Middle School Minute

If you haven't already, please join the AAA PTA! As of right now, we only have 14% family participation in PTA. We would love to have 100% participation!

https://academypta.com

For both my English and Science classes, students are accessing work via Google classroom. Within the google classroom, students have access to work on Flocabulary, ReadWorks, iReady, and NewsELA. Science students are also using Generation Genius to expand their science knowledge and skills.

***Please know that classwork must be completed ON TIME. Per our class syllabus, no late work is accepted with the exception of excused absences. If your child is absent and misses work, all work should be completed within five days of return.

*** All sixth grade classrooms are STILL in need of hand sanitizer and tissues. My science class is in desperate need of paper towels… STILL We would be MOST grateful if you can send those items in.

• i-Ready - Students are required to complete 50 minutes of i-Ready Reading and two passed lessons.
• Accelerated Reader (AR) - Students need to be reading and taking AR tests. The only way to grow in reading comprehension is to practice.They need to look at their individual goal on Clever.
• Schoology -

• Reading: We are continuing our short story unit using Langston Hughes’s “Thank You, Ma’am” as an anchor text.

• Writing: We have started working on our personal narratives. We will continue to work and build on these assignments

Honors ELA - This week students will have assignments on Schoology, AcceleratedReader (AR), and i-Ready. Library on Friday!

• i-Ready - Students are required to complete 50 minutes of i-Ready Reading and two passed lessons.
• Accelerated Reader (AR) - Students need to be reading and taking AR tests. The only way to grow in reading comprehension is to practice.They need to look at their individual goal on Clever.
• Schoology -

• Reading: We are continuing our short story unit using Langston Hughes’s “Thank You, Ma’am” as an anchor text.

• Writing: We have started working on our personal narratives. We will continue to work and build on these assignments

Iready will be graded remember you can earn tickets from Mrs. Clemons for the cart!

Honors ELA: We will continue The Book Thief and we will be covering pages 46-90. We are continuing to focus this week on schema and character motivation. We will be starting our propaganda project soon!

Vocabulary for the week: illustrious, audacious, implicit, and cynicism, and flippant

Slide checks for days 1-7 will be Wednesday next week!

Regular ELA: We are focusing heavily on informational text! This week's topics/texts include Taking a Stand, an informational text on bullying, a piece on school lunches to wrap up unit 3. We will then be moving on to Unit 4 which will introduce some poetry for the first time this year, starting with Casey at Bat and an informational piece Hitting Big League which we will connect to the poem. Our skills revolve around these texts such as reasoning and evidence, figurative language, and media. We are also starting/continuing our argumentative essay. Please feel free to follow along with the process on your students' Study Sync.

Vocabulary for the week: aggressive, bitter, grim, and foul

Reminder: Study Sync assignments are due Sundays at Midnight

Though the 8th graders will continue preparing for the Shakespeare Festival (1-24-25), they will also read/discuss/write (about) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches "I Have A Dream" and "I've Been to the Mountaintop."

6th Grade

We are having a test on Tuesday January 22nd. Study guides were handed out Monday January 13th and glued into interactive notebooks. The expectation is that the study guide is filled out the day before the test (so we can review and check answers). The test will be over moon phases, gravity, Sun-Earth- and Moon relationships including seasons, tides and eclipses. The rest of the week, we will start to learn about Our Solar System and the Planets.

7th Grade

We are learning about Genetic Engineering and RNA.

Students are beginning to plan and build Rube Goldburg machines along with continuing our study of Newton's Laws of Motion.

-1920s Chapter Test was Thursday/Friday, January 16/17. Make-ups during homeroom next week, January 21-24.

Week of January 21-24 - Work on 1920s Radio Broadcast Project in class.

Week of January 27-31 - Begin Great Depression Chapter

Civics

Grades are still in the process of being input and updated due to Mrs. Maynard's maternity leave and absence. If you have questions or concerns about your grade, please reach out to Mr. Jones or Mrs. Smith and they will get you the information you need.

We will continue studying Ancient India and China

Next week we will be taking an open- notes quiz on Chapter 9, sections 1 & 2 (likely Wednesday & Thursday)

Make sure you are checking the website, www.whyaaa.org and join the Remind. Please turn in your $20 rental fee if you are renting.

• We will be starting music rehearsals for our competition set next week. Students need to make sure they are practicing their music at home.

Make sure you are checking the website, www.whyaaa.org and join the Remind. Please turn in your $20 rental fee if you haven't.

• We will be starting music rehearsals for our competition set next week. Students need to make sure they are practicing their music at home.

-Free-Verse (Imitation) Poems - Past Due

-Students should be sure to check the workshop schedule in Schoology and have their submission in by the correct due date.

-Singer/Songwriter Alan Little will be visiting the Creative Writing classroom on February 6 to discuss connections between poetry and song lyrics.

Welcome Back! Auditions for Bedtime Stories will be January 13-15th after school. Please see www.WhyAAA.org/MS-Theatre for more information.

Reminder! Students in Introduction to Theatre will switch their classes from Tech to Performances and vice versa.

You're invited to the AAAMazing Art Show hosted by the Academy for Academics & Arts!

You have 2 opportunities to come see Elementary & Middle School students’ art work.

• Thursday, January 30th from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

• Friday, January 31st from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

and our Black History Month Committee invited MS Strings to play our piece called 'Bow-Town Blues' at our upcoming BHM program and performances shared on February 27th. Kind Thanks!

• Make sure you have signed up for the 6th grade Remind CLICK HERE or HERE to join the class the code is @ceecdk
• Check PowerSchool often. Directions for creating a Parent Portal account are attached below.
• Have students read at home for 30 minutes a day.

iReady in ELA and math will be graded based on work completed Monday - Friday going forward. Time and lessons completed on Saturday and/or Sunday will not count toward their iReady classwork grades.

Please encourage your students to complete their classwork at school. The goal is for students to not have much homework and to use their classroom instructional time efficiently. This should also help decrease the number of missing assignments students have in PowerSchool.