Junior High Journal
News and Happenings in the Junior High Department
8th Grade Updates & Reminders 3/20-3/24
- Chromebooks should be charged every night to ensure the battery lasts throughout the day!
- Check Skyward and the homework calendar frequently for missing and current homework assignments, talk to your child about their work.
- Please remember that although you can email your students, absences and early pick-up information must be reported through the office. Please call the Yorkville School office.
2016-2017 YEARBOOK ORDER DUE!
Buffalo Wild Wings PTO Fundraiser!
Individual Classes
ELA News and Updates
Katie Nicholls katie.nicholls@yorkville.k12.wi.us
This week in ELA, students completed a 3rd quarter reading assessment to evaluate the progress of their close reading skills. I look forward to celebrating all the growth students have achieved this year. We also began to read our next novel, “Tears of a Tiger”, a creatively written story about life at Hazelwood High School. Currently we are getting to know our characters, establishing background understanding of the text and discussing the many underlying themes of the text. We finished the week with peer revising our expository essay and making any necessary changes for editing on Monday. As Spring Break approaches, please check your student’s progress in Skyward. All students need to have late work submitted to me BEFORE break.
Science News and Updates
Erin Weis erin.weis@yorkville.k12.wi.us
On Friday, students cut water bottles in half, added soil, and planted grass seeds in order to create their own ecosystems. Students started this week off making observations on their eco-bottles with the hopes of seeing growing grass. That didn’t happen on Monday, but they were pretty excited to see lots of growth by Thursday. We are using these eco-bottles to test how humans impact our ecosystems. Some things we are testing include: lemon juice and Coca Cola to simulate acid rain, table salt to simulate road salt runoff, Miracle Gro as fertilizer and aluminum foil to simulate metals in our water.
We will continue to make observations through next week. Students will complete their notes from the Ecology presentation on Monday and will then have a few activities to do before the test. Our schedule next week includes the Forward exam Tuesday through Thursday so this unit will probably not end until just before spring break. Have a wonderful weekend!
Go Badgers!!
Mrs. Weis
Social Studies News and Updates
John Johnsen john.johnsen@yorkville.k12.wi.us
This week in Civics we looked at how the Supreme Court works. We started looking at how the court was created by the Judiciary Act of 1801. We then talked about how the court established its power of Judicial Review in the Marbury v. Madison case. Next we discuss the qualifications needed to be a judge and how a Supreme Court judge is selected. We then spent the last half of the week looking at how a case in the Supreme Court works. Students learned that the Supreme Court gets to choose the cases they want to hear and that we need 4 of 9 judges to want to hear the case to take it. We finished by looking at the four different types of opinions the Supreme Court can give. On Wednesday the 8th graders got to participate in a simulation put on by the community state bank. The students got to make choices and learned how to balance a budget. It was fun to watch the students learn from early mistakes in order to complete a balanced budget. Next week we will study for the Chapter 7 test. Students will have self check quizzes, study guide, and the essay question. Have a great weekend. Mr. Johnsen
Math News and Updates
Mary Niccolai mary.niccolai@yorkville.k12.wi.us
Intro to Algebra spent this week working with right triangles. We reviewed classifying triangles by sides and angles. The majority of the week was spent working on the Pythagorean Theorem. Pythagoras discovered that when you add the squared lengths of two legs of a right triangle, it will equal the squared length of the hypotenuse. Next up we will work with the distance formula to find the distance from one point to another. It is important everyone has a calculator for this unit as we are finding square roots. Next week we will miss class a few days to allow for the Wisconsin Forward exam. Please check Skyward for updated grades and missing or absent work. Have a great weekend.
Algebra finished the factoring Module 15 with a quiz on Monday. We then began working on Module 16. In this module we are going to be solving quadratic equations. This unit will continue to use the methods for factoring that we used in the previous module. It is crucial that your son or daughter understands how to factor because this is the unit that will continually build on the previous lesson. If they are struggling with this concept they need to see me for some extra help. I can show them some other methods for factoring if they are having a hard time with the two methods I have showed them.
We have a lot of material to cover yet this trimester. I appreciate your help in keeping your son or daughter motivated as we begin our push into the final trimester. Check for updated grades and encourage corrections or completion of late work if needed. With the viruses going through the school, make sure your son or daughter has completed any absent work if they have missed some days.
Please contact me via email if you have any questions or concerns.
Have a great weekend.
Mrs. Niccolai
Spanish News and Updates
Katy Morrow katy.morrow@yorkville.k12.wi.us
This week in Spanish, students spent time working with the verbs estar and vivir to describe where they were located in a room and where they lived. Students practiced these by asking each other the questions, ¿Dónde está en la casa? y ¿Dónde vives? in two seperate activities. Students then wrote about their classmates' responses. A big push this week was working on taking our time during activities and completing them thoroughly and using our resources. We finished up the week by describing the houses that different celebrities live in. Ask your child to describe the items in their own house!
Physical Education & Health News and Updates
Amanda Peterson amanda.peterson@yorkville.k12.wi.us
This week the 8th graders completed their personalized fitness program with a journal entry on the benefit of physical activity, the activity pyramid, and training principles. They are ready to try out their Personalized Fitness Program next week!
This week the seventh graders continued their hockey unit. We spent time learning how to pass and move, and we also learned how to shoot, play goalie, and faceoff. On Friday, we started some hockey game play, which we will continue with next week! The students are really increasing their cardiovascular endurance!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs.Peterson
Band News and Updates
Mike Beix
Our students are ready for the Solo and Ensemble Festival which will be on Saturday, March 25th at Yorkville School. Based on what I have heard in class, there will be many outstanding performances!
On Friday, April 7, the members of the Advanced Band will be traveling to Union Grove High School for a morning rehearsal and then participating in the 40th Annual Mass Band Concert at 6:30pm in the UGHS large gym. We will also be hosting another Culver’s Fundraiser on April 7.
Please check out the band website (tinyurl.com/yorkvilleband) to stay up-to-date with the Yorkville Band!
Choir News and Updates
Carly Kreuscher
carly.kreuscher@yorkville.k12.wi.us
http://yorkvillemusic.weebly.com
Music Man Jr. Costumes-Students will need to find their own costume for the musical. I do have some things here at school, but not a lot. The musical takes place in July 1912, victorian edwardian style “titanic-like” clothing and knickers with suspenders are some examples. Rehearsals are running smoothly!! We will start blocking next week. Cast members will need to have their lines memorized by then!!. Rehearsals are every Tuesday, Thursday and every other Friday. It is very important that your child be present during these times!!
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Solo & Ensemble is Saturday March 25th from 8am-12pm. Students continue to work on their pieces and should sign up for individual practice times with me weekly.
If you are looking for extra handouts, forms, etc. please check my website. I try to post everything I can so you have access at home!!! http://yorkvillemusic.weebly.com