Ms. Finley

(9/28/07

The projects were due today and overall I am very pleased.  I will be taking half home this weekend and work on them during planning Monday and Tuesday. Expect the grades to be posted Wednesday.

We are having a Quiz over the Eastern countries and their capitals on Tuesday. We have been studying them at the beginning of every class.

There will also be an open notebook quiz sometime next week. I don't tell them the specific day. This is to check their organizational skills.

We will spend some more time over the physical geography of Europe , as well as the climate and vegetation zones.

9/25

sorry I forgot to keep you all posted.We have been finishing up our unit on the explorers. their projects are due on Friday, no excuses, for the most part we did everything at school, but the editing and typing or rewrite is to be done at home. I am counting this as a test grade so my expectations are high.

I have postponed the Eastern European countries quiz for the last time. It will be on Tuesday 10/02.

Thursday 9/20/07

Dear Parents,

Today we brainstormed ideas about the five senses and how they related to their explorer's voyage. Tonight's homework is to begin writing about their voyage and what things they smelled, saw, heard , tasted. How did they feel at the beginning of their voyage, what was their physical state after they got back. This is section 3 on their rubric. They don't need to finish it tonight , but just get started.

The moves went smoothly and I got  keep all my students, just not all at the same class period.

Have a great evening.

Wednesday 9/19

Today in class we will be continuing with the second page of information for their exploration project, what they don't finish will be h.w. for the night. This is only a rough draft for page two on their rubric.

Please look for their progress reports and sign them. They will have a consequence if not brought back to their HR. teacher in a timely manner.

There is also an important letter  being sent home regarding some possible changes in your child's schedule. This is due to our classes being overcrowded and the hiring of a new full time teacher. The county mandates that we have only twenty- eight students per class, so this must be done. We appreciate your understanding. In the end you children will benefit from the smaller class size and teacher attention.

Tuesday 9/18/07

Tonight's homework is to complete writng your letter to the king or queen of your explorer's country.

I will be writing an example so that you can get an Idea of what I'm looking for, however these are my ideas ,not yours. Be creative and as true to your explorer as possible.

Parents progress reports are coming home tomorrow, they must be signed  and returned.

Example of a letter.

Dear King Henry,

I am writing to you in the hope that you will fund my next expedition to the Indies. It would be such a great honor to sail for Portugal. I have heard that the Indies have great treasures such as spices of all sorts, that would meet our country's demand and they have great gems and minerals that would make our country rich.Inreturn for my voyage I will provide you with the majority of my findings, taking only a small percentage for myself and my men.

For this voyage we will need a crew of about three hundred men and three large sailing vessels. We would also need enough food and drinks, navigational tools and maps for a sucessful journey. I am greatly appreciative of your consideration. Thank you

Yours truley,

Bartholomeu Dias

Week of 9/17/07

Good afternoon,

We have no specific homework, however if you gather some facts on your chosen explorer, and bring them to class it will be helpful for tomorrow's class.

I have postponed the Eastern european countries quiz yet another week, I'm sure everyone is very disappointed.

Remember tomorrow is picture day, you'll need to give your payment to the photographer.

Good evening 9/13/07

We are having our quiz over the Western countries and their capitals of Europe tomorrow.

The other countries remaining will be on Thursday 9/20/07.

I am also assigning a mini research project, over the explorers. Look for the rather lengthy rubric I'm giving out tomorrow. The majority of the research will be completed here at school, some will be at home. We are going to the computer lab on Monday to begin.

Week 9/10/07

Dear parents,

the students got their quizzes back today, check I-parent to see their averages.

we don't have any homework other than practice the capitals and countries of Western Europe for Friday's quiz.

The quiz over Eastern europe and scandinavia will be on Tuesday, aweek from today.

Friday sept 7,2007

We took our quiz over sections 1& 2 today, those that studied did well. I should have those grades posted by Tuesday.

The students will be having a  map quiz Friday for these countries Portugal , Spain, France, Germany,Switzerland, Austria,Belgium,Luxembourg,Iceland, all the political divisions of the UK Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. The republic of Ireland,Italy and Denmark.

They need to know the capitals too.

We will be learning about geography next week, we started a webb diagram over the five themes of geography.

Have a pleasurable weekend.

wednesday 9/5/07

Dear parents and students,

this a reminder that you have a quiz over sections 1&2, on Fri. The students have the review sheet.

I also told the students that next Thursday we'd have a quiz over the countries and capitals of western Europe. Some students stated that they would be out for the Jewish holidays, so I am giving the quiz on Friday 9/14 instead.

Other than studying there is no specific homework , but friday will be here before you know it.

Have a good evening.