Sixth-grade Language Arts students are finishing the unit one study of narrative techniques by reading Freak the Mighty. Students have responded to questions, created one-pagers, and discussed the various techniques Rodman Philbrick used to bring characters to life in the story. After Fall Break, students will prepare for the unit summative on October 13th and shift their focus to writing their own narratives. Please continue to review the Language Arts Canvas course page with your child and monitor their Membean minutes. Thank you so much for your support!

In Interdisciplinary Literacy we have started conferencing with students to go over their beginning-of-the-year Reading Interest Survey, their quarter 1 goal, and their reading log. Every student has a goal of reading 25 books this school year as well as at least one book from seven different genres and one style. By the end of quarter one, students should finish reading six books and two genres.   Currently, students are reading their fourth book to stay on pace with reaching their 25 book goal for the year.

For the month of September, students have learned about various authors and books in the science fiction, fantasy, magical realism and dystopian genres. Students have been building their "What Should I Read Next?" list by recording titles of interest from the featured books.  

6th Grade Standard Math

Students have successfully completed their first unit on integers, rational numbers, absolute value, and the coordinate plane. We are currently working on Unit 2 Number System Fluency in which students will be building on their knowledge and understanding of fractions and applying that understanding to real-world examples.  Students will continue computation with all four operations using both fractions and decimals with a variety of strategies.

Advanced Math

Students in Advanced Math are currently working on Unit 2 Integer Operations in which they explore arithmetic combinations of negative numbers and positive numbers. Students are also applying these new skills to solve problems in realistic situations.

Accelerated Math

Students in Accelerated Math have just completed Unit 2 Integer Operations and have started Unit 3 Number System Fluency.  In this unit, students are building on their understanding of integer operations and applying that understanding to solve relevant problems with rational numbers in different forms such as fractions, percents, and decimal numbers.

Please check Canvas for specific dates of upcoming quizzes and tests. Parent Portal is also a great resource for checking newly posted grades.

Students just learned about gravity and inertia and how both work together keep our planets in orbit.  We are still in our second unit called Unit 2 – Forces, Planets, Solar System, Comets, Meteors & Asteroids.  Over the next week, students will learn about the characteristics of our planets and other celestial objects like comets and meteors, which are not the same thing.  They will have Unit 2 vocabulary formative on Tuesday, September 22nd and a summative over Unit 2 on Friday, September 25th.

Our Social Studies classes are currently studying an exciting unit on European Geography, with the summative test scheduled for Thursday, September 24. Next up, we’ll dive into European governments and economies. Students will explore and compare the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Russia, focusing on how leaders are chosen and how citizens participate in each system. We’ll also look at the key factors that contribute to a country’s economic growth and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Finally, students will investigate different types of trade barriers and discuss the pros and cons of how countries use them to protect their economies from foreign competition. We’re looking forward to a great new unit!

In addition, we recognized Constitution Day on Thursday, September 17. Did you know that the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written national constitution still in use today? It was signed in 1787 and continues to guide our government more than 230 years later!"

Physical Education:

Just a reminder, quarter 1 has started! For any student that has PE for 1st quarter, PE Uniform attire is grey shirt and black bottoms. If you have purchased a shirt, shorts, etc. on School Pay; your child will pick this up in class on one of the first days of the quarter. If your child needs a uniform, it can be purchased on School Pay. Please make sure your child has a grey shirt and black bottoms for the uniform as well as athletic tennis shoes for class every day. 

**If you purchased a PE uniform on School Pay this year, but your child is not in PE this quarter, they will received their PE uniform on the first days of the quarter when they have PE.

Please remind your child to lock up all their valuables in the locker room. Lockers and Locks are available for students to use. 

Marketing

Students are working on creating new products and launching an advertising campaign to coordinate. 

6th grade - Oreos

7th grade - Pop Tarts

8th grades - Lay's Chips 

At the end of this unit, we will celebrate with food (because who doesn't love food!) Please help us out by sending in packs of Oreos, Pop Tarts and Chips. We will take any flavors, but the idea is to have an assortment of new limited edition and interesting flavors. Please send in items by next Wednesday, September 23rd. 

DECA

Membership for DECA has closed. Both a parent permission slip and payment were due on September 5th. If your child submitted both of these by the deadline, then they will be invited to the DECA course on Canvas. How wonderful it is that we have over 140 students interested in being a part of this club! So, we truly are at capacity, and we are not accepting any more new members. 

Meetings will be held during a student's flex time. There will be a meeting posted on Student Support Time for students to sign up for. They will not be automatically pulled for the meetings. I will explain this process to the students through their Canvas course. Our first meeting will be next week. 

DECA Cookie Sales -

Cookies will be sold next Friday during Connections. Cookies cost $2.00. We have Chocolate Chip, Carnival (M&M) and Sugar. 

Engineering

In Engineering, the students will be completing three different projects during these nine weeks.  The first individual project is designing a website around a given theme.   The second individual project is creating a specific themed world in Minecraft education.  The third project is working with teams to build a mousetrap car (8th), a paper roller coaster (7th), and a robot (6th).

Chorus

The Lakeside Middle School Chorus will present their Fall Concert on Tuesday, October 6 at 7:00pm at The FoCAL Center.

Counselors will be visiting science classes on October 6th and 7th to provide our Signs of Suicide (SOS) prevention lesson. This is a county and state required lesson. We will be visiting Wason and Lindelli's science classes on 10/6 and Hintz's class on 10/7.  Students will participate in a lesson and have the opportunity to fill out a slip letting us know they want to speak with a counselor.  We will follow up with parents/guardians if there are concerns.

A message regarding this lesson and permission was sent through Infinite Campus within the past few weeks. This is a passive permission process, meaning your child will participate unless you choose to opt out. If you do not want your child to participate, please print and complete the permission slip and return it to your child’s counselor.