AMBOY MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
March 2019
FREE BREAKFAST FOR ALL STUDENTS DURING THE WEEK OF MARCH 4TH!
AUTO EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS
Did you know that you can request auto emails from Skyward regarding your student's attendance, grades, and food service balance? Once you are in Skyward Family Access, click on "My Account" at the top right of the screen. Check out the Email Notifications and click on any you would like to receive. See the screenshot below.
HANGING OUT AT THE AFTER-SCHOOL SOCIAL!!!
5TH GRADE FOCUS
MATH
We are currently working on fractions. Students need to continue practicing multiplication/division facts at home, as it is necessary to be solid with these facts when learning more involved math skills. Some math websites that can be helpful when learning any new math skill include: Khan Academy, LearnZillion, and Scholastic Study Jams.
LANGUAGE ARTS
We are currently learning about homophones, homonyms, and homographs. Students will be starting their second narrative writing project soon!
READING
During the month of March, we will be reading about nature and how powerful it can be.
SCIENCE
Students are learning about the spheres of the world.
Mrs. Gray is back from maternity leave! Baby Josie is doing great, and we are happy to have Mrs. Gray back.
Missing assignment sheets, or Congratulations! No missing assignments sheets, go home with students every Friday. These need to be returned to the homeroom teacher with a parent/guardian signature. Please send students with more pencils, paper, and notebooks as they run out throughout the year.
6TH GRADE SUMMARY
CHROMEBOOKS
Just a friendly reminder that Chromebooks are considered to be a school supply, so we need ALL students to come prepared each day with it charged and ready to go. We are still frequently seeing many students with Chromebooks not charged. Our curriculum in all subjects areas typically require daily use on the Chromebook. We have seen many broken screens in the last couple of weeks as well as an increase in misuse of technology. Please remind your student that Chromebooks are only to be used for educational purposes.
2ND SEMESTER
We are now in the second semester of the 2018-19 school year. With a fresh start to a new grading period, please encourage your student to keep up with all class work on a daily basis. We all know it can be challenging when getting behind with unfinished work. Here are a couple of great ideas to help your student succeed:
Organization: One of the keys to being academically successful is having an organized system. Please have your student check his/her calendar each day after school as well as check for any unfinished work in his/her folder that should come home each day.
Plan for Long-Term Assignments and Tests: This is another area where parents can be of great help. Kids don't see "long term", they see "now." We encourage students to look at the project timeline when all parts are due and set a plan of how to finish all parts individually. When work is broken down into smaller parts it becomes manageable to complete.
Extra Help: Rare is the student who, at one time or the other, doesn't need some extra help. If extra help is needed and your student can do so, he/she may stay after school on Tuesdays for Homework Help. If you need a permission slip, please contact your teacher or the office. Please help your student find a quiet place at home to work on completing any unfinished work.
40 BOOK CHALLENGE
Keep up the great reading, and remember we're halfway through the year so to be on target 20 books should be read by this time of year.
PIZZA AND KICKBALL
Two great rewards can be earned by your student at the end of the year. Each student in 6th grade has the opportunity to earn a pizza party as well as play in a kickball tournament. To be eligible, students must have ALL work turned in and no grades below a "C". The kickball tournament will begin after state testing at the end of May/beginning of June. The pizza party will be at the end of the year (close to the last week). If students are not eligible for the pizza party, they will go to lunch in the commons like they typically do each day. If students have incomplete work or D's/F's, they will stay in for a study hall to complete and/or correct work during the kickball tournament. We hope that these earned rewards encourage and motivate your student to work hard to keep up with his/her work throughout the semester.
7TH GRADE SCOOP
MATH
In the advanced math class, we have just finished a project involving the use of scale factors to enlarge a figure into similar shape figures. Now we will be moving on to Chapter 7 where we will study slope and how to use equations involving the slope-intercept form.
In the regular math classes, we are studying percent and interest. In this chapter they will be learning all the ways percent is used and learning the meaning of terms such as markup, wholesale, retail, discount, commission, and simple interest.
SCIENCE
Seventh grade science students will be finishing up the Cells and Heredity book and starting Chemistry this month. Students will be learning to distinguish between chemical and physical properties. Then we will review atoms, elements, and compounds, which students learned about in 6th grade, before learning about changes in matter and energy.
Please remember to check Skyward to keep track of how your child is progressing. A set homework time each night is a great way to help your child remember to get their assignments finished. Thank you for your continued support and for sending us such great kids!
8TH GRADE UPDATE
We still have our Battle Ground High School tour coming up on March 5th. Buses will leave the school, and the students will be greeted by high school leadership students. Remember, if you are interested, you can come with us and help chaperone. If you are planning on sending your child to a different school in the district this tour has great information that will fit all our schools, so please have your child attend.
On March 22nd we will be forecasting with your child in the commons, and representatives from Battle Ground High School will be helping. If your child is attending another school within the district (CAM, CASEE, Prairie) they will be able to help, but you are required to fill out special paperwork; please inform the school counselor or your child's homeroom teacher as soon as possible. We will continue planning during SOAR classes from March 25 through March 28; you are encouraged to review the selections your child has made before the high school locks in the selection.
WATERSHED CONGRESS
Do you have the time? Our science teachers, Mrs. Snow and Mrs. Steward, really need some help taking the students to Watershed Congress. About 20 to 30 students will participate at Washington State University Vancouver with other students around the county. These students present live information about Clark County's streams and rivers to community members and peers. The students have been working on the data since the beginning of school. The date will be late May - usually a Friday. If interested, please call Mrs. Snow or Mrs. Steward.
Important date for 8th grade are:
March 5, 9:40 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. - BGHS Tour
March 22, 8:00-9:30 a.m. - Forecasting in the Commons
May (date to be announced) - Watershed Congress at WSU Vancouver
These evenings are for you and your 8th grade student to learn more about forecasting and the high school he/she will attend. Please bring your forecasting questions to the Information Night for your high school:
- Battle Ground High School, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, March 7
- Prairie High School, 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 19
- CAM Academy, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12
GATZ'S GALLERY
SUPPORTING POSITIVE BEHAVIOR
Thank you to all of our wonderful families and community members who have donated to our student store! If you would like to help us in our efforts to reward positive behavior, here are some ideas of items that are popular in our store:
- $5 gift cards from local businesses
- Bags of candy, small bags of chips, gum, pop (especially Mt. Dew), erasers, pencils, mugs, highlighters, footballs, basketballs, etc.
- Larger donations such as a Kindle Fire, Beats headphones, iPod, etc. (These can be used for a large drawing at the end of the year.)
- If you would like to donate money, we will use it wisely to purchase items that students request.
- For Square Cash donations type: $yacambpta with a memo: PBIS
For tax purposes use Battle Ground School District Tax ID #91-6010122.
COLLEGE BOUND SCHOLARSHIP
If you don't already know, the College Bound Scholarship program is an early commitment of state financial aid to eligible students who sign up in middle school and fulfill the scholarship pledge. The College Bound Scholarship can be used at various Technical and Community Colleges, Universities, and Career Colleges across Washington State.
7th and 8th grade students have received College Bound Missing Information Letters. Please help your student complete the Missing Information Letter and get it turned in to Mrs. K as soon as possible. There are many fun prizes for students who get their letter turned in by the end of March. Thank you for your help, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
Follow the link below to get more information regarding the College Bound Scholarship:
http://www.readysetgrad.org/sites/default/files/cbs.ms.intro.flyer.pdf
MR. BONG'S BAND BEATS
March is a busy month for the Amboy bands. First of all, the Advanced Band will be participating in the BG District Band Festival on Thursday, March 7th, at Prairie High School, listening to other BGPS bands, performing for judges, and attending a clinic about the music they performed. The bands have been working hard to make their best presentation for the judges.
Our local audience will get to hear the results of the festival work at our Spring Concert on Thursday, March 21st, at 7 PM in the AMS Commons. The Advanced Band will be joined by the 6th Grade Band and the Beginning Band. All bands have been working really hard to make this concert. The weather has interrupted our rehearsal schedule on a regular basis. Hope to see you at this concert.
PROJECT AWARE SCHOOL CLIMATE SURVEY
Students in grades 5 and 7 will be asked to participate in a brief, 15-minute school climate survey during the week of March 4-8, 2019. These surveys will be anonymous and are designed to provide information on school climate, school and community safety, and student behavior. Staff will also be asked to complete a similar online survey. Please click the link below for additional information.