Happy rainy Sunday and brrrr....

 

Congratulations to all on the 7th consecutive school week, which included the Race for Education!  

 

Race for Education - In 6-9, we had awesome participation on Pledgestar and I am so grateful for your support of the school and the Race!  The money raised is going to some great things for the building and I can't thank you enough!  We do have some photos and I'm looking into a way to share them.  Our group went right after lunch on Wednesday, as the sun was bursting out and the temps got HOT, but we persevered through our full tummies and clocked some great laps!

 

Scholastic Orders - Thank you for ordering books for your students and supporting the classroom by ordering books.  I was able to gain 20 more titles by Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, and many others, for the classroom bookshelves thanks to bonus points awarded via Scholastic's programs.  The next book order flyer will go home in mid-November. 

 

Summer Reading - On the subject of books, can I brag to you about YOUR readers?  Between the 6th and 7th grades, 100% of the students completed their summer reading, on time, and did an excellent job with their theme and summary paragraphs.  Thank you for your support at home!

 

Homestead Studies - Ask your student for his/her blue Homestead Studies folder, which was sent home last week.  Put it in a super safe spot, to save it from getting accidentally tossed out or lost under a bed.  In the event of a couple of snow days or quarantine, we will be utilizing the three days of subject area lessons in the Homestead Studies folders.  

 

Halloweeeeeen - Boo!  We are not having the Middle School Social this year (we will attempt a fun social as soon as we are able) but the room parents are putting together treats for the students, in accordance with mitigation guidelines.  Thank you so much!

 

No School on Friday - There is no school for students on Friday, October 30th.  (There is school for teachers, though!) However, we look forward to seeing you at the Trunk or Treat on Friday night if you are planning to attend!

 

Confessions - The 6th grade had Confessions on Wednesday.  I was so very proud of their reverence and patience.  We had Fr. Dansereau and Fr. Garcia as our priests, and everyone returned back to school with shiny clean hearts!

 

Classroom Work - We hope that this week will be a relatively normal week.  In LA for 6th grade, we are persevering with pronouns.  The students took a short miniquiz on subject and object pronouns last week.  The pronouns unit test will most likely be Nov. 5th.  In 6th grade Reading, we have completed Vocab List 3, reading about Wilma Rudolph ("Was she real?" "Yes, she was real!" We looked up pictures online of her at the Olympics!  They couldn't believe Wilma Rudolph overcame polio to run in the Olympics, and win!) and reading our class novels Song for a Whale by Lynn Kelly and We Are Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey 

 

In 7th grade Reading, we tackled the comprehension skill cause and effect, which gets easier to understand as students are in middle school.  Mentor writing this week included a piece of writing based on an excerpt from The Terrible Two by Jory John and Mac Barnett.  Students volunteered to share their writing in class on Thursday and Friday. The students are nearly finished with our class novel, Zero Tolerance, and we will begin literary elements. 

 

Useful Resource for Reading - All 6th and 7th grade students have a readtheory.org account.  They are bookmarked on their laptops. The goal is 20 passed quizzes by the end of the first trimester.  We aim for ReadTheory time on Thursdays. For 7th graders, they are getting used to Mrs. James's www.noredink.com program, and ReadTheory is much the same.  It does provide great practice.  6th grade enjoys the program as well and is quickly reaching their 20 quizzes goal.  

 

Have a great week!

 

Mrs. Morgan