This Week 2/5/18

Hello Middle School Families!

Here's what's going on in our classes this week:

Social Studies
We've been learning about things that were going on in other countries during the time of the Renaissance in Italy.  Last week we talked about the Reformation, Martin Luther, The Golden Age of England, King Henry VIII (check out this song ...the kids loved it and requested it again and again!), Queen Elizabeth I, and the Spanish Armada.

This week we're learning all about the English Revolution, Cavaliers vs. Roundheads, the Stuart kings, Oliver Cromwell, and the Puritans.  I asked the kids if they'd ever heard of the Puritans before.

• ME:  Think about Thanksgiving, religious freedom, sailing to a new world...
• KIDS:  Oh! The pilgrims!  That was them?  Now I see why they left England.

Aaaaand it comes full circle...I love it when we can make connections like that!  Along with this unit, we've been doing a Filmstrip Project where the kids take what they've learned, discuss it in small groups, decide which events or people they feel were most important, and then draw pictures on a 'filmstrip' template and add a caption.  Eventually each group will put their 'frames' together to tell the hiSTORY of what was happening during this time.

ELA
In the A Day class we had been working on revising our writing to strengthen the evidence we've given to support our answers.  This week we'll be working on description in our writing, both for objects and characters.

In the B Day class we'll be working on dialogue, adding it to our writing, and adding narration around it to fill in information for our readers.

In both classes we're focusing on Greek and Latin roots with our spelling words.  This week's spelling list can be found here,  A Day will have their homework due on Feb 14th and will have their test the same day.  B Day will have their homework due on Feb 15th and will have their test on the same day.  The kids get extra credit on their tests if they can give me the meanings of the roots (which is on the list)!

Have a wonderful week!

This Week 1/1618...

Hello Middles School Families!

We're all crossing our fingers and hoping for snow tonight and tomorrow!  In the mean time, here's what's going on in our classes :)

Social Studies
In Social Studies, we've been studying the Renaissance.  We've learned a little about the Middle Ages, feudalism, and the Black Plague in order to understand what led up to this time of renewed interest in learning and culture.  We've read about the Italian city-states, how they came to be, and why they became powerful and influential cities.  We've also been able to make connections between the European Explorers that we learned about earlier, and their influences on what was happening during the Renaissance.  This week the kids are working on a research project where they are  each learning about a famous Renaissance figure.

ELA - A Day
In our A Day class we're working on using details from a text to persuade someone to see our point of view.  We'll also get a new spelling list of words with Greek and Latin roots.  The spelling homework will be due on Thursday, January 25th, with a spelling test on that same day.

ELA - B Day
In the B Day class we're working on adding evidence from a text to our writing.  Most of the kids can do this easily!  The B Day class has spelling homework due today, and a spelling test today.  They'll have a little time to study their words prior to taking the test.  They'll get a new list of words today, with homework due on Friday, January 26th with a spelling test the same day.

Have a great week!

This Week 11/27/17

Hello Middle School Families!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving break!  The kids were full of stories about what they ate, the things they did and the people they saw :)

Some important upcoming dates are as follows:

• Progress Reports will be available online Thursday, November 30th.  
• Dec. 14- Christmas Program will be at 9am.  Children TK-7th will need to wear red MID polos and khaki bottoms.  Light refreshments in the gym following the program.  
• Dec. 19- Early Release for Christmas Break.  More information on release times will be announced soon.
• Dec. 20-Jan 2- No School - Christmas Break

This Week In...

Bible

We're wrapping up our study of Moses' life this week.  Next we will be learning about the plagues that were visited upon Egypt during the time that they enslaved the Israelites, as well as what the purpose of those plagues was.

Social Studies

This week we'll wrap up our unit on European Exploration.  We'll be filling in our study guides on Wednesday (A Day) and Thursday (B Day).  The unit test will be on Friday, 12/1 for A Day class, and Monday 12/4 for B Day class.  Next week we'll begin our study of European geography.

ELA

We're digging deeper into Dahl's writing, and using it as a model for our own writing.  We talked about how he wrote about his most vivid memories in Boy: Tales of Childhood, and then created a timeline of some of our most vivid memories.  It's always fun sharing some of my childhood stories with the kids!  We'll use those vivid memories as inspiration to write an essay.

Have a wonderful week!

Weekly Update 11/13/17

Hello Middle School Families!

Can you believe it's almost Thanksgiving!  This year is flying by so fast!  Below are a few important dates to be aware of:

• Reading Night is Tuesday, November 14th.  PTO will open the used uniform sale in the upper building from 3-5:30.  There will be a PTO meeting in the Sanctuary from 5:30-6:00 and parents can visit classrooms from 6:00-7:00.  During reading night, teachers and students will share some different things that happen during reading instruction, as well as strategies and activities to try at home! 
• To celebrate reading night, we invite all students to pay $1 and dress up as their favorite book character at school tomorrow, November 14th!  (no weapons, please) 
• Personality Day is this Friday, November 17th.  
• Next week there is No School Wednesday-Friday (11/22 - 11/24)

This week in...

Bible:  We're continuing to learn about the life of Moses, and how God used him in the lives of the Israelite people.  We've also been talking about the fact that God has a plan for each of our lives, just as he had a plan to deliver the Israelites from slavery.

Social Studies:  In Social Studies, we're learning about why Europeans began wanting to explore in the 1400's (spices, gold and silk) as well as finding out about the tools that began to make navigating by sea safer and more accurate, allowing sailors to discover places that they never knew existed!

ELA:  This week we'll continue to read Roald Dahl's writing.  We'll also work on revising our writing to make it stronger and easier to read.

Have a wonderful week!

Weekly Update 11/6/17

Happy Monday!

Important Dates This Week...

• Social Studies and ELA Vocabulary tests for B Day classes on Monday, 11/6 and A Day classes on Tuesday, 11/7
• Veteran's Program on Thursday, November 9th
• No School - Veteran's Day on Friday, November 10th

This Week In...

Bible
This week we'll wrap up Lesson 6.  We've been learning about how the Egyptian Pharaoh felt threatened by the number of Israelites living there.  He worried that if they decided to join together in war with one of Egypt's enemies, Egypt would be defeated due to their great number, so he took them as slaves.  We'll also begin working on Lesson 7, which tells Moses' story.

Social Studies

Today and tomorrow the kids are taking the Geography assessment that starts our European Exploration unit.  Beginning on Wednesday, we'll be learning about why exploration by sea became necessary and how it became possible.  Then we'll learn about some of the famous explorers of the time period (1400-1600) such as Prince Henry the Navigator, Bartholomeu Dias, Vasco DeGama, and Ferdinand Magellan.

ELA

Today and tomorrow the kids will turn in their vocabulary homework and take the test on those words.  They'll be given new homework for the next two weeks.  This homework (Lesson 2) will be due on 11/20 (A Day) and 11/21 (B Day) and they will have an assessment that day.  This week we'll be starting to read some of Roald Dahl's writing, and look at how he focuses in on a moment, just as we've been doing in our writing.

Have a blessed week!

Weekly Update 10/30/17

Hello Middle School Families!

It was great to see some of you at the Fall Festival!  And I'll see even more of you this week at Parent/Teacher conferences.  Just a reminder that there is no school on Tuesday and Wednesday this week due to conferences.  Also, conferences for middle school students are NOT mandatory.  You only need a conference if you have concerns that you'd like to discuss.

This week in...

Social Studies (A and B Days)
We've begun our European Exploration unit with the Geography piece.  We're learning about Indonesia (then called the Spice Islands), the West Indies (Carribean Islands), and Africa, and how these different places played a role in European Exploration.  We'll have a Geography test next week:  A Day on Tuesday, Nov 7th, and B Day on Monday, Nov 6th.  The kids will have study guides that they'll bring home over the weekend.

ELA (A and B Days)
We're continuing our work on narrative writing.  This week we'll look at the difference between telling versus showing what is happening.

ELA Homework Reminder

• B Day students received their vocabulary homework 10/23, and it is due on Monday, Nov 6th.  They'll have an assessment on the words that day as well.  
• A Day students received their vocabulary homework on 10/24.  It is due on Tuesday, Nov 7th, and they'll have an assessment that day.

Wishing you a blessed week!

This week...10/23/17

Hello Middle School Families!

This week in...

Social Studies (Both A and B Days)
We're wrapping up our Ancient Civilizations unit by writing an essay that tells about the masks that we made.  The masks have symbols on them that represent the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations.  We had a lot of fun researching and creating them!  Check it out!

The next unit we'll be working on is European Exploration.  We'll mainly focus on the early explorers from Spain and Portugal, the places and peoples they discovered, and the navigation tools that allowed them to sail further from shore than they'd ever imagined.  We'll begin with a short geography unit that will allow us to get familiar with the areas we'll be learning about:  the Spice Islands, West Indies, and ports in Africa.  There will be a test on this part of the unit on November 3rd (A Day) and November 6th (B Day).  A study guide will come home next week.

ELA (Both A and B Days)
We've been getting familiar with the ELA Amplify curriculum, and are currently working on the first unit, Dahl and Narrative.  The first half of the unit is spent working on narrative writing, and we've been working on focusing our writing in on one particular moment.  This week, we'll sharpen our focus on chosing one moment to write about, and adding lots of details.

This week I'll begin assigning homework for vocabulary.  Students will have about 2 weeks to complete the homework.

• B Day students will receive their homework today (10/23), and it will be due on Monday, Nov 6th.  They'll have an assessment on the words that day as well.  
• A Day students will receive their homework tomorrow (10/24).  It will be due on Tuesday, Nov 7th, and they'll have an assessment that day.
• I'll send out Remind messages about the due dates and assessment dates.  Students will also write them in their planners.

I hope you have a great week!