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I teach a 6th grade homeroom (Rm. 9), 6th grade Reading, Language Arts, and Religion, and one section of 7th grade reading. Please see the "Weekly Newsletter" tab for notes and news on each week in school!
 
I am a native of the Washington, DC area, born in Silver Spring, MD at Holy Cross Hospital.  I attended Montgomery County Public Schools, graduating from Kennedy High School in 1983 and from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1987, with a BA in Government.  I interned with the program instructors at the Close Up Foundation during my senior year at Maryland, and after graduation I served as a legislative assistant for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA).  I went back to school a year after graduation, and completed my M.Ed from Marymount in 1989. I love being a teacher as much as I love being a wife and mom!  In my free time, my husband and I love to take our Newfoundland dogs to the Chesapeake Bay and dream about our eventual retirement in a tiny town by the water.  Our kiddos, a son and daughter, graduated from STM in 2006 and 2007, followed by graduation from Bishop Ireton in 2010 and 2011. ..
 

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April 25-29, 2022 and Welcome Back!

April 24, 2022 Divine Mercy Sunday
 
Dear Families in Rm. 9 Homeroom, Reading and LA Rm. 7 and Rm. 9, and 7-3/7-6 Reading,
 
HELLO! Welcome back!  This will be a great, fun week.  I hope everyone returns rested and happy, and ready for a great end of the year. On Wednesday, students will Purple UP! Interims will go out on April 29th. Please return the signed green sheet by Thursday instead of Friday this week, I will be out on Friday for a funeral. Thank you!
 
Re: asynchronous work, it is all due on May 2nd. There were seemingly a lot of questions about the Reading digital one-pager, and of course the students will have the opportunity to ask those questions when they are here in school.
 
In 6th LA, we will begin our new grammar unit, Sentences.  We will continue with our Trickster Tale from Asynchronous and then write our original myth. In Reading, we are independently reading Greek myths as well as in our small group Literature Circles. In 6th grade, the new novels will be The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore, and The Inquisitors Tale, by Adam Gidwitz. In Religion, we will begin Chapter 17, Judges. 
In 7th grade Reading, the new novels for Literature Circles are Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen. 
 
Best wishes for a beautiful Sunday!  It's gorgeous out there!
 
Mrs. Morgan

March 28 - April 1, 2022

Happy 4th Sunday of Lent! Today is also known as Laetare Sunday, similar to Gaudete Sunday in Advent, where we can look toward and celebrate a little joy during the season of Lent. You can find some history and a few ideas for Lent and Easter at  https://www.simplycatholic.com/laetare-sunday/
 
A few STM community-wide notes:
First, STM is having a Golf Open for scholarships. More information can be found here: Golf Letter
Second, Catholic Relief Services Lenten Rice Bowls were sent home at the beginning of Lent. To facilitate collection, we've been asked to convert coins to cash or checks prior to bringing in coins. More information on CRS can be found here: https://www.crsricebowl.org/about. 
Last, STM provides access to FORMED. The Cathedral of Saint Thomas More has thoughtfully provided all school families with access to FORMED, which houses a plethora of resources and videos to learn more about our faith, the saints, and how to better walk with Christ. This is available to you at no charge. 
To access this resource, please go to: https://formed.org/
  1. Choose Sign Up
  2. Choose Parishioner
  3. Type Cathedral of St. Thomas More, then you will be able to enter your email and create a password.
We hope this will be a useful tool to help continue the faith formation of your family.
 
 
Rm. 9 Homeroom Academics and Classroom Updates: Going backward from last week, we attended the awesome Webb Telescope presentation on Friday afternoon, followed by attending Stations of the Cross, so 6-9 did NOT take the Chapter 14 Religion quiz, so we'll take it tomorrow during Religion, and then this week we will begin Chapter 15, God's Chosen People Enter the Promised Land.  https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/lpress-craft/files/col2016-files/Christourlife2016-study-gd-g6-ch14.pdf and https://isr.loyolapress.com/col_g6_s14 for review and an interactive activity related to the chapter. 
In Reading 6, the students are in literature circles with Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell and Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis. Both of these books are wonderful and we will spend two more weeks enjoying activities while reading these well-written and thoughtful books. In LA 6, we concluded Adverbs and will be working on the Author Research Project and Business Letter units for Writing. 
 
Reading 7: The seventh grade has started with Literature Circles as well, with Heat by Mike Lupica and The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. Ms. Johnson is leading The Outsiders group and Mrs. Morgan is leading the Heat group. However, hats off to your students, as they are completing the novels and activities independently. 
 
Have a great week!
Mrs. Morgan

March 21-25, 2022 in Rm. 9/Reading 6&7-3/LA/Religion

Happy Third Sunday of Lent!  The Gospel reading today (Luke 13:1-9) about cultivating the ground around the fig tree so that it will bear fruit was a great reminder (as are so many Gospel readings) that we have to cultivate the ground around our metaphorical fig trees - our own, our students, their families, and each other. Thank you for doing all that you do to cultivate and enrich the soil in which we labor to grow our fig trees. (Now, of course, I want some Fig Newtons.)
 
Classroom News:
Your student's report card was sent home in a kraft paper envelope on Friday!  Please sign and return the report card in the envelope. The green sheets were collected and "processed" with smiley faces, highlighter (it's your student's homework on Thursdays to get it signed!) and any other stapled items. I also attached a picture of the pretty flowers for my 56 and a 1/2 birthday!  Spring Uniform begins tomorrow!  Your student may now wear the navy shorts and shorts on the PE days!  Here is the uniform grid: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gpVDdNjYfVbQDEgsWT3Uc_OccNDjjgu9/view
For the third trimester: lots of gentlemen need fresh haircuts, no jewelry (way too many necklaces and bracelets these days - please remind your student keep them at home) and a refresher on what is and is not a "school shoe". (Hint: an all black shoe or a brown flat sole shoe works.)
 
Academic News:   
Sixth grade: We have three weeks to learn and do lots of new things before Easter Break!  In Reading 6, students are reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell and Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis. Book groups meet on Thursdays and your student is expected to participate. We get to keep going with Vocab in Action for List 10 and will assess on Friday, March 25th. We will begin List 11 on Monday the 28th and assess on April 8. (Then when we return from Easter we'll do Word Study.) Wednesdays are Blessed Reading Day since the book groups meet now on Thursdays. In LA 6, we will take the Adverb Unit 5 assessment on March 24. In Christ our Life Religion, we have started Chapter 14, God Forgives Us. 
 
Seventh grade:  We have three weeks to learn and do lots of new things before Easter Break as well!  In Reading 7, students are reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and Heat by Mike Lupica. Book groups meet on Thursdays and your student is expected to have been reading and is ready to participate. Now that the book groups meet on Thursdays, Blessed Reading Day is on Wednesdays. 
 
Have a wonderful, wonderful week!
 
Mrs. Morgan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

March 14-18, 2022

Gotcha! No school for students on the 14th, but school for us, alas...
 
Homeroom News: First, thank you for your generous donations to the Knights of Columbus Food Drive for the St. Lucy Project - can you believe it? Two truck pickups and over 4,000 lbs. of food donated. Thank you for your generosity! Here's the thing about STM - we are always raising our own bar!  Second, the Auction Luau was so fun and I appreciated all of the work to create a memorable event - I'm humbled to learn that this year the fundraising efforts are going to the teachers and that is so kind!  Third, it was a BIG weekend again for basketball and as always it is fun to see our students in their element!  Fourth thing and last, report cards are complete and will go home on Friday, March 18th.  
 
Academic News: In Religion 6, I have the Chapter 13 quiz scheduled for Wednesday, March 16. Students received the study guide to complete last week and we will check it in class on Tuesday. I am now attaching the checked-in-class study guide to the quiz so that students can compare how well they prepared to how well they did on the quiz. In LA 6, we will finish the Adverbs unit with one miniquiz (taken from checked homework) on adverbs of time, place, manner, degree, affirmation and negation. The remaining lessons, Adjectives and Adverbs and Adverb Phrases and Clauses, will be next week. As always, the Adverb Challenge will be extra credit. The Adverbs test won't be this upcoming week, but would be the following week, most likely March 24th. In Reading 6 and Reading 7, we have big fun things happening and in case you missed it in the Blast on Wednesday, Mrs. Stocker's Curriculum Note is included here. If you have any questions about implementing this, please let me know!
 
Dear Sixth and Seventh Grade Parents,
Saint Thomas More Cathedral School has always believed that students have unique learning styles, talents, and abilities, and that each should be challenged to excel. In that regard, our mid-year assessments caused our teachers to reflect upon the best options forward for your child. I commend Middle School teachers for their devotion to our mission and am grateful for
the opportunity to partner with them in this way.
Beginning next week, you will notice that your child will be working on a novel study in reading. Not all sixth or seventh grade students will be reading the same novel–it has been appropriately tailored to their individual accuracy, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary groupings as per their mid-year assessments. The Middle School Reading teachers and I have reviewed the data collected through the mid-year Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Reading
Assessment and created groups to promote student growth and success at various stages of Middle School reading.
In Reading classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they will work together on whole class strategies that apply to any novel and/or dive into a short story to practice a comprehension skill.
On Thursdays, students will meet in novel groups to discuss the specifics for each of their assigned readings and to share their knowledge in terms of characterization, plot structure, figurative language, making connections, symbolism, themes, author’s purpose, and/or art of persuasion, ethos, pathos, and logos. Mrs. Pacheco and Ms. Adinaro will be assisting Mrs. Morgan and Ms. Johnson in book talks to allow for smaller group discussions.
Please help us at home by ensuring that by each Thursday, your child has read all assigned chapters and completed their portion of the book talk/novel discussion assignment.
We thank you in advance for your support in making this change to better meet the needs of your particular child and look forward to seeing the difference it makes for them! Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Warmly,
Mrs. Emily Stocker M.Ed.
Curriculum Coordinator
Saint Thomas More Cathedral School
 
Thank you for reading all the way to the end!  Best wishes for a great week and some spring-like weather to come our way!
 
Mrs. Morgan

March 7-11, 2022

Good morning! (Edlio delivers the newsletters at varying times on Sundays/Mondays, so it may not be morning anymore when you receive this weekly update!)  It's been a busy weekend of CYO basketball fun, with two more 6th grade games on my schedule this weekend! Go Royals!
 
STM News and Dates You Can Use: Thank you for the donations to the St. Lucy Food Drive!  The school really showed up with donations and the Knights of Columbus were loading the St. Lucy truck this weekend. We will be excited to learn the final amount (in pounds of food!) donated by STM. It was also a big "hashtag Catholic School" week, as we call it in Rm. 9: Ash Wednesday Mass, Friday Mass, and then ("whoa! We are going to church three times this week, Mrs. Morgan?") Stations of the Cross at 2pm. This week we will attend Confessions on Wednesday morning at 9am and school Mass on Friday at 10am. There is an 11:30am dismissal on Friday, Mar. 11 and No School for students on Monday, March 14th. The Auction is on Saturday at 6:30pm at Knights of Columbus (I donated a Day at the Smithsonian for Four, lunch included, so I hope someone wants to invite three friends a field trip this summer)!  Keep the shorts packed away for a few more weeks - Spring Uniform switch is March 21st. 
 
Academic News: The second trimester ends on Friday, March 11th. The PowerSchool portal will close on Monday, March 7, and I am planning to have all grades as updated as possible by the end of the day today (March 6) so that you have a complete view of your students' grades with no surprises. Remember that LA is often the grade that students stress about the most, and the 6th grade took a very slow and deliberate three-part route through the Verbs unit (as they will in 7th grade as well.)
 
LA 6: Please ask your student if he/she has turned in a complete Parental Persuasive piece of writing and the Advertising assignment in Google Classroom. Both of these items have been hanging out in Google Classroom for two weeks or more and the deadline has approached and will pass by with a zero or half credit if no work (or some work) is submitted. 
 
We will begin the Adverbs unit this week. The Adverbs unit is short and sweet. The type of writing coming up next is Business Letter Writing. This is such a fun writing exercise for the students.  We will write both complimentary and complaint letters to businesses with whom the students have experienced. (There are a lot of complimentary letters to Olive Garden and complaint letters that go to airlines over the years!) 
 
Reading 6: This week we will finish In The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord. Each student has his/her own labeled school copy of the book. We will further study similes from the second half of the book and write a short structured reflection piece on how Shirley successfully meshes her new American life and honors her Chinese heritage. As noted last week in the newsletter, the students will be taking a break from Vocabulary in Action while we reintroduce Word Study into 6th grade.
 
Reading 7: Please ask your student if he/she has turned in the structured reflection pieces for Heart of a Samurai. These items have been hanging out in Google Classroom for two weeks or more and the deadline has approached and will pass by with a zero or half credit if no work or some work is submitted. Class time and teacher support was provided for two class periods on Monday and Tuesday of this week, so the final two assignments should have been completed. The Part 4 and Part 5 Heart of a Samurai Reading Checks will be posted in Google Classroom shortly. Thank you! Each student has received a name-labeled school copy of Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills. This is a short, fast, read and the expectation is that students have already read half of the book in the past two weeks, with the next two weeks to finish reading. 
 
Reading 6 and Reading 7: STM Curriculum Committee is arranging additional teachers for book talks on Thursdays to facilitate more in-depth small group/ book club-type instruction and learning. This will begin during the third trimester. I am very grateful to Mrs. Stocker, Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Rimicci, and Mrs. Pacheco for assisting with this initiative. There will be a wider variety of books read, and with more faculty assistance, smaller book groups. I will keep you posted!
 
Religion 6: This week the students will begin Chapter 12, Learning God's Way. More information about this chapter can be found at https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/lpress-craft/files/col2016-files/Christourlife2016-study-gd-g6-ch13.pdf
 
Have a wonderful week, beginning today on the First Sunday of Lent!
 
Mrs. Morgan
 
 

February 28 - March 4, 2022

Good morning! Happy Sunday! I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful day! This is the last week of the St. Lucy Food Pantry collection and Rm. 9 has one donation so far. Please send in boxed cereal/oatmeal (6th grade) this week to support the food drive.  7th grade is assigned plastic jars of fruit, such as mandarin oranges, pears, peaches, or mixed fruit. 
 
Ash Wednesday Mass is Wednesday, March 2 at 10am, if you would like to join us for our school Mass. March 3rd is a dress down day for March birthdays. The second trimester ends on March 11th. On March 14th there is No School for students. The Royal Luau auction is March 12!  (I'm donating a Day at the Smithsonian including lunch for 4 as a sign up party!) April dates for advance planning while I was looking at the calendar: The last day of in-person class is April 8. Beginning April 11-13, there will be 3 days of asynchronous instruction and Easter Break begins with Holy Thursday on April 14 - April 22. Students return (probably 6 inches taller!) for in-person class on April 25th.
 
Computer Use: Lent this year in Rm. 9, and others, will be an opportunity for a reset in kindness and a focus in doing the best we can to be forthright and honest people, and doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. Several people in the class received yellow behavior slips for using their computers for non-academic activities during school hours.  I am asking that you help remind your children that unless a teacher tells you that you can play a computer game on your school computer on the school network, you can't.  Unless a teacher directs you to a specific website, you can't go to random other websites. Students are creating unkind documents about people or activities and sharing the docs with others - all on a (loaned) school computer on a school network during school time.  It is regrettable that many students know to quickly wipe their histories when they know we have had poor choices reported to us and now have to check the history. It's also regrettable that students report "boredom" as the reason why they choose to do the wrong thing. That makes me worry. It's something we need to fix that bright and lively kids are turning to random internet sites for entertainment. Please let's put a stop to this. The first offense is a yellow behavior slip, the next offense will be having the computer taken away for an unspecified time (Mrs. Davis has suggested a month). With your help, we will be able to educate our 6th graders on becoming more responsible and accountable for their actions -- which will serve them well in the future as well as in the 6th grade.  If you have any questions, please let me know.
 
Academic News: LA 6 will take the Part 3 Verbs quiz 4.10-4.16 on Thursday. For extra credit, the Verb Challenge on pg. 114 may be submitted. Students are writing a parental persuasion piece and with computer usage restrictions (from me) this will be completed at home, along with the Advertisements project. I wish that we were able to work on these assignments in class, but it's really difficult to monitor 24 screens and teach at the same time. We will plan the work on paper/graphic organizers to expedite the process at home. Reading 6 will begin the second half of our Jackie Robinson book. Here is a short summary of the book for conversation starters with your 6th grader: Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle happens: baseball! It's 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is a superstar. Suddenly Shirley is playing stickball with her class and following Jackie as he leads the Brooklyn Dodgers to victory after victory.

With her hero smashing assumptions and records on the ball field, Shirley begins to feel that America is truly the land of opportunity—and perhaps has also become her real home. Mrs. Davis generously funded an extraordinary purchase of $1200 of books for 6th and 7th grade, and each student has their own school copy of the book, so we are all set with some great things to read for the rest of the year and into 7th grade! Vocabulary in Action: We will also be taking a break from Vocab in Action for all but a few students, and moving to individualized word study on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thursdays we will continue with Blessed Reading Time. Religion 6 the students will take home their Chapter 12 Study Guide on Tuesday and we will take the test on Thursday.

Reading 7 will have time in class this week to write and edit their expository article on Perry's demands on Japan and begin reading Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills. Summary from Google Books for conversation starters: Seventh-grader Sierra Shepard has always been the perfect student, so when she sees that she accidentally brought her mother's lunch bag to school, including a paring knife, she immediately turns in the knife at the school office. Much to her surprise, her beloved principal places her in in-school suspension and sets a hearing for her expulsion, citing the school's ironclad no weapons policy. While there, Sierra spends time with Luke, a boy who's known as a troublemaker, and discovers that he's not the person she assumed he would be--and that the lines between good and bad aren't as clear as she once thought. Claudia Mills brings another compelling school story to life with Zero Tolerance. https://youtu.be/elOSav5HJfs   is a fun book trailer to preview the book. 
We will read this book between now and March 11, and complete a great autobiography picture book project from Talkin' About Bessie by Nikki Grimes. https://www.nikkigrimes.com/books/bktalk.html from her website.  Then will will begin The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare until April 13th. Bronze Bow is a longer read, and there is a free YouTube audiobook
https://youtu.be/jgQkjTAmTfw for The Bronze Bow.
 
Best wishes for a calm and prayerful week as we begin the Lenten season. 
 
Mrs. Morgan
 
 
 
 
 

February 21-25, 2022

Greetings on another four-day school week!  This will be a great week for the students and I think everyone agrees that two three-day weekends in a row provides a nice rest!
 
Homeroom: Green sheets were collected on Thursday afternoon (prior to the 11:30 am dismissal on Friday) and any missing assignments were marked.  We also had a very, very successful Thursday first-period class playing board and card games for about 40 minutes: Apples to Apples, Uno, TacoCat, Exploding Kittens, and others, including chess, Battleship, and Connect Four.  If you are still willing to donate a new, boxed game, the class would enjoy The Game of Life.  The chess/checkers set was in big demand, as was the Uno set.  Thank you!  We have Middle School House meetings next Thursday, so we hope to enjoy another games class at another time! To round out a great week, I received a gorgeous arrangement of colorful blooms for my half-birthday from this kind and thoughtful group - your gift is much appreciated!!
 
Academic Updates:
Religion 6: The students took the Chapter 11 quiz and are now beginning Chapter 12, We Live the Commandments.  We should be able to have another quiz before the end of the trimester ends!  We also participated in a Diocesan lesson about friendship and the value of having friends who lead you toward good choices, and being a friend who helps others make good choices.
 
Language Arts 6: The students have ALL turned in their first interview drafts - thank you! 
 
Next, we completed study reviews for Verbs, Lessons 4.6-4.10 (Part 2) and Verbs, Lessons 4.11 - 4.16 (Part 3).  Extra credit for Verbs is offered for correct responses to the Verb Challenge, located in the textbook at the end of the Verb unit.  I will also post the Verb Challenge on Google Classroom.
 
Moving into Persuasive Writing, students were given a pamphlet to analyze four types of media: a radio ad, a TV commercial, a magazine or newspaper ad, and finally an internet/pop up ad.  The pamphlets will be collected on Thursday, Feb. 24th.  Please include the print media advertisements.  The pamphlets and ads will then be discussed in class and used for lessons before we move to the next grammar unit.
 
Reading 6: On Mondays and Tuesdays we study our community read, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord;  Wednesdays and Fridays we work on Vocabulary, and Thursdays we read a choice book.  That choice book can be a library book, a book from home, or a book from the classroom.  Students will complete a Reading Check 1 on the first half of our "community read" on Thursday.  A study guide was provided and the students seem confident and well-prepared.  Student copies of the book have finally arrived and will go home for weekend reading.  In Vocabulary in Action, the next quiz (List 9) is on Friday, Feb. 25. 
 
Reading 7: We are at the end of our journey with Manjiro, and every year I am a little sad to see him go.  The students have two concluding writing pieces which we will work on in class over the next week.  Please remind your student to return their school copy of Heart of a Samurai.  Our next community read is Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills, followed by The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.  Students will be provided school copies of the books.  If you see a copy of Towers Falling around the house, please send it to school. I am missing about 10 copies of that book. Replacement fees for school-provided books will be charged to FACTS at the end of the year.
 
Have a great week!
 
Mrs. Morgan
 
 

February 14-18, 2022

Happy Valentine's Day!  This week is a short four-day week, and please remember that there is a half-day on Friday, which technically makes this a 3 1/2 day week (according to a typical middle-schooler)!
 
Homeroom Items: Congratulations to Rm. 9 on being class leaders for the school Mass on Friday! The Welcome was read by Chris, First Reading by Matthew, and the Intercessions were read by Cylie and Gilsie. Altar servers were Dominic and Adam, assisted by Tom in Rm. 7.  Thank you, everyone!  We also won the Door Decorating Contest for "Punniest" door and I am happy to say that everyone in Rm. 9 participated in making the door extra fun and fancy!  (We won a prize of some sort although I am not sure what it could be, given the ecstatic yelling in the classroom!!!) 
Contributions for the updated Games Bin were received this week by the Bruder family and BookFair books for the classroom were purchased by the Carl and Brittle families. Thank you for your support! On Thursday we should be able to have a great Games morning!
 
Houses: Have you heard that STM Middle School students are in "houses"?  Yes, they are!  If you ask your student, they may recall their house's saint, or the house "color", mascot, mascot's name, stewards, or house leader. 
 
Green Sheets: green sheets for Rm. 9 - I will collect them on Tuesday morning unfortunately for me/fortunately for your student, because I did not collect them on Friday. 
 
Academic News: In LA 6 this week, the students are doing three things simultaneously, so I'll explain here to ease confusion they may have, although I am always available in class and by email for questions.  Here are the three simultaneous assignments: the last of the Verbs unit in grammar; an expository article first draft in the form of interviewing an interesting person, which should include quotation marks and no writing in the first person "I"; beginning to collect examples of persuasive techniques through advertising (print media, online ads, commercials, other advertisements).
 
In Reading 6, the students have started List 9 in Vocabulary in Action and will have a quiz on Friday on those words. In our Jackie Robinson book, we've been identifying examples of similes. This week we will be locating text-based examples of cultural identity and how these examples intersect with the main character's Chinese heritage as she navigates 1947 Brooklyn.
 
In Reading 7, the students wrote two characterization pieces and are learning a bit more history about Commodore Perry and the 1853 demand by the US that America be allowed to enter their ports. This week there will be a Part 5 quiz and the beginning of a text-based response to literature, answering the question, which character trait enabled Manjiro to successfully persevere in adversity?
 
In Religion 6, students are playing a bit of catchup this week since we were preparing our readings for Mass, creating the door, and having a Valentine party. We will be moving to Chapter 12 this week, We Live the Commandments Today. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/lpress-craft/files/col2016-files/Christourlife2016-study-gd-g6-ch12.pdf
 
Have a great week!
Jodie Morgan
 
 
 
 
 
 

February 7-11, 2022

Happy Valentine's Day Week!  
 
Last week STM celebrated Catholic Schools Week with fun spirit week-type activities. and now we're ready for the (only) 14 school days in February!  We will celebrate Valentine's Day in Rm. 9 on Friday, Feb. 11 during homeroom at the end of the day. Be sure that if your student is participating in bringing in Valentines, there is one for each student in the class! I will have copies of our class list to take home. With treats, be sure that they are individually wrapped. Thank you so much - Valentine's Day is so much fun! There is a February Birthday dress-down on Feb 9th and an all-school Red and Pink dress-down day on Friday the 11th. No school Monday the 14th (thank you Bishop Burbidge!) and no school next Monday the 21st for President's Day. (If you think your student is never in school, just wait until they get to high school.)
 
During Catholic Schools Week, we enjoyed the book fair (I never did get my wish list up, but I did go over and buy $250 in books so if you'd like to retroactively sponsor a book for our classroom, let me know and I'll give you a title and cost!), the Day by Day prayer service which was beautiful, lots of VIP and appreciation letter writing, and lots of dress-down days!  STM had grade-level collections to support the troops visiting Walter Reed's https://metro.uso.org/bethesda USO center. 6th grade was asked to donate puzzle books, pens, markers. Thank you to the Urbano family in Rm. 9 for donating a pack of pens! Another item we collected for the IHM Sisters, founders of our school, were the 24 coin markers from the Bingo game on Friday. More information about our IHM Sisters can be found at https://ihmimmaculata.org/. 24 nickels would have been a $1.20, 24 dimes would have been a $2.40 donation, and 24 quarters would have been a $6.00 donation. Thank you to those who brought bagged coins for Bingo to donate to the IHM Sisters.  It's never too late to donate to these groups! Thank you also to the Gliatis and Urbano families for sending in games to update our classroom board game and card game collection!  
 
Academically, we persevere!  February and March are tough on the kids physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally as they feel stressed at school, in friendships, in sports, and with their grades. Please reach out if I can help. I continue to do reading checks, grammar checks, and vocab checks. (By checks I mean that there are no major tests.) Both 6th and 7th grades are approaching a few writing assignments. 6th grade should have a person to interview about a historical event. 
 
Best wishes for a happy, healthy week,
Mrs. Morgan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Jan 31-Feb 4, 2022

Dear STM families in Rm. 9 Homeroom, 6th grade LA and Reading, and 7-3 Reading:
 
Congratulations on making it through January, almost - between the Homestead Studies during the snow week, the emotionally draining fracas surrounding mask options, and the lunch location changes, it has been a very long month indeed. But, to our credit (yours, mine, and your children's) we are made of tough stuff and with faith in our fearless school leaders, hope that this will be over someday, and love for our neighbor (these three!) we persevere. 
 
Happy Catholic Schools Week!  Activity schedules are available on nearly every electronic platform we have, but I'll add an abbreviated one here as well to cover all of the bases:
Sunday - Celebrating Our Parish: Mass at 9am and Book Fair*
Monday- Celebrating Our Community: Prayer Service, Walter Reed USO Donations*, Dress as a Community Helper 
Tuesday - Celebrating Our Students: Dress Down Day if you received a blue coupon for going to Mass today in uniform; PE uniforms for everyone if not at Mass, Dance Parties in PE class, lunch dessert treat, no homework night!
Wednesday - Celebrating Our Nation: bring in Walter Reed USO Donations*, virtual tours of locations in the USA
Thursday - Celebrating Vocations and Staff: Dress up as any holiday! 
Friday - Celebrating Our Faculty, Parents, and Volunteers: blue and white/STM accessories, fun shoes, Mass (we will pray for our VIPs instead of having them attend in person), STM Bingo* 
 
*Book Fair - I will email a list of books I'd love to have for the classroom, and if you're able to have your student purchase one for the room during the shopping times (before and after school, at lunch) I'd be very appreciative!
*USO Donations - 6th Grade is asked to donate magazines, puzzle books, markers and pens to resupply. These items are available at any grocery store in the magazine and school supply aisle. Thank you!
*STM Bingo! - bring 24 nickels, dimes, quarters - for bingo markers - collected and donated to the IHM Sisters, founders of STM. Please send them in a plastic ziplock bag.
 
Homeroom News:
Blue conduct interims went home, stapled to your student's green sheet. Any missing work also has a detention slip for Tuesday that will be removed once the missing work is completed. You should SEE the hustle on Mondays to get work signed off. (If only the hustle had hustled in a more timely manner, then there wouldn't be the detention slip.)  Please sign and return the blue interim this week. Classroom supply request: We need more board games. I have two sets of Battleship and one set of Connect Four, a set of UNO and a set of Apples to Apples. Please consider picking up a game (that can be easily played and cleaned up in 40 minutes or less) for the classroom, or sending $20 and I'll buy a game for the room. I could use Yahtzee, Go!, Connect Four, Game of Life, Chess, Boggle, Checkers, Game of Things, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, other boxed card games. Remember, every $10 you spend counts toward 1 volunteer hour! Thank you so much in advance!
 
Academic News:
No major tests this week, Reading 6 will take a Vocab in Action quiz on Friday on List 8.
 
Have a great week!
Mrs. Morgan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

January 17-21, 2022

The sounds of snow shovels and dripping cold water are outside... and inside I am sorting through 360+ Homestead Studies assignments submitted in half a dozen ways and times!  (Do not be alarmed when a 0 has been entered on one of the Homestead Days from January 4-7. I will follow up with your student when we return to school.) 
 
Today we are celebrating the day in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Each year I re-read Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail. If you have time, you can read it here:  https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/sites/mlk/files/letterfrombirmingham_wwcw_0.pdf
 
Homeroom: Beginning the new school week, we have Bring a Gift Card to School dress down day on Tuesday. The gift cards will be used to create items for the Auction in March. If your student brings a gift card ($25 value or more) they can dress down.
 
This week we are also completing the midyear Scantron testing. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. We have our School Mass on Thursday. As always, be sure that your student has had a good breakfast, and I'd suggest that there is a protein component as well. 
 
Tests, quizzes, and assignments for this week:
In LA 6, there will be a miniquiz based on Verbs lessons 4.1-4.5 on Thursday. In Reading 6, the students will take their Vocab list 7 quiz on Friday. Students in Reading 7 should be prepared to turn in Part 1 work from Heart of a Samurai.  We will have a short graded reading check on Wednesday for Part 1. In Religion 6 the students will take the Chapter 10 (Moses) quiz next Monday 1/24.
 
Please email me if you have any questions!
 
Mrs. Morgan
 
 

January 10-14, 2022

Dear Reading and LA 6-9 and 6-7, Reading 7-3 and Homeroom 6-9 Families,
 
Thank you for your patience with the Homestead (formerly Snowflake) Studies last week; I am preparing on this rainy Sunday to begin checking in and posting the 30 point homework score to PowerSchool for the various assignments in the different Google Classrooms. With the exception of Day 4, all of the assignments are expected to be turned in by January 11. Day 4 is due by Friday, January 14.  
 
Re: this upcoming Friday, there is a half day of school, and no school on Monday, January 17 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 
 
For myself and my family, we suffered the sudden death of our beloved niece over the Christmas holidays and I was traveling last week for her burial, so in many respects it was a grace for me that we were not in school, since my homeroom and classes were scheduled to be covered by a substitute teacher. It has been a deeply mournful time for our family, and am thankful to be home and preparing for school and my students tomorrow. 
 
Last week's newsletter post is copied below, and we will pick up here: 
Academic News:
 
Religion 6: The students took their Chapter 8 quiz, The Israelites Journey to Egypt. Chapter 9 is a Unit Review, and Chapter 10 will be God Rescues the Chosen People from Slavery. A short summary from the Loyola Press homepage may be helpful for you to view in advance: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/lpress-craft/files/col2016-files/Christourlife2016-study-gd-g6-ch10.pdf
The Chapter 9 Unit Review includes all material presented in Chapters 6, 7, and 8. Here is an at-home summary for you if helpful:
 
While I'm at it, here is a general link to any of the chapters and the practice games and quizzes, which you may find helpful to encourage your student when studying for the Religion tests!
 
Reading 6: We have been reading The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Betty Bao Lord. We got away from it a bit due to a variety of factors, but it's time to dive back in.  This week on Monday and Tuesday we'll be studying figurative language and following story events. Wednesday and Friday we will work on vocabulary and word work, and Thursdays are still set aside for Storyworks and "Blessed Reading Time".  The 6th graders are very happy with their Reading routine and I appreciate that they enjoy coming to class on Thursdays with their books to read. I've been reading Almost Autumn by Marianne Kaurin, about the German-occupied Norwegian Jewish community in 1942. Many of the students enjoyed the Alan Gratz WWII books and this one is told from a girl's perspective. It is important to keep establishing the daily practice of reading at home, even without the reading log. 
We will be reading the following books after this unit: Inside Out and Back Again and Listen, Slowly, both by Thanhha Lai, Grace Lin's Where the Mountain meets the Moon, Starry River of the Sky, When the Sea Turns to Silver, as well as Red Thread Sisters, by Carol Peacock. 
 
Reading 7: We finished The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry ("If this story is so famous, why have I never heard of it before" - quote from a student, I guess it's IYKYK about some of these short stories) and enjoyed a very fun week of Scrabble!  I took some amazing photos and hope that you had at least a flicker of smile about Reading class in the week before Christmas, because it was fun!
In January and February, we will be reading Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus on Mondays and Tuesdays, and working within nonfiction reading and study skills on Wednesdays and Fridays. We are working toward an independent reading goal of 30 minutes of continuous independent reading on Thursdays for a total of 120 minutes during the month of January. Stay tuned for weekly updates for January 6, 13, 20, and 27th!
 
LA 6: We completed the Adjectives writing project and Adjectives Unit Test. The students will be bringing home a Skills Analysis activity to complete at home and have signed by a parent. Our next grammar unit, Verbs, is one of the more difficult units we'll do this year, so I break it down slowly into three sections 4.1-4.5: Principal Parts of Verbs and Verb Phrases, Regular and Irregular Verbs, Troublesome Verbs, and Transitive and Intransitive Verbs. Next is 4.6-4.10: Linking Verbs, and Simple, Progressive, Perfect Tenses, and Subject-Verb Agreement. Last is 4.11-4.16: Active/Passive Voice, and Indicative, Emphatic, Imperative, and Subjunctive Mood, and Modal Auxiliaries. There will be a test in between each section, instead of one big test at the end, as well as miniquizzes and opportunities for extra credit work. 
The writing unit for Unit 4 is Persuasive Writing and we generally spend a short amount of time analyzing TV and radio commercials for persuasive writing techniques, with a short writing assignment using some of the techniques to sell a product. 
 
Thanks for reading to the end!
 
Mrs. Morgan

January 3-7, 2022 and Happy New Year!

Happy, happy New Year! I hope it was a wonderful Christmas holiday for your family!  I'm excited to see everyone back in class after our blessedly long break!
Read on for a few quick general basic announcements, followed by Academic Updates by subject/grade. We'll see you back on Monday morning!
 
Health: You/your student may be feeling apprehensive about the return to school during this escalation in illness. There was a recent email from Mrs. Burnside explaining procedures, which should help. We will definitely be drilling down on our wellness procedures: handwashing, exceptionally perfect mask-wearing, hand and desk area sanitizing, and most importantly, the social distancing. With regard to attendance, teachers are prepared to have a mix of students in and out of school for the near future, and we're all going to do our best to maintain healthy practices and stay in school, as well as support students awaiting a return to school. 
 
Giving Tree: Mrs. Johnston has said that the timeframe for continuing to give a Giving Tree gift can be extended. Keep the gifts unwrapped. All gifts will be given to the Migrant and Refugee Services Center of Catholic Charities. With the runup to Christmas, the information letter may have been lost, but here is a quick summary: items needed include kitchen and tableware, such as dish and utensil sets, flatware, can openers, dishtowels, cookware. Bedding such as twin size blankets, sheets and pillows are needed. 13-gallon trash cans, and shower curtains with a set of rings. Additionally, Target/Walmart or generic Visa gift cards are needed for other personal supplies as well as groceries. Last, if you have upgraded your electronics and have gently used tablets, PCs or laptops, the Center is happy to take those as well. 
 
Christmas Program and holiday gifts: Although it seems ages ago, thank you again for getting your student up to school for the beautiful Christmas program and the timely pickup back in the classroom. While they may all have been fatigued from anticipation of the break from school, we are so happy to be able to present this gift of the season. We are also grateful to Mrs. Meehan for coordinating the creation of a handmade family gift!  Additionally, thank you to the 6th grade room parents who made bags of sweet treats to celebrate the last day of school before the holiday!
 
Academic News:
 
Religion 6: The students took their Chapter 8 quiz, The Israelites Journey to Egypt. Chapter 9 is a Unit Review, and Chapter 10 will be God Rescues the Chosen People from Slavery. A short summary from the Loyola Press homepage may be helpful for you to view in advance: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/lpress-craft/files/col2016-files/Christourlife2016-study-gd-g6-ch10.pdf
The Chapter 9 Unit Review includes all material presented in Chapters 6, 7, and 8. Here is an at-home summary for you if helpful:
 
While I'm at it, here is a general link to any of the chapters and the practice games and quizzes, which you may find helpful to encourage your student when studying for the Religion tests!
 
Reading 6: We have been reading The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Betty Bao Lord. We got away from it a bit due to a variety of factors, but it's time to dive back in.  This week on Monday and Tuesday we'll be studying figurative language and following story events. Wednesday and Friday we will work on vocabulary and word work, and Thursdays are still set aside for Storyworks and "Blessed Reading Time".  The 6th graders are very happy with their Reading routine and I appreciate that they enjoy coming to class on Thursdays with their books to read. I've been reading Almost Autumn by Marianne Kaurin, about the German-occupied Norwegian Jewish community in 1942. Many of the students enjoyed the Alan Gratz WWII books and this one is told from a girl's perspective. It is important to keep establishing the daily practice of reading at home, even without the reading log. 
We will be reading the following books after this unit: Inside Out and Back Again and Listen, Slowly, both by Thanhha Lai, Grace Lin's Where the Mountain meets the Moon, Starry River of the Sky, When the Sea Turns to Silver, as well as Red Thread Sisters, by Carol Peacock. 
 
Reading 7: We finished The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry ("If this story is so famous, why have I never heard of it before" - quote from a student, I guess it's IYKYK about some of these short stories) and enjoyed a very fun week of Scrabble!  I took some amazing photos and hope that you had at least a flicker of smile about Reading class in the week before Christmas, because it was fun!
In January and February, we will be reading Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus on Mondays and Tuesdays, and working within nonfiction reading and study skills on Wednesdays and Fridays. We are working toward an independent reading goal of 30 minutes of continuous independent reading on Thursdays for a total of 120 minutes during the month of January. Stay tuned for weekly updates for January 6, 13, 20, and 27th!
 
LA 6: We completed the Adjectives writing project and Adjectives Unit Test. The students will be bringing home a Skills Analysis activity to complete at home and have signed by a parent. Our next grammar unit, Verbs, is one of the more difficult units we'll do this year, so I break it down slowly into three sections 4.1-4.5: Principal Parts of Verbs and Verb Phrases, Regular and Irregular Verbs, Troublesome Verbs, and Transitive and Intransitive Verbs. Next is 4.6-4.10: Linking Verbs, and Simple, Progressive, Perfect Tenses, and Subject-Verb Agreement. Last is 4.11-4.16: Active/Passive Voice, and Indicative, Emphatic, Imperative, and Subjunctive Mood, and Modal Auxiliaries. There will be a test in between each section, instead of one big test at the end, as well as miniquizzes and opportunities for extra credit work. 
The writing unit for Unit 4 is Persuasive Writing and we generally spend a short amount of time analyzing TV and radio commercials for persuasive writing techniques, with a short writing assignment using some of the techniques to sell a product. 
 
Thanks for reading to the end!
 
Mrs. Morgan

December 13-17, 2021

Happy Third Sunday of Advent!  In five short days, your students will revel in sleeping late, visiting friends and family, celebrating the Christmas holidays, and enjoy the peace and joy of the season!  
 
In general Rm. 9 classroom news, students are asked to bring in $5 toward materials for a gift they are making in class this week. Additionally, please return the participation form for the Nativity Program on Tuesday night!  We are SO happy to have this wonderful tradition return to the Cathedral, live and in person!  The forms were sent home last week and I have received only a few returned forms.  On Monday I will make a list and check it twice, and email if I have not received the participation form yet.  Thank you in advance for your support for this treasured "reason for the season" program.
 
In academic news, in 6th-grade Religion the students took their Chapter 8 quiz and learned about Joseph (he of the Old Testament). In 6th grade LA, we completed our Advent Windows on Our World descriptive adjective writing project and completed our grammar unit, Adjectives, with Indefinite Adjectives and Adjective Phrases. The students may complete their Adjective Review in class on Monday and turn in their Adjective Challenge for extra credit points. Their Unit 3 Adjectives Test will be on Wednesday, Dec. 15. In Reading, we have studied our Chapter 6 Vocabulary in Action words and will take the short quiz on Wednesday. Our class novel, The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Betty Bao Lord, is reaching its halfway point as our main character, Shirley Temple Wong, acclimates to life in Brooklyn. 
 
In 7th grade Reading, the students completed their first drafts and submitted them for feedback and edits. This process will be in three parts: the draft, feedback and revisions, and the final. Last week, we read O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" short story and followed plot, vocabulary, and wrote about the selflessness/sacrifice of gift-giving!
 
It's going to be a fun and fast week with a highly anticipated Scrabble Tournament. I truly have NO idea how this is going to go, but there is a LOT of enthusiasm, and no better time to harness that enthusiasm than this week!
 
Have a blessed Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year!
 
Mrs. Morgan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

November 29-December 3, 2021

Welcome back to school!  It was wonderful to have the full week to enjoy travel and extended time with family; I monitored email periodically and didn't field too many questions about the asynchronous work so I hope this worked out well for everyone!
 
This week begins the new trimester and a new green sheet!  Dress down day on Wednesday for December birthdays; Winter Wonderland middle school social on Friday afternoon, sponsored by the 7th grade. There will be events related to We Care Week, and two December dates for your calendar: December 14 is the Nativity Play in the Cathedral at 7pm, and Country Christmas on December 11th. Lessons and Carols is on December 5th. 
 
6th grade presented the Virtue of Service in November. Here is a link to view 6th grade's play, Martin the Shoemaker. https://vimeo.com/644582459/2b4c349324
 
We are also collecting coats, scarves, gloves and mittens, snow boots and snow pants, hats, etc. in good condition for our Virtue of Service.  Thank you in advance for your donations!
 
Additionally, STM is partnered with Operation Turbo to bring "Boxes of Home" to our troops overseas. The 6th grade item is individually packaged Advil pain reliever. Remember that every $10 you spend in donations counts toward an hour of volunteer requirements!
 
Now, onto the academic news!  Report cards will go home on Friday afternoon. Think about what went well this past trimester for your student and areas for further improvement, such as utilizing online study aids for vocabulary and grammar, and chapter read-alouds that are posted on Google Classroom.
 
With the three weeks (THREE WEEKS!?!?!?) before Christmas (yikes!) the 6th grade will be studying adjectives, working on a descriptive writing piece, and reading the book The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Betty Bao Lord. 
The 7th grade Reading class will outline and complete a five-paragraph essay from Jewell Parker Rhodes's Towers Falling, study the literary device of irony in The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry and complete some enjoyable activities to make this 100+ year old famous Christmas short story relevant to their own lives.
 
See everyone on Monday morning!  I hope it was a wonderful holiday!
 
Mrs. Morgan