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. Auction Information

“On time” Winners for the week ending February 1st are:Tripp ThomasAlana FolcikAdriana GildersleevePieter VenemaRayvn KennedyCassy HerrLevi FarrisBlake CooperCody GroganSub sandwiches on Wednesday for them

$50 Gas Card winner/s:The parents of Casey Clark!

February 1, 2013

Date Time Field Trips and More

Feb 7 5:00 Moving into new classrooms.

Feb 11-15 Teacher Appreciation Week

Feb 13 5th grade field trip/

Feb 14 1:00 Valentine Parties, in the classroom

Feb 14 6-9:00 Middle School Dance @ train depot

Feb 18-22 Intensive Week for grades 6,7, & 8

Feb 27 Spring Pictures/ Lifetouch

Mar 29 Ski Alyeska

Is it too sunny out there?

Ski packets went home with your student today! Please fill out and

turn in.

February 7th, Moving work party. 5:00.

Please let us know that you will be here so we can count on you.

Bring handcarts and crates to help with moving.

Ground Hog day at Academy Charter School.

Wanted:! Kennicott photos for this year’s 7th grade class for the yearbook. If we can’t get any photos from this field trip, we won’t be able to have a page for this in the yearbook this year. Please turn in to the office by FEB 8th. ! Thank you, The Yearbook Team

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

3 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. Middle School Dance

PALMER TRAIN DEPOTFeb 146-9 PM

Theme: Neon BlastWatch for Sign-Up Sheet for Food.

$5 per STUDENT

Pizza day/March 1 Order slips will be due the Wednesday of that week, February 27 for this month’s pizza!

When: Monday, February 4th 6-9 pmWhere: Colony High School small theaterWhy: to support our student (EVA VENAMA) as she competes for the regional title!

Regional winners get to go to Juneau and compete for the state title.

Special Thanks to staff that went above the call of duty on Washington DC trip:Donna AdamsStacy MolinaCindy AmbrosiusJared Schumacher

AND to all parents that went along and were great volunteers:Ann KingKelly MooreBenji WoodMichelle ChapmanScott and Kelly HustonRachael LevittRobert Grogan

All field trips are made possible by the support of you, the parents.

Thank you.

ClassRoom News K-2

Kindergarten NotesWow! 100 days of school sure makes our

students great learners. They have worked hard so far and are doing a good job. Such a good job that they earned their class party and enjoyed some time with electronics. Thank you for your wonderful support. We had everything from discman’s to leapsters to iphones.

In reading we have been enjoying stories and poems about 100. We also learned the ur of nurse. The list of words in our Spalding spelling books continues to grow. It is always neat to see when the students begin to put all the pieces together to use the phonograms we have been learning. I love to hear the excitement of “I read it myself!”

Our math activities have been related to 100 as well. We also worked some more with coins learning the name and value of a quarter. I assessed the class on the names and value of the coins and sent a paper home with that information. If your child needs it, please practice the ones they need more work on. Next week we will continue counting past 100 and learn about dollars.

Have a great weekend! Ronni Berg

First Grade Facts You should start to really enjoy the Mystery Sentence papers now! . . . I am just writing a spelling word on the board and they are writing their own sentences!! This and our 100-word book instead of folding paper has added to the work enthusiasm . . . Wow! The positive energy this week has been awesome!! We also made little groundhogs holding our own predictions written on a “first, next and then” paper. We wrapped up chapter eleven this week with a test taken on Thursday. We will continue to review how a number can be shown in many combinations of tens and ones, which is a harder concept to grasp especially when asked to chart it. We explored aplenty with connecting cubes and tens and ones manipulatives! They are great at discovering number patterns! Mrs. Mayer

Second Grade News! Please make sure your child is prepared for recess.  I had many children unprepared and they were cold.  Please check to see if your child is missing anything.  Thanks!  The class learned how to correctly write their name in cursive this week.  They were very excited!In math we are working on adding and subtraction using base ten blocks.  They have also been working on lots of mental math with adding tens and ones to any number.  Subtraction is our focus right now.  There has been some frustration, but they see to be working through it.  Great job kids!!  Remember to please keep working on adding money.  The Valentine's Day sign up will be coming out next week and the list for all the kid’s in class.  Our party will be in the new building.  Yahoo!! We are in need of tissues in the classroom.  Our supply is gone and we have had some sick kids.    If you were waiting to bring supplies at the middle of the year we could use them.  Thanks!  Don't forget our Seward Sea life trip is in April. (the 18th and 19th)! Have a great weekend!   Mrs. Booth

News from Mrs. Liebing’s Room This week we have again worked on cause and effect in reading. This concept seems to be a difficult one for many students, so as you are reading with your child at home you might want to point out situations where there is a cause and effect, or if it comes up in a real situation. ! In math we are now working on telling time to five minutes, learning different ways to say the time, and the relationship between times after and before the hour. We have also started looking at elapsed time. This means figuring out how much time has passed and is usually the hardest time concept to grasp. Next week we will start exploring many types of charts and graphs which I think the class will enjoy.! We have had to spend a lot of time this week on going back over school and classroom rules in order to make sure that our classroom is able to run smoothly and we can get our learning accomplished. I am hopeful that those lessons will carry over and next week students will be more focused.! We talked about Marmot Day (Alaska’s version of Groundhog Day) which is coming this weekend, so students might want to check out whether or not they can see their shadows on Saturday morning. Mrs. Liebing

ClassRoom News 3 & 4

Third Grade NewsWe finished up our autobiographies this week. They look great! The next two weeks we will be having spelling tests. The lists will go home the Friday before. We continued to look at graphing this week. I have assigned an extra credit assignment to my math group. They may create a graph about the Super Bowl or any other event this weekend. If you choose to do a graph please turn them in on Monday. Next week we will finish chapter 4. We will review on Wednesday and take the test on Thursday. Please review telling time two way, elapsed time and graphing. ! A few house keeping things. I have noticed an increase in students who do not want to eat their lunch. Please encourage your kiddos the importance of eating their lunch. ! I am still looking for a few parents to help with organizing prior to moving over to the new building. I would also love some help on our new building move-in night on Feb. 12.Have a great weekend. Mrs. Weetman

The students created portraits, then used oil pastels to add color to them.

ClassRoom News from 5th

The Real Report5th Grade Core- UPCOMING: ! *Field trip- Anchorage Museum “Aurora”- (February 13th)- Need drivers.! * Valentine’s Day Party 1pm (February 14th)- sign up to bring treats and help with party! LA: This week went by very quickly. Students finished reading Fredrick Douglas. They were very excited to hear how he was able to become such a success, despite the challenge of slavery. We continued to review spelling words, and on Thursday we had a quiz. The kids did a great job. Finally, we spent the bulk of the week writing a 5 paragraph essay about an Alaskan Animal. The kids researched, outlined, edited and revised. I can’t wait to read them. Next week students will be writing a Demonstration Speech, so their homework is to gather ideas.! MATH: This week we continued to wrestle with long division! The kids practiced the steps (DMSB-R) all week, learned about divisibility rules, and had A LOT of in class practice. Most of this was done in class- it became homework for those students who did not finish. On Thursday we had a quiz, and they did a great job! ! All 5th grade students should continue ALEKS at home. *PS: be sure to always check my website!! Have a Wonderful weekend!! Mrs. Real

Mr. Olson’s Pack! Language Arts- This week we have started another 5 paragraph essay with the topic of Cheetahs. This animal research project is coming along great and is really letting us work on making topic sentences and supporting details that stay on topic. The class is really making concise and organized paragraphs. ! Math- We have celebrated our last test where the class got an average score of 85%! Now we are back to work with double digit multiplication and soon we will be having another test. This class works hard and we are still growing, we are still working on our base math as well which gives students a new perspective to the place value system.

Fourth Grade Factoids ! I am glad to be back from the inauguration trip. Now on to our BIG MOVE! We are all getting excited about it. ! In reading, I reviewed work they did while I was gone. We have also been working on really understanding spelling changes when adding suffixes as well as writing compound and complex sentences.! In math, we also reviewed work that was assigned last week, which was on graphing. This week we continued with graphing, discussing graphing terms that will be on this semester’s vocabulary test. Students were handed their study guides for this semester’s words on Thursday.! Mrs. Ambrosius

Benbow Buzz! Language Arts – This week we finished reading Robin Hood, and began using the notes we have been taking to summarize his adventures. ! Math- We wrapped up Chapter 5 this week by taking the chapter test. Also, timed tests for multiplication and division facts continue to be part of our daily routine, so please ensure that your child has time every night to practice these important facts. Remember, a great way to practice is by going to the website www.gregtangmath.com and playing a game called “Kakooma.” ! LAX- Fourth and fifth grade classes created group stories using story cubes as prompts.   ! Have a great weekend and, as always, feel free to contact me with any comments or concerns! cherie.benbow@matsuk12.us

Reports from our LabsWorld of WritingBy Mrs. WeetmanThis week all three grades are working on letter writing. The third graders are working on using the correct capitalization and punctuation for headings and envelopes. The 4th and 5th graders have finished writing their persuasive letters to get into Mrs. Benbow’s after school classes. We will continue different types of letter writing for the remainder of this rotation.!

From Around the WorldBy Mrs. Booth!! The fifth grade United States test is on Feb. 11th.  Keep studying!!!!  The fourth graders are working on their Alaska land forms and special facts about Alaska.  We will be making all of our land forms next week with play dough.  The third grade class dove right into their Major Rivers unit.  They were so excited to read about the Nile River in Africa and the Yellow River in Asia.

ExperimentsBy Mrs. Tompkins! K-2 finished up their exploration of matter and the water cycle. Each student diagramed a model of the water cycle. Second grade participated in their first laboratory experiment when, using motion, they changed a liquid into a solid.Important dates:5th Grade Science Fair-April 22, no parents are allowed in the lab before 1pm.5th Grade Dissection-April 25, parents are needed on this afternoon!4th Grade Dissection-April 24, parents are needed on this afternoon!!

Español.

Spanish Newsby Miss Agoff! Our first and second graders continue to have emotional days in Spanish class! We finished the book Me Siento Feliz. We are reviewing our weather words as this wacky weather continues to fluctuate. We are working on a masquerade game and having lots of fun. Kindergartners are learning how to say their age in Spanish. I was surprised at the height of some of our class 5 year olds!!

ComputerBy Mr. Olson

! This week we are still exposing the primary grades to many different early literacy apps on the iPads along with great websites on the computers. 2nd Grade also started their first word processing document creating graphics, importing pictures, and typing.

ArtBy Mrs. Holler! This week in art was wonderful. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders studied the Native American artist, Jesse Hummingbird. He paints bold images of people in traditional clothing and uses modern colors. The students created portraits, then used oil pastels to add color to them.

News from the Top, 6th and 7th grades

6th Grade News! Our class has had a good week.  We wrote persuasive intensive letters to Mrs. Gerard for placement in the February 18-22 intensive session.  Letters to our Senators, Representatives, and other dignitaries in Juneau will be written next week.  The Outsiders reports and poetry continues to keep us busy as well.   Kids are working on surveys, decimal operations, scatterplots, and conversions in math.  Southeast Alaska Geography, branches of government, and political parties are topics in social studies.  We are learning about plate tectonics in science.  We have plans for a Valentine Marketday in two weeks, watch for more details coming soon.  ! Mr. Titus & Mr. Schumacher

News@7! Mr. Bergey's early morning science class has begun!  It's really impressive that some of our students are so motivated to want more science.  They are up at six in the morning to get to school by seven a.m. for their science class.  Mr. Bergey is excited and the students just feed off of that excitement for science.  They are focusing on chemistry with some great hands-on activities.! In history class we are continuing to explore the technology and battles of WWI.  Students researched some of the arms used to fight the war.  Afterwards they presented their result for the class, including drawings on the board depicting these modern forms of technology.! We are finishing up our five paragraph persuasive essays.  Due to the D.C. trip, this got put on hold and now we are back to it.  Students are writing their second or third drafts of the essay.  Also, students are concluding the book All Quiet on the Western Front by writing a book report on the book.  January is now in the rear view mirror and we will begin our next book, Lord of the Flies.  This is a classic!! Have a great weekend with your families!! Mr. Reilly & Mr. Bergey

Español Siempre!Senorita Caterina! Sixth graders have turned in some gorgeous Mayan cartoons. We are still working on following rubrics and using only words we know in Spanish but that process will become easier as we accumulate more vocabulary.I am so proud of my seventh graders who received extra tutoring last week. They were able to take their classmates under their respective wings and catch them up. It is the first time we have been able to adapt a new web tool in a relatively painless way. Thank you seventh grade!Eighth graders are learning how to go to the hospital, describe an illness and use a pharmacy in Spanish. They are enjoying learning this extremely useful content. They are also refining their usage of ser and estar.

Adventures in History with Mrs. ASeventh Grade ! This week we continued with our World War I unit. Eighth Grade: ! This week, students continued learning about the last Chinese dynasty, the battles for control of China, and what happened when Chairman Mao and communism took over. Mrs. Ambrosius

Wright 7th grade math class: We finished up chapter 7 this week with a test today. The students worked on estimating tips and percentages mentally and it was a challenge. Please be sure your child logs into ALEKS this weekend for at least 40 minutes. Have a great weekend!

Wright 7th grade ALA: This week, students dove into writing their short story which imitates a short story author of their choice. We're working on revising plot and word choice, as well as making sure our story echoes the voice of our author. They also finished up their short story reviews on GoodReads. Our next unit will take full advantage of both Google Docs and Moodle - my goal is to go almost totally paperless! Have a great weekend and be sure to check the web site!

The last year,

Making news with Mrs. Molina! Wow! It’s hard to believe that the DC/NYC trip is over: it flew by! Although the kids were a bit jet-lagged, we have gotten right back into the swing of things. This week, we worked on our Intensive letters for the next set of Intensives in mid-February. I was truly impressed by the effort the student put forth. We also toured Career Teach High School on Thursday morning. The students really enjoyed visiting CTHS and many are eager to submit their applications for admission. We don’t have firm dates for this process. When I know more, I will pass that information along to you. ! In Math, we are continuing to work with percents, in terms of, sale prices and rates of change. I have also introduced an ALEKS incentive program that will allow students to earn extra credit on tests or homework passes for topics completed. Be sure to ask you child about this! ! We are working on Intensive letters, Career Tech essays, and we are beginning Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth in my Language Arts class. This is a fairly lengthy novel. I have provided students with a completed calendar, as well as 2/3 of the accompanying assignments (with the remainder to be distributed next week. Please make sure your student stays on top of his/her reading, vocabulary & questions. ! Have a great weekend!! Mrs. Molina

8Science with Tompkins! The class is exploring DNA and hereditary traits. On Wednesday they built individual DNA models. Class was not held on Thursday due to the tour of the Career Tech High School.Tentative 8th Grade Dissection-April 26, no parents are needed on this morning.

REAL English 1! WELCOME BACK! This week students wrote persuasive letters to get into their intensives, wrote persuasive letters to get into the high school of their choice, learned about the proper use of parenthesis, and practiced spelling. On Thursday, we had a quiz, and the kids did a great job. Next week we will be learning about the “Harlem Renaissance” (poetry), beginning the book, Witness, and writing a persuasive speech!! POETRY OUT LOUD: Please join us to encourage EVA VENEMA, as she competes in the regional POETRY OUT LOUD competition WHERE: Colony High- Little GymWHEN: February 4th- 6-9pm I hope we can all attend. ! *PS: be sure to always check my website!! Have a Happy Week!! Mrs. Real

Algebra! We have finally completed the Chapter 6 test that was delayed for various events. Some students have already moved into Chapter 7 and solving systems of equations.