November 8, 2010

Greetings to Parents, Guardians and Students:

Well, the first quarter is behind us, and the kids are doing great! Today starts a new quarter with lots of new things on the horizon.

Sixth grade just finished the rock cycle. We made crystals, “igneous rocks”, “metamorphic sandwiches” and attempted sedimentary treats. (Ask your kids how those turned out.) They will be learning about landforms, latitude / longitude, volcanoes and earthquakes in the next few chapters.

Seventh grade learned all about classification and dichotomous keys. They are also finishing up mini research projects about bacteria. I think they have found a whole new set of reasons for washing their hands more often. The diseases they are researching have really opened their eyes! They will be studying ecosystems this quarter. A research paper in Language Arts has been coordinated to work with this science unit.

The eighth grade is currently reading a book titled Tangerine. The kids are doing a nice job discussing the book using a format called a fishbowl. They have really increased their participation using this format. Ask them how it works. In social studies they are currently finishing up with Andrew Jackson. They have learned about the Trail of Tears, and will be looking at how immigration has impacted us as a nation. In science they are differentiating between compounds and mixtures. Next time you sit down for dinner, they should be able to classify most of what you serve into the appropriate categories. This can sure make for interesting dinner conversation. We will be balancing chemical equations soon.

Parent-teacher conferences are quickly approaching. Please make every effort to stop in and check on your child’s progress. Report cards are great, but they don’t tell the whole story. Are you aware of Engrade, the on-line grade book many of us are using? You can have access to your child’s progress as often as you want with this tool. Your son/daughter has been given an access code. They were instructed to share it with you, but as a parent of middle school student, I know how that story goes sometimes. Please come to conferences so that you can have access to this valuable tool as well. I look forward to seeing you then.

As always, thank you for the privilege of working with your son/daughter!

Sincerely,

Mrs. DeLaura