Mrs. Churvis’ Blog- Lang. Arts, APEX LA, and Social Studies

 I saw a lot of you at the dance on Friday!  I was so pleased to see you enjoying yourselves and proud of your excellent behavior.  Some of you are very good dancers.  I even witnessed Mr. Jones dance!!!!   A great time was had by all.

No school on Monday, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.

We will have library on every other Tuesday starting the Tuesday we return to school.  During this time you will be doing research on a European country of your choice.  With the information you gather, you will create a travel brochure for that country.  I will supply you with a rubric that will include all of the requirements and the due date.

We will conclude Chapter 14 on Thursday with a through review and then a test on Friday.

Dates to remember

• Report cards issued 1/14/08
• SFMS Spirit Day 1/18/08
• Winterfest Dance 1/18/08
• Martin Luther King Day 1/21/08 (no school)

Agenda for week of 1/14

Continue Ch. 13 Southern Europe

Section 4 Spain and Portugal

• Rd./discuss pgs.272-275
• Fill out Graphic Organizer
• Complete reading “A Farmer’s Life in Spain

Map activity-Workbook pgs. 25-26 Roman Empire

Review for Ch. 13 test

Wednesday- Chapter 13 Test

Begin Ch.14 West-Central Europe

Sec. 1 Physical Geography

• Vocabulary
• Rd./discuss pgs. 278-281
• Label map
• Complete Graphic Organizer-Landform Regions

Sec. 2 France

• Vocabulary
• Rd./discuss pgs. 282-285
• Map activity-Workbook pgs. 27-28
• Read “France’s Unsettled Immigrants”

Happy New Year!!!!

We will begin the new year in Southern Europe (don’t we wish). The outlined agenda will be what we will be following this week.

Unit 4 Europe

1.   Map skills

• Political
• Physical
• Climate
• Population
• Products
• Land use

1. Identify, label, and match country/capital
2. Discuss the European Unit (EU), compare it to NAFTA and Mercosur, consider the effects on the individual countries.
3. Group actvities
4. Create Time Lines

Chapter 13 Southern Europe

Sec. 1 Physical geography

• Define vocabulary pg. 261
• Read and discuss pgs. 260-263
• Compare physical features of S. Eur. countries
• Calculate latitude/longitude

     Sec. 2 Greece

• Define vocabulary pg. 264
• Read and discuss pgs. 264-267
• Organize Class Olympics

     Sec. 3 Italy

• Define vocabulary pg. 268
• Read and discuss pgs. 268-271
• Identify and compare common words found in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and French that are derived from Latin.

Four days left to our study of South America.  We will cover the last two sections this week and take a test on Thursday.  When we come back in January we will be ready to start Europe.  I am very excited about this unit.  I lived in England for five years and have very fond memories of the land and its people.  I hope that this will make the unit a little more interesting to the students.

Remember  the country report is due Wednesday, December 19th!!!!!!! No extensions given.

Latin American Project is due Dec. 19. Please refer to the directions and rubric sent home on green paper. If you need another piece of poster size paper, just let me know. You have had and still will continue to have time in class to work on the reports. I have seen a few nearly completed posters, and they look pretty good. Keep up the hard work.

Just a reminder that our Angel Tree child still needs a few things. If you’d like, sent in cash so I can purchase a bike.  That and Leggos were all he wanted for toys.  The last day to send in money will be the 13th.  So far we have collected a fair amount of clothes.

This weeks agenda:

Chapter 11  Atlantic S. America

• Sec. 1 Physical Geography
• Sec. 2 Brazil
• Sec. 3 Argentina
• Sec. 4 Uruguay & Paraguay
• Review
• Chapter 11 Quiz

We are continuing Ch. 10, the Caribbean S. America this week.  Hopefully, we will finish all of South America before Christmas.  Then we can begin Europe at the start of the new year.  There will be a small project to go with South America.  A very small project.  It uses only one sheet of poster size paper, which I will provide.  I will send home the rubric, as well as post it on the blog.  It will be due before Christmas break.  See you on Monday!

I hope you all have a very safe and ful”filling” Thanksgiving Holiday. Before I get involved in the planning of the turkey dinner, I am going to post next weeks agenda.

Ch.9 Central America and the Caribbean Islands

Sec.1 Physical geography

• Vocabulary pg.178-define

• Read pgs. 178-181

• Map assignment

Sec. 2 History of Central. Amer.

• Vocabulary pg.182-define

• Read pgs. 182-186

• Time line of area

Sec. 3 History of the Caribbean

• Vocabulary pg. 187-define

• Read pgs.187-191

• Review for test-pg. 192 Voc. (1-15) Main Idea (1-5)

STUDY FOR CH.9 TEST

CHAPTER 9 TEST—Friday

Begin Ch. 10 Caribbean South America

• Sec. 1 Physical geography

Today we finished Chapter 8 Mexico with a test. From what I have seen so far, the majority have done rather well. Since next week is only a two day week, we will not begin a new chapter. Instead, we will do some reviewing, some ThinkLink practice quizzes, and maybe some map drawing.

Today after the test we played a version of Jepardy. The categories were Cities and States, Famous Men and Women, Government, History, Landmarks, North, South, East, or West, Presidents of the U.S., State Capitals, U.S. Geography, and World Geography. The teams were very competitive. They asked me if we could play again next week, and I said the typical “Mom” words, “Maybe”. They don’t realize that they are actually learning. So I might add that to next week’s agenda.

Until then, have a great weekend. Be well.

PS Thanks for the great lunch given by the PTSA and for the extra 30 minutes to eat, for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Don’t forget to bring in your state reports on Tuesday.  I am really looking forward to seeing what you have done.  Some students turned theirs in early, and they looked fantastic.

This week we are going to study Mexico.  Mexico is included in the unit which studies Central America and South America.  It is a long unit with a lot of information to cover.  So get ready to study our neighbors south of the border!!!!  See you on Tuesday.

We finished Chapter 6 today. Say goodbye to the US and hello to Canada. I plan on us taking about a week to accomplish Chapter 7. Many students have already been bringing in items from Canada to share with the class. If anyone out there has something interesting to share, send it on! Please refer to the agenda to see how we are going to pace ourselves this week.
Don’t forget that on Sunday we turn our clocks back one hour. We get an extra hour of sleep.

PS Don’t forget to start working on your state report.  Also, Tuesday is the day of the states quiz and the provinces quiz.