November 1 - All Saints' Day Mass - drop students at main campus
November 4 - No Mass - drop students at Dank Haus
-Ms. Scheiber and Ms. Denten
With Halloween just around the corner, things got sweet, spooky, and sporty in junior high! Spooky sports Junior high rounded out the week with a rousing game of wiffle ball during spooky sports. It was a close game at the start, but the jerseys ended up winning with 16 points. Some of our students are ready to play for the Cubs this weekend! Thanks to Georgina and PILLARS for making this fun event possible! Tag, you're it! The eighth grade students participated in a tag team debate on gun control this week. After researching the Second Amendment and the presidential candidates' positions on gun control, the students wrote their own opinions on how to solve this controversial plaguing our country. This modified debate gave all a chance to shine, as they could only speak when tagged by a member of the opposing side. They worked together as teams to strategize and share their research. Overall, a successful day rooted in teamwork! Beach time! It may not have exactly been beach weather on Thursday, but sixth grade braved the cold and wind to visit Montrose Beach. Five scientists from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources met us to explain how they track changes at the beach over time. They started off with some excitement, seeing the longshore current in action by throwing fruit into the water and observing its drift down the beach. Then they used simple tools to profile the beach and graph how the elevation had changed due to erosion and deposition over the last week. Sixth grade did an excellent job of showcasing their ability to analyze earth processes at beaches! Boo! On Tuesday, author Peter Kujawinski visited with seventh and eighth grade to talk about his new novel. Peter is a local author who has been published by Penguin Random House, one of the largest publishing companies in the world. He shared with us his journey from working as an American diplomat to becoming a full-time writer. Peter gave an opening monologue for his book, Nightfall, which spooked many of our students! Sugar of a different kind Although we may get lots of sweet treats on Halloween, what about the sugars that plants produce? Seventh grade used their own breath, bromothymol blue, and aquatic plants to gather evidence about what plants need to produce their own food. Then we ventured into the garden for a look at some real life producers, including the hybrid plant Ketchup 'n' Fries, which they will learn more about in a genetics unit in the spring! Wasting away Now that we have made circuit boards by etching away copper, what do we do with the used copper chloride waste? Our materials scientists are investigating several different ways to deal with the toxic substance. So far we have tried out dilution and incineration! Mustang mummies Mustang cup competition continued this week in a spirited fashion! Between Halloween trivia, mummy-wrapping relay races, and spooky Bingo, students got to showcase a variety of talents. The heat is on... Both literally and figuratively. This week was all about organizing for sixth grade! We had our first competition between Ms. Scheiber’s homeroom and Ms. McKenna’s homeroom to see which class was most organized! Students took their first weekly planner quiz on which they had to use their planners to answer questions about when their assignments were due. Each student who gets all three questions correct earns a point for his or her team. Currently, Ms. McKenna’s homeroom is in the lead by ONE point! Pretty papyrus paper The sixth graders got their hands dirty this week, making a modern version of papyrus. They soaked thin strips of paper in a top secret mixture, arranged the strips in overlapping vertical and horizontal sheets, and pressed the sheets together firmly to secure the papyrus. Next, each student will write an original short story on the papyrus - in hieroglyphic text! "Wood chips!" Junior high may be the leaders of the school, but they still know how to have fun at recess! Sixth grade played relay races, and eighth grade enjoyed a classic game of wood chips. Happy Halloween! We loved seeing students' creativity with their Halloween costumes today -- quite the range from scary to silly! Looking ahead... October 31 - No school (teacher professional development) November 1 - All Saints' Day Mass - drop students at main campus November 4 - No Mass - drop students at Dank Haus Go Cubs!
-Ms. Scheiber and Ms. Denten
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According to my research... On Monday morning, sixth grade took center stage. Adopting the role of a world renowned archaeologist who recently discovered a previously unknown city-state, each sixth grade student presented his or her findings to the Field Museum. Parents, as well as seventh and eighth grade students, visited with each archaeologist and learned about his or her proposal for a traveling exhibit. We look forward to showcasing many more exhibitions of student work this year! What would you do with $3,000 dollars? Invest it in the stock market, of course! The eighth grade class is participating in the economics program with Options Express, funded by the Big Shoulders Foundation. As a class, we will invest $3,000 in stocks of our choice. Every month, we will monitor the progress of our portfolio and buy or sell stocks as needed. Each student receives a management fee at the end of the year. ¡Celebramos! Eighth grade has been learning about el Día de Los Muertos in Spanish this month. We read about the history of this celebration and colored sugar skulls in class. Then, students brought in objects to remind us of lost loved ones to place on our ofrenda. To end our week, we watched The Book of Life, smiling and dancing along with its beautiful soundtrack. Batter up... This week in P.E., the sixth grade students practiced at several different batting stations in order to work on proper stance/grip. Set up around the gym, these stations focused on hitting at different speeds and levels in their strike zone, as well as helping students get comfortable with their swing before a ball is being pitched to them. [P.S. -- Go Cubs!] Looking ahead... -Friday, October 21 = Parent-teacher conferences at SMS main campus (no school for students) -Sunday, October 23 = 10:30 AM Sacramental Enrollment Mass (mandatory for 8th grade) -Friday, October 28 = Spooky sports day -Monday, October 31 = Teacher in-service (no school for students) -Tuesday, November 1 = All Saints' Day Mass (all students must arrive at SMS main campus) Happy weekend!
Ms. Denten & Ms. Scheiber Frozen fractals all around Sixth grade got a little more insight into the meaning of the line "My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around" from Frozen in math class. Ms. Nolan put their advanced coloring and measuring skills to the test to create a giant fractal for the math room wall. The result? A beautiful set of triangles on triangles on triangles on .... Smiling leaders Check out our student council leaders! We appreciate their hard work to make this school year fun and successful for all. Over, under, around the tree... Swing past the knothole, pull and see! Our eighth-graders spent an entire recess pretending to rescue each other from disaster this week. They even helped each other tied their shoes. They must have picked something up from all their time with the little ones during buddy activities! Looking ahead... October 17 - 6th grade I&S gallery walk 8-8:30 (2nd floor, Dank Haus) October 18 - Picture day October 20 - Hot dog day October 21 - Parent-teacher conferences at the main campus (no school) Happy weekend!
Ms. Scheiber and Ms. Denten Surfing through sixth... Sixth grade's final investigation on erosion took place this week as students examined how waves affect seaside cliffs. Not only have they learned a lot about the role weathering, erosion, and deposition play in shaping different landforms they have also gotten very good at cleaning up sand and water in a sink-less room! My amygdala made me do it! The sixth graders presented their one-page stories describing a time they experienced surprise, discovery, or survival. They explained how their reactions using their knowledge of the Limbic System (the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex). We love learning how our brains play a role in our response and reactions! Wait! Don't eat that! Seventh grade examined owls' diet by dissecting owl pellets. Next week we'll get to put together the skeletons of the animal(s) found inside - a little pre-Halloween treat! All hands on deck... In math this week, our seventh grade students went hands-on to model the process of solving equations. They used algebra tiles to represent numbers and variables and solved for the variables by keeping both sides balanced. Snaps from the peanut gallery... The eighth grade students listen attentively while Daniel shares his creative writing story. So far this year, all of our classes have been writing quite a bit. They are also working toward improving their presentation skills! Leading the masses... This week, several of our eighth grade students represented the St. Matthias community by attending the Junior High Leadership Conference. Hosted by Notre Dame College Prep and Regina Dominican High School, the conference helped build leadership skills in students in Chicago and its suburbs. We look forward to seeing these leaders take charge and inspire others to make positive choices in our school. Girl power! During intervention this week, the seventh and eighth grade girls talked about how women often feel because of images we see of "perfect" bodies in magazines or on TV. They discussed what they would rather see in magazines - such as girls playing sports and girls working in their communities, as well as more well-rounded and well-balanced images of all kinds of girls. They made collages of images that send negative AND positive messages to young women. As a group, they shared how to show support for other young women in times of need. Finally, they designed jars of kindness and delivered kind notes to each other. Apples? Candy corn? It must be fall... On Friday, the eighth grade students visited their second grade buddies. We made stained glass apples with Ms. Jensen's class, as well as confetti candy corn. Even though we are on two campuses, we always enjoy spending time with our friends at the lower school! Looking ahead... October 8 - Big Red Homecoming Dance (St. Margaret Mary) October 10 - Columbus Day (no school) October 18 - Picture Day! October 20 - Hot Dog Day October 21 - Parent Teacher Conferences (no school for students) Happy (long) weekend!
Ms. Denten & Ms. Scheiber |
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