August 17

Hello,
I hope you have been going to all your classes and finding 8th grade to be interesting. Make sure you have gotten your ids, lockers, and read your Student Handbook.Start reading soon. Please review the standards that we are currently working on in our classes.
ELA
We are working on narrative essays. We are studying sentence structure and paragraph structure. Homework is given each day Monday to Thursday in grammar or writing.
ELA8RC1
The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.
ELA8W2
The student produces a narrative (fictional, personal, experiential) that:
b. Creates an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
c. Relates a clear, coherent incident, event, or situation by using well-chosen details.
d. Reveals the significance of the writer’s attitude about the subject.

Georgia Studies
We are currently studying geography as it relates to our home state of Georgia.We will be completing map projects, travel brochures, physical maps, etc. in our studies.
SS8G1
The student will describe Georgia with regard to physical features and location.
a. Locate Georgia in relation to region, nation, continent, and hemispheres.
b. Describe the five geographic regions of Georgia; include the Blue Ridge Mountains, Valley and Ridge, Appalachian Plateau, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain.

See WEBSITES post. Sites to visit for this lesson:
Fifty Nifty States
http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=35821&title=Fifty_Nifty_United_States_

Interactive Puzzles
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-puzzle.html

Hyperlinks

neic.usgs.gov/neis/states/georgia/georgia_history.html
The U.S. Geological Survey’s page on earthquakes in Georgia.

www.blueridgemountains.com/blue_ridge_mountains.html
Information on the Blue Ridge Mountains, Fannin County.

www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/statesong.htm
Contains words and music for “Georgia on My Mind.”

www.foxfire.org
Home page for Foxfire, an organization committed to preserving the Southern Appalachian culture.

www.frommers.com/destinations/georgia'sbarrierislands/
Contains information on Georgia’s barrier islands.

www.fs.fed.us/conf/webcam.htm
The web cam atop Brasstown Bald.

www.geography.about.com
The geography page of About.com.

www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Website of the New Georgia Encyclopedia

www.gilmerchamber.com/members/apples.asp
Contains information on Ellijay apples.

www.graphicmaps.com
Provides latitude and longitude information for U.S. and world cities.

www.helenga.org
Home page for the unique north Georgia town of Helen.

www.kidsdomain.com
Contains geography games.

www.mapnation.com
A free Internet mapping service.

http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_3_,00.html
Contains a recommended list of disaster supplies.
This site will take you out of the CD. It will be necessary to reboot the CD to access it again.

www.weatherbug.com
Website provides local weather information.