Connect Program News

October 2014
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Wednesday, Oct. 23rd 2:00pm-6:30pm
Thursday, Oct. 24th 9:30am-6:30pm
Reminder that all families must call to
set up a conference time. Please call
552-5800.
English with Mrs. Cheever
We just completed our Freedom Writers
Unit. This unit consisted of journaling
and poetry. Students wrote three
poems and collaborated with
classmates on various "real-life"
topics. I also incorporated poetry terms
and grammar usage in the lessons.
Our next adventure takes us into the
Mystery Unit. Students will be exploring
mysteries of Dubuque. A field trip to the
cemetery is included in this unit to help
students create their project to be
assessed at the end of the unit. After
investigating famous authors (Edgar
Allan Poe, Alfred Hitchcock, Nathanial
Hawthorne, Stephen King), and
their mystery stories, students will be
writing their own mystery story. Please
have discussions with your student
about their creative piece. Something I
have found helpful in the past is to
discuss their thoughts to get new ideas
started. One major criteria for the piece
is that it has to be school appropriate
and NO BLOOD AND GORE. I want it
to be a mystery, not a horror story. We
will be discussing the difference in class
as well. Thank you for your support. I
am looking forward to reading their
stories!
Contact Information
If you have any questions, please contact
us.
Phone - (563) 552-5800
Mrs. Cheever tcheever@dbqschools.org
Ms. Foht kfoht@dbqschools.org
Mr. Kennedy - mkennedy@dbqschools.org
Mr. Reese areese@dbqschools.org

Career Connections Fair

Thursday, October 16th
Local employers and educators are
teaming up to provide opportunities for
students to explore multiple career
paths! Students will choose to learn about
one of the following career paths:
Advanced Manufacturing and
Transportation, Business, Construction
and Utilities, Healthcare, Information
Technology, or Social Sciences and
Degree Transfers.

Math with Ms. Foht

Along with the conclusion of the MAP
Mathematics test, students are continuing
along with the Algebra curriculum. First
semester Algebra 1-A students are moving
into the solving equations portion of
semester. This portion will include solving
one-, two- and multi-step equations. Second
semester Algebra 1-A students are
continuing to work with slope-intercept and
point-slope equations. After this unit, they
will move into solving systems of equations.
First semester Algebra I students are looking
at properties of exponents and learning how
to properly simplify expressions with
exponents.

Field Trip Thursday, October 9th

A.Y. McDonald Manufacturing Co.
We will be taking a tour of the A.Y.
McDonald manufacturing plant. Students
must wear close-toed shoes to school on
this day.
Science with Mr. Reese
Students have recently completed a unit
about the Scientific Method. In this unit,
we were able to complete a number of fun
and engaging labs and activities. One
activity that students participated in was
the Metric Olympics. Using metric
measurements, students competed in
games such as the Paper Plate Discuss
and Straw Javelin. In another activity,
students created various types of paper
airplanes and tested their flying abilities.
Finally, students recently completed a
bubble gum stretching lab, in which
students tested how far they could stretch
their chewed gum. These are only a few
examples of the hands-on activities
students will participate in throughout the
course of the school year.
World Cultures with Mr. Kennedy
We have recently wrapped up our unit on
North America where we spent a large
amount of time studying Native American
culture. Students were given the task of
creating a Native American artifact that
will be put on display during ParentTeacher Conferences. We also studied
Native American mound builders. We
spent time simulating what it was like to
build mounds similar to those built by
Native Americans. We also visited the
Little Maquoketa River Mounds just north
of town to see Native American mounds
first-hand.
We are beginning to learn about
Central America and will soon be
spending time studying the Caribbean as
well. I am looking forward to exploring
these interesting regions of the world with
our students.