Week of March 31-April 4, 2014

 
Are you ready Falcons?  They say, "April showers bring May flowers."  Well something else that April brings is STAAR Exams.  We are entering a month that will bring us May cheers! 

Honors Literature:
-Read "The Slave Dancer" by Paula Fox (Historical Fiction)
-Analyze figurative language-understand how figurative language and stylistic elements create meaning in fiction and poetry.
-Analyze and identify common elements of literature, including drama, from various cultures, synthesize texts, and make connections across multiple texts.

Honors Grammar/Writing:
-Students will begin a research paper on Slavery.  They will also have the options to do a PPT or web quest.
-Explain the steps to writing a research paper.  Explain MLA style.
-Choose a Topic, write Topic Sentence.
-Research

Important Dates to Remember:
April 22, 2014 Math STAAR Exam
April 23, 2014 Reading STAAR Exam

Other Dates:
April 1 April Fool's Day, Apple Computer Founded (1976)
April 2 International Children's Book Day, World Autism Day
April 3 First Pony Express Service (1860)
April 4 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Created (1949) http://www.nato.int/ , Marther Luther King Assassinated (1968), Microsoft Founded (1975)

Month-Long Holidays and Events
Alcohol & Drug Awareness Month Animal Cruelty Prevention Month Autism Awareness Month Deaf History Month (3/13-4/15) Keep America Beautiful Month Mathematics Education Month	National Garden Month National Poetry Month School Library Media Month World Habitat Awareness Month Youth Sports Safety Month

Week of March 24-28, 2014

Our students visited Texas A & M Kingsville on March 20th and their excitement was still apparent the next day.  Thank you Texas A & M for your great hospitality. 

We are coming to the end of March this week which means we have 4 weeks until STAAR Exams.

Dates to remember:
March 25 Progress Reports
March 26 Make Your Own Holiday Day http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/makeholidayday.htm
March 27 University T-Shirt

Honors Literature:
Mon--Read ch. 1 of "The Slave Dancer", Vocabulary for ch. 1 and 2
Tues--Discuss chapters 1 and 2
Wed--Reading Elements
Thurs--Continue Reading Elements
Fri--Assess

Honors Writing/Grammar: Personal Narrative/Paragraph
Mon--Selecting a Topic and Developing a Controlling Idea
Tues--Drafting Creating the First Draft
Wed--continue with draft
Thurs--Revise, Edit
Fri--Finish Product



Week of March 17-21, 2014

Welcome back Falcons!  I hope you all got the rest you needed to continue LEARNING!  We have five more weeks before the STAAR Exams begin so we need to be in learning mode. 

Reading:
We will be reading about slavery, the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, and the slave ships as background knowledge for the next novel "The Slave Dancer" by Paula Fox.

Grammar/Writing
We will continue with adverb phrases and writing a narritive.

Important dates to remember:
March 17th St. Patrick's Day
March 18th First Space Walk (1965)
March 19th Iraq War Began (2003)
March 19th Open House and Deadline to pay your dues for the end of the year trip.
March 20th Trip to Texas A & M Universtiy in Kingsville, Texas
Marck 20th Spring Begins, Agriculture Day
March 21st International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination, World Poetry Day


The following are links with information on slavery.  Click on the map to see it larger.
History of Slavery

Pathway to Freedom: Underground Railroad