Social Studies: Mining Town Newspaper Assignment

In Social Studies, your student has been assigned a group effort project in which they will be creating a newspaper about an 1800's mining town. We've been studying the Arizona Silver Rush and the California Gold Rush in class, as well as newspaper article writing and reading, and the students seem really excited to get started. This will be an opportunity for them to learn more as they research the topic they've chosen for their article (ex: Mine Accident Claims 12 Lives; New Stagecoach Line Begins Service in Town; etc.) and to work in a group to create a finished product.

The topics they choose to write their articles about may be based on factual happenings or completely made up, so long as they are things that reasonably could have happened in an 1800’s mining town. The more creative, the better! The example that I wrote an article about was of a man who had a lost bag of silver returned to him after he left it on the stagecoach he was riding from Tucson to the town that I made up. I continued that the man and the lady that found and returned his bag had begun courting. I included a picture that I had Googled "1800 Wedding Pictures" to find. I've attached a copy of it below as well. Hopefully this will be a chance for them to have some fun!

Each student's final grade will be an average of two grades: A group grade from their work together and the finished product, and an individual grade based on their individual pieces of the newspaper. Please see the attached file for a breakdown of what an 'A' grade requires. This paper was handed out in class the day when students chose the group they wanted to be in and divided up the articles and wanted ad assignments, as well as chose their newspaper title and date. Ask your student what they are assigned to do via their group and feel free to help them get started. :)

Assignment Sheet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o7nMOftIiN4g_7UfytKFidXZZxANM919wA463TgJtC4/edit

Article and Title Example:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QvsuiQY4yCtFMYu7UyBd_GHpnTtQlXUtp43p4f_-w_U/edit

The final products are due as follows:
PATTON: by the end of class Wednesday, January 18
WASHBURN: by the beginning of class Thursday, January 19

Electricity and Magnetism Science Unit Information

Please use the links below to access the handouts given in Mrs. Patton's Science class for the 3rd Quarter Unit.

Vocabulary
https://docs.google.com/open?id=1cCNAyUS3T4fBl-qrOVlw1oKjF37F02B2xFnnKqAQ2CesE1J5xNB_aOi3aMl7

Calendar
https://docs.google.com/open?id=1VZ7UjgPIihV-lrFg3X62ySYgTpCq7g6Z-rCCRUJDGCdyMf5faoM56cTCpXU9

Persuasive Writing- In Action!

Parents,
This quarter we'll be working with persuasive writing. I showed this video in class about how we can use persuasive writing in our daily lives (creatively!) and they really enjoyed it. You've probably seen it on television too :) Enjoy!

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/showcase/details.aspx?uuid=0d78d0a2-942f-4a0d-96a4-c94509df0092

Winter Spirit Week Schedule

Next week, December 12-16, is our winter spirit week. The spirit days are as follows:

Monday: Holiday/Winter Day

Tuesday: Crazy Hair Day (must still wear uniform)

Wednesday: Twin Day (uniforms do not count)

Thursday: Hippie Day

Friday: Be Yourself Day (no Cambridge clothes required, however, clothes must be appropriate for school and follow the basic dress code)



Show your Coyote spirit by participating! The class with the most participation each day will be entered into a drawing to win a prize. The winner will be announced Friday, December 16. If students choose NOT to participate, uniforms are still required.

December Major Assignment/Testing Schedule

Thurs. 12/1
"Abraham Lincoln" Reading Comprehension Test

Fri. 12/2
WW Lesson 13 Test
Spelling Test

Mon. 12/5
Science: Water Collection Wksht Due

Tues. 12/6
Social Studies: Find 5 familiar items or animals that got their names from Spanish words and compare the names in Spanish and English. Ex: alligator (from el lagarto, "the lizard") DUE in class.

Wed. 12/7
"How Fast Do You Eat Your Ice Cream" Reading Comp. Test

Fri. 12/9
WW Lesson 14 Test
Spelling Test

Mon. 12/12
Science Vocabulary Test (see rubric for words)
Chapter 10 Math Test

Wed. 12/14
Science: Water Cycle Drawing/Labeling Test

Thurs. 12/1
"The Snowflake" Reading Comprehension Test
Social Studies: Mining Town Newspaper (GROUP PROJECT) due in class- Your child will be assigned a piece of the newspaper to complete on their own for the final project they will work on together in groups in class.

Fri. 12/16
WW Lesson 15 Test
Spelling Test

Wed. 12/21-Wed. 1/4 WINTER BREAK

$20 Challenge #2

Alright students- this one's something new that I learned over Fall Break that we all need to know!

The Anasazi Indians that were anciently in Arizona and throughout the Four Corners area in the SW United States are now being called by a different name by Native American tribes, educators and historians. What is their new name? (PS- this will be on the SS test next week too... we'll be changing it in our notes at the end of this week.)

Honoring 9/11

We had an amazing week last week to honor September 11th's ten year anniversary. I feel so privileged to be able to teach about the heroism and bravery that our fellow countrymen exhibited that day and in the years since.

We spent Tuesday discussing the facts of the attacks that took place on 9/11. We viewed video tributes to those who lost their lives and we talked about the feelings that many Americans felt that day.

Wednesday, we were lucky enough to have three special guest speakers come to our room to share their experiences. One was Army Captain Crystal Haas who is currently deployed and serving her second tour in Iraq, leaving behind her husband and 2 year old son Reed. Another was Lance Corporal Ian Rush, a Marine Reservist based here in Phoenix who enlisted after 9/11 and has trained and worked to be ready to be called to serve where needed. The third guest speaker was Major Ben Luoma, a CA fourth grade student's father. He is a full time member of the Army National Guard and has served in Afghanistan and now locally since 9/11.

These guest speakers were an invaluable eye opener for our students about the sacrifices and bravery that are still taking place in regard to the events of that fateful September day ten years ago. There were many questions from the students as to the whats, whys and hows of military service, which were answered honestly and opened even more discussion.





Following the guest speakers, we opened the floor for students to share words that described their feelings about all that they had learned, seen and discussed about September 11th. We listed all the "negatives" like fear, terror, pain and anger in blue on the board. Positive words like faith, bravery, heroism and pride were written in red. After the board was filled, I had the students look for an overall color of the words. The board was nearly completely red. This made me so happy! The students really focused on the good and positive that came from the horrible things that happened.

Our final activity of the week to honor September 11th was to create a model of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers out of the white boxes that students brought in. On the boxes, students wrote their response to our discussions. Some wrote one word on all sides of their box. Some filled their box with multiple words. Some illustrated, some left it stark. Each box was a beautiful piece of their own feelings. I felt privileged to handle them and use them to build the Towers model. I hope you had a chance to get up close and look at the words and feelings that were shared by your student and their peers on our memorial. It was very touching!











Our goal this week was to look for the good and focus on the positive while still giving respect to the things that happened and to those that were (and still are) affected by September 11th. I hope that we succeeded in reaching your child and encouraging a pride for being an American in them!