Dr. Taylor P. Wrye, Principal

Heather A. Tanis, Assistant Principal

Website: https://www.granbyschools.org/o/gmms
Location: 321 Salmon Brook Street, Granby, CT, USA
Phone: (860) 844-3029

Facebook: GMMSBears Twitter: @GMMSBears Instagram: @GMMSBears

November

8 - PD DAY - No School

11 - Veterans Day Assembly

16 - Scholastic Book Fair ALL WEEK in Media Center

17 - Parent/Teacher Conferences Afternoon & Evening

17 - Picture Re-Take Day

23 - Early Release

24 - Thanksgiving - No School

25 - No School

December

6 - PSAT 8/9 for All 8th Grade Students

23 - Early Release

26 - 30 - No School - December Break

Hello GMMS Families,

November is one of my favorite times of the year! The weather is getting colder, holidays are around the corner, and I can start to prepare for ski season. There is so much happening here at Granby Memorial Middle School.

There were many terrific school events in October, which we are excited to share with you in this edition of the Bear Necessities. Fish have arrived in the ecology center and are settling in nicely, thanks to the help of the Science classes. The 7th-grade students traveled to Groton, CT through Project Oceanography, and were able to go on the Long Island Sound. Ashley H., Sean P., Joseph T., and Mia W. did a fantastic job presenting their experiences to the Granby Board of Education on the evening of October 12th.

I am happy to share that GMMS now has a website where you can purchase GMMS and Granby gear. 10% of all sales are donated back to the middle school. The following link is also on our school website: https://1stplacespiritwear.com/schools/CT/Granby/Granby%20Middle%20School

Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for the afternoon and evening of November 17th. You should have already received an email about conference sign-ups, which are now open. Please let me know if you did not receive that email. Conferences are booked on a first-come, first-served basis and book up quickly, so please plan accordingly. Conference times are excellent opportunities for parent-teacher dialogue about your child’s growth and performance and can be virtual or in person. Please feel free to send any specific questions to the teachers ahead of time. You can also schedule individual conferences with teachers throughout the year if you cannot attend on the 17th.

As we start Quarter 2, I encourage you to check PowerSchool consistently. While in the parent portal of PowerSchool, please double-check that all contact information, such as e-mail and phone numbers, are correct and up to date. Also, have your children give you a tour of their Google Classrooms. Please be proactive and connect with your child's teachers or counselor if you have questions about their classes.

Sincerely,

Dr. Taylor Wrye

The 80's Rock Stars were back at GMMS!

Congratulations of the following Granby Bears of the Month!

SMART Funds are ending on Thursday December 8, 2022.

Read the letter below from Business Manager Anna Robbins.

Start your holiday shopping and show your Granby Pride!

10% of all sales are given back to Granby Memorial Middle School.

Parent/Teacher conferences will be held on Thursday, November 17th from 12:40PM to 2:40PM and 5PM to 7:30PM. Parents will use pickAtime to schedule conferences. The scheduling site will be open from 10/27 at 6 AM through 11/11 at 6 PM. You can choose to meet in person at the school or virtually using a google meet link. Click here to access GMMS scheduling page to schedule your child's conference. Click here to access pickAtime instructions.

PLEASE SCHEDULE ONLY 2 ACADEMIC TEACHERS AT GMMS. THERE IS NO LIMIT ON UNIFIED ARTS CLASSES (PE, MUSIC, MEDIA, ART)

Contact your child's guidance counselor if you wish to have a meeting during the school day with the Team.

The following is from Andrea Burns regarding the Washington D.C. Fund Raiser

So far the direct donations link has raised $2,700 for the Washington, DC trip!

Let's make a final appeal to family, friends, employers and local businesses.

Donations are tax-deductible and the deadline to make a donation is Dec. 31, 2022.

Please feel free to email this link and post on social media:

https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/prdembd?ref=ZZHFPBB22104CAU_ZZ5W645ALAPVEFD

My name is Ashley Harrington and I’m excited to be joining GMMS as the 6th grade mathematics long term substitute. I grew up in northeastern Connecticut. I earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in elementary education from Eastern Connecticut State University. I have taught special education, as well as math and science throughout Connecticut.

I live in Simsbury with my family, where I can often be found at the Little League fields or baking in my kitchen.

I’m looking forward a great remainder of the school year and being a part of the Granby community!

The school year is in full swing. As the first quarter has come to an end, School Counselors and Pupil Service providers have been working closely with teachers, students, and families to support the presenting needs of students.

Often, the closing of a marking can be a time for celebration for some students or a time of frustration for others. Either way, the ending of a marking period offers an opportunity for reflection.

Please encourage students to give thought to what worked or did not work for them in the first quarter. Students should look beyond the overall grade in the portal and look into the details. Typically, it is helpful to reinforce/encourage effort more than the final grade. Please help your child to see the benefits of consistent work completion, meeting with teachers when they have questions, and preparing for tests/quizzes.

Ultimately, a good work ethic is going to serve students well throughout their schooling and in life.

Exciting news in the Media Center! The Scholastic Book Fair is coming back November 14. Stay tuned for details. Also this month, get caught with our turkey in the new Selfie Spot. Then check out the new binder of book recommendation lists near the seating area to help pick your next great read. And as always, be sure to check out the special displays. November features Mysteries that are Fire, stories with Taylor Swift/Midnights vibes, and Friendsgiving fiction.

IMPORTANT for current 6th grade parents:

All incoming 7th graders MUST have updated physicals and immunizations done between the last day of 5th grade (June 13, 2022) and the first day of 7th grade ( tentatively, August 29, 2023 ).

Required immunizations for 7th grade include the TDAP and Meningococcal vaccines.

Please submit this updated physical and immunization form to the nurse if you have not already done so.

https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/School-Nursing/Forms/HAR3.pdf

This physical is required by the State of Connecticut to be submitted prior to the first day of 7th grade.

Please call the clinic with any questions, 860-844-3038

WINTER SPORTS:

Winter sports will be starting mid - November. Students wishing to participate in a team must have a current health physical on file with the nurse, which is dated no greater than 13 months to the date practice starts. Students will be prohibited from practicing or playing without a current physical on file with the nurse. If you have any questions or are unsure when you child’s physical expires please call the clinic and the nurse will be happy to check for you. If they have emergency medications, such as inhalers or Epi Pens, they must have medication orders on file with the nurse that allows them to self-carry this medication. Students and coaches do not have access to the clinic after school hours or when on away games. Sign-ups will be through FormReleaf.

WATER BOTTLES

Students are encouraged to carry water bottles in school. There are refilling stations in designated areas of the school which students are allowed to refill their water bottles as needed. They should only carry water, no juice, soda, energy drinks etc… As a reminder, the water bottle should be labeled with the student’s name and there should be absolutely NO SHARING of water bottles.

ALLERGY/ASTHMA SEASON

As allergy season comes upon us, remember NOT to send your child to school with ANY over the counter medication for their symptoms without proper written authorization on file with the nurse. The State of Connecticut and the Granby BOE prohibits students from carrying their own medications while in school without proper written authorization from a physician and parent/guardian to be on file in the school nurse’s office. This includes inhalers as well as over the counter medications such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, cold and allergy medications and cough suppressants. Many long acting types of cold medication will provide students with relief throughout the school day if taken just prior to leaving home in the morning. Otherwise, please obtain a written order from your physician allowing the dispensing of such medication by the school nurse. This form can be downloaded from the GMMS Clinic web site under “downloadable forms” and submitted to your physician for signature. Students may carry a few over the counter cough drops to help with a troublesome tickly cough, they should be instructed not to share the cough drops and reminded not to laugh, talk or play while the cough drop is in their mouth.

DISMISSAL FOR ILLNESSES

If a student needs to be dismissed for an illness related reason they MUST be dismissed by way of the school nurse. Please remind your child if they feel unwell that they should come to the nurse to be assessed. They should not be using their cell phones to text parents from class to come get them.

CURRENT COVID GUIDANCE:

IF YOU ARE EXPOSED TO COVID-19, REGARDLESS OF VACCINATION STATUS:

1). MASK as soon as you find out you have been exposed. Continue wearing the mask for 10 days from last exposure anytime you are around others inside your home or in public.

2). TEST at least 5 days after last exposure even if you do not exhibit symptoms

3). MONITOR yourself or your student for symptoms. If symptoms develop, isolate and test

a). if positive, begin isolation

b). if negative, continue with the above 2 steps.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU TEST POSTIVE FOR COVID-19:

REGARDLESS OF VACCINATION STATUS:

1). ISOLATE at home for 5days from symptom onset. If you never develop symptoms, isolate at home 5 days from positive test. If you develop symptoms after you test positive, restart your 5 days of isolation from the date of symptom onset.

2). RETURN to normal activities after 5 days IF:

a). You are fever free for 24 hours without the use of medication ( Tylenol / Ibuprofen )

b). Your symptoms are improving or resolved.

3). MASK anytime you are around others or in public until

a). 10 days have passed since you began isolation

b). You test negative twice, 48 hours apart, each test taken after day 5

PLEASE CONTINUE TO FILL OUT THE GOOGLE FORM ON THE SCHOOL WEBSITE FOR ANY POSITIVE TEST. PLEASE CALL THE CLINIC WITH ANY QUESTIONS 860-844-3038

In Digital Media Class, students are learning how to use various tools and techniques in the Drawings Google App. Exploring the shapes tool (then coloring, resizing, and reorienting) students have created their own unique minions- they also learned how to group their creations and place an image in the background by using the layering (arrange) tool.

Students also tried out ShapeGrams. The challenge is to recreate the sample picture using the tools available in Google Drawings. Each challenge increases in difficulty, encouraging problem solving and perseverance.

Students are working on using the picture editing software called Pixlr. Students are completing an “All About Me” project where they use digital editing tools to create a picture collage. This collage describes them as individuals. The skills students are learning in this project are centered around making images marketable by using different color and background effects, inserting text and icons, and downloading images from the web to be layered onto their original images. The completed images will be hung in our classroom and will display students skills and interests.

The Art Room is messy, noisey and super creative at the moment! All three grades have begun the clay unit.

Sixth graders are building slab constructed Clay Fish, focusing on additive sculpture.

Seventh and Eighth graders are building Clay Towers, focusing on additive and subtractive sculpture. The transition from the Clay Fish to the Towers focuses also on 3 dimensional free standing sculpture.

The PE classes wrapped-up Nitro ball and headed to Net Ball. Using skills they have acquired through past units, strategy and teamwork were the main focus for these units. The Health classes are off to a great start focusing on the Health Triangle as well as Hygiene. PE classes will be taking their pre-test for the CT Fitness test. This year, each student must have their score reported individually instead of by grade level. This will allow the state to track physical fitness performance for each child.

Band, Chorus & Orchestra

The GMMS Performing Ensembles are already buckling down and learning a lot about music reading, tone production, and teamwork! GMMS Musicians should be mindful to focus their attention in rehearsals and attend all additional lessons to help with their overall progress. Students should also make time to practice their instruments at home to improve retention and muscle strength as we move through the first semester. Our goal is to put on 4 stellar performances throughout the year for family, friends, and the community. Please stay tuned to this newsletter for important dates (concerts, field trips, fundraisers, etc.) and check your emails for other information about the Band, Chorus and Orchestra.

GMMS CONCERTS

At the middle school, the band and chorus ensembles hold separate concerts on two different nights. These concerts are mandatory for students as part of their academic obligations. Attendance is calculated into their final Quarter 2 grade. Please make all arrangements to avoid conflicts with sporting events (even rescheduled games!) and other extracurricular activities! Put these in your calendars NOW!

The Winter Concert dates and information are as follows:

GMMS Chorus Concert: Thursday, January 12, 2023 @ 7:00 pm in the high school auditorium

GMMS Band/Orchestra Concert: Thursday, January 19, 2023 @ 7:00 pm in the high school auditorium

Music Department T-Shirts

We have recently completed music department t-shirt orders. Students will receive their shirts in school when they arrive! The music department will soon begin offering some specialty items of clothing based on the ensemble in which your child participates. Stay tuned for an email with more information about additional music swag!

Annual Music Department trip to the Bushnell Theater

We are extremely excited to be able to once again offer this fantastic opportunity to music students at GMMS! Students are invited to attend a performance of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical SIX on Friday January 20th, 2022. We will leave GMMS at 6:45 pm and return by approximately 11:15 pm. The cost of the trip will be $60, which covers the cost of the ticket, bus and chaperones. Permission slips and payment are due by Friday, November 18th. You will receive an email with a link to MySchoolBucks to make your payment. Please consider joining us for this fun, optional event!

Northern Regional Middle School Festival

Band, chorus and orchestra students that wish to engage in an advanced musical challenge have the option to audition for the Northern Region Middle School Festival. Auditions for this festival are scored by professional judges, and the top scorers from all the middle schools in northern CT are awarded with an opportunity to perform at an in-person festival. This year, auditions will be done in person and we will provide transportation if needed.

*Registration is due by November 28th.

*Auditions take place on Saturday, January 7th in West Hartford (location TBD). Snow date: Jan. 14th

Interested students should notify their music teacher ASAP. After school practice sessions will be offered. More information to come!

6th Grade Music Appreciation

6th grade music students learn about the fundamentals of music and their Italian translations, such as melody, harmony, beat, rhythm, tempo, dynamics, timbre, form, etc. There are many opportunities to perform using instruments such as Boomwhackers, xylophones, rhythm sticks and bucket drums. Students will be writing and performing their own music while learning proper instrument playing techniques.

7th Grade Music Appreciation

Our 7th grade music students start with learning music fundamentals, performing on instruments, and composing their own music. This leads into an entire unit about “listening”. They address questions like: How do we listen to music? What elements change when we change the genre of a song? How do composers express emotion in music, and how does that help them tell a story? The second unit addresses the global problem of “music piracy”. Students come away with knowledge on how to ethically and legally own music, and use the music that they own to create a one-of-a-kind album to “sell to the public”. Lastly, students will learn about how scientifically their voice can be used as an instrument.

8th Grade Music Appreciation

The 8th Grade music curriculum focuses on learning to play the classical guitar. Students will study several different genres of guitar repertoire: Blues, Spirituals, Folk songs, Patriotic, and Rock and Roll. Not only do will they experience 8+ chords and how to read a chord chart, but they learn the history and legacy of America’s music timeline, dating back to the Civil War!

Please email with any questions:

riverar@granbyschools.org - Chorus and Music Appreciation

melloc@granbyschools.org - Band and Music Appreciation

foskittj@granbyschools.org - Orchestra

What’s new in FCS this month?! Grade 6 students have been learning how companies manufacture goods and services. For one assignment each student was ‘given’ a pumpkin patch and had to list the resources needed to produce pumpkins! When the assignment was finished each student had the opportunity to create some of their resources using play-doh.

Students have been learning about how companies use advertising techniques to market their products, and how this knowledge helps consumers choose products wisely.

One project involved students searching through magazines to create an “Advertising Techniques Poster” that displays three of the many techniques learned throughout this unit.

Cooking classes wrapped up the quick bread unit with pancakes! Great job guys!

Moving on to yeast bread recipes…pretzels and focaccia were next on the list!

We then deviated for a day from our yeast bread recipes and celebrated Halloween by baking M & M cookies!

Engineering students (7th and 8th) have nicely almost all completed their mock-up prototypes. Their testing is all done and most designs have been refined and are now ready for production. Next step is to move into full production of their vehicles with all the woodworking machinery in the room. Very exciting!!!

As we move forward I ask all parents to remind their children of the importance of maturity and operating safely in a machine shop. Hands to self. Think through actions and look out for safety of themselves and others. Hair ties every day for those with long hair. Sneakers or shoes. No sandles or slippers can be allowed near machinery. Make sure there is school appropriate clothes underneath any loose of baggy sweatshirts or jackets as those need to be removed. And finally reminder. Working with wood is dusty. While dust easily washes out of clothes, during production days older clothes are always better. I LOVE this part of my job. Seeing the kids eyes light up as they build something with their brains and their hands and the machinery in the shop is just priceless!!!

Explorations students (6th) are proudly completing the presentation of their tinkercad creatures in class. I have been very impressed at this great work. Very cool! We will be moving on to learn now a new piece of design software called OnShape. More about that next month.

Our density unit in October set the groundwork for the understanding of how the sun interacts with the ground and atmosphere to create weather and climate. The culminating activity for the density unit required students to build a flotation device to help a toy dog named Fetch to swim. The students really enjoyed this activity! In November, we will dive into our weather and climate unit. Students will first be learning about regional climates, and then expanding their focus to look at global climate trends. The weather and climate unit will take students up to about the December holiday break.

Sixth grade students recently finished the Launching Geography Tools Unit by creating a Google site about a place that is special to them. The students applied the Five Themes of Geography to that special place and did some research to learn how each of the five themes relates to their chosen place. A home page was created as well as a page for each of the five themes. In addition, students added pictures with captions for each theme as well as information that pertained to each of the five themes.

Sixth grade students are now moving into our unit about India. They have begun to explore India’s geographic features and its rivers on different sites. In the coming weeks, the students will learn about India and Gandhi. They will assess Gandhi’s role in India’s independence.

You can ask your child about the five themes of geography and how they help us understand our world.

This is an example of the Google Sites Five Themes of Geography project/assessment from Mrs. Stupienski’s Period 4 Global Studies class done by Sara Brenson.

October has been full of discussion and creative literary journaling in language arts classrooms! Students need to be reading consistently outside of class to be well prepared for the work they face when together. As we move into the second quarter of the school year, please support your student in setting a strong reading routine. Maybe grab a book and read it together!

Sixth grade authors have completed their narrative writing unit and celebrated by choosing a piece of writing or technique from a craft move they like best or felt they did best. The next unit we have begun is a reading unit focusing on the deep study of character. Students have chosen a fiction book which they can read independently in a two week period to deeply study the main characters. Once the practice is completed with the independent reading fictional novel, students will participate in book clubs.

Students are continuing to track their independent reading and are reading for short periods in school. It is imperative that they continue to read and discuss books at home as well.

Grade 6 (Harrington & Glidden)

Sixth graders are wrapping up the “Introducing Ratios” unit. Students have done a great job calculating equivalent ratios and determining if given ratios are equivalent to each other. We have used several strategies in class to support our learning such as double number lines, ratio tables, and tape diagrams. Students have learned the benefits and drawbacks of each strategy while also determining the best strategy to use when solving ratio problems. This unit has provided students with a solid foundation on ratios, which we will continue to work on as we enter our next unit: “Unit Rates and Percentages”.

A Note to Grade 6 Parents:

Just a reminder that the link https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS/families/1/index.html shows all units for this school year as well as videos to help support your child’s learning. You can also find this link on your child’s Google Classroom under the ‘Classwork’ tab titled “Illustrative Math Resources for Families at Home”.

Grade 6 Accelerated (Harrington):

Students in the accelerated class have completed the ratios and rates portions of their second unit, “Ratios, Rates, and Percentages”. Students have used double number lines, ratio tables, and tape diagrams to calculate equivalent ratios and solve ratio word problems. Many students have figured out how to solve real world problems involving ratios without the use of a visual aid such as double number lines or tape diagrams. Students have also been able to use their foundational knowledge of ratios to calculate much larger quantities. We used actual world records from the Guiness Book of World Records to practice applying our skills. The most important skill students learned in this part of the unit was how to calculate unit rate, or how much per one. Students were able to recognize that by calculating the unit rate, they could figure out as well as compare many rates and prices to determine the quickest speed or best buy. The last part of this unit focuses on percentages. We will conclude “Ratios, Rates, and Percentages” with our unit assessment in a couple weeks.

A Note to Grade 6 Accelerated Parents:

Just a reminder that the link https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS_ACC/families/1/index.html shows all units for this school year as well as videos to help support your child’s learning. You can also find this link on your child’s Google Classroom under the ‘Classwork’ tab titled “Illustrative Math Resources for Families at Home”.

In October, Grade 7 students explored chemical and physical properties and changes by completing several activities including separating a mixture, watching steel wool rust and observing how baking soda reacts in water and vinegar. To demonstrate their understanding, students were required to identify four unknown powders by adding water, vinegar and iodine to them and observing the results.

In November, students will continue their study of Chemistry by exploring the periodic table and looking for patterns; students will then utilize their understanding of the periodic table to describe how atoms when joined together have different properties then when atoms are by themselves. The activities completed in Chemistry 3 will help them begin to explain the phenomena of swimming sodium, which will carry into Chemistry 4.

Seventh grade students are wrapping up their unit on Geography tools. They recently completed a writing piece about the advantages and challenges of wind energy in which they wrote a letter stating their opinion on whether or not the United States should place a focus on developing wind energy. Soon, students will complete their review of the five themes of geography with a research project about a major United States city, in which they will apply the five themes of geography to research and to describe their chosen city.

Below is an example of a wind energy argumentative writing response by Aaron Becker :

Dear Senator Murphy,

Have you ever thought about what would happen if the US ran out of energy to use? It would be a disaster, because we do not recognize how much energy and fossil fuels we use in a day, fueling motor vehicles, charging EVs, lighting our rooms and streets, washing our clothes and heating our water. So far, we have mostly been using nonrenewable resources to fuel our everyday lives, and if we run out of those resources, it wouldn’t be very good for the US, so it is important for us to lessen our use of nonrenewable resources and shift to renewable resources. Namely, Wind Energy. I think Wind energy is a good idea for the U.S. There are many benefits to wind energy, including its sustainability. As long as the sun shines and the wind blows, we can gain energy from the wind. Wind energy is sustainable because it does not use a finite resource from the earth, it uses the power of wind, which will blow indefinitely and give us power. In fact, the article by the Department of Energy states that, “Wind is actually a form of solar energy. Winds are caused by the heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the rotation of the Earth, and the Earth's surface differences.” This quote shows that, as long as the sun shines upon the earth, wind will blow. This means that unlike fossil fuels, which there is only a finite amount of, we will have wind energy indefinitely, making it a sustainable clean energy source to power the U.S. In conclusion, wind energy is a good idea for the U.S.This is because it is a sustainable and green energy source. Maybe in the future renewable energy use will be widespread and we can use our finite fossil fuels responsibly, so the U.S and humanity can move forward.

In the coming weeks, we will wrap up our unit on Geography Tools and the USA with the study of types of governments and economic systems. Our next unit will be on Latin America.

Grade 7 (Stone & Falkenberg):

Seventh-grade students are finishing up their second unit on proportional relationships. In this unit, students learned that in a proportional relationship, the values for one quantity are multiplied by the same number to get the value for the other quantity. This number is our constant of proportionality. Students further developed their understanding of proportional and non-proportional relationships by analyzing ratio tables, graphs, and equations. We have had the opportunity to explore real-world examples involving food, recipes, constant speed, and measurement conversion, as well as create our own scenarios! We are starting our next unit on circles shortly.

A Note to Grade 7 Parents:

The link https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS/families/2/index.html shows all units for this school year as well as videos to help support your child’s learning.

Grade 7 Accelerated (Falkenberg):

Accelerated seventh-grade students are finishing their second unit on dilations, angles, scale factors, similarity, and an introduction to slope. In this unit, students were introduced to the terms similar, complementary angles, supplementary angles, scale factor, dilation, and slope. Students have used “slope” triangles to determine the slope of a line. Students have been doing a lot of group work, and have been practicing being able to justify their mathematical thinking both verbally and by showing their work. In our upcoming unit, students will start working with writing and solving algebraic equations.

A Note to Grade 7 Accelerated Parents:

The link https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS_ACC/families/2/index.html shows all units for this school year as well as videos to help support your child’s learning.

October has been full of discussion and creative literary journaling in language arts classrooms! Students need to be reading consistently outside of class to be well prepared for the work they face when together. As we move into the second quarter of the school year, please support your student in setting a strong reading routine. Maybe grab a book and read it together!

Students in the seventh grade finished the narrative writing unit last week. We are now jumping into a unit in which we analyze characters in stories. This unit focuses on the different ways we can study characters through their actions, feelings, and surrounding environment. Students will practice these methods in class, then use them within their own independent books.

Independent books should travel back and forth between home and school, and students are still striving to read for thirty minutes every school night. Independent reading progress is tracked in the students’ reading notebooks.

In October, students worked on activities demonstrating how alleles interact, how traits are passed to offspring, and how certain traits can be helpful in some situations but harmful in others.

In November, students will complete their unit on Unity and Diversity, a study of similarities and differences of living things through time, by answering - “Is it ethical to genetically modify organisms?” We will then turn our attention to the study of waves, specifically how they transmit energy and information.

This month students in 8th Grade Social Studies finished projects on the colonial regions using the GRAPES (Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics and Society) format. This project was used to practice the skill of summarizing an informational text, categorizing information, and presenting that information textually and visually.

Students will soon start learning about the causes of the American Revolution. They will analyze the different experiences of people during the American Revolution and why colonists decided to either declare their independence or stay loyal to the British Empire.

Here’s a picture of students working on their posters in Mr. Butler’s Classroom.

Grade 8 (Cull & Stone):
Eighth graders are wrapping up their second unit on dilations, similarity, and an introduction to slope. In this unit, students were introduced to the terms “slope” and “slope” triangle as they learned that two distinct points on a line determine slope. In our upcoming unit, students will deepen their understanding of slope and develop the concept of linear relationships using tables, graphs, and equations.

A Note to Grade 8 Parents:

The link https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS/families/3/index.html shows all units for this school year as well as videos to help support your child’s learning.

Grade 8 Accelerated (Cull) - Algebra

Algebra students are still working really hard in Unit 2 about Solving Equations. They will be refining their equation-solving skills; reminder, all steps to communicate mathematical reasoning are necessary. We are emphasizing that we need to be showing our work when we are working with our equations. We will expand solving equations by moving into learning how to graph equations and then will move into using one variable to solve systems of equations in two variables.

A Note to Algebra Parents:

The link Illustrative Mathematics Algebra 1 - Families | Kendall Hunt shows all units for this school year as well as videos to help support your child’s learning.

October has been full of discussion and creative literary journaling in language arts classrooms! Students need to be reading consistently outside of class to be well prepared for the work they face when together. As we move into the second quarter of the school year, please support your student in setting a strong reading routine. Maybe grab a book and read it together!

In 8th grade, students have concluded their memoir unit and are now in cross title book clubs centering their discourse around character development, the impact of setting, and inference making. Students are responsible for setting a reading pace that will get them to the end of their club title by November 11th. Additionally, we are leveraging our class journals as places to do deep analytical thinking about our text by combining visual elements and evidence with a chosen tracking system.

Each week students have discussions with their peers and are expected to come prepared with various tools and ideas. As 8th graders soon to enter high school, it’s very important to practice having comfortable, thoughtful dialogue about diverse literature. Coming prepared to book club allows discussion to delve deep. With this being said, it is essential for students to develop reading habits at home. Without this piece, class is greatly impacted.

Grade 6 students are starting the year, month, week and day unit. We are listening to songs about Chinese week and month, such as:” yue” and “xing qi”. For activities, we played what month you were born, Where is pikachu. We also learn the story of Nian (Year). For culture, we learn about Chinese food, Chinese candy, and Chinese art.

In Chinese I students are starting the colors unit. We are listening to songs about Chinese colors, such as:” yan se” and “hong cheng huang lv qing lan zi”. For activities, we played color cards, colored pictures, red light green light, and colored tiles . We also read a chinese picture book of colors. For culture, we learn about 56 different groups of people in China.

In Chinese II Students are starting the fruits unit. We are listening to songs about Chinese fruit, such as:” shui guo ge” and “yan se shui guo”. For activities, we learn how to sing the fruit song. We played bingo, a spider web game, where there is the fruit, and fruit matching game. We also read a Chinese picture book of fruit in chinese. For culture, we learn about 56 different groups of people in China. We are writing letters to Canton High! Students are having Chinese penpals!

6th grade:

Students have conducted a variety of introductory conversations playing some interesting roles! This month, students will build upon these conversations by offering more about themselves such as their likes and dislikes and some of their favorites.

7th grade:

We’ve wrapped up our unit about free time; “Le temps libre”. In this unit we explored a variety of activities and vocabulary related to what students do in their free time while inviting others to do these activities with us. Check out this great conversation between Matt & Owen!

Our next unit will focus on where to do these activities. In this unit, “Sortons!”, students will incorporate places, directions, modes of transportation and the verb “aller” into their previously learned invitations vocabulary.

8th grade:

We are currently working on expanding our food vocabulary from last year to include more grocery store specific vocabulary. Ask your child what ingredients and meals they proposed to Madame to shop for and cook for the week! After selecting breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert options proposed by your students, I’ve definitely been busy in the kitchen! Thanks for helping me plan my meals for the week everyone!

6th Grade:

6th grade students are learning to talk about the activities that they and others like and don't like to do. Ask your student, "¿Qué te gusta hacer?”! Students also researched and presented about important Hispanic women, as part of the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. And students learned about the Mexican tradition of designing calaveras (skulls) for Día de los Muertos, and designed their own.

7th Grade:

7th graders designed imaginary backpacks to write about classroom objects that they have (incorporating articles and adjective agreement.) They also wrote about their real school schedules, and then practiced the structures “Tengo que llegar a las…” and “Para sacar una buena nota yo necesito…” to say what time they have to arrive and what they need to do to get a good grade in their IDEAL school schedule! La Clase de “Siesta” (Nap class) was quite popular! Students are also beginning to conjugate -ar verbs, and learning to say where things are located, using the verb ESTAR + prepositions.

8th Grade:

8th graders completed our unit about exploring a city, and began to focus on visiting a restaurant in Spain. These units incorporate several grammar components that elevate students' ability to communicate accurately on a variety of topics, including the future (ir + a + infinitive). We also read the Mexican legend of La Llorona through the scaffolded strategy of embedded reading. This culminated in students writing full summaries of the legend. And as we moved into November we explored the important Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos.

Broadcast Club students will be helping Mr. Pickhardt work on the Veterans Day slideshow for the Veterans Day Assembly. Students found images of the school to use as digital backgrounds for the morning news announcements. Students are working on creating a weekly sports report which will give highlights from the week priors sports games and keep students and staff up to date on upcoming sports events.

The Yearbook Club is learning some basics about photography and how to take and select the best photographs for the yearbook, practicing on themselves and their peers! This month we captured photos of students at Cross Country and on Halloween.

Science Club meets on Tuesdays from 2:30 to 3:30 in room 66. Activities vary. Weekly attendance is optional. Students may still join - just bring a permission slip to the first meeting you attend!

FishKids meets on most Thursdays from 2:30 to 3:30, starting in room 66. Members learn to vacuum, scrub tanks, test water quality, and any other tasks that keep the fish healthy. Attendance is optional on a week to week basis. Students may still join - just bring a permission slip to the first meeting you attend.

Adventure Club starts on Tuesday, November 15! Note a couple of the dates on the original permission slip were not correct. See revised dates below. We could use a few more 7th and 8th graders with a sense of adventure to join! Come see what we are all about on 11/15 at 2:30 in Mrs. Buckley’s room (76). If you have any questions, please speak with Mrs. Buckley or Ms. Okenquist.

Dates of meetings: 11/15, 11/22, 12/6, 12/20, 1/3, 1/17, 1/31, 2/7, 2/28, 3/7 (Tentative date for end of year event 3/18 and/or 3/19).

Permission Slips are available in the 7th and 8th grade hallways.

Sadly, our final meeting for the Angel Horse Fall session will be Thursday, Nov. 3. Thank you to the parents and guardians who joined us for our Angel Horse Showcase last week. This group of students has been great to work with at the barn. It has been wonderful to watch students' connections and confidence grow each week with “their” favorite horses. Angel Horses will resume in the Spring, following April break. More details will follow in late March.

Next meetings for Art Club will be November 16th and November 30th.

The fall season has concluded and the Field Hockey teams ended the season with another perfect record! It was a great year for all the players and coaches, and the learning was only surpassed by the team's fun. Great job to all!

The Cross Country season was also a huge success with many runners reaching personal bests, added endurance, and competing at a high level! All participants had a great year. Awesome job coaches and players!