MINI-THON APPROACHES!
Friday morning we will launch our Mini-THON festivities with a kick-off assembly in the morning. During Advisory time, students will receive Mini-THON registration packets and learn a lot more about Mini-THON, Penn State Dance Marathon ("Big THON"), and Christopher Millard, whose family started the Four Diamonds Fund in 1972 after Chris lost his own battle to pediatric cancer. The Four Diamonds Fund supports families of childhood cancer patients at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
This year's EHS Mini-THON will be Saturday, March 19, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Ephrata Middle School. I highly encourage all students - especially freshmen - to get involved in the fundraising efforts and join in the fun by attending on March 19.
Mini-THON is near and dear to my heart. I helped plan last year's event as a co-adviser of the Mini-THON Club. As a Penn State alumna, I always follow "Big THON" at PSU, which took place last weekend and raised over $9 million For The Kids. In addition, one of my Penn State friends was a THON child when she was diagnosed with leukemia in high school. The impact that THON has on families in need is tremendous.
I hope your students are inspired by tomorrow's Mini-THON pep rally and Mr. Mini-THON pageant! It's going to be lots of fun!
MID-MARKING PERIOD
Tuesday, February 23, marked the hallfway point of the 3rd Marking Period. How crazy is that? Now would be a great time for your child to do some "housekeeping" by logging on to the Community Portal to see if there are any assignments marked "NS" (not submitted). Those assignments were never turned in to me, which means they're counting as zeroes in the gradebook. Homework, classwork, projects, tests - there are a variety of missing assignments in the gradebook that I will still accept! Please encourage your child to make a list of "NS" assignments and turn those in to me ASAP!
Most importantly, if your child did not get the full 10/10 on Section 6.1 Practice A+B or the full 20/20 on Section 6.1 Practice C+D, it is VITAL that he or she finishes those practice compounds and checks them for correctness with me or on Schoology! We have spent this past week studying ions, ionic bonds, and ionic compounds. We have worked for nearly two straight class periods on example after example on white boards. We should know how to name and write formulas for ionic compounds (those containing metals and nonmetals) at this point.
On Monday, we'll look at how to name and write formulas for molecular compounds (those joined by a covalent bond). Covalent bonding requires a whole new set of naming and formula writing rules, which will be a nightmare for students who still haven't mastered ionic compounds.
By the middle of the week next week, we'll mix ionic and covalent together! This means that the students will have to distinguish between ionic compounds and molecular compounds first, then apply the appropriate naming or formula writing rule. It is becoming very, very important to keep up with the class and do all of the practice that is assigned both during class and outside of class for homework!
I have screencasts of all notes and example problems, answer keys for all practice questions, and links to self-checking practice websites available on Schoology in the Unit 5: Chemical Bonds folder. I hope that your child will take advantage of these helpful resources - or come see me during ACT - if he or she is not yet feeling confident with ions or ionic compounds.
As always, I am in my classroom every Tuesday through Friday from 2:35 until 4:00 p.m. for Academic Coaching Time. This is a great opportunity to get extra help, work on assignments, do test corrections, or make up work.
THANK YOU
Thank you for your continued support at home and for your ongoing communication with me regarding your child's progress! Please let me know if there is anything at all that you or your child needs from me!
Friday morning we will launch our Mini-THON festivities with a kick-off assembly in the morning. During Advisory time, students will receive Mini-THON registration packets and learn a lot more about Mini-THON, Penn State Dance Marathon ("Big THON"), and Christopher Millard, whose family started the Four Diamonds Fund in 1972 after Chris lost his own battle to pediatric cancer. The Four Diamonds Fund supports families of childhood cancer patients at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
This year's EHS Mini-THON will be Saturday, March 19, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Ephrata Middle School. I highly encourage all students - especially freshmen - to get involved in the fundraising efforts and join in the fun by attending on March 19.
Mini-THON is near and dear to my heart. I helped plan last year's event as a co-adviser of the Mini-THON Club. As a Penn State alumna, I always follow "Big THON" at PSU, which took place last weekend and raised over $9 million For The Kids. In addition, one of my Penn State friends was a THON child when she was diagnosed with leukemia in high school. The impact that THON has on families in need is tremendous.
I hope your students are inspired by tomorrow's Mini-THON pep rally and Mr. Mini-THON pageant! It's going to be lots of fun!
MID-MARKING PERIOD
Tuesday, February 23, marked the hallfway point of the 3rd Marking Period. How crazy is that? Now would be a great time for your child to do some "housekeeping" by logging on to the Community Portal to see if there are any assignments marked "NS" (not submitted). Those assignments were never turned in to me, which means they're counting as zeroes in the gradebook. Homework, classwork, projects, tests - there are a variety of missing assignments in the gradebook that I will still accept! Please encourage your child to make a list of "NS" assignments and turn those in to me ASAP!
Most importantly, if your child did not get the full 10/10 on Section 6.1 Practice A+B or the full 20/20 on Section 6.1 Practice C+D, it is VITAL that he or she finishes those practice compounds and checks them for correctness with me or on Schoology! We have spent this past week studying ions, ionic bonds, and ionic compounds. We have worked for nearly two straight class periods on example after example on white boards. We should know how to name and write formulas for ionic compounds (those containing metals and nonmetals) at this point.
On Monday, we'll look at how to name and write formulas for molecular compounds (those joined by a covalent bond). Covalent bonding requires a whole new set of naming and formula writing rules, which will be a nightmare for students who still haven't mastered ionic compounds.
By the middle of the week next week, we'll mix ionic and covalent together! This means that the students will have to distinguish between ionic compounds and molecular compounds first, then apply the appropriate naming or formula writing rule. It is becoming very, very important to keep up with the class and do all of the practice that is assigned both during class and outside of class for homework!
I have screencasts of all notes and example problems, answer keys for all practice questions, and links to self-checking practice websites available on Schoology in the Unit 5: Chemical Bonds folder. I hope that your child will take advantage of these helpful resources - or come see me during ACT - if he or she is not yet feeling confident with ions or ionic compounds.
As always, I am in my classroom every Tuesday through Friday from 2:35 until 4:00 p.m. for Academic Coaching Time. This is a great opportunity to get extra help, work on assignments, do test corrections, or make up work.
THANK YOU
Thank you for your continued support at home and for your ongoing communication with me regarding your child's progress! Please let me know if there is anything at all that you or your child needs from me!