Sandwich Middle School
April 2019 Newsletter
6th Grade News
Welcome back from Spring Break! The 6th graders will be keeping very busy during the month of April! Students will be taking a trip to Hoover Education Center on Wednesday the 3rd. On Tuesday, April 16th the students who qualified will be taking their trip to a Kane County Cougar’s game! You should have already signed and returned a permission slip for these trips. 6th graders will be taking the IAR tests from the 15th - 24th. Don’t forget there is no school on the 19th or 22.
Math classes will be finishing up area, surface area, and volume topics, then spending the rest of April learning about statistics. Instructional Math will work on multiple step word problems.
Language Arts classes will continue to work on Greek Mythology and will begin our novel unit on The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordon. Instructional Language arts will be using evidence to support arguments/claims and will be starting the novel unit Welcome Home Jellybean, by Marlene Fanta Shyer.
Social Studies classes will be exploring the cultures of Ancient Asia. Science will be finishing their biome packet with a project and start exploring environmental issues facing today’s society.
Science classes will be studying the environment and recycling. The Hoover field trip ties right in to these topics of study.
Congratulations to our April Students of the Month: Jakob Duffy and Stefanie Zeffield. Keep up the great work!!
7th Grade News
Hope you enjoyed the great break and are ready for the final quarter of the year. In social studies, we have been focusing on the Antebellum Period and the run up to the American Civil War in the 1860s. Along the way, the students have met some of the important faces and explored key events to have a better understanding of how and why our nation was torn apart by war. Next up, we with journey through the Civil War and the Reconstruction Period as we wrap up the year.
In science, we are continuing with the Biology unit. We have learned about plant and animals cells and the function of their organelles. Next, we are going to learn about how cells get their energy through either photosynthesis or cellular respiration. We will also focus on how these two cycle work together between plants and animals. We will also be learning about more cells are created through the process of mitosis.
In the math classes, we just finished up our first chapter on probability. During this chapter, the students learned how to find the theoretical and experimental probabilities and the probability of compound events. The students also learned how to create simulations to model a probability experiment. During this chapter, the students also learned how to use the Fundamental Counting Principle to find the number of outcomes in an event and to find the number of permutations (orders) that objects can be put in. Now that we finished up this chapter, we will be taking a little break from our books as we work on an M & M probability project and prepare to take the IAR state tests.
In the pre-algebra classes, we just finished up our first geometry chapter. During this chapter, the students learned about points, lines, planes, angles, triangles, polygons, coordinate geometry, congruence, and transformations. We have started our second chapter on geometry. This chapter will cover perimeter and area of two-dimensional figures, circumference and area of circles, and volume and surface area of three-dimensional figures. We will also be taking a break from our books soon to prepare for the upcoming IAR state test.
Happy Spring Break! The students and staff are looking forward to this break. When we all return, hopefully, we will all finish strong for the remainder of the year!
In language arts the students will be working on both short stories and informational text. They will be using graphic organizers to compare and contrast the text and to develop their responses. Both regular language arts and AT language arts will finish the year with a novel unit. They will be reading, responding and completing appropriate projects.
The students of the month are Mason Hanegmon and Emma Sparks
8th Grade News
The students did an amazing job on the IAR test! We are so proud of them. Now that the IAR test has ended, it is on to Map Testing soon. We know this great group of 8th graders will do well on those tests too! In language arts, we will be starting poetry and practicing our grammar skills while reading The Cheat by Amy Goldman Koss. Soon the students will be reading an individual novel of their choice. The AT students will soon be reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. In history, we will begin the study of the Cold War and start then our study of the United States & Constitutions. Science will be finishing up a unit on oceanography and marine biology. They will begin working on a physics unit, where students will learn and apply Newton’s three laws of motion. In regular math, we are finishing up on congruence and similarity and will be moving on to volume and surface area. In advanced math, we will be working on solving quadratic problems.
Our Students of the Month are Brooklynn Misener and Gael Rodriguez.
They are dedicated students who really shine. Their hard work, positive attitudes, and willingness to succeed are commendable.
PE News
Hello from the Physical Education department.
Time sure does fly fast, we are already into our last quarter of this year. Our classes have been busy wrapping up their Golf and Hockey units, as well as our highly anticipated Olympics events. Some of the Olympic units include: Luge, Curling, Snowball throw, tug-o-war, and our torch relay. Action has been high energy and so has the competition! When arriving after break, we are at the whim of the weather. If the weather is warm enough, our main goal is to get our students outside to enjoy a little sunshine and Vitamin D. So please plan accordingly. Please be prepared to go outside and come prepared with a sweatshirt or sweatpants to help battle any lower temps. If the weather does not want to cooperate just yet, we are planning to dive into a Speedball unit. Our energy has been high, and students have been excelling all year. Keep up the great work. One student who deserves special recognition is Colten Oakes. This student has shown exemplary leadership characteristics in class and has gone above and beyond to assist in any way, and providing a superior effort. Keep up the good work young man.
Physical Education Staff,
Mr. Arendt, Mrs. Crawley, Mr. Russell
EXPLORE News
Explore teachers are getting prepared for the Fine Arts Fair, which is our opportunity to show off our students and their talents in our classes. The event takes place May 2 and is during the last Band and Choir concert of the year. Several of the Explore teachers will be looking for volunteers to help out with a variety of things for the fair, such as set up and preparation. Students keep your ears open during announcements if you’re interested in helping out.
Congratulations to Cadee Goldstein who is the Explore Student of the Month. She did a great job third quarter in Speech and Drama, and just started the 4th quarter in Art where she is off to a great start.
ART
6th grade students started with a couple introductory assignments and are going to be focusing on learning the basics. We started with drawing Eyes and did some name tags where the students could do a little free drawing and give me an idea of their ability level. Hopefully there’s been a spark of excitement and they are looking forward to the rest of the quarter.
7th and 8th grade started off doing similar projects and are practicing shading in both regular pencil and colored pencil. They are getting ready to start their portrait drawings when they return from spring break. We will also get into some cartoon illustration, pen drawings, paintings, and more independent projects throughout the 4th quarter. I am excited to see what students create this year.
STEM
Welcome 4th quarter STEM students! During the first part of the quarter 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students will be learning how to access their District 430 Google accounts and will be exploring the variety of ways they can use the tools available to them for their school work.
6th graders in Introduction to Engineering will then move on to discover the world and work of engineers. They will learn the engineering design process and complete exciting design challenges this month.
After exploring Google for Education, 7th grade students will be learning about different types of sketching and technical drawings used by engineers to document and communicate designs. They will be working with an internet based CAD program, called TinkerCAD, as they begin to explore the possibilities of computer modeling.
Finally, 8th grade students will begin learning about current robot technology. Later this month they will begin building mechanisms to better understand how automated systems work. This will lead to the design and building of projects which include the mechanism they have studied.
SMS Students of the Month
News from the LRC
SMS SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR Monday, April 29th – Friday, May 3rd 7:30-3:30 daily in the LRC & SPECIAL HOURS before and after the Spring Concerts/Fine Arts Festival
Check out www.scholastic.com/fair for more information about our book fair and the opportunity to purchase books online from April 24th –May 7th. Please visit the book fair. It is a chance to stock up on great reads for summer and support the LRC.
It is official…GHOST by Jason Reynolds is the state-wide winner of the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award program. SMS chose LILY & DUNKIN by Donna Gephart as our building winner. All students who qualified to vote received a certificate, a picture of the group, and a highlighter to mark the ones they have read and keep track of all the rest they are going to read!
Remember… “April showers bring a chance to stay dry by curling up with a good book”
Nurse Notes
Attention all 6th grade parents:
May 15th is the deadline for turning in a dental exam or waiver form for your student. If an exam or waiver form is not submitted on or before this deadline, the final report card will be held. Any exam done between February 15, 2018 and May 15, 2019 will be accepted. If financial difficulties are preventing you from getting the exam, please complete the waiver section on the dental examination form and return it to school. Please contact Kim Gonzalez, school nurse, at 815-786-2138 or kgonzalez@sandwich430.org should you have any questions or require further information.
8th grade students entering Sandwich High School next year:
A school physical and proof of up-to-date immunizations are required to be on file on or before the first day of school. Any student that does not meet this requirement on the first day of school will be subject to exclusion until it is met. Please contact Kim Gonzalez, school nurse, at 815-786-2157 or kgonzalez@sandwich430.org, if you have any questions or require further information.
Participation in Sports at SHS
In order to participate in any sport at the high school, each athlete must provide proof of a school physical or a sports physical to the office, not the coach. (Please note: a school physical WILL cover a student to participate in a sport/camp, but a sports physical will NOT cover entry into the 9th grade). Once all necessary paperwork has been turned in to the office (physical, concussion form, insurance waiver, IHSA drug form, & fees paid), an athlete may participate.
2019-2020 SMS Registration Information
April Lunch Menu
Sandwich Middle School
Website: http://scusdsms.ss19.sharpschool.com/#
Location: 600 South Wells Street, Sandwich, IL, USA
Phone: 815-786-2138
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sandwich-Middle-School-474707865996516/
Twitter: @SandwichMiddleS