WEEKLY BULLETIN: GRADE 8 LEARNING SUPPORT

MAY 4, 2012
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL MANILA

This Week in Grade 8

ENGLISH: Students are in the midst of writing their essay for the Advocating for Change project. Their English teachers will walk them through the process of turning their research into a 5 page essay. SOCIAL STUDIES: Students are nishing up their research for their AFC projects. The focus in Social Studies will now switch to the presentation and personal solutions aspect of the Advocating for Change project.

SCIENCE: Eco-columns have been built and students are now involved in the data collection stage of this unit. Each day, part of the class time is spent observing their e-column, documenting changes with photos, writing about observable changes, and taking measurements of temperature and Ph for each chamber.

MATH: Students continue working on various concepts of Probability. They will have an assessment on Probability on either May 14 or 15, depending on their math block.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER: Check the grade 8 blog for all the information regarding the End of Year events for Grade 8.

UPCOMING ASSESSMENTS & DUE DATES: Math Assessment - Probability May 14/15

IMPORTANT WEBSITES USED IN CORE CLASSES: Google Docs brainpop.com noodletools.com - research skills & notecards (using for AFC project in Social Studies)

Strategy Instruction Class

Skill & Strategy Areas of Focus: Vocabulary Development: - Developing strategies to help determine meaning of new vocabulary & expanding students vocabulary base - Using context clues - Categorizing/Classifying - Understanding words with Multiple Meanings - Prex & Sufx meanings using these to help determine word meaning - Root Words/Base words - for meaning The Writing Process: - We are beginning to look at the structure of a persuasive paragraph or essay - how to support your opinion with valid reasons and organize them into a strong persuasive paragraph Research Strategies: - using templates to organize information - Noodle tools online - Paraphrasing skill practice Study Skills: - Note-taking strategies: we are using the Cornell method which is the 2 column notes method (main ideas on left side; supporting details on right) - difference between facts and opinions
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Study Skills Time Management Self - Advocacy Paragraph Writing Research Skills Editing Strategies Interactive Reading Learning Styles

Time Management: - chunking long term/ large assignments into smaller due dates

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