Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Like any other week, we began today's class with volunteers who wanted to summarize their 12th science news articles out loud.  I handed last week's articles back to students.  For periods 2, 3 & 5, I also handed back the graded rubrics for the Chapter 2 VoiceThread projects.  For all classes, I explained how they were graded, along with common errors and several points of excellence that I noted.  Students were then given their second part of the Chapter 3 packet that contains pages 13-23.  I also introduced to students the criteria for the periodic table quiz, playing for them a VoiceThread recording that demonstrated proper pronunciation of the first 36 elements.  Students have from tomorrow until the Chapter 3 notebook check to take the quiz.  Each student decides when he or she is ready to take the quiz.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 3 test is on Thursday, December 9th.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The only class that met today was Period 7. Students had the opportunity for extra credit (as always) by giving an oral summary of their 11th news article. Students then worked in their groups to complete the cross-a-clue review sheet on page 3-11 & 3-12. We went over the answers at the end of the period.  The entire 8th grade then met in the auditorium for a private screening of the movie, "The Karate Kid", a movie about a middle-schooler who overcomes bullying by making an unlikely friend who teaches him kung-fu and self-respect.

News article #12 is due on Tuesday, November 30th, and the chapter 3 test is on Thursday, December 9th.

Monday, November 22, 2010

We only had 30 minutes classes today for periods 1-6.  Students had the opportunity for extra credit (as always) by giving an oral summary of their 11th news article.  Students then worked in their groups to complete the cross-a-clue review sheet on page 3-11 & 3-12.  We went over the answers at the end of the period.

News article #12 is due on Tuesday, November 30th, and the chapter 3 test is on Thursday, December 9th.

Friday, November 19, 2010

What a difference a few days of practice makes!  On Wednesday and Thursday, students struggled to complete five chemical equations each day.  Today, most students completed all EIGHT problems on worksheet 3-10 well before the period ended.  That led me to allow them to begin worksheet 3-11 & 3-12, which is a review activity called a cross-a-clue.  They are going to have to do it on Monday anyway, so some people just got a head start.

News article #11 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 3 test is on Thursday, December 9th.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Students continued practicing the skill of balancing chemical equations.  After showing them the practice link on the moodle website, they're goal was to complete the remaining five problems from worksheet 3-9.  I would say after today, about 3/4th's of all students had a good understanding of how to balance equations.

No homework was assigned, and the chapter 3 test is Thursday, December 9th.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Today in science class, students are learning how to balance equations.  We began by deciphering which side of an equation has the reactants and which side contains the products.  Since students have practice counting atoms in a chemical formula for the past two days, the main difficulty will be balancing the two sides of atoms.  Working out of page 3-9, we did problems # 4, 8 & 1 together on the board.  These problems served as confidence boosters, as they increased in level of difficulty each time.  Students were then asked to complete only two more problems before the end of the period, which is about all they had time for. 


No homework was assigned, and the chapter 3 test is still scheduled for Thursday, December 9^th

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

We began today's class by reviewing yesterday's class in the form of worksheet 3-5.  Students took about 5 minutes to complete that page before we reviewed the answers together.  We then did worksheet 3-6 all together, which reviewed last week's topics, including mixture vs compound and heterogeneous vs homogeneous.  I introduced students to a coefficient (from section 3-3 notes), and I showed three different examples on the board of how coefficients change the atom count in a formula.  Students then used this concept to complete worksheet 3-8 before we reviewed the answers.  There was just enough time left at the end of the period to watch a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on Chemical Equations, which is what the past two days are leading up to tomorrow.

No homework was assigned, and the test is scheduled for Thursday, December 9th.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Today was a typical Monday, as we began each class with oral summaries of science news articles.  We discussed a portion of Section 3-3 notes on how chemical symbols and subscripts are used to create a chemical formula to represent a compound.  Students learned that some elements get their chemical symbols from their Latin name.  I demonstrated how to count the number of atoms in a chemical formula, including those with parentheses.  Students then were assigned problems 1-10 on worksheet 3-7.  We reviewed the answers using the student responders together.  Students were then assigned the remaining 10 problems (#11-20) to work on for the remainder of the period.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 3 test will be on Thursday, December 9th.

Friday, November 12, 2010

All of my classes are in the same part of Chapter 3 now.  We began class by discussing Section 3-2 notes on elements and compounds.  I introduced the periodic table and described how everything in the universe can eventually be broken down into elements on this table.  I showed a Brainpop.com video on Compounds and Mixtures, followed by the 10-question quiz.  Students then worked in their groups to complete worksheets 3-3 and 3-4 before we reviewed the answers together.

News article # 10 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 3 test is on Thursday, December 9th.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

My period 2 class took a Youth Tobacco Survey today during science class.  After everyone was done, we went to the library with the remaining 15 minutes.  No homework was assigned.

Periods 3, 5, 6 & 7 worked in groups to complete worksheet 3-2 on separating mixtures based on physical and chemical properties.  We went over the ideas once everyone was done.  We ended class by finishing section 3-1 notes on solutions, alloys, colloids and suspensions.  No homework was assigned.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Period 2 students worked on worksheet 3-2 in their groups today, which tasks them with describing how to separate different mixtures based on their different physical and chemical properties.  We then finished discussing the bottom of section 3-1 notes on specialty mixtures and solutions.  No homework was assigned.

Periods 3-7 did what period 2 did yesterday.  They each received their new packet for Chapter 3.  We discussed the top of section 3-1 notes which differentiates between homogeneous and heterogeneous matter.  Students then worked in their groups to complete worksheet 3-1 before we reviewed it together.  Any remaining time was used to watch a small sample of the students recently-completed VoiceThreads.  No homework was assigned.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

My period 2 class began by handing in their Chapter 2 notebooks before getting their new packet for Chapter 3.  We discussed the difference between homogeneous and heterogeneous in reference to section 3-1 notes.  Students then worked in their groups to complete worksheet 3-1 before we went over it together.  No homework was assigned.

Periods 3, 5, 6 & 7 got to watch the rest of yesterday's Mythbuster's episode while I checked their Chapter 2 notebooks.  No homework was assigned.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Great to be back in the classroom! 

We began today with our first news article summary of the second quarter, but our 9th overall.  To earn extra credit, students needed to give their normal oral summary while standing at their desk as opposed to sitting.  After listening to all volunteered summaries, students were called to my desk one at a time to have their online lab packet checked.

The chapter 2 packet is due tomorrow for 60 points.

Friday, November 5, 2010

My last day out.  Students had until the end of the period today to complete their VoiceThread project and hand in their rubric to Mr. Girardi.  On Monday, I'll be back on Monday and we'll go through news articles, I'll go over the Chapter 2 test and I'll collect the packets for the online lab.

News article #9 and the online lab are due on Monday.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

I would estimate that about half of all students have now completed their VoiceThread project with one day to go.  Students must have their project completed and their rubric handed in to Mr. Girardi before they leave science class tomorrow.

No homework is due tomorrow, but News Article #9 is due on Monday.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Students took the Chapter 2 test using Moodle today.  Following the test, students used the remaining time to work on and possibly complete their VoiceThread project.

No homework was assigned, but their VoiceThread is due by the end of class on Friday.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Students continued to progress through their VoiceThread project.  Their primary focus tonight, however, should be to study and prepare for tomorrow's Chapter 2 test.

The only homework is to study for tomorrow's test.

Monday, November 1, 2010

News articles were not due today.  Students continued to work on their VoiceThread projects.

No homework was assigned, but students should continue to study for Wednesday's Chapter 2 test.