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. Please mark your calendars – the First Trimester of school ends Friday, November 16th, 2018.
2. Make sure to set aside Tuesday, November 20th– We’ll start the day with our 1stgrade class hosting our All School Mass and the School Lunch Program will host it’s Annual Thanksgiving Feast over lunchtime!
We hope you can join us for both!!!
3. 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!
4. We continue to have 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).
Please note, there will be not Pius Academy on Tuesday, October 9thdue to Parent-Teacher Conferences.
Teacher Updates
6thgrade & 7B Language Arts with Mrs. Bartscher
6th Grade: We are finishing practicing different types of measurements. We started with lengths volume, mass, and will end with temperature. We will have a “lab test” Wednesday, November 7th. A lab test means there will be different stations around the room with objects/ liquids to measure. We will then begin talking about states of matter, solids, liquids, and gases. This is usually a tiny unit, just a couple of days. https://sites.google.com/view/
7th Grade: We have moved onto the cell cycle. For the cell cycle we will create an accordion poster to assess our understanding of how cells reproduce. We are currently finishing our notes for this unit and our posters will be due Monday, November 5th. We will then launch into DNA, Heredity, and Traits.https://sites.google.com/view/
8th Grade: We started chemistry with a mystery powder lab. In this unit we test 5 different powders to identify various chemical and physical characteristics. We then will use our knowledge of these characteristics by testing a vile of “unknown powders” to identify the mixture in them. Our understanding of chemical and physical properties and changes will be assessed through a lab report and summary of our mystery powder lab and tests. https://sites.google.com/view/
Mrs. Bartscher
6-8 Math with Mrs. Gipple
6th Math
We are halfway through our decimals chapter and took a quiz this week over comparing, ordering and representing decimals, as well as estimating, adding and subtracting them. Now we are going over how to multiply and divide decimals and then we will put them into equations. The 2nd quiz over decimals will be Fri, Nov. 9th
7th Math
This week we have been working on operations with fractions, including signed fractions. We are also working on solving equations containing fractions. The quiz over fractions will be Wed, Nov. 7th.
7th Pre-Algebra
After taking the 1st ch. 3 quiz earlier this week, we have been working with geometric equations, as well as inequalities. The quiz over these concepts will be Thurs, Nov. 8th
8th Pre-Algebra
This week we took the quiz over scientific notation, those scores can be viewed in powerschool. Now we are working with squares and square roots, as well as real numbers. Next week will will also apply square roots as we work with the Pythagorean theorem. The 2nd quiz for ch. 3 will be Fri, Nov. 16th.
8th Algebra
This class has been working with compound inequalities, as well as absolute value equations and inequalities. The quiz over these concepts is Fri, Nov. 2nd and the chapter 3 posttest will be next Tuesday, Nov. 6th.
Please be sure to check in with your child to make sure they are working on their Accelerated Math practices and completing these practices and tests by the end of each chapter. Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Gipple
6-8 Religion with Mr. Tallman
6th grade: The sixth grade class has been practicing its investigative skills as they’ve been learning to be Scripture Sleuths this past week! As we’ve been reading the amazing stories of Creation found in Genesis, we’ve put our sleuthing abilities to the test as we’ve uncovered the God made Humanity out of Love and for Love! Next week we’ll look at why Adam and Eve ate the Forbidden Fruit :(
7th grade: The seventh grade class did awesome at the Saint Fair! A big Thank You to all parents and family who were able to came and see the fruits of their hard work! They did great!
Next we’ll start a new unit of study on Vocations – How God calls each of us to serve His Church and Humanity!
8th grade: The eighth grade class has done a fantastic job working on their Social Justice Projects! These are due on Monday, November 5th!
Next, the 8thgrade will start a unit on the Saints, making Saint Peg Dolls! This will be fun!
Don’t forget, Papal Reflection Papers are due on Friday, November 9th!
Have a blessed weekend with your families!
Peace,
Mr. Tallman
6-8 Science with Mrs. Erickson
6th Grade: We are finishing practicing different types of measurements. We started with lengths volume, mass, and will end with temperature. We will have a “lab test” Wednesday, November 7th. A lab test means there will be different stations around the room with objects/ liquids to measure. We will then begin talking about states of matter, solids, liquids, and gases. This is usually a tiny unit, just a couple of days. https://sites.google.com/view/mrsericksonscience
7th Grade: We have moved onto the cell cycle. For the cell cycle we will create an accordion poster to assess our understanding of how cells reproduce. We are currently finishing our notes for this unit and our posters will be due Monday, November 5th. We will then launch into DNA, Heredity, and Traits.https://sites.google.com/view/mrsericksonscience
8th Grade: We started chemistry with a mystery powder lab. In this unit we test 5 different powders to identify various chemical and physical characteristics. We then will use our knowledge of these characteristics by testing a vile of “unknown powders” to identify the mixture in them. Our understanding of chemical and physical properties and changes will be assessed through a lab report and summary of our mystery powder lab and tests. https://sites.google.com/view/mrsericksonscience
Mrs. Erickson
6-8 Social Studies with Mr. Klein
6th Grade:
We are going to continue looking at Canada, the students are hard at work on a Five Themes of Geography project involving Canada and the United States. Monday, we will take a glimpse at the election process here in Iowa before we continue working on the history of Canada. I currently have a test scheduled for November 16th.
7th Grade:
Students are hard at work on their Fertile Crescent Trimester project. We will be working on that throughout the next couple of weeks. All groups will have presented by the end of the Trimester on the 16th. We are also looking at the Middle East today. On Monday and Tuesday we will be looking at the political parties and election process in Iowa.
8th Grade:
We are learning about the American Revolution currently, we are going to be doing a deep-dive into the Declaration of Independence the next week, followed by a research paper that we will begin writing about George Washington and Valley Forge. We will also be looking at the Iowa election on Monday and Tuesday.
Mr. Klein
7T & 8th grade Language Arts with Mrs. Pedersen
7 Tallman - Students have just taken a test over mythology, and will be reading and analyzing the play “A Monkey’s Paw” out of the Scope Magazine.We will also be completing our punctuation unit in the next week. At the conclusion of that unit, we will be working on strategies for “constructed response” writing. There will be one more DOL quiz before the end of the trimester.
8th Grade - We have started a poetry unit. Students are reading and analyzing poems. We have read a group of three poems about making decisions. There will be a test next week over the poems. Students have also been writing poems. So far the poems have had a given format that students must follow. This week students wrote concrete poems with the theme of Halloween. I am enjoying all of the creativity! We will continue reading and writing poetry. There will be one more DOL quiz before the end of the trimester.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Pedersen
6-8 Spanish with Sra. Schoessler
In Spanish 1B, students are learning about the parts of the house and have drawn a map of their bedroom. Soon, we will be learning how to make commands. They will be creative g a dialogue and presenting them in class in the next couple of weeks. They will now be able to tell you to clean their room. Ha!
In Spanish 1A, students have learned to describe themselves and others using an array of vocabulary. They will be interviewing their classmates and sharing what they learned about each other with the class. We will soon be learning the verb tener, and the phrases associated with it.
Exploratory Spanish (6th) has been learning to tell what activities or hobbies they like to do. We will be learning when and with whom they do these activities as well. We’ve had fun playing charades and we will soon create posters using this vocabulary.
Thank You for reading the SPX Middle School Blog!
Our next blog post is scheduled for Friday, November 16th, 2018
