Ellsworth MS Newsletter
Here's what's happening in MS this week!
April 8, 2019
Dear parents,
On Tuesday April 9th, the 6th and 7th grade classes will be going on a field trip to the Traverse City area. We will be visiting Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay and Dennos Museum in TC. You should have received a letter last week with the details. Students will need to bring a packed lunch and a coat as some of our activities will be outside. If you are unable to provide a packed lunch, please contact Mrs. Goslee ASAP on Monday so we can have time to get a lunch ready for Tuesday morning.
ENGLISH
6th Grade: We had a successful week analyzing various types of informational texts. This week, in addition to our spelling and grammar assignments, the students will type their own informational texts as a culmination to the unit.
7th Grade: Due to testing, we will not have class on Tuesday. The rest of the week, we will focus on writing an essay in response to The Giver. The students have read the novel and four other works that address the idea of a utopia. Students are writing a response to the question, “What are the dangers of seeking a perfectly equal world?”
8th Grade: On Tuesday, students in the 8th grade will be participating in the PSAT 8/9. It will be their first experience with a timed test of this nature. Students should get plenty of rest Monday night and they are welcome to bring a snack for testing. The rest of the week we will continue our Overcoming Obstacles unit and learning about people that have overcome adversity and found success. So far we have learned about Austin Hatch and Nick Vujicic.
SOCIAL STUDIES
6th Grade: We started our study of Ancient Rome with a look at the early Roman Republic and their rules and laws. We will be continuing our study by looking at the Punic Wars.
7th Grade: We started our study of Ancient Rome with a look at the early Roman Republic and their rules and laws. We will be continuing our study by looking at the Punic Wars.
8th U.S. History: The students have enjoyed reading the autobiography of Ron Hall and Denver Moore in Same Kind of Different as Me, which provides reflections on racial discrimination in the South during the mid-twentieth century. We have also completed SAT prep, in addition to a study of the Missouri Compromise. This week students will be taking the SAT on April 9th. We will continue our reading of the assigned narrative, and learn about additional tensions leading up to the Civil War.
MATH
6th Grade: We have ended our chapter on prime factorization, order of operations and exponents. We will review again on Monday and have a test on Wednesday.
7th Grade: The students have been finding the area of composite shapes, or shapes that can be divided into many basic shapes. Fox example, finding the area of a deck that has a rectangle basic shape and a basic semi circle. The students are memorizing area formulas that they will need on the MStep. Expect a quiz on Friday.
8th Grade: 8th graders take the PSAT on Tuesday. We will continue next week finishing our chapter on transformations with a quiz at the end of the week.
SCIENCE
6th Grade: We will be learning about different types of energy next week. We will also be going on a field trip Tuesday that will include a visit to Inland Seas Education Center. We will be checking out their exhibits on invasive species and water quality.
7th Grade: We have been learning about the Geologic Time Scale. Students are exploring a specific time period and creating a mini-poster for our room that describes the climates and landforms that existed along with any lifeforms. We will also be going on a field trip Tuesday that will include a visit to Inland Seas Education Center. We will be checking out their exhibits on invasive species and water quality.
8th Grade: we have been working on heat transfer in the atmosphere. The students finished posters showing conduction, convection, and radiation in the environment. We will be learning about global wind systems and how they affect climate.
ART
Middle School Art: The students are on a Watercolor unit creating a picture of a landscape or animal using Watercolor paint. I hope to finish that next friday. The students got to vote on what mediums they wanted to experience, or work with. Next is acrylic paint or gouache paint. We are having fun exploring the different mediums and having some self directed projects.
SINCERELY,
The Middle School Team
7&8 English: Amanda Terryberry aterryberry@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
6&7th Sci, 6-7th SS: Sue Goslee sgoslee@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
6th ELA, 8th History Olivia Speicher ospeicher@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
6-8 Math: Erica Stuck estuck@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
8th Science: Clayton Faivor cfaivor@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
Art: Kurt Zimmerle kzimmerle@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
Music: Ashley Ford aford@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
PE: Laurie Yost lyost@ellsworth.k12.mi.us