Chapter 6 Test Complete

Today, students took their exam over Chapter 6 - Mexico. The test grades for all students who were present and took the test have been posted. Also, all make-up/late work that has been turned in to me to this point has also been grades and posted.

Next week, we will get to work on Chapter 7, which covers Central America and the Caribbean.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.

Chapter 6 Test Tomorrow

The exam over Chapter 6 - Mexico is tomorrow. Please make sure your student studies and is as prepared as possible.

Study!

Chapter 6 Test Moved to Friday, Make-up/Late Work Due

Today, we finished up the Chapter 6 - Lesson 3 Notes on Mexico. They are attached below. This is the final section in the chapter and we will be taking the exam over it this Friday. Tomorrow, I will review the kids and do my best to get them prepared for the test on Friday. Please make sure your student studies and is as prepared as possible for this test.

As mentioned yesterday, failure to turn in work has reached disturbing levels. Please check with your student to see whether or not they are caught up (you can also check the grades online). If they owe work, please stay on them to get it done and turned in ASAP as "0's" kill their average.

*TEST ALERT* - The Chapter 6 Exam over Mexico has been bumped to this Friday 11/30.

Zeros and Apathy, Chapter 6 Test on Friday

Today the Chapter 6 Vocabulary Builder assignment was due and I was shocked at the sheer number of students that failed to turn it in and received a grade of "0." I must say that I have been fighting the apathetic nature of this group of 6th graders since day 1. It has been like pulling teeth to get them to do and turn in their work. They just do not seem to care about their grade and do not fear any sort of consequences for failing to do their work either here at school or at home.

I need you, the parents/guardians to partner with me and make sure these students are keeping up with and turning in their work. Please grill them DAILY on what is due and when. Check the grades online AT LEAST 2-3 time per week to make sure you know where they stand. Simply put, if they perceive you are not involved or do not care about their grades, then they will not care about them either. Honestly, I have not seen such apathy from a group since I started teaching in 1992.

Let's get this taken care of ASAP.

The final sections of the Chapter 6 Notes from Lesson 2 are below. The Chapter 6 Exam over Mexico is scheduled for Thursday. Please do your part to make sure your student is prepared.

Ancient Civilizations of Mexico, Chapter 6 Vocabulary Builder Due Tomorrow

Today, we discussed and took notes on Chapter 6, Lesson 2 which covers the three major ancient civilizations of Mexico. The three civilizations covered were the Olmec, the Maya and the Aztec. We discussed just how advanced these civilizations were, watched a short video on them and looked at examples of architecture

After touching on these civilizations, we discussed the fall of the Aztec Empire at the hands of the conquistador, Hernan Cortes and how this changed life in Mexico forever.

Below is a link to the video we watched, a few photos I shared with the students and the Lesson 2 notes.

*HOMEWORK ALERT* - The Chapter 6 Vocabulary Builder assignment is due TOMORROW at the beginning of class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy42Uzl7sAc

Chapter 6 Notes and the Gallup Poll

I apologize for not updating the blog yesterday. I will spare you the details but it was "one of those days."

The last two days have been spent on reading and taking notes over Chapter 6 - Lesson 1, which is about Mexico. The full notes for Lesson 1 are below for any student that was unable to finish them in class.

The other activity we have been involved in is the annual Gallup Poll Survey. With the exception of students whose parents sent back a "do not participate" note, the kids went online and took the brief survey.

The 2nd 9 weeks is now underway and the students have already had two assignments for my class. I am currently in the middle of grading them now and they should be posted soon. If you notice one or both assignments missing from the grade book, you might ask your student about that. We want to make sure everyone gets off to a good start this grading period.

Chapter 6 - Mexico Introduced, Vocabulary Assignment Due

The first item of business today was to take up the Chapter 6 Vocabulary Assignment that was due. This assignment was originally assigned on Thursday of last week (see previous blog entries). Many students had already turned this assignment in to me but today was the due date.

We are opening the new grading period in Chapter 6, which covers Mexico. We reviewed the reading from Chapter 6 - Lesson 1 while also getting a reminder on how to use the various tools available in the online version of the textbook. Students should be familiar with Lesson 1 when they come in to class tomorrow

*HOMEWORK ALERT* -  Assigned reading, Chapter 6, Lesson 1 (boxes 1-5 online), pages 194-198 in the hard copy of the textbook.

1st 9 Weeks Wrap-up and 2nd 9 Weeks Kicks Off

As hard as it is to believe, the first 9 weeks grading period has now come to a close. We are now 25% of the way through the school year.

I apologize for the lack of posts over the last couple of days. There was some sort of issue with the blogger server and I was unable to log in. Hopefully, it is all straightened out now.

This week was all about the 9 weeks testing in the core subjects. We took our test on Wednesday 10/14. With the exception of a few students who were absent and missed the test, all tests have been graded and the report card averages figured. Each student was notified of the grade they will receive on their report card today.

With the first 9 weeks ending, I kicked off the second 9 weeks with a vocabulary assignment. I gave the students part of the class period to work on it. The assignment and terms are below. The vocabulary is due at the beginning of the period on Monday 10/19. Please check with your student to make sure they have this first assignment of the grading period ready so that they can get off to a solid start.

I will be out tomorrow and will have a sub in the room. The students will watch a video on the Spanish Explorers who were the first Europeans to set foot on the New World/Texas. The kids will have a short assignment to complete as they watch the video. The assignment will be turned in to the sub before they leave. Please discuss proper behavior with a sub to your student.

*EARLY OUT ALERT* - Students will be released tomorrow at 1:35.
*HOMEWORK ALERT*- Chapter 6 Vocabulary is due on Monday 10/19.

9 Weeks Testing Begins, Time Running Out to Turn in Make-up/Late Work

9 weeks testing began this morning with the students taking their math exams. The kids will take their English/Language Arts test tomorrow, their History exam on Wednesday and their Science tests on Thursday. It is my understanding that any make-up tests will be administered on Friday. Please make sure your student spends some time in preparation for these very important tests.

Also, I will be out on Friday. This means any make-up/late work that still needs to be turned in will need to be given to me no later than the end of the day on Thursday. The report card grades will be entered this weekend. It will be too late to turn in any work for the current 9 weeks at that point.

9 Weeks Test Review is a Kahoot!

We continued our reviews and preparation for the 9 weeks test next Wednesday today. We did go about it a bit differently than usual.

Today, the class took a review quiz via Kahoot. Kahoot is an online program, and app, that allows student to connect to a review, quiz or survey online via their phones, tablets or other devices. Those who had smart phones were allowed to use them to connect and do the review while those without teamed up and used iPads I have here in class. The format is more fun and engaging for the kids as it is also a game that you can "win." A correct answer earns points. The first person to log in the correct answer gets more points than the second to do so and so on. The student or group with the most points at the end of the Kahoot wins.

The Kahoot review also allows for instant feedback for me as I can see immediately how many kids are missing certain questions or struggling with certain concepts. This allows me to go back and reteach any gaps the students have with the material.

I'd encourage you to go to the Kahoot site and try it out yourself. It is actually a lot of fun.

Limited vs. Unlimited Forms of Government, Civic Responsibilities

Today, we started a mini-unit on types of government and civics. It is not very in depth at all but should serve to help the students understand the two basic types of governments out there: limited and unlimited. We also discussed some civic duties all good citizens should practice. I had the kids take the notes in a foldable format today. I'm hoping the ability to open and close the "flaps" will help them study before their 9 weeks test next week. Full notes from today can be found below.

Please note, any late/make-up work needs to be turned in ASAP as the first 9 weeks grading period is quickly coming to a close.

Chapter 4 Test Information, Test Corrections

Today, I returned the graded Chapter 4 Tests to most of my classes. The grades were not bad, overall, and I allowed the students time in class to earn back some of the lost points due to missed answers by doing test corrections. The test corrections are due at the beginning of class tomorrow (most finished in class). There will be no late test corrections accepted.

The exception to all of this was my 1st period class. Due to copier issues the test was not run off in time to administer to this class yesterday. As a result, the test was given to 1st period today. The tests have been graded and entered into the grade book. 1st period will also be given the opportunity to make test corrections and recapture some lost points but they will likely have to do this on their own for homework as I cannot take another class day so close to the end of the grading period.

Tomorrow, we will be starting a mini-unit on government, economics and immigration. We will also be starting an abbreviated unit on Canada.

Chapter 4 Test Tomorrow

The class period today was spent reviewing for the Chapter 4 Test, which is scheduled for tomorrow. Students will need to be familiar with their notes and vocabulary in order to make a good grade on the test. The Chapter 4 Test will be a Summative grade, so it is very important. Remember, Summative grades make up 55% of a student's total average.

Please make sure you prompt your student to be prepared for the test tomorrow.

*HOMEWORK ALERT*- Chapter 4 Test on the United States is tomorrow.

Math University, Early Out and Catch Up Day

Today was an early release day for the students. The school administration decided today would be a good day for a "math university" exercise. Basically, we took the first 2 hours of school and worked math problems in every room. The students were broken into small groups and worked problems using different concepts as a sort of "scrimmage" for the standardized math STAAR test in the spring. The kids resumed a normal early out schedule beginning with 4th period.

Since I did not see every class today, I made today a catch up day where the students could finish up any late or make-up work they might have had and finished up the chapter notes. Some still are not quite finished with the chapter notes and that will need to be done before they get to class tomorrow. The full chapter "notes with holes" can be found in the post from yesterday.

Please note, the grading period is rapidly coming to a close and students who are behind or failing do not have much time to get their assignments in or their grades raised. Please stress the importance of studying for the summative assessments and getting any make-up work done to your student.