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
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