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!