Middle School Happenings

Congratulations to all the student musicians who performed at the Winter Concert! Both Mr. Icenogle and Mr. Janack are very proud of all the work that was put into the concert!

Mark your calendars now for the Spring Concert on May 9th!

Our Math Team recently competed in the third Meet of the season at Rockport Middle School. Congratulations to Hornets Team Two who zoomed ahead of Hornets Team One and finished second behind Masco!

Two Hornets captured certificates for the top score at their grade level. Eighth grader Saskia K. scored 14 points and 6th grader Shane C. scored 12 points. Congratulations Saskia and Shane! Other 12-point scorers included 8th grader Rosie R, and 7th graders Loben F., Sophie L. and Mario Z. Double-digit scorers also included 7th graders Harper H., Maya K., Arion S., and Jake A. along with 6th grader Aviva H., who all scored 10 points.

Thanks to all students who participated in this fantastic Meet! Our next Meet is not far away - Thursday, February 8 at Masco. New and returning students are welcome to grab a practice packet which will be available in math classes. Interested students should talk to their math teacher as soon as possible.

League Website: www.imlem.org

In recent classes, students learned about "Challenge by Choice" and "leaving your comfort zone." This learning is an important part of our SEL and Project Adventure unit and helps students understand that sometimes challenging ourselves and feeling a bit uncomfortable are helpful ways to grow as a person.

The images below show students engaging in Challenge by Choice, as they read activity cards and decide if they will compete in solo, partner, or small group challenges or leave the challenge for other classmates to complete.

In their unit on physics, students are exploring how release height, ramp angle, and the mass of their car affect velocity. Students are practicing collecting accurate data and creating graphs, while building their understanding of motion.

Grade 7 mathematicians just wrapped up a unit on Probability. Students played various dice games and a three-player variation of Rock, Paper, Scissors as they explored the probability of independent and dependent events.

Most recently, students participated in the Percents Shopping Project. They designed sale price advertisements for self-created “stores" then "purchased" items from peers' stores. Students were able to view a wide variety of “items” for sale while at the same time reviewing the important skill of calculating a discount. It was a fun lesson for all!

Grade 7 students will soon participate in our first annual Name That Book competition!

Mr. DiCristina has developed this competition with the goal of encouraging a broad range of reading habits and working towards establishing a lifelong love of reading. Students will be given a list of 50 middle grade/YA books and encouraged to read as many of the books on the list as they can over the remainder of the school year. Groups of up to four students may work as teams to read the books and compete in the contest at the end of the year.

We're looking forward to awarding trophies (shown right) to the teams who are able to most accurately identify books based on elements of fiction clues and excerpts from the texts.

Students in Spanish and French classes participated in cultural activities relating to El Día de los Tres Reyes or La Fête des Trois Rois Mages! These fun and engaging activities are an excellent way for students to connect real-world activities to the rigorous listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills learned in class.

As part of their time management unit of study in health class, students were treated to a presentation by the The Manchester-Essex High School Peer Mentors.

This annual presentation allows 8th grade students to learn more about the impending transition to high school and the changes they will face when “moving up.” Particular focus was placed upon the academic, extracurricular, and social-emotional aspects of high school. As always, the Peer Mentors did a fantastic job with their presentations and were ready and willing to answer the many questions that our students had about the realities of life for high school students here at M-E.

Thanks go out to high school guidance department director Ms. Lowe, along with guidance counselors, Mr. Conwell and Ms. Polk, who oversee the Peer Mentors and coordinate this annual presentation.

As part of their civic learning, our 8th grade students presented to MERSD 5th grade students at Memorial Elementary School. Presentations focused on the grievances the colonists had connected to first amendment rights, which is part of the 5th grade framework.

Email: mainoj@mersd.org
Website: www.mersd.org
Location: 36 Lincoln Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, USA
Phone: 978-526-2022
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ManchesterEssexRegional/