Monday, May 9, 2016

End of the Year Projects

Now that testing is over with and class finals are complete, we can start some really fun, intense learning with our grade level cross-curricular projects. Each grade has a task and a group.  Each grade level will present their findings and we'd love to have parents attend!  Ninth grade will be Monday, May 16 from 9:30 - 11:00 in the Hangout room.  Tenth grade will be Tuesday, May 17, from 9:30 - 11:00 in the Hangout room.  The ninth graders are doing a presidential project, evaluating modern presidents and looking at different policy decisions and how that impacted our country.  Tenth graders are using their reasoning skills, historical research, and forensic knowledge to evaluate a cold case, looking for leads as to where solving the case went wrong.  These projects are allowing our students to build on concepts they have learned this year and to collaborate with different students.  They have a tight timeline to complete the task, but this is all they are doing in their core classes each day, and they have a team working together.  They will need to stay on task, and ninth graders need some supplies like glue sticks, sharpie markers, and colored pencils to make their display board look really good.  Thank you for your support, we hope to see you at our presentations next week!  

Monday, May 2, 2016

End of Course Exams

It's the first week of May, which brings another round of testing.  This week the 9th and 10th graders have the End of Course Exams in English Language Arts and Math.  They have two sessions of each subject, taken over the course of three days this week.  These tests start at 8:00 am each day, so please be prompt to school this week.  The End of Course exams are given by the State of Nevada and replace the HSPE tests of a few years ago.  They need to be passed during each student's high school years.  This is the first year they are using the full test with the current scoring.  They were given last year, but the scoring was different than it is this year.  I am not sure when the results will be available from the state, but if for some reason your student doesn't pass one o these exams, they will have a chance to take it again next year.

Because of the testing, I will not meet with some students much this week.  All classes will have their April/May book report in class on Thursday, so be prepared for that by completing your book.  The fourth block is working on their biographical narrative about their most important relationship, which is due Wednesday night submitted on Google Classroom.  

A lot of the students are dragging.  Try to get enough sleep and healthy food, especially on testing days.  Keep working hard, students! There aren't many days to go, but each one is important!  Let's make it a great week!