Eaglecrest Ski Dates: Jan. 5th and 6th

Hi everyone,

Do your snow dance this month so that we have some great snow for our team ski days up at Eaglecrest!  We will be traveling as a team up to Eaglecrest on Jan. 5-6, 2012 for some fun in the snow, ski or snowboard lessons and the infamous chili cheese fries.  As always Eaglecrest gives our students a screaming deal.  The prices are as follows:

*2 days of lessons and bus (own gear and a pass) = $22.00
*2 days of lessons, lifts and bus (own gear) = $38
*2 days of lessons, ski or snowboard rental, lifts and bus = $58

Normally a full day of lessons, rentals, lifts and bus alone would be over $100.  We don't want the money to hold back one of our students skiing though so your student can request a scholarship to help cover the cost.

Eaglecrest will be here Dec. 13th to fit everyone for their skis or boards and to give the important safety talk.  Please return the below forms by Tuesday.  Your students already have them but just in case here they are as well.

See you on the mountain!

RURE Informational Meeting: Thursday, Dec. 15th, 6:30-7:30 pm

10 Elements of Community Wrap Up Questions

The below worksheet is due in Social Studies 

class on Monday, Dec. 12th

What are some current issues that juneau faces? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Something that has recently happened or changed in Juneau is________________________________________________.

It was important because _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

In the area of ______________________________________

(choose one of the 10 elements of community)

Juneau is challenged by ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Juneau solved that problem by ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Spelling Week 6, p.1 and p.5

This week's spelling words are from an article about the start of WWII and Hitler's involvement.  Both classes are working on the same words and the DEFINITIONS are due Friday, Dec. 9th.  Students can use the words in sentences for extra credit.  The spelling test will also be on Friday.

1. chancellor
2. plight
3. reign
4. abolish
5. totalitarian
6. elitist
7. ideology
8. ostracize
9. minority
10. propaganda
11. indoctrinate

For EXTRA CREDIT, come to class and tell me what spelling word the above poster is an example of?

The Harmonica by Tony Johnston

In Language Arts class this week we are reading "The Harmonica". The story is based on a true story about a resilient young Jewish boy.  When the Nazis invade Poland, his family is split apart.  His parents are sent to one concentration camp, he to another.  Only his father's gift, a harmonica, keeps the boy's hope alive and, miraculously, ensures his survival.

Follow this link to "The Harmonica" worksheet that is due in class on Friday, Dec. 2nd.

Follow this link to listen to Schubert's Ave Maria in violin.  Schubert's music is featured in the story.

What We Want to Know about World War II, p.1 and p.5

In Language Arts we are beginning a historical fiction unit.  We will be reading a novel together called, "Behind the Bedroom Wall" by Laura Williams.  We are starting the unit with a KWL discussion.  What we already KNOW, what we WANT to know, and what we LEARNED.  The following questions were brainstormed in class yesterday after a great discussion of what we already know.  At anytime during this unit students can earn extra credit by researching and answering the questions.

Period 5's Questions:

• Did Italian-Americans get the same treatment as Japanese-Americans by the United States during World War II?
• Why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbor?
• How many concentration camps existed during WWII?
• How many Jewish people were killed at Auschwitz?
• Why did Hitler want everyone to have blond hair and blue eyes?
• When did the U.S. drop the atomic bomb on Japan?

Period 1's Questions:

·    Why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbor?

·    What was China doing WWII?

·    Where was Russia during this time?

·    Why did Hitler blame the Jews?

·    Were South and North Korea involved in WWII?

·    How did Americans react to the bombing of Pearl Harbor?

·    How did Japan affect Alaska during the war?

·    Where does the term World War come from?

·    What happened to Germans who helped Jewish people during the war?

·    What was WWII about?

·    What was the Cold War about?

·    How did we treat Germany after the war?

Social Studies: 10 Elements of Community Life Juneau

Juneau's Community Information
Wikipedia: Juneau, Alaska
Alaska's Digital Archive
Juneau Empire
Capital City Weekly

The 10 Elements of Community Life Worksheet has been our in class note taking guide.  It is due Tuesday, Dec. 6th.

Language Arts Assignments, 11/28-12/2

Period 1 Spelling Week 5 List

Period 1 Spelling Games

Period 5 Spelling Week 5 List

Period 5 Spelling Games

Social Studies: Greeting Paragraph to Kwethluk

In class on Friday we watched a Keynote presentation about the differences between Juneau and Kwethluk and took notes.  So far we have learned that Kwethluk is land locked, Juneau is mostly surrounded by water.  The geography of Juneau includes mountains, an ice field with glaciers and near to many islands in the Inside Passage.  Kwethluk is located near the Kwethluk River and has wetlands in the summer and frozen tundra in the fall and winter. There are no roads in and out of Kwethluk.  People travel to Bethel in the summer by boat and by snow machine in the winter on the frozen river.  We also learned that the state of Alaska considers any town that has a population less than 5,500 is rural if it is not on the road system and but if it is on the road system the population must be 1,500 or less.  A rural designation is important because it allows community members more hunting and subsistence rights.

The homework assignment that we started in class on Friday and is due today, Monday(11/21), is to write a 1-3 paragraph greeting to our sister school in Kwethluk.  Five of the greetings from each class will be posted on the RURE Destination Log.  This is a great way for us to get to know our new friends in Kwethluk better.

Here is a great example from a student.
        My name is Damen and I would love to visit your home and community.  I would also love your students to enjoy our beautiful home and learn the way we eat, cook, play, speak, write and how we do our art and carvings.  I am so excited to enjoy the beauty of your home and learn about the legacy of your people(Yupik) from past times.  I would also like to see how you get around, trade, make art, and learn from your knowledge and culture.  I hope that you can teach us and we can learn about the differences and similarities between our two communities.  It would be awesome to do so because I don't travel much and I wish I could see your beautiful town.

Weeks 1-4 Spelling/Vocabulary Test

Today in LA, class period one and period five received their list of words for Wednesday's vocabulary test. The test will be based on the definitions of the last four weeks of spelling words.  I recommend studying at least 30 minutes a night between now and Wednesday. I have included a great vocabulary review game below.

The Dot Game

1. Materials needed:  paper and markers.
2. Draw 25 dots in a  square on the paper.
3. Each person playing this their own team.
4. Take turns saying a vocabulary word and giving a definition.
5. If they answer correctly, draw a horizontal or vertical line from one dot to another dot.
6. If they answer incorrectly, the game moves to the next person.
7. Continue drawing lines, one by one, between the dots until a square is made.
8. The person that makes a square writes their name in the square and then makes another line.
9. If the second line makes another square, they continue until they draw a line without a making a square.
10. The person with the most squares on the board when there is no possibilities for more lines is the winner.
11. Additional Rules:
• You can impose a time limit of 10 seconds per question.
12. This game can be used:
• To review anything.
• To practice grammar, pronunciation, reading, listening, or writing skills.
• To check answers from book work or hand outs.
• As a summary of what was covered in class that day.

Congratulations to our Advisory Representatives

I am happy to announce the Super Sonic Sevens have elected two student representatives to represent them at the weekly Student Council meeting.  Every Friday at 7:15 am the student council meets to discuss the most important issues at Floyd Dryden.  Six very qualified students gave speeches during Accelerated Reading last week and the winners by a very close margin were Sam and Alex.  Based on their speeches, the most pressing issue they are going to bring up to Student Council is changing the school lunches.  Congrats Sam and Alex!  We are confident you will do a fantastic job representing the Super Sonic Sevens.

Lamb to the Slaughter Video Comparison

The following worksheet is due Monday(11/21) for p.1 and Friday (11/18) for p.5.

Canned Food Drive Day 2

Leaning Tower of Cansa.  

The safety of my laptop is being threatened but its worth it for a good cause.

Language Arts Extra Credit

Since we are reading Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter" in LA class and comparing it to two short film versions of it, I thought a fun extension would be to offer some extra credit and have the student's read Roald Dahl's "The Landlady"  and watch the Alfred Hitchcock video.  To earn extra credit after reading the story and watching the video make a Venn Diagram poster showing the differences and similarities between the two.

Student Showcase: Essays on Totem Poles

The Importance of Totem Poles

by N.G.

 Long ago people made up an idea to make something to tell stories, and do many other things with. The idea was that a totem pole could do these things. They made them up of different shapes and sizes and all different colors, depending on the story or the reason for making the totem pole. Making a totem pole is not a must it’s a choice.

You did not have to make totem poles, but if you chose to they were a lot of work. Totem poles are were used to tell stories, to honor the deceased members of a clan, and many more things. They are usually made from a soft smooth tree called a cedar that usually has no bad knots in them. They usually take up to moths, days, years depending on design, color, and height. All this stuff about totem poles is very important to a lot of native people, and is a lot of hard work so they usually have many people work on a totem pole.

How Totem Poles are Made

By C.M.

A totem pole is a cedar pole that represents shame or happiness. They were highly respected and “supernatural”. Tribes brought this art to Washington. They loved this idea and they used it quickly.

To make a totem pole they split cedar to the desired length and hollowed it out for colors. Red came from hematite, green from copper ore, and black from graphite. The chief almost always commissioned totem pole. If you weren’t a chief and you commissioned a pole you were of great wealth. That is how a totem pole was made. 

Cover My Desk With Canned Food!

Starting yesterday until Nov. 21st, Floyd Dryden is participating in the Southeast Alaska Food Bank canned food drive.  Clean out those cupboards of the following items and help feed a family during the holiday season.

• Canned veggies
• Canned or dried soups
• Canned fruit
• Peanut butter
• Canned fish and meat
• Dried pasta
• Canned or dried beans
• Macaroni and cheese
• Rice
• Breakfast cereal
• Flour and sugar
• Oatmeal
• Baby food and formula
• Super Bear Price Smashers

The Super Sonic 7's teachers are challenging our students to cover our desks with food so we can't do our work.  Here is a photo from day one on Ms. Gifford's desk.

Social Studies Assignments, 11/15-11/18

This week in Social Studies we are writing our mini autobiographies to include in our personal profiles on the RURE website. Follow this link to see a copy of the RURE autobiography worksheet.

Last week in class we talked about why we are involved in the exchange program with Kwethluk.  One thing we talked about was how even within our own state we have stereotypes about how people living in a rural community live.  We did the following worksheet and used is as a chance to have a good discussion on why believing stereotypes can be hurtful.  Introduction to RURE Worksheet

LA Assignments, 11/15-11/18

Happy snow day everyone!  I hope you all spent some time making snow angels and sledding in the 10 inches of fresh snow.

All students have received their spelling lists for the week.  I am changing the weekly test to Thursdays instead of Fridays.  The spelling homework will also be due on Thursdays.

Please follow the link below for p.5 Week 4 Spelling Test.  Click on this link to play some fun spelling games with this week's words.

Period 1 LA's spelling list is below.

Follow this link to kidsspell.com.  I uploaded p.1 spelling words to the website and you can now play a variety of fun spelling games.

Photos from the Field: Allakaket

I just wanted to share a few photos from the RURE exchange that myself and five students participated in 4 years ago.  We traveled to Allakaket, an Athabascan community, 190 miles NW of Fairbanks.  These photos should help give everyone a good idea of some of the cool experiences the students will have when they go on their exchange.

About to leave Fairbanks on our way to Allakaket.  We all earned certificates that said we crossed the Arctic Circle.

Cross country skiing near the frozen river.

A sampling of food from the Allakaket community potluck.  The white strip with the black on it is muktuk or whale blubber.

Learning how to make fry bread.

Learning about the importance of dog sledding.

Learning about beading.  We all got to practice with moose skin and beads.

Petting the local dog sled team.

Rose Urban Rural Exchange

ABOUT THE SISTER SCHOOL EXCHANGE

The Sister School Exchange provides a cross-cultural experience for Alaska middle school and high school students. Since 2000, hundreds of students have participated in the exchange.

Here’s how the program works: A classroom in rural Alaska is paired with a classroom in urban Alaska. The students, together with their teacher, are called a Cultural Ambassador Team.

Each team begins with a curriculum to help prepare students for the exchange. The students post information about their home community to the Destination Log and learn a little about their Sister School community. The team also chooses three Areas for Exploration - topics that they will learn more about when they visit their Sister School Community.

Five students and their teacher travel to their Sister Community for one week, and host their Sister School Cultural Ambassadors for a week. Every day during the exchange the teams post stories about their experiences to their school’s Destination Log. After the exchange, each team gives a presentation in their home community to share what they learned.

Explore these communities and share the stories of these Cultural Ambassadors right here! 


Five students and myself will travel to the small village and spend a week living in their community.  The exchange will take place in the spring most likely after spring break.  I am waiting confirmation on the dates from Mr. Milliron. Later in the spring 5 students from Kwethluk and their teacher will travel to Juneau and live with host families from our team.  The five students will be chosen after they have written a persuasive essay and explain why they would make good Cultural Ambassadors.


Learn more about the exchange students from Kwethluk by visiting their personal profiles on the Rose Urban Rural Exchange website.

Kwethluk, AK

I am excited to announce that as part of the RURE program the Super Sonic Sevens will be traveling to Kwethluk, AK (pronounced kwee-th-luck).  The small Yupik village is located 15 miles west of Bethel.  Follow the below links to learn more information about our sister school.

Wikipedia: Kwethluk, AK
Alaska Community Database: Kwethluk, AK
Weather Underground: Kwethluk, AK
Information about the Yupik of Kwethluk
A great collection of Kwethluk community members on Flickr

Five students and myself will travel to the small village and spend a week living in their community.  The exchange will take place in the spring most likely after spring break.  I am waiting confirmation on the dates from Mr. Milliron. Later in the spring 5 students from Kwethluk and their teacher will travel to Juneau and live with host families from our team.  The five students will be chosen after they have written a persuasive essay and explain why they would make good Cultural Ambassadors.

Language Arts Assignments, 11/7-11/10

Follow this link for period 5 LA's spelling and vocabulary list.  The words were assigned Monday.  The assignment and test is on Thursday, 11/10.  Please practice your spelling words for 10 minutes every night this week.

I attached the period 1 LA spelling list below.  The words were assigned Monday.  The assignment and test is on Thursday, 11/10.  Please practice your spelling words for 10 minutes every night this week.

This week in both LA classes we are reading Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter".

The following assignment is due Thursday, 11/10 at the end of class.

Social Studies Assignments, 10/31-11/4

Last week we read, "How Mosquitoes Came to Be", a Tlingit myth.

Follow the link to the Tlingit Myth Worksheet.  Assigned 11/1, due 11/4.

Social Studies Assignments, 11/7-11/10

Follow this link to the Totem Poles article and assignment.  Assigned in class Monday, 11/4, due Tuesday,11/5.

Introduction to the RURE program worksheet.  Assigned in class 11/9, due 11/10.