On Friday, 8th grade passed the light to the 7th graders during the candle ceremony. Here we celebrated the 7th graders becoming the next leaders in our school as they enter their final year, next year. 8th graders also took time to reflect on their time at SMS before they graduate next weekend! Our middle schoolers had a great time Friday night at the "Enchanted Forest" dance. Student council decorated the gym and provided refreshments and pizza. It was so nice to see everyone laughing, dancing, and enjoying each other's company! The 8th grade class made their way to Washington D.C. on Wednesday and embarked on 3 days of learning about our nation's rich history. They visited many memorials, visited many museums, and got a tour of the Capitol. Our students were fortunate enough to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What an amazing trip for these young people to experience! While the 8th graders were in DC, the rest of the JH ventured to the Museum of Science and Industry! Students were able to explore a multitude of exhibits including climate change, agriculture, genetics, planes, and even a submarine! Our students loved taking their learning outside of the classroom and exploring with their friends. It was a day filled with laughs and learning! 6B met with their Kindergarten buddies for the final time this week. Together they created summer bucket lists which included a list of all the things that they want to do over the summer! Turns out that 6th graders and Kindergartners have similar summer lists! Everyone loves to go swimming and have sleepovers with their friends!
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8th graders explor how different colored filtered eyeglasses can change our perception of the world. They will be creating a picture that uses this pinomina to both reveal and conceal different aspects of their work. In some of these photos students are sporting their eye wear creations. The Stock Market Competition comes to an end! This past week our 8th graders met with their mentors for the final time and watched the results of the competition. With their mentors, students played a final jeopardy game, answering questions about what they have learned over the course of the year. It was a great way to work together and talk with their mentors. A very special congratulations to 8A who were the 2nd performing school out of 60 schools o the Chicagoland area. A great skill to keep with you for the rest of your life! Each year Big Shoulders holds an Entrepreneur Team Competition among Chicago schools; teams work individually for a few months developing a unique product idea, and a business and marketing plan. The teams then present to a group of independent judges of business professionals selected by Big Shoulders. Initial presentations were on Wednesday May 4th, and 16 different teams competed. After Wednesday's presentation the judges eliminated half of the competitors and the rest made their final presentation on Friday May 6th. The St. Matthias Entrepreneur Team made it to the finals with their product idea entry Extent-A-Desk. Extend-A-Desk is a simple tri-fold hardboard platform that fits on top of existing desks and folds up neatly to fit in a backpack. The problem the product is designed to solve is that most older schools today are using desks designed before the age of computers. Today students need more space for their notebook, textbooks, computer, calculator, pencil case, water bottle, etc. There just isn't enough room. Extend-A-Desk solves that by providing a simple to use, lightweight, portable surface that extends standard desk surfaces by 60%. The judges were impressed with the St. Matthias entry, but unfortunately did not select us as one of the top three finalists this year. Members of the St. Matthias Team this year were Carlos Navarro (8th), and Anja Mattson, Gabe Morrow and Ellen Sharp (7th grade). SMS has talent! Several students in middle school showed off their amazing skills and talents. Students played piano, displayed their excellent dance skills, and wowed us with their amazing voices. It was so nice to gather as a school community and allow our students to showcase their talents! All year, our 8th grade students have been investigating various service projects, planning what they will do to help benefit the community, and taking action to raise awareness, help, or teach that community. Last week, all of their efforts were realized when the 8th grade class presented their final projects to the MYP teacher team and the 6th and 7th grade students. We were so proud of how well they articulated how they were able to benefit the community and also to reflect on the challenges and successes they had during this process. Our hope is that the skills our MYP students learned and developed during this year- long process will help them to go out and make a difference in other communities all over the world. Graduation is right around the corner! Our 8th grade students just received their class sweatshirts and look so great in them! They definitely add more school spirit in our hallways. We are so excited for the 8th grade class. A special thanks to Tom Labadie, middle school parent, for making the sweatshirts for the class! In P.E. we started a volleyball unit! Students are doing a great job reviewing their volleying skills as they practice with their peers. Way to go! 7th grade is exploring surface area and volume of 3-d figures. To do so, they found the dimensions of everyday figures like cereal boxes or Kleenex boxes. In the pictures you can see that they flattened the boxes to create a net. This allows them to calculate the area of each 2-d face. Students loved the hands on activity! On Thursday, our 8th graders met for their final stock market lesson where they learned about different careers in the financial industry. Our guest speakers shared about their personal journeys in the industry as well as shared some other potential career paths. Check back next month to hear the results of our stock portfolios! 6th grade honors math students created a snack box. First they drew a net on graph paper. They designed their package to look attractive to their customers. They then traded nets with a partner who cut out their net and assembled the package. The partners then examined their packages and reflected how they could have improved their net or change it in any way. The students loved being creative with math! Junior high successfully completed their dance unit in PE! They did an amazing job being open minded to each new dance. They learned a total of 6 different cultural dances from around the world! Great work! In the 3rd trimester, our JH students switch from Spanish to French! In the 7th grade class, students participated in verbal exercises and greeted each other in French! Every student was a risk taker as they keep learning new languages! Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate information to determine if it is right or wrong. To think critically about an issue or problem means to be open-minded and consider many different ways of looking at a solution. In the MYP, we challenge our students to think critically about materials they read or issues they discuss in class related to their current units to determine if they feel they are right, fair, or just. Our Approaches to Learning (ATL) focus for the month of March was critical thinking skills. Pictured are the students who have displayed excellent critical thinking skills in and out of the classroom. Way to go! From left to right: 1st row: Nick Wielgopolan, Ben Rendina 2nd Row: Troy Nguyen, Kim McMahon, Pepper Kelly, and Lilia Lucero Not pictured: Lily WIlcox and Suzy Hammel. MYP projects are in full swing as we approach the halfway point of the final trimester. This week Erin, taught her peers how to make new dog toys for a local shelter. Everyone was very dedicated to helping with her project! Later, Leticia presented to the 5th graders about Junior High to help ease their transition next year. Looking forward to more and more projects to come! 6A is gathered around the table for a demonstration on Anciet Chinese ink painting techniques. They learned how the Chinese hold their uniquely designed brushes. It is awkward at first but satisfying putting ink onto paper. Students attempt to create different thicknesses of line by controlling the amount of pressure they apply. Everyone seemed to enjoy the time exploring this new material. Our 8th graders are busy analyzing data! This week, our 8th graders created scatter plots in order to interpret how data is spread across a graph. They created trend lines to help their argument of how the data is spread. They did a great job collaborating with their classmates and utilizing skills they’ve learned throughout the year. Dancing with Class wrapped up this week with the final performance! On Thursday afternoon, the 6th graders were able to showcase the five ballroom dances that they learned for their families. They danced beautifully and showed off their risk-taking skills. The highlight of the performance was having parents/relatives join in learning the Merengue! We can't wait to participate in this program next year! Only two months to go for the Stock Market Competition! We met up with our advisors to discuss the highs and lows tha occur in the market and the economy. Currently, our 8A class is in 3rd place out of over 50 schools! Hopefully they can keep their portfolio strong and hold onto 3rd place! Junior high has been working really hard on their dance unit in PE. We have been learning a variety of dances from different cultural backgrounds. The one featured in the pictures is a Latin folk dance called “Los Machetes.” This dance originates from the Jalisco region of Mexico and it tells the story of cutting down sugar cane during a harvest. Students used drumsticks as a prop for the dance. It is great to see students pick up choreography and stay on beat! Wonderful job! Graphing, substitution, or elimination? That is the question! This week our 8th graders worked together to advertise one of the three ways to solve a system of equations. Since all strategies get you to the correct answer, these groups had a hard task of describing why theirs is the best. With logos, slogans, and different reasonings, these groups did a great job arguing their point of view. The 6th grade class continued to perfect their dancing skills this past week with their instructor Ms. Nadia. The class has learned five dances over this 10 week period, the Merengue, Waltz, Pasodoble, Swing, and Tango. They will present a showcase to their families this week to show all that they have learned. Stay tuned for details! We are so very proud of the skills they have learned and all they have accomplished. A special shout out to many of our 8th graders who made their Confirmation this week. We are so proud of you all! On Friday, our Student Council sponsored a Charity Dodge Ball Tournament that was a huge success! Participants in the round robin event included 65 fifth through eighth graders and was overseen by our Student Council Moderator, Mr. Bill Barsanti. Congratulations to Nick Wielgopolan, Ryan Amick, Sean O'Connor, Jackson Moulton and Mack Prosser who are the reigning champions. All students had a great time and $446 was raised for the Danny Did Foundation. Student council would like to share more information about this foundation with you. We started the new trimester with an exciting unit of “World Dance” in PE. Students will be learning different folk dances from all over the world. The first dance we started to learn was called “La Guimbarde. ” It is a French folk dance. The history behind this dance is all about how herdsmen wanted to show their agility. Junior high was able to learn this dance in less than an hour! Impressive job! Our 6th graders continued to perfect their ballroom dance skills this week! They continued to learn the French style of Pasodoble and started to learn the Tango. We are so proud of all of them for taking risks and working on their communication skills. St. Patrick's Day festivities were in full swing on Thursday with an all-school assembly. We were all treated to a wonderful Irish Dance performance from the Trinity Irish Dancers with our very own 7th graders, MC Michalec and Ellen Sharp! They entertained us all and we were wowed by their talent! While we were waiting for the dancers to arrive, the two 8th grade homerooms treated us to their dancing skills that they have been working on in gym class with Coach K. One homeroom performed a Latin dance and the other a French dance. We love watching our middle school students perform! On Monday March 7th SMS students grades 5-8 had the privilege to hear a presentation regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine by a school parent who is a 25-year veteran of the U.S. State Department and expert on Russia. Mrs. Kessinger, mother of three St. Matthias students, served as a U.S. Diplomat in several countries including Romania and Latvia in Eastern Europe and specialized in understanding Russian politics and Russian influence in that region. She graciously took time to come to St. Matthias and discuss the current situation in Ukraine, Russia’s objectives, plus the history of NATO. She also answered several questions from the students. Afterwards, many of the students in attendance expressed gratitude for having this opportunity and to gain a better understanding of why this matters to the rest of the world. The Sixth Graders have been working on Robotics and this group is one of the first to complete its project. Along with putting the pieces together they also need to program it to do certain things. In this case the eyes light up and there is sound that is part of the coding they created. They are currently using block coding with these robots. Dancing with Class continued this week for the 6th grade class. They were able to work on perfecting the waltz and started to learn a new style-the Pasodoble! The students were enjoying this fast-paced dance that originated in Spain. THe music is upbeat and was often played at bullfights. Exciting! The 8th grade mathematicians are collaborating on solving systems of equations this week. Collaboration is one of the ATL skills that we focus on building in the Junior High classes. Students in 8th grade performed last Friday March 4th a play at the gym, the play was performed entirely in Spanish and it was presented to 1st and 2nd graders. Aesop's fables were the theme of the play and the 8th graders did an amazing job carrying out the message across the Language. This was the final project of the second trimester and the end for Spanish as a second language subject for junior high. We'll be now switching over to French as our international language subject for the third trimester. 8th grade is studying force and motion and the effects of inertia on an object; in this case, a glass marble and a metal marble. They were making predictions about where the marble would travel in a closed circle versus what happens when the circle is opened to various degrees. They had some interesting ideas and no one lost their marbles! On Friday, March 4, the 8th graders had their Stock Market class. They learned valuable lessons on Inflation and Compound Interest. They also traded stocks for their group portfolio. They enjoyed learning more knowledge in the field of business and money! In Spanish, the 6th graders have been making their family tree! They presented them this week complete with family members names and a few sentences describing each one. In addition, the 7th graders have been reading the book Tumba in class. They have been doing a great job reading aloud for the class! Seventh grade is exploring the different techniques that one can use with oil pastels. Oil pastels give rich deep colors which one can layer and blend together to create a variety of looks. Depending on the technique that one uses you can create soft pastel colors or dark intense colors. You can also create different textures by using the different techniques or layering the techniques to create different effects. There is a lot of excitement with this new medium. 7th grade seems to be enjoying this novel material. On Thursday, March 3, a group of 8th graders went into Wintrust Bank to deliver change from the “Change for Change” fundraiser for the 8th grade trip to Washington DC. Wintrust Bank generously donated $500 towards the trip. The total change collected was $1,061! An amazing achievement! |
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