Another wonderful week has passed us by in Middle School. Everyone is feeling comfortable and has hit their rhythm. It is exciting to watch as the students are learning, exploring, and making amazing connections in their classes.
Math Mania began this week! This team-based game features the focus concepts for the new, grade-level units we began exploring this week. For example, grade 7 is using the distributive property to figure out how to solve complex equations, and they are racing in Math Mania to figure out how they can use the distributive property to combine like terms. Grade 6 and grade 8 visited the Zen Garden to play Math Mania, and teams faced off in a battle to the finish line.
8th year science students have been conducting labs discovering the conservation of mass, the water cycle, and transferring energy. 8th years were also able to visit the trails to conduct research on what makes a system in nature. 7th years determined how to calculate an object’s density by finding its mass and volume. Mass was measured using a triple beam balance while volume was determined by water displacement. 6th year students have been working on their unit, Mapping Earth’s Surface. Labs have involved learning how to use a compass, representing a two-dimensional map of Earth, discovering latitude/longitude of known locations, topography, and landforms.
Humanities classes completed their first round of current events that included topics like success rates among emotionally intelligent people, the effects of hunting sharks, and new technology being developed to reduce food waste. Students presented summaries of their articles and included compelling reasons why we should care about their piece and how it affects people/the globe. Then, they developed three, thoughtful discussion questions and lead the class in conversation regarding the topic, urging classmates to think critically. Current events days are favorites of mine. It is always exciting to watch students as teachers. The depth of conversation continues to blow me away. In addition to current events, all grades progressed in their novels. 8th years also studied demographics and modern life/culture of Indigenous Americans living on reservations.
Also, check out the pictures of 8th years making lasagna in electives! They brought it to their weekly lunch with Mr. Robertson!
~Parent & Teacher Conferences are coming up!
Parent & Teacher Conferences are on Thursday, October 25th.
This is to a wonderful time to learn about your child’s progress; it is strongly encouraged that parents attend. The online Parent & Teacher sign-up will be live on Monday, October 8th – please look for more information in Monday’s School News about scheduling your Parent & Teacher Conference online. If you are unavailable to meet with your child’s teacher on October 25th, please email your child’s teacher directly about scheduling another day or time that week for a conference.
