Mr. Kerr's 8th & 7th Grade Science

My name is Mr. Kerr and I am one of the 7th grade and 8th grade science teachers this year. This will be my fifth year at Bryant Middle School. My room number is 46; it is by the auditorium. I am excited to be back to face-to-face teaching and ready to start the new school year. I have my syllabus uploaded on my blog under CLASS INFORMATION so you can have a preview of things to come and my expectations.

Let’s have a fantastic school year and I look forward to seeing all of you next week on Monday for the first day of school. 🙂

You can always look on the Bryant Website and/or the Dearborn Public School Website for upcoming dates…

No School September 3rd or 6th Labor Day

Open House is September 8th 6:00-7:30 PM

Late Start is September 15th

Half-Day September 17th

Here’s what I know: (this could all change!) This is for 8th grade:

Monday, August 31: Teachers will be contacting their Advisory classes, by phone, zoom, other. That’s it. Classes will not meet yet. I already have sent a link to my advisory class.

Tuesday, Sept. 1: 1/2 day schedule will be followed. Each class meets for 22 minutes or so on Zoom. There’s a schedule, it’s in your email somewhere. How will you get into the Zoom meeting? Not sure. A link through mass email maybe? Through Schoology? Will let you know.

Wednesday, Sept. 2: 1/2 day schedule with Zoom meetings again.

Thursday, Sept. 3: No Zoom meetings for 8th graders. During the morning, 8th graders will come in and pick up materials. I will be there.

No School Friday!

The week after, starting September 8, a different schedule starts. You have this schedule in an email.

Hello, to all my students and parents this year. I hope you had a relaxing and fun summer, but more importantly were safe and were responsible practicing social distancing, wearing a mask and frequently washing your hands. It has definitely been a very interesting 2020 to say the least, but we move forward as a community and a district in providing an education to all students is our number one priority.

I am very excited to get back to school, but like you I have anxiety. We are not alone, however I have confidence in the district and the administration here at Bryant that decisions will be made in the best interest of the students and teachers. I will also do my best to pass on information and communicate as I know it. I understand that things will more than likely change often and the not knowing what it all looks like is the hardest part, but I believe that Bryant is doing everything to keep students and staff safe. I believe that Bryant has a positive environment and culture. I feel very lucky to be working here. Bryant not only has fantastic and flexible students, but it has great parent support.

As always e-mail is the best way to communicate with me (kerrd@dearbornschools.org), however the district recently approved SCHOOLOGY which will be our new formal learning resource format for virtual learning. This will help not only students/parents, but teachers have really only one site for all your needs.

Lastly, I will be moving to 8th grade for social studies and science so for some of you it is very possible you could be having me for a third year. I look forward to meeting new students that I have not have had the last two years and look forward to building those relationships.

Lastly, check the Dearborn Public website for all your news, frequently asked questions, CDC guidelines, calendar and the districts reopening plan.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe summer… Stay healthy and safe. I look forward to seeing everyone in the fall.

All assignments and assessments are due tomorrow for me; please e-mail me as you do them.

Also, there is a fundraiser from the PTA here is the link…

https://bryantmiddleschoolmasks.itemorder.com/

Also, here is a PARENT SURVEY… about the up coming fall… please fill it out… thank you.

https://forms.gle/DNx3eN8hcRpXsfSs5

Good Morning and Happy June… 2 weeks left of the school year!

Science:

Do the last NEWSLEA Article #17 on the Pacific Rim, finish if you have not Mi-Star Lesson 3.

Social Studies:

You have an iLearn quiz tomorrow on Chapter 31 “The Legacy of Greece”; the Kahoot! is on the previous blog entry. I would use that along with the TCI Lesson Game and the two WKS I assigned last week to help you study for it. It is worth 34 points and is the last assignment for the year… retakes will be Friday.

Misc.

Next, week there will be NO new assignments, and I will NOT take points off if they are LATE so try very hard to get everything in to me by June 9th so I can post 4th quarter and final grades ASAP.

AND IF YOU DO SOMETHING E-MAIL ME TELLING ME YOU DID!! INCLUDE ATTACHMENT, SHARE OR SCREENSHOT IT. I am not looking back at assignments that were done in March, April and early May… its too difficult; so I won’t know if you don’t mention it. Thank you.

I hope everyone had themselves a wonderful holiday weekend. 🙂

A couple things… teachers will going to Bryant this week at a scheduled day and cleaning out all their advisory lockers, then placing the items in a labeled bag for all of their students to pick up for the following week (June 1-5) at particular time and day. A schedule will be given later this week. Also, teachers will not be giving any new assignments, assessments or projects after June 8. The last week of school is for all makeup assessments or turning in late assignments, however you must communicate what you are turning in with your teachers.

Big Blue Button Advisory Meeting Thursday (May 28th) at 1:00 PM.

Science:

Here is your Mi-Star Lesson 3 assignment (below Word Document & Google Document)… when you are done resend it as an attachment or as shared file. There are also some resource videos with links to assist you with the assignment.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fuYlTI8ssU60t1Xllv3tqh5yL1-ObtZXT6cOOJDBozo/edit

Predicting volcanoes” (2009) by Our Research on YouTube is a scientist interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f164H2-Yty4 (2:29) 

Mount Pinatubo – Predicting a Volcanic Eruption

https://nj.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.earthsys.pinatubo/mount-pinatubo-predicting-a-volcanic-eruption/  (6:57)

NOVA | Earthquakes The Seismograph https://nj.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.earthsys.seismograph/earthquakes-the-seismograph/. (3:39) 

And FYI There will be one last NEWSLEA assignment for next week along with a written component for next week. It is called #18 “The Pacific Ring of Fire, Home to 452 Volcanoes” if you like to get started, but not due till June 5th.

Social Studies:

Read Chapter 31 “The Legacy of Ancient Greece” using your TCI online text then do the two assignments listed… as usual I included a Word Document and Google Document.

ent/d/1VBqW6NlUDfmGLd2-tFACqFe6JRx_w9tGD-WdVmGAaWc/edit?copiedFromTrash

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PiulWyATAh5PpijdhB6240c4iIU7H7OIo0JoZtskQkw/edit?ts=5ebc40ef

You will have a quiz on Chapter 31 next week on Tuesday June 2nd and this will be your last assignment in Social Studies for the school year. The Kahoot! link is below for you to study.

https://create.kahoot.it/share/chapter-31-the-legacy-of-ancient-greece/45f095ac-c998-433e-b144-3ef9ba1c9248

Happy Sunday!

Science:

I am still looking for many of you to send me the Mi-Star Lesson 2 WKS. The document and accompanying video instruction is in last weeks posting.

For this week do NEWSLEA Article #17 “Robotic Hand Solves Rubik’s Cube” all the same rules apply… read it, annotate three things, highlight three vocabulary words, take the quiz and do the writing prompt.

Social Studies:

You have your Mythology Slide Show Presentation that was due Friday… I sent feedback to a some of you, but I will have them graded today and tomorrow. You have an iLearn quiz tomorrow on Chapter 26 “The Rise of Democracy”. The Kahoot! is on last weeks posting and there is an abundance of resources in your iLearn course under Ancient Greece & Rome.

We will have the retake for the iLearn quiz Chapter 26 “The Rise of Democracy” Thursday (May 21st) and since there it is a short week with the Memorial Day Holiday just do Chapter 27 TCI Lesson Game this week and we will do Chapter 31 next week on Ancient Rome.

Be safe and Happy Memorial Day!

Social Studies:

At this point you should have the latest NEWSLEA article done, the two Review WKS for Sections 1-3, 4-5 & the Map WKS for Chapter 26. If not attach them to an e-mail and send them to me. They are on previous blog entries.

Now starting this weekend and all next week I want you to work on a Greek Mythology Slide Show. This will be due Friday May 15th. I have included directions and a template for you. Also, going to my iLearn course has these and other resources there as well. Have fun with it and be creative. This is ALL you are getting for Week 8. Any questions please e-mail me.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zEppOIXyD-m2SG4Qqv8MPOoiwCbgza4x606ToRu8cFM/edit

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kStPV83-zb0Ciw0TIYcaLPfNoO0wXIUezXUChCKgccM/edit#slide=id.g82c3571000_0_0

Just a heads up… We are having an iLearn Quiz on Chapter 26 “The Rise of Democracy” on Monday May 18th. Kahoot! below.

https://create.kahoot.it/share/chapter-26-duplicate-of-rise-of-democracy/ac1162e2-1ed4-485f-bd08-6a3042bc3c80

Science:

This weeks Science Instructional Video for Mi-Star Lesson 2…

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FAruvaChxKi_lCvFueyPMsV_QASfOF-s

Since it is Mother’s Day I didn’t have time to do a video for instruction for this weeks science assignment for “Mi-Star Lesson 2” (Google & Word Document) I will in the morning and have it out tomorrow before 10:00 AM, but I am including the WKS and the Slide Show so if you are self motivated. It is still due by Friday May 15th at the end of the week. Please feel free to look at Mr. Bailey’s or Mrs. Duquette’s Blogs as well as we plan together.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EsUdcOqSUcQrMm35RvmIz8E6ydIEMTTZtrJcqkAeimo/edit?ts=5eb59601

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PM7RDLVyJCEDVwtBtRo2Ov43veUUc_a6nNwfimt9ylE/edit?ts=5eb595e4#slide=id.g753b086f9c_0_0

Wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.

Happy Friday!

Science:

Many of you did NOT do last week’s assignment… please do so and send it to me ASAP.  Along, with that you have NEWSLEA Article #16 “Strutting Their STEM Stuff” for this week. I will have a new Mi-Star assignment next week and a new video for instruction.

Social Studies:

Here is a VIDEO for this week for Social Studies…

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/my-drive

As the same with Science I did not get as many of the two SS assignments for the new chapter on Ancient Greece last week that I should have. I would those as ASAP as well. Did you take your retake for Chapter 24 today? That window closes at 11:59 PM.

I am adding one more WKS for sections 4 & 5.  Remember it is your TCI log-in that gives you the online text to do the work. I included both a Google document and a Word Document to assist you. And lastly, do NEWSELA Article #14 “Life in Ancient Greece”.

There are no Guided Notes or Lesson Game for this Chapter.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BH5MOoiSMNbGJG5ajcMARj5bsSYyD_I1EPdwu5nJbJQ/edit?ts=5ea835c9

Look for an iLearn Big Blue Button Class Meeting soon 🙂

Happy Sunday!

We are on our third week of the 4th quarter… I hope all is well and everyone is safe and healthy. There are no Google Hangouts scheduled at this time.

Social Studies:

You have your last iLearn Quiz on Ancient China Tuesday (April 28th). The quiz is called Chapter 24 “The Silk Road”. I provided the Kahoot! last week, use that and your TCI Lesson Game and Guided Notes to help you be successful. The retake will be May 1st.

I don’t want to overwhelm you with Ancient Greece therefore just concentrate on Ancient China Chapter 24 and I will give you information on Greece Wednesday evening.

There is NO TCI LESSON GAME OR GUIDED NOTES this week or next… we are starting Chapter 26 today. Do the two assignments listed below. I included Google and Word documents for both. However, you still need to log on to TCI… THIS IS YOUR ONLINE TEXT BOOK!!! and will help you with the assignments for the rest of the year.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MqUTjLA_ZWy9bkckmeBpXLLJDIRiH6YCxgDOSFpwSXs/edit?ts=5ea835c9

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rpji0KxFZh029ECi5h3_X0nsef7JLINeSmBphU08Oxk/edit?ts=5ea835b9

Science:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1fALcjgvRkE1F24GNqXA4mELeRMNcPqq7

The link above is a video to help instruct you with my expectations this week in science.

We are NOT doing IXL or NEWSLEA this week. If you haven’t completed them you still may do them, but e-mail when you do. I am done looking for them.

We are now moving forward with a new assignment based on the Mi-Star Curriculum. I attached the assignment two ways Word Document and Google Document (see below). You are to download or copy the document; and you will need to use the Google Slide Presentation… YOU MORE THAN LIKELY WILL HAVE TO ASK FOR ACCESS TO GOOGLE DOCUMENT.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-m_TnHc7TyGIaZzofE5ePm1XGylOPUfOImsbrjVU7sA/edit#slide=id.g74a43fb549_0_0

…and video links within the presentation to answer ALL 11 questions. I then want you to use some other color font then black when typing in your answers, then save your document… call it your last name and RLS 042720 so for example Kerr RLS 042720. Then send it to me by e-mail by Friday. This will take a little bit of time, but there are no other assignments unless you are behind.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mVHqfxGaAxIwKhgwOBzvqOnvbVJX4U7x7fysQGZoeoo/edit

As always e-mail me if you have any questions, concerns or just want to chat.

I am still looking for the rest of my Advisory students to send me an e-mail with a few short sentences on their experience with technology, their home life, academics and what we can do or not to assist you. Do that ASAP… thank you.