
OVS Middle School Newsletter
6th - 8th grade
Important Dates
Oct. 17-- Science club resumes
MAP Testing Week of Oct. 17th
MAP Testing Science 6th, 7th, 8th
Oct. 31-- No School for Students
Nov. 1-- No School for Students
Nov. 21-25-- No School for Students and Staff - Thanksgiving Recess
Inclement Weather
OVS is a part of Omaha Public Schools' and when OPS calls a snow day, OVS has a snow day.
What will our snow days look like?
Learners will:
- Follow their pacing guide and complete lessons for the day and work independently at home.
- Connect with their teachers on Teams at 11-12pm-, if they have questions/need support (optional). Access Teams link via Canvas Calendar.
Teachers will:
- Be available "live" on Teams to answer questions from 11-12 PM.
- Respond to emails during the day.
Digital Citizenship
This week is Digital Citizenship week! What is digital citizenship? Watch this short video to learn more. Click HERE to complete a family media agreement to practice digital citizenship at home.
Review the OVS Course Syllabus for more information
Art & Design Lab
Attention!! In person support available for 7th grade Art, Art 1-2, Intro to Digital Design & Digital Media!!
Who: Any Art or Design Student 7th & 10th-12th Grade
What: Art & Design Lab - Optional In Person Support
When: Mondays from 1:30-3
Where: OVS in Room 353 (ELA Classroom)
Why: To provide help and support to Art & Design students, come work on your art/design work with your peers, with your teacher, with school supplies.
How: Sign up through your calendar in Canvas to let me know you are coming. (See Announcements in Canvas for Instructions)
PTO Info
Want to join PTO as a board member? Looking to volunteer when available? Email omahavirtualschoolpto@gmail.com!
Positions/Committees available: Spirit Wear, Teacher Appreciation, Student Engagement, Fundraising, Book Fair, Learning Coach Support
Fundraising info coming soon!
PTO Meeting Schedule for the 2022-2023 School Year:
Meetings will be Zoom/In Person Hybrid - Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3dAIDpm
- Thursday, October 20th: 6:30 - 7:30
- Thursday, November 17th: 6:30 - 7:30
- Thursday, December 8th: 6:30 - 7:30 (Semester Recap, Brainstorm Semester 2)
- Thursday, January 5th: 6:30 - 7:30 (Welcome Back, Updates for Semester 2)
- Thursday, January 19th: 6:30 - 7:30
- Thursday, February 16th: 6:30 - 7:30
- Thursday, March 23rd: 6:30 - 7:30
- Thursday, April 20th: 6:30 - 7:30
- Thursday, May 18th: 6:30 - 7:30 (Final Meeting for this year, peaks and valleys recap, ideas for next year)
From the teachers:
Mrs. Felten
Email: molly.felten@ops.org
Website: omahavirtualschool.org
Location: 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE, USA
Phone: 5312999325
Science
Hello learning coaches and learners!
This week is a short week because of conferences on Wednesday and Thursday. Please make sure you have signed up with at least one teacher. We can't wait to connect and talk about the great things your learner is doing! I really appreciate how much work you and your learner put into our program first quarter. Thanks!
All classes have just started unit three with a fresh start. This week, most students have 3 or four lessons that range from Monday - Wednesday. I do not have work on the pacing guided for Thursday or Friday. Also, there will be no online support sessions on Friday because teachers have the day off.
Some classes have 2 lessons a day for a couple of days on the pacing guide throughout this quarter. This is because there are not enough school days to fit all of the content when we take 4 weeks off a year for intersession. I have spread them out so that hopefully it is not cumbersome for learners.
This week in class students are going to do a fun review of the last unit and how it connects to this current unit. All of the units in science build upon each other. It is important for the students to be able to communicate how units relate to each other, so their learning has connections.
All students are currently starting their student research project in class - ask them about this project! What will they need for materials? What help will they need from me (Mrs. Felten) or you? We will continue this work next week.
Finally - notes are important as students are getting into new content. Notes should answer the guiding questions found in Canvas. Each notes page should have a header of the lesson number at the top. Students are encouraged to draw pictures, write extra notes, and color code if it helps them learn. Notes are graded on accuracy of answering the questions, organization, and must be readable to the student to study. Students get their notes checked every unit as a formative grade - it takes the place of printing out a worksheet for every lesson. The guiding questions match state standards.
What are students learning?
6th grade - starting geological history of the Earth. They will learn how to determine how old rocks are and how old the Earth could be. They will also learn how life on Earth has changed throughout time through fossil evidence. The next unit is on plate tectonics. The final unit is on catastrophic events that change Earth's surface (tsunamis, tornados, earthquakes, etc.) The last unit is usually a favorite of 6th graders.
7th grade - starting cellular energy. This unit covers photosynthesis and cell division/replication. It is probably the hardest unit this semester - they really need to take good notes! The next unit is the human body and then the final unit is learning about animals. Both are enjoyed by many students and much easier than cellular energy.
8th grade - starting chemistry. We just finished learning about atoms, and now students will figure out how to do chemical equations for a chemical reaction. This unit is usually new for students and they enjoy learning about reactions - especially when they explode! The next 2 units will cover Newton's Laws of Motion and Momentum.
Mr. Medeiros
A huge thank you to all the families that participated in parent-teacher conferences. It was so nice to get to speak with you and have great conversations about your learners. Students have a wonderful tool at their disposal that can support their learning, enhance their content knowledge, and improve MAP test scores. This tool is called MAP Accelerator. Students have access to this tool through their Clever account. MAP Accelerator will be a part of their final semester grade as students will have goals to complete by the end of the semester. More details to come about their goals and a rubric that will be used to grade that progress.
Sixth grade will continue working with decimals and the four operations. Students will have a quiz on Tuesday that focuses of the skills of adding and subtracting decimals. Remember to line up the numbers by the decimal and the place values vertically. Coaches can support their learners by giving them opportunities to add tax to the restaurant bill, or having their learner calculate change. Provide as many opportunities as possible to get your learner to see that decimal calculation is an everyday, real-life skill. We will end the week talking about multiplying and dividing with decimals.
Seventh grade will continue learning about rational numbers and using the four operations with different types of rational numbers. This last week’s focus was on adding with rational numbers, particularly positive and negative numbers. Students will be taking a quiz over adding positive and negative rational numbers on Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, we will be subtracting rational numbers. Coaches can support their learners by talking about positive and negative numbers and they impact your life. Think of profit and loss or income versus debt.
Eighth grade will continue with unit two content, focusing on solving equations with one variable. This week we will talk about combining like terms, solving problems that have variables on both sides of the equal signs, and how to solve problems that use inequalities. On Friday, students will have a quiz over solving these types of problems. Coaches can support their learners by asking to see notes from the lessons and in class and discuss the content that is currently being taught.
No matter what grade level your learner is in, please make sure to look at the pacing guides for your learners’ courses and check their notes. The pacing guides are there to walk learners and coaches through the weeks content. Keeping on pace can reduce stress and increase confidence and learning. Thank you for all you do to support us and your learner.
Philip Medeiros
Middle School Mathematics
531-299-8071
Email: Philip.medeiros@ops.org
Website: omahavirtualschool.org
Location: 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE, USA
Phone: 531-299-8071
Ms. Robison
One of the things I like love about teaching is the built in fresh starts. We have a fresh start each August, each semester, each quarter, and frankly....each day.
Help your learner take advantage of this fresh start. How? Ensure that they have completed all the work assigned for this week. And, don't just ask them, but have them show you! Here are some questions to ask.
- 6th-Tell me about winning the lottery. What did you learn about writing a paragraph? What is central idea?
- 7th-How did you use the writing process to complete your procedural essay? Show me your final product.
- 8th-Tell me about "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." How does the poem, "Sympathy" compare? What is the central idea of both?
If your learner is able to finish their work for this week, they will be right on pace. Getting behind from the jump will deflate a learner's confidence and add undo stress.
If I can help in any way, please let me know!
Email: jill.robison@ops.org
Website: omahavirtualschool.org
Location: 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE, USA
Phone: 531.299.6965
Mr. Michael MacConnell
Middle School Social Studies:
Last week we began Quarter 2. Because of Parent-Teacher Conferences, only our Wednesday learners had in-person classes this week. In social studies, we used that time to review some expectations for how to complete an online lesson correctly, and students were given time to work on assignments that were due this week. For 8th grade, there was a Mid-Unit Test. The 7th graders had a discussion post to submit. In 6th grade, students worked on the Unit 3 Test.
On Monday, during check-in next week, we will make sure agendas are dated and filled in for the remainder of the week. Feel free to assist your learner with putting the lessons and assignments for next week in their agendas. The 8th graders should be finishing Unit 1, and we will be doing the Unit Test in class on their in-person days. The 7th graders will be continuing to learn about South America, and they will have an assignment due on Thursday. The 6th graders will begin Unit 4 on Ancient Egypt and have an assignment due on Friday.
Email: michael.macconnell@ops.org
Location: 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE, USA
Phone: 531-299-7316
Mr. Brannan
Economics: Unit 1 and Unit 2 are closed.
Unit 3 is about Supply/Demand and impacts on labor, housing, etc.
It is important for students to read and understand the content in order to correctly complete the assignments.
Personal Finance: Units 1-4 are closed.
Unit 5 is about saving and investing.
Web Design: Students are beginning to create web pages using HTML code
Foundations of Computing: We are applying knowledge of binary to create black and white images
Info Tech: Students have been learning computer basics including hardware, software and ethics.
SCHOOL PROCEDURES--REMINDERS
Arrival time-tardies
Please strive for your learner to be on time to class. One day a week on site makes every instructional minute count.
Class starts at (meaning student is in their seat at the below times):
Monday @ 7:40am
Tuesday @ 11:40am
Wednesday @ 7:40am
Thursday @ 7:40am
If a learner shows up after this time, they will need to enter the 2nd floor, Career Center doors as the 3rd floor/33rd Street doors will be locked.
Dress code
From the District Code of Conduct, "Students must be fully clothed, with a covered torso and shoes" p. 22.
Ultimately, student attire should not distract from the learning environment. With limited in person time, we will not send a leaner home if they are not in compliance but we will have clothes in the office to ensure they can still participate in learning.
Hats and hoodies- hats on and/or hoodies up are not permitted in class unless special circumstances are required and/or school spirit days. (That said, next week we will do hat days!!)
Air pods and ear phones- are not permitted to be on/in use during instructional time.
Cell phones- should not be in use during instructional time unless instructed to do so. A learner will be asked to put a phone away and if it is still out, the phone will be put in a bin in the classroom during class time.
Omaha Virtual School
Email: virtualschool@ops.org
Website: https://www.omahavirtualschool.org/
Location: 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE, USA
Phone: 531-299-9618
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OPSVirtualSchool/
Twitter: @OPS_Virtual