March Manners

This week the 7th grade homebases finished up a project called "March Manners". Two weeks ago we talked about some basic manners and read a book about some "thingumajigs" who don't ever mind their manners. Each homebase took a manner to present to the whole 7th grade class and we had some skits, posters and even a song to remind us about some basic manners. The manners that we focused on were:

1. Wait your turn and don't interrupt other people when they are speaking.
2. No name calling. Even if it's in "fun", name calling hurts.
3. Chew with your mouth closed.
4. Say, "Please" and "Thank you" often.
5. Clean up after yourself. Whether at home, at school or at a friend's house, always pick up after yourself.
6. Display good sportsmanship.
7. Take compliments courteously.
8. Dress for success. If you don't look like you respect yourself or take yourself seriously, then other people won't respect you or take you seriously either.
9. Exiting/Entering etiquette.
10. Respect differences.

All the homebases did a great job presenting their manners and I've heard more "please" and "thank you" over the last couple of weeks. Great job 7th grade!!

Have a wonderful, safe Spring Break!!

Puerto Rico

This week los estudiantes de 7 began a unit on Puerto Rico in their books. We talked about some cultural highlights in Puerto Rico like el morro, el loro puertorriqueño, pasta de guayaba, el Yunque and los Taínos. ¡A ver cuánto más vamos a aprender!

Have a great weekend!

Hay que estudiar...

Both 7th and 8th grade Spanish students have tests next week. Make sure you use the Study Guide that you got in class on jueves to get your notes together so you can start studying. See Ms. Payne before school or during Study Hall if you have preguntas! Buena suerte.

Just how smart are you?

This week was full of ISAT testing and changed schedules. When the students receive their ISAT scores they'll see how they did on the test compared to other students in this area and across the country.
If you'd like a test with more immediate results, take a look at this quiz from Mensa. Mensa is an organization that was founded in 1946 in England. It's sort of like a society or a fraternity. The only requirement for membership is a high IQ. Mensa has members all over the world. The purpose of the society is for members to be able to socialize and network with other very intelligent individuals. There are over 100,000 members of Mensa in 100 countries around the world. There are members that come from every continent except Antarctica.
Try this quiz and see how you stack up next to the most intelligent people in the world. http://www.mensa.org/workout2.php Good luck!

¿Conoces la geografía de Sudamérica?

How much do you know about the countries of South America?

• How many countries in South America are not Spanish-speaking? Which countries don't have Spanish as their official language?
• Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in South America?
• Does the United States have good relationships with South American countries? With which ones?
• Do you know the capitals of any of these countries?

El día de los presidentes

We didn't have school on lunes for President's Day, which honors American presidents. How much do you know about the past and present presidents just south of us in Mexico? Here are some notable (not necesaarily good) presidentes mexicanos.

• Benito Juárez was the first full-blooded indigenous president that Mexico had. He served as president for five terms! He was born in 1806 and died in 1872. He is still considered to be one of Mexico's greatest leaders.
• Porfirio Díaz was a very influencial and controversial president. In an effort to help Mexico's economy, which was in bad shape, Díaz invited many foreign investors into the country. This caused problems and poor conditions for local businesses and for workers. There was segregation during el Porfiriato (the time when Díaz was president) because he wanted to make Mexico look good to foreign visitors and investors. Indigenous people, very poor people and disabled people were hidden away from society. He was born in 1830 and died in 1915. He served two terms as president.
• Vicente Fox was born in 1942. He served as president from 2000-2006. His election was important because it was the first election in over 70 years in which the dominant PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Pary) was defeated. Fox is a member of the PAN (National Action Party).
• Felipe Calderón is the current president of Mexico. He was born in 1962 and attended Harvard University. Like President Fox, Calderón is a member of the PAN.

Que interesante, ¿no? Es importante saber de los líderes de otros países.

¡Que tengan un buen fin de semana!

¡Ponemos la mesa!

The 8th graders recently made place mats to show off their etiqueta. They did a great job putting everything in its place and making creative designs for their place settings.