Sandwich Middle School
January Newsletter
6th Grade News
Happy New Year!
We hope everyone had a wonderful winter break with family and friends. We are beginning quarter three in January as the new year begins. Make sure to check with your kids that they have all the supplies they need to start out the third quarter on the right foot.
Science classes will be exploring minerals and how they differ from rocks. Then we will learn about the Geologic time line and digging into fossils.
Our Language Arts classes will be writing a narrative essay and working with informational text..
Social Studies classes will be learning about the Indus River and how it led to cultural development in Ancient India. We will also be starting our unit on Ancient Greece.
Instructional Language Arts will be covering a unit on nonfiction text features and structure, and then will begin their novel study.
In Mrs. Hernandez's two Math classes, students will be working on understanding and applying the skills of finding area and volume of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional figures. After investigating area and perimeter we will be solving working on solving equations and inequalities.
In regular math class, students will be working on rates and ratios for the month. In AT and ACC math classes, they will be working on decimals, fractions and percents. They even will be learning about tax, tip and discounts!! Before you know it, your kids will be figuring out the tip on your meals out for you.
Congratulations to our Students of the Month, Fiona Legge and Braden Behringer, whose hard work and great attitudes continue to lead to 6th grade success!
7th Grade News
In social studies, the students have successfully won the American Revolution and will now begin the difficult task of making our new nation a reality. From the struggles of the Articles of Confederation to the success of the U.S. Constitution, the students will get a front row seat to the Founding Father’s quest to form the perfect government. We will also spend some time dissecting the Constitution and learning about the different parts of our national government. Then we will wrap the quarter up looking at the Washington Administration and the birth of the American Republic in the late 1700s. All in all, it should be a very exciting time in Social Studies.
In science, we are starting our Astronomy unit. We are starting big and learning about the formation of our universe and our galaxy. We will be moving on to stars, constellations, the life cycle of stars, and our star the sun. This will lead us into our solar system and the other objects in the solar system, such as comets, meteors, meteoroids, and asteroids. The students will then be an in class planet project. In this project, the students will be researching two topics about a certain planet. They will then create a power point presentation to teach the class about their planet.
In 7th Grade Regular Language Arts students are working the novel, The Giver. This a classic piece of science fiction about a utopian/dystopian community. As they work through the novel, they students will be completing a written response booklet that will allow them use several types of writing styles. They will participate in some novel specific activities and complete quizzes and take a final assessment.
The AT Language Arts students are brushing up their knowledge about text structures that are used in nonfiction, informational texts. They are also working on Unit 3 in the Pearson My Perspectives curriculum. The essential question for this unit is, “What can cause a sudden change in someone’s life?” After the Thanksgiving break. We will be studying this question through the classic novel, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
In the math classes, we just finished up our unit on percents. During this unit, the students learned how to solve percent problems, and find the percent of change. They also learned how to calculate sales tax, markups, tips, discounts, and simple interest. We are now working on our unit that covers expressions. During this unit, the students will learn how to write and evaluate expressions, find the pattern in a sequence of numbers, and learn about the properties of numbers. They will also learn about linear expressions and how to simplify, add, subtract and factor them. After we finish our unit over expressions, we will then move onto equations.
In the pre-algebra classes, we are working on the chapter over percents. During this chapter, the students learned how to relate decimals, fractions, and percents. They also learned about the percent proportion, percent equation, estimating with percents, percent of change, markups, discounts, and simple and compound interest. We will be moving onto polynomials. During this chapter, the students will learn what polynomials are and how to simplify, add, subtract and multiply them. When this chapter is complete, we will be moving on to more complex equations and inequalities.
8th Grade News
Happy New Year! We are looking forward to a great start for 2020. In language arts, the students will continue with the Holocaust Unit in literature by reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. They will also be writing an explanatory essay on the topic of the Holocaust, answering the question: How can literature help us remember and honor the victims of the Holocaust? We will continue to incorporate the Common Core reading strategies into our lessons as we prepare for the state testing (the Illinois Assessment of Readiness) which begins in March. Our science classes are going to be starting the oceanography and marine biology unit. In social studies, the students will begin learning about the Great Depression and then World War II. In algebra, students are beginning exponents and polynomials. In regular math, they will continue working on Functions. Before you know it, the state test will be here. We have been busy preparing for this and hope our preparation will pay off.
January Students of the Month WanJun Barbey and William Lappe. We appreciate their hard work, commitment to success, and their overall courteousness.
LRC News
Happy New READING Year to everyone!
I hope that you all got some wonderful new books to read in 2020. The LRC will have new titles available when school resumes. If you are looking for a wonderful New Year’s resolution...try to set a reading goal. It is more fun than starting a new diet!
Rebecca Caudill reading also continues. Students have seven weeks left to read at least three of the nominated books. We already have sixty- six kids that have read Caudill books and half of those have already qualified for the party. There is still time for anybody to get in on the fun! Come to the LRC and take a look at the nominees.
In January, the LRC will be hosting its annual TIC-TAC-TOE tournament. Students can compete for the title of 2020 SMS TIC-TAC-TOE Champion. Announcements about the tournament will be made when we get back from break. There are a limited number of spots for players- so when you hear about it – head to the LRC for an entry form.
Foundation for Educational Excellence
Wellness Night
Mark your calendars! Sandwich CUSD #430 will be having its first Wellness Night on Thursday, February 20 at the Sandwich Middle School from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Many wellness-related vendors are expected and we are excited to share this information with our community. All are welcome. More information will be coming home at a later date.
Dodgeball, Slime a Staff and collections at Basketball Games raised $1100!!
This November Sandwich Middle School paired up with the Sandwich VFW to raise money to purchase items for local Veterans in need and those who are homebound or in nursing homes. To raise this money the school did a couple school events--dodgeball against the teachers and Slime a staff member. Students donated $5 to be able to throw a dodgeball at a teacher or $1 to watch this madness. We had 98% of the students either playing or watching that day. We also had “slime jars” with staff members names on it where people put money in the jars and at the end of the week the 3 staff members with the most money got slimed during a whole school assembly. What a great way to raise some money and have some fun. The basketball cheerleaders also helped out in the efforts by collecting donations at two basketball games and then going with Mrs. Hernandez and Mrs. Tripp shopping to purchase some items on the VFW’s list. Many items were purchased for the Veterans and the VFW was very appreciated. Along with the items purchased, a $250 cash donation was given to them to purchase some specific items for ones in need. Super proud of SMS students and staff for pulling together to help ones in need!
January Lunch Menu
Contact Information
Email: smorel@sandwich430.org
Website: sandwich430.org
Location: 600 South Wells Street, Sandwich, IL, USA
Phone: 8157862138