Student in 6th grade Art are practicing the basic steps in the drawing process. The worksheet that they are working on has a reference picture. Having an image of what you want to draw is the first step. The second step is to lightly draw the basic shapes that make up your image. Checking the size and placement of the basic shapes is the next step. Then you start to refine your drawing by adding contour lines, details, color, shading, and texture. Before students started on these worksheets Mr. O did a demonstration of these steps. During the demonstration students questioned the need to follow these steps. Mr. O gave the analogy that just like math you have to show and follow certain steps in order to check your work and make corrections to help you get the to the right answer. You can see in these pictures students working hard and enjoying some success. In 6th grade I&S class we have been studying ancient Egypt. The students had an assignment to do a report on the pyramids and to design their own pyramid. They did a great job, and used a variety of different elements to create their unique designs. After reading chapter 5 of The Outsiders and encountering the Robert Frost poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay, the 7th grade digs deeper into his poetry. They work collaboratively to analyze several of his poems which leads to an individual analysis writing on a Frost poem of their choosing. 8th grade MYP projects are fully underway as students begin to take action. This week, Lucy and Addy gathered the entire Junior High in the church for a presentation about the importance of taking care of your mental from the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. Students learned valuable information about noticing the signs, coping strategies, and to how to help others in difficult situations.
0 Comments
Spanish class update! 7th grade is presenting their project "Mi viaje " they use and form future tenses. 8th grade just started their chapter book, they are workimg on identifying infinitive verbs and creating pass tenses. 6th grade is working on question words, they are practicing how to answer questions for a verbal interview with Mrs. Salazar. This week all our Junior High students watched the movie “Like” which discussed the affects of using social media. After, each class had a discussion about what they learned and how they can apply that knowledge into their own lives. This I was a great movie to partner with our challenge of No Device November. Before starting work on the upcoming Christmas Pageant, the 7th grade learned about the history of protest songs and how they were and are still used to create and promote change. Students in the class were tasked with writing their own protest song in groups or individually and performing them using technology or classroom instruments. The themes of their songs focused on gun violence, bullying, the climate crisis, and 9/11, just to name a few. The students did an amazing job writing their lyrics and setting instruments or digital background music that they created to their meaningful melodies. Spectacular job seventh graders! In 6th grade religion we have continued our look at the early Patriarchs. We see in their lives and their example the role of faith and what it means to follow God. We might think that some things are impossible, but with faith, all things are possible. God is faithful to His word, and what God promises, He delivers on. We also talked about how our sufferings and our sacrifices can be redemptive and that we celebrate Jesus' sacrificial love every time we celebrate mass. We explored the purpose of altars and sacrifice and discussed the different items that we find on the altar at Mass. I am always amazed with the good questions and conversations that come about in class! 7th grade analyze the Gwendolyn Brooks poem “We Real Cool” before reading the novel “The Outsiders”. The class will compare the similar themes communicated with both works. This week in P.E. students did a great job completing the FitnessGram! Students worked on the pacer test, the curl-up test, and the push up test. The pacer test measured students aerobic capacity and endurance as they ran back and forth. The curl ups measured students abdominal strength and the push up test measured their upper body strength. Well done everyone! In 7th and 8th grade this week, we reflected on the many gifts we have been given. They were given the task of finding a quote about being Thankful that resonated with them. They were then to write a prayer, poem or letter of thanksgiving. They found some great quotes and wrote beautiful prayers. Take some time to read these - it's worth it! This week was Vocation Awareness Week. 8A helped lead us at Mass as we learned more about, and prayed for, vocations. We are reminded that we each have a special mission/vocation in life that God has called us to and prepares us for! Our 8th graders are great leaders at our school in many way and we are very proud of them! 6th grade practice their communication skills while peer editing their essays on the novel Wonder. Students exchange helpful ideas and constructive criticism in order to hone their analytical writing. 6B met with their Prayer Partners for the first time! They were partners with the Kindergartners in Mrs. Infante’s class and took their partners to the library and chose a book to read together. 6B and the Kindergartners will be meeting more throughout the year to continue building these relationships. To wrap up the Ecology Unit, 7th grade scientists researched invasive species and the damage done to the host habitat. They then made most wanted posters describing the crimes of the criminal invasive species. Beware, there is a criminal at large! 8th Graders are wrapping up our series on "Discipleship" that we have been doing through the Gospel Weeklies. So much of our discussions center on our faith and how we live that out every day. Working together, with the help of a Bible, they were able to piece together our Scriptures from the past few weeks. Our Holy Fire Retreat on Friday reiterated the importance of our relationship with Jesus. Through a relationship with Jesus, we can better discern our vocation and mission in life. We are also called to light the world on fire with our living witness of faith. The kids did a great job at the retreat! All 6th through 8th grade honors math students took their Trimester 1 Exam on Thursday, November 4th. The trimester exam is a cumulative exam that tests students on all of the material since the beginning of the trimester. The main focus is to ensure that all students have understood and retained the information that they have learned throughout the duration of the trimester. Getting students used to taking these types of exams is so beneficial before going into high school. High school students take cumulative exams in most subjects at the end of each term. The more students practice taking these types of exams, the better prepared they are for high school. Very proud of my students and especially the 6th graders, who took their first trimester exam! 8th grade completed their culminating activity of putting characters on trial or debating whether mankind’s nature is good or evil for the novel Lord of the Flies. As you can see, they were very dedicated to their roles, and dressed for the part. Their dedication paid off, they did a great job! This week, all the Junior High classrooms on the third floor were equipped with new smart boards! These new boards double as whiteboards and tv screens. Our 8th graders tested it out with a few online games following their Confirmation Retreat. So far they have been a big hit! As a culminating group activity for Lord of the Flies, the 8th graders begin to plan a script where they either put characters from the novel on trial or debate whether man is truly good or evil. 8th graders are working hard on their Value Hand Drawing. With this assignment students are incorporating drawing steps, contour line drawing, and modeling with value. They are striving to create a realistic illustration of their hand holding an object that represents an aspect of their identity. This week in PE, students continued to work on their badminton skills. They spent time playing against various teams and showed their competitive side by correctly using those rackets and birdies! Way to go! In 8th grade religion, we are starting our conversation about Confirmation and the work of the Holy Spirit. We have examined the role of the Holy Spirit and images associated with the Holy Spirit. As we understand the symbolic meanings, we can better grasp how the work of the Holy Spirit happens in our lives. We have many great images of the Holy Spirit in the beautiful stained glass of our Church. We thank 6B for hosting our Friday Mass this week. We pray for the gift of faith that allows us to trust in the good work of God and in God's loving care for each of us. Well done, 6th grade! On Friday, we all dressed up for the Halloween party! We spent the afternoon eating candy from Pillars, watching spooky movies, and taking pictures with our friends in our costumes. We even got the results of the pumpkin decorating contest, congratulations to 8A who won 1st prize! Thanks to everyone involved in this fun day! Our 7th grade mathematicians revealed their blue prints of their Dream Room this week! They compiled research, converted measurements, estimated, and learned from their mistakes to create some incredible designs. They were able to show off all of their hard work in a gallery walk and left supportive comments for their classmates. Check out some of the final results! How do we know about ancient civilizations? By the artifact they have left behind. In these photos the 6th grader are working on their Future Archeologists scientific fact sheet. They are illustrating an artifact and making up a possible function for it based on what it looks like. The 8th grader’s 2nd stock market class got underway on Thursday. Students learned the basics of the stock market and were able to inquire and learn from professionals in the workplace. Next time they meet, they will pick 3-5 stocks to invest our money into. Stay tuned for their selections! This week students started to learn the fundamentals of badminton in PE! We watched a video that told us all about badminton and how it is an Olympic sport played with either one or two people during a rally. Students did a good job being able to rebound the shuttle back and forth with their partner! Way to go! Student Council put on their first event, an Apple Cider Sale! Thanks to everyone who bought a glass in support, get ready for some exciting things from our student council coming soon! For the last few weeks in music class, the sixth graders have been researching decades in history and learning about the music of those time periods. Students selected a particular decade from the 1930's to the 2010's and also selected songs that were impactful to the culture to include in a radio broadcast that they presented to their class. Combining important historical facts, major weather news, and innovative products from each decade, students played DJ and wrote a script, creating a historical snapshot of that decade, including songs that were woven into the culture of each period in history. Creativity was encouraged and was definitely accomplished during their final presentations! Great job 6th grade! Our school community came out in great excitement to cheer on our Cross Country team as they prepare to compete at the State Level. Congratulations to all our Cross Country Members and especially those who will compete on Saturday. Your SMS community is so proud of you! Go, Mustangs!! We are so proud of our 8th graders who so beautifully led us in prayer at our Friday Mass this week. The focus of the Mass was on St. Teresa of Jesus and how we are all responsible to do good while we are in this world. St. Teresa reminds us that our relationship with God should be the most important thing in our lives. Thank you, 8th graders, for being such good role models as the leaders of our school! This week all of our 8th graders started the BSF Stock Market Program! We partnered with different people in the financial community to come and speak with our class once a month about the stock market and financial literacy. Our first meeting we learned the basis of investments and the importance of having a bank account. We can’t wait to learn more at our next meeting! Students continued to review their soccer skills in PE. This week we focused on passing while using the inside of our foot. Student also played a short and exciting scrimmage! Within our unit on proportional reasoning, the 7th graders are creating scale drawings. This week they made scale drawings of our classroom. There were so many components involved in ensuring our drawings were proportional. There were the measurements, the conversions, and the final drawing. The turned out great, with our precision and mathematical skills. This week our 8th graders presented their Transformation Projects with a gallery walk! Students worked to create a design that reflected their identity and then transformed it on a coordinate plane. There are three transformations: reflection, rotation, and translation. During our gallery walk, students gave positive feedback to their peers and were able to show off all their hard work. In PE, students started to practice their footwork skills for soccer. We did a variety of soccer drills that focused on ball handling as well as keeping the ball under control. Way to go JH! This week the entire Junior High went on a field trip to Boundless Adventures! We spent the day climbing in the trees to be risk-takers and building connections with our peers! Everyone was so excited to be outside and make memories together! We are so proud of everyone who conquered their fears and tried new things!
In Spanish this week, students started their “Student as a Teacher” presentations where they teach a topic to their peers. All our students need to be confident with their vocabulary teaching, manage their time, and the classroom behavior. They are learning that teaching is harder than it looks! The 6th grade collaboratively practiced their paraphrasing skills in L&L class this week. They were given a paragraph and had to use their deductive reasoning skills to determine which paraphrased sentence would fit the paragraph best. Our 6th grade class had their first math quiz this week. In order to review our integer concepts, students used post-it notes to list numbers least to greatest and then to compare numbers using inequality signs. After taking the quiz, all students meet or exceeded their goal! We are so proud of their progress so far! On Saturday, the eighth grade class had a car wash to help raise funds for their upcoming trip to Washington D.C. in May. The students had a blast washing cars and being together! They ended up raising $2010 to help offset the cost of their trip. Thanks to all who came to get their car washed! The results are in! On Friday after Mass, all students in 4th-8th grades listened to middle school students deliver speeches expressing why they would be a good candidate for student council. The candidates discussed how they would be open-minded, organized, and great communicators if they were elected to office. It was impressive to hear each of them relate how the IB learner profile traits and the approaches to learning skills would help them be the best at their elected position. Congratulations to our newly elected officers! Clodagh Gallagher-President, Megan Winters-Vice-President, Hannah WInters-Secretary, and Christina Callard, Treasurer. We know they will be great leaders! |
Archives
September 2020
|