Origami ELP Lunch II

The Origami Lunch from last week was so popular it is being offered again for seventh grade students on Friday, April 27th. Bring your lunch or pick up hot lunch and come to E109 to try your hand at Origami!

Poem in Your Pocket Day

In celebration on National Poetry Month AMS students will experience random bits of poetry throughout the day. They will choose a " pocket poem" to share in Lit Block or English classes and posters of poetry have been scattered around the building. 

WordMaster Study Lunch

A Dozen Ways to Prepare for the WordMaster Test

The final WordMaster test will be given on Monday, April 23, 2012 in the Media Center during English(8th) or Literacy Block (7th). Students should bring a pencil to the exam. 

Homework for April 9-20, 2012: Study all 75 words 10-15 minutes each day. 

                                                  Illustration of DAUNTLESS by K. 

Study ideas: 

1. Use the following Quia websites to review the definitions or practice analogies. 

    Check back often for new games. 

7th:  

7th Grade Blue Division List III-April 2012
http://www.quia.com/jg/2413918.html

7th Grade Blue Division List I-November 2011
http://www.quia.com/jg/2413925.html

7th Grade: Flashcards for List II HTML
http://www.quia.com/jg/2382191.html

8th: 

8th WordMaster Words- List III / Gold Division/ 2011-12
http://www.quia.com/jg/2417690.html

8th WordMasters-Gold Division: List II- 2011-12
http://www.quia.com/jg/2417701.html

8th WordMasters - List 1 Review
http://www.quia.com/jg/2381497.html

8th WordMasters Antonyms-List I, II, III
http://www.quia.com/jg/2417723.html

8th WordMasters Synonym Match Gold Division 2011-12
http://www.quia.com/jg/2417711.html

Analogy Review: 

Analogy patterns
http://www.quia.com/pa/202197.html

Analyze the Analogy
http://www.quia.com/cm/563003.html

2. Use your word cards and have someone quiz you on the definitions.

            

3. Look at the first five words on one of your lists. Can you think of the definitions? Write the definitions next to the word. Then write down any related words that are also on your lists. Compare your  definitions with your word cards. How did you do? What do you need  to add to the definition you wrote on the paper? Do this for all the words on the list.  Circle words that you need to spend more time learning.

4.  Group the words. Which words go together? Do they have similar  meanings? Opposite meaning? Think of different contexts in which  the words can be used.  How can the words connect?

5.  Review the analogy patterns that WordMasters uses. Can you make analogies using the 75 words?

6.   Tired of review? Visit the Wordles website to create word art with the word and words connected to the definition. This may help you  to remember words. Visit .

7.  Use the VisuWord website to reinforce definitions and see how words  are connected. www.visuwords.com/" http://www.visuwords.com/

8. Create sentences using the WordMaster words that illustrate the meaning.

 9.  Solve the crossword puzzle without using your word cards. Did the puzzle help you see the relationships between words?

 10.  Success on the WordMaster test often requires understanding  nuances of meanings.                            Make sure you read all the definitions for each word.  How does the word change with each meaning?

 11.  Create nonlinguistic representations of words. Draw cartoons or  create a graphic organizer for the words that give you the most  difficulty. It helps  you to see the word in a new way.

  

12. Review past quizzes. What did you miss before that  you now understand? 

What is still murky?

Math Challenge Group Update

The Math Challenge Group met on February 3, March 2, and April 10 to learn about multiplication and division of exponential expressions and estimation using scientific notation.  Students are using scientific notation to solve real problems such as estimating how much each member of the US population would have to contribute in order to pay off the national debt, and estimating how large an area of the Gulf of Mexico the Deepwater Horizon oil spill would cover if all of the oil spread over the surface. 

A short homework assignment has been assigned based on individual readiness and preference, and is due on April 12.  It should be turned in to the classroom math teachers in the Math Challenge folder.

Computational Thinking Competition at ISU

Iowa State University Computer Science Department is hosting a Computational Thinking Competition on Saturday, April 14.  A number of Ames Middle School students attended workshops on computational thinking offered on Saturdays in January and February at Iowa State University, and seven of them have completed programming projects.  The projects will be presented on Saturday on the first floor of Atanasoff Hall on the ISU campus from 1 to 3.  Family and friends are welcome to come and see the projects. 

More information about the competition is available at

http://www.cs.iastate.edu/ctc.shtml

Purple Comet Math Meet

The Purple Comet Math Meet is being held on April 17, 2012.  Teams of six work together to solve as many of 20 problems as possible during one hour.  Answers are entered online.  The MATHCOUNTS group will be competing during MATHCOUNTS.  A team of five 7th grade students (Delaney S., Cameron M., Maya C., Meghan C., and Carly W.) will be competing during Periods 2 and 3.  A team of five 8th grade students (Aaron M., Caleb L., Timothy S., Forrest M., and Alex G.) will be competing during Periods 3 and 4.  Team members who are not in MATHCOUNTS are encouraged to join Mrs. Dixon for lunch in the ELP room on Friday, April 13 to register the team and practice for the competition. 

State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa

Congratulations to all who participated in the SSTFI on March 30 and 31!  The projects presented were the culmination of six months of hard work planning and conducting a science research project.  Eighteen AMS students presented 11 projects at the SSTFI.  Two more students presented at the Ames High School Science Fair but were unable to attend the SSTFI. 

Special congratulations are due to the following researchers.  Jay A., won the Grand Award for Junior High Physical Sciences, as well as the US Navy/Marine Corps Junior Award, a scholarship to the University of Iowa in Engineering, first place in the 8th grade Physical Science Division, and a Broadcom Masters certificate based on his work on the spectral characteristics of the human voice.  Tifany C. placed 4th in the 7th Grade Biological Division, and earned a Broadcom Masters certificate for studies on how wavelength affects the bleaching of hair.  Ben P. took 7th place in the 8th grade Physical Science Division with research on how the forward angle of the Hammer type of paper airplane affects flight distance.  Hira A. and Delaney S. earned second place in the 7th grade Team Seminar competition with a seminar on how listening to different musical genres affects short-term memory.

We are now starting to think about projects for next year.  Several students are beginning to plan Science Fair projects to be carried out over the summer.  Any 7th or 8th grade student who is interested in starting a project for the 2013 State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa should contact Mrs. Dixon (janet.dixon@ames.k12.ia.us).  In particular, anyone interested in a project involving field research (gardening, ecology of amphibians...)  should consider planning now in order to do the research during the summer months.

April ELP Lunch: Origami

The April ELP Lunch will take place on Friday, April 20 in E109 during 7th and 8th grade lunch.  Featured activity:  origami.