Classroom Newsletter Mr. Choquette Sci-8 / SS-8
February 14, 2012
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Email: cchoquette@kas.kh.edu.tw Phone: 07-5830112
Dr. Farrell welcomes students, parents, and staff to the First Semester Honor Roll assembly in the Multi-Purpose Room on February 14, 2012.
Happy Valentines Day! Valentines Day is always in energy filled day with awkward energy and shyness. February 14th was more than just another Valentine’s Day however, it was the date selected for the Middle School’s First Semester Honor Roll Assembly. Kaohsiung American School
Superintendent’s Honors: Cheng, Chao-Hui (Tony) Chia, Jolyn Harris, Erin Hung, Henry Kun-Chieh Lan, Po-Han (Brian)
Lo, Ashley Hsuan Rice, Julian Michael Wu, Chia-Chia (Kelly) Yang, Jason Yu, Kaolin (Henry)
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Farrell offered a warm welcome to the students, parents, and staff in attendance. Dr. Farrell thanked students for their hard work and remarked that is our students’ positive outlook and great effort both in the classroom and beyond that make Kaohsiung American School a great school. Middle School Principal Gerry Dery got the proceedings underway and called students in grades 6-8 down by name to receive their certificates from Dr. Farrell and their recognition from the audience. There were lots of smiling faces and loud applause. It is always a joy to celebrate our students’ success! The following 8th graders were recognized for their academic success:
High Honors: Chen, Eric Neil Chen, Hai Wei Lin, Tiffany Liu, Charlotte Yun Hsuan Shien, Tiffany WanHua Tran, Nga Linh Honors: Cheng, Nathan Chiang, Daniel Yu-Chen Chou, Jerry Chi Jui Chou-Andre, Todd Elliot Fang, Dorothy Galayda, Nikita Hong, Edward Jia-Wei Hsieh, Pin-Hsun (Brian)
Lee, Johnny Lin, Betty Liu, Tzu Hao (Alex) So, Kenny Hsu Tseng, Yu-Jen Frank van Goch, Tara Wu, Yi Hsuan (Sherry) Yu, Sin Tung Irisa
SCI-8 Update: Fantastic Pick-A-Project efforts! The 8th graders have done it again; many of them put forth an amazing effort and reached for excellence. You might remember that students were assigned what I called a “Pick-A-Project” assignment over the Chinese Lunar New Year break. Students were given a sheet that listed a myriad of assignments for them to select from. Students had to choose at least 30 points in from the list of assignments but were allowed to choose up to around 40 if they wanted to have somewhat of an “insurance policy” in earning a 30/30 on the assignment. Students completed colorful and creative children’s story books, information rich timelines, fun and informative board games, playful poetry, accurate and emotional journal entries centered around historical earthquake events, well researched papers about scientists and scientific devices, challenging crossword puzzles and much more. We held a share-a-bration day in which we examined student created works and played the board games. Students really enjoyed the share-a-bration and learned a lot through these interactions.
Next in SCI-8: Earthquakes Students just completed their Chapter 7: Plate Tectonics test on Monday and now moving to study Chapter 8: Earth Quakes. Students will learn about what earthquakes are and understand why they happen. Students will learn how scientists measure and predict earthquakes as well as what can be done to prepare for future earthquakes.
SS-8: Medieval West Africa! We have begun our next unit that focuses on the Culture and Kingdoms of West Africa. Students are currently working on a very exciting and engaging group project that I have adapted which asks them to develop a promotional travel campaign for one of the three Medieval West African cultures. Students are researching in the library this week and working in class next week. Presentations will be next week Friday and the following Monday. Please check out the Student made board games offer a fun learning experience for their classmates. Students who designed and constructed the games acted as hosts and managed the game during the share-a-bration.
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project Prezi located here:
http://tinyurl.com/7zqr6go Mr. Choquette / Newsletter #7 / February 14, 2012