SMS Newsletter
January 2022
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. Check with your student that they can log into their Chromebooks so they are ready to start the new year!
Science classes will begin by learning about and making our very own snowflakes! Then we will begin exploring nature and different ways living things can interact with each other and their environment. We will learn about the importance of biodiversity in all the different biomes.
Our Language Arts classes will be working with informational text. We will be identifying text features, writing summaries, and learning text structures. We will also be writing personal narratives.
Instructional Language Arts will be working on grammar and figurative language units this month while continuing our reading skill work in Quill and Lexia.
Social Studies classes will be continuing our study of the Ancient Greeks, then we will be moving to talk about the spread of Greek culture throughout the ancient world by Alexander the Great.
In regular math class, students will be working on solving one step equations and then onto 2 step equations. In AT and ACC students will be working on rates and ratios for the month and ending with a “Planning a Trip” project to use their skills to figure out how much gas it will take them in the car of their choice to go on their trip. .
Congratulations to our Students of the Month, Seth Skillin and Bailey Brummel, whose hard work and great attitudes continue to lead to 6th grade success!
7th Grade News
We are officially halfway through the school year! We have just a few reminders to help your student be successful. Please sit down with your student on a regular basis to look at Google Classroom. You can see the status of the work by going to the “classwork” tab on the top. Then, on the top left, click on the “View Your work.” Please keep in mind that Google Classroom will NOT show your student’s grade, so please check Tyler for grades. Also, please check with your child to make sure that they have the supplies that they need to be successful in school.
Students may want to bring a refillable water bottle with them to school to stay hydrated throughout the day. Please note that only water is allowed in the classrooms. Also, please make sure that your student is bringing the necessary supplies to class each day. It is very important that students charge their Chromebooks every night to be ready for the next school day. We are seeing a lot of students using up the battery in their Chromebook because games are being played throughout the day. We are doing our best to keep students off of games, but they keep finding new ways. Please reinforce the importance of wearing masks correctly while in the building. This includes covering both the mouth and the nose. We appreciate your support while we continue to navigate through this pandemic.
The 7th-grade Students of the Month are Chase Lackey and Ashlyn Alberto. Congratulations to you both! Keep up the good work.
8th Grade News
Amazingly, we are already in the second semester! We are looking forward to seeing our students back in action on January 4th. It will not be long before the students will have to start thinking about high school. In fact, high school class recommendations by the teachers are already due in January. You will hear from the high school counselors very soon to set up schedules.
History: When we come back to school in January, the 8th graders will be finishing up their study of the Jazz Age. The next unit will be a study of the causes and effects of the Great Depression. We will discuss the presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt, the stock market crash, the dust bowl, and the New Deal.
Language Arts: When the students begin school again after the first of the year, the 8th graders will begin a novel study called The Cay by Theodore Taylor. This will give the students the opportunity to review the reading and writing skills discussed before break while also introducing different historical aspects of African American Literature in preparation for Black History Month in February.
Instructional Language Arts:
Instructional LA students will begin our next novel study this quarter. We will be reading The Cay, by Theodore Taylor. Along with our novel studying we will be continuing our writing and reading skills lessons.
Math: General math is currently working on the last half of chapter 4 Functions and will be moving on to Chapter 5 Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem after the start of school in January. We will be covering angle relationships when a transversal cuts through parallel lines, geometric proofs, angles of triangles, polygons and angles, the Pythagorean Theorem and uses of Pythagorean Theorem including distance on the Coordinate Plane.
Instructional Math: In Instructional Math, after the holiday break we will be returning to our book to learn about expressions and equations (Ch. 3). As before, we will continue to practice basic math skills through daily warm-ups and weekly word problems. Additionally, each week students will complete at least 50 iXL “starred” problems (those problems indicated by a yellow star and that were assigned by the teacher), which are skills that support the content we are studying in class.
Science: Students will do a short review of the scientific method as we start the third quarter. After that, we will begin our unit on oceanography. We will learn about the causes and effects of ocean waves, tides, and currents. Students will also become familiar with the physical features of the ocean floor.
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH: The 8th Grade Students of the Month for January are Clara Schiradelly and Griffin Somlock. We appreciate the strong work ethic and positive attitude of these students. They are an absolute joy to have in class!
E-Learning Days- in lieu of snow days
Nurse News
January is National Blood Donor Month
Many people's healthcare journeys rely on donors like you! Visit the American Red Cross website for information on how to donate, or to make an appointment at your local donation center.
Newest COVID-19 Guidelines
Sandwich CUSD #430 continues to follow the current guidance from IDPH and collaborate with local health departments to determine if a student will be excluded from school.
If your student has ANY of the following symptoms, please keep them and their unvaccinated household members/siblings home until cleared to return. Symptoms include: Fever (100.4°F or higher), new onset of moderate to severe headache, shortness of breath, new cough, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, new loss of sense of taste or smell, fatigue from unknown cause, muscle or body aches from unknown cause.
Symptomatic students may return to school after 10 days OR show results of a negative COVID-19 test. Our district offers free rapid Binax antigen testing at the schools. Please reach out to your school nurse with any questions or to make an appointment for a Binax test. Our goal is to partner with you to keep students in school - healthy, safe, and ready to learn!
Sincerely,
Ashley Quiles, BSN, RN, PEL-SN
Sandwich Middle School
815-786-2138Important Days to Remember
January 3rd - No School
January 4th - School ResumesJanuary 14th - 11:10 AM Dismissal
January 17th - No School - Martin Luther King Day
Contact Information
Email: smorel@sandwich430.org
Website: sandwich430.org
Location: 600 South Wells Street, Sandwich, IL, USA
Phone: 815-786-2138