The Brave Beat- October

Parents who are dropping off or picking up a student before or after school must do so in the lower high school parking lot.

AM: Students must be dropped off in the high school parking lot and utilize the cross walk across from the main high school entrance. Students may enter the high school and walk through the cafeteria or walk along the front sidewalk, then enter through the middle school.

PM: Again, students must be picked up in the high school parking lot. Students may utilize the cross walk across from door 5N, near the middle school main entrance.

The middle school parking lot will not be utilized for pick up or drop off before and after school in any format.

This is an incredible opportunity that we hope you'll take advantage of along with your classmates. If you're considering going on the Washington DC trip in May, please see Mrs. Wilcoxen for more details.

In sixth Grade Social Studies we have wrapped up our first major unit on Geography, We are now examining Europe and looking into both early Greek and Roman cultures. Starting in November students will have to start identifying countries of Europe on a map. Students will take a Europe map test in December.

The countries they must be able to identify and spell on the map test are (and could get ahead start on)

Russia, Iceland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Denmark, Czechia (Czech Republic), Slovakia.

Students continue to amaze me with intellect. Problem solving is good and basic algorithms are accurate. There are only a few missing assignments and most assignments are done in a timely manner. Kudos to the students in my class.

October will be a time to solidify the skill of order of operations while practicing the basic algorithms with decimals and fractions. Time will also be spent on the properties of mathematics and evaluating expressions. Students will be introduced to integers and absolute value. The coordinate plane will come to full cognition enabling students to plot points and their respective reflections.

A good attitude goes a long way in developing new concepts. It pleases me to know that many students come to school with a thirst for knowledge and are eager to learn new things. Sometimes the work in a math class is cumbersome and involves hard work. The work is not always pleasant and the atmosphere is stormy, but we must learn to dance in the rain. A good time can be had while doing an irksome task when employing the right attitude. I truly believe that while the destination can be unbelievably satisfying, the journey often comes with many serendipitous moments. Strive to make life enjoyable in all situations even in the complex math world.

Again, let me say what a joy it is to serve the students in my class!

Thank you to all of the students who worked hard the first nine weeks! Your commitment to your education has not gone unnoticed! This month, we are going to learn about the number system and how fractions, decimals, and percents are all related. I want to challenge all of my students to find an area where they feel they can improve and set some goals to make it happen. It could be related to a specific math skill or it could be something about organization or completing work on time. Little changes can make big differences. Don't forget that every student should bring a binder every day to math class. All papers should be kept organized in the binder. I could use donations of page protectors to help keep the binders neat! Thank you in advance!

Please join the Remind group if you haven't already! I send out reminders about homework, tests and quizzes, and special school days. It does not share your number with me or my number with you, but you can use it to ask questions.

There are 3 ways to join.

1. Text @math6ram to 81010

2. Go to www.remind.com/join and enter @math6ram

3. Download the Remind app and enter @math6ram

7th grade is starting their longest unit of the year. Distributive property and combining like terms, will lead them into solving equations and multi-step equations. This will take us almost to Christmas break.

8th grade is wrapping up exponent properties and scientific notation. These are new topics for students as they have not had these in past years. We are expanding our brain power!

However, the topic that has come up the most in all my classes is time management. This is a lifelong skill that will serve them well. If they can learn how to manage their time now, they will be rockstars in the future. The key is working to keep good habits. Look ahead for the week, know what is due when and what other requirements will be on your time so you can prioritize assignments, studying, and sleeping! Sleep is not overrated at this age. If your student is struggling with this, please put in the work now to help them form these good habits, middle school years are the practice years!

Remember we have parent - teacher conferences coming up before fall break, there will be information sent out on how to get a slot of time per teacher or group of teachers.

Have a fun, relaxing and safe break!

All the best!

Mrs. Emenhiser

I can't believe that it's already October! The past 9 weeks have flown by. I've seen so much growth in all the students not only in their mathematical abilities, but in their reasoning and explanations as well! Keep up the good work! I often get asked how parents/guardians can help their students if they are struggling. The easiest way is to have the students show you their notes and explain examples to you. More often than not, hearing themselves explain the process can help unblock their mental block!

Pre-Algebra: We've had a busy 9 weeks looking at rational vs irrational numbers, learning how to simplify monomial expressions using exponent rules, and how to compute very large/very small distances using scientific notation. This month we're going to look at the Pythagorean Theorem and how it can be used to calculate missing lengths of the triangles. This will then lead us into solving equations/inequalities (which is a big part of 8th grade math). Now more than ever, it is extremely important that if your student has questions or feels that they are falling behind, they ask for help! If they're absent, all notes/activities will be posted. Even missing one class period can really put a student behind the eight ball

Algebra: Wow! In the past 9 weeks we have covered 3 chapters worth of material ranging from finding simple probability to finding consecutive integers to solving absolute value equations. I applaud all of your students for their dedication as we moved through this material. When we get back from Fall Break, we will start the first of many topics that Algebra students haven't seen before: Linear Functions. During this chapter we will learn how to represent equations of lines in various forms (point-slope, slope-intercept, standard) as well as how to create parallel/perpendicular lines that satisfy given parameters. We'll also have our first critical writing prompt of the year where students will describe how the location of an integer can impact the graph of a given function. Needless to say, there is a lot happening in this chapter. There will be times that students feel overwhelmed/are questioning their abilities to do math. Please encourage your student to advocate for themselves and reach out to me for extra clarification on these topics.

We are finishing our first novel "Ghost" and will conclude the unit before Fall Break. When we return from Fall Break, we will be doing a Horror Unit just in time for Halloween! Thanks to all the students for their hard work on our Criterions and Reading Reflections as we have read through "Ghost." I've enjoyed reading all of the submissions. As a reminder, the students will again be responsible for two Reading Counts books for the Second Nine Weeks that will be due in December.

Mrs. RB's ELA classes have adopted a baby cow! The calf should be born any day now, and we are anxiously awaiting its arrival. We will receive information from the farmer about the calf, pictures, and even a video chat with him . . . and our cow! Our cow will play a part in our learning. Not only will we be learning a lot about cows, we will be using our reading and writing standards while doing so!

We are finishing up our unit on the Road to the American Revolution, culminating in a test next Thursday. We will then move into the American Revolution, including using Hamilton in lessons to teach about various battles in the war!

Side Note: If you have any snacks that you would like to donate for me to give to students, they would be greatly appreciated!

This month the 7th graders will be making their haunted houses out of cardboard boxes for

the “Spooky” architecture assignment.

The highlight of the past nine weeks was the 7th grade pet portraits that are framed and ready to find a place of honor at home!

6th graders have completed their “Chihuly Glass” project! While the weather was still warm!

This month all students will receive education on bullying prevention and what they can do to help stop bullying. We know middle school is one of the hardest times in a kiddos life. Their hormones are changing, they say things they don't mean, they take things very personally, and want to do everything on their own. However, they still need our help to navigate through some of the most difficult parts of adolescence. We want to be there to help them through whatever struggles they are having.

If you think your student is being bullied, please reach out to Mrs. Crouch, Mrs. Wilcoxen, or Mr. Zachery so we can help address any issues our students are facing. You can also fill out an anonymous bullying report form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScLtkCis6ZNRXY9LXUhp7zAx3NN2DXqOIR7ImzW2iOZulw86w/viewform

One of the biggest struggles we are seeing our students face is rude and mean comments on social media. Please help us by monitoring your child's social media. Most kids do not realize how hurtful their words can be or how permanent it is to post something on social media.