Second Semester Begins!
Parents,
We are starting the second semester. The year is half-way through. By now many of you have already received your child's report cards. Some of you are very pleased with your child's performance, while others of you are probably disappointed with at least one grade. I want to encourage all of you, however. There is still time! For those who are doing well, help them keep up the momentum and good habits. For those who have slipped below their potential, there is still enough time to make positive changes and improvements. The long term goal is that your child learns how to learn. The short term goal is the grades you would like to see. Keep the long term goal in sight. Each day, each week, small improvements will add up to greater results in the long run.
Stay actively engaged in your child's learning process. Ask open ended questions about their subjects. (Ex: What are you learning about in Science right now? They should be able to give you a one or two sentence summary of this.) Look for ways to continue the education process at home, or ways to link classroom learning with outside learning. (For example: The Science will be looking at Environmental Science, starting with pollution. If you see a news article or a news spot on TV about pollution, discuss that with your child for a few minutes, and ask what they think about the topic of pollution. You could even ask them if they know what the greatest cause of pollution in the state of Florida is. Don't worry if you don't know either. Take about 10 minutes to do some research online together, and discuss what you find. This will be a great reinforcement of your child's learning.)
Math
The 8th Grade Class is studying basic Algebra, including variables, exponents, combining like terms and simplifying Algebraic expressions. They are enjoying a change from regular arithmetic, and the challenge of having to think a little differently. Right now we are working on basic Arithmetic operations involving Positive and Negative numbers. They will be doing some of this coursework in cooperation with the Algebra class, which is in a similar unit.
The 9th Grade Algebra class has just completed a Chapter Formulas, and are working on Positive and Negative Integers and Positive and Negative Variables.
Both classes will continue to use Khan Academy to reinforce or review concepts learned in class. Parents, I recommend you have your child sit down with you and show you how the Khan Academy website works, and how we are using it in our Math classes. It is a great resource, and we are really excited here at Gateway to be partnering with Step Up for Students and their cooperation with Khan Academy. We expect great results from this cooperation for your students.
English
The 8th Grade English class is starting a PACE on the different classes of pronouns. They will start off looking at personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, it them, etc.) This PACE will run until about the middle of February. Parents, please review these concepts with your child at least once a week. Grammar is not an easy subject for many students, and they will greatly benefit from a little extra practice. You will also appreciate having an idea of what your child is learning. Remember: Students whose parents review their homework on a regular basis, do better. Do it for your child. You don't have to be the expert, the answers are right in the book. The extra review and seeing your interest will help your child be better motivated in class and do better in their work.
The 9th Grade English class is starting a PACE on several different grammar parts and functions. To start off, they will review and practice the concept of subject-verb agreement. (Singular subjects take singular verbs, plural subjects take plural verbs. Ex: Those books on the table are mine.) After that, they will learn how to identify and distinguish between adjectives and adverbs, and how to use both in comparisons. In the next PACE (1103) they will be reviewing the eight parts of speech, and learning more about verbals (gerunds, infinitives, and participles), verbals are words formed from verbs, but functioning as other parts of speech (usually nouns, adjectives, or adverbs). Please take some time each week (even 10-20 minutes) to review this information with your children. They will greatly benefit from this practice. Remember, parent involvement is one of the best indicators of student success in school. If you are involved in your child's learning process, they will learn better.
Earth/Space Science
The Earth/Space Science class is starting a unit on Environmental Science. I know this will be an interesting unit for many of the students because many of them are becoming aware of environmental issues, and I think we'll have some fun with some "hands on" learning. One of the things we'll be doing is discussing each families environmental waste impact, and asking the students to estimate, and then measure their families waste (trash) disposal amount and compare it with their estimate.
Parents,
We are starting the second semester. The year is half-way through. By now many of you have already received your child's report cards. Some of you are very pleased with your child's performance, while others of you are probably disappointed with at least one grade. I want to encourage all of you, however. There is still time! For those who are doing well, help them keep up the momentum and good habits. For those who have slipped below their potential, there is still enough time to make positive changes and improvements. The long term goal is that your child learns how to learn. The short term goal is the grades you would like to see. Keep the long term goal in sight. Each day, each week, small improvements will add up to greater results in the long run.
Stay actively engaged in your child's learning process. Ask open ended questions about their subjects. (Ex: What are you learning about in Science right now? They should be able to give you a one or two sentence summary of this.) Look for ways to continue the education process at home, or ways to link classroom learning with outside learning. (For example: The Science will be looking at Environmental Science, starting with pollution. If you see a news article or a news spot on TV about pollution, discuss that with your child for a few minutes, and ask what they think about the topic of pollution. You could even ask them if they know what the greatest cause of pollution in the state of Florida is. Don't worry if you don't know either. Take about 10 minutes to do some research online together, and discuss what you find. This will be a great reinforcement of your child's learning.)
Math
The 8th Grade Class is studying basic Algebra, including variables, exponents, combining like terms and simplifying Algebraic expressions. They are enjoying a change from regular arithmetic, and the challenge of having to think a little differently. Right now we are working on basic Arithmetic operations involving Positive and Negative numbers. They will be doing some of this coursework in cooperation with the Algebra class, which is in a similar unit.
The 9th Grade Algebra class has just completed a Chapter Formulas, and are working on Positive and Negative Integers and Positive and Negative Variables.
Both classes will continue to use Khan Academy to reinforce or review concepts learned in class. Parents, I recommend you have your child sit down with you and show you how the Khan Academy website works, and how we are using it in our Math classes. It is a great resource, and we are really excited here at Gateway to be partnering with Step Up for Students and their cooperation with Khan Academy. We expect great results from this cooperation for your students.
English
The 8th Grade English class is starting a PACE on the different classes of pronouns. They will start off looking at personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, it them, etc.) This PACE will run until about the middle of February. Parents, please review these concepts with your child at least once a week. Grammar is not an easy subject for many students, and they will greatly benefit from a little extra practice. You will also appreciate having an idea of what your child is learning. Remember: Students whose parents review their homework on a regular basis, do better. Do it for your child. You don't have to be the expert, the answers are right in the book. The extra review and seeing your interest will help your child be better motivated in class and do better in their work.
The 9th Grade English class is starting a PACE on several different grammar parts and functions. To start off, they will review and practice the concept of subject-verb agreement. (Singular subjects take singular verbs, plural subjects take plural verbs. Ex: Those books on the table are mine.) After that, they will learn how to identify and distinguish between adjectives and adverbs, and how to use both in comparisons. In the next PACE (1103) they will be reviewing the eight parts of speech, and learning more about verbals (gerunds, infinitives, and participles), verbals are words formed from verbs, but functioning as other parts of speech (usually nouns, adjectives, or adverbs). Please take some time each week (even 10-20 minutes) to review this information with your children. They will greatly benefit from this practice. Remember, parent involvement is one of the best indicators of student success in school. If you are involved in your child's learning process, they will learn better.
Earth/Space Science
The Earth/Space Science class is starting a unit on Environmental Science. I know this will be an interesting unit for many of the students because many of them are becoming aware of environmental issues, and I think we'll have some fun with some "hands on" learning. One of the things we'll be doing is discussing each families environmental waste impact, and asking the students to estimate, and then measure their families waste (trash) disposal amount and compare it with their estimate.