8-3 Newsletter
February 15-19
What's New?
Happy Valentines Day!
No school on Monday! Happy Presidents' Day!!
At advisory this week, students will be examining their grades and their study habits. By this point in time in the 8th grade, we want to see the students become more independent and intrinsically motivated. In other words, we want them to "think and do" for themselves. The next few weeks leading up to Spring Break are critical weeks for us to introduce new material that will be assessed on the end of course exams. Students need to be PRESENT, both physically and mentally.
The parent surveys closes February 26, 2016. We would appreciate your input on our school climate. Survey
Do you want to see what the Georgia Milestones Assessment looks like? Click on the link and follow the directions. If your child hasn’t seen it yet, do it with them! Practice test
Coming up!
Monday, Feb. 15 Presidents' Day NO SCHOOL!
Tuesday, Feb. 16
Wednesday, Feb. 17 Advisory Day, Progress Reports go home
Friday, Feb. 19 School Dance 2:30-4:30
Here is what is happening in our classes!
Dr. Bridwell- Physical Science
Next week, we will experiment with pulleys, inclined planes, and levers. On Friday, we will review our unit on Work and Simple Machines in preparation for a test on Monday, Feb.22nd. I hope that all students will be present Tuesday-Thursday as it is difficult to make up a lab day. The new proposed state standards for Science and Social Studies have been posted. Some areas have seen big changes. Feel free to look and give your feedback at their survey.
Mrs. Richardson- Language Arts
Blocks 2,4 and 5
This week in ELA, we will continue to read To Kill a Mockingbird and complete activities in class that will help the students better understand the text. We are going to continue to work on infinitives and will have a quiz on these the week of the Feb. 22nd. The students were given an essay topic on Wednesday. This will be completed in class unless I tell them differently. If they use their class time wisely, they should be able to have it completed in the allotted class time. The due dates for the essay are below:
Essay Due Dates:
Book Character Chosen: 2/11
Thesis Submission: 2/12
Revise Thesis: 2/16
Brainstorming and start looking for evidence: 2/17
Continue brainstorming and write topic sentences: 2/18
Body Paragraph #1: Feb. 19th
Body Paragraph #2: Feb. 22th
Body Paragraph #3: Feb. 23rd
Body Paragraph #4: Feb. 24th
Introduction: Feb. 25th
Conclusion & Works Cited Page: Feb. 26th
First Typed: Feb. 29th
Revise and Edit essay (self): March 1st
Peer Edit and make corrections: March 2nd
Final Draft Due: March 3rd
These dates were given in class the day that the assignment was passed out.
Block 3 is going to be finishing up reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. They will continue to learn about infinitives. We will begin writing our informational essay on the concentration camp that they chose. This will be written piece by piece in class. As we are working on it, we will be focusing on several different skills needed to write an informational essay.
Dr. Siekkinen- Georgia Studies
We will be starting World War II this week. Remember that there are resources to help students study for social studies. Check google classroom for the online textbook login as well as the Social Studies website. As always, check powerschool for grades so there are no surprises come progress reports. Have a great three day weekend.
Mrs. McKinney- Math
Wow, unit 5 was a quick one! We are beginning unit 6, Linear Models and Tables.
In this unit students will:
- identify the rate of change and the initial value from tables, graphs, equations, or verbal descriptions;
write a model for a linear function;
sketch a graph when given a verbal description of a situation;
- analyze scatter plots;
informally develop a line of best fit;
use bivariate data to create graphs and linear models; and
recognize patterns and interpret bivariate data.
For the next two weeks we will be immersed in Problem Based Learning. This is the scenario the students were presented with on Friday:
You are the assistant director of food services for Camden County Schools. You are faced with cafeterias in the school system that are losing money. You have decided to look closely at the cafeteria at St. Marys Middle School to find areas where you can save money. You will research and evaluate the many areas that generate costs and the areas that generate income. Areas that need to be included are the labor costs, food costs, cleaning costs, and paper costs. You must collect data and then use the data to make recommendations to the Director of Food Services. You will use the website School Meal, Trends and Stats from
https://schoolnutrition.org/AboutSchoolMeals/SchoolMealTrendsStats/, to help you write a cost analysis report that relates all the costs and revenues involved in a school cafeteria and find ways for the SMMS cafeteria to reduce costs and improve its financial standing. Make sure you use tables and graphs to support your position.
Once you have decided on a course of action, you will make a presentation complete with your suggestions to the Director of Food Services. Wednesday, 2/17/16, the students will have an opportunity to ask questions of the School Director of Food Services. I think this will be a wonderful learning opportunity for our students. Have a wonderful long weekend.
We are here if you need us!
The best way to contact us is by email!
Email: firstinitiallastname@camden.k12.ga.us
Website: smms.camden.k12.ga.us/
Location: St. Marys Middle School, Martha Drive, Saint Marys, GA, United States
Phone: (912) 882-8626