12/17/2007

Dear Families,

Your students and I need patience, dedication and a lot of energy to accomplish many tasks in this busy week ahead.

Christmas vacation begins Thursday 12/20 after a full day of school.

Your students performed beautifully in the Advent Ceremony and Nativity Tableau. They brought both reverence and joy to the production. It was a pleasure to see their hard work pay off.

First trimester report cards were distributed Friday, December 14. Please return the report card folder (outer blue) and the envelope at your earliest convenience. Replacement envelopes cost you $1.

� ACADEMICS

HISTORY

The test on the Constitutional Convention is scheduled for Thursday, December 20.

Students will also write a position paper “as” their convention character. We will begin this project when we return in January. In addition, we take an in-depth look at the Constitution. Students learn the Bill of Rights and then examine Supreme Court cases to figure out how the justices ruled.

RELIGION

We are working to finish chapters 4 and 5 in the Religion text this week.

6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade students will attend an Advent Retreat tomorrow, Tuesday 12/18 from 12 – 3.

LANGUAGE ARTS

The first written draft of the editorial commentary is due Tuesday, 12/18. On Wednesday, Mrs. White and Mrs. Morris will help me work individual with the kids as they prepare the oral delivery of the ed comm.

I hope to begin the lay out for the newspaper front page. They will do a draft the old-fashioned way – cutting articles to size and manipulating them on paper. The final will be produced using the computer. We will finish the final copy in January.

The Spelling Test for Lesson 12 is on Thursday. There is no workbook assignment; however, students are to choose 4 spelling words and use them to write a short paragraph as if the paragraph is the beginning of a thriller or mystery story.

LITERATURE

Students are to write 3 interpretive questions for the book The Staircase. There will be a seminar-style discussion for t

Bu Tuesday, students sh

MATH

8^th Math

All the students received progress reports last Wednesday (December 5).  These need to be signed and returned by Tuesday (December11).

The 8^th grade math class will be working on the following:

· Multiplying and dividing rational numbers

· Working with formulas

· Chapter 3 review

· Order of operations

The Algebra class will be working on the following:

· Solving equations with multiplication and division

· Problem solving: working backwards

· Solving equations with more than one operation

SCIENCE

Updates about Science are posted in the Science section of school web page.

ü CLASSROOM COMMUNITY

The students are practicing the Nativity Tableau. Each student has a role to play. The production is coming together – I know your kids will shine come performance night.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

Ann Christianson

annc@saintbrendan.org