Rain kept middle school students inside for a few days this week, but their energy was surely high! With more snow on our heels, it looks like it will be a bit longer before we see the turf on the field. As we enter our final two weeks of the trimester (and before spring break), there is a palpable sense of imminent change.
Announcements:
- 6th & 7th Grade Research Presentations Thursday, February 26th @ 5:30 pm.
- Please check for appropriate winter attire for the outdoors. Most students will go outside with their younger peers during Community Service each week.
- MS ARRIVAL BEGINS AT 8 am
- MS Flower Schedule
Humanities
All Humanities classes continued to learn about trailblazing and innovative Black Americans at the start of Humanities classes.
6th and 7th grade Humanities classes completed their 3-5 page research essays this week by writing their conclusions, looking at transitions, and incorporating citations. They also used a self-edit checklist to help them complete this part of the writing process. Now, Mrs. Lamb will read and give feedback to the completed draft before final revisions are done. Students also began the final stage of the research project: presentations! Students are working on a slide deck and notes for their 5-minute presentations that families and friends will see on Thursday at 5:30 pm!
8th-grade Humanities students worked more on their expert projects this week, with the goal of organizing interviews with experts and writing questions for them to answer. They are getting close to the March 6th deadline for their research and interviews. Students also spent time discussing the poem, “The Center” by Ha Jin, during our weekly poetry analysis. This group has profound discussions surrounding poetry and can comfortably attempt to find meaning, identify elements of pieces that are interesting, and ask questions when they seek more information. Finally, students looked at the colonization of the 13 colonies by date of establishment and colonizing country.
Math
Pre-Transition: This week in Pre-Transition, students wrapped up Chapter 4 with an end-of-chapter quiz to show what they’ve learned over the past few weeks. They did a great job pulling together all of the concepts they’ve been working on! Then, they jumped right into Chapter 6, “Using Multiplication.” Students began by exploring the array model to build a stronger visual understanding of multiplication. From there, they applied that understanding to multiplying fractions and mixed numbers.
Transition: This week, students continued working through Chapter 6, where they have been diving into some important geometry concepts. So far, they have learned how to translate and reflect figures on a coordinate plane, reflect figures over a given line, and identify both reflection and rotation symmetry. They can also draw the rotated image of a point or an entire figure, which has been a great way to strengthen their understanding of how shapes move on the coordinate plane. Students wrapped up the week with a study guide to review all of these concepts and help students feel confident and prepared. They will take the Chapter 6 Quiz on Monday, February 23.
Algebra: This week, students continued working in Chapter 5, which focuses on division and proportions. They strengthened their skills in multiplying and simplifying algebraic fractions and then smoothly transitioned into dividing algebraic fractions. Students were also introduced to rates and practiced using them in real-world situations. The week wrapped up with the Chapter 5 quiz, and students absolutely nailed it!
Geometry: This week, Geometry students wrapped up Chapter 4 and officially became transformation pros! They’ve been working hard on reflections, translations, and rotations, and they can now confidently reflect points and figures, compose reflections over parallel and intersecting lines, and draw translation and glide reflection images. They’ve also learned how to apply the Two-Reflection Theorems to show how reflections can create translations and rotations. They spent time reviewing all of the Chapter 4 concepts and took their Chapter 4 test on Friday. Next week, they will jump into Chapter 5 and start exploring proofs!
Algebra II: This week, students continued building their understanding of matrices. They have been practicing how to add, subtract, and multiply matrices as well as how to find scalar multiples. Students also began identifying and applying the properties of matrix operations, helping them see the structure behind the math instead of just following steps. They will wrap up this portion of the chapter with the Chapter 4 quiz on Monday, February 23.
Science
Middle School students kept working on their weekly science articles. This week 6th and 7th graders learned about Physical and Chemical properties of matter. They were able to understand the differences between them and classify them. They supported their learning with handout classwork where they identified the most common physical properties, such as color, odor, luster, magnetism, electrical conductivity, mass, volume, density, malleability, ductility, boiling point, and melting point. Students from 6th and 7th grade also learned about the chemical properties of matter, such as reactivity, flammability, combustibility, toxicity, and corrosion.
8th graders continued working on their laboratory report, where they were able to see the visual difference between a specimen with dye (Methylene Blue) and another specimen without dye. Their laboratory report was written using the Scientific method, so later on, they can analyze their results and come out with a conclusion. 8th-grade students feel very confident and familiar with using microscopes and staining slides with real specimens. Every new concept learned by middle schoolers was supported by videos and classwork.
