SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS GONE CRAZY

What happens to a balloon attached to a straw and a long piece of yarn? What laws of motion are in effect?

What happens to food coloring when it is added to a jar of vegetable oil?  What is happening chemically?

What happens when salt, baking soda, canola oil, and sugar meet?

Washinton D.C. Presentations

On Tuesday, April 26, the students presented representations of their favorite places visited on our D.C. trip.  I instructed them to be creative...and they were!

Helana made a 3-D of her top favs..Mt. Vernon, Arlington Cemetery, & The Smithsonian's Natural History Museum

Ethan's lego replica of The Mall was interactive and informative!

Kristin went all out with pictures, ticket stubs, brochures, and she even wore her D.C. hat and t-shirt! So cute!

Luke fashioned his presentation after the design of a patchwork quilt. He illustrated his top places and presented his information like a professional!

Natalie created a scrapbook that featured everyone on the trip! We enjoyed revisiting each place as she presented her pictures.

May Academic Calendar

The sun rays of summer can be seen in our distant future, but hasten not towards those rays...for we have much learning to do!

English: We will read several short stories during the month of May and while doing so, we will revisit annotation, denotation, connotation, inference, author's voice, author's purpose, theme, plot, and so much more! First book read: "Duck on a Bike"; it was quite entertaining and very difficult to dissect. Students will work on 3 essay assignments while reviewing the rules of punctuation and grammar.

Science: The cell is the current hot topic in science class. Students are learning the differences between animal cells and plant cells; and the differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic.  Do you know which of the latter mentioned cells is bacteria? The Periodic Table of Elements will be introduced and a review of this year's hot topics will be the challenge of the last two weeks of school.

History: Seventh graders are studying Texas State History.  We began with the first colony, Fort St. Louis, and students learned about LaSalle, a French explorer who settled on the Texas coast by accident! He was looking for the mouth of the Mississippi River!  We will progress through early Texas and end with the state's admission into the Union.

Eighth graders are continuing the most important topic of American History. They are reviewing the Revolutionary War, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and will end-up at the doorsteps of the Civil War.  

Beginner Spanish: Students are continuing to write simple sentences in Spanish using vocabulary they have learned throughout the year and they are including in their sentences conjugated verbs!  We will continue to review vocabulary, fluency, and writing simple sentences throughout the month of May.

Fine Arts: Students completed mosaic action silhouettes and abstract art and are now embarking on the challenge of pointillism self-portraits. There are a lot of sweaty brows in the classroom, but the artwork being produced is truly phenomenal!  

Algebra 1: The girls have finished a long chapter on polynomials and will work on measurement problems, distance/time problems, and more during May.

TAKS TESTING IS OVER!

The children and I are thrilled that our Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills testing is complete! I am so proud of all of my students! Almost every single student was Commended (the highest score label possible) in Reading, Writing, and Language Arts! I had several students who missed "0" on these tests! All students passed the history and science assessments! I am very proud of the work we accomplished thus far at Mrs. A's Academy. I had several students that were behind in core academic areas, but we have persevered together and every student took on an active learning role and worked hard to achieve greatness! Not only did we catch up, but we went way beyond the required goals and objectives! WE DID IT!

*Keep in mind that these tests are given informally here at Mrs. A's Academy and are used only as an assessment tool to provide information necessary to parents and to myself regarding academic goals and objectives as outlined by the state, the nation, and ourselves.

My Country Tis' of Thee

Sweet land of Liberty.

Our Washington D.C. trip was phenomenal!  Words can not accurately describe how amazing it was to see the many artifacts and landmarks that represent the birth place of our great country. The memories we made together will last a life time.

Day 1: Capitol Hill

The Potomac River at Mt. Vernon

Pondering greatness.

Deciding whether or not to take a pebble found at Mt. Vernon.  George Washington may have held that tiny pebble between his own fingers...

Outside the Washington's home at Mt. Vernon

We saw the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.  All were so faded we could barely read them. It was completely inspiring!

Beautiful magnolia tree in full bloom at Arlington National Cemetery

One of the admirable soldiers chosen to keep guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. Soldiers perform a changing of the guard ceremony every 30 minutes.  They perform this duty regardless of weather conditions. 

Cherry blossoms in full bloom. Absolutely breathtaking in person.

The White House

These are only a few of the pictures taken during our visit. We visited nearly 30 different places and took pictures of everything we saw! Many will be published in the yearbook and a DVD will be made for each family by School Tours of America showcasing all of the pictures taken on our trip.

The children were wonderful! Fun, completely engaged, kind, respectful, and I was totally blessed to be able to hang out with them for 4 complete days!

WASHINGTON D.C.

Everyone traveling to D.C. has been completely out of control with excitement this whole week! Including me! We are really looking forward to this memorable school event!

Don't forget: No school on Thursday, April 8. School resumes on Monday, April 11.

WASHINGTON D.C. APRIL 3!

We are only one week away from our D.C. trip! I know everyone is excited about all of the incredible things we are going to see!

We leave from my house at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning.  Wow, that's really early! Get to bed as early as possible on Saturday night because once we arrive in D.C., our tour group has us on the move to spend a full day visiting several places!

Things you'll need to bring:
Pack clothes for 4 days into a carry-on sized bag. Rolling clothes really works and saves space!
Make sure you wear comfortable shoes that you can do a lot of walking in.
All toiletries should be put into a large ziploc bag labeled with your name on it.
A light jacket because it might be cold!
A camera (optional)
A cell phone with charger
Spending money in a wallet
A backpack or purse for souvenirs

VISITING ARTIST

On Monday, March 7, a local artist from Gruene visited us and everyone was able to create masterpieces out of clay. Miss Kathy was sweet, encouraging, and very artistic! The student made heart rattles, plaques, dogs, hamburgers, plates, bowls, crosses, and so much more! We had so much fun!

Pieces will be fired in her Gruene shop and then the students will get to paint and glaze them. They will be beautiful! You will enjoy having their treasures displayed in your home.

Busy, busy creating masterpieces!

Ethan's getting his muscles involved!

Miss Kathy! Our visiting artist.


GO ART!

Academic Calendar for March

It's hard to believe, but there are only 3 months left of the 2010-2011 school year! I am completely impressed with the accomplishments the students have all made in pursuing excellence in education. They have learned much and are confident in sharing their knowledge.

Of course, there is still much to do...

English: We will finish reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief during the first few days of March. Students have worked diligently to write essays, conduct research, create original works, and so much more revolving around the content of this much loved book. An end of the book test will be given during the second week of March followed by a Tournament Day and a movie premier of Percy Jackson's The Lighnting Thief.  Students are continuing to work on essay structure, using and creating an outline, comma rules, semi-colons, quotation marks, complex compound sentence writing, and more. SAT vocabulary words continue to be learned each day and students will take a cumulative exam during the second week of March.

Science: Students are studying Physics with the focus revolving around Newton's Laws of Motion, velocity, speed, acceleration, gravitational force, momentum, g, forces, potential energy, kinetic energy, and so much more. Students are working in groups on a roller coaster project. Each group is required to create a roller coaster that can handle occupants ready for an exciting ride. The objects traveling on the roller coasters happen to be ball barings. Students are to prove several Physics facts while constructing their roller coasters and each group is responsible for keeping a daily lab log, taking notes about successes and failures, and each group will collaborate and write an essay revolving around Physics and the creation of their own roller coaster. An exam for this unit will take place after Spring Break.

History: Jamestown was the focus last week and this week we wil travel north to Plymouth. Students will learn about the Reformation, Pilgrims, and the Mayflower Compact. Before the end of the month, we will visit the First Continental Congress, the original thirteen colonies, the Second Continental Congress, British taxation on the colonies, and more! Students will continue to work on creating a timeline of events beginning in 1550 and ending in 1850. A demanding research project is in the works currently and students are working on researching, taking notes, studying plagairism, creating an outline, creating a bibliography, and essay writing. Tests will be given after each unit and the research project will be due at the end of the month. Students will present their research information in an engaging and entertaining way after all essays have been completed. Living History is on its way...April 3 we leave for Washington D.C. to experience the ultimate hands-on field-trip!

Spanish: Students have embarked on the challenging journey of verb conjugation. Practice, practice, practice is what each students needs every night! We will continue working on verb conjugations and writing simple sentences in Spanish. Students will continue to build vocabulary by studying the words for objects at home. Quizzes will be given to practice verbs, vocabulary, and sentence writing.

Algebra 1: Students are working on monomials, binomials, and polynomials. Currently, we are practicing adding, subtracting, and multiplying polynomials. It is a challenge the students are conquering with ease! A chapter test will be given after Spring Break.

Fine Arts: Students are currently working on creating action body collage sillouettes. It is a challenging task, but their creations are impressive! We have an artist visiting on March 9. She will bring clay and the students will make clay masterpieces. We are looking forward to her visit!

Upcoming Fundraising Event

On March 19, we will have our final fundraising event at Luann's house in the Oak Run subdivision. Make sure your child is pounding the pavement collecting unwanted junk that we will turn into treasures! Our last yard sale event raised over $1000! Let's make even more this time!

Valentine's Day Celebration

On Monday, February 14, we will celebrate Valentine's Day!

Please send your child to school with a Valentine treat for all to share!

Enjoy this special day dedicated to LOVE

MARCH FUNDRAISER EVENT!

On Saturday, March 19, we will have our Spring Fundraiser Event to help raise money for our trip to Washington D.C.!

What to do: Ask EVERYONE you know (and strangers too) if they would like you to take their good quality junk off of their hands...and then you bring their junk to sell for big money!

The Yard Sale Event will begin at 8a.m. and it will be at Luann's house in the Oak Run subdivision.

EVERYONE must be involved in this great event in order for it to be a grand success!

Academic Calendar Update

Much has been going on in our little blue school room these past couple of weeks! We've been conducting lab experiements, learning about Greek mythology, and exploring the history of native Americans during Colonization.

What we're working on...

English: Percy Jackson is the hot topic and Greek mythology is the focus. Students are being kept busy with 2-5 homework assignments revolving around this entertaining novel each day! Graphic organizers, mind maps, collages, sequencing, cause/effect, essay short answer, and more are the challenging tasks the children are undertaking. They are meeting each expectation with creativity and gusto! I'm so impressed with their creations and insight! Impressive. We are also working on verbs, verbs, and more verbs during grammar. Soon the students will review adverbs and adverbial clauses.

Science: The Rock Cycle has been our current area of study. Students are learning about weathering, decomposition, erosion, minerals, crystals, Igneous rocks, Sedimentary rocks, and Metamorphic rocks. We grew sugar crystals in glass jars last week and conducted a lab experiment using Crayola crayons to represent the 3 types of rocks in the rock cycle. Yes, fire was involved, but it was so much fun! Students will complete the unit with a test during the third week of January.

History: We have circled the globe and have landed right back here in the United States of America! We will dive head first into the wonderful world of American history. We will begin by learning about the various Native American tribes that were established on the east coast during early colonization. We will then move into the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence. We will also continue to work on familiarizing ourselves with the geography and location of each state. The many president's that have served our country will also be studied. We have much to cover before we fly off in a jet to Washington D.C.! Look forward to a state/president project being assigned very soon...

Algebra 1: We have been working on functions and relations and graphing. Students will move through graphing integers and into motion problems during the next 2 weeks.

Spaish: We are continuing to work on vocabulary building. Currently, we are using familiar family titles and working on memorizing various body parts. The students recently made a family tree poster with each label being completed in Spanish! They are wonderful!

Fine Arts:  Students completed their stamping activitiy before Christmas break and they are now working with acrylic painting and painting their creations on canvas. They are going to be quite spectacular when they are done!