Book Report Day

On Thursday (Dec. 15) we will spend our Literature period reading / working on our book reports.  Every student needs to have their book for this day, I will also be recording their choice of project.  Book reports are due on Friday, February 24!  This is one week after LEST so I have encouraged the students to have their book read over Christmas break so they can spend January working on their project.  Time will go by fast as we prepare for LEST!

Crazy Snow Days...

Well we had a crazy end of the week on Thursday and Friday. I don't know about you but the start of Thursday looked like nothing but turned out to be horrible by 1:00pm. Friday started horrible but by 11:00 we had nothing. Of course we live in Aloha and we are not high in elevation, so many of you were probably in a more serious situation. So those two days off were great, but really mess up the schedule. So here is a quick update on what I have coming up in my classes.
Before I go on, I want to say that if we have another day off, I will be holding a "Snow Day" picture contest. Take your best picture of you, your yard, or something funny that happened on the day and we will have a short vote on the best picture of the day.
Every year, I love to read a book to my class. It is called "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever." It is a great book about the Christmas story. It brings the story into a little more context for the kids. I plan on reading this through with my 6th graders. We will get back to Moses and the Israelite Nation.
For Science, we have now finished up the Moon and will be moving on to the rest of the Solar System. We have a video on Asteroids and a quiz on Craters and Meteorites. The quiz should be on Wednesday or Thursday.
In my Course 3 Math, we are still working through a big packet on Parallel Lines and how to name them. We will continue to work through the lesson and I will let the class know when the packet is due shortly.  We will have Math club on Tuesday but not on Friday.
For History, 6th graders should be ready for the test they should have had on Thursday. I am sure their cheat sheet should be filled in and they are really ready to go.
We have a couple of special things coming up. Presents for the sponsored family should be in on Monday. We have chapel with carols on Wednesday as well as a Friday before the break. Friday chapel is at 2:00. Kids will be ready to be picked up by 2:50. We also have the breakfast on Friday. Please see the email sent out previously to know what your family needs to bring for that.
The 6th and 7th graders plan to watch "The Nativity Story" on that Friday and a permission slip will come home soon as it is a PG movie.
As always please feel free to give me a quick email if you feel like communication is not up to par. I want the kids to become more self-reliant, but I don't want parents to feel left out.
Blessings on your week.
Mr. Bauer

Holy Exploding Flour Batman

It's not every night that you get to go home and say, "I had a blast teaching today." Probably even less when you teach Middle Schoolers, but today, I get to say that at home tonight. It was a blast to teach today. 

In Science we did an experiment to recreate craters on the Moon. We dropped several marbles into flour from a distance of 1 meter. The outcome was almost explosive. The kids and I had a great time seeing what would happen and we were not disappointed. We will finish the experiment tomorrow and there is no homework tonight. 

In Christian Studies we went over the quiz. Tomorrow we start looking at the wandering Israelites. There was no homework with this class tonight. 

For the majority of the morning, the 8th graders were with Mr. Munster. They were painting backdrops for our coming Christmas performance. Since they were with him, I only have 5 students in Math. So we looked over the last assignment, and graded it, then we played a math game. There is no homework with this class tonight. 

In History, we continue to look at the geography of the Middle East. Today we focused on Canaan. Students need to complete page 56 in their book before tomorrow. 

Blessings

Mr. Bauer

Book Orders Due Friday, Dec. 2

In order to make sure students have the books they want to read over the holidays, I will need to place the order Friday night or Saturday morning.  If you have any problems or questions feel free to contact me!

 

Note Taking Skills

All students have been introduced to a new, or semi-new, system of taking notes.  Cornell Notes have been around for many years and has recently made a come back.  Many high schools are encouraging / expecting incoming students to be able to use this system.  While we are learning about another unit in grammar or reading a short story the students are using this system to keep notes.  Since this is new I will be grading their work based on 'are they doing the note taking', especially in Literature class.  Because this is done in class under my direction you will see little homework coming home.  In Grammar, students will be able to use their notes on a test as a way for them to see the value in this note-taking system.  It is my hope that as students become familiar with this system they will begin using it in other classes.  There are many good websites that explain this system of note-taking if you want to know more about it.

Book Reports!!

We are jumping in to our second trimester book report.  Students are already on the look out for that next great read.  Students are to have decided on their book and project by Wednesday, Dec.7. During the last week before break we will once again have a a "book report day" where students will get to spend their entire Literature period reading their book.  I want to encourage everyone to read over the Christmas Break.  The final book projects are to be in by Friday, February 24 (just days after LEST).  

Don't Wait, Read Now!!

Applied Skills

Before we begin a new set of Applied Skills classes I want to thank all of the volunteers who taught classes for first trimester.  

Thank you to Mrs. Plucknett for sharing her skills in "The Game of Life".  She shared with her class basic skills needed in everyday life at home.  They learned how to use basic tools and life skills along with some hands-on babysitting practice.  The highlight was the week taking care of their potato babies.         

We are thankful for the gifts Mr. Schiemann shared with his group, "The Geek Squad".  This group was hard at work tearing apart computers and learning about all the technology on campus. This group will be kept busy all year helping teachers with their smart boards, laptops, and sound systems.  It is great to have so many gentlemen ready to help us.

         

     

On Friday afternoons there were great smells drifting in the air around St. Peter's Church. St. Peter's graciously allowed Chef Marni and her assistants to teach a group about various culinary techniques and dishes.  This group of students were always willing to dive in and try their hand at cooking.  The pay-off, enjoying their creations. 

                                                      

For LEST Mr. Collins is working with a 6 students as they prepare to participate in the LEGO Robotics competition.  They have been hard at work designing and testing their robots.  It has been fun watching them work under deadlines and through problems with programs.  They will continue to work through the second trimester.

                   

  

This year we have a very dedicated group of students who are working hard to put together our yearbook.  With the help of Mrs. Hill they have learned how to take pictures, lay out pages, and many other skills needed to put together a yearbook.  We are all anxiously waiting to see their final product later this year.

         

  

Thank you for a great Trimester!

This Friday we start a whole new set of Applied Skills.  Your student has their selection sheet with the details.  We welcome Mr. Carter and Mr. Kok to our list of volunteers this term.