Welcome to PE!

Welcome back to school and to Mr. Hirsch's PE class everyone! This year I will try to have the kids write down blog entries.    - Mr. Hirsch

"We began the year in gym class with our soccer unit. For the first couple of days, we did drills or skill building activities. Starting this week, we have began to play three minute long games. The class is divided into three different teams, so that every team can play the two other teams. Gym class has been very enjoyable this week."   -Ava

Home made pizzas in Advisory today. Yum.

Happy new school year from Middle School Advisory.  The new 6th graders are integrating into their advisories and getting to know the older kids. The new Morning Advisory sessions, designed after Responsive Classroom (that takes place in grades K - 5) are less formal and a little more low key than what they experienced previously but we are finding that it's a great way to settle into the day.  Many of the advisory activities this month are focusing on getting to know one another.  But in addition, the last couple of longer advisory sessions have involved the vegetable garden beds in the playlot that the kids helped plant last spring.

Of course, nothing tastes better than food that you've grown and picked yourselves!  Middle School advisory kids got a taste of that experience today after picking vegetables and herbs and making tasty pizza creations.  Nasturtiums and green tomatoes on a pizza? Fantastic!

Review, Secrets, Lies, and Algebra, and Patterns

We had a great first week in 8th grade math.  We started off the year with some review of concepts and we are continuing to review for much of the first unit.  This week we will be reviewing order of operations, real numbers, absolute value, and how to do all operations with rational numbers.  We have also been reading a fiction book called, Secrets, Lies, and Algebra in an attempt to make real world connections to what we learn in class.  It has already lead to some great discussion questions on Schoology.

We will have a quiz on sections 1.1-1.3 on Thursday the 10th and POW Operation Warm-Up is due on Friday the 11th.

Question to ask your child at home:  What is a tangent in math class?

Age of Imperialism

This week, the 8th graders have been learning about American imperialism in social studies. Last week, they looked at political cartoons, maps, and pictures from the era and made observations, asked questions, and made predictions about how the United States expanded.  This week, students are learning about how the United States acquired places like Alaska, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands.  Today, they researched and began to teach mini-lessons about the United States' relationship with Japan, Hawaii, and China during the Age of Imperialism.  

Questions for your 8th grader:

• Should the United States have acquired overseas possessions?
• If country is strong enough and rich enough to take over another country, does that give them the right to do so?

8th Grade Language Arts: Vocabulary Root Words

We will be studying common Greek and Latin root words throughout the school year in Language Arts class.  Students will learn to use clues from those roots when they encounter unfamiliar words.  They will complete creative and challenging vocabulary building activities to reinforce the root words.  Each of the twelve units introduces ten vocabulary words and traces their definitions back to a common meaning.  Students will examine the words in context to understand correct usage and complete hands-on activities to build their vocabulary skills.

Be sure to check with your child and hear the new words they are learning this year!

The roots we will study this year in eighth grade include:

graph, gram (write), curr, curs, cours (run), carn, corp (body), arch (ruler), cycle, orb (roundness), min (small), phone (sound), anthro, homo (man), dict (speak), port (carry), sum, syn (together), phil (love)

Week 2: BLAST OFF!!!

Week 2:

Hopefully the kids have recovered from their sleep deprivation of week 1.  We reviewed our lab protocols, enjoyed each others summer vacations, and reviewed this years curriculum.  Our main focus this quarter in Physics will be motion.  The 8th graders have already gotten started on their first project “Bottle Rockets.”  They will change two variables on their rocket to see which one can fly the longest.  The launch is scheduled for sometime during the week of September 15th.  Hopefully we will see you their.  

It's a pleasure meeting you.

I’m excited to introduce myself as the new music teacher at North Park Elementary School.  I’d been a music teacher in the Chicago Public Schools since 2004 where I had developed my curriculum to include a variety of folk instruments including recorders, ukuleles and guitars, as well as an extra curricular band program.  I look forward to bringing some of the experiences I’ve gained in my former school as well as taking advantage of the many resources available at NPES.  

This year we will put extra emphasis on the music of Chicago. In addition to developing the basic concepts such as rhythm, pitch, dynamics, and notation covered in the general music classroom, we will be looking at the musicians and the rich musical history and influence of one of the world’s greatest cities, Chicago.  

I really look forward to getting to know and making some great music with your children throughout the year.

-Ben Saltz