A week of warmer weather and an end to CTP-4 testing has Middle School students feeling back to themselves.

In Humanities, 6th and 7th year students are working hard on their Research Projects both in and out of school. They have been learning to use citations and keep their research organized in order to use it in their essay drafts. The topics are fantastic! 7th years are also continuing to read Facing the Lion by Joseph Lemosolai Lekuton, a contemporary memoir about growing up in the Maasai tribe. They are comparing Western culture to the Maasai culture and finding interesting differences. 8th years began their unit on Black Americans in the US and have been studying pre-Civil War policy and comparing it to today’s as well as the prevalence of stereotyping and implicit bias. Macklemore’s “Same Love” helped students to develop open, honest, and forward-thinking discussion about the effects of stereotyping. Math classes continued with their units and continue having vibrant classes.

What a week! The Middle School has done their best to go with the flow this week with a different schedule to accommodate CTP-4 testing and a snow day mid-week. There is no question that students are feeling the ripple effects of projects on the horizon and testing, so it more important now than ever to remind them to focus on today and take each day as it comes.

In self-reflection, it is also important to process the positives of each day. Those small, stressful instances that happen during a day seem to dwell and take over one’s entire perspective, so it is important to purposely think back to the positive occurrences. I like to remind students to point out when good things happen to their peers as well. While it is good to recognize and give attention to all of the emotions that come with a day, good and bad, remembering the sunshine will give an overall boost.

Encouraging students to take time every day to do something they love is crucial. Whether that is listening to their favorite music, curling up with a book, bouncing a basketball, drawing, watching their favorite TV show, walking the dog, cooking, etc., time spent rejuvenating one’s mind and body is vital. If your child isn’t sure how to relax, try coloring mandalas. I love to do this as a way to clear my mind or when I am feeling anxious. Here is a link to some Printable Mandalas.

“Cause when you worry your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down. So don’t worry, be happy.” Bobby McFerrin

Enjoy the end of your week!

Welcome back! We are gaining momentum with this five-day week. Students have been working, playing, and challenging themselves. We switched classes for Community Service, so it has been great for the Middle School students to get to know their new classes. With the warming of temperatures, some Middle Schoolers enjoyed the snow during recess. It’s been great to get fresh air and watch the joy they have!

New electives have been great fun. Students are participating in yoga, cooking class, photography, and book club. This week, book club finished reading Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and had a fabulous discussion. Cooking class made three different, delicious cookies from scratch: snicker doodles, lemon ricotta, and German chocolate.

We are looking forward to another week!

With snowflakes on our brains, it is easy to tell that winter break is near! There has been a fun energy soaring through Middle School! Students decorated classrooms, went sledding at recess, practiced for the holiday concert, and holiday music can be heard from their laptops while working.

In Science, 6th years depicted phases of the moon, 7th years constructed models of elements, and 8th years continued their study of astronomy. In Math this week, 6th years started working with rational numbers, 7th years began exploring percentages, and 8th years worked with fractional equations. In Humanities, 6th years continued to study civilizations in Mesopotamia, 7th years looked at ancient African civilizations and worked on possessive nouns, and 8th years are working on writing peaceful proposals acting as members of Indigenous American tribal nations being forced to move from their native lands.

Finally, middle school students have been working to create Kindness Rocks. Elisa, an 8th year student, wrote about Kindness Rocks for a current event presentation and introduced the idea to the middle school. The idea is to create messages of inspiration or kindness on rocks and leave them for others to find and take with them. With the hope that kindness is contagious, others can create their own Kindness Rocks to leave for someone else to find. Once the snow melts a bit, keep your eyes open! Maybe a message on one of the rocks will connect with you.

Check out the Kindness Rocks Project here: http://thekindnessrocksproject.com/

It has been another exciting week for Middle School!

In Science, 6th years finished their unit on Rocks/Minerals by testing the effectiveness of minerals found in toothpaste. Their current unit is Earth, Moon, and Sun. 7th years are working on creating models representing atoms of their choice as part of their Elements and Periodic Table unit. Finally, 8th years are Studying Space, as their appropriately-titled unit suggests. This includes representing refracting and reflecting telescopes using 2 convex lenses of different focal lengths.

This week in Math, the 6th years wrapped up their integer operation unit. The 7th years wrapped up their unit on ratios, rates and proportions. Finally, the 8th years were working on algebraic expressions.

In Humanities this week, 6th years composed sensory poems after reading “Homemade Swimming Hole” by Michael Stolz. Their most recent vocabulary lesson involved the root word “sens”. They also studied the Sumerian people of Mesopotamia and continue reviewing the geography of the Middle East and North Africa. 7th years worked on Sub-Saharan Africa geography as well as their editing skills. Finally, 8th years have been reading about different tribal nations (like the Nez Perce) who had to flee their homes during the mid-late 1800’s. Also they have been reading about Native American reservations, policy, and how decisions made regarding Indigenous Americans in the past affect them now.

Electives wrapped up over the last week. Cooking Club ended with a delicious pizza showdown. To finish up Nature Club’s elective, students had the opportunity to dissect a squid. Students learned about the anatomical features of the squid while enjoying the physical aspects of the dissection itself. Finally, Fantasy Football had 4 of their teams make the playoffs. Woo hoo!

Middle School’s first trimester is wrapping up, and they continue to be hard at work. The teachers are proud of those who gave prayers and blessings in languages that represented their cultures during our Thanksgiving celebration.

In science, 6th and 8th years are concluding their unit on minerals and rock. Our next unit will be the “Universe”. 7th years finished their unit on states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) having identified both Charles’s and Boyle’s Law. In math this week, the 6th years started working on adding and subtracting integers. The 7th years continued exploring ratios, proportions, and similar figures, and the 8th years wrapped up their unit on quadratics. Humanities classes worked on poetry, reflected on the first trimester, practiced editing, and began grammar work to enhance their writing.

Last week, the 7th years concluded their trimester utopia projects and presentations that stemmed off their class novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry. The novel is about a community that tries its best to shield its members from pain, sadness, and harm. While the concept seems to be what we, as humans, ultimately strive for in our world, more and more is revealed that show the community in the novel is, in fact, dystopian.

When creating their utopian communities in groups, 7th years had to plan and discuss many factors including government or lack thereof, economy, sustenance, employment, healthcare, recreation, etc. Then, they composed a 5-10 page paper using the writing lessons from the trimester to explain and convince their class that what they have created is perfection. In Art Humanities classes, models of the communities were constructed and a flag and motto as well. Finally, 15-20 minute presentations were given to their classmates, highlighting the elements of their communities.

The pride from weeks worth of collaboration, compromise, and conscientious work was evident in the 7th year students’ faces. Well done!