Friday 12/1

Grade Level News for 6th Grade

Update from the Principal's desk:

Parents,

We hope you had a relaxing November Break! We have a busy three weeks coming with midterm exams and many performances and celebrations! Please know we are always looking for feedback on how to make SFMS the best place it can be for your students. In the past we have offered surveys with specific questions, but this month we are opening the forum for general feedback! If you have any, please complete this form!

Upcoming Dates:

12/4 - Symphonic and 8th grade Band Concert
12/6 - Family Connect Night
12/6 - Basketball vs. LSMS
12/6 - Winter Chorus Concert
12/7 - Basketball vs. RMS
12/12 - 6th grade Band Concert
12/13 - 7th grade Band Concert
12/14 - Basketball vs. OMS
12/19 - Early Release
12/20 - 1/3 - Student Holiday
1/4 - Basketball vs. PGMS
1/10 - All A recognition
1/10 - Basketball vs. HMS
1/11 - Basketball vs. DMS

December 6 - Girls at SFMS - Link to purchase tickets

December 7 - Boys at SFMS - Link to purchase tickets

December 14 - Boys at SFMS - Link to purchase tickets

English Language Arts News

We will be finishing our pronoun unit this week. Students will complete stations over subjective, objective, possessive, reflexive, and intensive pronouns before taking their summative assessment on Wednesday, December 6th. Afterward, we will begin reviewing for our midterm by covering narrative elements, informational structure, and pronouns.

Pronoun Summative on Wednesday, December 6th
ELA Midterm on Tuesday, December 12th

Math News

Accelerated Math

Accelerated math is currently working on Equations which is our final unit of the semester. Students are now allowed to use calculators. Please check Canvas daily for student assignments.

Students should also be reviewing for their Midterm Exam on December 14. Students should use the following items for their Midterm review:

Packets from each unit
Unit Quizzes
Videos linked in Canvas
Additional handouts from the semester

Below are the remaining assessment dates for the semester:

December 1: One-Step Equations Quiz
December 8: Two-Step Equations Quiz
December 13: Equations Summative Exam
December 14: Accelerated Midterm Exam (summative grade)

Advanced Math

Students are currently in Unit 4A – Equations. Students are learning to translate and solve one and two step equations with rational numbers.

Following the Unit 4A Summative on 12/8, we will review in preparation for our Midterm Exam on Thursday, December 14th. This exam will be given during your student’s regularly scheduled math class, and it cannot be taken early. Please contact your teacher if your child will miss the midterm exam. Review resources will be provided in class as we get closer to the test date. Midterms are not recoverable, so it is important that students take steps to study and prepare.

Our weekly Flex schedules has changed slightly! Please check Student Support Time in ClassLink for available help sessions.

Upcoming Dates:

12/8 – Unit 4A Summative - Equations

12/14 – Midterm Exam

On level Math

On level Math students are currently working on Unit 4 – Equations. We had our quiz on Friday, 12/01 over Equation Operations. Our summative is scheduled on Friday, 12/08. Please check Canvas regularly for updates and helpful resources! On level Math Help Sessions are held weekly Monday through Friday during Flex!

Important Dates:

12/01 – Unit 4 Equation Operations Quiz
12/08 – Unit 4 Equations Summative Test
12/14 – Math Mid-Term
01/03/2024 – Mid-Term Makeup at 9:00am

Science News

This week we learned about plate tectonics and finished the week with a station lab where students explored, researched, and illustrated the three types of plates. Next week, we will conclude our station labs and begin to review for the summative on Friday. Please make sure your child is checking Canvas for review activities to help him/her review for the Unit 5 summative.

Social Studies News

-We started a new unit on European Government and Economics, specifically focusing on Government and vocabulary this week.

-Look for formatives over the next two weeks on various topics relating to the unit.

-Mark your calendar for the Social Studies Midterm on December 15. Be sure to ask your child about the Midterm Study Guide and other review resources located on Canvas they can use to prepare.

-Information and details on the 6th Grade Junior Achievement Field Trip in February will be sent home this week. Please be sure to read and sign BOTH sides of the permission form then have your child return it to their Social Studies teacher.

Enrichment

We will be listening to a podcast titled, “Mars Patel” from Gen-Z Media. We will use the text to teach the LINCS vocabulary strategy as well as a storyboarding comprehension strategy. There will be no midterm test in our class. Instead, students will construct two study tools to prepare for their other midterm tests from a choice board. They will receive a summative grade for these tools. On December 18th and 19th we are planning on watching the movie, “The Mighty.” This is the film adaptation of the novel “Freak the Mighty” we finished last quarter. You will be asked to sign a permission slip to allow your student to view the movie in class.

Upcoming Dates:

December 1st – LINCS vocabulary formative
December 11th – Storyboard formative due
December 15th – Midterm study tool project summative due

Connections News

Art:

Check out a book, get a free bookmark! Middle school student artists from all Forsyth County middle schools participated in the Middle School Design A Bookmark contest at the beginning of the school year. Winning designs were turned into real bookmarks, and they are available to anyone who checks out a book out from a Forsyth County Public Library. There are 33 designs in total! If you get a bookmark, share it with us on social media using the hashtag #fcsmiddleschoolbookmarks

Congratulations to our SFMS winners, Maxon Sundseth, Riya Nambiar, and Riya Gupta! Thank you to the Forsyth County Arts Alliance for sponsoring this opportunity. #SouthWhereYouBelong

Band:

Symphonic Band Rehearsal, Tuesday 11/28 4:30-6:00 PM
Symphonic Band will have additional flextime sectionals. Check Student Support Time for your instrument.
Symphonic Band Trip Payment #3 due on www.schoolpay.com 12/1.
Final day to register for the Spring Concert Band Trip, 12/1. Check Canvas for details.
GMEA All-State Auditions Round 1, December 2nd, Otwell Middle School, Times have been sent to those auditioning
Symphonic Band and 8th Grade Band Winter Concert, Monday, 12/4, 7:30 PM, SFMS Gymnasium
Symphonic Band Chair Tests (Optional for 2nd/4th/5th Period classes), Week of December 11-15, Before school, in class, and flextime. Sign-ups will be sent soon.
Sixth-Grade Band Classes First Concert, December 12th, SFMS Gymnasium, 7:30 PM (This is a change from the original date sent out in August)
Seventh-Grade Blue and White Bands Winter Concert, 7:30 PM, SFMS Gymnasium, 7:30 PM
Earning Your Stripe #3 due for Sixth-Grade Band students, 12/15.
Last Day with Instruments for the semester, 12/19, all instruments must go home over the winter break. Please plan accordingly with transportation.

PE:

We hope everyone had a wonderful and restful break. Mark your calendars for our annual dodgeball tournament. This occurs during each grade levels connection block on Friday, December 15. We will share the details in the upcoming weeks through our morning news show. There is opportunity for all those who want to compete as well as for those who simply want to spectate.

In other news… the students in our pe classes are working to improve on their fitness components. Our testing will take place before the winter break which is the end of quarter two.

Healthcare Science:

6th grade will be learning about Food Trucks including Therapeutic Diet plans and Medical Terminology games.

7th grade is focusing on a HIPPA breaking news story and Medical Terminology games.

8th Grade will focus on Digestive System trading cards and begin exploring the Neurological System.

HOSA's chapter meetings will be held on Thursday 11/30 for 8th grade at 8:00 AM and 12/14/2023 for 6th and 7th grade. Our December service project is creating cards for the residents of local nursing homes and assisted livings. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Kauffman at f22003@forsyth.k12.ga.us

Counseling Corner

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great and restful break. Middle school is an exciting time for students. They tend to become more involved with sports, activities, and friends. As the first semester wraps up, it is a great time to check in with your student and see how the school year is going so far. Before you sign your child up for a new spring activity, make sure that their life is in balance. Is your child getting enough sleep? Do they have time to eat dinner with the family? How much time are they spending doing homework? Do they have any down time? As parents, we can always support, encourage, and set expectations, but it’s important to know when it is too much. Whenever we add something new, we should consider taking something away. This will help reduce stress and increase happiness. You can find ways to teach work-life balance to children here.

Before break, we celebrated World Kindness Day which is celebrated on November 13th. World Kindness Day is designed to promote the importance of being kind to each other, yourself, and to the world. Our awesome student advisors decorated and hosted a table for World Kindness Day. Students could come by, write something kind on a sticky note, and stick it to the poster in the hallway. Be sure to ask your student what they wrote on their sticky note to promote kindness and how they can continue to spread kindness every day of the year!

Nurse Notes

As we enter cold and flu season, we would like to remind families when to keep your student home from school. Please visit this link to read about when it is recommended your child stay home. Thank you for helping to keep all our students and staff safe and healthy by following these guidelines!

PTO Updates:

Own a local business and want to support the PTO as a teacher lunch sponsor or community partner?
- - - We have various opportunities to spotlight our local/ community businesses. If you are willing to donate food, gift cards, please email us at ptosfms@gmail.com

Parent Volunteer Opportunities:

Sign up HERE if you would like to volunteer throughout the school year.
We love our SFMS teachers! To our new parents, Welcome!! Each month we try to do something special to let our teachers know all of their hard work is appreciated! This first 1/2 of the year we would like to cover lunch duty on the following dates with volunteer parents:
- - - Dec 7-South Forsyth Middle School providing Coffee Bar

Volunteers stand in the cafeteria for an hour and let the kids know when to head back to class. You will be with 7 other volunteers and maybe get to embarrass your child! It is super easy! This gives the teachers a quiet time to enjoy lunch and it is a much appreciated way to give back. If you can’t come during school hours, please consider donating soft drinks for our teachers. You can send these in with your student and drop off at the main office. There is a slot for these on the sign up as well.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080944AEAC28A4FB6-sfms25

SPONSOR Thank You:

Thank you to our October Teacher Lunch Sponsor, Concrete Craft of North Atlanta, established in 2017 and providing new and resurfaced concrete driveways, pool decks, walkways, basements, sport courts and more

On December 9, 2023, MathLeague.org will be holding an Elementary and Middle school contest at Fulton Science Academy in Alpharetta, GA. Top-scoring students in each grade level will receive prizes and will earn the privilege of competing in a follow-up Championship round later in the school year.

The Elementary school contest starts at 8:30 AM Eastern Time and you can find more information and a registration link at mathleague.org/escontest.php?event=10963.

The Middle school contest starts at 1:30 PM Eastern Time and you can find more information and a registration link at mathleague.org/mscontest.php?event=10964.

See Mathleague.org for more info.