newsletter #5
DESCRIPTION
Mr. Choquette's classroom newsletter.TRANSCRIPT
Classroom Newsletter
Mr. Choquette Sci-8 / SS-8
December 1, 2011
We are in the midst of the holiday season!
Contact Information:
Email:
Phone: 07-5830112 8th graders participating in an oral history listening activity in World History.
I cannot believe that it is December already; the year has just been flying bye at a feverish pace. I am smiling
as I reflect on all of the various projects and activities that we have completed in Science and Social Studies. The
8th graders are a truly great group of students who have learned a lot academically and socially while
developing their technological aptitude.
Semester final exams are coming soon! Take a look at the schedule below:
Mr. Choquette’s courses:
Block B – Sci-8
Block C – SS-8
Block D – SS-8
Block F – US-10
Block G – Sci-8
As always if you have concerns about your student’s performance please don’t hesitate to email me.
2 Mr. Choquette / Newsletter #5 / December 1, 2011
Over the last few weeks students have been learning about the Rock Cycle focusing on how rocks are formed,
examining the various types of rock to learn what they are like and developing an understanding that the rock the
cycle is a never ending process. I am really proud of our students’ hard work and creativity that they poured into
their Flex-Projects on the rock cycle and I want to thank the 8th grade parents for their support. Many of the
students ventured to their classmates homes or stayed after school to work on their projects. Students created
movies, PowerPoints, Prezis, board games, musical performances and more. It was really a celebration of learning
and I was truly impressed by many of the students’ projects; it was a lot of fun learning.
We are currently studying Energy Resources and to take the students full circle with regards to method of
instruction I am having them complete in-class poster assignments as we did in
the first week of the semester. Students are researching various energy sources
and exploring the advantages and disadvantages of each energy source as
well as the different methods employed to harness the energy and their pros
and cons. Students will deliver a brief oral presentation next week.
The final assignment of the semester will a review activity where they
will be recalling important learning from the semester and making a brief video
clip in class that will help prepare them for their upcoming semester final exam.
SS8 Update: Muhammad’s life and the founding of Islam. World History students have moved out of Europe and into the Middle East! Since the last newsletter students
have learned all about the Byzantine Empire and have now focused their learning on the story of Muhammad’s
life and the founding of Islam.
Students most recently have been reflecting on the oral tradition and advantages and disadvantages
of an oral history. They completed and activity where they passed a message from one person to another and
quickly discovered that usually the message that you start out with is not the message that you end up with. We
then listened to a CD recording of the story of Muhammad’s life and learned how to write related words in
Arabic.
Students are now working on completing a brochure or newsletter detailing the various concepts,
terms, people and events of Chapter 7 and 8, which discusses the Middle East and the birth of Islam. Their rough
drafts are due on Wednesday December 7th and we will peer and teacher review them in class. The final drafts
of their projects will be due on Monday December 12th and should be printed in color.
Students will be competing a review activity in Social Studies to prepare them for their examination in
that class as well.
Sci-8 Update: Through the Rock Cycle and into Energy Resources
Students working on their Energy Sources poster in Sci-8