Middle School Minute

Aaaaannnndddd…. We enter the second nine weeks! We are a quarter of the way through the school year.

ELA: Our first day back after Fall Break we will choose a new novel to study. The choices are:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, Refugee by Alan Gatz, and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba. Students (and families) are asked to do a little research and come prepared to vote on their favorite book. Since we a democratic learning community, the majority wins!

Science: This entire semester we are studying Earth’s Dynamic Systems. This includes the study of earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, weathering and erosion and the fossil record. Our driving question, one we will return to all semester after each lesson is “How do the dynamic systems of Earth change its surface?”

This first week after fall break we are continuing our study of Plate Tectonics, the forces behind earthquakes and volcanoes. You can find the investigations we are completing in lesson 4 & 5 of Earth’s Dynamic System text in our online textbook. The textbook is available at Carolina Science Online. Username is: Estelle Student; password is: password123.

Not required, but fun: Citizen Science from scistarter. Science for every day of the month.

https://media.scistarter.org/curated/2026-08-27/October_2026.pdf

Updates coming soon...

Updates coming soon...

We will continue diving deeper into Ratios, Unit Rates while introducing Finding Percent. I am also tightening the reins this new grading period. All assignments that are not submitted by due date will result in a failing grade. Extended time will be provide if student is absent that day. Please discus with your young learner about the importance of time management, accepting responsibility and being prepared daily for math class.

This week were are learning about the differences between mitosis and meiosis. We will have quiz over mitosis and meiosis on A day Tuesday October 20th and B day Wednesday October 21st. Study guides were handed out this week.

Updates coming soon...

This week, students will continue reading The Hunger Games while building their reading comprehension skills. We will focus on understanding the text, analyzing characters and events, using evidence to support our thinking, and strengthening overall comprehension as we work through the novel. Students will also continue practicing vocabulary and answering questions about each chapter.

Updates coming soon...

Over the next few weeks we will be continuing our study of Chemistry, with an introduction to pH and solubility, along with being introduced to balancing chemical equations, and their specific parts. As we continue towards the Grumpy's season, it is very important that your student keeps up with all assignments and due dates because it's almost time!!! Thank you to all parents/chaperones who were able to join us for our first field trip to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere this past week.

Updates coming soon . . .

8th World History will continue our study of the middle ages, focusing on the Crusades, the Black Plague, and European monarchies. We will also the parts of the Protestant Reformation

Dear AAA Families,

We hope everyone is having a wonderful start to October! This month brings many opportunities for our students to read, write, explore, and celebrate. We are excited to continue sharing these opportunities with our students and families.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

We are continuing our celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, observed from September 15 through October 15. Throughout the month, we are encouraging students to discover the rich literature, history, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities.

Author Spotlight: Pam Muñoz Ryan

This week, our library is highlighting Pam Muñoz Ryan, an award-winning author whose books include Esperanza Rising, Echo, and Riding Freedom.

We encourage families to explore her books together and talk about the characters, experiences, and themes they discover.

https://www.pammunozryan.com/

Families can also explore the Library of Congress Hispanic Heritage Month resources:

https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-studies/

A Simple Family Activity

Choose a Hispanic or Latino author, artist, musician, historical figure, or other individual to learn about as a family. Then share three interesting things you discovered with one another.

Sometimes a short conversation can lead to a wonderful new discovery!

Get Ready for Our Scary Writing Contest!

Do you have a student who loves to create stories, solve mysteries, or give readers a few chills?

Our Scary Writing Contest is a chance for students to let their imaginations run wild and show off their writing skills!

ONE WINNER WILL RECEIVE A CHICK-FIL-A GIFT CARD!

Contest Guidelines

Students should:

Create a completely original story.

Write the story themselves and use their own ideas and voice.

Give the story a title.

Keep the story appropriate for a middle school audience.

Submit only one story.

Proofread their work before submitting.

Avoid copying from books, websites, or another person's work.

Do not use AI to generate the story. We want to celebrate each student's own imagination and creativity!

How to Submit

Please email the completed story to:

tyletha.lord@hsv-k12.org

Subject line:

SCARY WRITING CONTEST

Deadline: Friday, October 23, 2026

Winner Announcement:

The winner will be announced during the Friday morning announcements on October 30, 2026.

A Little Writing Inspiration

A great scary story doesn't have to be graphic or inappropriate. Students can create suspense through a mysterious setting, an unexpected event, an unusual character, or a surprise ending.

Try starting with:

“I knew something was different the moment I walked through the door…”

Where the story goes from there is up to YOU!

A Friendly Reminder About Original Work

As our students write and create, we also want to encourage them to take pride in their own ideas and accomplishments.

Families may find these resources helpful for talking with students about plagiarism, original work, and responsible technology use:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/index.html

https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship

Our goal is to help students become confident readers, thoughtful writers, and responsible digital citizens.

Thank You, Families!

Thank you for continuing to encourage your students to read, write, explore, and share their ideas. Your support at home makes such a difference!

We can't wait to see the creativity our students bring to this month's writing contest. Good luck to all of our young authors!

Keep Reading. Keep Creating. Keep Learning!

— AAA Library

⭐ The Academy Stars

Stars have started choreography for “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.” Students will continue strengthening their music while learning and cleaning the choreography for this number.

Forms and Rental Fee

Please continue sending in all required Stars forms and the $20 costume-rental fee. Thank you to the families who have already submitted these items.

Fall Art Fest Performance

The Academy Stars will perform at the Fall Art Fest hosted by Lee High School on Oct 24, 2026. The event will run from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Our specific performance time is still TBD.

🎶 Clowns

Clowns will continue working on their music while Mrs. Stricklin holds individual costume conferences with students. These conferences will help each student finalize costume choices before families move forward with rental or fabrication.

New Music

Students have started learning a new song, “‘Zat You, Santa Claus?” We are excited to begin adding this fun number to the Clowns repertoire.

Costume Forms and Swatch Project

The Swatch Project due date has been postponed until Friday, Sep 25, 2026. Each Clowns family should submit either the Rental Form or the Fabrication Form—not both. Families planning to rent a costume must also submit the $20 rental fee.

Updates coming soon...

Updates coming soon...

Our dancers have been working hard as we continue preparing for our upcoming production, “A Cinematic Dance Experience”! 🎥✨ Students are learning choreography, building performance skills, and developing the technique needed to bring our show to life.

🩰 Vocabulary & Technique

This week, students put their dance vocabulary and technique to the test with a vocabulary quiz! Students were challenged to both identify each vocabulary term and demonstrate the movement correctly.

Our vocabulary words were:

• Pirouette – a turn performed on one leg

• Passé – a position in which one foot passes or rests near the knee of the supporting leg

• Battement – a beating or brushing action of the leg, typically extending away from the body

• Chassé – a traveling step in which one foot “chases” the other

I was so proud to see students not only remember the terminology but also put their knowledge into movement! 🥰👏🏽

🎬 Show Preparation

Our dancers are continuing to learn and clean choreography for “A Cinematic Dance Experience.” As we get closer to the performance, students will continue working on memorization, musicality, technique, formations, performance quality, and teamwork.

Every class brings us one step closer to showtime! 🌟

Keep dancing, keep learning, and keep preparing to shine!

— Ms. Fuqua 💗

I'm pleased to say that your first 9 weeks grades all look pretty impressive! We have fun calendar events for this month. POPCORN AND PLAYING for any MS strings Monday, October 19th from 3to4:30 with pick up from front. There will be a CODE PURPLE at school for all strings at 2pm Friday, October 23rd in preparation for our REQUIRED PERFORMANCE at the Magnet Fair at Lee High School Courtyard from 10-2pm Saturday, October 24th. (our exact performance time is TBA as of now) Strings students can be mentors and helpers at our program booth (table in lobby). Thank you for being such amAAAzing magnet string orchestra members. LAST ITEM-the LINK for the Chicago Festival in Parks Competition registration and payments and fundraising has been set up in #whyAAA.org. Our blocks A2 and B1 Sapphire Advanced strings are invited. CONGRATULATIONS to all who endeavor to become ranked SUPERIOR in your category.

Beginning Band:

Beginning band students will continue counting and writing rhythms, identifying note and rest values, as well as drawing the notes and rests. The students will also continue learning the lines and spaces of the treble staff as well as the bass staff.

We will start playing instruments!

The book we are using is Standard of Excellence Book 1 (Red Book). Students need to familiarize themselves with pp. 2-3 of the book and we will start playing p. 6 #1 - #7.

Choir Classes:

Congratulations to all students who auditioned for All-City and made it!

We are very proud of these students! The All-City Choral Festival will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church on Airport Road on Monday October 29, 2026. The 6th Grade Choir Concert will be at 6:00p.m. The 7th & 8th Grade Choir Concert will be at 6:45p.m. and the High School Concert will be at 7:30p.m.

All-State auditions will be held November 2, 2026. We will take a bus to the auditions. Information will be forthcoming.

Advanced Band:

Parents…Please encourage your children to bring their instruments home so they can practice. Practice sheets will begin after fall break and will be a part of their grade. I am not a believer that practice makes perfect, but I DO believe that practice makes PROGRESS.

Updates coming soon...