9 Weeks Testing and Chapter 8 Vocabulary Builder Make-up

Today, students continued with their 9 weeks exams. Today's exam was history/geography. Exams will continue tomorrow with the math test.

Many students still owe me make-up/late work. One of the common assignments missing is the Vocabulary Builder Worksheet over Chapter 8. I have printed copies of this assignment three different times for students who keep losing it. I am not going to make any more copies. What I have done is attach the worksheet below. Students can print it themselves at home and bring it in by Thursday (the last day I am accepting work this grading period). If, for some reason, printing the worksheet is not an option, students can look at the paper online and simply write their answers to each question on a piece of notebook paper and turn that in to me.

Chapter 8 Open Notes/Book Take Home Test

Today, the students continued working on their test covering Chapter 8 (The Mexican National Era). This was an open book/notes test that they started yesterday. Students had the entire class period yesterday and today to work on the exam. Any students not finished as of the end of the class period today were instructed to take the test home and complete it for homework.

Please check with your student and ask about this test. It is vital that, if it was taken home, it be returned on time at the beginning of class tomorrow. Students can simply not recover from a "0" on a major test.

Pearl Harbor Remembrance, Chapter 8 - Lesson 3 Notes and Open Note / Take Home Test Tomorrow

Today, I took a few moments to discuss the significance of the Pearl Harbor attack with the students. I showed them a brief video that featured a bit of footage from the attack and part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's address to Congress and the nation asking for a declaration of war on the Empire of Japan. Below is a link to FDR's address to the nation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK8gYGg0dkE

After viewing the video, we continued on with the notes for Chapter 8. Below are the notes for Lesson 3.

Tomorrow, the students will begin taking the test over Chapter 8. The test will be a bit different this time around as it will be an open book/notes test. Students may use whatever resources they have to work on correctly answering the questions. Please make sure your student catches up on the notes from this chapter and brings all of their materials to class tomorrow.

Chapter 8 - Lesson 2 Notes, Vocabulary Builder and SFA Brochure Due on Monday

Students worked on several items today during class including vocabulary, notes, the vocabulary builder worksheet and the SFA brochure.

The vocabulary builder worksheet and the SFA brochures are due on Monday at the beginning of the period. Please make sure your student completes these assignments. The SFA brochure is especially important as it is a summative grade and will count as the equivalent of a chapter test. It will be difficult, if not impossible, for a student to recover from a "0" on a summative grade.

The notes from Chapter 9 - Lesson 2 are below. Students will need these notes to complete their take home test over Chapter 9 next week. I have also reattached the instructions for the SFA brochure assignment (below the notes).

Stephen F. Austin Colony Brochure Assignment

Yesterday, I assigned the students the "Stephen F. Austin Colony Brochure" assignment. This is a VERY IMPORTANT assignment as it will count as a summative grade (the equivalent of a test grade). That being the case, the brochure needs to be done well and completed on time. A poor summative grade will really hurt the student's average. If the assignment is not turned in, resulting in a "0," it will be almost impossible for the student to recover before report cards come out.

Fortunately, the opposite is also true. If students do a good job on the brochure, it can help their average IMMENSELY. This is precisely why I have assigned the brochure. Some of the students really need a high summative grade in order to pull their overall grade up prior to report cards/grade check.

The brochure is due on Friday 12/4/15 at the beginning of the period.

Full instructions for the brochure are below.

Grades, Vocabulary and Notes for Chapter 8

This weekend, I submitted grades for the UIL grade check. This grade check marks the end of the 6th week for this 9 week grading period. There are only 3 weeks left for students to get their averages where they need to be. Today, each student was given the opportunity to hear their up to date average for my class and was given a list of what assignments, if any, they were missing. Please check with your student as to what they are missing and go online to view their grades. Time is quickly running out on this grading period.

In an effort to get the students an easy grade to raise their averages, I assigned the vocabulary from Chapter 8. The vocabulary assignment can be found below. The assignment is due on Wednesday.

Below the vocabulary assignment are the notes from Chapter 8, Lesson 1 over the Mexican National Era. Please make sure your student copies these notes or prints them out for study.

Chapter 7, Lesson 3 Notes

As promised, here are the Chapter 7, Lesson 3 notes. Students will need to copy/print these notes and have them ready when we do our review of Chapter 7 on Monday.

Chapter 7 - Lesson 2 Notes, Chapter 7 Vocabulary Builder

Today, we finished up discussion over the Chapter 7, Lesson 2 notes. The notes are below in case anyone did not quite get finished copying them. I also handed out a short worksheet which is due on Monday 11/23. Many of the students finished it up in class already.

We remain on track to have the test over Chapter 7 on Tuesday 11/24.

Internet Problems

For some reason, the Blogger server was unavailable to me until after 10:00pm. That being the case, I was unable to post the notes for Lesson 2. I'll get them posted tomorrow, no worries.

The vocabulary assignment for Chapter 7 was assigned today. The students had some time to work on it in class and some finished before leaving. The assignment is due Tuesday 11/18 at the beginning of class for those who did not complete it today. The vocabulary is posted below.

Please make sure your student gets this assignment done and turned in on time.

Chapter 7 - Mexico Becomes Independent

I started the day by giving the students their grades from the test they took last Friday. These grades have been posted and can be viewed online at this time. I did not give the tests back to the students yet as I had several kids absent who need to make it up. I don't want the tests floating around until everyone has taken it. Once the tests are returned, the students can do test corrections in order to raise their grades.

Next, we started our notes on Chapter 7 - Mexico Becomes Independent. We touched on all kinds of good stuff including the 7 Years War, the Louisiana Purchase, the Adams-Onis Treaty and the first Filibusters. I showed the kids a couple of short videos on these topics that can be accessed below. The Lesson 1 notes can be found below the videos.

Chapter 6 Test, Progress Reports

Friday, the students took their exam over Chapter 6 - Spanish Colonial Texas. The tests have been graded and the scores posted in the grade book.

Progress reports were handed out on Friday to most classes. I have one class that did not get them as I wanted them to concentrate on the test and not use up class time discussing the progress reports. The thing about progress reports is that they are obsolete by the time you, the parent/guardian receive them. I would encourage you to go to the EHMS school website and check the grades there. That is the way to get the most current and up to date grades for your student.

One more thing, just for fun, I gave the students a bonus question on Friday. If they got it right, they would have received five bonus points on their test. I put the picture below on the screen. They bonus question was "What is this animal?" For the answer scroll down below the photo.

Answer: A lamprey

Finishing Up Chapter 6 Over Spanish Colonial Texas, Chapter Test on Friday

Tuesday, we finished up the Chapter 6 - Lesson 3 notes over Spanish Colonial Texas. The notes for Lesson 3 are below. Notes on Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 can be found by scrolling down to earlier blog posts. We will review on Thursday and the exam over Chapter 6 will be given on Friday.

Please make sure your student studies and is as prepared as possible for the test on Friday.

Maps/Art Assignment Due, Week at a Glance

The map/art assignment (map, mission floor plan, cabin drawings) was due today at the beginning of class. Students were to have reproduced and colored one of the illustrations from Chapter 6 mentioned above. This was assigned on Wednesday of last week.

As I'm sure you all know, this Wednesday is the Veteran's Day holiday and there will be no school.

The week sets up like this:

Tuesday: Chapter 6 Lesson 3 Notes over Spanish Colonial Texas
Wednesday: Holiday
Thursday: Chapter 6 Review
Friday: Chapter 6 Exam over Spanish Colonial Texas

Please encourage your student to get any late and/or make-up work turned in ASAP and to start studying for the test this Friday.

Multiple Items...

There were several things going on today. I'll give you the run down.

First, an art assignment was given to the students. The students have three choices: recreated the map found on page 143 of their book, recreate the mission layout drawing on page 145, or draw a picture of the mission San Francisco de los Tejas found on page 146. The first map and the mission illustration can be found online in the Lesson 1 Resources and the mission picture can be found on the Chapter 6 Place and Time can Place section though it is very small. The art assignment is due on Monday 11/9.

The students also received their Chapter 7 Vocabulary Builder worksheet assignment. The vocabulary builder will be due on Friday 11/6.

Finally, the students began copying the notes from Chapter 6 - Lesson 2. This is a long section so they likely did not finish in class. They were instructed to finish the notes at home. The notes can both be found below.

Chapter 6 - Lesson 1 Notes, Chapter 5 Test Corrections, Chapter 6 Vocabulary Due

Today, we completed the notes from Chapter 6 - Lesson 1. The notes are below in their entirety.

The Chapter 5 Test over the early Spanish explorers was returned to the students. Students may make test corrections in order to recapture half of the points they missed on the test. Corrections should be done on a separate piece of paper and stapled to the original test and turned back in to me. The corrections will be graded and test scores adjusted accordingly. Students will need to make corrections on their own time as no class time will be available for this activity.

*HOMEWORK ALERT*- The Chapter 6 Vocabulary assignment is due tomorrow at the beginning of class. Please make sure that your student has completed the assignment and is ready to turn it in tomorrow. The vocabulary terms are available on the post from yesterday.

Chapter 6 - Spanish Colonial Texas, Vocabulary Assigned

Today, we started Chapter 6 - Spanish Colonial Texas. We read Lesson 1 in class together and will start summarizing the information with notes tomorrow.

I did assign the Chapter 6 Vocabulary. The terms and full instructions are below. The vocabulary assignment will be due on Wednesday 11/4 at the beginning of class

Chapter 5 Test Complete

Today, students took their exam over Chapter 5 - The Early Spanish Explorers. The test grades for all students who were present and took the test have been posted. Also, all make-up/late work that has been turned in to me to this point has also been grades and posted.

Next week, we will get to work on Chapter 6, which covers Spanish Colonial Texas.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.

Chapter 5 Test Tomorrow

The exam over Chapter 5 - The Early Explorers of Texas is tomorrow. Please make sure your student studies and is as prepared as possible.

Study!

Chapter 5 Test Moved to Friday, Late/Make-up Work Due

Today, we finished up the Chapter 5 - Lesson 3 Notes on the early explorers. They are attached below. This is the final section in the chapter and we will be taking the exam over it this Friday. Tomorrow, I will review the kids and do my best to get them prepared for the test on Friday. Please make sure your student studies and is as prepared as possible for this test.

As mentioned yesterday, failure to turn in work has reached disturbing levels. Please check with your student to see whether or not they are caught up (you can also check the grades online). If they owe work, please stay on them to get it done and turned in ASAP as "0's" kill their average.

*TEST ALERT* - The Chapter 5 Exam over the early explorers has been bumped to this Friday 11/30.

Zeros and Apathy, Chapter 5 Test Thursday

Today the Chapter 5 Vocabulary Builder assignment was due and I was shocked at the sheer number of students that failed to turn it in and received a grade of "0." I must say that I have been fighting the apathetic nature of this group of 7th graders since day 1. It has been like pulling teeth to get them to do and turn in their work. They just do not seem to care about their grade and do not fear any sort of consequences for failing to do their work either here at school or at home.

I need you, the parents/guardians to partner with me and make sure these students are keeping up with and turning in their work. Please grill them DAILY on what is due and when. Check the grades online AT LEAST 2-3 time per week to make sure you know where they stand. Simply put, if they perceive you are not involved or do not care about their grades, then they will not care about them either. Honestly, I have not seen such apathy from a group since I started teaching in 1992.

Let's get this taken care of ASAP.

The final sections of the Chapter 5 Notes from Lesson 2 are below. The Chapter 5 Exam over Early Explorers is scheduled for Thursday. Please do your part to make sure your student is prepared.

The Coronado Expedition, Chapter 5 Vocabulary Builder Due Tomorrow

Today, we opened with a short video on the explorations of the conquistador Coronado. After the video, we took notes and discussed his travels, what he saw, his search for the golden cities of Cibola and Quivera and how the Spanish considered his mission a failure due to his not finding any gold or riches.

Below is a link to the video I showed the class on Coronado and the notes for the day (Chapter 5, Lesson 2)

*HOMEWORK ALERT* - The Chapter 5 Vocabulary Builder assignment is due TOMORROW at the beginning of class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGM6i-1ozPk 

Chapter 5 Notes and the Gallup Poll

I apologize for not updating the blog yesterday. I will spare you the details but it was "one of those days."

The last two days have been spent on reading and taking notes over Chapter 5 - Lesson 1, which is about the early Spanish explorers. The full notes for Lesson 1 are below for any student that was unable to finish them in class.

The other activity we have been involved in is the annual Gallup Poll Survey. With the exception of students whose parents sent back a "do not participate" note, the kids went online and took the brief survey.

The 2nd 9 weeks is now underway and the students have already had two assignments for my class. I am currently in the middle of grading them now and they should be posted soon. If you notice one or both assignments missing from the grade book, you might ask your student about that. We want to make sure everyone gets off to a good start this grading period.

Chapter 5 - The Early Explorers of Texas Introduced, Chapter 5 Vocabulary Due

The first item of business today was to take up the Chapter 5 Vocabulary Assignment that was due. This assignment was originally assigned on Thursday of last week (see previous blog entries). Many students had already turned this assignment in to me but today was the due date.

We are opening the new grading period in Chapter 5, which covers the first Europeans to explore what is now Texas. We reviewed the reading from Chapter 5 - Lesson 1 while also getting a reminder on how to use the various tools available in the online version of the textbook. Students should be familiar with Lesson 1 when they come in to class tomorrow

*HOMEWORK ALERT* -  Assigned reading, Chapter 5, Lesson 1 (boxes 1-3online), pages 122-127 in the hard copy of the textbook.

1st 9 Weeks Wrap-up and 2nd 9 Weeks Kicks Off

As hard as it is to believe, the first 9 weeks grading period has now come to a close. We are now 25% of the way through the school year.

I apologize for the lack of posts over the last couple of days. There was some sort of issue with the blogger server and I was unable to log in. Hopefully, it is all straightened out now.

This week was all about the 9 weeks testing in the core subjects. We took our test on Wednesday 10/14. With the exception of a few students who were absent and missed the test, all tests have been graded and the report card averages figured. Each student was notified of the grade they will receive on their report card today.

With the first 9 weeks ending, I kicked off the second 9 weeks with a vocabulary assignment. I gave the students part of the class period to work on it. The assignment and terms are below. The vocabulary is due at the beginning of the period on Monday 10/19. Please check with your student to make sure they have this first assignment of the grading period ready so that they can get off to a solid start.

I will be out tomorrow and will have a sub in the room. The students will watch a video on the Spanish Explorers who were the first Europeans to set foot on the New World/Texas. The kids will have a short assignment to complete as they watch the video. The assignment will be turned in to the sub before they leave. Please discuss proper behavior with a sub to your student.

*EARLY OUT ALERT* - Students will be released tomorrow at 1:35.
*HOMEWORK ALERT*- Chapter 6 Vocabulary is due on Monday 10/19.

9 Weeks Testing Begins, Time Running Out to Turn in Late Work

9 weeks testing began this morning with the students taking their math exams. The kids will take their English/Language Arts test tomorrow, their History exam on Wednesday and their Science tests on Thursday. It is my understanding that any make-up tests will be administered on Friday. Please make sure your student spends some time in preparation for these very important tests.

Also, I will be out on Friday. This means any make-up/late work that still needs to be turned in will need to be given to me no later than the end of the day on Thursday. The report card grades will be entered this weekend. It will be too late to turn in any work for the current 9 weeks at that point.

9 Weeks Test Review is a Kahoot!

We continued our reviews and preparation for the 9 weeks test next Wednesday today. We did go about it a bit differently than usual.

Today, the class took a review quiz via Kahoot. Kahoot is an online program, and app, that allows student to connect to a review, quiz or survey online via their phones, tablets or other devices. Those who had smart phones were allowed to use them to connect and do the review while those without teamed up and used iPads I have here in class. The format is more fun and engaging for the kids as it is also a game that you can "win." A correct answer earns points. The first person to log in the correct answer gets more points than the second to do so and so on. The student or group with the most points at the end of the Kahoot wins.

The Kahoot review also allows for instant feedback for me as I can see immediately how many kids are missing certain questions or struggling with certain concepts. This allows me to go back and reteach any gaps the students have with the material.

I'd encourage you to go to the Kahoot site and try it out yourself. It is actually a lot of fun.

9 Weeks Test Review

Today, I drilled the students a bit over the information they will be responsible for knowing for their 9 weeks test next week. After approximately 15 minutes of question and answer-style quizzing, I broke the kids into four groups and had them do some station work. They had to answer questions at four different stations that covered the major rivers of Texas, the major cities of Texas, the natural regions of Texas and the Native American cultural regions of Texas. It was all information that will be covered on the 9 weeks test. I explained that if they were able to recall the answers to the questions easily they should be fine on the 9 weeks test, BUT if they struggled to recall the information they had some studying to do.

The activity and the maps the kids used to answer the questions are below. Feel free to print them off and quiz your student. I'm sure they will love that, lol.

 

Chapter 4 Test Returned and Test Corrections

Today, I returned the graded Chapter 4 Tests to most of my classes. The grades were not bad, overall, and I allowed the students time in class to earn back some of the lost points due to missed answers by doing test corrections. The test corrections are due at the beginning of class tomorrow (most finished in class). There will be no late test corrections accepted.

Tomorrow, we will be starting a mini-unit on Texas government, economics and immigration.

Chapter 4 Test Tomorrow

The class period today was spent reviewing for the Chapter 4 Test, which is scheduled for tomorrow. Students will need to be familiar with their notes and vocabulary in order to make a good grade on the test. The Chapter 4 Test will be a Summative grade, so it is very important. Remember, Summative grades make up 55% of a student's total average.

Please make sure you prompt your student to be prepared for the test tomorrow.

*HOMEWORK ALERT*- Chapter 4 Test on the United States is tomorrow.

Math University, Early Out and Catch Up Day

Today was an early release day for the students. The school administration decided today would be a good day for a "math university" exercise. Basically, we took the first 2 hours of school and worked math problems in every room. The students were broken into small groups and worked problems using different concepts as a sort of "scrimmage" for the standardized math STAAR test in the spring. The kids resumed a normal early out schedule beginning with 4th period.

Since I did not see every class today, I made today a catch up day where the students could finish up any late or make-up work they might have had and finished up the chapter notes. Some still are not quite finished with the chapter notes and that will need to be done before they get to class tomorrow. The full notes from the Plains Culture can be found below.

Please note, the grading period is rapidly coming to a close and students who are behind or failing do not have much time to get their assignments in or their grades raised. Please stress the importance of studying for the summative assessments and getting any make-up work done to your student.

Chapter 4 - Lesson 3, The Pueblo Culture

Today, discussed the Native Americans that were part of the Pueblo Culture of west Texas. These tribes lived in villages called pueblos and built permanent homes made of adobe bricks. We specifically discussed the Jornada and Tigua tribes.

Notes for this section can be found below:

Practice Quiz, Chapter 4 Vocabulary Builder and Late Work

We started the class period with a practice quiz over Chapter 4 - Lesson 2. There were 10 questions (available to view in the online textbook) that we discussed orally. The class actually seemed to do ok on the quiz but, as it was practice, no grade was taken. These practice self-quizzes are available at the end of every lesson in the online textbook. They are a great study tool.

After the practice quiz, I allowed the students time to work on their Chapter 4 Vocabulary Builder assignment. This assignment is due tomorrow at the beginning of the period.

All late/make-up work in my possession has now been graded. If your student still has failing grades or a 0 it is because I have not received the assignment. Please be vigilant and check your student's grades and make sure they are keeping up. We are quickly approaching the halfway point of the 9 weeks. In addition, the UIL grade check is coming up this Friday. Any student with a grade of less than 70 in any class as of Friday will become academically ineligible for extracurricular activities (sports, band, choir, etc.).

*HOMEWORK ALERT*- The Chapter 4 Vocabulary Builder assignment is due tomorrow at the beginning of the period. Please make sure your student has completed it and has it ready to turn in tomorrow.

Chapter 4 - Lesson 2 Notes Completed, Chapter 4 Vocabulary Builder Assigned

We started class today by wrapping up the notes over the Native American tribes of the Southeast/Gulf Coast Region. The final two tribes discussed were the Coahuiltecan and Atakapan tribes. We discussed diet, lifestyle, types of homes, etc. for each of the tribes. Below are some photos I shared with the class that are relevant to our discussions today.

After we completed the notes, the students were assigned the Chapter 4 Vocabulary Builder worksheet. The worksheet will be due next Tuesday, October 29th.

There is no new homework for the weekend or assignment due on Monday UNLESS late/make-up work is due.

Vocabulary Turned In, Chapter 4 - Lesson 2 Notes Started

The Chapter 4 Vocabulary was due at the beginning of the period today. While most of the students turned in their assignment, far too many did not. Please double check with your student and make sure they did turn in their vocabulary assignment and that they are keeping up with their work.

Once the vocabulary was turned in, we continued with the Chapter 4 notes, this time over Lesson 2 in the online textbook. This lesson jumps forward from the pre-historic Texans and begins discussion the various tribes of Native Americans that called what would become Texas home prior to European settlement. We started with the Southeastern - Gulf Coastal region. The first two tribes discussed were the Caddo and the Karankawa. We will continue tomorrow with the Atakapan and Coahuiltecan tribes. Full notes for the tribes of the  Southeastern - Gulf Coastal region, and a couple of illustrations showing Caddo settlements I shared with the students today,  are below.