Sandwich Middle School Newsletter
November 2017
6th Grade News
Hard to believe that we are in the second quarter already! Time sure flies when you are having fun! Speaking of fun….the Social Studies classes will be learning about Ancient Mesopotamia. Fun fact-we can thank them for starting an irrigation system. In Science, the classes will be finishing up volcanoes and “rolling” right into rocks and minerals. During that unit, students will be creating an educational poster and trying their hands at making rocks using the rock cycle. While in Language arts classes, your student will be finishing up the genre unit and working on informational text structures, along with studying theme and point of view. Learning all about text structure will help them in all their classes. In math, students will be finishing up the algebraic unit and starting on solving equations and inequalities. They will be finding out what variables stand for. In Miss Kawall’s classes they will be reading a novel and working on fractions and conversions. The teachers would like to like to recognize Sabrina DeWitt and Jacob Smith as being our Students of the Month. Their hard work and kindness have not went unnoticed!
7th Grade News
Fall is now upon us and chill has entered the air. 7th grade late policy will change for the 2nd quarter. Late will now be 50% if not in when due, O% if not done by class the next day.
In Mr. Horton's Social Studies we are beginning our study of the American Revolution. We will identify and analyze the events that led to the revolution. We will focus on the leaders and decisions made that helped create the United States. There will be at least two poster activities and a written paper this unit. Expect to see them. Continue to use my web page to keep up on the daily assignments and check Tyler 360 for your student’s progress.
In science, we are continuing with our Chemistry unit. We just finished learning what elements, compounds and mixtures are through varies activities and labs. Now, we will now focus on elements, parts of atoms and the periodic table. This will include several in class activities and an Adopt An Element Project that will also be completed in class with a partner. The assessment will be on Tuesday, October 31st.
In the math classes, we are just finishing up our unit on rates, ratios, and proportions. During this unit, the students learned how to find unit rates and prices, convert customary and metric units of measure, proportional and nonproportional relationships, slope, constant rate of change, and direct variation. The next unit we are going to be working on is over percents. During this unit, the students will learn about the percent proportion, the percent equation, percent of change, sales tax, discount, markups and simple interest. After we finish this unit, we will be moving onto expressions and equations.
In the pre-algebra classes, we just finished up our chapter on rational and real numbers. During this chapter, the students learned about rational numbers and how to use the four operations to solve problems involving rational numbers. They also learned how to solve equations and inequalities involving rational numbers and how to find square and cube roots. Next, we moved onto the chapter about ratios and proportions. During this chapter, the students will learn about ratios, rates, unit rates, proportions and how to solve proportions. They will also learn how to graph proportional relationships, how to use complex fractions, and about scale drawings, scale models, and indirect measurement. After we finish up this chapter, we will be moving onto to percents.
The language arts classes are finishing the screenplay, Brian’s Song. They will then be jumping into figurative language for second quarter. Students will be practicing recognizing the different types of figurative language as well as creating their very own unique examples. We will also be studying some excellent personal essays.
Students of the Month: Jaedon Thompson and Alexis Sexton
8th Grade News
We are now well into our second quarter of the school year! Please remember to replenish your student’s supplies. Paper and pencils start running low this time of year. Progress reports will continue to be issued during the second quarter and grades are always available at the Tyler SIS website. Please contact the middle school office (815-786-2138) if you need assistance logging in to Tyler SIS. In language arts, we will be reading The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. We are continuing to work on literary analysis, literary elements, and vocabulary. Our science classes will be working hard on our chemistry unit. The American History classes are wrapping up their studies on Progressive Era and moving into a study of World War One. In math, we are finishing up with our unit on Real Numbers & Exponents and are starting the second unit on Expressions and Equations. Your student should know how to convert to and from scientific notation. In Algebra, we are beginning to master the art of graphing.
Students of the Month are Saray Lopez and Adam West. These students have a great attitude in school and are hard workers.
Art and STEM News
2nd quarter Art students are getting started on a variety of exercises to get them ready for their first major project of the quarter: portraits. Students have been working on shading and practicing different parts of the face and will be finishing up the portrait of their choice in the next week. Be on the lookout for your student’s artwork displayed throughout the building and please ask to see their amazing work.
6th graders are working on some fundamental are exercises to get some practice in a variety of areas as well as learn some techniques to gain some confidence in the Art room. 6th graders will be completing a half portrait drawing in the next coming weeks as well.
Welcome 2nd quarter STEM students!
During the first month of the quarter, 6th grade students in Introduction to Engineering will learn about the world of engineering as they participate in their first design challenge. The bridges the students design will be tested to see how much weight they can hold. After this challenge, students will continue to study the work of engineers and the design process throughout the quarter.
7th grade students are learning about engineering careers. They will soon be introduced to different types of sketching and technical drawings used by engineers to document and communicate designs. This quarter 7th grade students will also work with an internet based CAD program, called TinkerCAD. They will use this program to explore the possibilities of computer modeling and 3-D printing.
Finally, 8th grade students have just finished a project and presentation about mechanisms used in robots. This month they will be learning more about mechanisms and how they work as they begin using VEX equipment to assemble mechanisms. Later in the month, they will be introduced to the world of programming using RobotC.
Congratulations to Saray Lopez and Keegan Bottom who are the STEM Students of the Month. Thank you for your hard work during 1st quarter!
6th Grade Students of the Month
Sabrina DeWitt, Jacob Smith,
Chris Barbor, Christian Sommers, William Lappe
7th Grade Students of the Month
8th Grade Students of the Month
Saray Lopez, Adam West, Christian Sommers, Keegan Bottom
Sandwich Middle School Jr. Regiment
The Sandwich Middle School Jr. Regiment recently performed at the Sandwich MusicFest on Sunday October 15th. The played this year’s parade song “Smoke on the Water” to open the event. Twenty two marching bands from northern Illinois (including Plano, Yorkville, and Dekalb) competed.
The Jr. Regiment competed against four other middle school bands this last Sunday in the Sycamore Pumpkin Fest Parade. Their strong performance earned them 1st Place in the Jr. High Parade Band category. Congrats Jr. Regiment!
November News from the LRC
Happy TURKEY MONTH! I hope that everyone’s plans for Thanksgiving include friends and family and wonderful food. If you are going to be traveling this month remember to pick up a book or two to read on the trip. SMS students know that they can check out extras for the long car ride.
The Rebecca Caudill program started off with a big BANG! All of our students had a chance to hear about the nominated books during their Language Arts class. On the first day of Caudill checkout the kids were lined up to check out the books. Thanks to the Book Fair and the Sandwich Education Foundation we had multiple copies of all the nominated books. Despite the multiple copies – all of the books were gone by noon. But don’t worry SMS readers – you have till February 15th to read them so reserve the books you want to read or see if you can find the titles at another library. Don’t forget that November is the month to GOBBLE UP some great BOOKS!
Veteran Holiday Gift Donation Drive
Sandwich Middle School has teamed up with the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation to collect items needed for Veterans in need from November 1-30. The WCPF is partnered with Concord Assisted Living Facility to provide a warm, safe place for in need and homeless Veterans to live. The entire 15th floor of Concord will serve as a residence for Veterans, as well as parts of the 3rd floor. Most move there with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Sandwich Middle School’s goal is to fill as many boxes as possible with donated items. Talk this up to your friends as well, as we had outside people bring in donations last year.
Items needed: Liquid Laundry Soap, Pajama Pants and shirts, Socks, Bar Soap, Body Wash, Toliet Paper, Kleenex, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Pillows, Blankets and Towels. Also, gift cards to Walmart and Kohls
As in years past, the school will be doing some activities to raise money to purchase items. The activities are:
*Teacher jars collecting money to get SLIMED, HAVE TO PLAY EGG ROULETTE, PLAY BEAN BOOZLE, KISS A PIG OR SOME OTHER GREAT HONOR! Top 4 teachers from the school (one in each category) will pick out a hat to see which honor will be bestowed upon them. Jars will be coming around during advisory classes starting October 30th.
*8th graders will be doing a little something new this year that they came up with. Students will have a chance to be slimed. Students will volunteer and then people will pay money to “vote” for them. The one with the most votes will get slimed! They also will be holding a contest to see who gets to throw a free throw to win the honor of silly stringing a teacher. They will buy a “raffle” ticket for a chance to win that honor.
*Annual Student versus Teacher Dodgeball Game! Students need signed permission slip and $5 to play or come watch for $1.