Welcome to the Middle School Blog! Every other week the Middle School Team will post a classroom update in this space to help parents stay connected to the ongoing learning happening in the middle school hallway.
God Bless,
The Middle School Team
General Updates
1. Remember to check the Middle School Homework Site @ https://sites.google.com/stpiusxschool.org/middleschool
Daily assignments will be update by teachers each afternoon by 4pm!
2. We’ve had great participation in the Pius Academy program so far this year! Thank you to those who have been taking advantage of this great program!
For those interested in attending Pius Academy in the future, it’s offered on Tuesday afternoons from 3:00-3:45pm. Pick up takes place outside the main doors of the school (west doors).
We look forward to working with your kids during Pius Academy!
3. The Middle School students will have their second Pius Pride ticket Turn-In Day next Friday, September 28th!
The Middle School Team continues to be very impressed by the way the middle school students have embraced our school-wide Pius Pride expectations!
Great job Middle School!
4. Friday, September 28this the first SPX Mission Awareness Dress Down Day w/ hats, hosted by our 4thgrade classes! Donations will go towards the Children’s Cancer Connection of Des Moines. Thank you for your generosity!
Teacher Updates
6thgrade & 7B Language Arts with Mrs. Bartscher
6th Grade- Over the last two weeks, the sixth grade students have been learning about commas in a series and commas between adjectives, and they will have a quiz over this next Wednesday, September 26. After that quiz, we will begin studying commas to set off introductory words, introductory phrases, and interrupters. In addition, we are continuing our short stories unit. Through this unit, the students will have the opportunity to read and study a wide variety of short stories. We are currently working on an excerpt fromThe Pigman and Meand will be taking a selection quiz over it on Friday, September 28th.
7th Grade- The seventh grade students have just taken a quiz over the comma rules. We will be continuing our study of punctuation over the next couple weeks. In addition to the study of punctuation, we will continue learning about legends, folktales, and myths unit with the current focus being on mythology as we read “Phaethon, Son of Apollo” from our literature textbooks. Through this unit, we will be learning and using a variety of reading strategies to aid their comprehension skills. In addition to learning comprehension strategies, they will also be studying literary elements that are present in the literature.
Mrs. Bartscher
6-8 Math with Mrs. Gipple
6th Grade Math
This week in math we have been translating!!! Students have been learning how to read a math word or phrase and translate it into an algebraic or numerical expression. We have also worked on studying a table and writing an expression based on the pattern discovered in the table. The quiz over these concepts (2.1-2.3) will be next Tuesday, Sept. 25th.
Then we will continue our introduction to Algebra by working with basic 1-step equations.
7th Grade & 7th Grade Pre-Algebra
The 7th graders have been working with integer operations this week. We have covered opposites and absolute values, and they have been introduced to several methods they can use to add and subtract integers. These methods include a number line, creating a situation, adding the opposite (for subtraction), using their absolute values, etc.
7th Math will work on multiplying & dividing integers as well as putting integers into equations and then their quiz over 2.1-2.5 will be next Friday, Sept. 28th
7th Pre-Algebra will also work on multiplying and dividing integers and their quiz over 2.1-2.5 will be next Wed, Sept. 26th.
8th Grade Pre-Algebra
This week we have worked with the coordinate plane focusing on ordered pairs and how they are solutions to linear equations. We have also spent time interpreting graphs and the quiz over 2.1-2.3 will be Mon, Sept. 24th
Then we will continue working with graphs focusing on the relationships between tables, equations, and graphs as well as how to graph a function.
8th Grade Algebra
This week students have been working with different types of equations starting out with basic 1-step, then building to 2-step, multi-step, equations with variables on both sides, and we have even worked on writing the equation from a situation and then solving it. Today we will work with literal equations. The quiz over all these types of equations will be Wed, Sept. 26th.
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy this beautiful fall weather!
Mrs. Gipple
6-8 Religion with Mr. Tallman
6th grade: The sixth grade has been working hard on their vocabulary and learning the 46 Books of the Old Testament (have they been singing the Books of the OT song at home?!).
The class will be tested over this material over the next two weeks… The Books of the Old Testament test will be Friday, September 28th. While the vocabulary test will be given on Monday, October 1st.
7th grade: The seventh grade has done a wonderful job on their Faith Crest Project! Crests are due Monday, September 24th. We’ll work on the Faith Crest Project paper that accompanies the crest on Monday and Tuesday in class. The paper will be due Wednesday, September 26th. The 7thgrade will begin preparing for their Saint Project Thursday and Friday next week!
8th grade: The eighth grade has been busy reading about the Human Person and how we are each created with value and dignity! These discussions are in preparation for the Skittle Game and our upcoming Social Justice unit!
Have a blessed weekend with your families!
Peace,
Mr. Tallman
6-8 Science with Mrs. Erickson
6th Grade: We are finishing up our discussion of who scientists are and how to safely conduct lab activities. Our next unit will be about how scientists design and carry out an experiment. We will have a short quiz next Friday (9/28) covering types of variables, controls, and how to write testable questions and hypotheses. The following week we will begin using this knowledge to conduct an experiment and write a basic lab report.
Once again, notes, handouts, study guides, etc. can be found online: https://sites.google.com/view/mrsericksonscience.
7th Grade: We are finishing up our discussion of characteristics and needs of all living things with a research project of an organism. We will present our projects next week before moving on to our discussion about cells. Our knowledge of cells will be showcased with a project comparing the cell to something of students’ choosing. A popular comparison is comparing a cell to a factory. This project will be due around the 5th of October.
Again, remember notes, handouts, study guides, etc. can be found online: https://sites.google.com/view/mrsericksonscience.
8th Grade: We are beginning our discussion of density. We are working on answering our research question: How does the amount of something affect its density? We will finish this lab early next week with a written lab summary due around Wednesday (9/26). Our research question will then become: how does the temperature of water affect its density? Our lab report for this experiment will be due between Oct 3-5. Once we finish our research we will have a short test around Oct 5/8.
As always, notes, handouts, study guides, etc. can be found online: https://sites.google.com/view/mrsericksonscience.
Thank you!
Mrs. Jaci Erickson
6-8 Social Studies with Mr. Klein
6th grade:
All of the students did an awesome job on their Five Themes of Geography projects, I can't wait to get the posters up in my classroom! The next few weeks we will be looking at the different elements on Planet Earth. There will be a test some time during the the first week of October.
7th grade:
We have been working through the early people of Mesopotamia, this week we have an essay due on Hammurabi's Code, as well as a test scheduled for Friday the 28th. After that, we are going to begin studying the various civilizations throughout the Middle East.
8th grade:
The 8th grade have finished up their colony projects, and I must say, this has been by far the most innovative year I have seen for the materials the students have used for their colonies. It has been a blast listening to their proposals for a colony and their hard work has definitely paid off. We will begin looking at the Thirteen original British colonies next week as well as start reading Johnny Tremain.
Mr. Klein
7T & 8th grade Language Arts with Mrs. Pedersen
7Tallman - Students are continuing with the Myth unit. We will focus on characteristics of a myth and characterization. This week for journal writing, students did a little research on a natural occurrence. They explained the natural occurrence in scientific terms and then created a myth about that natural occurrence. I can't wait to see how creative they are!
In grammar, students took a comma quiz today. We will continue with the punctuation unit.
For Accelerated Reader, students received a goal for October 5. That will be here before we know it. Please check in with your child to see how he/she is doing and remind them to read at home.
8th Grade - We are finishing up the Edgar Allan Poe unit. Students completed a study guide which we reviewed today. There will be a quiz over the selections we read, the life of Poe, and vocabulary on Tuesday, September 25. Our next unit will be a poetry unit.
In grammar, students took a comma quiz today. We will continue with the punctuation unit.
For Accelerated Reader, students received a goal for October 5. That will be here before we know it. Please check in with your child to see how he/she is doing and remind them to read at home.
The school year is off to a great start! Thank you for helping your child come to school each day ready to learn!
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Pedersen
Middle School Band with Mrs. Walter
In band, we have been hard at work since the very beginning of the year! The 6-8 grade band just performed at the All-City Marching Day this past Friday, and I could not be more pleased with how it went. All students really showed our Pius Pride, and made an excellent representation for our school! We have begun to work on some Christmas music already, even though the weather is just starting to cool down. These are already going well, and I can tell the holiday concert is going to be beautiful! The band program also has some potential fun events ahead including field trips and school performances, so stay tuned!
Mrs. Walter
Thank You for reading the SPX Middle School Blog!
Our next blog post is scheduled for Friday, September 21st, 2018
