The Dycus Den

This week we attempted to get back into the swing of things after a very relaxing fall break.

Monday — We graded our tests that we took before the break.  Please ask your child how they did, or log into the Bradley County parent portal and check your child’s grades there.

Tuesday — We began our new unit of human georgaphy.  This week we will be discussing our growing world population.  Important terms:  birth rate, death rate, infant mortality, growth rate, population density and distribution, rural, suburban, and urban.  All of these terms come straight from our state standards and we will be discussing them thoroughly in class.

Wednesday — We charted the historic, present, and projected numbers for our world’s population onto a bar graph.  We also further discussed the causes and consequences of our world’s growing population.

Thursday — STARS presentation led by Mrs. Tullier

Friday — LIBRARY DAY!!!!!  Students will need to return old books and checkout new AR books to read.

Here is our plan for the upcoming week.  Parents please remember that you can always check your child’s grades online through the new Bradley County grade portal.  If you ever have any questions for us feel free to contact the school or send us an email.  Thanks for all you do!!!!

Monday 28th – We will learn about the Earth’s climate, including natural disasters and the greenhouse effect.

Tuesday 29th – We will learn about the Earth’s physical processes (i.e. plate tectonics, earthquakes, weathering, erosion, etc).  We will bring out the mini-trampoline to show how tectonic plates collide.  Should be fun.

Wednesday 30th – We will complete a review assignment from the textbook and then begin on our study guide for our 2nd test of the year.

Thursday 1st – We will (hopefully) complete our study guides so that next Monday we can play review games and then test next Tuesday.

Friday 2nd – continuation of the STARS (Students Taking a Right Stand) program with guest speaker Mrs. Shelly Tullier

Parents— please remember that PTO/Open House is Tuesday night at 6:30.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Tuesday  9/8– We will begin working on our Mapping and Graphing Test Study Guide for our upcoming test on Thursday.  Students will have all period to work on this.

Wednesday 9/9– We will go over the study guide making sure all answers are correct.  We will then play review games to help study for the test on Thursday.

Thursday 9/10 — MAPS AND GRAPHS TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   This is our first test of the year, so lets do well!

Friday 9/11 — Continuing our STARS presentations with Mrs. Tullier.

To begin with: hello!  I have not been able to meet most of you, the parents, yet–but I’m excited about doing so.  We will be having an open house/PTO meeting on Tuesday, September8th.  If there is ANY possible way you can make it, please do so.  We cannot accomplish anything without your help, and the sooner we can build a relationshi together the better our year will go.

I also want take a second to tell you all how well our year has gone so far.  We have an AWESOME group of kids, and you the parents are to blame for that.  So–thank you.

Here is our plan for next week.  Please ALWAYS remember that our plans as a class are not set in stone.  Teaching middle school is just as unpredictable as being a middle-schooler, and thus, our class plans change frequently.  Please be understanding to this fact.

Monday -Population Pyramid Day.  I will teach the lesson and then let one of our students put on my tie and become “Dycus for a Day” and reteach the lesson to the class.  Should be fun.

Tuesday- Charts, Graphs, and Diagrams powerpoint with students filling out their note sheets.  I will attempt to make bar graphs as exciting as possible.  No promises. 

Wednesday- Finish any of previous powerpoint that was not covered.  Begin “Graphing Practice Packet.” The ability to read graphs, charts, etc is a very important skill that our students need to know for both life and TCAP.  Therefore, we will spending a couple days practicing this skill.

Thursday- Finish “Graphing Practice Packet.”

Friday- Continue the “STARS” program (Day 2 of 10). We will participate in the “Students Taking a Right Stand” program every Friday for the next 9 weeks.

Here is this week’s agenda:

Monday 17th -  we will finally be getting into chapeter 3.2 World Culture.  See last week’s post for the power point and handout.

Tuesday 18th — Chapter 3.3 Resources and World Trade Resources and World Trade PPT

Resources and World Trade Handout

Wednesday 19th — We will finish any of the material left uncovered for Ch. 3 and then begin our review guide for our test next Monday.  I will post the link to the review guide shortly.

Thursday 20th — We will work on finishing our review guides throughout the entire period.  Students should bring an AR book to read in case they finish early.

Friday 21st — We will play a review game (probably basketball and ‘oops where’s my baby) for the entire period in order to get ready for the test on Monday.

Monday — 4-5!!!!!

Tuesday — FIELD TRIP!!!!!

Wednesday –  World Population PPT

world population-ppt

world-population-ppt-ws

Thursday — Culture PPT

Friday — Resources and World Trade PPT

resources-and-trade-ppt

resources-and-trade-ws

PARENTS — Classes will also be getting their tests make (we took them last Thursday) at some point during the week…so be looking for your students to bring those grades home.

THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO!!!

Due to unexpected Benchmark testing on Thursday and Friday of last week, our schedule changed dramatically.  Here is our tentative plan for this week:

Monday: The Earth in Space PPT (except for 8th period which will be doing Earth’s Physical Processes).  Both powerpoints and notes can be found on last week’s post.

Tuesday:  We will complete two power points with accompanying notes on Tuesday.  We will be doing the “Earth’s Landforms” powerpoint as well as “Earth:  The Water Planet” power point.

Earth\’s Landforms PPT

Earth\’s Landforms PPT Handout

Earth: The Water Planet PPT

Water Planet PPT Notes

Wednesday: The first half of class we will be looking at the Earth’s Climate power point with notes.  During the second half of class we will begin working on our study guide for our next test.

Earth\’s Climate PPT

Earth\’s Climate PPT Handout

Ch. 1 and 2 Study Guide

Thursday: We will work on our study guides all day in class today.  If time allows we will play some review basketball.

Friday: 2nd 6 Weeks Reward Day.  See team page for info regarding eligibility.

Here is our TENATIVE schedule for this week.  Please remember that when dealing with middle-schoolers plans can change rather quickly.

Monday — 1. Go over our tests from before the break.  These should be going home with the students later in the week.

Tuesday — 1. Go over the ‘population pyramid’ power point, and then have one student become “Dycus for a Day” and reteach the lesson to the class.  2.  Each student will be required to create their own population pyramid with the given data.  This should be colored and look generally good.  We will decorate our room with these…so lets do a good job!

Population Pyramid Powerpoint

Wednesday — 1. Go over the “Earth in Space” powerpoint while students fill out their corresponding handout.  2.  Go over the “Earth’s Physical Processes” powerpoint while student fill out their corresponding handout.

Earth in Space PPT

Earth in Space PPT Handout

Earth\’s Physical Processes PPT

Earth\’s Physical Processes PPT Handout

Thursday — 1. Go over the “Earth’s Landforms” powerpoint while students fill out the corresponding handout.  2. Go over the “Earth:  The Water Planet” powerpoint with handout.

Friday — Review game day.  We will play a combination of “Geography Basketball” and “Oops Where’s My Baby.”