MATH PREAP APRIL 27, 2009

NOTE TO PARENTS AND STUDENTS:

TAKS IS HERE!!! Tomorrow, April 28, is OUR big day. It is the day we’ll demonstrate how hard we’ve been working all year long. Our goal is 100% passing and –hopefully–100% Commended Performance.

There is NO HOMEWORK!!!… sorry, yes there is homework. But this homework has to be completed by the parents: take your child out and treat them with ice cream!!! or whatever else is SPECIAL for your child.

Students: have a great evening, go to bed early and have sweet dreams, get-up early and eat breakfast. Be back at school on-time!!

TRUST YOURSELF! You are 100% ready for this test.

PARENTS:  A detailed progress report was sent home today.  Please, ask your child to show it to you, sign it and return it to Mrs. N. Hernandez. 

Good luck!!!!!

Poetry Terms on Next Quiz

The next quiz is in about a week and a half.  These are the terms that will be on that quiz.

1.  couplet – two lines that rhyme

2.  quatrain – a four line stanza

3.  quintet – a five line stanza

4.  sestet – a six line stanza

5.  cinquain – a poem with 22 syllables in five lines (2, 4, 6, 8, 2)

6.  Rondeau – a French form with three stanzas and a refrain

7.  stanza – a paragraph in poetry

8.  assonance – near rhyme ex. Bat – map, core – short

9.  rhyme scheme – the pattern of rhyme in a poem marked with letters of the alphabet

10. haiku – A Japanese form of three lines with seventeen syllables, most commonly written at 5 – 7 – 5.

11. tanka – a Japanese form of five lines with thirty-one syllables; 5 – 7 -5 -7 -7.

12. pivot – a line in a tanka that turns the poem from one thought or image to another

13. triolet – a French form of  eight lines with two repeating lines

14. free verse – poetry that is written without proper rules about form, rhyme, rhythm, meter, etc.

15. kyrielle – a French form written in quatrains with one repeating line at the end of each stanza.

16. acrostic – a poem written so that the beginning letter of each line forms a word; the lines should illuminate the word that is spelled.

 

MATH PRE-AP April 17, 2009

Note to Parents and Students:

This is the time of the school year when it is extremely important to stay focus on learning!  TAKS TESTS ARE AROUND THE CORNER.

MATH TAKS will be on APRIL 28 and READING TAKS will be on APRIL 29.  

HOMEWORK:  Due next Monday/Tuesday:  All students have received two worksheets to practice Area, Circumference, Perimeter and angles. 

Next week the students will be working on REVIEWING ALL TAKS OBJECTIVES.  ALL class work will be graded.  As always, there will be daily homework. 

TAKS TUTORIALS ARE MONDAY, TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

FROM 3:50 TO 4:50 P.M. 

Please make sure your child has transportation.  PIN OAK WILL NOT PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION AFTER TUTORIALS.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Spring 2009 Poetry Project

 You are going to share five poems you write with the world.  For each of these poems, you will write a paragraph giving your reader some background information about the poem.  You will also have an introduction that tells your reader about yourself.  You will include artwork with each poem.  I suggest you get started as soon as possible.  You will have several checkpoints along the way that will help your grade and keep you on track.

 

Introduction to the Poet – Tell the world fun and interesting things about yourself that will help us understand your poetry.  I will write one about myself in class to help you.

Introduction to each poem – Why did you write this particular poem?  What compelled you to choose the images you chose?  Tell us anything to help us understand the poem itself.

Five poems – Of the poems you write, one must be a rondeau, a kyrielle or a pantoum.  For the other four you may choose to write a haiku, tanka, cinquain, free verse, metaphor poem, triolet, or acrostic.

Artwork for each poem.  – You may choose computer graphics or your own drawings.  You can also use photography or anything else to illustrate the poem.

 

There are three options on how you may share your work. 

Web Page – Create a web page and send me the URL.  Your web page should include the elements listed above.  Every poem should have its own page.  Include links to each poem on the first page, which may be the poet introduction page.  You may have the poem introduction on the same page at the poem.  Don’t forget to include artwork.

PowerPoint Presentation – Please remember I do not have Vista.  Save your work in an earlier format.   Your presentation should include eleven slides.  One slide is an introduction to your self.  Every poem should have an introductory slide and every poem should have its own slide.  For longer poems you may use two slides.  Every poem should also include artwork.

Chap Book  – A chap book is a small book of poetry.  Your chapbook must have the same elements listed above.  You must have a cover, an introductory page about yourself, an introduction to each poem, and each poem with some artwork. 

 

Due Date – May 18/19.  Early work will be rewarded!

Welcome Ms. Baltazar!

We are thrilled to also welcome Barbara Baltazar. Ms. Baltazar will be joining 6C through the end of this year as our World Cultures teacher. Ms. Baltazar received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Loyola University, New Orleans in May 1990. Since that time she has taught in Louisiana, California and Texas. She currently holds a Generalist Texas Certification. Ms. Baltazar is a “Charger” at heart. Ms. Husi’s class will be the fourth long-term substitute position she has held at Pin Oak Middle School. She is the proud parent of Gracie, who is an A-House student at Pin Oak. Ms. Baltazar is looking forward to working closely with each of Ms.Husi’s students as we enter the last six weeks of the 2008-2009 school year!

World Cultures Missing Work

Missing Work

Print outs were given to students today with any assignments that are missing. This work is due by Thursday April 9th.

Africa Test

All students got a copy of the Africa study guide today with vocab words they should know. Please make sure your child is ready for the test.

Tissue Bonus

Students who would like to gain 15 bonus points toward their grade can bring in a box of tissue between now and Thursday. This offer is good only once per student.

Review Session

Don’t forget that the Africa Test Review will be today. It will last from 3:45 to 4:30pm. Please make sure to pick up your child on time.

Reading Update 4/6-9/09

Journals

Students will be required to turn in (2) Dialectical Journals by Thursday, 4/9/09. One entry will be a Literary Device Journal and the other will be Free Choice (Character, Imagery, Inference) Journal. Students will have time to work on these in class next week.

WOTD Test 4/8 or 4/9

Students will have a Word of the Day Test over list 4 Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Students should have the complete list and words are posted in the classroom.

No Reading Response

Students will not be required to complete Reading Responses next week (as they are to focus on completing their journal entries). We will resume Reading Responses the following week.

World Cultures Update-Africa Test

East and West Africa Test

Students need to study for the Africa Test! The test will be on Wednesday for blue day and Thursday for green day.  Students should study key vocab terms and Africa map.

Review Session

A review sessiom will be held on Monday from 3:45 -4:30 for any student who has a questions about the Africa test. Students should come with questions!

Late Work

All late work is due by Thursday!!! Students need to make sure they turn in all late and missing work.  Students who have questions about grades should see me after-school.

Reading- All Summer in a Day

Over the past two weeks we have been working on the concept of “theme” in Reading. This can be a very challenging concept for students because as stories become more complex, the theme often becomes more abstract.

We have been exploring the short story “All Summer in a Day,” by Ray Bradbury and will be spending a bit more time on it.  I am posting a copy of the story for students who may want to reread it on their own or for parents to enjoy as well (this is a great story for a dinner time discussion).  Students are also working with this story in English to develop thesis statements.

“All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury