8th WordMasters

8th ELP students have started learning the second round of WordMaster words. They will meet in the ELP room each Wednesday in February. The schedule for this session is...

Wednesday, February 1, 2012: Word cards for words 1-12 due
Wednesday, February  8, 2012: Word cards for words 13-25 due
Wednesday, February 15, 2012: Review all 50 words
MONDAY, February 20, 2012: TEST in the Media Center


 The new words are....

pariah	deplete	virulent	insurrection	renege	histrionic
upshot	debase	relentless	paragon	avow	baleful
serendipity	parry	fervid	microbe	inhibit	dogged
ember	instigate	baroque	mishap	recant	dogmatic
rubble	dogma	relent	inhibition	debasement	depletion
virulence	instigation	disavow	avowal

7th WordMasters

Homework assignments:
Thursday, January 26th: 12 word cards due
Thursday, February 2nd: All 25 word cards due

ELP Seminars

Students established academic and social goals during the first ELP Seminars in August and September. The second set of seminars, based on the student established goals,  will take place in January. Students will be notified which period to attend.



Developing Organization Skills: Friday, January 12th
Practicing Test Taking Skills: Tuesday, January 17th
Publishing Your Writing: Monday, January 23rd
Public Speaking Skills:  Tuesday, January 24rd
Developing Leadership Skills: Monday, January 30th

National Geographic Bee

AMS students have the opportunity to participate in the National Geographic Bee  The class bees will take place December 12-16, 2011 and January 2-6, 2012 in Social Studies (6-7) or American Studies class (8). 

7-8 Grade level bees will be held on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, January 9-11th. The school competition (6-8) will be held on Thursday, January 12, 2012 in the 7-8 ELP Rooms. Mr. Peterson  and Ms. Green are the coordinators for the 6th grade. Mrs. Staniforth is the coordinator for the 7-8 grade.

The National Geographic Society provides  resources  for preparing for the competition or just working to become more geographically literate. Check out the following websites and activities. 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/sample-questions/

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/quiz/today/

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/puzzlesquizzes/quizyournoodle-geography-bee/
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/geographygames/quizyournoodle-geography-facts/

Happy Winter Vacation!

Have a wonderful winter vacation. We are looking forward to hearing all about your adventures in January.

Happy New Year! See you in 2012!

Mrs. Staniforth and Mrs. Dixon

American Studies Museum Box

ELP students in Mr. Esslinger and Mr. Kain's  American Studies class worked with Mrs. Staniforth and Museum Box to create virtual displays that explained vocabulary terms about the Civil War.

Students located primary sources from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, state university libraries and presidential libraries that illustrated the definition of vocabulary words.

They present their Museum Box to their class on Friday.

Letters About Literature- Final Letter Due!

Completed letters are due on Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Letters should be typed in the appropriate format in a size 12 font. Attach the contest application form and staple in the upper left hand corner.

School information to add to the application form is on the ELP room white board.

Anyone interested in decorating the manilla envelopes that will hold our entries should see Mrs. Staniforth.

December ELP Lunch

8th Grade Letters About Literature

Corrected drafts of the Letter About Literature letters are due on Friday, December 2, 2011.  Letters need to be written in correct letter form (see previously provided example) and free of spelling or punctuation errors.  Reflect on and address remarks made on the first draft. 

LAL Entry forms (previously provided yellow sheet) also needs to be turned in on December 2, 2011. 

The final copy of the letter is due on December 14, 2011. 

            8th WordMasters Review


Students took a quiz using QUIA on the ipads on Wednesday and then worked with flashcards or on analogies using different QUIA sites. 


The WordMaster test is Thursday, December 8, 2011
in the AMS Media Center during English class. 


Below are some study strategies for preparing for the test. The QUIA sites listed below could be used for review as well. 


Quiz:   http://www.quia.com/quiz/3395403.html
Games:       http://www.quia.com/jg/2353949.html
Analogies: http://www.quia.com/quiz/748000.html?AP_rand=1133814609 or http://www.quia.com/pop/121238.html?AP_rand=2140180619




•   Review flashcards to assure understanding of the   vocabulary words.
•   Group WM words as many ways as you can. Synonyms? Antonyms? 
•   Match WM words to types of analogies used on the test. 
•   Practice solving analogies. 
•   Analyze analogy forms. 

brace

WordMasters Vocabulary Cluster Group

This week students deepened their understanding of the vocabulary words by sculpting them out of clay, drawing cartoons, or acting them out. They also compared and contrasted definitions to see which words fit together in the analogy patterns used by the WordMaster contest.

Using a visual thesaurus will also help students understand the definitions. Visuwords  is a free online thesaurus that shows word maps for each words and helps students see the connections between definitions. 

Visuword website

vestige

Homework:  Study the words and definitions.  

November Learning @ Lunch

ELP Lunch: Paper Plate Geometry

Join us for lunch on Tuesday, November 15 and create some beautiful geometric sculptures out of paper plates!  Choose whether to continue working on the giant pyramid or learn a more complex folding pattern to create paper plate polyhedra. 

Science Fair of Iowa: Research Plans Due

Reminder:  Research plans for science fair projects are due on November 15.  These will not be final drafts, but they should be sufficiently well thought out that not too much revision will be required.  Final drafts are due on November 18, along with Form 1B and the SSTFI permission form signed by parents.  Anyone who would like feedback while creating the research plan may email a draft to Mrs. Dixon (janet.dixon@ames.k12.ia.us), and comments will be provided.

AMC 8 Tuesday, November 15

The AMC 8 competition will take place on Tuesday, November 15.  This is an international math competition sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America and aimed at eighth grade students.  In 2010 over 150,000 students participated worldwide.  The problems are more challenging to solve than those typically encountered in the grade level curriculum, but they do not require knowledge beyond the eighth grade curriculum.  The challenge is in insightful and creative problem-solving.  The competition is a 40 minute, 25 question test.  All Algebra and Geometry students will be taking the test during their math classes.   All 7th and 8th grade Math students (not in Algebra or Geometry) who signed up for the test will report directly to the Media Center at the beginning of 2nd period.  The only materials needed are a couple of number 2 pencils and an eraser.

If you are participating in this competition and would like to find out how to make your experience more enjoyable and successful, join Mrs. Dixon for lunch in F102 on Monday, November 14.  Test-taking tips and problem-solving practice are on the agenda.  

8th WordMasters

Eighth grade students began their study of WordMaster words this week. After taking a pretest over the list of words, students analyzed WordMaster analogy patterns. The first list of WordMaster words include...

stratagem	wreak	fortuitous	aplomb
constrict	equivocal	travesty	slander
astute	debacle	aggrieve	inane
maw	eviscerate	patent	opportunist
wax	myriad	infamy	appease
calamitous	exploit	incite	exemplary
patron	patronage	opportunistic	incitement
equivocate	equivocation	inanity	constriction

 Homework: Due Monday, November 14, 2011: 

Using index cards, write the word on one side and the parts of speech and all definitions on the other side for the first twelve words. 

Homework: Due Monday,  November 21, 2011:

Finish creating index cards for the words #13-25.

Seventh Grade WordMasters

WordMasters, a national  analogy based vocabulary contest, has three sessions a year for four weeks at a time. Students will meet each Thursday in November to practice analogies and learn the definitions of the twenty-five WordMaster words. WordMasters uses Websters dictionary for word definitions.

The 7th grade WordMaster words for this session include:

vestige	brace	comely	dross
stoke	capricious	glut	shirk
resolute	umbrage	exhort	heedless
firebrand	slake	gingerly	deficit
browbeat	shiftless	hankering	confront
bountiful	cudgel	skirt	residual
fuse

Homework: Students create flashcards for words 1-12. The word should be one one side and the parts of speech with corresponding definitions on the other. Students meet again for WordMasters on November 9th.

Upcoming Events for November 2011

Wednesday,November 2, 2011:

8^th Grade Letters about Literature

Thursday, November 3, 2011

7^th Grade English: Introduction to WordMasters: Analogies

Monday, November 7, 2011:

ELP Walk-In Conferences 4:00-7:00

Tuesday, November 8, 2011:

8^th Introduction to WordMasters

ELP Walk-In Conferences 4:00-7:00

Wednesday, November 9, 2011:

7^th WordMasters

ELP Walk-In Conferences 4:00-7:00

Thursday, November 10, 2011

ELP Walk-In Conferences 8:00-11:00

Monday, November 14, 2011

8^th WordMasters

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

AMC-8 (Algebra and Geometry students take in class.

Other interested students take in the Media Center)

ELP Lunch: Paper Plate  Geometry

Thursday, November 17, 2011

7^th WordMasters

Learning @ Lunch –Virtual Reality

Monday, November 21, 2011

8^th WordMasters

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

7^th WordMasters

8th Letters About Literature

Letters About Literature 
Rough Drafts Due on Wednesday, November 2, 2011!

300-600 word Reader's Response
Typed in readable size 12 font
Double Space
type word count in footer

We will review the judges rubric and share our letters and begin peer editing in class on Wednesday.
Bring your typed letter to class.

October Learning @ Lunch Reminder

Math Challenge Group October 2011

The Math Challenge Group will meet tomorrow (October 25) during math classes to explore arithmetic with positive and negative numbers in other bases. 

8th Grade Letters About Literature Project

            Letters About Literature is a national writing competition sponsored by the Library of Congress. Last year over 70,000 students wrote letters. Iowa provided 2,253 entries from 85 classrooms.

Your assignment is to write a letter to an author about a book that influenced you, changed your view, or had an impact on your life. This project is a response to the book - not a book report, book review or fan letter. The book can be fiction, nonfiction, a play, short story, essay, or poem.

Your letter must be between 300 and 600 words and represent your very best thinking and writing.

Your Letters About Literature letter will replace an assignment in English class. Please talk with your English teacher about the specifics of the exchange. Class participation, homework completion and your final letters will be shared with your English teachers.

You will meet in the ELP room on the following dates to work on this project. Please bring all necessary materials to the ELP room. Check in with your English teacher first and then come to the ELP room as soon as possible.

Wednesday, October 19: Introduction

Wednesday, October 26: Book and author selection due

Wednesday, November 2: Rough draft due

Wednesday, November 16: First revision due

Wednesday, November 30: Permission slip due.  Second revision due.

Wednesday, December 7^th: Third revision due

Wednesday, December 14: Final draft due. 

Mark-Recapture Simulation on 9-27

During late September the 7th grade life science classes used the Lincoln-Petersen mark-recapture method to estimate the caterpillar population on the AMS campus.   Ms. Kurrles' and Mrs. Glenn's life science classes explored the foundations of this method on September 27. The classes were mixed together and split according to comfort level in math.  All of the students did a simulation of the mark-recapture method (paper turtles or paper fish, marked and recaptured).  The students who are less comfortable with math followed a more structured approach to analyzing the simulation data and those who are more comfortable with math discussed the proportional reasoning involved in this method and solved the proportions on their own.  The mathematics behind this method is closely tied to what the 7th graders have been studying both in 7th grade mathematics and in 7th grade algebra. 

ELP Learning@Lunch: Black Holes

On Tuesday, October 25, 2011 ISU Astronomy graduate student Sarah Willis will discuss black holes and other astronomical objects during 7th and 8th grade lunch.  Bring a hot or cold lunch to the ELP room and learn about our amazing universe!

Math Challenge Group September 2011

The Math Challenge Group is a small group ELP activity for students in 7th grade mathematics.  The group is open to all students who show strong performance in mathematics, and selection for the group is based on academic records and observations of classroom performance.  Students come out of their math classes once or twice a month to participate in this activity, which replaces the classroom work for the day.  Homework for Math Challenge may be assigned and should be done instead of (not in addition to)  the classroom homework assigned on that day.  It can be turned in to the classroom teacher (Mrs. Smith, Mr. Alden, or Mrs. Friedrich). 

During the first two meetings on September 16 and September 23 students experimented with LEGO model bicycles to develop an understanding of bicycle gearing.  They measured the distance the model went for different gear combinations, and graphed distance against the number of teeth on the front sprocket for a rear sprocket containing 40 teeth and a rear wheel of circumference 25 cm.  They were asked to find an equation for distance versus the number of teeth on the pedal sprocket as their homework assignment. (Data:  distance 5 cm for 8 teeth, 10 cm for 16 teeth, 15 cm for 24 teeth, and 25 cm for 40 teeth). 

Parents of students who have ELP on their class schedule will be able to look at Infinite Campus for updates on Math Challenge Group activities.  Scores are not given for these assignments, but attendance and homework completion, as well as concept mastery, will be recorded. 

Science Fair Seminar: Experimental Design

Students working on Science Fair projects are encouraged to come to the ELP room during homeroom (Period 3) on Friday, October 7 for a seminar on designing experiments.  Topics will include what to measure to answer the research question, variables to vary and variables to control, and how to make the measurements.   Eighteen different questions have been submitted by thirty-three students working in groups of 1 to 3.  Where possible progress on these projects will be recorded on Infinite Campus. 

ELP Lunch: Paper Plate Pyramids

Come to the ELP room during lunch and use your geometry skills to build a giant pyramid out of paper plates!  Tuesday, October 11 and Friday, October 14.