What In Tarnation?!?!?

Previously on WIT:

• Are You Smarter than an 8th Grader? Pt. 1
• Are You Smarter than an 8th Grader? Pt. 2

Last two tests:

Orthography

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u’.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e’. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, pre, mis, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A..
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Maitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwolf, Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

This exam took five hours to complete. It gives the saying, “He only had an 8th grade education,” a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?

Later taters.

Time to take a slight break from our 8th grade exit exam to brush up on copyright law care of Walt Disney.

Found via CU Online.

Later taters!

Previously on WIT?!?!?:

Are you Smarter than an 8th Grader? Pt. 1

Today’s subject Arithmetic.

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts, per bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wise and 16 ft. long at $20.00 per meter?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name the events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Later tater!

Let’s see if you are smarter than an 8th grader from 1895. Over the next few days I will post a section from the 8th grade final exam from Salina, KS in 1895. Feel free to play along in the comments.

Today’s subject: Grammar

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza, and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principals Parts of a verb? Give Principal parts of do, lie, lay, and run.
5. Define Case; Illustrate each Case.
6. What is punctuations? Give rules for principal marks of punctuations.
7. - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Later taters!

The return…

Appetizer
Name a sound you like to hear.
Rain with occasional thunder. Not like dangerous rain and thunder, kinda mellow rain and thunder.

Soup
What is your favorite kind of cheese?
Just about any kind of cheese that is melted. Not really a fan in the unmelted cheese at all. Mozzarella is one of the few cheeses that I will eat when it is not melted.

Salad
Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not?
If I can. Many times schedules don’t allow me to but on that rare (soon to become less rare) do nothing day that my schedule allows me to, I will. During the school year, Saturday is the only day that my body will allow me to sleep in like that.

Main Course
When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take to remember it?
Yesterday. I forgot a ballgame that some of my students asked me to go to. I didn’t remember until I was at a little technology staff get together and several people weren’t able to be there on time because they were at little league games. I will have to e-mail and try to go to a different game. I felt like a big heal once I realized what I had done.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I notice ____________ when _____________.
I notice that I miss my students when school gets out and they aren’t around anymore.

You can leave your Friday Feast leftovers in the comments.

Class dismissed!

I am alive. I am busy.

I shall return to regular blogging after the close of school. Summer is almost here and I’m not quite ready for it.

Cool pictures of what I have been up to here.

Don’t be jealous, but that is Yoda in my class.

Class dismissed!

Spiderman 3 is good. I just can’t decide if I like it better than Spiderman 2. Number 2 has better plot, better use of villains, and better pacing. Number 3 relies on some great big coincidences to get the plot moving that the first two didn’t rely on. The one thing that Spiderman 3 has going for it that I particularly enjoy is the use of large moral themes that ties and in my opinion redeems the movie, more on that later.

Another enjoyable aspect of Spiderman 3 is the use of humor. Spiderman 2 had quite a bit but number 3 has much more humor and is much more bold in its use. An issue that some people might have with the movie are the villains. If you like superhero movies with villains who consume most of the movie, you probably won’t like Spiderman 3. At times it feels like the villain’s stories are very much secondary and have very little screen time. As a result, poor Sandman is basically reduced to a King Kong like character that spends most of the movie after turning into sand grunting and throwing around this fits of sand. Quite a waste until the last moments of the movie when those themes I was talking about kicks in.

So let’s talk about some of those thematic elements… after the jump… this is your spoiler warning. I reveal everything in the following paragraphs. You have been warned.

(more…)

A song has been making the rounds via e-mail at school. It is called Not on the Test. It is written by John Forster & Tom Chapin.

Go on to sleep now, third grader of mine.
The test is tomorrow but you’ll do just fine.
It’s reading and math. Forget all the rest.
You don’t need to know what is not on the test.

If you want to see the rest of the lyrics and listen to the song a performed by Tom Chapin go to Tom’s website. (To listen to the MP3 click the Listen link on the linked page.)

Class dismissed!