We are at the HALF WAY POINT of Quarter 1!
We are halfway done with our first quarter of Remote Learning Academy! This is a great time for some "housekeeping." Have you been logging into Schoology? Do you know how to manage alerts and notifications? Click HERE for help with Schoology.
Conferences
Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up soon. Unlike elementary school, middle school conferences are not meant for every student. Certainly if you have a concern and would like to meet with your son/daughter's team of teachers, you may request a conference. However, the majority of conferences are teacher-requested. We have already reached out to parent(s)/guardian(s) regarding the September 30 date.
Picture Day
Picture Day for Grizzell Middle School RLA students happened on September 24. If you missed it and want your picture in the yearbook, please stay tuned for make-up days.
Picture Day for Karrer Middle School RLA students will be September 30 between 4:00-6:00 PM (new time). All students who wish to appear in the yearbook must be present during picture day. Parents can order pictures at shop.hrimaging.com. You are also welcome to stop in and pick up an order form from Mrs. Call in the office.
Flu Shots for Dublin Students
Free flu shots will be available to students this school year. You can view the schedule and required forms at this link. RLA students may go to any school for their flu shots. Families may take all students to one building. Be sure to complete the first form and return it 48 hours before the day of the shot to the school building where you want to get the flu shot. The second form needs to be completed and taken with you on the day of the flu shot.
On Monday we wrapped up the Red Kayak book discussions with Period 6 students. On Friday of this week, periods 1 & 2 will discuss Full Cicada Moon at 2:00. On Monday periods 5 & 6 will have their discussion. In class we are practicing observing like scientists to improve the quality of our thinking, reading and writing. We focussed on revising and editing skills for best quality thinking and effort.
We are nearing the end of our read aloud, Count Me In by Varsha Bajaj. In order to think deeply about the text, we have practiced many reading responses that will be part of our reading workshop throughout the year. Additionally, we have continued our beginning of the year word study unit, focusing on commonly confused words (amount/number, site/site/sight, accept/except, etc.) In writing, we are nearing the end of our 4th and last free write, focused on the prompt of "I wish my teacher knew..."
As a reminder, please purchase the book, The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin. It's available on Amazon for $8.99. Students need their own copy by October 5, when we start our next unit centered around the book.
We are putting the finishing touches on our study of waves this week, and will take a test next week. As a special treat, Officer Evans was our guest speaker today! She showed the kids night vision goggles and infrared goggles. This was interesting, and fit nicely in our study of the Electromagnetic Spectrum.
We are taking our test on waves next week! Students are also working on a mini-project. Each student has selected one part of the electromagnetic spectrum to do a "deep dive" on and report back to their classmates. We will use their presentations to get to know the EM spectrum a little better. Our test will include all the things we have learned about with waves so far, from sound waves to light waves!
This week we began our unit on Greece. We have been discussing the contributions that Greece made to the world and the effects that they have on our society even today. We also began memorizing the Greek alphabet. Have your scholar recite what they know so far (we are currently about halfway through). We are also reviewing the different forms of government and and the role citizens play in each type.
This week, we explored how powerful we can be in preventing the spread of fake news - and what all of this has to do with sources and history. We talked about different perspectives and how our study of history isn't complete without considering multiple view points; we decided that if we don't purchase something online without reading all the good and bad reviews, than we shouldn't take the first source we read about anything as the only way to think about past events. Students teamed up into our Greek Teams for our Ancient Greece unit which we will begin next week. First up.... geography and how it influenced the lives of the Greeks.
We are working on Algebra concepts at this time and are progressing through Algebraic Expressions and Distributive Property. We will continue with Like-Terms this week and have another test.
Click the link to view my daily agenda. Mrs. Yang - Math 7 Daily Agenda
To see what's happening in Algebra, click HERE to view the daily agenda.
This week your Pointillism project is due on Monday 9/28 and you will begin exploring a new 2-week project!
This week the students have planned out their design for the 3-D functional artwork that they will create from repurposed and natural materials. Functional artwork is due 9/28.
This week students continued practicing playing drumming parts independently while Mrs. Thornton played a different part at the same time and learned Take Time in Life from Liberia. Next week, we will begin our music theory unit. Students will learn the notes of the treble and bass clef as well have the opportunity to practice elements of music that fir their musical instrument and interests.
We began work with music theory this week working on rhythmic reading, writing and improvisation. We will build on this next week adding the grand staff, letter names and intervals. We had our second open mic day this week and enjoyed listening to performances and compositions the students shared.