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Care for community – beautification of our school
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Another great week has ended, and we entered February, an exciting month for middle school. This month, we have Research Presentation Night on February 15th at 7 pm for 6th and 7th-grade students. We invite 8th graders to come and support their classmates if they are able. The middle school is also working on a collective “Gallery” (more to come on this) in recognition of Black History Month. We also have Conferences on Thursday, 2/16. If you haven’t already, please sign up with your child’s advisor (a link to a Sign Up Genius went out last Friday). Finally, discussions have begun about this year’s middle school play that we will be writing at the end of the month.
Humanities
6th-grade Humanities classes completed written drafts of their research essays. They made sure to include in-text citations, paragraphs that support their thesis statements, transitions between body paragraphs and whenever necessary within them, and meaningful introductions and conclusions. They are now working diligently on their Google Slides presentation. Their visual presentation along with prepared notes is due on Monday. Next week, Mrs. Lamb will be listening to first-round presentations and giving feedback to all presenters.
7th-grade Humanities classes received refreshers on developing a works cited page and writing meaningful conclusions before submitting their drafts of their research essays. They also made sure to include in-text citations, paragraphs that support their thesis statements, transitions between body paragraphs and whenever necessary within them, and meaningful introductions and conclusions. 7th-grade students are now working on their presentations with the expectation of creating appealing visuals that will accompany their expertise on their topics. Once they complete this prepared presentation for Monday, Mrs. Lamb will listen and give feedback to each student presenter.
The 8th-grade Humanities class has officially finished reading Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible! Feedback was mostly positive about the reading experience and navigating a play together in class. Upon its completion, students drafted essays giving compelling arguments about power dynamics in the play. Students had to give evidence using direct quotations and events in the piece. The 8th graders are away for their internships next Monday through Wednesday, and we wish them well!
Math
In the Pre-Transition math class, students concluded their learning of chapter 4 and successfully learned how to add and subtract integer values, identify angles, and solve equations with fact triangles. We started learning about chapter 6 and are covering topics such as multiplying fractions and decimal values. This class will explore how to use power notation and multiply mixed numbers next week.
In the Transition math class, students finished learning all about Chapter 6 and have a complete understanding of the properties of triangles and parallelograms. This week we started working with multiplying negative values and solving single-step equations/inequalities. This class was invited to participate in a Montessori lesson with Mrs. Sankey and learned how to square binomial values using a peg board to understand the squaring concept.
In the Algebra math class, students are excited to learn about powers, roots, and exponent problems. We discussed the multiplication counting principle, power rule, quotient rule, power of powers rule, and negative rule. This class is working hard to build their study skills, challenge their overall thinking each day, and continue to be curious mathematics students!
Math Joke: Did you hear the one about the two thieves who stole the calendar? They each got six months!
Science
6th-year Earth Science students are working on the unit, Natural Resources. The objectives of this unit are to classify a natural resource as renewable or nonrenewable, provide examples of ways humans depend on natural resources, compare and explain how natural resources form, and explain the importance of using natural resources wisely. Students were introduced to this unit by conducting research and presenting to the class how natural resources are used to make everything around us from trash bins to basketballs.
7th-year Physical Science students are working on the unit, Kinetic Energy. The objectives of this unit are to explain how the kinetic energy of an object depends on its mass and velocity, compare kinetic energy to potential energy, and model how kinetic energy can be transformed into potential energy and how potential energy can be transformed into kinetic energy. Throughout this unit, students will design and test pinewood derby cars and build their own marble roller coaster, both of which will test all theories and principles of kinetic and potential energy.
8th-year Life Science students have finished constructing their 3-D DNA models and will soon be mounting them to a base that will provide the properties of DNA such as nitrogen bases, genes, codons, and proteins. Our new unit, Influencing Inheritances, will require students to do the following: distinguish between two categories of genetic engineering; explain how humans can influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding; why gene modification, animal husbandry, and gene therapy are examples of artificial selection; and, evaluate the impacts of human use of technology to influence the desired traits of organisms.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Stay warm!