We Need Practice....

In order to be ready for the upcoming Study Island Assessments, I think we need some practice. I want you all to go to the following websites and play the map games:

Learn the Continents and Oceans –

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_GL.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/world_G0_Click.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/world_G1_drag_drop.html

 

Learn the Geographic Regions of Europe –

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Europe-georegion.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Europe-georegion-click.html

 

Learn the Rivers of Europe –

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Europe-rivers.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Europe-rivers-click.html

 

Learn the European Bodies of Water –

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Europe-lakes.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Europe-lakes-click.html

 

We're starting with Europe for practice. Print your scores from the games (or copy and paste them into a word document to print; OR, copy and paste them into an email and gmail them to me....does that about cover all the bases?) Do these until you have it downpat and could show me in class how well you can do it. We'll judge where we stand toward the end of next week.

 

 

 

Wet Your Whistle on This For Awhile...

Mrs. Murphy and I decided that we would read The Hunger Games with our classes this fall. The Honors/Optional department requires that we read two novels a year now with our classes, and this is the one we've picked since many of you have some exposure to the story already. This futuristic trilogy by Suzanne Collins is intriguing young people all over the country right now, as well as in the United Kingdom. I've put the countdown ticker to the movie on, the movie trailer, and two links to play actual games on the Hunger Games site. They're pretty cool...try them out. We also thought that we might try to make the movie in March into a field trip event for our two teams. We'll see if Mr. Page is "game" for it. Get the book by October, and in the meantime, have fun with the game links.

Vokies Are Fixed....

I spent 12 hours yesterday fixing everyone's Voki so they will show up (and that is no exaggeration!) Now we all show up like we are supposed to and EVERYONE'S password works! So, next week we will do our first Voki lesson. Get ready! Now, when you look at your Voki, it may look different than it originally did because I had to change some things to make them show up properly. First of all, don't ever use an animated character or background. They simply won't work right. If your Voki doesn't show up, you can usually just change the background and make it work it right with that one adjustment. If you don't have a microphone, or can't access the voice feature by phone, TYPE YOUR WORDS IN AND LET THE COMPUTER DO THE TALKING FOR YOU. Once you have everything selected, you must click approve at the top to make your Voki show up on the main page. After we look at everyone's this week, and review what needs to be done each time you need to make a Voki presentation, we will get Mrs. Murphy's laptop cart and try it out at school together. Make sure the read the post below this one before you leave the blog. It is most important. See you all tomorrow.

Study Island is Ready for You.....

Mr. Page instructed us to form our classes in Study Island last week and get all of you going on it...Well, I just finished doing that very thing! For those of you who have forgotten - you sign into Study Island like this: VictoriaMorton.wsms; and then your password is either the one you personally created last year, or the word: spartan. Each one of my classes is labelled Morton Third, Morton Fourth, etc. Find your class and then you will find an assignment waiting on you there. It is an assessment that covers what we have covered in the last few weeks. No new material; you should know it all. However, if you don't pass proficiently the first time, you may re-take it until you do pass with proficiency. You have until Friday afternoon to have it finished. There are only about 18 questions on it, I think. So, it shouldn't be too taxing to complete. One word of advice: it IS a grade, so don't sluff it off!

Don't forget that your scrapbook page is due tomorrow, and that your vocab test is on Wednesday.

I sure pray the AC is working tomorrow! The temperatures may be cooler outside, but they won't be in the building for a little while yet. Mrs. Murphy joked that since the temperature dropped, they will probably have the heat blowing in the morning! Oh no!!!!!!!!

Fun at Open House....

Boys and girls, I had such fun meeting your parents at Open House last night! Your parents are so nice! It's always such fun for me to meet your folks and see how much you look like them! They are all so proud of you, and I know the feeling is reciprocated (definition: to show, feel or give back in return) by you! They seemed to enjoy seeing some of the pictures of you on the silly little YoYo & Hoops slideshow, and I was so impressed that they had all been on the blog and knew how it worked. Oh! Guess what? For those of you who didn't come with your parents you might like to know that your poor parents got a taste of our air conditioning problem last night! It was just as sweltering on the seventh grade hall last night as it has been for us over the last two days! They saw first hand what we have been going through! We had such a big turn out at Open House last night, too! It was great to see them all. Please let your parents know how much I enjoyed meeting them all. I certainly told them how much I was enjoying being with all of you!

I hope you have a great day today while I am away. Be good for the sub, and I hope the air is working.

**NOTE: Don't forget that the Vocabulary test on the Word Bank has been moved to next Wednesday, AND don't forget that your Map Parts scrapbook page is due on Tuesday when we return. Have a great Labor Day weekend! By the way, Here are some pictures of the town square of the small town where I am headed this morning (Carthage, MS).