Happy January, Middle School Families!

All students will be wrapping up  their Science Fair essays this coming week. Final essays for all students will be due on Wednesday in Mr. Molina’s Language Arts Lab. 7th and 8th grade will be writing abstracts for their essays Wednesday and Thursday. 5th and 6th graders do not have to write abstracts.

To kick off the new calendar year with a positive mindset, all middle schoolers are writing short essays on Growth Mindset. All grades received a reading and activity on the subject the day we returned from break, and the writing is due this coming Friday.

This past week, we jumped back into our Change Requires Effort novel study units, and will complete them in the next week and a half. To sum up the unit, students will begin writing argumentative essays based on their opinions of the novel. They will write these essays after we finish the novel.

In Ancient Civilizations, we will be wrapping up Ancient Egypt next week. 5th and 6th grade students have an Ancient Egyptian Travel brochure project due Tuesday, January 23rd. In this project, students will choose 5 famous ancient Egyptian sites, research them, and create a travel brochure informing travelers about these sites. This project should be creative, and students have the freedom to design them as they wish as long as they include all the required information. This project should be worked on and completed at home. The Egypt test will be on Tuesday, January 30th. Students will receive a practice test and review prior to the test.

In United States History, we finished the Articles of Confederation and have moved into the writing of the Constitution. Over the next week, we will go deeper into the dispute between the Federalists and Antifederalists with a group project, and the chapter 3 test will be on Wednesday, January 31st. Students will have review sessions and a study guide prior to the test. There will be a short Citizenship unit immediately following the test where students will learn how our government works under the Constitution.

Reminders: 

Monday 1/15 is a holiday – no school

Progress Reports will be ready on Friday afternoon 1/19. Please print them out, sign them, and return them with your student on Monday, 1/22. Please do not print progress reports out prior to Friday, as they will not be fully updated.

Wednesday 1/24 is 12pm dismissal

8th graders should be working on their portfolio slide shows – instructions were given out before break

Due Dates at a Glance: 

Science Fair Essay (all grades) due Wed 1/17
7th/8th Science Fair Abstract due Fri 1/19
Growth Mindset Essay (all grades) due Fri 1/19
5th Grade Essay Contest due Mon 1/22 (will be worked on with Mrs. Johnston in religion class)
Ancient Civ project due Tues 1/23
US History group project due Mon 1/22