My Mistake Bloglings!

The quiz on GPS/GIS will be on Thursday, not Wednesday! Thanks to Savannah Lee's sharp eye, I was able to correct my mistake!!

Cursive Handwriting! Oh My!!!

Here is a sample of cursive writing for all of you out there who said you "couldn't!" You can! Print this template if you have to and put it in your folder to refer to in a pinch. All I can say is, "practice makes perfect." There is such a strong connection, according to all the research, between the logical/reasoning center of the brain and writing in a cursive script. This is good brain food, people!!

This Week's Agenda

Well, we dipped our toes into the world of Landforms and Regions today. We began with a quick study of GPS and GIS. Each student has a small packet that should be completed for homework tonight if it was not finished in class today. Remember, GPS is reliant upon satellites to gather data and send it on. GIS is not - it is a network of information systems that enables users to manipulate the data into reports, maps, etc. that provide information to various groups for specific purposes.

Tomorrow we will check our work, and then take notes on landforms and regions. We will have a quick - ten question - quiz on GPS/GIS on Wednesday. We will jump into a packet of information that will clarify contour maps as they are used in relation to landforms on Thursday. We may begin a project on Friday about landforms using a foldable.

Here are the major landforms we must learn for TCAP:

The Great Plains                               The Mississippi River
The Rocky Mountains                      The Thames River
The Appalachian Mountains             The Seine River
The Alps                                            The Amazon River
The Ural Mountains                          The Rhine River/The Rhone River
The Himalayan Mountains                The Danube River
The Andes Mountains                        The Nile River
 The Sahara Desert                             The Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
                                                           The Volga River
                                                           The Ganges River
                                                           The Yellow River

If you have a Remediation Packet to help prepare you for the re-test on Thursday afternoon at 2:00, please continue to finish it in a timely manner. Unless it is turned in at the time of the test, and is completed, you will not be allowed to take the test. Remember that this packet is simply practice in the areas which you seemed to have the most trouble. This by no means replaces "the study" factor. You must study for the test in order to accomplish success.

Finish your GPS/GIS packets and I'll see you tomorrow!

Upcoming Unit of Study

Next week we will begin the Landforms and Regions Unit. This is an interesting unit for the students in which we study the mountain ranges and waterways of the world, various global regions, and begin to touch upon cultural aspects of other global cultures. If for any reason your child is absent, or checks out early, he/she may click on the Landforms blog and catch up with missing notes, etc.

The following are the state curriculum standards covered in this unit:

• 3.04

Understand the physical

and human characteristics of

place.

 

• 3.05

Understand that

common physical and cultural

characteristics create regions.

 

• 3.06

Understand how

physical processes shape the

Earth’s natural landscapes and

affect environments.

The Good News and the Bad News About the Map Test

Today we are in the process of reviewing and grading the students first major test. For the majority of students, thus far, grades have been acceptable to fantastic. However, for the handful of students who received D's or F's because they did not study (as they admitted when they reported their grade this morning), there will be remediation packets that they must complete for homework over a series of two to three days. They will then have to test on the material again. However, the highest grade they can make on the re-test is an 80. This is due to the fact that it would be unfair to the students who studied so hard to earn an A, if you could fail to study, fail the test, but still earn an A on the re-test. Parent signatures will also be required of those students with low performing grades. Look for those packets to come home tomorrow parents. The re-test date will be next week, Thursday, September 12 after school from 2:15 to 3:15.