuesday. I will conference with the students who are signed up for later days next week, but if you have NOT signed up for a conference, Tuesday is your last chance. Happy reading!

8th graders,  Here's the info that I said I would post. As you're finding a good website to cite for your essay, remember to use the format in your notebook on pages 38-39.  } Collect as much of the following information as possible, but sometimes website do not list it all: ◦ Author and/or editor names (if available) ◦ Article name in quotation marks (if applicable) ◦ Title of the Website, project, or book in italics. (Remember that some Print publications have Web publications with slightly different names. They may, for example, include the additional information or otherwise modified information, like domain names [e.g. .com or .net ].) ◦ Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date . ◦ Medium of publication. ◦ Date you accessed the material. ◦ URL (if required, or for your own personal reference; MLA does not require a URL). } If there is  no author, start with the title of the webpage . } If  there is no sponsoring instit

Next week, the week of 9/30-10/4 7th Grade: Tuesday- Math Celebration part 1: review of +,-,x,/, comparing/ ordering fractions Wednesday English Quest- simple sentences and figurative language Thursday-Math Celebration part 2:  review of +,-,x,/, comparing/ ordering decimals *Math is review from last year and is broken down into two days for 7th grade 8th Grade: Wednesday Math Celebration- laws of exponents

8th graders will be going to see the KC Rep. Theater put on A Christmas Carol on Dec. 5 .  Please try not to make appointments for that day so they can all go! Thanks.

We are half way through the quarter!  If you forgot to bring your yellow Progress Report home to get signed, please print this link, go over your grades with your parents, and turn it in on Monday. First Quarter Progress Report

8th grade Lab Day http://www.softschools.com/quiz_time/math/exponents/theme6.html *Show Miss Vyhanek your score! This is a grade. http://www.math-play.com/exponent-game.html http://www.math-play.com/rational-and-irrational-numbers-game/rational-and-irrational-numbers-game.html

Middle School Curriculum Update:  Grade Cards From Mrs. Engen and the Middle School team We have entered the realm of formative verses summative grades, and this transition has brought some questioning.  The predominant inquiries seem to be centered around two topics:  1.   Student and parent understanding of which grades on the school portal count for the final grade.  2.  How homework will be reflected on grades. It is important to the Sacred Heart staff that students and parents have full knowledge of how grades are determined.  We realize that it can be confusing to see formative and summative grades on the school portal and try to figure out how a final grade will be determined.  From now on, the only grades entered onto the school portal will be those that factor into a student’s final grade.  Therefore, teachers will only enter summative grades on the portal.  This practice has been done in the past years, therefore it is not new. Summative grades are thos