8th Grade - Mrs. Franke

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8F Homeroom:

• This Week's Bible Verse - "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life."  Revelation 2:10b

• Washington, D. C.  - Welcome back travelers!  Eighth graders  will return from their field trip early on Monday, May 24.  They will return to classes on Tuesday, May 25.  We're anxious to hear about the experience and see the photos!
  

• Congratulations!  Congratulations to 8F students who received the high academic achievement award:  Ben Coomer, Alexis Hiester, Michelle Hoene, Mallory Krumme, Allison Posey, and Nicole Thomas!  Way to go

• Retiring Teacher Gifts - Eighth graders will work together to put together 'gift bags' for Mr. Koerner and Mrs. Toppe as a gift for their retirement.  Please send in a small inexpensive item (fishing theme for Mr. Koerner and reading theme for Mrs. Toppee) that we can include in the gift bag.  You may instead choose to send a few dollars to put towards a gift card if you wish.  Please send all gifts/money as soon as possible, but no later than Friday, May 28.  The gifts will be presented on the last day of school.  It's a surprise...so don't peep a word to Mr. K or Mrs. T!

• Permission Slips - End of Year Reward Parties!  Permission slips for the 4th Quarter and the All Year Reward parties were sent home on Tuesday, May 18.  If you child is eligible for one or both of these rewards, please sign the slip (2 sides) and return it to school asap (no later than Tuesday, May 25.)  If your child qualifies for the bowling reward, please also attach $3 to the permission slip.
  

• Thank you!  As this will be the last Weekly Updates sent via webnote, I want to thank the parents of 8F for a super year.  I appreciate the support and encouragement that you have displayed as we've had this marvelous journey through eighth grade.  I've thoroughly enjoyed the time that I've spent with your delightful children.   May God bless you and your child as you continue to walk in the light of Jesus and travel down another educational path next year!  I also want to let you know that it saddens me that I'll miss graduation and the last few days of the school year.  I'll be thinking of my eighth graders as I travel in Germany, following the steps that Martin Luther once walked.  (My parents so benevolently made arrangements and paid for this trip well over a year ago when we thought school would finish on May 26.  Who would have thought that all those snow days last winter would have put such a wrinkle in my end of the school year plans?)
  

• Mission Offering - Please encourage your child to bring in his chapel offering envelope each week.  The mission focus for May is The Concordia University System.    
  

• Family Unit/School Picnic - The annual Family Units activity day/End of School Year Picnic will be held on Tuesday, June 1.  Thank you to those of you who volunteered to donate an item or help with the family unit event.  Notes are being sent home on Friday, May 14, with specific details for volunteers.  Ask your child about the note they received.  An awards ceremony will follow the picnic @ 12:45 p.m. on June 1.  A closing chapel service @ 2:15 p.m. will end our school year.

• Graduation - 8th Grade Graduation will be on Friday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m..  The last day of school will be on Tuesday, June 1.
  

• Save these items!  - Our classroom is collecting BoxTops for Education, Campbell's Labels for Education UPC codes, and used printer cartridges.  Please send these items in when you can.  Thank you!

·        Calendar notes

Sunday, May 23    - Church and Sunday School

Monday, May 24    - Chapel; 8th graders return from D.C.

Tuesday, May 25   -  8th graders return to school

Wednesday, May 26    - 8th graders vs. Confirmation pastors in basketball/volleyball

Thursday, May 27    -  Creation Museum speaker

Friday, May 28 -       Graduation

Tuesday, June 1 -     Last day of school

7S English:

-Grammar:  This week we will finish with our MUG shots (Daily Oral Language to review mechanics, usage, and grammar skills).    We will take MUG 13 quiz on Tuesday, May 25.   We will assess 7 patterns in Shurley this week and take a quiz on Tuesday, May 25.  Students received a study guide on Friday, May 21 (Due Monday, May 24)
 

-Writing:    We will continue with Writing Workshop this week; Students will have time in class to work through the stages of writing.  This week's focus will be: writing in Writer's Notebook, and letter writing.   We'll finish our last writing project near the end of the week.  We'll be writing a letter and making a creative scrapbook page about our seventh grade year.  Most work will be done in class, but students are welcome to bring in a picture or two that they'd like to include on their scrapbook page.  Students are asked to complete a 'Daily Log' each day in class.  This will help track time/task management and help students organize their Writing Workshop time.  Daily Logs will be collected on the last day of each week.

Writer's Notebooks:  Students will also continue to write in their Writer's Notebooks this week.  Students have pasted a list of ideas for different entries into the back of their notebook.  All pre-writing for drafts should go into the notebooks as well.  Entries will be assessed on quality, variety, and quantity.    Class time will be given to make entries on most days. 

Writing Deadlines:  Fourth quarter writing project deadlines are posted in the classroom.  Students may work in class during writing workshop days on these projects and also work on them at home.  Projects may be turned in ahead of time.  I've listed last deadlines below.

-Vocabulary:  No formal vocabulary this week.  We'll spend a bit of time reviewing some word wall words from throughout the year.

Assignments:  There will be take home assignments Monday - Wednesday.

Writing Deadlines (Dates are subject to change.): 

• Writer's Notebook due Wednesday, May 26.

• Daily Log due Wednesday, May 26.

• Rough draft of letter due by end of class time on Tuesday, May 25.
  

Upcoming Tests:

MUG #13 quiz - Tuesday, May 25

Shurley Ch 24 Quiz - Tuesday, May 25

 Pre-Algebra:

-We'll dabble in  Chapter 8 (Percents) this week. 

Assignments: 

There will be in class assignments on Tuesday and Wednesday  of this week.

8S English:

-Grammar:  We will continue with our MUG shots (Daily Oral Language to review mechanics, usage, and grammar skills).    

Writing:  We will continue with Writing Workshop this week; Students will have time in class to work through the stages of writing.  This week's focus will be: writing in Writer's Notebook and presenting our final publication drafts.   We'll also share our mystery peer character sketches written a few weeks ago, and read ILS memories written by all classmates.  Students are asked to complete a 'Daily Log' each day in class.  This will help track time/task management and help students organize their Writing Workshop time.  Daily Logs will be collected on the last day of each week.  

Writer's Notebooks:  Students will also continue to write in their Writer's Notebooks this week.  Students have pasted a list of ideas for different entries into the back of their notebook.  All prewriting for drafts should go into the notebooks as well.  Entries will be assessed on quality, variety, and quantity.    Class time will be given to make entries on most days. 

Writing Deadlines:    I've listed the last few deadlines in the assignment area below.

-Vocabulary:  No formal vocabulary this week. We'll review a few word wall words from throughout the year.

Writing Deadlines: 

• Writer's Notebook due Thursday, May 27.

 7 Literature: 

-We'll finish with The Witch of Blackbird Pond this week.    For a final assessment, students can choose a test or project.  Study guides for those testing is due on Monday.  The test will be on Monday.  Students choosing one of the projects will have Monday's class time to work on the project and the project will be due on Tuesday.  To end our school year, we'll watch the DVD version of one of the novels we've read this year.  We'll note differences between the novel and DVD during the viewing and discuss these afterward.

Final Assessment:  For the individual student's final assessment of this novel, students may choose between completing a study guide/taking a test or completing one of two described projects.  If the testing option is chosen, study guides will be distributed on Friday, May 21, and will be due on Monday, May 24.  The test will be May 24.  If students choose one of the two project options, the completed project will be due on Tuesday, May 25.  Students should have project materials in class on Friday, May 21, and Monday, May 24.  Some time will be given on Friday and the entire class period will be used on Monday for project work time.  A project description will be made available to students this week.    The project options are to either pre plan, practice, sketch and finally add color to a portrait of one of the characters in the novel based on the descriptions of Elizabeth George Speare; a two sentence description needs to be written below the sketch.  Effort and creativity will certainly factor into scoring.  The second project option involves pre writing and then drafting a four paragraph character sketch essay about one of the characters in the novel.  The rubric/project description details what each paragraph should contain.

 Assignments: (Date given in italics; Date due in parenthesis following assignment) 

Monday -        Project (WBP) (Due Tuesday)

Upcoming Quizzes and Tests:

Monday (5/24) WBP novel test

6 Literature: 

-I've enjoyed getting to know these sixth grade students this year.  I'm impressed by their intelligence, willingness to work hard, and love for reading.  Have a blessed summer!

-Several more students have surpassed their goals this week!  WAY TO GO!  Students are taking advantage of the "Mrs. Franke's Fourth Quarter AR Incentive Program!"  Ask your child what level he/she has achieved.  I believe we may even have some students reach 100 AR points or more in this quarter alone!  All AR testing must be completed by 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 26.  Your child should be reading for at least 20 minutes each night.  Please encourage them to make setting aside the time to make this a priority.

-Our final story unit from the novel is being completed in small groups.  Students have chosen a story from the reading book that we haven't yet read and are working together to create a project that will present the information to their classmates.  I am seeing such creative work going into these projects.  We'll learn information from a blog, newscast, power points, slide shows, etc next week as students present their projects.  Assessment for the project will evaluation planning, note taking (individual papers), process (how the students have used their time to create the project), and the final product.

Assignments: (Date given in italics; Date due in parenthesis following assignment)

Friday -            Read at least 20 minutes of AR (Monday)

Monday -         Project work (Tuesday)

Tuesday -         Finish Project; AR (Wednesday)

Upcoming Quizzes and Tests:

Introduction to Deutsch

-Students will continue Unit 8:  Die Familie (The Family) this week. 

Assignments:

 Various Unit 8 worksheets (Due Tuesday)

Upcoming Quizzes and Tests:

 Leadership Through Mentoring

We've been learning so much and enjoying our weekly classroom experiences.  Our sponsoring teachers, Mrs. Block, Mrs. Elkins, Mrs. Keilman, Mrs. Stam, Mrs. Franke, and Mrs. Isaacs continue to be complimentary about the mentoring students!