Hi all!
Here's a slew of info about the end of this quarter:
1) All 6th-8th grade students will be going to the MN State Capitol on the last day of the quarter! This fits in well with the 8th graders' study of how our government works, and is a great pre-learning activity for the 6th and 7th graders, who will be studying this when they reach 8th grade. We had a phenomenal number of parent/guardian volunteers to be chaperones; unfortunately, I could only take two from each grade level! But a parent made a good suggestion that, in the future, I choose volunteer chaperones by a random lottery drawing, rather than on a first-come, first-serve basis; so I will do that in the future. Thanks so much for all your interest and support!
Please get those permission slips in ASAP! Thank you!
2) Conferences are this Thursday and Friday. I am unable to hold conferences on Thursday evening, but I will be available all day on Friday; if Friday does not work for you, please contact me at school and we will arrange an alternative time to meet. Sorry for any inconvenience!
3) All late/missing/make-up/re-take work is due this Thursday, September 30th. (Teachers have grades due midway through next week, and conferences all day Friday, so it's really difficult to meaningfully grade huge amounts of student work those first few days of the last week.)
4) There is a map quiz in Social Studies on Thursday, September 30th. 7th graders are being tested over Western European countries, to go along with our beginning study of WW1 (which was the major stage of the war); 8th graders are being tested over the map of the world as it appeared during the era of European Colonialism, which goes hand-in-hand with our beginning study of that era in world history.
5) I am starting a "MN Historical Society Club"; once or twice per quarter, I'll choose an historic site in MN, book a tour date and time, and let you all know about it. If you are able to and interested in coming, great! If not, not big deal. You will have to figure out transporation and payment, though, and please make sure all students are accompanied by an adult other than myself. The first of these visits is this Sunday, October 3rd, at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul, at 2:30 PM. There are already about 15 people signed up, and there's plenty more room! Please let me know by Friday, October 1st, if you plan to attend, and how many people will be in your party. Hope to see you there!
Thanks so much for a great quarter!
Enjoy your Fall Break!
Take care,
Leah Hood
