News from Team B
Ms. Reik, Mrs. Mabley, Ms. McCormick, Mr. Lampman
GRADES
Grades are now available on-line! Just got to <http://grades.salineschools.com/>. You may create a user name and password to log on and keep updated on your child’s progress.
FIELD TRIPS
Our first Team B Field Trip was on Friday, October 26, 2007. We traveled to Howell to participate in team building activities at a ropes course.
MATH – Ms. Reik
Wow! It is hard to believe we are almost a quarter of the way into the year already! It has been a great start and I am excited for more fun to come!
In Algebra A, we have been focusing on variables, and studying the basic operations of real numbers. The students have been doing a great job of focusing during class and asking GREAT questions. Soon we are going to be solving for specific variables.
In Algebra B, we have been working on supplemental topics that fill in the gaps of the book content. They have been thinking pretty abstractly, and doing a great job with it. We are going to start focusing on exponents and all the different rules and applications that stem from them.
All the students have already completed their first mini-project where they collected data and organized it into a graphical data representation. I learned what stores 8th graders like to shop at, what their favorite ice cream flavors are, and about how popular (and great) Michigan football is in comparison to other teams.
Soon the students will be playing a series of games to learn all about probability and its applications. (This will even include playing darts…or our version of throwing pennies!)
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns! I always appreciate your communication and I look forward to a great year!
English – Mrs. Mabley
We have been working on several areas related to writing to prepare for the America and Me Essay (contest and assignment). We have just completed a Capitalization review and will be working on a Punctuation review next.
Students have read several short stories and discussed and analyzed them using a glossary of literary terms. They have also analyzed the memoir Death Be Not Proud.
We are about to start a joint project with history that will involve creating a Revolutionary newspaper. Students are logging all writing assignments and SSR readings in their writing folders.
Science – Ms. McCormick
In Science, we have finished our first unit, Scientific Method and Metrics. It has been an exciting exploration of some review concepts from last year and lots of new concepts. Students are learning how to apply their understanding of science to real life situations. We started the unit by discussing the question, "What is Science?" and comparing that to the question, "What isn't Science?”
We had several exciting labs where students got a chance to use some sophisticated lab equipment. They worked with Bunsen Burners and Mortar and Pestles in the Flame Test Lab and explored metric measurements in the Metric Mania Lab.
Students evaluated and critiqued real life data to determine the validity of claims in our big culminating lab activity, the Consumer Product Test. We studied various ad claims made by major companies and discussed ways that we could put those claims to the test. Students then chose a Consumer Product and designed and tested their own experiment in small groups. This year, we had some very exciting and fun experiments. Make sure to ask your child about the results from their test. We are now starting our next unit, Matter and Chemistry.