Happy Birthday Ian! .....Off to the Congress Tournament!...Done with First Quarter!

Thursday and Friday were both hectic and busy in the suite as we began new units, finished up review for math, and began to delve more into science and history.

The Math Counts Team and the Novel Team are up and running and so far all the participants seem to be holding their own, getting work covered that they miss, and seem excited about their ventures into math and writing. We will continue to have the Math Team work with Coach Hassell on Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:00 and on Friday from 10:00 to 11:00 and will soon be adding extra math problem times with Mrs. Hartman and Mrs. Goers. Coach is currently working on speed drills, Mrs. Hartman and Mrs. Goers will work on problem strategies. After the Thanksgiving break we may add one day after school if we feel we need it.

The Novel Team is working on their beginning lessons, learning about voice, point of view, and what a novel actually does to transport a reader to another place and time. They will be working in their text books and workbooks primarily for the first 39 lessons, and then they move into writing their chapters. They will be working together every morning except Friday from 8:00 - 8:30. It is their responsibility to complete the missing work from vocabulary and Latin. So far they have accomplished that well.  If a scholar misses a lesson due to illness, or some other scheduling problem, he or she can come in at lunch recess and watch the DVD then.

Friday had a group of sixth graders working on their congress bills after school, and then heading out to Maeser Prep in Lindon for a Congress Tournament. It was a great experience as the two houses of Congress that we observed, Zeus and Hades, quite ironically ran their houses according to their names. Zeus was well run with mind provoking bills and excellent parliamentary procedures. On the other hand, Hades was poorly run, had students promoting bills that were ridiculous and non-essential, and the chair could not keep parliamentary procedure at all. The judges had to speak to the house and basically tell them how to run it. It was a very poor example, and good for our scholars to observe.

We stopped on our way home at the DQ in Centerville and compared our notes, talked about all of the bills we saw, and the huge discrepancies between the two houses. Over the weekend the scholars will put their notes together and hand them in on Monday in order to gain points for attending the tournament. THANK YOU to our parent drivers. Without your help we could not participate in these extra events!

Our Tournament will be upon us before we know it. I will be in need of at least 6 judges for our events that evening of the 15th. I will be training judges prior to the event. If you know of someone that is interested in Forensics, or has judged Forensics before, please pass on our information and have them contact me. I will be gathering a judge's list soon.
That evening we will also need at least 3 crockpot type meals for the judges and those of us running the tournament. I will be needing some parents to spend the evening with us to monitor the cafeteria holding room, and to sell concessions if we have other schools join us. I am hoping to have at least three other schools compete. I will update when I know more.

Report Cards will be started this weekend, but not handed out until I see you for conference. The new quarter will start on Monday. If you have not signed up for your conference please do so.

Many are asking about our first quarter field trip. It was cancelled due to communication that I needed from Weber State. Therefore I am trying to plan a trip this following week. If I can put it together I will need drivers. Please stay tuned! :)

Ian being "chaired" for his birthday! :)

Moving at the Speed of Light!

We have embarked on one of the fastest moving tracks in the schedule for this year. These four weeks before break are jam packed with engaging activities and work that will expand your scholar's horizons and excite their abilities to perform, stretch and grow.

Most scholars are done writing their 8 minute speech and simply working on the memorization at this point. We are also writing congress bills, and short three minute speeches for our Republican/Democrat convention on next Thursday the first and then our debate on the the following Monday, with the election on Tuesday morning. Scholars are learning that they can multitask which allows them to memorize more than one piece of work at a time. Spending shorter amounts of time on each task, and setting small goals seems to work best with preteens learning to time manage. They will be proud of their accomplishments by the end of this month and parents will be too!

Book Reports are due tomorrow. These are written reports and the scholars have had their outline sheets for over two weeks. They know what is to be included in each paragraph. They will hand them in first thing in the morning.

We will take our Odyssey final test tomorrow also. We finished the book today and the students need to take their assessment while the entire story is fresh in their minds. 

The Novel Team is up and running and those students know that they are responsible to cover and procure the material that we tackle in the first half hour of the day. They are fairly responsible young people and I believe they will handle this quite well. They completed lesson one today and will move on tomorrow morning.

The Math Counts Team will begin practices tomorrow. They will spend an hour with Coach Hassell from 1:00 to 2:00 on Thursdays. They will get the makeup work from me for whatever they miss on that day. They will also have an hour with Coach on Friday mornings from 10:00 to 11:00. They will not have extra homework in math, they will simply need to catch up in their reading work.

We will also be working on team problems during one recess a week, and after Thanksgiving Break we will start a practice after school one day a week. This should be plenty of time for our Math Counts Team to become sharp.

Friday we are heading to Maeser Prep for a Congress Tournament. If your scholar is in the Grandiloquent Guardians Forensics Team and is planning on attending, I need to know FOR SURE tomorrow at club. I will see how many drivers we have and then plan accordingly. If we stay for a two hour congress house, we should be back to school even earlier, maybe by 9:00.

If your scholar wants to order a school shirt with the GGFT name on the back, (they can wear these to school as soon as they have competed in their first event) then they can order tomorrow from Mr. Pope. Order forms went home last week.

Friday is the end of the term. Any student with missing work will not get their report card at Parent Conference until they hand the work in. If you have not signed up for your conference, please do so ASAP.

Onward and Upward!

Pop, Pop, Fizz, Fizz

A special photo is included today of what my $2500 award grant from Raytheon for the Math Hero  procured for us. I am working on loading up the laptops so we can use them in our room. I am very excited about having more resources. I will be moving one laptop to each of the 5th grade teachers and one to Mrs. Hartman's class so those students can also work independently. Today's other photos are of a potential and kinetic energy experiment that we performed in class. Ask your scholar to explain. We had potential, chemical, and kinetic energy happen before our eyes. :)

Scholars came back to school yesterday and learned that we are ramping up the pace for the next four weeks. We have plenty to accomplish in not very much time. We are currently memorizing and writing speeches, writing congress bills, learning about energy in science, reviewing math to prepare for our next unit, and about to start a new unit in history. We are moving at quite a clip and scholars need to stay focused and get their homework done. It is their responsibility to get everything written off the board, and get the work completed before coming back in the morning. Please encourage them to be SURE their work is complete. We had four scholars serve lunch detention today and I don't want that becoming a habit for any of them!

we are moving our history test to tomorrow since the scholars are ready for it, and we're moving the Odyssey test to Friday so it can be included in this quarter's grades. I will grade their games tomorrow while they finish them up and get that into this quarter also. We will be playing their Odyssey games and voting on the best one on the 31st.

Every scholar is putting together a three minute Republican or Democratic speech to present to the 6th grade on Thursday, the first of November. We will then choose a candidate for each party. The following Monday we will run a short debate on the three platforms they are preparing. On Tuesday (November 6) we will run an election in the 6th grade and vote for our "president". Will have an electoral vote, and a popular vote to see how that works.

We could still use a couple extra drivers for the Congress Tournament down a Maeser Prep on Friday. If you can drive and join us, please let me know ASAP. Students will stay after school and we will leave GFA around 2:30.
Thanks!

YAY for laptops!!!!!

potential energy

kinetic energy

Addie afraid of kinetic energy ;)

rocket science!

Please Listen Carefully!

The highlight of our day was not only that the average on the 4th chapter math test was a whopping 88% but also that we created instruments out of extra paraphernalia that students collected at home.

Scholars had an hour to pair up and create instruments based on the three types we had studied in science: stringed, wind, and percussion. They were graded on how creative they were, their presentation of how the instrument made music (using proper terminology of course) and whether their instrument actually worked!

Students also had 45 minutes to work on writing the 6th minute of their speeches today. They are coming along!

Here is the 'suggested' work load for the break:

1.  Study the Constitution, articles and sections
2.  Write the book report so it is done and out of the way. It is not due till Thursday, but why not get it done in advance and have more breathing time next week?
3. Speeches should be memorized through minute 6 by Monday.
4. Study science unit for text on Tuesday.

these are suggestions to help your scholar time manage more effectively..... :)

GRANDILOQUENT GUARDIANS FORENSICS TEAM - the competitive team has been invited to observe and critique a tournament at Maeser Prep High School on the 26th. We will need to leave school around  2:30 to arrive on time. I am needing drivers for this event, and will know on Tuesday how many students will be transported. Karl Maeser is in Lindon, so it is about an hour drive. The scholars will enjoy this tournament. The theme is "My Big Fat Greek Congress Tournament" and all the competitors wear Greek garb. They will have pulled pork sandwiches for sale for dinner ($3) and other concessions. We would hope to be back to Riverdale around 9:30 -  10:00 that evening.

Ogden High School will also host a tournament on November 3rd that is speech and debate. All forensics team members are encouraged to come and observe at least two rounds. More info on that to follow, but students can be dropped off that day and picked up from Ogden High. It is not necessary to stay unless you choose to!

Within the next couple of weeks students will have Applebee's Cards to sell to friends and family. They are $5 and $2 cards. If scholars sell them then those funds will allow us to purchase some much needed resources for the team i.e. scripts, evidence, flow for LD and PF. Please help your student to sell these to raise funds for the club. Thank you Mrs. Bloker and Mrs. Pope for heading that up!

Shirts can be ordered through the 25th of October. Forms were sent home, and checks can be made out to Mr. Paul Pope. Thank you Mr. Pope for putting that together!

Rain Stick!

 

DUCK TAPE EXTRAORDINAIRE

ta-da!

Self Control is Just Controlling Yourself......

Our emphasis this month is Self Control for Character Class.....we have talked and discussed, and on Thursday we practiced! The photos in this post are part of an activity where students had to actually hold their bodies STILL for an indefinite amount of time, if and when the music in the room stopped! It was difficult for many, if not all, to hold themselves still.

We are also in the process of building our "Character House" in the stairwell. The center beam has been placed (self control) and we are certain that it had better not sway to the left or the right, or that house will not be sturdy and will come down quickly. The foundation is strong, and respect has to be in place for any other foundation stone to be effective. The center beam of a house isn't the showy part of the house, it's seen hardly at all, but without it, the house would not stand. We are practicing self control so that we too, as scholars and staff, can stand strong and firm in our community.

Nook/Kindle Contracts went home on Friday. If your scholar wants to use his/hers in the suite, I must have a signed contract first. I will allow students to keep them under their desks, on their racks, for when they have time to read. Thank you for loading your scholar's electronic device with classical books and high quality reading materials.

Forensics shirt order forms went home with all the Grandiloquent Guardians this past week also. Scholars will earn the right to wear the shirt on November 16th, once they have competed in a competition. Please return forms and checks for Paul Pope by October 25th.   Also, there is a tournament taking place at Ogden High School on November 3rd. Scholars will bring home information as to when we are meeting and when the tournament will end. Please be looking for the information. Scholars are not required to go, but it is highly advised for them to sit in rounds and observe what will be expected from them in our tournament.

A much NEEDED break comes for all of us this week, and then we will have a 27 day run until we have our next break for Thanksgiving. We will be covering extensive material. It would behoove your students to be to school each day and to complete work in advance if they have spare time. We will be preparing for our tournament extensively....

Thank you all for your support and encouragement as we move forward into the school year. Thank you also for your encouragement for our Jr/Sr high school, Capstone Classical Academy. It is adding to my work load right now, but I am certain that the result will be well worth it!

The boys giving it all they've got!

Girls dancing their hearts out!

These boys are frozen still...yes, even Jonah, the trooper!

Frozen girls! :)

Some Quick Announcements

Just posting some quick announcements for you all to update calendars and consider options!

1. Board of Directors approved the policy for Kindles/Nooks last night. I am currently working on the contract that students will sign and bring home for parents to sign. As soon as you have that in your hand your scholar can bring their device to the classroom.

2. Two dates can be moved on the calendar. Deserts test is moved to the 25th and Sound test moved to the 23rd.

3. Myths are to be typed and saved on students' thumb drives and brought to school on Friday ALONG with a hard copy of the myth to hand in. Students are typing them so that those that are excellent can be accessed quickly and electronically for me to submit to the website at Scholastic. Please be sure your scholar has a printed out version to hand in Friday morning. Scholars have been told that there is no specific length for their myths, but must be long enough to tell the story.

4. Boys and SUITS.....if your son does not currently have a suit, or a jacket to wear with pants/tie, please be aware that there are AT LEAST three times this year where he will be dressing formally. The speech tourney in November, coffeehouse in February and Graduation in May are times when formal dress will be required. Speak to Mrs. Pope if you need ideas on where to find clothing. She was able to procure a suit for her son last year prior to the national tournament. Students who qualify and go to nationals for Forensics will be required to have suits and three separate shirts so they can change out each day.

5. Our field trip for October will be the last week. We are waiting for confirmation and then will post where we're going and what we're doing. we will need drivers, and that info will be sent to Mrs. Tracy to organize enough driving parents.

6. The Grandiloquent Guardians Forensics Team has an opportunity to attend a tournament in Ogden on the 3rd of November. I would like as many competitors as possible to go and observe rounds. I will be driving, and most likely Mrs. Thayne. We may need one more parent to get everyone there and back. I will also be letting 7th and 8th grade parents know. Students can also meet up with us at Ogden High if it is closer to home.

more info later!

0, 1, 2, 3, 4 Voice Levels in Assembly

Our Scholars were a huge help Friday demonstrating the five voice levels for the entire school at the self-control assembly. We learned the signs for some of our foundation stones and went back to our classroom to practice them even more (see photos).

Unfortunately we weren't able to get into the computer lab last week due to makeups for testing. We worked on our Myths in the classroom and are hoping to finish writing them on Monday in class. Scholars will then need to type them up and hand them in (hard copy) on Friday. They need to save their final copy on their stick drives so that if need be they can email it to me for publishing. I will grade the papers next weekend and go from there.

There will be no essay writing this week because we are beginning our speech writing for Original Oratory. We will be working on those in class and scholars will be writing one minute at a time. They will begin memorizing by Tuesday. Some are already learning to "talk to the wall". Ask your scholar exactly what that means :).

We will begin our unit on Sound in Science on Monday. We are working on putting together our field trip which will take place the last week of October. As soon as details are finalized, we will update the blogs, and send email home.

We will also begin our Ratios unit in Math, and our Deserts unit in History. The next ten days of school will be intense and full of new learning. Exciting times!

Demonstrating 0

level 1

level 2

level 3

level 4

The wave...level 346! :)

Congratulations Chance! Respect Award

Self-Control sign

boys being responsible :)

Cooperation

persevering

and we ALL respect! :)

Spanakopita, Pomegranates, and Sparkling Grape Juice!

What a day full of Greek we had today! This morning we began writing our myths via the Scholastic Myth Writing Website. The scholars will be writing about lightening, thunder, snow, and twisters to name a few.....they should be very interesting!

We then reviewed for our math test tomorrow and got ready for our Greek Party. The scholars did a marvelous job with their costumes. They really rose to the occasion and impressed both of us teachers with their creativity. Enjoy the photos from today's event......

This evening scholars should be spending at least half an hour watching the first Presidential debate so that they can discuss what they saw in regards to domestic issues tomorrow. It's important that they know what these candidates stand for, and they are going to be writing their own three minute speech for a Republican or Democratic position.

They are also writing their intro to their essays tonight. They will be finishing them up tomorrow evening.

We will be taking our Unit 3 Math Test tomorrow. We will all be looking forward to the weekend!