Middle School Minute
November 24 - 25, 2025
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📕 ELA 📕
Mz. Estelle
ELA students are responsible for completing 60 minutes AND two (2) passed lessons (70% or better) each week on iReady. This reading is for a grade. In addition, students should be reading something of their choosing. We will have a Book Talk to complete this nine weeks.
Ms. Stricklin
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Hatchet is the first in a series of five novels by Gary Paulsen (1939-2021), who won a Newbery Honor in 1988 for this gripping tale of survival. The hero of Hatchet and its follow-ups is young Brian Robeson, who must rely on his wits and instincts alone to stay alive in the Canadian wilderness. Preceding this excerpt from Chapter 5, 13-year-old Brian is left stranded on his own after his pilot has a heart attack and their plane crashes in a lake. The excerpt describes the day after the crash.
Skill: Academic Vocabulary - After learning the meanings of ten academic vocabulary words, students will be able to recognize and use them in a variety of contexts.
Analyze - v. to examine the parts of something in detail
Approach - n. an idea or action intended to deal with a problem or situation
Assume - v. to accept to be true without proof
Conclude - v. to decide by reasoning
Context - n. the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event
Derive - v. to reason by deduction; to infer
Indicate - v. to state or express briefly
Interpret - v. to determine and explain the meaning of
Obtain - v. to come into possession of
Seek - v. to try to locate or discover
Vocabulary
Amphibious - adj. table to live or operate on both land and water
Asset - n. a valuable person, thing, or quality; advantage or resource
Extensive - adj. covering or extending over a large area; great in extent
Motivated - adj. having a strong reason to do something
Obvious - adj. easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind
Focus Skills
Identify details that Brian shares about his surroundings and explain how the evidence helps you determine the setting.
Identify evidence of how Brian evaluates his surroundings and explain why the details are so important to him.
Identify details about the setting that contribute to the conflict in Hatchet, and explain how these details directly affect the plot.
In Red Scarf Girl, Ji-Li Jiang is pulled out of class by the members of her father’s theater group and questioned about her family’s loyalty to the Cultural Revolution. Identify details in Red Scarf Girl that tell you about the setting, and explain how the details help you compare this setting to the setting in Hatchet.
Identify details that demonstrate how Brian deals with the challenges he faces.
Write
Students will write the body paragraphs of a compare and contrast essay. Comparing Red Scarf Girl and Hatchet.
- PROMPT: COMPARE AND CONTRAST Red Scarf Girl and Hatchet feature young people trapped in challenging situations. In both texts, the setting provides the context for the main conflict or problem. Compare and contrast the role that the setting plays in influencing the characters and events of the two texts.
First Read: Magic Marker Mystery - After an initial reading and discussion of the drama, students will be able to identify and describe character traits, setting details, and key events, as well as articulate the conflict that is integral to the story’s plot.
Vocabulary
Adamant - adj. determined
Culprit - n. a person who has done a crime
Incident - n. an event or happening
Merit - v. to deserve or be worthy of
Presume - v. to think something is true without facts
Making Predictions
Use text features to make, confirm or correct predictions. Remember that text features are parts of a text that are not the main body of the text. In a play, the title, character list, and stage directions are examples of text features.
Quiz
Students will complete the ten question quiz using the story if they wish.
Think
Students will answer five questions using evidence from the text to support each answer.
iREADY: Students in Regular ELA are required to complete 50 minutes and pass 2 lessons with at least a 67%. Students in Honors ELA are expected to complete 60 minutes and pass 2 lessons with a 67% or better. iReady Grading - There are three components to the iReady requirements. Here is how I grade iReady Pathway requirements. 3/3 - 100 2/3 - 75 1/3 - 50 0/3 - 0
Ms. Hunter
Ms. Fletcher
Students also must complete 4 i-Ready English lessons scoring 80% or higher. Though they work on these in class, I encourage them to work on the lessons at home as well.
➕➖ Math ➖➕
Mr. Moore
Next week will be a short two-day week in math. We’ll be using Monday and Tuesday to review all of our big skills from this quarter, including: Ratios & Proportional Reasoning Dividing Fractions Long Division Mean, Median, Mode, and Range Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD)
There will be no i-Ready lessons due next week.
These two days will help students feel confident and prepared before we move into our next unit. Thank you for supporting your child’s learning!
— Mr. Moore
Ms. Whitney
Topic Focus: Operations with Rational Numbers – Fractions & Decimals
This week, 7th grade students are deepening their understanding of rational numbers. We're reinforcing key concepts like adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions and decimals in real-world and multi-step problems. Students are learning how to apply these operations to solve word problems with confidence and precision.
Parent Tip: Ask your child to help you with a measurement task around the house that involves fractions or decimals—like doubling a recipe or converting measurements while building something.
📬 7th Grade Accelerated Math Update
Topic Focus: Writing and Solving Linear Equations from Tables, Graphs, Equations, and Word Problems
Our accelerated students are building foundational algebra skills by working on identifying linear relationships in various forms. They are learning how to write and solve equations based on data from graphs, tables, and real-world scenarios. This work is preparing them for Algebra I concepts coming later in the year.
Parent Tip: While reviewing bills or planning a trip, ask your student to help estimate total cost or distance using a table or graph. Let them explain how they set up and solved the equation.
How You Can Help at Home (All Students):
Review math vocabulary like rational numbers, linear equation, variable, solution, slope.
Encourage your student to explain what they learned today in their own words.
Practice basic operations (especially with fractions and decimals) through real-life activities like cooking or shopping.
If you'd like additional resources or suggestions for supporting your student at home, feel free to reach out. Thank you for your partnership!
Ms. Cuff
Each week in math, we will continue working on refreshing previously learned skills and standards to remediate weak areas and achieve mastery for all students. These reviews will be included in the lesson as well as bell work, before strategies, cooperative learning and partner work. Next week we will continue with evaluating functions, slope/rate of change, writing equations of lines etc.... The students must complete 2 iReady math pathway lessons each week. This will be worked on in and out of school (homework). Have an amazing week. :-)
🧪 Science 🧪
Mz. Estelle
In science, we are using our online textbook as only a limited number of printed copies were supplied with our AMSTI kits. The textbook is available at Carolina Science Online. Username is: Estelle Student; password is: password123.
Not required but fun: SciStarter’s Citizen Science November: https://scistarter.org/calendar
Please know that in my class, I will be starting to assign silent lunch for students who come to class without charged computers. It is the expectation that students come to class prepared. Please make a designated spot in your house to prepare school materials.
Mrs. Thrasher
Ms. Plummer
📜 Social Studies 📜
Mrs. Hester
- All WWI assignments in Canvas should be completed by Monday, December 1.
Study at www.socrative.com
Room Name: Hester
Mr. Garner
Mr. Hughes
We will finish our study of ancient Egypt and will plan to test (open notes) on Wednesday/ Thursday of this next week. Advanced level students will also finish their DBQ essay responses.
🎭 Fine Arts 🎭
🤡 Clowns - Ms. Stricklin 🤡
December Dates and Times:
December 4th - All Students making or renting costume parade. There is no need to sign up; I will see you all there.
December 7th - The Orion Amphitheater - Call Time 12:30pm; Performance Time 1:00pm
December 8th and 9th - Final Schedule TBD - 8am-3pm. Students should still be able to take their usual way home. 8 shows over the course of two days. Permission slip is coming. Students will need to pay $15 for the trip. They will need lunch money for the food court in the mall. $20 is plenty. There will not be any time for shopping.
December 16 - ACT Night! This is our public performance! Please make sure you join us to see your student(s) perform. Call Time 6:30pm; Performance 7:00pm
December 19 - School shows and pictures. 7:30 Individual pictures
8:45 Elementary Performance
9:30 Group Pictures/Finish Individual pictures
10:30 Middle School Performance
11:00 finish any Individual pictures
Join the Remind: https://www.remind.com/join/aaa2526
If you missed the Music Competition Parent meeting. Check the website for more information https://www.whyaaa.org/ms-stars--clowns.html
Please continue to bring in caboodle checklist items.
Rental/Fabrication Forms were sent home two weeks ago with students. I need to know whether you plan to rent or make your costume. If you plan to rent, you can pay the $20 rental fee in cash, checks made payable to AAA, or on myschoolfees.com.
🤩 Stars - Ms. Stricklin 🤩
December Dates and Times:
December 7th - The Orion Amphitheater - Call Time 12:30pm; Performance Time 1:00pm
December 8th and 9th - Final Schedule TBD - 8am-3pm. Students should still be able to take their usual way home. 8 shows over the course of two days. Permission slip is coming. Students will need to pay $15 for the trip. They will need lunch money for the food court in the mall. $20 is plenty. There will not be any time for shopping.
December 16 - ACT Night! This is our public performance! Please make sure you join us to see your student(s) perform. Call Time 6:30pm; Performance 7:00pm
December 19 - School shows and pictures. 7:30 Individual pictures
8:45 Elementary Performance
9:30 Group Pictures/Finish Individual pictures
10:30 Middle School Performance
11:00 finish any Individual pictures
Join the Remind: https://www.remind.com/join/aaastar84
If you missed the Music Competition Parent meeting. Check the website for more information https://www.whyaaa.org/ms-stars--clowns.html
Please continue to bring in checklist items.
Rental Forms and Contracts were sent home with students that have not turned in theirs. Please, sign and return. Make sure you have paid your rental fee. You can pay the $20 rental fee in cash, checks made payable to AAA, or on myschoolfees.com.
✍🏻 Creative Writing - Mrs. Hester ✍🏻
- Alabama A&M Poets will be visiting again on December 2 & 3. This will be the last visit for this semester. We will see them once more in January before the Open-Mic performance on the 22nd.
- Making Comics genre study will be wrapping up in December with the students making mini-comic books. Be on the lookout for your opportunity to purchase extra copies of comic-books.
- Third 9 Weeks Genre Study: Poetry - will begin after Winter Break.
🧰 Theatre Tech - Mr. Stricklin 🧰
We are currently working on Scenic Design. The kids are drafting designs for the stage, elevation view and floor plans.ly.
🎭 Theatre - Mr. Feemster 🎭
This week, our classes are wrapping up the reading of Letters by Evelyn Merritt. Students have been diligently working on daily worksheets to enhance their understanding of the play's themes and characters.
In addition to our academic pursuits, we are taking a moment to express our gratitude to veterans. Each student is writing a heartfelt letter that will be sent through Operation Gratitude, allowing them to connect personally with those who have served.
Our students will bring their memorized monologues from Letters to life through performance on Nov 24/25th in class. This is their major test grade for the unit.
💃Dance - Ms. Fuqua 💃
🎻Strings - Mrs. Peck🎻
🎵 Band and Choir - Mr. Snodgrass 🎤
All Choirs and Bands:
December 1, 2025 is our annual AAA Music Winter Concert. Beginning Band, Advanced Band, Concert Choir and Orchestra will be performing.
There will be 3 performances. 2 school performances and 1 evening performance. The evening performance is for parents, families and friends.
The school shows will be at 9:30a.m. for middle school and 1:00p.m. for elementary school. The attire for the school shows will be house shirts or house colors and jeans. 6 Houses, 1 Family!
The evening performance will be at 6:30p.m. Call time is 6:00p.m.
Evening Concert Attire:
Concert Choir Girls - Choir dresses
Concert Choir Boys - White dress shirt (not a polo), black dress pants (not jeans), the black vests and bow ties will be given by Mr. Snodgrass.
Beginning & Advanced Bands - White dress shirt (not a polo), black dress pants (not jeans), the black vests and bow ties will be given by Mr. Snodgrass.
GIRLS IN BAND & CHOIR WILL WEAR CHOIR DRESSES...
🎨Art - Mrs. Jackson 🎨
Students in all Visual Arts classes have embarked on their 'Insect Reduction Prints' project, exploring the technique of multi-layered printmaking. Last week, they began carving their first layer, and this week they will print it. They will continue to carve and print two additional layers, resulting in a vibrant, multi-colored print of an insect of their choice. We are thrilled to see their completed works!
Media Arts: Claymation Project
Media Arts students have teamed up to design characters and sets for their claymations. This week, we will start building the characters and sets. We are eager to begin the photography process for stop-motion animation!
Support the AAArt Department!
Don't forget to purchase your AAArt Department merchandise! Check it out at https://www.ladybugzdesigns.com/collections/aaa-art-department
📆 Attendance 📆
6th Grade Updates
Please review the 6th Grade Behavior Essentials