Team 8-2 News
Mrs. Allen, Mrs. McKinney, Mr. Salser, Ms. Waxman
General News! Week of January 23-27th
Happy Monday!
Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, and didn't have any problems with our stormy weather.
We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but many of our students are currently in a troubling situation. Many are currently failing one or more of their content classes, and seem to be unaware that the consequences are REAL. We have had a number of conversations about this as we are sure you have, but REALITY is about to set in. Students who do not have a 70% year end average, and do not pass their EOG tests will not be promoted to the 9th grade. To those of you who are right on track, or have seen improvement, hats off! We appreciate the efforts! We do not have ANYONE on our team who is not capable of passing all of their classes, so the problem seems to be a lack appropriate motivation.("It's won't do, not can't do!")
Help us , help you! If your child has missed an assignment for any reason, they have 3 days to complete it and turn it in. This can be done before school 6:45-7:15 daily, On Wednesday afternoon during RRAP, and on Thursday afternoon after school with a signed permission form. If none of that works out for you, please let us know, and we will try to make other arrangements with you.
Our SMMS Spelling Bee was the best we have seen in the past few years. It lasted more than two hours before a winner could be determined! A great job was done by our spellers: Ashlyn Abbott, Dominic Brady, Keyirah Jones, and Ryan Toups. Congratulations to our SMMS winners:1st: Aaron Dino, 2nd: Maci Barber, 3rd: TeSean Dawson, Owen Zuschlag (tie)
If you haven't had the opportunity to read this note from Dr. McManigal and complete the survey yet, it would be appreciated. Thanks!
Dear Parents,
Please complete the SMMS annual Title I school survey to help us with continuous improvement as well as planning parental involvement activities. Thank you for continued support of our school.
The survey can be found at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ParSur-HS-17.
Educationally yours,
Angela B. McManigal
Upcoming Dates to Remember:
Jan. 26 - After School Camps (2:30-3:45 with signed permission slip)
Jan. 26th- 8th Grade Honor Roll Breakfast 8:45-9:15
Jan. 27th- Hat Day Wear your favorite hat to school... $1
Feb. 6&7-SMMS Spirit Days (Show your school spirit...wear red and blue)
Feb. 15th- Progress Reports Home for Qt. 3
Social Studies- Mr. Salser
This week we will continue to focus on the early civil rights movement, the push and pull of segregation v. equality, and the terror employed by white separatists and the Ku Klux Klan.
We will also take some time to study, prepare, and take the mastery assessment covering the Civil War this week.
Science- Mrs. Allen
This week in Science, our long awaited Mastery Assessment on Waves will finally arrive. Monday through Wednesday, we will continue learning about light and its characteristics through lessons and labs. Thursday will be our final review day before the exam on Friday. Please make sure that your child is studying the kahoot that was prepared for them this week, as this test will be 10% of the upcoming quarter grades. Students have the link to the Parts of a Wave kahoot in their school gmail inboxes. They also need to complete the lessons and lesson test on Light in Mobymax this week. Keeping up with these lessons will not only help them on the mastery assessment, but on the End of Grade test as well! Let’s have another awesome week! J
Math- Mrs. McKinney
Language Arts- Ms. Waxman
In language arts:
Students will take their 3rd practice Assesslet Writing test this week, on Tuesday, January 24th.This test will be timed and is set up in a similar manner to the EOG. The focus of this test will be Persuasive/Argumentative. Our students have spent the last few weeks reviewing the terminology, reading and discussing topics that present two distinctive sides, and even writing their own essays.It is important that our students are able to properly compose any style of writing that they are presented with as a prompt, as well as complete their piece in a limited amount of time. This will be much of our focus during this quarter.
Based on what we are seeing in class our focus for the next few week will be on non-fiction readings with multiple choice questioning of literary terms, and written responses based on the text. We have spent quite a bit of time on this, but I am not seeing mastery of these very necessary skills yet, so we will continue the journey.
FYI...a number of students have not completed their second week of their NEWSELA homework reading assignment for this quarter. We spent class time last week to be sure everyone was on the same page, and understood the requirements. I have not entered grades for this week yet, but it is easy for you to view the readings your child has completed...just ask them to pull them up! So far they should have completed 6 readings and 2 written responses.
Not only is this practice a required assignment, but it should help them improve their reading skills and lexile levels with regular practice. The format for NewsELA.com is very similar to our Tween Tribune readings. Students are being asked to complete 3 readings each week, 2 of these will be selected by me, and the 3rd is their own choice. One of the articles that I have assigned to them will also be one that they are asked to respond to in writing.
Independent choice readings...Book 1 was due by last Friday, Jan. 20th. Only 25 students successfully completed that assignment on time. The rest will have until this Wednesday to complete their reading and quiz, and then the "0" will remain for this assignment. Students are responsible for 4 independent books this quarter, so they only have 2 weeks for each book if they did not take advantage of completing one over winter break. It is totally doable, but it requires them to stay on track with this assignment daily. Book 2 is due by Feb. 3rd.
Teacher Contact Information
Mrs. Allen- callen@camden.k12.ga.us
Mrs. McKinney- dmckinney@camden.k12.ga.us
Mr. Salser- tsalser@camden.k12.ga.us
Ms. Waxman- bwaxman@camden.k12.ga.us
Location: 205 Martha Drive, Saint Marys, GA, United States
Phone: (912)-882-8626