November 30 - December 4, 2015

General Announcements:

• Please check your child’s grades from time to time on INOW.  We have 3 more weeks to wrap things up before our 2nd 9 week report card. There is still time to pull grades up. :)

Important Curriculum Dates for This Week:

• Friday, December 4: Reading Log Due
• Friday, December 4: DOL Test/IXL due
• Friday, December 4: Math Quiz on Adding/Subtracting Fractions

Looking Ahead

• Dec. 14 School-wide Holiday Assembly
• Dec. 18 Last day before the Winter Break

Math News:

**Math: We are continuing with adding and subtracting fractions. As we turn our focus to uncommon denominators, we will begin to incorporate word problems and problem solving into our thinking. 
homework: Math Computation 

Science News:

**Science: We are still looking at the transfer of energy through an ecosystem, and what substances are needed by living organisms. Today, we began a new experiment to prove that plant need mostly water and carbon dioxide in order to grow. We set aside three cups of seeds that will have differing amounts of these substances given to them. We hope to prove our hypothesis.
homework: None

Language Arts News:

**Vocabulary: A new assignment will come home on Thursday. This will carry over to next week. A vocabulary test will be next Friday, December 11.

**Reading Log-These came home today and are due on Friday.

homework: Complete log for Tuesday. 

**DOL/Language IXL-  Week 12 came home today. Our focus this week is on contractions. IXL for the week should be completed before Friday.

homework: Study over DOL for Tuesday and make sure IXL for Tuesday is completed

**Writing-  We will finish our Informational Writing Piece this week.  We will move on to our reading unit this Thursday. Our story for the week, and going into next week is In the Time of the Drums.
homework: Informational Writing Piece should be completed by tomorrow or students will need to bring home to finish. No late papers will be taken after Thursday.

Social Studies:

Topics of Study – We will continue our study of the causes of the American Revolution. We will have a test on the Causes. Students already have their study guide for this (Powerpoint Notes).

                   

We hope everyone has a great week!

November 16-20, 2015

General Announcements:

• In accordance with Alabama law, Section 16-29-1, Code Alabama, 1975, our school will be conducting a free screening to detect adolescent scoliosis on November 17, 2015 all day during PE classes. The school nurse along with a nurse from Children's Hospital will conduct the scoliosis screening program. The screening, which takes about one minute, is simple and not embarrassing. It involves a visual examination of the back while standing straight and bending over. Boys and girls will be screened separately. Scoliosis is a twisting, or curve of the spine which occurs in about 10% of the adolescent population and about 2 ½% will require some type of medical attention. The first sign of scoliosis is usually noticed between the ages of ten and fourteen. If any symptoms are detected for your child, you will be notified by letter. Please make sure your child wears a slip-on shirt or blouse on the screening day. Girls may wear a bathing suit top or bra which will remain on during the screening. If you do not want your child to participate then send a note in writing to the school nurse. Thank you for you cooperation with the screening program.

• Please check your child’s grades from time to time on INOW.  

Important Dates for This Week

• Friday, November 20:  Students bring in their Favorite Family Recipes (not the food, just the recipe) on paper provided and discuss traditions and complete fraction activities related to the recipes.

Important Curriculum Dates

• Thursday, November 19th- Math test on Adding and Subtracting Fractions
• Friday, November 20th:  Reading Log due

• Friday, November 20th: DOL Test
• Friday, November 20th:  Informational Writing Piece due (we are working on this in class)

Looking Ahead

• November 23-27: Thanksgiving Holidays.  No school for students all week.

Curriculum News:

Math:

**Math: We are making great progress with adding and subtracting fractions. We will continue this, and next week, start looking at multiplying fractions. As we work with fractions, we will always have a strong focus on problem solving, not just the procedures.
homework: Math Computation

Science:

**Science: In science, we are still discussing the factors that plants need in order to survive, as we move into food chains and food webs. We are looking at how the Transfer of Energy moves from one organism to the next in an ecosystem.
homework: None

Language Arts:

**Vocabulary: None this week!  Enjoy!

**Reading Log-These were sent home today and due on Friday!

homework: complete reading log for Thursday

**DOL/Language IXL-  IXL will consist of a variety of grammar activities, working on Past Tense Verbs.

homework: review DOL for Thursday and make sure IXL for Thursday is completed

**Writing-  We have started the rough draft of our Informational Writing Piece.  We will continue writing this week and will have a final draft completed by Friday.  The week after our break will be a reading week.

homework: work on finding a good recipe to share with the class (form to write recipe on came home today. Please share the recipe only, not the food.)

Social Studies:

Topics of Study – We will continue our study of the causes of the American Revolution.

                   

We hope everyone has a great week!

November 9-13, 2015

General Announcements:

• In honor of our Veterans during the month of November, and in conjunction with our Veterans Day Program tomorrow, November 10 at 8:45 A.M., we are asking for you to please donate unopened, travel- size toiletries that will be presented to the VA Hospital in Birmingham for Veteran patients and for the homeless Veterans program. We will have boxes in the lobby from Monday, November 2 thru Friday, November 13, 2015.
• Tomorrow, November 10th will be “Dress Your Best Day” at Brock’s Gap in honor of our veterans.
• We will have no school on Wednesday, November 11th for Veterans’ Day.
• Progress reports will be coming home tomorrow, November 10th with your student.

• Please check your child’s grades from time to time on INOW.  
• From our nurse, Mrs. Walker:
  In accordance with Alabama law, Section 16-29-1, Code Alabama, 1975, our school will be conducting a free screening to detect adolescent scoliosis on November 17, 2015 all day during PE classes. The school nurse along with a nurse from Children's Hospital will conduct the scoliosis screening program. The screening, which takes about one minute, is simple and not embarrassing. It involves a visual examination of the back while standing straight and bending over. Boys and girls will be screened separately. Scoliosis is a twisting, or curve of the spine which occurs in about 10% of the adolescent population and about 2 ½% will require some type of medical attention. The first sign of scoliosis is usually noticed between the ages of ten and fourteen. If any symptoms are detected for your child, you will be notified by letter. Please make sure your child wears a slip-on shirt or blouse on the screening day. Girls may wear a bathing suit top or bra which will remain on during the screening. If you do not want your child to participate then send a note in writing to the school nurse. Thank you for you cooperation with the screening program. 
  Tyra Walker, RN

  School Nurse

  Brocks Gap Intermediate

  Phone  439-1630

  Fax 439-1601

Important Dates for This Week

• 11/10:  Progress Reports
• 11/10:  Veteran’s Day program at Brock’s Gap at 8:45 a.m.DRESS YOUR BEST DAY
• 11/11:  No School

Important Curriculum Dates

• Friday, November 13th:  DOL Week 10 Test/IXL Due

Looking Ahead

• Friday, November 20:  Students bring in their Favorite Family Recipes and discuss traditions (more information on this to come separately next week).
• November 23-27: Thanksgiving Holidays.  No school for students all week.

Math News: We are continuing in our understanding of fractions. We are looking at how equivalent fractions are truly equal. We are also talking about how the "whole" affects how we interpret a fraction. We will continue with this, as we work to develop a deeper understanding of fractions.

Homework: None

Science News: We are continuing to look at how plants are producers, and what that means to the rest of life. We are specifically focusing on photosynthesis and how we know plants are producers. We will try to find evidence of photosynthesis by testing for starch in a plant leaf. These experiments and representations will help us develop a better understanding of how energy flows from the sun and then, outward.
Weekend Homework: Prepare the Photosynthesis Cutout

Language Arts News:

**Vocabulary: We will not have any vocabulary this week, due to the short week. Enjoy!! :)

**Reading Log: These came home today and will be due on Friday.  Please reiterate the importance of answering each question asked, writing in complete sentences, and reading back through their writing to check for errors.
homework: Read and respond on Monday's reading log
**Language/Language IXL: We are working on Week 10 Language DOL, with a continued focus on verbs.   A test will be on Friday, November 13th.  
homework: review DOL Day 1 and make sure IXL is completed
**Writing: Last week, we learned important note-taking skills needed in order to write an Informational writing piece.  We gathered and organized information about colonies. This week, we will work on putting all of the information together to write an Informational piece about the colonies.

Social Studies: We will learn about the events that led to the Revolutionary War.

Homework: finish side one of Veterans Day Webquest           

We hope everyone has a great week!

November 2-6, 2015

General Announcements:

• In honor of our Veterans during the month of November, and in conjunction with our Veterans Day Program on Tuesday, November 10 at 8:45 A.M., we are asking for you to please donate unopened, travel- size toiletries that will be presented to the VA Hospital in Birmingham for Veteran patients and for the homeless Veterans program. We will have boxes in the lobby from Monday, November 2 thru Friday, November 13, 2015.
• We will have no school on Wednesday, November 11th for Veterans’ Day.

• Please check your child’s grades from time to time on INOW.  

Important Dates for This Week

• 11/2:  Veteran’s Day form due
• 11/5:  Pep Rally with HHS football team and cheerleaders

Important Curriculum Dates

• 11/6:  Greek and Latin Roots Test

• 11/6:  DOL Test Week 9

Looking Ahead

11/10:  Progress Reports

11/10:  Veteran’s Day program at Brock’s Gap at 8:45 a.m.:  DRESS YOUR BEST DAY

11/11:  No School-Veteran's Day

Curriculum News:

Math News

**Math: After reteaching, to address some of our misconceptions about volume, the graded tests are looking very good. I believe that we are ready to move into fractions. As we start, we will look at the meaning of fractions, how to evaluate their equivalence, and what happens as we add fractions together. This is one of my favorite units, and you will be surprised at the deep understanding that our children will show. 
homework: Math Computation , IXL, Unit #4 page 2

Science News

**Science: We are still working on the transfer of energy from the sun to more complicated lifeforms. We began by looking at photosynthesis, and how the sun's energy helps plants make their own energy. Later this week, we will use the example of photosynthesis to help us show the Law of Conservation. Then, we will do an experiment to show whether a plant has gone through photosynthesis, by looking for starch in leaves.

Language Arts News

**Vocabulary: We are starting week 4 in our Greek and Latin Roots study. Homework practice will come home each night.  There will be a test on Friday, Nov. 6.

homework: Root Word Unit 4 sheet

**Reading Log-These came home yesterday and will be due on Friday.  Please reiterate the importance of answering each question asked, writing in complete sentences, and reading back through their writing to check for errors.

homework: complete reading log for Thursday

**Language/Language IXL-  We are beginning Week 9 in DOL, with a continued focus on verbs.  A test will be on Friday, November 6th.  

homework: make sure that IXL is completed for Thursday

**Writing-  We started Informational writing today.  We will work across the curriculum using our Social Studies material on colonies to fuel our focus for this writing piece.  

Social Studies: We finished our study of the colonies and will be moving to events leading up to the American Revolution.  We are in Ch. 3 in our Social Studies Techbook.

                   

We hope everyone has a great week!