News from Lakeside Junior High School
by Lakeside Junior High School Staff
December 23, 2008
Mr. Jones
7th Grade
The 7th graders have just finished their last chapter in the Geography book. We have studied the cultures from several countries starting with the United States and ending with the Japanese. They have done an excellent job with comparing the cultures of the world, and developing excellent questions about the cultures. We will now dive into Kansas History. In this class, we will study Kansas at the time of exploration of the Louisiana Territory to present day. We will discuss the importance of the railroads, the treatment of Native Americans, and Kansas’ affects on the Civil War.
8th Grade
The 8th graders have spent the 2nd nine weeks studying the creation of America. We have taken a very long look at the Constitution, and all the problems that faced our country in her early years. We have finally reached a time of peace and prosperity for America, but our next unit brings in another problem. We will be looking at the issue of slavery. With slavery, we will lead to the Civil War.
Mrs. Gasper
7TH
AND 8TH GRADE READING
Both classes have begun completing ACE activities. These are short lessons to practice skills needed for the State Assessment test. Both groups have studied all the word root meanings they will need to know for the test. We had some fun playing the “flyswatter” game for review. We also continued reading literature from our books. The seventh graders completed more expository readings, including two personal essays; while the eighth graders finished short stories that connect two generations.
Have a happy and safe holiday break!!
UPCOMING AR DEADLINES: Jan. 23, Feb. 13, Mar. 6
7TH & 8th GRADE ENGLISH
The seventh grade English class has been practicing their public speaking skills by giving speeches. Students interviewed each other, finding out unfamiliar information about a classmate. For example, they asked questions like “If you could go to dinner with anyone famous, it would be…” and “In ten years, I would like to be working as a(n) ….” Each one then prepared a 2-3 minute speech about their classmate. The speech had to begin with an “attention-grabbing” introduction, followed by a body, and ending with a conclusion. The students were judged on the delivery of their speeches. This class has also completed classifying sentences with direct objects.
Like their seventh grade counterparts, the eighth graders also delivered speeches. Each student picked a skill that they demonstrated for us. We learned about different ways to lace shoestrings, how to make chocolate chip cookies, and many different hunting calls. Each speech had to have an “attention-grabbing” introduction, demonstration, and conclusion. These students also were judged on the delivery of their speeches. Direct objects have been the focus of classifying sentences.
Mrs. Farwell-
The 7th grade math class is working to change ratios to percents; how to find a percent of a number; how to find what percent one number is of another; and to find a number when a percent of it is known. After the winter break, the class will work towards taking the State Math Assessments in March. They will concentrate on the four standards of Number Sense, Algebraic Concepts, Geometry, and Data.
The Pre-Algebra class is beginning to explore functions and their graphs. They will use tables and graphs to represent relations and functions; explore and construct scatter plots; match equations to functions; find the slope of a line; and graph equations using two intercepts or the slope and one intercept. They will conclude their chapter by graphing linear inequalities.
The Algebra class students are writing, solving, and graphing linear inequalities. They are solving absolute value equations and inequalities, and will graph linear inequalities in two variables. Organizing data with stem-and-leaf plots and box-and-whisker plots will also be explored. These plots will be interpreted by determining the mean, median, and the mode of the data set.
The 7th
grade Science classis beginning their unit
on the Basis of Life. In this unit the students will study
life’s structure and how life is classified; the cell processes and
cell reproduction; heredity involving genetics; and how life has
adapted over time. The first chapter includes the study and
classifications of living things. They will learn how certain
traits are found in all living things and define what it means to
be alive; the classification system of all living things; and how
viruses can affect all living things, even though they are not
alive.
The 8th grade Science class is studying how fossils, along with the relative ages and absolute ages of rocks, provide evidence of past life, climates, and environments on Earth. They will explore how the pages of Earth’s history, much like the pages of human history, can be read if you look in the right place. Unlike the pages of a book, the pages of Earth’s past are written in stone. In this chapter they will learn how to read the pages of Earth’s history to understand what the planet was like in the distant past.
Mrs. Dean -
Students in FACS have completed their embroidery projects. They are currently completing a
healthy breakfast for the final for the class. They have completed a scavenger hunt about FCCLA. This class completed the planning process for an FCCLA in class project. Shelbi Hall, Kansas 1st vice president for FCCLA came from Goodland and spoke to them about the benefits of FCCLA and how it helps develop leadership skills.
Title – Mrs. Coco
Every parent wants his or her child to be a successful reader. Reading, after all, provides the foundation for a great education as well as a lifelong skill that brings not only knowledge, but pleasure.
Here are a few ways that you can promote a positive attitude about reading. You can have a powerful impact on your child’s literacy and learning.
1. Invite your child to read every day.
2. When reading a book, point word by word as you read. This will help your child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the word said is the word seen.
3. Read your child’s favorite book over and over.
4. Read many stories with rhyming words and repeated lines. Have your child join in on these parts.
5. Discuss new words from the story.
6. Stop and ask about the pictures and what is happening in the story.
7. Read from a variety of books, including fairy tales, song books, poems, and information books.
As a parent, you can help your child want to learn in a way no one else can. That desire to learn is a key to your child’s later success. Enjoyment is important! So have fun with your child!
