Project Alert!

Projects Coming Due for Grade 7 AND Grade 8, Advisory 24:

Students and Parents,  Grade 8 (24 only) has their African-American Poet project due on Monday,  2/25/13.

Grade 7 has their Africa Project due on Thursday 2/28/13.

Please remember that ANY and ALL projects in my Reading, Social Studies, and Writing Classes MUST be word processed/typed in 12 point font in Times New Roman.  NO handwritten projects will be accepted.  Please do not have students bring projects to me on a flash-drive or email them to me.  Students MUST print out their own projects and hand them in.  

If you do not have a printer at home The Free Library of Philadelphia has printing services available at low cost.

CORRECTION:  The next Current Events in due 2/28/13! Topics: City tax increase, Federal Budget, OR School Closures.  Please remember: a copy of the article MUST be included with the summary.

Next Current Events Assignment

Students:  Your next Social Studies Current Events Assignment is due NEXT Thursday: February 21, 2013.  The topic is one of the following:  City real estate taxes, the Federal (U.S.) budget, or school closings. Please remember to include the article with your summary

REPORT CARD CONFERENCES COMING IN FEBRUARY!

As you are aware report card conferences are scheduled for the following days:

Wednesday, February 13

Thursday, February 14

Friday, February 15

Dismissal these days will be at 12:09 PM.  Conferences are scheduled for the hours between 1:10PM and 3:00 PM.  In order to accommodate your busy schedules, we have decided to allow parents to select the day and time they would like to meet with their child’s teacher.

             Teachers will have sign up sheets on the outside of their doors.  Conferences will be on a first come – first served basis.  Please sign the sheet when you arrive at the classroom so the teacher will know the order in which parents arrived.

            Please remember that conferences during these hours are limited to 10 minutes.  If you need a longer time, please make arrangements with your child’s teacher for another day.

            We are looking forward to productive and informative conferences.

7th GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES PROJECT:  7TH GRADERS are working on an important project on Africa.  Please ask you child to show you their project requirements or access them via EDMODO (link on the right of this blog page).

Report Card Conferences

Report Card Conferences are this week on Wednesday, December 5th and Thursday, December 6th. Conferences for Grades 7 and 8 will be on those two days from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM in the Bache Science Lab (3rd Floor, Room 22).  We will also have evening Conference times on Thursday, December 6th, from 5:00-7:00 PM.  Conference slips were sent home with students last week.

*** Grading Guidelines for Reading: Parents please note, students cannot earn an "A" or "B" in Reading if they are NOT reading at or above grade level.  We work every day in class on reading skills.  However, the best, research-proven way for students to improve their reading skills and level is for each student to read AT HOME (a book of their choice) for 30 minutes a day. This is their reading homework EVERY night.  Of course, students must also complete all work to earn an "A" or a "B". These are School District guidelines.

Letter Grade	Numerical Score	Instructional Reading Level
A	100-90	At or above grade level
B	89-80	At or above grade level
C	79-70	At grade level/no more than 1 year below
D	69-65	11⁄2 to 2 years below grade level
F	64-00	More than 2 years below grade level

Hurricane Sandy-stay safe!

Students: You can summarize an article, photograph, or news report on Hurricane Sandy and its effects to use as a makeup assignment.  No "extra credit" will be given after this point (see below).  Use your day off wisely!

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/hurricane-sandy-vs-the-east-coast/

****“EXTRA CREDIT”—as the marking period comes to a close, it might be useful to explain what ‘extra credit’ means: It is for the VERY RARE times when a student has tried his/her best every day, but still needs a little EXTRA work to pass a class, OR it is awarded when a student has done something BEYOND what is expected. IT IS NOT for a student who has neglected to do homework, or work in class, or projects, and is therefore failing the class.  Extra credit WILL NOT be given to students who are missing regular assignments. Please discuss with your child the importance of giving his/her effort every day in school.  Thank you.

Interim Reports Coming Out!

Dear Parents: 
Ms. Allen, Mr. Rupertus, and Mrs. Luebbert will be giving out interim reports to the seventh and eighth grade students this week.  Please ask your child to show you his/her interim report. The interim reports will notify you of your child's average SO FAR in the first marking period.  If your child is failing, or has a grade lower than you believe they are capable of earning, please discuss with them what they can do do bring up their grades before the marking period ends.  Many students with poor grades have simply not been handing in work.  We are available to discuss your child's progress with you if you would like.  Our email addresses are:

Ms. Allen:  tdallen@philasd.org
Mr. Rupertus:  jrupertus@philasd.org
Mrs. Luebbert:  krluebbert@philasd.org