Wednesday, December 9, 2009

What's Up in Math

Seventh grade math students on the Incredibles are finishing up their unit on fraction operations. We have reviewed how to simplify fractions, make equivalent fractions using a common denominator and to convert mixed numbers to improper fractions. These skills allow students to accurately add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions and mixed numbers.

Our next topic will be ratios and proportions. Students will learn how to write ratios and convert ratios to unit rates. They will apply their knowledge of equivalent fractions as they set up and proportions and work with scale drawings and models. Students will also learn how to convert fractions, decimals and percents as well as solve percent problems using proportions.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Mrs. Fawley Helps Decorate White House

Incredibles Civics teacher Mrs. Fawley went to Washington D.C. over the Thanksgiving weekend to help decorate the White House for Christmas.

Before her trip, in an interview with the JFHMS student news service The Hawk Eye, Mrs. Fawley said that it was a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.

But The Hawk Eye wasn't the only news outlet keeping a watch on Mrs. Fawley:

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People: The first of 17 White House holiday parties was held Tuesday night, for the 92 volunteers who strung lights and hung ornaments. Mrs. Obama herself, who teased the volunteers about making a lot of partying noise, only popped down for a minute.

"She said the girls were upstairs doing homework and she couldn’t stay," said volunteer Kim Fawley, a schoolteacher from Broadway, Va.

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CNN: Kim Fawley, a schoolteacher in Virginia who volunteered her time to help decorate, said she was impressed by the handmade ornaments, which include the Statue of Liberty, the Boston Celtics, Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo and the DuSable Museum of African American History.

"They're just beautiful. The love and the care that they took to put them together is obvious when you hold them in your hands," Fawley said.

The video:



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Washington Spaces:





















Kim Fawley, one of the many volunteers who did a beautiful job of helping to decorate the White House, shared secrets about decorating the White House Christmas tree, which is in the Blue Room
.

“This room was filled with boxes, scaffolding and cherry pickers,” said Kim Fawley, a volunteer, who is a 7th grade civics teacher in Broadway, VA, in the Shenandoah Valley. “We started last Friday taking the ornaments out of the wrappers and putting on the wire hangers.” She explained that in addition to the beautiful hand-decorated ornaments - some were decoupaged, some painted or adorned in other ways - gold Christmas balls were hung towards the inside of the tree and clear glass balls were hung closer to the outside so they’d reflect the low-energy lights on the tree. This year’s theme was reflected on blue ribbons tied to the ornaments. Reflect, Rejoice, Renew was hand- or machine-stitched by Girl Scouts onto the blue ribbons, Fawley said.

It looked like one giant gold ribbon crowned the tree, but it’s really four gold bows tied at the top. And what appeared to be one continuous golden ribbon circling the tree is actually 6-foot sections of ribbon, she shared.

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Politico 44: Kim Fawley of Broadway, Va., took off several days of teaching seventh grade to help adorn the 18 ½-foot Douglas fir in the Blue Room along with about 30 other volunteers.

“I have a very, very nice principal,” she said.


Monday, November 30, 2009

What's Up in English/Reading (3rd six weeks)

During the third six weeks term, English and Reading classes on the Incredibles team are focusing on theme, verbs, making inferences, expository writing, and a reading strategy that focuses on making inferences.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Internet Safety Presentation and PowerSchool Tips for Parents

Facebook....MySpace.... Twitter..... 2nd Life...Online Predators....Downloading Music... Chatting...and a lot more!

Do you know what you need to know to keep your child safe on the internet?

You are invited to attend an Internet Safety Presentation at J. Frank Hillyard Middle School on Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00pm in the school library.

Joe Showker, an expert in the area of internet safety, will give a fast paced and interactive look at what you need to know as a parent of middle school students.

Childcare will be provided for all school age children (Kindergarten-12th grade).

Mr. Showker will also demonstrate for parents how to access and check grading and attendance information using the PowerSchool Parent Login.

We hope you will join us for this important and informative event.

Feel free to call JFHMS with any questions (896-8961)

Monday, October 26, 2009

Midterm Reports

On Wednesday and Thursday, November 4-5, Incredibles Science teachers will print midterm reports for students whose parents used the green paper (sent home with report cards) to request paper copies of the reports.

Parents who use PowerSchool can monitor their students' grades at any time online.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

So, What's Going On in Civics Class?

The Incredibles students are working very hard on learning some tough abstract concepts in Civic, topics like federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances. It won't be long before we have a test on these concepts and then we will begin looking closely at all three branches of government.

Students are encouraged to stay up on current events, because everything that happens in the news can be tied into our civics lessons. Many times, we use these topics as a jumping off point to our lesson that we are covering that day or week in class.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

What's Up in Science

In the second six weeks Incredibles students will continue working on lab safety. We will have several microscope labs so students can learn the proper way to use a microscope.

We will continue learning about the Cell Theory--All living things are composed of cells. We will learn about cell structure, cell organelles and the differences and similarities between plant and animal cells. We will also learn about cell processes like diffusion and osmosis and the chemical compounds in cells.

During the second half of the six weeks we will focus on Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration. We will learn about each of these processes and how they are related.