Middle School News

Course Reports --- Learning Going On!

MIDDLE SCHOOL

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6th Grade Health Mr. English

Students are exploring human body systems this quarter. So far, we have covered the cardiovascular, respiratory, skeletal and muscular systems. Up next are the digestive, immune, and nervous systems. With the immune system, we will take a close look at how the COVID-19 vaccines work.

6th Grade Science Mr. English

The class is learning a lot about space exploration this quarter. Students have designed a lunar habitat and researched space probes and their missions. Last week we looked at how meteorites from Mars have shaped future missions to Mars. For the rest of the quarter, students will take a closer look at the solar system. We have begun our energy program sponsored by Com Ed and Peoples Gas. Students are learning about various energy sources and ways to save your energy usage at home.

6th Grade Writing - Mr. Hansen

Sixth graders are learning the elements of narrative essays as well as reflective narratives, and have had the opportunity to practice their skills with essay topics such as “How did you pick yourself back up after a time you failed?” Work in grammar is ever present. Students are intensively working on grammar, such as subject verb agreement, prepositional phrases, basic parts of speech and application of all grammar so as to be much better writers. ACT Aspire writing rubrics are analyzed and studied as well as the Middle School Narrative Writing Rubric. Students are currently working on their Q4 Project: a step by step narrative essay, from brainstorming to outline to draft, revision, editing and final essay. Students will work toward completing, well-written and detailed three to five paragraph essays. We are also engaging with current events such as using animals for product safety tests and scientific research as well as the trial of Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.

6th Grade Social Studies - Mr. Hansen

Since the 4th quarter began, students have been studying ancient Rome. We have been looking at how and why the geography of ancient Rome affected the development of Greek city-states, Roman myths and Roman gods and goddesses, as well as a comparison of the democratic practices of ancient Athens and ancient Rome. We have also worked on a document-based question: How and why did Christianity spread in the Roman Empire? Students are currently researching to prepare for their Quarter 4 projects -- using statistics to provide quantitative analysis of a social issue or problem.

6th Grade Reading - Mr. Pelzer

During the fourth quarter, students will continue to read, analyze, and discuss novels while using nonfiction supplemental texts and short stories to support their knowledge. Students will learn how to analyze the structure and theme of various short stories while conducting student-led seminars with their peers. A continued emphasis will be placed on clear and organized writing.

6th Grade Math; Mrs. Smith

The 6th grade students have wrapped up their study on Area of Parallelograms, Trapezoids, Triangles, and Composite Shapes, and will use this information to continue their studies with Volume and Surface Area.

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Guidance 7

In this 26 minute a day pass-fail course we continue to look at how to make wise decisions in school and life, using readings, videos, and discussion. This quarter we've looked at such matters as peer pressure, the 8th & 9th of the Ten Commandments (stealing and lying), cyberbullying, note taking, the PSM Mission Statement, analyzing our GPA, and the PSM Honor Code.

7th Grade Science Mr. English

The class is learning about the complexity of ecosystems. Students are exploring the nonliving components of the environment. Studying species interactions will complete this quarter. For a local ecological connection, we are researching topics related to the Saving the Great Lakes collaboration between National Geographic and ABC 7 Chicago.

7th Grade Reading Mr. Meier

The 7th grade recently completed a science fiction and fantasy short story unit that culminated in an iMovie trailer project. They continue their science fiction and fantasy studies with The Giver. Through close reading, annotations, and quotation analysis, the students critically engage with the text. The students will read several companion texts to sharpen their analysis and evaluation of the societal issues present in the novel.

7th Grade Social Studies Mr. Meier

The 7th grade started the quarter with a look at the burgeoning United States during the Administrations of Madison through Jackson. They analyzed how sectionalism threatened to divide the country even as nationalist sentiment became more popular. The students use APPARTS to examine just how devastating Andrew Jackson’s policies were toward Native Americans. The varied reasons for why Americans moved west, from the California Gold Rush to the Oregon Trail, are also being studied this quarter.

7th Grade Math; Mrs. Smith

The 7th grade students recently finished the chapter on Percents and being a smart consumer regarding discount, tax, tip, and simple interest. They will shift their focus to a new unit on Geometric Figures and Measurement with angles, triangles, and circles followed by the unit on Volume and Surface Area. They will be finding the area of composite figures and volume and surface area of pyramids and prisms. The focus will be on mastery of identifying the shape correctly and how to find the information needed, instead of simply memorizing formulas.

Seventh grade Spanish - Mrs. Starr

Students in the Spanish 1 class are learning about the cultures of Ecuador and vocabulary related to food and household items. The 7th-grade Spanish students are very enthusiastic about learning another language, current students are learning verb conjugations and writing paragraphs using the correct grammar and verb conjugation while learning about famous Mexican authors and artists.

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Writing 8 --- Ted Boswell

In Writing 8 we worked hard on argumentative-persuasive essays and also Aspire English style questions in preparation for the Aspire testing. We also keep building our grammar knowledge and skills. Finally, we have just finished our writing project related to the PSM Mission Statement.

We will continue to develop our writing skills through essays, grammar, and creative writing as the final quarter continues.

8th Grade Physical Science - Mr. William Browns, Jr.

Students have been riding the waves and discovering the origin behind sound and

light. Students observed and analyzed their speaking patterns in relation to how birds produce sound, specifically parrots. In addition to understanding how the sounds were created, students also explored how the sounds were or were not received as they looked

into the human ear and hearing loss. After learning the general background of waves, students began observing and recalling the different types of waves that the Sun is responsible for, from harmful UV and gamma to reliable visible and infrared waves. The

students quickly learned that these were forms of electromagnetic waves (EM Waves) and explored common questions such as how scientists were able to determine the circumference of earth using only light waves and what are sunrises and sunsets and why they

are so colorful. As the year comes to a close, we will finish with discussing the complexities of electricity and magnetism.

8th Grade Reading, Mr. Pelzer

Our fourth quarter novel is George Orwell’s satirical allegory Animal Farm (1945). We will continue to work on comprehension skills through classwork, assignments, and close readings of texts in order to connect the novel to the events of the 1917 Russian Revolution. Students will continue to evaluate claims in nonfiction supplemental texts., while making a final push to prepare to analyze and discuss works of literature at the high school level!

8th Grade Social Studies, Mr. Pelzer

Students will study post-World War II American culture and global relations during the fourth quarter. Topics such as the 1950s American Dream, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War and current events will be examined and interpreted. A different decade will be analyzed each week so that by the end of the quarter we can conclude how the past and the present synthesize in order to form the future.

8th Grade Math; Mrs. Smith

The 8th grade students finished their unit on Volume and Surface Area with cones, cylinders, and spheres, and began learning about Data and Statistics. They enjoy using Desmos, an online learning platform, to explore the next lessons on Scatter Plots and Lines of Best Fit, and will learn about two-way tables and box and whisker plots.