New History Unit!

Tomorrow we begin a new history unit, the decline of European Colonialism. This topic covers a wide geographic area and will take us through mid November.

The objectives for the unit are:

A. Breakup of the British Empire

• Creation of British Commonwealth, independence for colonial territories

• Troubled Ireland: Easter Rebellion, Irish Free State

• Indian nationalism and independence and Mahatma Gandhi's involvement
- Caste System
- Partition of India into Hindu and Muslim states

• Geography of India and South Asia

We will be watching the movie "Gandhi" as part of our study. It is am amazing film and I encourage families to watch it together at home. Seeing it twice and being able to discuss it with family will only aid comprehension and allow for deeper conversations based on your family beliefs.

October Field Trip

This Friday, October 24th, is field trip day!

We have a very full, very informational day.

8:00 - Arrive at school IN UNIFORM!
8:45 - Load bus and head to the Milwaukie Academy of the Arts.
9:00 - Arrive at MAA. We will be touring the school and talking to alumni.
10:30 - Load bus and head for Lan Su Chinese Garden
11:00 - Arrive at Lan Su Chinese Garden for guided tour.
12:00 - Walk from Lan Su Chinese Garden to lunch at Golden Horse Chinese Restaurant.
Lunch has been preordered with vegetarian options available. Students will be expected to eat with chopsticks, as we have been practicing in class.
1:15 - Load bus and head for Marylhurst University
2:00 - Arrive at Marylhurst for a guided tour of the university.
3:00 - Load bus and return to school.
3:30 - Car line

I have room for 2 - 3 volunteers, but they must have already completed their paperwork. Please let me know if you are available to attend!

8th Grade Social Development

I can not say enough about how pleased I am with this class and their social development. Today's science lesson is a perfect example. This week in science we are studying momentum. Students learned that momentum is mass times velocity and that the more momentum an object has, the harder it is to change the momentum. Today they were presented with an engineering design task. Partners, selected at random, were tasked with designing a device that would stop the momentum of an egg without cracking it. The only materials allowed were 10 sheets of copy paper and 1 meter of masking tape. The safety structure had to be free standing, not attached to anything, and reusable.

Every single team went right to work. No one rolled their eyes at their partner, no one tried to change partners, they just went to work. Within minutes every science notebook was out, the lab was set up in their book, and people were exchanging ideas. I heard lots of excellent ideas shared and not a single person was reacting negatively to their partner's ideas. I also saw teams sketching out multiple designs on paper before using their materials. This demonstrated excellent restraint and forethought.

Good Earth Online Availability and How to Answer Questions

We are well into our first novel of the year, Pearl Buck's The Good Earth.  We read the story together so that we may discuss the intricate language, themes, and the emotional impact. 

Students will have very little to read at home, but will often be asked to answer questions about the chapters read that day. If they happen to forget their book, they may look things up at http://ajaytao2010.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/the-good-earth-pearl-s-buck.pdf. 

All questions must be answered in complete sentences with evidence quoted from the book. For example, one of today's questions was "What is the fire wagon?" 

A quality answer might say:

 "The fire wagon is mentioned in chapter 10 and it can be inferred that it is a train. The man says "e firewagon and ride to the south. It leaves from yonder house and there are wagons for such as we for the price of less than a small silver piece" From this we learn that one can purchase fare, which could be either a coach or train since cars were not yet invented. Wang Lung states that he had  "heard men tell of these wagons, chained one to the other and drawn neither by man nor beast, but by a machine breathing forth fire and water like a dragon." The wagons chained together is the cars of the train, latched together in a long procession. The fire and water that the dragon breathes is the steam power that trains at the time were using for energy. 

Government Final Exam Study Guide

Government Study Guide

1. Which activities does the House Rules Committee control?
2. A power that the House of Representatives has that the Senate does NOT is the power to what?
3. A power that the Senate possesses that the House of Representatives does NOT is the power to what?
4. How does the president exercise a veto?
5. How would you describe the relation between the president and the Congress regarding legislation?
6. What authority does the president have?
7. The president’s official cabinet  includes which officials?
8.  In the United States Presidential chain of succession, who would follow the President and Vice President?
9. According to the Constitutional principle of checks and balances, what oversight can Congress exercise in respect to the Presidential power of appointment?
10. According to the Declaration of Independence, what is the primary purpose for creating government?
11. Describe the first 12 amendments.
12. Which acronym represents the U.S. government agency that would take the lead in preventing, or minimizing the impact of, epidemics such as bird flu?
13. Be prepared to explain the preamble to the constitution.
14. What is the term of service for a U.S. Senator and how often are Senate elections held?
15.  Who served as the first African-American Supreme Court justice?
16. What is the minimum age required for the office of President?
17. Who is considered to be the "Father of the Constitution" for his role in writing the document?
18. Which Presidential cabinet department plays the lead role in advising the President on foreign policy?
19. Under the Electoral College system established by the Constitution for electing the President, which state would have the most votes?
20. There are several different approaches to representation within a democratic political system.
1. (a) Define direct democracy.
2. (b) Define republican form of government.
3. (c) Describe one reason the framers of the United States Constitution chose a republican form of government over a direct democracy.
21. 4. The Constitution of the United States creates a government of separate institutions that share power rather than a
22. government that delegates power exclusively to a single branch. Frequently, this means that presidents and
23. Congress struggle with each other.
1. a. For each of the presidential powers below, explain one way that congressional decision making is affected
2. by that power.
3. • Veto power
4. • Power to issue executive orders
5. • Power as commander in chief
24.  For each of the congressional powers below, explain one way that presidential decision making is affected
1. by that power.
2. • Legislative oversight power
3. • Senate advice and consent power
4. • Budgetary power

Mrs. Denman's Birthday Party

Please join us October 23rd, 3:45-4:45 pm

 to celebrate our one and only Mrs. Denman's birthday!

The party will be held in the school gym.

The theme is “School Emergency Preparedness.”

The American Red Cross will give a presentation. 

 Mrs. Burn is donating her homemade cupcakes!

Mrs. Denman would like to equip each class with basic emergency kits.

 We are asking each family to donate $5 per child.

By donating $150, you could sponsor your whole class!

There is no price we can put on safety of our children, and we all need to be together on this!!!

A collection envelope is located in the office. All donations are tax deductible.

Thank you very much for helping Mrs. Denman making our school a SAFER place!

 

Harvest Festival

This Thursday is the 9th annual Cascade Heights Harvest Festival. The Harvest Festival is a free night of fun. Families are encouraged to join us for an hour or so of old time entertainment. There will be hay rides, face painting, pumpkin ring toss, and the ever popular baking contest. This year we are debuting three new things. 

1. Middle school classes will be running their own booth. Our class has voted on either the donut eating contest or the hay ride. These wonderful students signed up to work:
6:00 - 6:30 Kaleigh and Rhyle
6:30 - 6:45 Ember and Selma
6:45 - 7:00 Akina and Katherine
7:00 - End Adin and Olivia

2. We added a new category to the baking contest! This year in addition to the regular pumpkin and apple entries, we added a third category for those recipes that take into account various dietary restrictions. So if you have a great recipe that is gluten free or dairy free, you can enter it into its own category! 

3. The official end time has changed from 7:30 to dusk. We've heard from parents that they were concerned about how dark it got, so as the light fades, we'll wrap things up! 

For those of you that are new, our Harvest Festival is open to family and friends! Please feel free to bring your neighbor, etc. Our Harvest Festival is NOT a Halloween party. We ask that students do not dress up in costumes, but they also do not have to be in uniform. As usual, we will  have baked goodies available for $1 a plate, so bring your appetite and small bills. 

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there!