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ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL

Pulling Together801 E. Arctic Ave. Palmer, AK 99645Call us at 907-746-2358 or Fax us at 907-746-2368 or visit us at www.matsuk12.us/acc

1. Calendar

2. job Corner

3. Classroom News K-2

4. Classroom News 3 & 4

5. Classroom News 5

6. Notes from K-5 Labs

7. Classroom News 6 & 7

8. Classroom News 8

9. Student Work

“On time” Winners for the week ending Nov. 16th: (sub sandwiches on Wednesday)Aurelia Zimin,Nate Wright, Forrest Potteiger, Logan Baltazar, Justice Panamarioff, Joseph Walling, Zoe Stockton, Mary Wright, Kayla King$50 Gas Card winner Are:The parents of Hallie Lazar

November 16, 2012

Winner : 11/16/12Coalette WatchusOUT OF 34 RESPONSESI read the newsletter!

Every week you will be able to look for the little smily face above; it will have a little quote with it. Simply copy the quote and reply to my email that you found it. Your child will be entered to win a cool prize from our prize box.

Academy Advisory Board invites you to

A Christmas Party for parents and staff Academy parents please join our staff and Advisory Board for a holiday party! The event will be held in North Bowls banquet room. This will be a fun filled night with live entertainment by local band, Element 47. Save the date and come mingle with your fellow Academy parents and the Academy staff. Cost: $10.00 per person at the door. Bring an appetizer dish, and a nonalcoholic beverage to share. There will be adult beverages available to purchase. Must be 21 + to attend

December 15 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Located at North Bowl at 3250 E Palmer Wasilla Hwy In the banquet room

Shop Amazon (from our website) and Academy benefits!Go to Academy home page, click on AMAZON link on left. Any shopping you do, we get up to 10%! (For Academy to benefit, you must access Amazon from Academy’s web page.)

PFD time! Click Pick Give – PFD opportunity to donate $$ to Academy. Go to Academy website and click on the link.

Dear Families,! This is the time of year that we think of our many blessings! We are so blessed with our wonderful teachers and support staff! We are blessed with wonderful, supportive, and helpful parents! We are blessed with students who have a desire to learn and work hard. We are blessed! Happy Thanksgiving!

Advisory Board meeting is Tuesday, November 20th, 4 p.m.

3rd grade proudly presents:

Tammy TurkeyNovember 21st

Come and enjoy this

performance by the 3rd grade class. The

play will be upstairs in the taekwondo room.

Show times: 10:20 and 11:05.Each performance

is 20 minutes

Please joinus for

FamilyFeast Day

onNovember

21st, 11:30-12:30.

Dress for Recess

Early Release Days will be

Pizza day/Dec 7 Order slips will be due the Wednesday of that week, Dec 5 for this months pizza!

Job Corner Get your hours now!

1 All teachers put items on the Parent Help Shelf every day. These are things like copying, laminating, sharpening pencils etc. If you are able, just check the shelf to see if there is work. Thank you.

2 HomeRoom Parents needed for grades: 1st, 2nd and 7th

3 Help with Pizza Day, call Kat 351-3046 Needed: at least one parent

4 Snow Removal - Shovels/Snow-blowing. Just come to school early on snow days and grab a shovel. All boardwalks and sidewalks have to be cleared.

Date to Mark

Time Field Trips and More

Nov 21 10:20 & 11:05 Tammy Turkey Play

Nov 21 11:30-12:30 Family Feast

Nov 22 & 23

Thanksgiving Vacation

Dec. 12 6:00 Geo Bee

Dec. 7 1:00 Early Release

Dec. 15 7:00 Christmas Dance for Parents and Staff

Dec. 19 Pajama Day

Dec. 20 & 21

NO School for Student

Dec. 21 Report Cards Mailed home

Dec. 24 -Jan 4

Holiday Vacation

A Big Thank U to all the parents that have taken time to “MEET WITH THE PRINCIPAL” This makes our school more rounded and efficient. Over 60 families have already met with or have schedule meetings.

BE sure and CHECK lost and found it will be hauled away at end of Family Feast!

NEEDED: Two parents to be in charge of small raffle. Need to sell tickets at Family Feast and Pick Up. Hope to draw the winner at Pajama Day. Please see office if you can help.

ClassRoom News K-2

Kindergarten Notes! We have had a wonderful week in Kindergarten!  This group continues to make great progress.  On the latest oral phonogram check they made really nice gains in the sounds.  The average gain was 10 phonogram sounds!  I am very proud of their hard work.  This week we added the CH phonogram with three sounds as in chick, school and chef.  We continued with 2 more jobs for final silent e: English words don't end in V or U as in have and blue & changing the C and G to their second sound as in rice and cage.  There have been a variety of songs, poems and stories to help illustrate some of these concepts.  Daily practice in writing had us learning the capital letters.  ! In math we worked on addition.  Students were given several ways to read, write and solve addition equations.  We will continue addition next week.  ! On Wednesday, families are invited to join us for lunch.  Please plan on joining us.  There is a sign up sheet in the office foyer to sign up to bring food for the event.   ! Thanks for your help and support.    ! Ronni Berg

First Grade Facts The week has been a learning curve with some Workshop changes, but Thursday was the day that it was solidified! The only other change before the New Year will be needing to have Mathorama completed before Folding Paper, but I think they are ready! Whew! I was sure working your kids’ brains this week with math strategies! We spent a couple of days on each . . . “near doubles” and “making ten on a ten-frame.” If a child can spot a double fact he/she knows already and can also spy it in a “near double,” then he/she can quickly add one to find the sum! And being able to see how, for example, 8+4 is also 10+2 . . . will also enable addition to be done more quickly (as well as developing number sense). Both of these strategies will be reviewed daily on the back of the Mystery Sentence task to keep them alive! I look forward to seeing those of you who can make it at the Family Feast! Mrs. Mayer

Second Grade News! A sign up sheet was sent home today with spots still open for people to sign up for the Family Feast.  Thank you to all of the people who have signed up so far.  Parents are welcome to come and have lunch with their children.  Lunch will start at 11:30 on Wednesday.  Hope to see you there. ! This week we completed a writing assignment about what we are thankful for.  They will be hanging in the entryway.  We started learning about proper nouns this week.  In math., we started working on 3-digit addition.  We also worked on number words and comparing numbers using base ten blocks.          ! Our key word this week in math was regrouping.( that was for you, Forrest  :-) )  Some of these concepts are challenging kids, but they are learning and pushing themselves.  Keep up the good work kids!!! Have a good weekend!   Mrs.Booth

News from Mrs. Liebing’s Room! Our main language focus this week has been on writing the final drafts of our stories. This is a tedious process, but the students are looking forward to sharing their finished products with the class. I sent the spelling/homework a day late this week (sorry), so we did one day of spelling practice in class. We also have started learning about action verbs. We will be pointing them out in everything we read for the next couple of weeks and practicing writing them too. !! In math we are practicing adding two digit numbers in many different ways. We have added money, regular numbers, and data from charts. Most of the students seem pretty comfortable with the regrouping already, but we will continue to work on it for a few more days before moving to subtraction. This is a very important skill and one that we will continue to practice for the rest of the year.! This week we recited a poem about the first Thanksgiving, and next week we will be writing our own Thankful Poems. There will be no spelling test or homework packets next week. ! ! Mrs. Liebing

ClassRoom News 3 & 4

Benbow Buzz! Language Arts –The Fairy Tale project is moving along a great pace. Students have filled out organizers and are ready to begin their rough drafts! I have asked everyone in class to hold on to their Spelling packets until Friday from now on, because that will allow them to study for the Spelling test on Friday morning. ! Math- We dug right into Chapter Three this week. We learned about the meaning of multiplication, the patterns certain numbers follow and the properties of multiplication. Please ensure that your child has time to practice multiplication facts every night as we do timed tests every day. ! LAX- Daily Paragraph Edits are providing plenty of opportunities to learn for both fourth and fifth grade classes. The discussions that arise from finding errors are wonderful! Fourth grade wrote and shared stories that were prompted by Story Cubes, which are dice that have different pictures on each face. Fifth grade used the characters, settings and plots that were chosen last week to finish writing short stories. ! Have a great weekend and, as always, feel free to contact me with any comments or concerns! [email protected]

Third Grade News! This was a busy week for third graders. We had a spelling test and a math test as well as getting ready for Tammy Turkey. Thank you to all the parents that have signed up to help with either the play or the family feast. If you have yet to sign up, please do. I really need everyone’s help during this time. Next week we will do a dress rehearsal and then it is show time on Wednesday the 21st. We will have two shows. One show will be at 10:20 and the other 11:05. The family feast is immediately following the show. ! I know this is a busy time of the year for all of us. As we approach the end of the semester please remind your child to stay on top of their homework. I have had an increase in missing work in the past two weeks. I-parent is current with all the work that has been turned in. If you have any questions or need another copy please let me know.! Looking forward to seeing everyone next week.! ! Mrs. Weetman

Fourth Grade Factoids

This week in reading, we worked on word attack skills and started planning their fairy tale. Students learned about character traits, setting, transition words and plot. After making a graphic organizer about their story, they started their rough draft.

In math class, students continued learning strategies to help them tackle word problems. This week we looked at patterns, making an organized list, guess and check, and looking at parts and wholes to solve problems. Students also had another chance at passing their math vocabulary quiz.! Mrs. Ambrosius

ClassRoom News from 5th

The Real Report 5th Grade Core- Please sign up in the office to bring treats for “Family Feast Day”- we need families to bring soups or a main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and drinks.! LA: This has been a week of creative writing, drawing, organizing, grammar and spelling. Students spent several class periods working on their “Detective Handbooks”. They are coming together nicely. We are doing the bulk of the work in class, but students are excited and will need to complete some of their projects on their own. Students will be presenting them on Nov. 20th and will turn in their “Mystery” on Nov. 27th.! MATH: In math, we continued to build our word problem vocabulary. Students tackled multiple-step problems (they are difficult) and practiced their adding/subtracting decimal skills. We will finish Ch. 2 and have our test next week. ! PLEASE help your student be successful by practicing times tables at home, playing card games, or checking out some on-line games. Have a great weekend! *PS: be sure to always check my website! ! Mrs. Real

Mr. Olson’s Pack! Language Arts- This week was a productive one, we got a really good start on our five paragraph how to essay and did a spelling packet. We will be having a quick spelling test on friday and then we will be trying to finish our papers so then next week we can type them up.! Math- We have wrapped up chapter three this week and took the cumulative test for chapters one through three. The class is cruising, and learning a lot everyday. We will be focusing on ALEKS for the next week before we jump into chapter 4.

ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

Did you know that some foods or drinks can be harming our health and hindering our athletic abilities!

KIDS LIKE TO EAT FRUIT SNACKS, FOR A TREAT IT'S OK. THE PROBLEM IS WHEN KIDS THINK IT IS THE SAME AS A SERVING OF FRUIT, THEY ARE FOOLING THEMSELVES AND MISSING OUT ON

THE REAL DEAL! HERE IS THE PROBLEM

• FRUIT SNACKS ARE LOADED WITH SUGAR OR HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

• THEY LACK ALL OF THE FIBER REAL FRUIT CONTAINS• FRUIT SNACKS DONT MAKE YOU FEEL FULL, ONLY

HUNGRY• NUTRIENT VALUE IS GREATLY DIMINISHED

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO

SWITCH ITfor

REAL FRUITREAL FRUIT

• HAS ALL THE NUTRIENTS, VITAMINS, MINERALS & ANTIOXIDANTS

• HAS ALL THE FIBER THAT HELPS YOU FEEL FULL • KEEPS YOUR DIGESTIVE TRACT MOVING GREAT• IS CHEAPER WHEN YOU LOOK AT NUTRITIONAL VALUE

AND HOW MUCH LESS FOOD YOU WILL WANT TO CONSUME

HERE'S A FUN AND HEALTHFUL IDEA THAT TASTES GOOD!

GET AN APPLE SLICER, SLICE APPLE INTO WEDGES AND PUT IN A BAGGIE. SPRINKLE A LITTLE JUICE FROM A LEMON, ADD A DASH

OF CINNAMON AND A PINCH OF ORGANIC SUGAR. SHAKE AND SEAL. THROW IT IN YOUR LUNCH INSTEAD OF THE FRUIT

SNACKS AND YOU WILL BE HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER!ENJOY

MRS BERGEY, CFT, SPNACADEMY CHARTER FIT 4 LIFE TEACHER

Switch it

Reports from our LabsWorld of WritingBy Mrs. Weetman! The first and second graders finished their unit on habitats. Our focus was non-fiction writing for Alaska’s 3 bears as well as an underwater animal since the two classes will be visiting the Sea Life Center later in the year. Kindergarten finished a book on all the things they are thankful for as we discussed a little about why we celebrate Thanksgiving.

From Around the WorldBy Mrs. Booth! The Kindergarten class learned about the first Thanksgiving. The first and second graders started their unit on Alaska. The three classes also learned about the Mayflower and the pilgrims.

!

ExperimentsBy Mrs. Tompkins! All grades completed their study of the skeletal, muscular and digestive systems. We covered a great deal of material this rotation and the students were absorbing all of it with great questions and new insights.

Espanol.

Spanish Newsby Miss Agoff! Intermediate students have been playing vocabulary games and competing with each other to see who can conjugate verbs the fastest. The student work on the Chibcha Indian Tale of El Dorado is mostly complete. I can’t wait to assemble these colorful tales and bind them into classroom books. We are privileged to have Tyler and Heather’s mother Kathy Swartz present to us this Friday. She has lived in Colombia as a student, teacher and researcher and we are so grateful to have her share her knowledge, experience and wonderful photos of this beautiful country. Muchissima Gracias!

!ComputerBy Mr. OlsonTechnology- We have spent this rotation focusing on our typing skills and we have some really good keyboard smashers! We have also been exploring more of the productive apps like numbers in fifth grade. The 5th grade have been creating spreadsheets full of data and then creating beautiful graphs

from that data. They have been getting the data from the internet and analyzing their graphs.

ArtBy Mrs. Holler! It has been a wonderful week in the art room with the K,1, and 2 students. They have been experimenting with color mixing and pattern. The students investigated the artwork of Helen Frankenthaler and how she used large canvases and buckets of paint to create mixed shapes.! I hope you have a terrific weekend.

News from the Top, 6th and 7th grades

6th Grade News! The class election has concluded in our social studies class; President Elijah presiding, Misty May Vice President, Team Representatives; Zoe Stockton, Linnaea Alverts, Khyla Chasse, Jolene Malone.  Big writing projects are under way in our classes.  Schumacher's students are writing a prologue to A Wrinkle in Time, while Titus' students continue a research paper.   Math classes continue working on area and perimeter.  Science topics continue with a hands-on study of matter and energy.  Kids earned a celebration with good behavior on Friday." Mr. Titus and Mr. Schumacher

News@7! We have been studying biology and worked on cleaning weasel and marten skulls.  The skulls were boiled and then all the cooked meat  was picked off.  Afterwards, we bleached the skulls and painted them with glow in the dark paint.  So, we are now ready to scare people for next year’s Halloween.  Students learned the difference between a carnivore’s skull and teeth vs. an herbivore’s.  They also learned how to tell them apart. In math, this week we combined math classes with Mrs.  Wright to do a hands-on math lab that dealt with percentages and fractions as well as graphing.  The class was excellent and enjoyed determining which % solution produced the best “gak.” " In L.A. we are working on our first draft of “compare/contrast” essays.  Some students are already working on their second draft.  We will share a few of these essays with the class.  In our literary circle we continue to read All Quiet on the Western Front.  We are discussing the action in the book and it’s significance as we go.  Our main focus is comprehension and our second focus is acquiring new vocabulary and learning the skills of how to decipher new words and their meanings as we encounter them in our reading.    " Parents please come and join us for our Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday at noon in the seventh grade.  Your child should already know what they have committed to bringing for our meal, to make it a big success.  Ask your child what they need to cook or bring in for our meal, for Wednesday.  We’ll look forward to seeing you!" Have a great weekend with your families!" Mr. Reilly & Mr. Bergey 

News from the Wright math class: We joined forces with Mr. Bergey's class this week and did a Gak lab, using measurement and ratios to gather data, which we used to chart a bar and line graph. This was a great experience of hands-on, applicable math that the students could "see" how percentages and projected vs. actual results can vary. Students should also be logging in to ALEKS on a regular basis for extra credit! Have a great weekend, Mrs. Wright

News from the Wright language arts class: This week we continued work on grammar, on vocabulary from our in-class books and began our group in Goodreads. We also had our first student-led book commercial. Students are just starting to learn about primary sources and how to cite information online in preparation for their propaganda projects. All info is loaded on my web page, but if you have questions, feel free to call or email me anytime. Have a great weekend! Mrs. Wright

Espanol Siempre!Senorita Caterina" Sixth Graders will be writing their final Aztec essays this weekend in preparation for starting work on their MesoAmerican comic book. Mr. Titus was gracious enough to walk the students through an editing session of their rough draft so they have all the information they need to complete and turn in a polished edition.! Seventh graders have been having problems getting their homework done in the last two weeks. This hurts our class in two ways. Students who don’t get the additional at home practice homework provides are not furthering their understanding and do not perform as well on tests or quizzes. Students who are consistently doing at home review in their homework are ready to move on and unable to do so because unprepared students need further review of the materials. This is not equitable. " Progress reports were sent home this week. I appreciate those parents who have been encouraging success in homework habits." Eighth graders got to try some Mexican paletas during class this week. We are continuing to augment our vocabulary with sports words. We spent class time today working with stem changing verbs o-ue and e-ie. Homework this week deals with e-i stem changing verbs. We are not quite ready to take our boot verb tests this week but will continue to practice on StudySpanish.com. " *Please remember I am available for tutoring or a quiet place to study every day after school except Friday when I am hosting a Battle of the Books Practice .

The last year,

Making news with Mrs. Molina! Another week has flown by but it has been a pretty great week in 8th grade. We have been so busy and the students have really started to realize how quickly a school year can go. ! In my Math, we have been digging deep into fractions. The students started the unit thinking they had a firm understanding of the concepts and have come to realize that we have some work to do before they have fraction mastery. Parents, please be aware that for the remainder of this unit I am choosing not to follow the textbook. Our book addresses fractions but then proportions, percents and rates-of change don’t come until much later. These concepts are all inter-related and I believe we should approach them in a manner that will make the most sense in the students’ mind. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me & I would be happy to discuss this further. ! We have been having fabulous discussions in Social Studies about the Constitution and how this document really impacts our lives. After a brief test on the Constitution next week, we will shift to our study of China. The students are really excited!! In my Language Arts, we are wrapping up The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As a culminating project, the students will be work a related writing assignment. After Thanksgiving we will begin George Orwell’s Animal Farm, as well as reading some short stories. ! Have a fabulous weekend! ! Mrs. Molina

8Science with TompkinsThe class is working on cell theory, the cellular structure of plant and animal cells and the functions of various organelles.

REAL English 1 This week was tough. Students wrote, revised, wrote, and revised. On Thursday, I sent student’s “Memories Through my Eyes” essays in for the Alzheimer’s Resource Center competition. They are fantastic! In class we completed The Pearl , and wrote a short response identifying it’s theme and symbolism.We focused on the components of introductory and concluding paragraphs, and continued to practice spelling and grammar rules. " For the next weeks, students will be reading The Good Earth, responding to journal prompts and creating a new vocabulary list on Quizlet." Last week, I handed out our “Independent Book Response Project”. The next quarter will be full, but our hard work will pay off next semester!Have a great weekend!*PS: be sure to always check my website! " Mrs. Real

AlgebraChapter 4 is well underway with the solving of multi-step inequalities. We may complete the chapter before Thanksgiving break if we stay on track.

Adventures in History with Mrs. ASeventh Grade " Students saw a video on what lead to the United States becoming a world power. They also read about the Spanish American War and Teddy Roosevelt.Eighth Grade: " Students read about the Executive and Judicial branches of our government and learned about the various ways each branch checks each other." " "" Mrs. Ambrosius

Behave towards your friends as you wish your friends to behave toward

you.-jo ryan, dare to dream

Benjamin AndersonMrs. Real

English 1

14 November 2012

Memories Through My Eyes " My past is becoming a dream. I am being taken out of my present state and being set back through time and former experiences. The life I have lived is becoming a current through my brain that washes over and appears in my head depending on where I am. Memories, they have been my stepping stones, my reference, and my imagination. " Continuing on my path through my imagery and thought, I suddenly remember a memory that is a treasure in my mind. Suddenly the time shifts and I get a jolt of shock and recollect my history. BEEP the buzzer buzzes as our team gathered back up sluggishly. The air was full of heat and intensity as our game transitioned to the fourth quarter. I suddenly blinked and the time flashed to where we started playing nearing the end of our championship. Sprinting toward the other end of the court, I glanced at the score board. Once my vision focused, I saw the score was 28 to 30 with the time? I didn’t want to chance it. All I had to know was that we were losing and that there was minimal time left to win the championship." I can’t quite remember how, but I got the ball and put it up for the tie. The crowd blew my ears with cheers and yelling, and the opposing coach was screaming, “We cannot let this happen!” I remember having a feeling that we had a chance. It was warm, and suddenly I wanted to cry. I went back for defense, and while the in-bounder for the other team delivered the ball, I took one final glance at the clock up above. It was 35.6 seconds and suddenly a crevasse formed inside of my chest that knocked the wind out of my very soul. I started sweating more than usual, and shook at the fear that something would go wrong." I remember it clearly, I was afraid to make a motion from fear of losing the game for my team. Of course the other teams point guard took his own sweet time taking it down, and in front of me green jerseys popped back and forth for distraction, and also for reception. My mind went blank, and then I thought of all the games we have been through and what it means for the team, the coach, and me. I don’t know what pushed me, but in a couple strides I was streaming toward the ball. I thought to myself, what am I doing? But then, as the crowd and my coach screamed at my actions, I slapped the ball out of the unsuspecting player and I ran toward the basket which took only seconds, but felt like it took minutes. I went for the final layup with 3 seconds counting down on the clock, the crowd went wild, and then, I missed. I slowly fell to the sweat slicked court and had a pain as I watched the ball, just watched the ball, bounce off the backboard. However suddenly, without hesitation or doubt, my teammate took off and put the ball back in as the buzzer sounded!" The crowd went wild and I got blurred vision as hands stuck out and helped me off the floor. It was one of the happiest moments of my life when masses of people went out from the stands and swarmed all over the court with cheers and commotion. We had won the championship, and 1st place was ours. " Suddenly a flash glowed from one of the many cameras taking pictures of the champions, and it covered the scene as I teleported back to the present. Sitting up on the couch stiffly, I’m having a sigh of relief, but also a want to relive the past again. I always get a smile on my face when thinking of this great time in my life. This is one of my favorite memories, and I will never forget it as long as I live. As my mind readjusts, I go to sleep for another memory just waiting to be remembered.