Friday, December 19, 2008

Semester Grades

There are two terms for you to look at. Term 1 has all of the assignments and tests from the semester. Term 2 has the Final Exam. The Overall Grade in Term 2 is your semester grade. If you did community service, it is listed. Add that number to your overall percent to know your overall grade. If you have questions, you can e-mail me. I will NOT be checking my e-mail everyday, as it is a break for me too. But I will check it sometime over the break.

Have a great break!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Online Scholastic Book Orders

Dear Parent,
I have exciting news... You can now place your Scholastic Book Club orders online!

Browse all the great monthly Club selections at low prices and order online - all while helping our classroom earn FREE books, software, and resources.

Here's how it works:

1. Use the information below to access the Scholastic Book Clubs Web site.
2. Browse the titles with your child, and place your order with your credit card.
3. Your order will come to me, and your credit card payment will go directly to Scholastic's secure server. There's no need to send money to school.
4. After I submit the entire class's order to Scholastic, your order will be delivered to our classroom for your child to take home.

www.scholastic.com/parentordering

Class User Name: SellersAmericanStudies
Password: Room202

Remember, placing your online credit card order is completely safe and secure.

Ordering online is the most convenient way to use Scholastic Book Clubs. You can order anytime, right up until the online order due date. And this month, our class can earn additional FREE books, just for trying this online ordering service.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Sellers

Friday, December 12, 2008

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Reading

A new thing that we have started in class is a Book Wall. Students list books and authors of books that they have enjoyed reading. This serves as a way to recommend books to their classmates. I have seen so many more students carrying around books that they are reading just for pleasure. I am so glad!!! This makes me happy. Studies how that the more students read, the better they become at reading and writing. Plus, in my opinion reading is just fun.

I have also instituted the Scholastic Book Club order forms in my class. Remember those from your student's elementary school days? Well, they are back. I feel that the order forms give students a look in to books that they might not read otherwise. Don't worry these are at their reading level!! I will be collecting orders no later than Thursday December 18. The information is all on the order form. There is no pressure, this is just for fun and access to books. I am also working on a way for you to be able to place the orders online from home. More on that to come...

Please encourage your students to read over the break. Anything will do: books, magazines, newspapers, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction...

FINALS!!!!! THEY ARE COMING UP SOON!!

In American Studies, we have a combined final, just like all of our unit exams. The exam will be on the first day your student has either of their American Studies classes. Check the Valhalla website for the finals bell schedule.

Your student was given a study guide for the final exam. Please make sure that they are studying this weekend. They should be going through all of their materials and reviewing the things we have covered this semester. It is a comprehensive final exam.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

COMMUNITY SERVICE- URGENT!!!!

COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORTS ARE DUE DECEMBER 10!!!! NO LATER!!! NO EXCUSES!!!!!!

There is a last chance opportunity for community service that I heard of today. Reminder you must speak to me or Mr. Bussey BEFORE you do community service to get it approved.

Here is an opportunity from I Love a Clean San Diego.
San Ysidro Community Cleanup
Saturday, December 6th from 9 - 11AM
2200 Enright Drive, San Diego 92173

There is still time in 2008 to volunteer at one of ILACSD's community cleanups. Our last beautification event of the year will take place in an open space area in need of your help! A lot can be accomplished in just one morning, not only for the immediate neighborhood and open space, but for the marine ecosystem as a whole. Contamination from trash and illegal dumping in this tributary eventually travels to the coast where it pollutes popular beaches. This canyon is part of the watershed that drains in Imperial Beach, which has been closed several times in 2008, as recently as September and November.

Volunteering is made easy, with all supplies provided, including water and snacks. Simply arrive ready to volunteer, wearing closed toed shoes and work clothes. For more information or to sign up to volunteer, send your request to volunteers@cleansd.org
. We hope to see you out there!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Grades

Parents and students:

I will be updating grades online today. I apologize that it has been a while. I recently had a death in my family and my time outside of school has been consumed with dealing with that.

Reminder that the To Kill a Mockingbird Test is on Wednesday!!!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. There are only two more weeks of school before finals.

Who are the mockingbrids?

In the final section of the novel, two characters are compared to the mockingbird. Re-read the passages that identify the two characters (Ch. 25 & 30). In a few paragraphs, discuss these questions: Why is the mockingbird an appropriate symbol for these characters? In what ways are the characters similar? In what ways are they different? Cite evidence from the novel.