Ayer Shirley Middle School
December Newsletter
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Principal's Corner
We hope that you find this newsletter worthy of your valuable time. Each team of teachers has provided a snapshot of current and upcoming units; this information will help you know what your child is working on/studying in each class. Guidance has also shared: Tips for Parents: Fostering an Attitude of Gratitude. We have included important information on sports, upcoming events, and opportunities for you and your child. As always we welcome your feedback regarding our newly formatted monthly newsletter. Send your feedback to me~ raikey@asrsd.org.
Hold tightly to those you cherish! May the love and warmth of this holiday season surround you.
Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas!
Feliz Navidad!
feliz Natal!
រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល
rikreay thngai bony nauel
Most Sincerely,
Ms.Aikey
Principal
Important Dates
12/11 - Progress Reports go home
12/11 - Winter Concert
12/13 - Winter White Out Dance 6-8pm
12/14 - Holiday Concert @ Ayer Town Hall
12/20 - 90 Minute Early Release
12/23 - 1/1/20 - Holiday Break
Calendar of Student Reporting Q1 & Q2
Quarter 1
- Progress Reports Issued October 2
- End of Term November 1
- Report Cards Issued November 12
Quarter 2
- Progress Reports Issued December 11
- End of Term January 24, 2020
- Report Cards Issued February 3
Calendar of Student Reporting Q3 & Q4
Quarter 3
- Progress Reports Issued March 4
- End of Term April 3
- Report Cards Issued April 10
Quarter 4
- Progress Reports Issued May 13
- Report Cards Issued Last Day of School
Parent Meeting Schedules
November 14: Evening Conferences
November 15: Afternoon Conferences
February 6: Evening Conferences
February 7: Afternoon ConferencesSpirit Week
Monday, December 9th - Friday, December 13th
Show your grade level spirit by participating in the following dress up days. Grade levels receive points based on their class participation percentage.
Monday - Disney Day
Tuesday - Decade Day
Wednesday - Ugly Sweater Day
Thursday - Twin Day
Friday - Pep Rally and Color Day
6th Grade - Black
7th Grade - Maroon
8th Grade - White
Earn additional points for your grade by bringing in non-perishable goods to be donated to Loaves and Fishes.
Brought to you by your Student Council
ASMS School Counselors
We wish all families well this holiday season and hope all find peace and joy in the weeks to come.
GRADE 8 FAMILIES:
For those grade 8 students interested in applying to Nashoba Tech please follow these steps:
HOW TO APPLY:
Complete an online high school application or obtain an application from Ms. Esielionis
Fill out application completely with all required signatures and MEET with Ms. Esielionis and she will complete the required Rating Form.
Ms. Esielionis will submit grades, attendance, discipline, and rating form in support of your application.
INTERVIEWS ARE SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY JANUARY 13, 2020. Applications must be complete in order to schedule an interview. Please make sure your application is submitted online (or get a paper copy to Ms. Esielionis) by January 3, 2020 to ensure enough time for processing supporting documents.
ALSO - If your child is planning on applying to a private or selective high school, please make sure you request your recommendations no less than 2-3 weeks prior to the admissions deadline to ensure enough time for processing supporting documents. Requests should be made directly to the recommenders by the student.
The counselors have been having fun teaching students in Trimester 1 enrichment classes. Topics have included:
Learning Styles for grade 8, a 2 part lesson and we began a Career Interest Profiler
The impact of stress on the body and identifying positive friend relationships for grade 7
The 6th graders have been working on topics related to independence
We will repeat these and add to the next cycle of enrichment classes
We know that this can be a difficult time for people and encourage anyone in need of counseling for themselves, their children of family members to reach out to the William James Interface Referral Service: 1-888-244-6843. For those at immediate risk, please call the Community Healthlink emergency services 800-977-5555, National suicide hotline 1-800-273-8255, or 911
Grade 6 - Green Team
In Social Studies, we are studying Early Humans. It includes reading and writing activities related to the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras, as well as mapping the migration of early humans.
Sixth grade mathematicians just finished up another unit! Students successfully worked with dividing fractions, decimal operations, and finding the greatest common factor (GCF) and least common multiple (LCM) of whole numbers. Mathematicians added strategies to their math toolbox to problem solve and represent concepts in new ways. Stay tuned for our next unit on Rational Numbers!
In Mr.Churchill's language arts classes, the students have become 'experts' in one of three Greek myths: Theseus and the Minotaur, Athena and Medusa, or Hercules. They identified a theme within their myths and worked to find evidence of the same theme within the novel Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. In the meantime, students have been researching a Greek god or goddess to write a short research paper about. This will culminate with the students creating short presentations in the role of their selected god or goddess.
In Ms. Stahl’s ELA class we continue to sift through the parts of speech. We are writing to two sources using text based evidence to support a claim.
In Mrs. Ford’s science class, we continue to learn about the Earth, Moon, Sun relationship and are studying eclipses and tides.
Grade 6/7 - Yellow Team
Science:
Grade 6- We are continuing to explore the relationship between the Earth, Sun, and the moon. We have been working through stations and experimenting with models that help us understand the reason for the seasons, phases of the moon, ellipses, and tides!
Grade 7- We have started our unit on earthquakes and volcanoes, and soon will be working on mini-projects where students will demonstrate what they have learned through multiple means of expression.
Math:
Grade 6-Students are learning how to find percent from a fraction and a decimal. This will help them as they convert measurements and look for equivalent fractions in word problems.
Grade 7-has been learning about the Constant of Proportionality which is a fancy way to say the unit rate. We have been looking at them in graphs, tables and word problems. This segways into discussing scale factors and how different drawings and models are proportional.
ELA:
Grade 6 - We are nearing the end of Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief and the “Hero’s Journey”. Soon, students will be writing about their own journey. Right now, however, they’ve been concentrating on citing evidence.in responses and have created slide presentations on their independent reading books.
Grade 7 - We are also coming to the end of The Outsiders in seventh grade. Students have been working on analyzing the characters and the author’s style and will be writing an alternate ending to the novel. They also have been busy preparing slide presentations on their independent reading.
Social Studies:
Grade 6- Students are learning the importance of perspectives when viewing primary / secondary sources. Also, how to differentiate between bias and objective texts. In addition, students are now learning how to analyze an informational text while extracting the evidence. Students can now answer and construct an argumentative essay based on the supportive evidence.
Grade 7- After the break, students will finish the unit on Early Humans with a hands-on project of their choice to demonstrate mastery of the criteria and then followed by a written assessment in the form of a text-based essay to demonstrate comprehension. Students will finally enter the exciting units associated with early civilizations starting with Ancient Egypt the second week of December.
Special Ed:
Students are continuing to work on operations with fractions--comparing them, converting them and all operations with fractions. We have also been reviewing math vocabulary and working on fluency with math facts. On other days we have been reading a very exciting story from Readworks called, “The Run.” After 6 chapters, students wrote their own ending before reading the author’s ending.
Grade 7 - Blue Team
7th Grade Blue Team News December
English Language Arts News with Mr. Veeder
In the first week of December we’ll be finishing Where the Red Fern Grows and then moving into our first writing benchmark--an essay to explore why some people succeed in the goals they set. We’ll have plenty to say (and write) since our last four stories have all dealt with this topic in one way or another. In grammar news, we’re looking deeper into the other key building block for sentences: verbs! Should be fun :)
Foriegn Language News with Ms. Diaz
In world language students have created a weather forecast map to identify the weather in Spanish. We will be working with places of leisure and students will be able to say sentences using the verb “ir” (to go) and Spanish personal pronouns to say where they are going.
Math News with Mr. Millett
In math we have started our unit on integers.
Science News with Ms. Kauppi
For the first week of December, students will develop a model to explain how the energy of the Sun and Earth’s gravity drive the cycling of water. For the remainder of December, students will investigate past geological events and use this information to forecast location and likelihood of future catastrophic events.
Social Studies News with Dr. Pataky
We are going to start working on our first major essay using evidence to support a claim. We will then work on a UDL activity before the break.
Special Education News with Mr. Nessman
Fractionstorm 2019 begins on 12/2. Never has there been a more exciting and interactive way to learn fractions, as students take off in spaceships to explore the galaxy learning about equivalent fractions, common denominators, and fraction operations along the way.
If you want to be on the homework email, contact me at knessman@asrsd.org.
After-School Help Schedule
Mondays: Mr. Nessman, Mr. Veeder
Tuesdays: Mr. Millett, Ms. Kauppi
Wednesdays: Ms. Diaz, Dr. Pataky
Grade 8 - Maroon Team
ELA:
8th grade ELA classes have begun reading The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank. Students have approached the book and subject matter with respect and solemnity. In writing, students are having heated debates around homework, grades, technology and more, as we begin our argument essay unit. I know I don’t have to tell parents arguing is an 8th grader’s forte. ;)
Foreign Language: Spanish Honor classes continue in the unit “Al colegio” , that includes classroom objects, class schedules, and clothing. They are also starting to use -AR verbs and engaging in questions and answers using vocab learned and most used -AR Spanish verbs.
In French students will be learning how to tell time, talk about the days and months, express dates, and talk about the weather. Spanish eighth grade classes students will talk about their classes and schools ; they will start using agreement nouns-adjectives when describing items.
Math: We will start the month by finishing the unit on similarity. Then we will move to our unit on equations. We have begun reviewing two step equations from last year and will be moving towards solving multi-step equations. Students have also been using accelerated math.
Science:
Students have been continuing to learn about the smallest particles of elements (atoms) and how they interact with each other to make new substances. They have recently begun to learn about how the increase and decrease of thermal energy in a substance impacts the atoms of that substance. They completed a phase change lab where they collected data on the changes in temperature that were occurring as thermal energy was added to water. They graphed the data they collected and analyzed how the addition of thermal energy affected the state of matter of the water. The chemistry unit will be wrapping up in a few weeks and students will then be moving on to learning about Newton’s Laws of Motion.
Social Studies:
Students have wrapped up their unit on Rome by Thanksgiving break as they looked at the causes for the fall of the western empire by reading excerpts from multiple books as well as the legacy of Roman achievements. Next, we are moving towards the Middle East and looking at the rise of the Muslim states.
Sped: Students are increasing their independence to compute operations with decimals and fractions. Students also analyzed their math fluency drills and compared their data from quarter 1 of 8th grade to quarter 4 of 7th grade. Lastly, students are practicing argumentative writing and choosing a topic to write a five paragraph essay. After returning from Thanksgiving break, students will review their 7th grade ELA MCAS open responses and will identify how he/she can improve each response.
Unified Arts
Happy Holidays from the UA team!
We were happy to greet parents at the Parent Conferences in November. We would like to remind you that if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact any of us.
Roller-blading
Ski Club
Join Ayer Shirley Middle/High School for 6 weeks of skiing or snowboarding at Mt. Wachusett, in Princeton, MA.
A healthy way to enjoy our New England winters.
Applications will be available from your child's science teacher towards the end of October.
Further inquiries, email coordinator Mary Ford, mford@asrsd.org
Tech Corner
The Top 10 Technology Trends In Retail: How Tech Will Transform Shopping In 2020
Visual Arts
A huge thank you to the Last family for their generous donation of fleece! My even day enrichment classes used the fleece to make no-sew scarves to donate to Our Father’s House Emergency and Transitional Shelter for men and women. So far 30 scarves have been made. We will continue to make scarves to donate throughout December.
Thank you to the ASRMS students for thinking of others during this winter season
Fostering an Attitude of Gratitude: Tips for Parents
How many times have you told your child to appreciate the good things in life and to say “thank you?”
Probably a lot. Well, the field of positive psychology is interested in gratitude and its beneficial effects on well-being. In fact, research has shown that people who experience gratitude have more positive emotions, such as joy, love, and happiness; have fewer negative emotions, such as bitterness, envy, and resentment; have increased feelings of connectedness and improved relationships; experience greater satisfaction with school and improved academic achievement; and even have better physical health than people who don’t
take the time to notice and appreciate the good things in their lives.
Parents can help their children develop the attitude of gratitude through a variety of simple acts and activities. The Fishful ThinkingSM initiative (www.fishfulthinking.com) is designed to equip parents with the tools they need to raise happy, resilient children and helping their children to feel and express gratitude is an important part of that effort.
SIMPLE GRATITUDE EVERY DAY
Model practicing gratitude. Emotions are contagious. Express thanks to your families, friends,
neighbors, and strangers, and ensure that your children see you behaving gratefully.
Encourage “gratitude” thinking. For example, if your child wins the spelling bee, help her identify all those who helped along the way. Suggest she say “thank you” in person or by writing a note to someone who made a particular difference.
Share gratitude daily. Make time in the morning or at dinner for the family to share at least one thing for which each person is grateful. This can be balanced with one thing that was difficult that day, but starting with gratefulness reinforces positive connections and resources.
Reinforce grateful behavior. Watch for grateful behavior or language in your child. Identify it when it happens and reinforce him for it. For example: “That was thoughtful of you to thank your friend for helping you with homework. Good for you. I'm sure it made him feel good and made your friendship stronger.”
Use visual reminders. Put notes in your child’s lunchbox reminding her to be thankful for her health, sibling, dog, etc. Text your child and remind her to count her blessings. Share something for which you are grateful.
Band
The middle school concert is Wednesday December 11 at 7:00.
The concert is free! Bring your whole family for a musical evening featuring the guitar club, chorus, and band.
See you there!
Band Facebook link:
ASRSD Athletics
Winter White Out Dance
Friday, December 13th
Ayer Shirley Middle School
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Dressing in white is welcome, not required
Admission $5.00
Additional refreshments will be sold
Brought to you by your Student Council
Holiday Concert Featuring ASMS Chorus
Holiday Concert (free)
Saturday, December 14 @ 2:00
Ayer Town Hall
featuring:
Nashoba Valley Concert Band
Ayer Shirley Middle School Chorus
Ayer Shirley Middle School Basketball Schedule
Boys 12-17-19 3:30PM Nissitissit Away
Girls 12-17-19 4:30PM Nissitissit Away
Boys 12-19-19 3:30PM Skyview Middle School Away
Girls 12-19-19 4:30PM Skyview Middle School Away
Boys 01-07-20 3:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Littleton
Girls 01-07-20 4:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Littleton
Boys 01-09-20 3:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Groton
Girls 01-09-20 4:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Groton
Boys 01-14-20 3:30PM Tyngsborough Away
Girls 01-14-20 4:30PM Tyngsborough Away
Boys 01-16-20 3:30PM Samoset Middle School Away
Girls 01-16-20 4:30PM Samoset Middle School Away
Boys 01-21-20 3:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Hawthorne Brook
Boys 01-23-20 3:30PM Ayer Shirley Nissitissit
Girls 01-23-20 4:30PM Ayer Shirley Nissitissit
Girls 01-28-20 3:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Skyview Middle School
Boys 01-28-20 4:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Skyview Middle School
Girls 01-30-20 3:30PM Littleton Away
Boys 01-30-20 4:30PM Littleton Away
Girls 02-04-20 3:30PM Groton Away
Boys 02-04-20 4:30PM Groton Away
Girls 02-06-20 3:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Tyngsborough
Boys 02-06-20 4:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Tyngsborough
Girls 02-11-20 3:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Samoset Middle School
Boys 02-11-20 4:30PM Ayer Shirley vs Samoset Middle School
Boys 02-13-20 4:30PM Hawthorne Brook Away
Class Trips
6th Nature’s Classroom: Sept. 30 - Oct. 2
7th Mountain Classroom: June 1 - June 4, 2020
8th Washington D.C.: May 19 - May 22, 2020
Hand Bell Lessons
Spirit Wear
https://route2apparel.com/ASRSD/shop/products/middle_school?page=1
A Note From The School Nurse
As previously described, MDPH has added a new meningococcal (MenACWY) immunization requirement for the 2020-21 school year.
Unless there is a religious or medical exemption, the immunization record will need to demonstrate the following for school entry:
- Grade 7 entry: 1 dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) for all students.
- Grade 11 entry: 1 booster dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine (Men ACWY) received on or after 16 years of age. (One or more doses of MenACWY vaccine are acceptable as long as one dose was received on or after 16 years of age.)
School Lunch Payments
MySchoolBucks is a convenient online payment service that provides a quick and easy way to pay for school lunch.
If you are already using MySchoolBucks to pay for school meals, your account is already set-up and ready to go! Otherwise, register for your FREE account today at www.myschoolbucks.com
If you have questions, please contact MySchoolBucks directly at
(855) 832-5226 or email parentsupport@myschoolbucks.com.
ASPTO Meeting Schedule 2019-2020
Second Tuesday of each month at 7:15 pm in the Middle School Library
September 10th
October 8th
November 12th
December 3rd
January 14th
February 11th
March 10th
April 14th
May 12th
June 9th
“Together We Can Do More”
ASPTO Monthly Events
September
10 PTO meeting (new format) @ LAW
25 ASRMS Open House, Spirit Wear Sale
29 Holdenwoods trail run to support ASEF
October
5-13 Fall Family Photo Shoots
8 PTO meeting (new format) @ MS
TBD Greeting Card Fundraiser & SCRIP Card orders for holiday shopping
November
12 PTO meeting (new format) @ MS
14 ASRMS teacher conferences luncheon
15 ASPTO night at Roll On America 5:30-8pm
December
3 PTO meeting (new format) @ MS
January
10 ASPTO night at Roll On America 5:30-8pm
14 PTO meeting (new format) @ MS
Loaves & Fishes
Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry provides food and support to any residents of Ayer, Devens, Groton, Harvard, Littleton and Shirley who need help.
We are open:
Every Wednesday and Friday, 9:45AM to 12:30PM
(Doors open 9:30am)
First and Third Saturday, 9AM to 11AM
(Doors open at 8:45am)
Second Tuesday of the month, 6PM to 8PM
(Doors open at 5:45pm)
234 Barnum Road Call us or come see us.
Devens, MA 01434 We can help.
(978) 772-4627 x312
Weekend Backpack Program
What is the Weekend Backpack Program?
Providing for the needs of our children within the constraints of our budgets is a challenging and stressful task that many families face daily. Ayer Shirley Middle School staff and volunteers are excited to continue the ASMS Weekend Backpack Program which provides students who are at risk of hunger with supplemental light meals and snacks. With support from funds provided to our district from local churches and businesses, the ASMS Weekend Backpack Program is available to any ASMS student who needs this support. Students participating in this program will receive a bag containing enough food for 2 to 3 small meals and snacks to supplement what you are providing over the weekend.
How Do I Sign Up?
Sign up by completing the information on the back of this form and returning it to the school as soon as possible. Enrolled students will begin receiving their bags on Friday, September 20th, 2019. Students will continue to receive their weekly bag until the end of school or until you notify us that you no longer wish to have your child participate. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kathryn Lyon (ext. 1212).
How Can I Make A Donation to this Program?
There are several ways that you can help. We are in need of food items such as granola bars, shelf-stable milk, juice boxes, applesauce or fruit cups, goldfish, or other individually packaged nutritious snacks. You can also help with a monetary donation. We will use the funds to purchase supplies through our vendors. Checks can be made payable to ASRSD with ASMS Weekend Backpack Program in the memo line. Every dollar helps, so no donation is too small. All monetary donations are tax deductible. We will provide you with a receipt for tax purposes, if requested. If you can help, please fill out the donation information on the back of this form and return it to the ASMS. Food donations can be dropped off in the school library at any time.Please click on the link to be directed to the forms:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_YkbVYngvY3RklzWWxMbThWb2M/view?usp=sharingHannaford Helps Schools
Raising money for your school is as easy as 1 2 3 and A B C
1. Shop. Choose from more than 1200 participating products to help earn money for your school!
2. Check Out. Get 3 school dollars for every 4 participating products you purchase.
3. Submit. Deposit your school dollars in the collection tower in the Lunenburg Hannaford store, located at the front of the registers with our school name on it. And / Or you can send them into the Middle School.
***NOTE*** You can still shop at any Hannaford and receive school dollars, but you will need
to bring your receipt into school. The ASRMS is registered at the Lunenburg loaction.
Please click on this link for more information and a full list of participating products: http://www.hannaford.com/assets/hf/assets/pdf/cms/abouthannaford/HHS_Shopping_Companion.pdf
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Terri Rollins at ext. 1202