Welcome Back to 8th Grade!
I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation and is ready to start 2015 with a bang! Below you will find lots of reminders and information about upcoming dates. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Importance of Sleep
As we head back after a long break, it's even more important to keep in mind how important sleep is for teenagers. The National Sleep Foundation shares these facts on their web site:
FACTS:
- Sleep is vital to your well-being, as important as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. It can even help you to eat better and manage the stress of being a teen.
- Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence -- meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm.
- Teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to function best (for some, 8 1/2 hours is enough). Most teens do not get enough sleep — one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights.
- Teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week — they typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep.
- Many teens suffer from treatable sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea.
CONSEQUENCES:
Not getting enough sleep or having sleep difficulties can:
- Limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems. You may even forget important information like names, numbers, your homework or a date with a special person in your life;
- Make you more prone to pimples. Lack of sleep can contribute to acne and other skin problems;
- Lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior
In addition I have found that lack of sleep causes students to be moody with each other, less able to control impulses, and have a lowered threshold for frustration. Bedtime may not be fun, but a good night's sleep is worth the effort!
Attendance and Academic Performance
January marks the mid point of our academic year. This is a time that we look at student progress and student attendance and make plans for those that are not meeting standards in either area. The vast majority of our students are not only on track, but excelling. I will be sending home letters this week with your student that will either let you know your students is on track or ask you to make an appointment so we can make a plan! My goal is for everyone to finish the year ready for high school and beyond. With that in mind, please be aware of classroom performance and the increased demands of classroom work when scheduling appointments. I create lesson plans so that students who use their time wisely in class should never have an overwhelming amount of homework. While we do a lot of projects, the majority of the work is done in class. Students that are out due to vacations, doctor appointments, or they just couldn't get out of bed increase their home work load exponentially.
Science Fair
We are in the home stretch for the science fair! At this point students should have their Question, Background Research, Hypothesis, Materials, Procedures, and Data Collection done. This week we will be working in the computer lab and learning how to create data tables, charts, and graphs with information collected. We will also be writing up their findings, conclusions, and the abstract. Students who have met all the deadlines will finish their paper in class with little to no time at home. The only thing they will need to do at home will be the presentation board. I will go over the set up for the board in class tomorrow. Their are size and content requirements that must be met, so please be sure you and your student understand those before starting!
Because the gym is closed to teachers and parents on the day of the fair, we will be hosting an open house on Thursday, January 22nd. This is your chance to stop in and see all the hard work and excellent questions that CHPCS students asked. Parents and students are welcome to view the projects from 3:45 until 5:30. Please come in and look around, I promise you'll be impressed with the quality of work.
The official science fair is on Friday, January 23rd. Students should arrive at school at 7:45 and will be released at 3:30. During the day, every student will be interviewed by multiple judges. Students should rehearse answers to the following questions:
1. How did you choose your question?
2. Why did you choose your question?
3. What variables did you test?
4. What were your dependent and independent variables?
5. what were the results of your testing?
6. Were there any results that surprised you and why do you think that happened?
7. Why/How are the results of your test important to mankind?
8. If you were to repeat your test, what would you change?
Interview attire is appropriate for the day. That means button up shirts with ties and slacks or dresses (knee length or longer and shoulders covered). If students do not have interview attire, they may wear their best school uniform. Jeans and leggings are not appropriate.
Important Dates:
January 5th - Bring raw data to class
January 8th - Final draft of report completed
January 19th- Presentation board due
January 22nd - Science Fair Open House
January 23rd - Science Fair Day
New Lit Book
This week we will be starting our next Core Knowledge literature book, George Orwell's Animal Farm. It is an allegorical dystopian novel written in 1945. While written so long ago, our 8th graders always pronounce it the best book of the year. The humorous writing allows students to look at Stalin's era in a new light. There will be no final project for this book. For deeper understanding, students are welcome to watch the Animal Farm video available on youtube. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YYEoWAAmDE)
Writing
The first week back we will finishing the books for publication. Rough drafts were due before break so that students could focus on final drafts and the illustrations. These books will be sent off the first week in March and returned to us no later than May. Students will each get a free copy of their book, professionally bound. If families would like additional copies, simply fill out the order form that will come home this week.
Field trip
There is no field trip in January due to the Science Fair.
FACTS
On January 31st we will be holding our annual FACTS class for middle school families. FACTS was written in conjunction with Northwest Family Services in 1989. It is a program that focuses on opening communication between parents and students in dealing with topics pertinent to their age. These topics include but are not limited to dating, refusal skills, peer pressure, high risk behaviors, etc. In order to allow parents and students to attend together, we hold this essential class on a Saturday, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and finishing no later than 4:00 p.m. Lunch and snacks will be provided. We strongly encourage both parents to attend with their child but we understand if only one person can be there. In the event that neither parent can attend, another adult that is important in their life is welcome, and in the worse case scenario, we'd rather have the child with no adult than not at all. Parents are more than welcome to come in and preview the material and everyone will be provided with take home materials as well. If you have any questions, Mrs. Denman or I am happy to answer them. We look forward to seeing you there. Please RSVP so we can order the correct amount of food. You can RSVP for lunch and attendance by visiting this link: http://goo.gl/forms/n09kGRDAXk
For many of you, deadlines for high school applications are rapidly approaching. Thank you to all of the students who have already asked for and received their letters of recommendation. If you are applying to a school that requires letters of recommendation and have not yet requested them, please do so as soon as possible. We love to talk about how great your student is and to help them get into the right school, but doing them at the last minute is not always possible. To get a letter of recommendation from me, all you need to do is send me an email with the information. CMC and La Salle both have specific forms that they need filled out, so please be sure to get those to me. To get a letter of recommendation from Mrs. Denman, please make an appointment with Mrs. Marlatt. Arrive at that appointment with a list of your strengths, community service, and any awards you have earned.
Fundraising Updates
First I would like to thank Mrs. Fajardo and Mrs. Rovang for helping to coordinate our fundraising efforts this year. To date we have earned approximately $900 dollars from the Sock Hop, Twelfth Night, and Winter Showcase. We also requested and had approved a $1000 request from the PTA. That means we are just under half way to our goal. We have enough right now to see two shows and stay for one night. Coming up we have a Pizza Bingo night in January for sure and I have heard of several other possibilities. I will need two parents to work with me on the Pizza Bingo Night. If you are available, please let me know!
Auction
CHPCS Families - the primary fundraiser for the 2014/15 school year will be an Fundraising Dinner and Auction spearheaded by the PTA and Board of Directors. This event will take place Saturday, May 9, 2015. We need every family to be part of this great event, by helping to solicit donations and also hopefully attending the event. Please read over the attached Auction Handbook to see how we can all join together to support our students at CHPCS. If you have questions, please email. Planning meetings will be in full swing beginning in January.
Thank you - CHPCS Auction Committee: cascadeheightspta@chpcs.org
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