8th Grade

Grades are for the most part are complete. They will be 100% complete at the end of the school day tomorrow. I have a few miscellaneous grades to enter and the study guides for chapter 4 to enter. Over all I am very pleased with where grades ended up. A few A's and a few F's with the majority of grades falling somewhere in between.

You will need to put forth a greater effort in the quarters to follow. Everything piles onto itself and causes start coming into play. We will be getting into the American Revolution next quarter and I can't wait. We will be looking at it from a perspective most of you have never considered.

Lets enjoy our Fall Break and come back refreshed and ready to improve on this quarter. My goal for you all is No F's. You can do it, but it will take some effort on your part by holding each other accountable and helping each other out. Obviously I am going to help you all as much as possible, but I cannot do the work for you or just "give" you a grade. You earn your grade and it is yours to own.

Mr. Clark

7th Grade

Grades are about 99% finished. I only have a few pieces of missing or late work to get entered. Grades will be completed by the end of school tomorrow. You will be able to log into Power School and get your grade for History.

Overall the grades are about what I expected few A's, few F's and the bulk in the B and C range with a sprinkling of D's. I know that grades will improve in the next quarter as students get familiar with the expectations of History class.

Student led conferences are coming along very well. I am excited to see them in action.

One more day until a much needed Fall Break begins. You all deserve it. We had a busy and eventful quarter.

Mr. Clark

8th Grade

We tested over chapter 4 today.....from the studying I heard going on I am cautiously optimistic about the grades. It seemed like you had a decent grip on the material. You were understanding the main ideas and that is the key.

Next time don't cram as much and break up your studying. You will do better with smaller chunks more often than one long marathon session.......FRANCE...GRRRRR for Brooke

Mr. Clark

7th Grade

Today we worked on an extra credit assignment in class. If you did not have your Africa map done in class you will not receive the full amount of extra credit. You know who you are. All the assignments I am going to take for a grade have been collected. I am hoping that Power School is up SOON!! As soon as it is up and running again I will get grades entered.

Ben left this morning at 10:15 to return home to Australia. He will be traveling until 2:10 tomorrow afternoon. That is an amazing amount of time to be traveling.

He is planning a return trip with his mother and siblings for December.

Starting tomorrow we will be watching the Miracle Worker for LA. My room will be used as a room to finish your LA portfolios. If your portfolio is not completed in LA you will not be watching the Miracle Worker.

See you tomorrow and be sure to vote on the poll question
Mr. Clark

7th Grade

Good discussions in class today. I especially liked the discussion about online textbooks. I can easily see the pros and cons and I got the feeling during our discussion that most of you could see both sides as well.

I have posted a poll for 7Th grade to vote on.

Mr. Clark

8th Grade

Due to the untimely passing of my grandmother last night, I will be unable to host an online study session. That is why I made the study guide so focused on important topics. Study your notes and study guide and you should do fine. The study guide was posted on Saturday morning as promised and judging by the number of people that needed class time to work on it, I am going out on a limb and predicting that most of you did not spend any time this weekend working on that. Shame on you. I would have figured that by now you would have gotten over the idea of cramming for Social Studies. Last test of the quarter and a lot of you I fear are going to struggle.


Mr. Clark

7th Grade

We had a lot of fun talking and learning from Ben on Friday. He and I went out to dinner last night and he also had a blast talking to you all. He asked for our blog site and said when he gets home to Australia, he would post us some pictures of Koalas and Kangaroos and other neat stuff from his homeland. He also wanted you all to know that you were awesome and your questions were really great. "A highlight of his trip to America" were his words describing his day here at ICS.

You all have a fun and safe weekend.....see you on Monday

Mr. Clark

8th Grade study guide for Chapter 4

Define and Explain
Religious Tolerance
Sabbath
Town Meetings
Patroons
Proprietary Colony
Royal Colony
Cash Crops
Indentured Servant
Act of Toleration
Tenant Farmers
Mercantilism
Navigation Acts
Yankee
Triangle Trade Routes
Legislature
Upper House
Lower House
Gentry
Middle Class
Apprentice

Who was, and what did each do....
James Oglethorpe
Thomas Hooker
William Penn
Roger Williams
John Winthrop
Anne Hutchinson


Explain the Great Awaking and its significance

Explain the 3 Triangular Trade Routes

List The pros and cons to the Navigation Acts

Why did the Puritans leave England, and what was there settlement when they arrived in the New Country

List the Colonies and the Countries that controlled them and Year they were founded

Tell me about John Locke, why was he important

Tell me about the Enlightenment

Explain the motivations of each region of colonies...New England, Middle, and Southern

Explain the Economies of each region of colonies

Study smart and be prepared on Monday with questions and difficulties

Have a fun and safe weekend
Mr. Clark

7th Grade Thursday Spetember 24th

My wife's cousin from Australia will be here tomorrow. Please be sure to remember your manner tomorrow. The impression you leave with him will be the impression he takes with him about American middle school aged children. He is very excited to come in and talk to you all about the cultural differences between America and Australia. He has been in the States about 3 weeks now and has seen a lot and I think his observations will be eye-opening to a lot of us. Have questions ready for him to get the conversation started and to keep it going.

See you in the morning

Mr. Clark

8th Grade- Chapter 4 Section 5 Notes

I gave you a copy of the notes in class. Make sure you get those into your notes tonight. You need to start studying for the Chapter 4 test it will be coming up soon. I am thinking about Tuesday of next week.....September 29Th. You should be spending about 20-30 minutes a night in your notes learning the material. Do not try and cram, we know that doesn't work.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20174782/Section-45-Notes


Mr. Clark

8th grade update

There are a vast number of you not using the blog. I will not except excuses any longer. Computers are available at school from 3:20-4:00, the library has computer axcess All of you have friends or family members with internet. I have created a class account so you do not even need a valid email address. I am running out of patience with you guys. The 7th graders are doing the assignments and getting the notes off the blog why are you fighting this? It is easier, faster, more convienent, and you can do it in your pajama's! Please start using it!

Mr. Clark

7th grade test results Chapter 5

High- 53
Low- 20
Average- 38.7

A- 5
B- 8
C- 17
D- 8
F- 6

Over all a very nice bell curve of results. C- average not bad. I w.ill be passing the tests out today to go over results then I will be collecting them back up and holding on to them for student-led conferences. Nice job 7th grade, you guys as a whole seem to be getting the hang of my tests. The one thing you do need to work on it writing in complete sentences. This is costing you points on tests and homework unnecessarily.

7th Grade

Test today seemed to go pretty well. Grades at a glance look decent. I really think that the online study session was a huge success! A lot of really good things got discussed and it was a productive use of time........for the most part....we know and discussed the problems today and we will move on from that because those problems will no longer be problems...

Have a great weekend and I will have your tests for you on Monday. These will be the test that go into your portfolio for student-led parent teacher conferences at the end of the quarter

Mr. Clark

8th grade notes Chapter 4 section 3

Here is the 4-3 notes

Southern Colonies
Chapter 4
Section3
Mason-Dixon Line
• Used the stars to calculate the path along a constant latitude line.
• Each stone weighed between 300-600 lbs
• Drug them behind a wagon to place them
• Took 5 years
• Established because of a dispute between Calvert and Penn
Maryland and Virginia
• Indentured Servants- people who in exchange for passage to America would agree to work for free for a determined period of time for no pay
• Act of Toleration- granted religious freedom in Maryland.
Virginia
• Bacon’s Rebellion
– William Berkley promised Natives, that settlers would not move off the agreed plot of land the Natives gave them.
– Bacon did not like the agreement, he gathered some settlers and attacked Natives and drove Berkley into exile
– Showed expansion was inevitable
Carolinas & Georgia
• Carolinas
– Carolina was a Proprietary Colony
– King Charles used it as a reward to those that helped him regain his throne after the Glorious Revolution
– John Locke wrote a constitution
– Carolina eventually split into a northern and southern colony
• Georgia
– James Oglethorpe
– Last English colony established
– Set up for the poor and those that owed money (debtors)
France and Spain in N. America
• La Salle, a French explorer, claimed a plot of land where the Mississippi R met the Gulf of Mexico and called it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV of France. 1718 New Orleans is settled
• France used tenant farmers- farmers that agreed to work a certain number of days a year for the lord of the land
• Unlike the English, the French had a good relationship with the Natives.
• They did not try to change their religion or customs nor did they push them of their land
Spain
• Already controlled most of Mexico while rest of Europe was settling East Coast of America.
• 1609/1610 Spain settles New Mexico and Santa Fe is established
• Most exploring and settling was done by missionaries looking for converts
• By 1769 Spain has a string of missions along the west coast



Mr. Clark

8th grade......Friday

Rough class today in Core 3.....a lot of off topic chatter. We will try again on Monday. Please make sure that you have 4-2 and now 4-3 which is posted, copied into your notebook. Also do not forget about your well thought out paragraph about which colonies settlement you would live in and why. 5-8 sentences minimum please. 4-3 is on Southern Colonies. Georgia, Virginia, Carolina, and Maryland. These colonies were established for very different reasons than New England and the Middle Colonies.

Also do not forget about our poll question....who ran the best settlement? We will talk about the results on Monday.

Be thinking about the motivations of each of the regions of colonies. That is the next major class discussion we will have. This will probably occur on Tuesday.

Have a good and safe weekend, get your P.119 #3-7 done so it can be turned in on Monday.

Mr. Clark

8th Grade Chapter 4 Section 2 Notes

Here are the notes for Chapter 4 Section 2. You will need to cut and paste the link into your browser. It is translated through Scribd. I opened it on 3 different computer s and did not need to do anything special to view them. Simply cut and paste the link into the browser.


http://www.scribd.com/doc/19847023/4-2-Notes
This is the link

Of the settlements we have talked about in the Middle and New England Colonies, which would you choose to live in and why. This needs to be a well thoughout out paragraph!!! It is due by Monday Spetermber 21st

See you tomorrow

Mr. Clark

8th Grade Chapter 4 Section 2 Notes

[scribd id=19846502 key=key-35lrr43y0vo2bzf2ex6]

online review site for 7th grade chapter 5 test

Here is the link to the online study session. Cut and paste the link into the browser and then use your name and the password is africa09.

Remember the study session is from 6 until 9 tonight. You do not need to stay the whole time, you can pop in and out or you are welcome to stay the entire time.....either way is up to you and how much review help you need.....see you tonight!!

Parents you are invited as well

http://www.chatzy.com/323225125364

Mr. Clark

8th Grade Wednesday

Today we talked briefly about 4-1 and watched a united streaming video about the New England Colonies. Tomorrow we will start with the Triangular Trade Routes and introduce the section on the Middle Colonies.

This will be the test I hold back and put in the portfolio for student led parent conferences. Do not fall behind there is ALOT of material for this chapter and it will set the stage for the majority of the rest of the class. Spend time working with the notes and the book. The quarter is winding down and some of you could use the boost in your grade.

Mr. Clark

7th Grade Wednesday

In the 7th Grade we will be taking our Chapter 5 test on Friday.

This is the test that will be included in the students portfolio as part of the student led conferences at the end of the quarter.

Parents you should be seeing book, notebook and at least 30-45 minutes a night tonight and tomorrow night on getting ready for the test. Cramming doesn't work does it students? Lets work on our scores as the quarter is winding down. I am working on securing a site for us to SAFELY get on and chat about the material. I a working with Mr. Yeoman and Ms. Woo to make sure that can continue. I will update the progress later.

That is all for now.......study hard but smart!

Mr. Clark

7th Grade------5-3 notes

Ch5 Sec3

8th grade

We started Chapter 4 today. The notess were posted over the weekend. 8th grade you need to set up and start using the blog or we will have to go back to the old way of note taking . I will not continue to print out the notes and give you a copy.

Tomorrow we will be watching a video clip from united streaming video about the New England Colonies and discussing the material we read about in class and you copied the notes for. Be prepared to discuss the material.

3 weeks until the end of the grading period. Alot of you need to make some drastic improvements in the next 3 weeks. Pick it up!!

Also, Tutoring for 8th grade is Thursdays. If you have a D or an F in my class you are REQUIRED to stay for tutoring on Thursday!

Thanks
Mr. Clark

7th grade

As we talked about in class, I need you to pick a natural resource and follow it through the 3 levels of economic activity.

Ex. (1) Sheep's wool (2) Spun into yarn (3)Made into a sweater

You have until Wednesday to complete this task. Do not pick one that has already been used. If you look over the ones posted and you do the same one I will not post it and you will not get credit for the post.

Also read sections 1 and 2 from chapter 5. I am considering giving comprehension quizzes to ensure that the sections are being read when assigned.

Also, tutoring for 7th Grade is on Friday. If you have a D or and F in my class you are REQUIRED to stay from 3:20-4:00 for tutoring.

Thanks
Mr. Clark

8th Grade Notes

Ch4 Sec1

7th Grade Chapter 5 Section 2 Notes

Ch5 Sec2

8th Grade

Took Chapter 3 Test

Students are supposed to be reading Chapter 4 Section 1

Mr. Clark

Chapter 5 Section 1 notes for 7th Grade

Ch5 Sec1

7 Th Grade Post

Tonight I would like all 7Th graders, as a follow up on our in class discussion we had after watching the Presidents address to students from Tuesday, to post one long term goal and one short term goal you have set for yourself.

Parents, the speech was a good speech, it was inspiring and a call to action, to excel and take responsibility for their grades and their future. We had a good follow up discussion where I asked the students about responsibility, one of our core principles here at ICS and asked the students if they had every heard the things the President told them from another adult in their lives at some point before they heard him say it. I asked if it meant more coming from him or was it a reinforcement, etc.

A healthy and lively discussion took place and i think we all learned something from it.

I am going to try and get the notes posted for Chapter 5 Section 1 as well and we will begin our class work on Natural Resources tomorrow.

Thank you all
Mr. Clark

8th Grade

For some reason there was some confusion about when the test was......Core 3 took the test and it did not look good grade wise. I made a rare exception, threw out the tests, wrote a new one and the 8Th grade will retake Chapter 3 test tomorrow. I will not make these types of exception often if ever again. Because power school wand email was down over the weekend, there may have been a delay in receiving the email I sent out on Friday, making the comment "test Wednesday" confusing if you did not receive that email until Monday.

Long story short, the 8Th grade test is tomorrow. They should have their notes, book and any other material and be studying for this test tonight.

Mr. Clark

7th Grade Test Results

Core 1
High 58
Low 12
Average 29.6 out of 50

A- 4
B- 1
C- 0
D- 2
F- 18

Core 2
High 46
Low 11
Average 24.3 out of 50

A- 1
B- 2
C- 1
D- 1
F- 14

Clearly the students blew this test off and they confirmed that in class today. I was conflicted as to what to do about the low score. I have decided to allow the students to "fix" the ones they got wrong and earn half credit for all the corrected answers. The catch is that they must be signed by a parent. I think a discussion at home about study time and amount of time spent on school work at home might be appropriate. I was very disappointed in the effort especially since every short answer question on the test was taken directly from the study guide. The problem there is that only about 1/3 of the students completed the study guide.

Thanks for your help at home regarding this issue. I will not always allow "fixing" tests but this time I am.
Mr. Clark

7th Grade

Test results...............

I am going to hold the test results and we are going to discuss what went wrong on this test. The scores are almost impossible to believe. I want to get to the bottom of the disaster that is the Chapter 4 test. That being said, I will not be posting the notes for Chapter 5 Section 1. We will move on after we learn the information from Chapter 4 first.

Mr. Clark

Youi have to enter the new site into your browser and then when the window opens, click chat....it is working. I am on it now

Mr. CLark

7th grade study session

Here is the new window for the study session

http://www.centraldesktop.com/joinlive?id=68044021

I have the window up running and waiting for your questions
Mr. CLark

I am working on the study session.......give me a few moments