Ellsworth MS Newsletter
Here's what's happening in MS this week!
November 18, 2019
Dear parents,
The sock drive will be ending soon. Send in any size new socks to help those in need.
ENGLISH
6th Grade: November 20th is the final due date for the student’s argumentative paragraph. For sixth grade, they are required to have a debatable claim and two pieces of evidence to back their claim. Both pieces can be facts, statistics or research or there can be one fact and one anecdotal, which is personal experience. The paragraph then needs to end in a conclusive sentence and they need to supply the source from where they got their fact(s). After this unit, we will begin our new unit focusing on narrative text and reading “The City of Ember” together as a class. Spelling test next Friday and the word lists are on Google Classroom.
7th Grade: November 20th is the final due date for the student’s argumentative paragraph. For seventh grade, they are required to have a debatable claim, and three pieces of evidence to back their claim. Two pieces of evidence needs to be facts, statistics or research and one piece of anecdotal, personal experience. They also need to try and incorporate a commentary on the claim/evidence and transitional words. The paragraph then needs to end in a conclusive sentence and they need to cite their sources for their facts on a separate piece of paper. After this unit, we will begin our new unit focusing on narrative text and reading “The Giver” together as a class. Spelling test next Friday and the word lists are on Google Classroom.
SOCIAL STUDIES
6th Grade: We are learning about the Aztecs and we’ll be discussing how the spanish conquistadors conquered them. We will have a quiz this week about some Aztec inventions and terms. We will also be starting to explore the Incas in South America.
7th Grade: We are learning about the Aztecs and we’ll be discussing how the spanish conquistadors conquered them. We will have a quiz this week about some Aztec inventions and terms. We will also be starting to explore the Incas in South America.
MATH
6th Grade: 6th graders will continue this week dividing fractions! Last week we finished a lesson on understanding how division of fractions can be modeled on number lines. Keep working on iReady! Our next incentive is an ice cream party for 10 lessons passed before the holidays.
7th Grade: 7th graders are continuing to add and subtract fractions and fractions can be positive or negative. We will review Monday and have a quiz on Tuesday. Keep working on iReady! Our next incentive is an ice cream party for 10 lessons passed before the holidays.
8th Grade: 8th graders had a quiz on comparing functions on Friday. This week we continue to talk about functions and their linear relationships. Keep working on iReady! Our next incentive is an ice cream party for 10 lessons passed before the holidays.
SCIENCE
6th Grade: We are watching some of the Planet Earth series about different ecosystems. We will also be looking into threats to ecosystems and invasive species. Students will be starting research on an ecosystem or an invasive species later in the week. They will need to create a poster, a pamphlet, or a slide presentation to share their research. It will be due after Thanksgiving.
7th Grade: Students took their quiz on 3.1 Properties of Matter on Wednesday last week. Please ask them how they did and how they can improve their scores. We have started using the periodic table of elements to investigate atoms, compounds, and molecules. The students will be starting a project called Adopt-an-Element. Ask them about it. Note: There will be a semester exam for this class the week of December 16th.
8th Grade: Students took their quiz on 3.1 Properties of Matter on Tuesday last week. Please ask them how they did and how they can improve their scores. We have started using the periodic table of elements to investigate atoms, compounds, and molecules. The students will be starting a project called Adopt-an-Element. Ask them about it. Note: There will be a semester exam for this class the week of December 16th.
ART
6th Grade: The students have done research on Gargoyles and Grotesques. They will be creating one or the other in clay this week.
PE
7th Grade: Students will learn 2 new invasion games and a new striking and fielding activity. Teamwork, advancing the ball to an open/undefended player, and defending space will again be the focus.
Students will be recording health related physical fitness performance (skip rope, front plank, push-ups, and sit-ups) for the next 5 weeks. Emphasis is on growth//improvement, not comparison to other classmates.
Please remind your student to remain active. Teenage activity requirements include 60 minutes of aerobic activity each day and 20 minutes of muscular endurance/strength activities 3 days per week.
SINCERELY,
The Middle School Team
8th English: Amanda Terryberry aterryberry@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
6th and 7th English Michele Hinkle mhinkle@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
6th Sci, 6-7th SS: Sue Goslee sgoslee@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
6-8 Math: Erica Stuck estuck@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
7-8th Science: Clayton Faivor cfaivor@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
8th SS: Laurie Yost lyost@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
Art: Kurt Zimmerle kzimmerle@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
Music: Ashley Ford aford@ellsworth.k12.mi.us
PE: Mark Drenth mdrenth@ellsworth.k12.mi.us