First Six Weeks Blogs from the AGS 9th Grade Team
AGS Spanish
!Hola, Padres!
We just wrapped up Chapter 1 in Spanish 1, and Reviews A-C in Spanish 2. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, your child will be tested on the concepts learned. We also watched Don Quixote, to integrate culture and literature. Next week my teaching style will be changing. This past Friday I attended a workshop with Blaine Ray, the inventor of TPRS (Total Physical Response Storytelling). I am very excited and a bit nervous about this new endeavor, but I truly believe in it. It is the natural approach to learning a foreign language. Have no doubt that your child will still receive the same quality instruction, with the added bonus of actually understanding and SPEAKING in Spanish, not just learning how to conjugate. Stay tuned for an update. For more information on TPRS visit http://www.blaineraytprs.com/pages.php?page=explanationpage
-Ms. Adriana Lacera
PreAP Biology
AGS Biology is off to a great start! We just had our first Unit Exam-Safety, Characteristics of Life and Experimental Design, so now students have a better idea of what to expect and can adjust their study habits accordingly. Did you know that crocodiles rely on birds to help them floss their 60+ teeth? And some tapeworms have been found to live in a human for up to 10 years without detection! We are beginning to explore the interesting topic of Ecology where we will learn about food webs and food chains, predator/prey relationships, symbiosis and much more! Hammie our class Hamster has enjoyed spending the weekend at the homes of a few students so far, and has several other students lined up to take him home for a weekend. With a signed permission slip your student can be one of the next to take him home for a weekend!
-Mrs. Devon Steiner
PreAP Geography
AGS Geography has been a fun and engaging experience for this year’s group of students, and it’s hard to believe that we are already into our 4th week of school! Students should have a copy of the brown Human Geography textbook – affectionately called “Rubenstein” – at home. Most class meeting, the students will be assigned a short 5-7 page reading assignment out of the textbook, and they will be required to take Cornell style notes on the readings. We are also currently developing and researching unique topics for the “Why of Where” one-page paper that is due on 9/26 (A Day) or 9/27 (B Day). The first traditional test will be the World Map test on 9/20 (A Day) or 9/21 (B Day). Students can study with the map key and blank map that I distributed in class, and they may study from their sketch map as well. Only items that they were required to label on their sketch maps are fair game for the test. (The students’ sketch maps were absolutely incredible this year!!) The map test will be fill-in-the-blank, there is no word bank, and spelling and capitalization will count for ½ point per question (Note: This is the same testing criteria and the same material taught and tested in the PreAP Geography classes throughout Austin High). Lastly, the students will be turning in their ISNs (Interactive Student Notebooks) on 9/22 (A Day) or 9/23 (B Day) so that I can check maps, “Why Geography Matters” response papers, and organization for a major grade for the 1st 6 weeks. I can really start to see the personalities of the students starting to come out, and I am looking forward to another great year at AGS/AHS!
-Mr. Warren
English
Summer reading was an overwhelming success for the AGS Pre-AP English 1 classes. The quiz scores were high and the discussions regarding To Kill a Mockingbird have been both stirring and insightful. Since this is the first high school class to be taking the STAAR end of course exams, we have focused on analytical writing and critical reading. Both these skills will be important on the state exam and in future AP exams. I believe we are off to a great start because most of our freshman seem to have adjusted nicely to their new high school setting. This is due in part to our school’s new Freshman Initiative, which recognizes the struggles our new students experience. We want to help ease them though this sometimes challenging transition. One new component to AGS is the student websites. All students registered with Weebly.com, a free website service. We did this in English class with the goal of establishing an electronic portfolio that students can maintain throughout their four year stay at Austin High School in order to showcase works from all subjects. Before winter holidays, we will hold a website “open house” and a student judged competition. Another thing parents should be aware of is the freshman AGS English Book Owl Competitions which started the first day of school and will close on December 6&7. See the website, agsenglish1.weebly.com for details. The purpose of this competition is to encourage students to broaden their knowlege base while inceasing fluency and comprehension. I look forward to a fun and invigorating experience this year.
-Mr. Martinez
Algebra 1:
Well, we have made it through the first three-weeks. Your super kids are learning and grasping concepts very well. We are working through “functional relationships” following the district’s planning documents. This is the equivalent of our textbook chapter 4, so the codes in Gradespeed relate to textbook sections. Right now the kids are working a project that challenges them to “solve a crime” by relating the size of a foot to the height of a person, creating a prediction model. Our first chapter test is coming up when we finish textbook chapter 4 (currently scheduled for September 26th & 27th).
Letter to Parents for Chapter 2
Letter to Parents for Chapter 5
Letter to Parents for Chapter 7
-Mr. Campillo