We are approaching the end of May, and it has been a great week of learning and looking forward to next week’s trip.

First of all, the Middle School teachers want to congratulate this year’s 8th-grade class on their successful Expert Presentations this past Monday. The culmination of five months of research, writing, and practice, the 8th grade delivered 15-30 minute presentations to an audience of faculty, families, and peers. Without the use of a podium, students commanded the stage. They educated the crowd on the following topics: The Great White Way: A History of Broadway, The Final Verdict: Reality TV Court v. The Official Courtroom, The Power of the Present: How Social Control Affects Teenagers, and “You Never Thought That Hip Hop Would Take it This Far”: An Evolution of A Genre. It was a truly impressive evening. Bravo, Class of 2023!

Math

Happy Friday! Another great week in Middle School, and we are excited to welcome Upper Elementary and Middle School families to the 8th Grade Expert Presentations on Monday at 6 pm in the Commons.

Humanities

6th-grade Humanities classes have been exploring the Asian Subcontinent this week. With their completed maps, we used Google Earth to explore capital cities, bodies of water, and areas of interest in each country while discussing their demographics. While in this region, the class is reading Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai. This book takes place during 9/11 and discusses both U.S. and Afghani history and culture during this time.

The 7th-grade Humanities class finished their work with Animal Farm this week. They spent a class period giving their planned lesson from their Humanities Rebellion activity last week. The lesson centered around how children of color are affected by racism and included an article from Harvard University, a short video clip from the show “All American,” and prepared discussion questions. They even provided a snack for the class! Finally, students ended the week writing their final essay for Animal Farm. 

The 8th grade exclusively worked on their Expert Presentations this week and was able to practice in the Commons on stage. Tech setup, movements, and eye contact were focused at the end of the week. The students are working hard these days leading up to their final presentation, and they are going to rock!

Science

6th year Earth Science students have finished their unit, Phases of the Moon. Our next unit will be, Formation of our Solar System. Within this unit, students will be able to describe the formation of our solar system and the orbits of the planets in our solar system. Additionally, they will explain the relationship between a planet’s distance from the sun, its length of a year, its orbit duration, and why the inner and outer planets have different sizes and compositions.

Another beautiful week here at FWM. The teachers have been enjoying watching the middle school kids start games of kickball and frisbee out on the field. We will definitely be bringing a frisbee to Washington, D.C., with us! Look for a packing list for the trip; it will be sent out soon.

8th-grade Expert Presentations will happen on Monday, 5/22, at 6 pm in the Commons. All MS students and families are encouraged to come and support their peers as they give their final presentation of their Fraser Woods career as a student! 

Humanities

6th-grade Humanities classes completed essay drafts as their culminating writing piece for The Eye of Ra. They composed essays demonstrating the change in the protagonist, John, over the course of the novel. Next, students completed maps of the geographical region of Subcontinental Asia as the class began their final novel, Shooting Kabul. This book will have students examining Afghani culture, in particular.

7th grade completed the novel Animal Farm this week. In conjunction with the novel, we studied Russian history as Russia changed to the USSR following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The students completed an assignment called Animal Farm: Who’s Who, in which students evaluate each character and identify who or what they represent in Russian history. In the end, the class went over it, and the students could see if their educated guesses were correct! Next, they had a Humanities Rebellion and overthrew Mrs. Lamb. Then, they needed to establish how they would run the Humanities class. If a cohesive plan is formed by the end of the week, they can run the class one day next week.

8th grade is in the second round of feedback and revisions of their Expert Projects. They are heading into their final week of practice, and their hard work since January is really showing.

Science

6th-year Earth Science students continued working on their unit, Phases of the Moon. Students were asked to collaborate to create and artistically represent a poem/song that details how a moon transitions through its phases. Once each group finished their project, the work was presented to the class. Students have been able to apply their background knowledge of this unit by referencing their observations of different moon phases on clear nights.

Have a beautiful weekend, Middle School Community!

It’s hard to believe that we have entered the month of May, our last full month of the school year. There are many exciting events to look forward to, like Expert Night Presentations on Monday, May 22nd at 6 pm and our trip to Washington, D.C., at the end of the month on the 30th.

We enjoyed welcoming grandparents into the classroom last Friday and watching the middle schoolers interact with them was a real pleasure.

Science

6th-year Earth Science students have finished their unit, Tides. Their next unit will be, Phases. From this unit, students will be able to describe the patterns of the moon’s appearance in the sky, describe the moon’s motion in space, and explain the lunar cycle. To fully comprehend many of these objectives, students will participate in numerous hands-on activities, modeling moon phases using food and in-class manipulatives.

With the 6th-grade Humanities class finishing their class novel, The Eye of Ra, last week, they completed culminating activities surrounding the book. First, they wrote a reaction to the novel using a few guided questions to help them. Then, they had a wrap-up discussion using the reactions as their guide. Next, students wrapped up their group writing of the last chapter and discussed how their predicted endings either did or did not happen. Finally, students began an essay examining the change in the novel’s protagonist, John. The 6th grade also completed a unit of vocabulary this week.

The 7th grade continued their class novel, Animal Farm, and also continued to learn the historical context behind it. They specifically learned about the October Revolution of 1917 and key players during and right after this time. Specifically, the class learned about Nikolai Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin. At the end of the week, students were asked to identify which characters in the book were representative of historical figures of Russian history. The 7th grade also completed a unit of vocabulary this week.

The 8th grade had a busy week with both expert presentations and history. They began their first run-throughs of their expert presentations and received a first round of feedback. Next, students continued reading their class novel, If I Ever Get Out of Here. This week’s chapters mentioned Indian Boarding Schools, so we spent time discussing what they were and how the progression of movement of the Native Americans in the U.S. and treaties being created led to these schools that attempted to change the culture of Native Nations in youngsters. Finally, we read the Declaration of Independence, which mentioned the British legislation imposed on the colonists following the Seven Years’ War and the Boston Tea Party. Students researched and presented these last week.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Spring is a great time of year in the Middle School. The students are in their routines, working through material, collaborating with classmates, checking in with teachers, and continuing to connect with their younger peers. The 8th grade recently submitted the first drafts of their expert project research essays, and they are beginning to work on their presentations. For them, the imminence of the end of the year and time at Fraser Woods is most obvious. It is during this time that the best memories can happen between friends and peers. With our end-of-year trip approaching and other exciting middle school traditions on the horizon, we are all looking forward to the next 6 1/2 weeks before summer begins.

Here’s how the week went in MS classrooms:

Humanities

6th-grade students presented their current events during the first half of the week. They gave informative overviews of important issues and asked thoughtful questions that led the class into discussion. The 6th grade also completed their class novel, The Eye of Ra, by Ben Gartner, this week. This novel is the first in The Eye of Ra series and surrounds characters being immersed in an ancient civilization. This book was a great launching point for Ancient Egyptian history and helped students understand the social order and values of this culture. It also proves how pieces of the past evolve into the present. Finally, tied into our weekly poetry, students looked at Lewis Carroll’s “The Jabberwocky.” They discussed how it is possible to develop meaning and images in their minds with words that have no actual meaning. They also created a visual representation of the poem using their own understanding of the text.

7th-grade Humanities students also began the week with current events presentations. They also continued to briefly explore the countries of Europe by looking at their geography and architecture. Then in continuation of last week’s World War I overview, students looked closer at Russia, its involvement in the war, and the political upheaval that occurred during and after that time. The class began reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm, which is a political allegory of this time period. Students will make parallels between the farm, its characters, and Russian history.

The 8th-grade submitted drafts of their expert project essays at the start of the week. Then, they continued reading their class novel, If I Ever Get Out of Here. To understand the circumstances of the protagonist, a member of the Tuscarora Nation who lives on the reservation in the 1970s, students have to go back in history. As we discuss the movement and removal of Native nations in the late 18th and 19th centuries, we are first discussing the American Revolution and the events that led to the formation of the U.S. Students researched and created presentations of these causes. Next, we will discuss the Revolution’s outcomes, the formation of the Constitution, and how both Natives and enslaved Africans were affected by these.

Math

In the Pre-Transition math class, students concluded their learning of Chapter 7 in the UCSMP textbook. This chapter covered topics such as dividing positive and negative numbers, identifying whether a simple fraction equals a terminating or repeating decimal, and dividing decimals using long division strategies.

This week, the Middle School enjoyed having Upper El students visit with them. They joined science and humanities classes with grade 6 and traveled with a blended group for math and art. Also, they joined the middle school whole group for recess. The teachers enjoyed getting to know the rising 6th graders and look forward to them joining us next year. Read on to learn what else went on in our classes this week.

Humanities

Grade 6 students are focused on Ancient Egypt this week! They are two-thirds of the way through their class novel, The Eye of Ra. This book follows siblings who accidentally become transported to Egypt and part of the building process of the Pyramid of Djoser. Over the last couple of weeks, the class has learned about the social structure of Egypt and the significance of pyramids. They have learned about specific figures in history relating to these as well. In groups, the class was given the following assignment: In the writing style of Ben Gartner (author), write the book’s next chapter as if it is the last. Students identified the four items needing to be resolved, and the groups wrote four different endings. Students have also completed a unit of vocabulary and will present current events on Monday,

Grade 7 classes have been working on the unit, Powerful European Leaders. They identified what they feel are qualities of a great leader based on observations of people they consider to be leaders or mentors in their lives and what they have observed in the world. Then, students completed a brief overview of World War I: who was involved, causes, major events, and resolution. Finally, we looked at the geography of Europe. The class completed a modern-day political map of the European continent and looked at maps from 1914, at the start of WWI, and 1919, after WWI ended. In addition to current events, the class is excited to learn more about Russian History during WWI and begin George Orwell’s Animal Farm next week!

Grade 8 students spent the week working on their expert project drafts, which were due at the end of the week. In addition, the class reviewed how to use in-text citations and develop works cited pages. Mrs. Lamb is excited about the project’s next phase, which is developing the presentation!

Math

What a beautiful week! Students spent time outdoors enjoying the sunshine and were able to return to outdoor lunches.

The middle school has had two exciting events since returning from spring break that we want to highlight: The Middle School play and Science Fair.

First, thank you for coming and supporting our middle school production of the original play, Toys’ Adventure! Seeing the words that students write come to life on stage is always a highlight. All of their hard work with memorizing lines, remembering their blocking, creating the set pieces, and changing the set during the play all culminated in two successful performances. Additionally, it is a joy to listen to the students talk about the process of writing and executing the play in the question-and-answer segment following the show. The students saw every piece of what it takes to put on a show, including setting up and breaking the set. All culminated with a reflective activity and an ice cream party.

Next, the 6th-year Earth Science and 7th-year Physical Science students presented their science fair research projects. Students could choose a concept from their science tech book or related field in either earth or physical science. Then, students formatted their research based on the scientific method, stating the problem/question, identifying their hypothesis, formatting research, compiling data, analyzing results, and providing a conclusion.

Topics for the 6th year Earth Science class were “How Was the Solar System Created?” “Wind Turbine Efficiency,” “Why do Coastal Redwoods Grow So Tall?” “Rocket Efficiency,” “How Does Density Affect Seismic Waves?” “How are Galaxies Classified?” “Engineering Behind Bridge Design,” and “Retrofitting Buildings to Withstand Earthquakes.” The 7th-year Life Science students’ topics were “Kinetic vs. Potential Energy,” “Heat and Pressure,” “Science Behind Acrylic Nails,” and “Titanium vs. Wood Golf Drivers.”

Every student did an excellent job researching, formatting their poster board, and presenting their topic to friends and family.

Enjoy the weekend!

It has been a wonderful return to school following spring break. It has been great to see all of the students and to be working on the amazing play they wrote: Toys’ Adventure. 

We started the week with a full cast read-through of the script. From there, the days begin with warm-up games, and then students work either on the stage blocking with Ms. Sutherland, building the set with Ms. Reid and Mr. Brown, or gathering and organizing props with Mrs. Lamb. The set is looking great, and the entire play is blocked. The teachers are impressed with how well the students work together and learn their lines. There is a lot of positive energy!

Next week, the Middle School looks forward to finishing rehearsals and performing LIVE for the middle school families and Fraser Woods community on Tuesday evening, April 4, at 7 pm, and another show for the younger students during the school day on Wednesday. We will wrap up by taking down the set and having our cast party on Wednesday afternoon.