Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to wish all of my middle school students and parents a very happy Thanksgiving

School work over the Thanksgiving holiday:

6th Grade:
-Sixth grade has been assigned two worksheets to work on over the Thanksgiving holiday:

• "Visualization"
•  "Writing Across Texts"

-Sixth grade was also provided with an extra credit worksheet.

7th Grade:
-Seventh grade is working on an in-class essay as an assessment for Unit 3 of Literature.  Students are encouraged to review the two reading selections they are writing about: "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost and "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer.  Students should have created an organizational chart of information they are using for the essay and an outline.  They are allowed to use their outline in class to assist them in writing the essay.

The essay question for this comparative essay is:

"In an essay, compare Robert Frost's view of nature in "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Jon Krakauer's view of nature in Into Thin Air.  How does each author respond to nature?"

8th Grade (literature in my class):
 -Eighth grade is currently reading Rascal.  We have completed the novel and the students are watching the movie in class.
-The students will be asked to compile all of their chapter assignments and create a study guide for the novel.
*Students should make sure they have all of their chapter assignments in order to compile them.

All of the Grades:
-All of the grades need to make sure they are keeping track of their free reading in their reading logs.  All of the reading logs will be collected on December 3rd.

-Students are required to turn in both reading logs.

Thank you, and enjoy your holiday!

Mrs. Moussa

Halloween Announcement

  

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

 

 

Halloween Costume Guidelines. Halloween Costume Parades, Thursday, October 30. 

We will hold our annual costume parade under the pavilion at 8:30 am this Thursday, October 31. Children may wear costumes to school. In the spirit of Halloween, costumes and make up may be scary, but they must not be inappropriate or offensive and may not include weapons in any description. Anyone who plans to send Halloween treats to school for class celebrations must first check with their child's classroom teachers for advance approval.

Parent/Teacher Conferences (7th Grade)

Hello parents,

I wanted to inform you that the schedule for parent/teacher conferences is now available in the office.  To make an appointment, please call Ms. Francis, and she can schedule your appointment with me.  Conferences are Monday, November 25th - Wednesday, November 27th.  

Please, take a moment to review GradeLink.com (http://www.gradelink.com/) for your student's grades.  

Make sure your student makes-up any missing assignments, quizzes, and tests.  Making-up missed assignments is the student's responsibility, and at the end of trimester all missing assignments will be converted to a zero.

Thank you for your help, and have a great day!

Mrs. Moussa

Upcoming Tests and Quizzes

Hi everyone,

Due to our short school week this week, the vocabulary quizzes and tests are scheduled for Monday.  The students were notified of this change on Monday (10/21/13).

Here is a list of the upcoming quizzes and tests:

Sixth Grade: Vocabulary Test (Units 4-6)

Seventh Grade: Vocabulary Quiz (Unit 7)

Eighth Grade: Vocabulary Quiz (Unit 7)

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Moussa

Change in Vocabulary Quiz and Test Date for 6th and 7th Grade

Hi,

This is a reminder that the vocabulary test for 7th graders on units 4-6 has been scheduled for Monday, October 21st, 2013.  Also, the 6th grade unit 6 vocabulary quiz has been scheduled for Monday, October 21st, 2013.  


The quiz and test were scheduled for this Friday, but we will be taking them on Monday.

Don't forget to review your vocabulary words over the weekend!

Thanks,

Mrs. Moussa

Upcoming Vocabulary Tests (7th and 8th Grade)

Hi,

This is a notice of upcoming vocabulary tests for 7th and 8th grades.

7th grade has a vocabulary test on units 4,5,and 6 on Friday, October 18th, 2013 .

8th grade has a vocabulary test on units 4,5, and 6 on Monday, October 21st, 2013.

Please make sure to review the vocabulary words' synonyms, and definitions.  As discussed in class, the most important thing is to be able to understand how to use the vocabulary words.  So, students should focus on knowing the synonyms.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Moussa

 

Unit 2 Final Project - Author Study (7th and 8th Grade)

Hi everyone,

Example of a presentation board project

Seventh and Eighth graders are currently working on their final project for unit 2 of literature.  This final project is an author study of one of the authors in unit 2 of our literature books.  Here are the instructions  for the project. 
This project is due on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013.

Seventh & Eighth Grade – Unit 2 Final Project

Unit 2 final project has two components:

1.     Research the life and work of one of the authors of the selections in Unit 2:

*All of the items below must be posted on a presentation board

a.   Write a newspaper article about the life and literary work of the author.

                                                             i.      Don’t forget to include:

1.     Where was he/she born?

2.     Where was he/she educated?

3.     What were did he/she work?  Was he/she successful?

4.     What were his/her most powerful literary works?

b.   Include one poem/short story of the author of your choice, and illustrate important imagery used in the poem/story

c.    Write a letter to the author:

                                                             i.       Telling him/her which of their poems/short stories is your favorite, and why

                                                           ii.      Your favorite quotes/part of the story/poem

                                                        iii.      How you identify to the poem/short story

d.   Pictures of the author, or book covers

2.     Oral Presentation:

a.   Organize an oral presentation of all of the above information

b.   Choose your favorite poem/short story by your chosen author and analyze it:

                                                             i.      Explain the theme/main idea of the poem/story

                                                           ii.      Explain symbolism or figurative language used in the poem

                                                        iii.      Share key quotes from the selection

                                                        iv.      Describe why you chose this poem, and how did you identify with it

**Don’t forget to turn-in a bibliography of all the sources you used for your research. **

 

Example of presentation board project

Upcoming Language Arts Tests and Quizzes

Hello students and parents,

As you know, this week and some of next week is dedicated to ITBS Testing.  Due to this testing, this week's vocabulary quizzes/tests will be postponed until next Friday (September 28th).  This will allow students two weeks to study and work on their current vocabulary units. 

Here is a schedule of upcoming tests and quizzes:

Sixth Grade: 

• Vocabulary Test (Units 1, 2, 3) - Friday, September 28th

Seventh Grade: 

• Reading Test (Unit 1) - Monday, September 23rd 
• Vocabulary Quiz (Unit 4) - Friday, September 28th
• Spelling Quiz (on vocabulary words) - Friday, September 28th

 Eighth Grade:

•  Reading Test (Unit 1) - Monday, September 23rd
• Vocabulary Quiz (Unit 4) - Friday, September 28t

P.S. I am always here to help!  Please, make an appointment, if you feel you need some support before the tests/quizzes.

Good luck!!! 

 

 
                     

Vocabulary Tests for 7th and 8th Graders

Hello Students and Parents,

This post is just a reminder that 7th and 8th graders have a vocabulary test this Friday for Units 1, 2, and 3.  The students were notified of the test on Monday, and we have been working all week on reviewing the vocabulary words.  Please, review the words with your student.  The test will assess the students' knowledge of word definitions, synonyms, and antonyms.

Thank you, and have a great week!

Mrs Moussa

Missing Class and Missing Assignments

Hello students and parents,

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, and the St. Anne's Festival.  It has come to my attention that there have been many absences in the past couple of weeks of school.  It is understandable that illnesses and extenuating circumstances may hinder students from attending school, but I wanted to stress the importance of maintaining a regular attendance.  When students miss class they miss lessons, activities, and important classroom discussions.  

Many of the students that have missed school have not made an active attempt to find out what lessons, activities, quizzes, and assignments they have missed.  

It is imperative that students understand that it is their responsibility to find out what they missed when they were absent, borrow notes from a fellow student on the lessons, make up the missing assignment/activity, and to turn it in.  This is an important part of being a responsible student/learner; which, students and parents agreed to work towards when they signed the Achieving Excellence contract.

Students who do not make up missing assignments/quizzes after their absences will have a point deducted for each day it is late.  A date must be set to make-up missed quizzes/tests the day the absent student returns to school.  I will no longer seek out students for make-up assignments or quizzes/tests.

Thank you, and have a great weekend,

Mrs. Moussa