Last week was an eventful yet short week, this means we are hitting the ground running this week!  This week the junior high students have their Service Hours due as well as their Independent Reading Book Projects.  Both of these were assigned the First day of the Trimester, so each student should have completed their necessary reading and work.  If you are unable to access the information regarding service hours and IRB projects, please contact me directly.  This week the students in the 7th grade will work on their Persuasive Essays.  They will have time in class each morning to complete these assignments, and they will be due Monday March 4th.  Please look over your child's writing, things you notice may be an indicator of where they need additional assistance and focus in the writing process. The 7th grade also has a Unit 11/4 exam on Tuesday that focuses on the use of pronouns.  Please help your child study and review notes.

The 8th grade will finish The giver this week and will continue work on their Utopia Project.  They each have specific jobs within their groups, however presentations and decisions should be made as a group.  Encourage your children to remain on top of their work as to not fall behind.  Group members depend on the efforts of each person. 

I hope that everybody enjoyed their weekend and was able to enjoy this year's Super Bowl Sunday.  As we head back into school this week students in the 7th grade will be focusing in on types of poetry.  We have focused over the past two weeks on different poets as well as the figurative language used in poetry.  We will continue to look at devices used in poetry and make the connection to how they are used in short stories and effect the meaning of what we read.  We will look at lyrical, concrete, free-verse, sonnet, haikus and more this week.  We will conclude this unit next week (February 11th) with our Poetry cafe.  This is a tradition for the 7th grade at Saint Jerome and is an opportunity for them to share poetry they compose with their peers as well as you!  Please consider joining us during the school day for our poetry cafe.  The 7th grade will turn in the formal letter they began last week on Monday.  For those students who wrote to a person of historical significance that is still alive, I will mail out their letters from school.  Many students chose great people to focus on.  We will be taking the second round of Benchmark tests administered by the Archdiocese this week.  This is a great opportunity for us to understand students knowledge of content as it lines up with the common core standards.  This is a transitional year so these results will help guide instruction in language arts for the remainder of the year.  Finally, we will be scheduling a field trip for the 7th grade to the Museum of Tolerance this week.  Be on the look out for a permission slip to be sent home.  We will also be in need of chaperones for the day, so if you are able please mark the permission slip accordingly.  This is a great way to interact with your child's peers as well as receive service hours!  Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have this week.

This week we will continue our production of our poetry projects.  Students will be sharing their projects starting Thursday.  We will continue our poetry unit in the upcoming weeks and all of our learning will culminate during our poetry cafe in February.  We have been using the computer lab more frequently the last few weeks and I hope that we can continue to utilize it as often.  It is an invaluable resource and truly helps our classroom come to life.  If your child has a laptop and you are comfortable with them bringing it to school, please feel free to send it with them.  They will be able to connect to the internet in class and make sure that their work is always with them.  During our PBL students will have the opportunity to work on their Science Fair Projects.  Any material that they may need should be with them on Tuesdays to facilitate their learning and production of these projects.  Please continue to encourage your students to do their best at school.  Positive encouragement goes a long way in helping students to be accountable and strive for excellence. I have seen an uptick in test scores and positive attitudes in class.  This gives me the confidence that we are on the right track as a team in the education of your children. 

Instructions:

1)Read both of these articles: (10 minutes)

"Covered In Dust"
http://en.community.epals.com/science_center/b/science_center_collection/archive/2012/02/24/covered-in-dust.aspx

"A Famous Flood"
http://en.community.epals.com/science_center/b/science_center_collection/archive/2012/03/13/the-great-flood.aspx

With your group you will research your assigned natural disaster.  Fill in the KWL chart for your disaster prior to completing initial research. (15 minutes) 

Websites like National Geographic, The Weather Channel, and FEMA are great places to start.

Your group should print one image of your natural disaster.  Please check with Ms. Cordero before you print!

You will present your natural disaster to the class in a brief 2 minutes presentation

When we have finished our presentations we will read the following article:
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/

Think about the characteristics that make up a natural disaster, what is the cause/effect of a natural disaster.  Where do our dependencies during a disaster lie? Let's discuss.

Greetings Parents and Students!

The 2012-2013 school year is fast approaching and I am very excited to see the SJS Spartan Times come to life this year.  Initially, there had been hope that there could be a two day workshop held at Saint Jerome School for the Spartan Times staff this year.  However, we weren't able to do so.  In order for each staff member to have a basic understanding of journalism prior to our first meeting this year, please view the attached powerpoint.  There are two lessons that explain the very basics of news writing and a few suggestions for practice.  I will also post this on my blog (here is the link).  I ask that you pass this on to other students that applied for the newspaper staff, as not everybody was able to get their contact information to me before the break started.  Again, I look forward to working close with each of you this school year.  This will be an invaluable experience for both you and me.  

Sincerely, 
Ms. Cordero

This is a really cool eReader activity.  It has you  read a short passage from a story, and then answer a few questions about the passage to see how quickly you read!  It's sort of fun and can help you manage your time for Summer reading and reading next year :)

http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/technology-research-centers/ereaders/speed-reader/index.html