Pacific Intermediate Newsletter

Pacific Intermediate Families,

Thank you for your help and support as we worked through a very difficult month of January. We had lots of sickness in both our students and staff this month, and it made for an interesting return to school after winter break. We are again asking your help in containing further sickness spreads. If your child is showing sickness symptoms, please keep them home and inform their school. If your child has the symptoms for multiple days, we would encourage you to seek further medical help. Education is a team effort, and we very much appreciate the partnership we have with our parents, teachers, and students at Pacific Intermediate.

February marks the end of the second trimester. Students need to stay on top of their work for the rest of the month to make sure that they are able to finish the trimester strong. We have been monitoring grades and student progress closely. As a general rule, students with 3 or more trimester F’s will likely be required to attend summer school. Students with 5 or more trimester F’s will likely be retained in their current grade.

We strongly ask that you send your child to school with a water bottle daily. Our drinking fountains are still turned off, but our bottle refilling stations are on for use. We have gone through a very large number of water bottles to students this year, and are beginning to run out of our supply.

Now is also a great time to remind students to check the lost and found. We have amassed a large collection of hoodies and other miscellaneous items. Please encourage your students to claim any items that are theirs.

Finally, we do try and get the students outside for recess as much as possible. If the temperature is at or above 20 degrees we generally will go outside pending other weather conditions. Please send students with a jacket or other warm outerwear for these outdoor activities.

Yours in Education,

Matt Agee

• Big Smiles Dentist here on Friday, February 11th (Only for students previously signed up)
• Friday, February 25th~End of Second Trimester
• Monday, February 28th~Professional Development~No School

Mr. Gilcrease~Language Arts & Reading

Mrs. Bielicke~Science & Social Studies

Mrs. Norman~ Language Arts & Reading

Mr. Wengler~Science & Social Studies

Mrs. Menley~ Language Arts & Reading

Mrs. Jackson~Science & Social Studies

5th grade is working on our fractions unit. We are starting with adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.

In 5th Grade ELA we are finishing up with Figurative Language and Poetry. Our next unit will include Drama and Reader's Theater.

We have been learning about Possessive Nouns and when to use an apostrophe.

Reminder: There will be a Vocabulary Quiz on Friday, February 11th over Poetry Elements.

In Science, students will begin a physical science unit about Matter titled "Chemical Magic". Students will investigate the properties of matter by dissolving everyday chemicals to make solutions and by exploring simple yet surprising chemical reactions. Through these investigations, students begin to build conceptual models for the particulate nature of matter.

Social Studies students will begin a unit that focuses on the Underground Railroad. Students will gain an understanding of slavery in the south, people that made the Underground Railroad possible, and how it worked.

Math~ Mrs. Weil

English~ Mrs. Stumborg

Science~ Mrs. Todahl

Social Studies~ Mr. Slaugher

Math~ Mrs. Voss

English~Mrs. Boling

Science~Mrs. Vondera

Social Studies~Mr. Effan

We are glad to be back and settled back in from Winter Break. Please make sure your child's hoodies, jackets, and coats are being washed regularly. Please continue to check your emails to keep up with what is going on in class. This is a great time of year to make sure your child has pencils!

Math:

Math students have started off strong. Regular math students will be learning how to solve one-step equations. Advanced students will be learning mean, median, mode, and interquartile range.
Please continue to monitor your child's homework and check our SIS portal system for missing assignments and grades.

Reading:

Students just finished our agurmentive writing. In reading we are continuing with our Yen Chen reading. We have read fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and media.

English:

In English, we switched gears a little. Students are starting their argumentative essays, debating the pros and cons of keeping animals in captivity at zoos. Students will plan out their reasons and use evidence to support their ideas on the topic.

Social Studies:

In Social Studies we are finishing up China. Everyone's calligraphy project turned out great. Next up, we are heading into Rome/Greek.

Science:

In science, we dove right into Matter. We are talking about solids, liquids, gases, plasma, phase changes, and physical and chemical changes. We will be doing several hands-on activities in this unit. Make sure you quiz your student on what we did in class.

This month 5th graders will receive a lesson plan on “Dreams, Goals and Planning.” This lesson will get students thinking about short-term and long-term goals. We will discuss different types of goals such as academic, home, and personal goals. Students will create their goals and five step plans to be able to reach them. The purpose of the lesson is to help students understand they achieve more with goals in place. Goals are reached when they are followed up with plans. These can be monitored and adjusted as needed. When obstacles occur we don’t just give up, we adjust the plans. Time management will also be briefly discussed.

The 6th grade will have several character education lesson plans in February. One is a four-day program facilitated by Compass Health Network which is called "Changes and Choices." This program is 2/1 - 2/4 and covers the content of conflict resolution, family addiction, abuse prevention, diversity and acceptance of others. If we do have inclement weather and school is closed, missed days will be rescheduled in March. The other lesson plan offered this month will be presented by Makenzie Ellis, the Riverbend School Counselor. She will come over to help transition our students from Pacific Intermediate to Riverbend. She will be discussing expectations at Riverbend and similarities and differences between the two. She will be providing information about classes offered in 7th grade, and having students tentatively register for classes for next year.

Pacific Intermediate

195 N Indian Pride Dr

Pacific, MO 63069

www.mvr3.k12.mo.us

Phone: 636-271-1425

Fax: 636-271-1465