7th grade is starting a unit on genetics and this week their activity had them gathering information on common hereditary traits and their heights. It was very fun watching the class measure each other and need additional rulers and measuring tapes for the tallest members of the class. Junior high enjoyed their time with a floor hockey unit in P.E. Students did different drills that reviewed proper stick handling and control of the puck. Classes ended with an exciting scrimmage! This week, grades 5-8 watched the movie Upstanders. The movie talked about the affects of bullying and cyber bullying on students, peers, and families. Afterwards, Mr. Charnot our school counselor, led us in a discussion about the movie and the resources at our school of ways to help. We are very grateful to have a counselor at our school to help us all with whatever we need! Dancing with Class continued this week with our 6th graders. Students continued to learn about the formality and timing of the Waltz. So far, students have learned to dance the merengue, Swing, and the Waltz. It is wonderful to watch the sixth graders enjoying the social aspect of ballroom dancing and become more comfortable dancing with a partner. We are excited to find out what the next style of dance will be!
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Over the last few weeks in music, the 7th and 8th grade classes have been learning about what it means to analyze a song. The students were tasked with researching the lyrics and music of a particular song that dealt with an aspect of mental health. Each student was able to research the song lyrics and explore the deeper meaning of the song. Students also examined the structure of the song. Students presented all their research to their classmates, which prompted in-class discussions about their song choices and brought to light some interesting findings of some of their favorite songs. 6th grade scientists are explaining the directional changes in shadows being cast outside. This week students couldn’t go out because the sun wasn’t cooperating, so students adapted and recreated “sunlight” with their flashlights and rose over the desk in the east and set in the west to cast shadows on the sticks (trees), binder clips (cars or people). Some students took it a step further and added notebooks as buildings to see how the shadows would change over the course of a day. The 7th graders created interesting and engaging presentations after researching a topic on their own personal bucket lists. They practiced their presentation skills by presenting on a topic that they truly care about! Dancing with Class continued this past week with the 6th graders! They are really getting the hang of the Merengue and the Swing. THis week, their instructor, Ms. Nadia introduced them to the Waltz, a formal dance that originated in Austria. It has been wonderful to watch this group of 6th graders learn about the social aspects and etiquette of dance with their classmates Students in PE learned about lacrosse, one of the oldest sports that evolved over time. This sport requires a lot of hand eye coordination. We reviewed the 4 basic skills, which are scooping, throwing, catching, and cradling. We also went over two different ways to do a face off in lacrosse! Way to go learning all these new skills! Shout out to the 8th grade boys basketball team for winning the Skyline Championship! All the hard work and practice definitely paid off! Well done! In the midst of their algebra unit, our 8th graders took some time to perfect their graphing skills by making Stained Glass Windows. Students designed patterns using a graphing calculator by writing equations in slope-intercept form. Once they finalized their designs, they graphed the y intercept then used the slope to make another point and create a line. Then each students colored in the cross sections to imitate a stained glass window. As we do at the end of every project, students participated in a gallery walk to comment and reflect on all the progress that their peers have made. Here are some of the results! After reading The Giver and other related texts, 6th grade students determine if the novel is a cautionary tale. Working in groups, students then create their own utopian society and communicate how their society functions, including government, education, transportation, etc. This week junior high reminded us that teamwork makes the dream work in PE! Students were given a piece of cardboard and a marble. They had to connect the cardboard pieces and make the marble roll down. The ultimate goal was to have the marble roll into a bucket that was placed at the end of the gym. The anticipation and excitement was very high! The 7th graders have begun their robotics unit in Technology! This is good practice paying close attention to detail and working in groups. Both skills needed to function well in and outside of school. In Spanish, our 8th graders got creative and presented their chapter books! We love seeing all of our students take risks and present in front of their peers! Amadeus and Colton presented their MYP project to all of junior high throughout the week in PE. Their focus was to encourage students to stay physically active and live a healthy lifestyle through proper nutrition. They motivated everyone in the gym through a tournament style competition in soccer and basketball. The energy was definitely brought to the court! 8th grade working on their abstract self-portraits in art this week. Each student made a rough draft and is currently working on their final draft. Art is all about the process! Former SMS Alum, Samantha Henricksen, joined the JH on Friday to talk about her experiences as a top athlete for rowing. Sammie is at UCLA as a junior. She shared with our students some of the mental and physical challenges that she has faced through High School and College. The students were able to do some Q&A at the end. Thank you to Hannah for setting this up for us, and to Sammie for zooming in! Our 7th graders helped us to round out Catholic Schools Week by leading our Mass on Friday. They highlighted, recognized and prayed for all those who contribute to the good of St. Matthias School. They also reflected on how our IB traits fit perfectly into the beliefs and teachings of our Catholic Faith. We are reminded that all that we do here at St. Matthias School reflects first and foremost our belief in Jesus and our mission to walk in His footsteps. Well done, 7th Graders! The 6th grade classes worked on perfecting their Merengue steps this week and started to learn the American favorite,the Swing dance! With each class, the students get a little more comfortable with one another and have learned how to invite their partner to dance with them. This past Saturday the 8th grade girls and boys basketball team celebrated their game night. Each player received a rose and gave it to their parent as a sign of appreciation. The teams did an amazing job showcasing all their skills! What a great basketball season! Congratulations to MYP 7th grader Gabe Morrow on winning the SMS Spelling Bee! We are very proud of you!
In order to build a deeper understanding of our novel, The Giver, the 6th grade read different memories from human history. Groups then discuss what the memory reveals about human nature and the consequences of such memories. 7th graders were busy this past week with labs! Our interactive, hands on curriculum helps our students our students thrive. Here’s just a peek of them hard at work! Our 8th graders again did a really nice job leading our Friday Prayer Service. Since Fr. Jim was not able to be with us due to the weather, we shifted from doing a Mass to do a Prayer Service. Our 8A group did not miss a beat. They lead us beautifully in prayer and song! In technology, our 6th graders are taking inventory of the robotic kits. They have started building robots and will soon be trying them out. They are very excited with the whole building process. Stay tuned for more progress! Though it just shows 8th grade here, our 7th and 8th graders presented "News Interviews" with some of our New Testament characters - Zaccheus, the Prodigal Son, The Woman Who Showed Great Love, Poor Lazarus, and the Good Samaritan. After reading their stories in Luke's Gospel, the students created interviews with each character. 7th and 8th grade showed some great insight into each of these people. Well done! This week the 7th grade have begun to present on one of the Art Movements they have been researching. They needed to investigate the context of the art movement. What was occurring and influenced the making of the artwork in this art movement. Students also explored what subject matter was depicted in the artwork. They also need to describe the form the way the artist depicted the subject matter. Using both the subject and the form and the context of the artwork students then determine what the message and goal the artist wanted to communicate through their artwork. These slide presentations will help students see how art has a role in communicating what is important to that society at the time the artwork was being made. As in year's past, the 6th grade students of St. Matthias have an exciting opportunity to develop social skills as they study the art and science of social dance. popular Dancing with Class series. This IB integrated Performing Arts curriculum is designed to support learning goals in the areas of PE/Health; Fine Arts; Social Science; and Social Emotional Learning. We have participated in this program for many years and it is a wonderful opportunity for our students to build character and self-esteem. The students did a fantastic job participating in their first class last Thursday. We can't wait to see how their skills develop in the next 10 weeks! For their Communication unit, the 7th grade research a famous historical speech. Groups then collaboratively analyze the speech for different rhetorical devices. Each group then presents their findings to the rest of the class. On Thursday January 20th, selected students in the 8th grade classes volunteered to go to the local Wintrust in Ravenswood. They had a great time talking with the representative from Wintrust and negotiating with him to get a respectable and trusted banking partner for the upcoming Washington DC fundraiser.That fundraiser is Change for Change and for every amount donated from the school, Wintrust will match it. In PE, students in 8th grade played a game of tchoukball (pronounced: chewk-ball), which is very similar to handball. This is a European International sport that was developed in Switzerland by a man named Hermann Brandt. The ball is rebounded off a net frame which requires speed and agility to catch the ball. Students did a great job being open minded and were very eager to learn and play a new game! Way to go! 7th and 8th graders both looked at the Baptism of Jesus as the end of our Christmas season. We explored the meaning and purpose of Sacrament and most specifically Baptism and talked about the meaning of the symbols associated with Baptism. We know as Catholics, that our baptism comes with rights and responsibilities. The dialogue and questions during class always leads to great conversation. For the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, students created a wordl to demonstrate the names of Jesus They then reflected on which name is most powerful for them and why. This week in PE, students reviewed how to throw and catch a frisbee using the alligator snap or crab claw method. We then moved on to play kan jam and ultimate frisbee! Students did a wonderful job staying focused and engaged in the game! Way to go and keep up the great sportsmanship! The 8th grade stock market class continued this week which the beginning of the individual competition. Each student picked one stock to track until May that they think will increase the biggest percentage. After their selections, they learned about P/E ratios and how that calculation can impact stock selections. Recently, our MYP students were learning about and applying in their classrooms the Approaches to Learning skill Collaboration. Our students are fortunate to collaborate frequently in all of their MYP classes. Collaborative learning not only allows students to not only develop critical thinking skills, but it also boosts their self-esteem and confidence! The following students were recognized recently for demonstrating excellent collaborative skills in the classroom. Front Row (L to R): Gabe Morrow, Colin Barak, Ryne Amick, Taryn Kessinger Back Row: Erin Runowski, Genet Buruk, Charlii Lopez, Leticia Ferido, and Apostoli Melendez. Not pictured: Fiona Fahey and Tallulah Gallagher
6A hosted our first Mass back after Christmas break. We are nearing the end of the Christmas season, so in addition to reflecting on the Incarnation (God becoming Man), we talked about the significance of the Epiphany, when the Three Wise Men came to visit Jesus. 6A beautifully led us in prayer at Mass as we continued the celebration of Christmas. Using their knowledge of sonnets and Shakespeare’s language, 8th graders work collaboratively, while unscrambling the Act 2 prologue of Romeo and Juliet. In PE, we started off the new year with team building! We worked on “plank tunnels.” Students had to demonstrate a plank while a ball is rolled through the “tunnel.” Another exciting activity was a variation of ping pong. The goal was to get to the number 10 without having the ball drop to the floor! Way to go with that teamwork! When math problems get difficult, the best way to help is by asking our peers! Small groups in 7th grade worked together to complete problems that could be solved in various ways. Collaboration helps everyone learn from their mistakes. Motivational Monday’s with Ms. DeFrank is one of the ASE at St. Matthias. Each of the students choose 1 lesson that they learned in class and made some posters to remind them of the lessons!. Earlier in the month, students got to do an instant puzzle activity as they entered the gym in PE. Did you know that jigsaw puzzles work on your concentration, memory, and most importantly persistence? Solving a puzzle boosts self esteem and independence! It’s also a great at-home family activity that can be done during the break! To get in the holiday spirit, students decorated gingerbread cookies in math class. We had some very creative designs from our Junior High artists. Following their drawing, they had a key for how much each item costs, and calculated their total. On Friday night December 10th the SMS Student Council sponsored "The Jingle Ball", a holiday dance in the school gym for all the middle school students. Volunteers from the Student Council decorated the space with streamers, lights and holiday decorations to create a festive environment. The dance was well attended, and by all indications was a lot of fun for everyone. This week the shopping extravaganza took the school by storm. The Junior High students helped the younger students shop and wrap gifts for their families. This was a great way for all of us to get into the spirit of giving. Merry Christmas to all! In PE, students have been super excited to start a basketball unit. We have been reviewing all the skills from dribbling to shooting so they become experts when it comes time to play the game! Way to go! This week, our 8th graders had their monthly Stock Market class to check in on their portfolio. With the market dropping since we last met, we had a long discussion on the causes and how it effects our stocks. We continued to talk about diversification and how having a diverse portfolio can help us to avoid the dips in the market. Hopefully our trees pay off and we will continue to make some money! This week started with St. Nicholas day celebrations, and a big shout out to our student council for all the help! The 7th graders did a wonderful job on their social value posters, which are now being displayed in the third floor hallway. For this assignment students learned about the heroic style of the Neoclassic art period. They then Incorporated this style into pictures of current issues of social value that they wanted to promote. Through their pictures we can see that the 7th grade students are aware of social concerns and want to make a positive impact on their country and in the world. Our middle school students did a spectacular job participating in the pageant this afternoon. They certainly shared their talents and gave the gift of joy and hope to our school community during this Christmas season. What a great collaboration! |
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