South Central Middle School
We have the Right Mental Attitude
Getting Ready for State Testing
As March is coming to an end, we are looking ahead to April: spring and testing! Everyone is getting in gear for testing season and there are a few things we would like for you to know. Important dates that are approaching fast for the students are:
ELA Ohio State Test: April 16th for 5, 7, 8 and April 17th for grade 6.
Science Pro-Core Test: April 23rd for grade 7 and April 24th for grade 6
Social Studies Pro-Core Test: April 25th for grades 5, 7, 8 and April 26th for grade 6
Math Ohio State Test: April 30th for 5, 7, 8 and May 1st for grade 6
Science Ohio State Test: May 2nd for grades 5 and 8
We ask that the students get a good night's sleep before these tests and that you make sure that they have a good breakfast that morning. We would like them to be well rested and able to focus.
News from the 6th Grade
6th grade has survived the winter months and they have been working hard to prepare for the upcoming assessments this Spring. We are looking forward to our field trip that is coming up in May. We will be traveling to Play Cleveland, and the students will have a great time there.
In ELA, students have been reading to reach their AR Goals. Each nine weeks, students set personal goals to work towards reaching by the end of the grading period. After reading a book, students take an AR Test and earn points towards their own goals. Students should be reading at home at least twenty minutes each night! This will ensure that they are not rushing at the end of the nine weeks to meet their goals.
Throughout the last few weeks, students have been circulating the classroom visiting various centers. We have been focused on finding the theme or lesson of a story, as well as using IXL to practice working with different ELA-related standards. Students are working on their expository essays on the topic of smartphone use and how they affect us. In the coming weeks, we will be focusing on test-taking strategies and how these strategies can help us in the real world as well. After the Ohio State Test in April, we will be diving into our final novel of the year, “The Land,” by Mildred D. Taylor. Students will be taken back to the time period immediately after the Civil War, known as Reconstruction. They will be reading about a character who faces many hardships during his life and how he overcame those hardships. We will be reading about a time where no technology existed yet! This novel has become a favorite of many students and is the prequel to the novel, “Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry,” which students will read in seventh grade.
In computer class, sixth graders researched the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as they created a Google slideshow about the legacy of this civil rights leader. Students typed text, inserted images, and video clips into their slideshows to represent the life of Dr. King. Recently, students have created spreadsheets with data and formulas as they calculated the minimums, maximums, totals, and averages for the data within their spreadsheets. Students inserted charts to display the data on separate tabs on their spreadsheets. Students will be showing off their creative side producing spreadsheet art using google sheets. Next up are Augmented reality apps, known as AR apps, which have become a growing trend in technology. AR apps change the way that students interact with their world and in turn; the way they learn their subject content. Students are using Dinosaurs, an AR app on the iPads to learn about these species of the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods. Another educational AR app called Star Walk offers a compelling AR experience for stargazing and astronomy. Star Walk uses your current location and phone’s orientation to display a geographically accurate star map on your screen. What an awesome tool for learning about the astronomical, which is both entertaining and educational!
In math class we are currently working on equations. The students have been using algebra tiles to solve equations in class. We will soon be moving into geometry and looking at how to find the area, volume and surface area of figures. The students have been working hard on their IXL assignments. As of today the 6th graders have completed 450 sixth grade math skills, spent 300 hours practicing math and they have answered 60,000 math questions!
In Science, we have been learning about states of matter and how matter changes from solids, to liquids and to gases. We will also be looking at how matter changes and if that change is just a physical change, like ripping a piece of paper in two or a permanent chemical change like mixing ingredients to bake a cake and creating a whole new substance. We will be moving on to other concepts of physical science like force, motion, and speed over the next few weeks. In Social Studies, we have finished learning about the Ancient Civilizations that helped to shape the culture of our world. We have moved on to types of government and the economy. We will be doing lots of work to ready ourselves for the ProCore tests coming soon.
6th grader Joel Pittenger
Gracie Hess and Gracelynn Clemons
Noah Howell
Speech, Spelling and Handwriting Contest
The Middle School had five students make it to the state level for their excellent handwriting. Each year Zaner-Bloser conducts a National Handwriting Contest. This year over 250,000 entries were submitted. Congratulations to Taylor Smith (5), Lance Wilson (5), Grace Murphy (6), Bailey Ringer (7) and Emalee Richards (8) for making it to State. Lance Wilson and Bailey Ringer then were chosen to advance to the National Level. Final results for the National Level will be officially announced on May 1st.
In March, Dylan Allen competed at the Scripps National Spelling Bee at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He worked hard studying and did a great job in Athens! In order to qualify for this event Dylan had to win our school-level bee and then take an online qualifying test. He will also be competing alongside Debra Rusynyk and Gracie Berendt on May 9th at the County Spelling Bee in Norwalk. Good luck Dylan, Debra, and Gracie!
Grace Murphy and Isabella Lucha
Dylan Allen
Lance Wilson and Bailey Ringer
State Handwriting Qualifiers
Debra, Gracie and Dylan
Upcoming Dates
2 PE Bowling Trip
3 PAC Meeting 3-4
4 JH Track Meet at Mapleton
6 Solo and Ensemble; Jazzfest
11 JH Track Invitational at New London
16 ELA State Test for grades 5,7,8
17 ELA State Test for grade 6
18 JH Track at Mapleton
19 NO SCHOOL
22 JH Track at Willard
23 ProCore Science test for grade 7
24 Interims go home; JH Track at Crestview; Science for grade 6
25 ProCore SS test for grades 5,7,8,
26 ProCore SS test for grade 6
30 JH Track at Crestline; Math State test for 5,7,8
About Us
Email: amckee@south-central.org
Website: SOUTH-CENTRAL.ORG
Location: 3291 Greenwich Angling Road, Greenwich, OH, USA
Phone: (419)752-0011
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/South-Central-Schools-414505255377842/?eid=ARD6mzc7v42yQtid8vGg_w3Z0ooXww3rAtl9bU2uZWnGczmLmqCsC6cIGCglFnn1fU7eSzzBmOfOGxh0
Twitter: @scms_trojans