SPX Middle School Blog #3
Friday, September 27th, 2019
Welcome to the Saint
Pius X Middle School Blog!
It’s hard to believe
that we find ourselves beginning the month of October already! The first full
month of the school year has gone bye quickly and we’re all really enjoying our
time with the middle school students!
We have a lot to look
forward to in October…the 6th grade Omelet Breakfast ()ct. 13th
after the 7am & 9am Masses), Parent-teacher conferences (Oct. 15th
and 17th), our monthly 1pm early out day (Oct. 2nd), and
a Professional Development day for teachers (No School Oct. 25), plus All
Saints Day and the Annual 7th grade Saint Fair on November 1st!
We continue to thank
you for partnering with us here at Saint Pius X School, as we work together to
raise young men and women dedicated to Loving God. Loving Others. Making
Disciples. And Restoring All Things in Christ!
Have a Blessed day!
-The Middle School
Team
General Middle School Updates
1. Please join us for
Parent-Teacher Conferences on Tuesday, October 15th and Thursday,
October 17th. An email sign-up will be coming to your email box
soon!
2. Please join us at the following school Masses
hosted by our middle school classes this month:
-October 9th
hosted by Mrs. Gipple’s 8th grade homeroom
-October 16th
hosted by Mr. Klein’s 6th grade homeroom
-November 1st
(All Saints Day Mass @9am) hosted by the 7th grade
3. Are you checking
the Middle School Virtual Planner!? Each day every middle school teacher posts
homework on our virtual planner at https://sites.google.com/stpiusxschool.org/middleschool
This is a great way
for students double-check the assignments recorded in their student planners!
We encourage parents to check the virtual planner as well to assist their
student as they complete their homework and prepare for assessments!
4. Pius Academy is in
full swing – come join us on Tuesday afternoons!
Pius Academy is an
afterschool program where middle school students can get one-on-one support
from the Middle School Team and Dowling Catholic High School Peer Helpers in
any subject area! It’s open to all students as their schedule allows throughout
the course of the school year.
Pius Academy is
offered on Tuesday afternoons from 3:00-3:45pm with pick-up taking place
outside the front entrance of the school (West doors) at 3:45pm.
We look forward to
working with your children during Pius Academy!
Teacher Updates
6th grade and 7B Language Arts with Ms. Fannon:
6E
& 6K: September is almost over, and the students have already learned so
much during the first month of school. In writing, students are currently
practicing descriptive writing, using figurative language, and will soon begin
the writing process on their narrative stories. For reading, they are reading a
short story narrative called “Eleven”. They will analyze this story and also
use it as an anchor text for their own narrative writing. They will have an
“Eleven” vocabulary quiz on October 2nd.
7F: September
is almost over, and the students have already learned so much during the first
month of school. In reading, students are reading the myth “Phaethon, Son of
Apollo”. Currently, they are working on reading comprehension questions to
further understand the text. In writing, students just finished commas and took
their last quiz yesterday. Now they will begin prepping for a compare and
contrast essay between Perseus, the myth they read previously, and Phaethon,
which is what they are reading now.
6th and 7T
Language Arts with Mrs. Pedersen:
7 Tallman - In reading, students are reading the myth “Phaethon, Son of Apollo”. Currently, they are working on reading comprehension questions to further understand the text. In writing, students just finished commas and took their quiz on Tuesday. Now they will begin prepping for a compare and contrast essay between Perseus, the myth they read previously, and Phaethon, which is what they are reading now.
The due date for the halfway goal in
AR is next Friday, October 4. In order to encourage students to read and help
them meet that deadline, I am sending home an assignment for the weekend.
Please ask your child about the assignment; it requires a parent signature.
8th Grade - We are finishing up our Edgar Allan Poe unit. Students
completed a study guide which we reviewed today. There will be a quiz over the
selections we read, the literary terms we used, and the life of Poe on Tuesday,
October 1. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Wednesday, October 2. Our next
unit will be a poetry unit. We will also begin working on a five paragraph
essay.
The due date for the halfway goal in
AR is next Friday, October 4. In order to encourage students to read and help
them meet that deadline, I am sending home an assignment for the weekend.
Please ask your child about the assignment; it requires a parent signature.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Pedersen
Math with Mrs.
Gipple:
6th Grade Math
We have begun our Introduction to
Algebra! The students are learning about letters that stand for numbers
called variables and how we put those into expressions. We have worked
with numerical and variable expressions and how to write these from phrases or
how to write phrases from algebraic expressions. We have also worked on
writing expressions from tables by looking for patterns in the tables.
The quiz over these concepts will be next Tuesday, Oct. 1st. Then the 2nd
half of the chapter we will work on 1 step basic algebraic
equations.
The "Home Connect" tab for
Accelerated Math was not working at the beginning of the year, but it is
working now so please encourage your child to log on to Accelerated Math from
home to work on any practices they may need to finish. Chapter 2 Accel
Math was assigned to them today and will be due by the end of the chapter.
7th Grade Math & 7th Grade
Pre-Algebra
Both classes have been working hard
to understand how integers work. It can be pretty tough to adjust our
minds to work with negative numbers but overall these kids are doing a great
job and seem to be actually enjoying this whole new group of numbers!
The 7th math group is working on
applying negatives to equations and will have their 1st quiz over integer
operations and 1 step equations next Thurs, Oct. 3rd.
The 7th pre-algebra group will take
their 1st quiz over integer operations next Tues, Oct 1st and then work on
applying negatives to different properties.
Both classes will be assigned
Accelerated Math Ch. 2 at the beginning of next week for extra practice on
integers. The "Home Connect" tab for Accel Math is working now.
8th Grade Pre-Algebra
This class has been working with
ordered pairs as solutions, how to use these solutions as points on a
coordinate plane that visually represent the solution sets, and then how to
interpret graphs on a coordinate plane and distinguish between continuous and
discrete graphs. The quiz over these concepts will be Mon, Sept
30th. Next we will work with linear functions and how these can be
represented in equation, table or graph form and the relationship between each
form. Accelerated Math Ch. 2 was assigned today for extra practice on
these concepts.
8th Grade Algebra
We have been working on several
different types of equations, 2-step, multi-step, equations with variables on
both sides, equations with fractions, decimals, and the distributive property
involved. We also worked on literal equations this week where the
students were first introduced to factoring by using the inverse of the
distributive property. The quiz over these equations will be Mon, Sept
30th. The 2nd half of the chapter we will concentrate on rates, ratios,
conversions, proportions and percents.
Please let me know if you have any
questions or concerns and have a wonderful weekend enjoying some fall
weather...finally!!!
Mrs. Gipple
Religion with Mr.
Tallman:
It’s been an exciting few weeks in religion class! Check out
what each class is working on below…
6th grade: 6th grade took their
Religion Class Vocabulary Test today (Monday, Sept. 30th). They’ve
been studying hard for this! I’m excited to see how they do on their first
formal assessment of the year!
Next, the class will begin working on learning the 46 Books
of the Old Testament and will be preparing for the Annual 6th grade
Omelet Breakfast fundraiser on Sunday, October 13th! I sent an email
with details about this on Monday, Sept. 30th!
7th grade: 7th grade took a test over
the Creed and the Nicene Creed today (Monday, Sept. 30th).
The remainder of this week will be spent working on their
Faith Crest Project (Due October 7th).
The rest of the month will be dedicated to our preparation
of the Annual Saint Fair on November 1st from 10:30-11:30am in the
Church Fellowship Hall.
8th grade: The 8th grade has been busy
working on their first academic paper of the school year. Each trimester the 8th
grade will submit a reflection on a public address that Pope Francis gives
(Papal Reflection Paper Assignment). Their first reflection is due November 8th!
Have an awesome week!
Peace,
Mr. Tallman
Science with Mrs.
Erickson:
As always, be sure to check the homework page for updated test,
project, and due dates: https://sites.google.com/stpiusxschool.org/middleschool
6th Grade: We have begun working through parts of an experiment
this week. We are starting with what makes a good scientific question and what
makes a good testable/ experimental question. We will also learn how to write
hypotheses and identify variables, constants, and control groups. Once we
master these skills we will learn what makes a good experimental procedure and
write our own experiments! We will also learn how to accurately analyze
quantitative and qualitative data. We will show our understanding of these
concepts first by working through an experiment and then a short quiz.
Hopefully we will begin doing the experiment the week of October 7th, with the
quiz at the end of the week.
7th Grade: We finished our unit about Scientific Inquiry and
Engineering Designs this week and started recapping cells. We will discuss cell
theory, cell structure, processes, and life cycle. Due to this being a review
unit from last year before digging into more biology concepts this year, the
duration will depend on what we remember from last year, what we need to
review, and some projects we will complete in digging deeper into the
structures and functions of cell parts.
8th Grade: We finished our unit about Scientific Inquiry and Engineering
Designs this week and started talking about why some objects sink while others
float. We will be measuring mass and volume of different objects and graphing
these values to determine why some float and others sink. We will be doing two
labs where we look at how amount and temperature affect sinking and floating as
well. There will be lab reports for both of these experiments. Designing
experiments and writing lab reports are skills we will revisit throughout the
year. This whole unit will take around 3 weeks or so to complete.
Social Studies with
Mr. Klein:
8th Grade:
We are part way through our deep dive
look at the 13 original British colonies. The students will be working on their
essay next week about slavery in the colonies. Starting Friday, October 4th, we
will also begin reading the book Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes to coincide
with our connecting how the colonists felt leading up to the Revolutionary War.
7th Grade:
The students are hard at work learning
about Imperialism. We have talked about the British in India, other western
powers in China, and will finish up looking at how these countries initially
divided Africa. There will be an assessment over these countries and
Imperialism after we have finished looking at Africa. The test is scheduled for
October 11th.
6th Grade:
Our next unit of study will be the
different climates in our world and how they affect the people who live there.
They will be making a "Climate Book" to help them review the different
climates and regions.
Instrumental Music
with Ms. Walter:
Now that Fall's officially underway,
we're already looking forward to our first performance with the band! The
All-City Fall Showcase at Dowling's Homecoming game is on October 4th, with a
rehearsal with the full diocese on October 3rd. As a reminder, after the
performance, 8th graders are invited to sit with the Dowling Vanguard in the
stands during first quarter to play pep band tunes and Dowling Victors. The
middle school band has been hard at work, and we're already shaping up to have
a great year! Aside from our first performance, we also have our first jazz
band rehearsal on October 8th from 3-4 pm. All middle school band students are
invited to participate in SPX Jazz, regardless of instrument. We typically play
classic jazz tunes as well as renditions of popular music together. I'm already
excited to see where we'll go this year!
Have a great week!
Library with Mrs.
Reister:
This Fall's Middle
School Brown Bag Book Club meeting will be during Unit 3 lunch on Thursday,
November 7th. We will be reading The Seventh Most Important
Thing by Shelley Pearsall. If you are interested in
participating, sign up in the library.
Spanish with Sra.
Schoessler:
In Spanish 1B, 8th
graders have been practicing their present tense verb conjugations. They just
finished a packet of verb drills. Lots of verbs and lots of practice!
They may not have enjoyed every minute of it, but I think most students
appreciated it as the drilling brought about more clarity and a more complete
understanding. We are starting our last review unit on clothing next week. We
will review colors, stem changing verbs and direct objects. They will likely have an exam mid to late
October. Encourage them to study 5 minutes a night... it
really becomes evident in class when they do.
In Spanish 1A,
students were introduced to subject pronouns and the verb ser. They are
learning how they work together and have created several sentences. They should
be able to say where a person is from, describe a person’s physical features,
or describe the person’s status (Ella es una chica). When we start
conjugating verbs, students can sometimes struggle. However, so far I’ve
been impressed with their participation level and interest. Keep it up! Next
week, we will study the verb gustar... and then we will test. Keep them
studying 5 minutes daily to keep the info fresh! We are looking at mid October for the test
dat on this first unit. Stay tuned.
In 6th grade,
students studied days of the week, months of the year and numbers 0-39 this
week. Their test will be
next Thursday, October 3. They will be tested over greetings
and goodbyes, how to introduce themselves (all 3 ways) and a unit I’ve called
“chit-chat and manners,” plus the days, months and numbers vocab. They have
been fun to teach- keep encouraging them to study for 5 minutes a day!
In fifth grade,
students made posters with classroom phrases and illustrations. They shared
their work and I could tell they were very proud as they presented. They did a
great job! Next week, we will be studying numbers. Keep up the great work 5th
grade!
Art with Mrs. Jaschen
ART ROOM NEWS
The 7th grade students have been learning about Zentangles, the new art form created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. Next week they will be creating a large 3D letter using their own Zentangle.
The 7th grade students have been learning about Zentangles, the new art form created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. Next week they will be creating a large 3D letter using their own Zentangle.
They also enjoyed creating Suminagashi art (marbling paper), and
are putting the finishing touches on their own creative art piece using the
Suminagashi paper they made.
Our next project will be a black and white VALUE Drawing.
Students will need to bring an 8 ½ x11 black and white Xerox copy of one of
their favorite school pictures or a baby photo. We do not need to have the
original, unless you would like me to make the copy for you. Please help
them choose a portrait they are happy with. Any questions please email me.
Ann Marie Jaschen
Enrichment with Mrs.
Moser:
Mock Trial will have
our first practice next Tuesday,
October 1st at 3:45
pm in Ms Fannon's
Room (104).
A Doodle Poll has been sent out to
those that expressed interest to find the best day for subsequent practices so
please make sure you mark your availability by our first practice next Tuesday!
At that Tuesday practice we will do our best to pinpoint the best days for
practices. If you did not receive the Doodle Poll please email Mrs. Moser at nmoser@stpiusxschool.org. If you have
not received a copy of the case materials (or misplaced them) see Mrs. Moser
for a copy or you can print them from here: https://www.iowabar.org/page/MSMockTrial
Mrs. Sears and I are so excited for
Mock Trial to begin and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!
A note from Mrs.
Samanth Montang about SPX Parish Youth Programing:
SFA is looking for youth volunteers to provide childcare during
our Parish Mission, Oct 13-15 from 6:30-8:45 PM. Volunteers can sign-up for one
night or more. They will receive at least 2 hours of service per night. They
will assist adult childcare providers to play with children, lead games and crafts,
provide general care and light cleaning at the end of the shift. Volunteers
must be in 6th grade or older. Interested youth can sign
up at https://signup.com/go/tffmShR.
Please direct any questions to Rebecca Bahl, nursery coordinator, rbahl@saintfrancischurch.org.
Thank you!
Sam
Thank you for reading this edition of the Middle School Blog!
Our next post is scheduled for Friday, October 11th!
