Garden City Middle School
The Middle View Summer 2021
🎺Band Spring Performances
Throughout the year, the band classes and their teacher, Ms. Iovino, worked diligently on developing students' musicianship and performance skills while adhering to the safe social distancing recommendations. Please enjoy the students’ musical performances!
🎷Band 6 - Tambora! by William Owens
The inspiration for this piece comes from Mount Tambora, an active volcano on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. The piece begins with power and majesty. The tempo soon quickens with bold melodic lines and driving rhythms throughout. Boisterous percussion along with “stomping” and “clapping” sounds represent the massive, random volcanic blasts as the music approaches its rousing end. Tambora’s eruption of 1815 was the largest and most deadly ever recorded, causing the deaths of tens of thousands. In the aftermath, the volcanic cloud was so dense and widespread that the year 1816 became known as “The Year Without a Summer.”
🎷Band 7 - Voyage of the Dragon Armada by Timothy Loest
(The Maritime Expeditions of Zheng He)
The epic voyages of one of China's great naval admirals, Zheng He are depicted through the sounds of winds and percussion. Admiral Zheng commanded 250 ships and 28,000 men a century before Columbus set sail for the New World. This piece is based upon a captivating pentatonic melody, immersed in vivid orchestration and colorful percussion writing that portrays the might of this fleet of 250 ships that ruled the seas of the Orient. This piece is an exceptional musical representation of nautical might and majesty.
Union March by Mekel Rogers
The piece is written in traditional march style with young bands in mind. Complete with an opening strain, dog-fight section, and final strain, this easy musical march lets directors focus on teaching musical concepts such as dynamics, phrasing and style.
Alarm by Randall D. Standridge
This bombastic work was written to keep students motivated with searing dissonances, tri-tones and syncopated rhythms. Randall Standridge used the dictonionary.com definitions of alarm as the inspiration for this work.
🎶Chorus and Orchestra Spring Performances
Throughout the year, the orchestra and chorus classes and their teachers worked on developing students' musicianship and performance skills while adhering to safe social distancing recommendations.
In the video links below, you will see the results of these creative performance experiences, highlighting the students’ skills and talents.
We hope that you enjoy the students’ musical performances!
🎵6th Grade Orchestra Performance
🎵7th-8th Grade Orchestra Performance
🎓Eighth Grade Chorus: A Million Dreams
On Wednesday, June 15, the 8th grade chorus students were excused from their classes so they could sing together for the last (and actually the first) time this school year! Typically, the 8th graders have a big send off at the Spring Concert, but since that wasn't possible, Ms. Menges created an opportunity for them to hear what they would have sounded like had they been able to sing together in a concert. Chorus singer and student Eli Scalere set up a recording system to capture their performance. Ms. Menges then attached the vocal recording to a video montage featuring one baby picture and one current picture of each student (photos submitted by the students themselves), and the result is truly beautiful.
🥇 Victory Games
Every year our student athletes with special needs compete in the Victory Games at Mitchell Field. This year it was cancelled, so physical education teacher Ms. Logue, with the help of Mr. Skrivanek and Ms. Burke, decided to host their own games at the Garden City High School Track!
Seventeen students from the Middle School and the High School, with the help of forty high school junior and senior students from the Athletes Helping Athletes club, participated in a variety of field events, two running events, and a kickball game.
Thank you to the talented Eli Scalere, eigth grader at Garden City Middle School, for creating this video montage of the Garden City Victory Games!
🏆Eighth Grade Awards Ceremony
🎸Guitar Coffeehouse Performance
📰Phoenix Spring 2021 Vol 11 No. 2
😎Summer Assignments
📚Grade 6 Summer Reading Selections
Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech
Bloomability by Sharon Creech
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Heat by Mike Lupica
QB1 by Mike Lupica
House of Robots by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
I Funny: A Middle School Story by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
📝 Grade 6 Summer Reading Assignment
📚Grade 7 Summer Reading Selections
Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
📝Grade 7 Summer Reading Assignment
📚Grade 8 Summer Reading Selection
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
The Wednesday Wars is a compelling story about a teenage boy’s mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–1968 school year on Long Island, New York. Holling Hoodhood, a student at Camillo Junior High, must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker. She doesn’t like Holling—he’s sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside of class? But everyone else has bigger things to worry about, like the war in Vietnam raging and the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. Holling is also experiencing turmoil at home. His father wants him and his sister to be on their best behavior- the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds motivation in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself. Gary Schmidt’s first-person narration cleverly captures Holling Hoodhood’s progression from an angst-filled yet innocent boy, to a wiser, self-aware young man.
📝Grade 8 Summer Reading Assignment
Grade 8 assignment and graphic organizers
💻eBooks
The GCMS library provides access to a growing collection of eBooks through FollettShelf. These eBooks are accessible through desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones with an internet connection. The eBooks can be accessed using a web browser or an iOS or Android app.
To access the eBooks, click on the link below. Use this link for computers, laptops, phones, and tablets.
https://wbb00675.follettshelf.com/
A username and password are required to access the eBooks. Please use the following username and password:
Username: gcmslibrary Password: gcmslibrary
The GCMS Library owns a limited number of licenses for each title. This means all titles may not be available at all times. Each title can be used as if you pulled the book off of a physical shelf in the library. Readers using the eBook have access to the title while the eBook is being interacted with. After thirty minutes of inactivity, the book returns to the shelf for use by other readers. If this happens, the eBook can always be "pulled" off of the shelf again.
In order to support the growth of our students over the summer and continue to foster the transition in World Languages Courses, we will continue with our commitment to develop a meaningful summer review packet for your child. The packets are designed to review key concepts necessary for success, not only for these courses, but also for future language courses.
Should your child need assistance, various resources are available via the Internet; however, your child should also utilize notes and worksheets that were received throughout the year. We suggest that the student complete the packet at his/her leisure but strongly recommend that the student not wait until the very last minute to do so. On Monday, September 13, 2021, students will be required to submit the completed work to the teacher and the packet will be reviewed. Please be advised that this assignment will count as two homework grades. Teachers will provide opportunities for students to ask questions and, since language is comprehensive, students will be tested on the material that was incorporated in the packets. This will serve as a diagnostic tool to continue to help your child’s teacher assess his/her skills.
Click on the appropriate link below to access the assignment:
📏Students Entering Grades 6, 7, 8
It is recommended that all students engage in mathematical thinking throughout the summer. There are a variety of ways to engage in mathematical thinking. There is a significant presence of mathematics in everyday activities that can be embraced. Engaging in conversations about discounts when shopping, proportions and fractions when cooking, or statistics while watching sports are just a few ways to communicate about mathematics in everyday life.
Students can also do targeted practice of math skills already learned. This will help students reach mastery of content and increase their ability to use facts and operations easily and accurately. Practice will also help strengthen or deepen their content knowledge and ensure that they have the prerequisite skills to be successful in their future math classes.
Additionally, students can play games and puzzles that enhance their logical thinking, spatial reasoning, and problem solving skills. Any time spent working on mastery, reinforcement, or enrichment will greatly benefit all students.
Please reach out to the Mathematics and STEAM Coordinator, Christina Cardella, cardellac@gcufsd.net, if you have any questions.
It is recommended that students spend, on average, thirty minutes a week engaging in mathematics. Click on the appropriate grade level below for recommended sites and topics.
📏Students Entering Grade 7 Math Accelerated
Entering Grade 7 Math Accelerated
Entering Math 7 Accelerated Readiness Check
All students scheduled to enter Math 7 Accelerated should take this readiness assessment, Entering 7Accelerated Readiness Check.pdf The purpose of this assessment is to help students determine their readiness for the Math 7 Accelerated class. Students can use their results from this assessment to determine areas in which they may require some additional practice to master the concepts.
Guidelines for completing the readiness assessment
- Students should complete independently with no support.
- Students should NOT use a calculator.
- Students should do work out on paper.
- Students should try their best.
After students complete the assessment, students should correct their work with the answer key and reflect on the problems that they got incorrect. For any topics that pose difficulty, students are encouraged to do additional practice before the start of the school year. Intentional practice of math skills will help students reach mastery of content and increase their ability to use facts and operations easily and accurately. Practice will also help strengthen or deepen their content knowledge and ensure that they have the prerequisite skills to be successful in Math 7 Accelerated. If a student struggles with the majority of the readiness problems, this may be an indication that the student does not yet have the prerequisite knowledge to be successful in Math 7 Accelerated.
Please reach out to the Mathematics and STEAM Coordinator, Christina Cardella, cardellac@gcufsd.net if you have any questions.
It is recommended that students spend, on average, thirty minutes a week engaging in mathematics over the summer. Students should use their readiness check to determine which topics to practice and use any of the following websites to practice those concepts.
Websites:
https://www.castlelearning.com/ - Directions to Create Your Own Assignment
✅Readiness Check Answer Key Entering 7 Accelerated Readiness Check answer key.pdf
📏 Students Entering Algebra 1
Entering Algebra 1 Readiness Check
All students scheduled to enter Algebra 1 should take this readiness assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to help students determine their readiness for the Algebra 1 class. Students can use their results from this assessment to determine areas in which they may require some additional practice to master the concepts. The link to the assessment is https://forms.gle/hQTPWS6z7SMSj5PZ6.
Guidelines for completing the readiness assessment:
- Students should complete independently with no support.
- Students can use a calculator.
- Students should do work on paper.
- Students should try their best.
After students complete the assessment, students should correct their work with the answer key and reflect on the problems that they got incorrect. For any topics that pose difficulty, students are encouraged to do additional practice before the start of the school year. Intentional practice of math skills will help students reach mastery of content and increase their ability to use facts and operations easily and accurately. Practice will also help strengthen or deepen their content knowledge and ensure that they have the prerequisite skills to be successful in Algebra 1. If a student struggles with the majority of the readiness problems, this may be an indication that the student does not yet have the prerequisite knowledge to be successful in Algebra 1.
Please reach out to the Mathematics and STEAM Coordinator, Christina Cardella, cardellac@gcufsd.net, if you have any questions.
It is recommended that students spend, on average, thirty minutes a week engaging in mathematics over the summer. Students should use their readiness check to determine which topics to practice and use any of the following websites to practice those concepts.
Websites:
https://www.castlelearning.com/ - Directions to Create Your Own Assignment
🎉Congratulations, 2021 Retirees
“There is a whole new kind of life ahead, full of experiences just waiting to happen.
Some call it ‘retirement.’ I call it ‘bliss.”
~Betty Sullivan