Monday, April 30, 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Thursday, April 26, 2012

NYS Math Test

In preparation for this week's NYS Math exam, students in ELA have been reviewing the importance of elaboration and being specific when describing how they solved a math problem.  Students have worked extensively to improve their descriptions of how they solved a variety of Book Three problems.  This skill can also be utilized in many other classes as well as the real world.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Earn a Bonus Five Points


Would you like to earn five bonus points on your lowest grade for the fourth marking period? 

Create an original description of our crazy weather using an example of figurative language and submit it to our blog.  Your description could contain a simile, a metaphor, an example of personification, a hyperbole, or even an idiom.  Be sure that your description is original!

Example - The weather has lost its mind!
                      (use of personification)

Test Question Thrown Out

Do you remember the story of "The Pineapple and the Hare" from the state test?  Were you confused by the story and the questions?  Well, you weren't the only one.  In fact, people from across the state were confused.  Check out the links below to learn more about the confusion:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/20/151044647/the-pineapple-and-the-hare-can-you-answer-two-bizarre-state-exam-questions

http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/04/20/state-scraps-pineapple-test-question-after-outcry/

As a result of all the confusion, those test questions associated with the article were thrown out.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Trip to SUNY Cortland


Tomorrow all eighth graders will be taking a trip to the State University of New York at Cortland. Students will have the opportunity to take a tour of the campus and sit in on a variety of workshops that will expose them to a number of possible career paths.