Gov. TJMS Newsletter

At GTJMS, we strive everyday to create an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity, academic achievement, and well-being. Our mission is to empower students for success today and persevere through tomorrow’s 21st century challenges.

Governor Thomas Johnson Middle School is a diverse community of students, educators, support staff, parents and local organizations working collaboratively to provide an academically rigorous education, which includes the technology skills necessary for the 21st century. By holding students, educators and parents accountable for success, we are creating lifelong learners who take responsibility for their own educational goals and positive personal development. Excellence in teaching and learning is paramount to developing productive citizens who have promising and successful lives.

This section is dedicated to GTJMS School Improvement Plan (SIP)! Last month we went over detailed explanations of our Health and Wellness goals.

This month, we will review information regarding achievement goals for Math and ELA. Back during winter, students completed their global scholar for both Math and ELA. This data is compared to Fall data scores, as well as Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) scores. Our overall goal is to increase our scores by 2.1 percentage points for both Math and ELA. Below are our gains using global scholars.

• Math: Currently we are 16.3 percentage points above our goal.

• ELA: Currently we are 6.7 percentage points above our goal

March is Women’s History month!

Check out the link to learn about important women in history.

This month also includes several other events!

• Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

• National Irish American Day

The last day to turn in work for the second half of Term 3 is next Friday, March 18th. Term 3 ends on March 25th. If your child has missing assignments or needs to complete a re-assessment, please encourage them to do so as soon as possible and message their teacher(s) in Schoology.

All students also have access to free online tutors 24 hours a day using the TutorMe link in Schoology.

The end of the school year will be here before we know it! If you would like to help plan 8th grade end of year activities please contact Jenny Lazarus at jennylaz@msn.com.

This year we are hoping to bring back the spring fundraiser at Oscar's Ale House. If you are interested in helping with our silent auction spring fundraiser please contact Lori Mauzy at lmauzy@gmail.com.

If you have questions about the PTSA, please feel free to reach out to one of our board members:

Caitlyn Reed- President

Caitlyn.Reed@fcps.org

Jenny Lazarus- Treasurer

jennylaz@msn.com

Susan Myers- Secretary

Susan_D_Myers@mcpsmd.org

Registration (Course Verification) sheets are due back to grade level counselors for rising 7th and 8th graders. Even though they are late, please send them in if you haven’t already. Without this paper, counselors will need to choose electives for students.

Term 3 is ending and we are headed into the final term of this school year. Please continue to check grades with your student and contact counselors with any questions/concerns.

TJMS Counseling Department

• Sarah Gunter- 6th grade/ sarah.gunter@fcps.org 240-236-4851
• Laura Rudy- 7th grade/ laura.rudy@fcps.org 240-236-4852
• Brian Dwyer-8th grade/brian.dwyer@fcps.org 240-236-4884

The school culture team is hard at work on planning events for ELA MCAP week.

MISA Testing is this Tuesday and Wednesday for all 8th graders. They will be testing in the morning. They must bring their FCPS issued Chromebooks Fully charged with charger. If they do not have a FCPS issued device they will have one for testing.

Please make sure your child is on time to school for those days espcecially. Testing starts first period.

MCAP State testing is approaching. The week of April 4th we will begin collecting chromebooks to prepare for testing. To not disrupt more than 6 days of MCAP testing, we are going to collect chromebooks for testing to make the testing days run smoothly. Students will get them back prior to spring break.

Language Arts:

Mrs. Hoffman’s students are beginning a mini-unit on the Titanic. In the coming weeks, we will develop an online newspaper that includes a collection of narrative, informational, and argumentative writing. This week, students are identifying the central idea of an informative piece and with this, they will construct an objective summary of the text to include in their newspaper.

Ms. Billé’s and Ms. LaPierre’s classes are currently working on a unit focused on identity. Their classes are currently finishing up “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan and “Growing Up” by Gary Soto focusing on how the characters’ point of view and interactions with their parents help to convey the theme of each text. Next week students will begin to analyze “A Voice” by Pat Mora and “The Medicine Bag” by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve for how the characters’ actions and point of view help to convey the theme of the two different texts. In the coming weeks, students will be writing a narrative based on one of the stories they read in the identity unit and an informative essay that addresses the question: Can people change their identity?

Math: 6th Grade math students have been solving algebraic equations. We are learning how to write algebraic equations for real-life situations. We will then be writing and graphing inequalities.

Science: 6th graders are wrapping up learning about water and are preparing to enter into the last module. In this last module, students will be exploring Our Extreme Planet as they learn about weather factors and patterns in order to accurately observe and forecast weather.

Social Studies: 6th grade students are traveling through the ancient world and are now exploring ancient Greece. We are exploring the geography, government, comparing the city-states of Athens and Sparta and will soon be able to find out even more about ancient Greece. As we continue to travel through history we will be working on improving our argumentative writing skills by developing a strong thesis statement, supporting our stance with both textual evidence and outside evidence and being able to explain how this evidence supports our argument.

Food Science: 6th grade Food Science are starting their marketing projects. The Cereal Box Project. We will work on this project for the next few weeks with labs on Friday only. We are collecting empty cereal boxes for this project.

Learning Target: I understand the process for developing, design and promoting a brand

Success Criteria: I successfully worked as a team to create a cereal brand for a specific target market.

Cooking labs will be emailed to parents prior to each lab.

Lab 21: 6th Grade students finished their exploration of Social & Global issues, which explored computational thinking and Scatch coding. Students were given the challenge of creating a Scratch coding project to provide awareness and pose possible creative solutions/ways to reduce the social/global issue they chose to present. Maxson Bliven & Damon Morales had the top presentation from GTJMS and were entered into this year’s county Tech Fair. Their entry earned second place out of 13 entries for Scratch and Computational thinking.

Link to explain their game: https://watch.screencastify.com/v/XN1HX97vCZavNGqIXNu7

Virtual Presentation of awards: https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c3ee3kVFcn4

Tech Expo: This week, we have been discovering the forces of physics involved in catapults and trebuchets. Initial technical drawings were followed by build and launchings which occurred on Friday. Next week, we move into another fun wood project with building the Nickel Hockey game

Language Arts: Ms. Billé’s classes are currently wrapping up a unit focused on human rights. In the coming weeks her students will be reading the novel Crash by Jerry Spinelli focusing on how the theme is developed through the novel with the use of figurative language, point of view, and text structure.

Math: 7 Accelerated: Students are working on solving multi-step equations containing a single variable. We will begin to identify equations with infinite and zero solutions, as well as use these equations to solve real world problems.

Science: 7th graders are learning about physical and chemical properties, as well as physical and chemical changes. Students will observe evidence of properties and changes. The goal is to develop evidence and reasoning to explain a phenomenon students will observe. Students will move into balancing equations and learning about the law of conservation of matter.

• As we work through the chemistry unit, please review lab safety with your child. Safety is top priority in the classroom when completing labs. If students can not be safe, lab privilege can be revoked.

Social Studies: 7th Graders are coming to the end of the Mesoamerica unit and moving into Unit 6 in Europe in the Middle Ages. As we explore this unit we will learn about feudalism, religion with the influence the church had on medieval Europe, the Crusades, medieval towns, and the decline of feudalism. As we continue to travel through history we will be working on improving our argumentative writing skills by developing a strong thesis statement, supporting our stance with both textual evidence and outside evidence and being able to explain how this evidence supports our argument.

Creative Arts: Students are exploring the mysterious world of Alebrijes! We are in the process of drawing and sculpting these magical creatures. Students are problem solving ways to construct an armature or skeleton frame for their 3D sculptures.

Invention and Innovation: This week, we completed the forces involved in bridges with the completion of the toothpick bridge projects. On Friday, students were introduced to coding as we move into coding with Scratch next week. This unit will take just over a week. Here, students will create games and animation using block coding.

Life Skills: 7th grade Life Skills are starting their marketing projects. The Cereal Box Project. We will work on this project for the next few weeks with labs on Friday only. We are collecting empty cereal boxes for this project.

Learning Target: I understand the process for developing, design and promoting a brand

Success Criteria: I successfully worked as a team to create a cereal brand for a specific target market.

Cooking labs will be emailed to parents prior to each lab.

Language Arts: Students are analyzing various Holocaust texts to answer the question: How does a person overcome adversity? We will study word choice, text structure, and situational impact as it relates to these poems, short stories, non-fiction, and novels in this unit.

Math: 8th Grade: Students are working on using multi-step equations with a single variable to solve real world problems. Students should begin to review concepts in order to prepare for the unit test.

Algebra: Students are learning to solve quadratic equations using a variety of techniques.

Science: 8th graders are taking a break from the Inheritance module to refresh their understanding of all areas of middle school science as they prepare to complete the MISA on Tuesday, March 15th and Wednesday, March 16th. After MISA, students will be continuing the Inheritance module to learn about genetic technologies and advancements.

Social Studies: 8th grade students are currently learning about events and issues surrounding slavery that led to the U.S. Civil War. In this unit, we will be discussing topics such as the industrialization of the North and plantation economy of the South, the lives and experiences of enslaved people, the Fugitive Slave Act, the Underground Railroad, Nat Turner’s Rebellion, the Dred Scott decision, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Bleeding Kansas, John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, Lincoln’s election, and the attempted secession of Southern states.

Spanish I: Students are studying the vocabulary from Unit 5.2- chores

Spanish II: Students are studying the vocabulary Unit 5.2 - the restaurant

Spanish I: Students are studying Numbers in German from 0 to 31

Students in ELL 1 and 2 are working on the four domains of English: Reading,Writing,Speaking, and Listening. Students in ELL-1 are finishing up a unit on food, and will be moving into jobs that people have. Students in ELL -2 are working on Unit 3, which focuses on different habitats, wild animals, how to write with adjectives, and making suggestions.

ALT Assessments will begin Next Week

Eccard: The students have just started reviewing all the functions in preparation for ALT Assessments. We just moved on to multiplication and they are all doing great!

Students in health are finishing up their final units and will be returning to PE on Mar 29, 2022just a friendly reminder that the last day to turn in missing or re-do assignments is March 18th for all classes.

Students in PE will be ending the term with a March Madness basketball unit, focusing on skill review, practice and small sided game play.

Upcoming units for all PE students in term 4 are: track and field, fitness testing, lacrosse, olympic games competitions, tennis, and backyard/leisure games to complete our 21-22 school year.

March is National Nutrition Month – Kick it off with 5 Tips to Boost Your Health

• Eat breakfast every day. ...

• Plan as many home-cooked meals as you can. ...

• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. ...

• Beware of sweetened drinks. ...

• Choose food sensibly when eating out.

8th grade Life Skills are starting their marketing projects. The Cereal Box Project. We will work on this project for the next few weeks with labs on Friday only. We are collecting empty cereal boxes for this project.

Learning Target: I understand the process for developing, design and promoting a brand

Success Criteria: I successfully worked as a team to create a cereal brand for a specific target market.

Cooking labs will be emailed to parents prior to each lab.

Mrs. Dukich’s 8th grade classes are going back over Household Budgets including pay stubs, checking, etc. Next week, students will be learning about comparative grocery shopping on a budget using sales flyers from local grocery stores.

8th VA: Students are learning about the Pop Art Movement and color theory in their current projects. Students selected a pop icon of their choice to draw in the contour line technique and will be using proper painting techniques to fill in each section using color schemes we’ve discussed in class.

Congratulations to all performing ensembles on their preview concerts! A special shout out to the 8th grade band for receiving a superior rating at the county adjudication!

SPRING CONCERT:

May 24th 6:30pm - Orchestra and Chorus

May 25th 6:30pm - Band 6/7 and Band 8

Band students are continuing to work on their spring concert music.

Orchestra and chorus students are refining their pieces for adjudication and will then begin working on spring concert music.

Music Performance Lab students are finishing their unit on piano. They will get to choose a piece to learn as well as write their own original melodies/chord progressions.

6th and 7th grade students created their own characters over the last two weeks. They have taken those characters and developed stories with scripts following a Plot Diagram to show rise, climax, fall and resolution of a scene.

8th grade students are working on a play they chose: Midsummers Night Mid Term. Students selected their own roles (with one or two doing auditions) and are working on developing the characters as we read through the script. Students are being given the opportunity to alter some of the lines to better fit the scenes due to time and wording.

8th Grade students are exploring how Newton’s laws of motion & flight dynamics affect the movement of hovercrafts. Student’s learned how to solder and wire their motors in a parallel circuit. A combination of the 8 step engineering and design process and the scientific method were used to help improve their hovercrafts. Maceo Mobley and Camden Swinton’s hovercraft was chosen to enter this year’s virtual Tech Fair and they placed second in the county out of 13 entries.

Here is a video of their working hovercraft: https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c3ejqLVFIaw

Virtual Tech Fair awards: https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c3ee3kVFcn4

7th graders are currently working on their gaming unit where they are learning how to set images, scale the images, and change their width and size. Allison Interiano& Jayden Wheeler had the top Webpage for GTJMS and their page was entered into this year’s county Tech Fair. Their entry placed 6th out of 13 county entries.

Link to their webpage: https://codeprojects.org/HdQQkxS6eGJ7rg0-OlocVT-UBnbulqtBM2idbGa0pYA/

A great way to spend time with your middle school student is to carve out 20-30 minutes each day to read. Try reading the same novel and discussing characters, setting, and plot. You can also read to your child. Students become better readers when they hear a fluent reader. Just make sure he/she is following along and looking at the words as you are reading.

Need novel ideas? Click here for a list of 25 Timeless Chapter Books.

Congratulations to the following students for being the Monthly Mathematicians for the month of February. These students show TJ P.R.I.D.E everyday in math class!

School Spelling Bee Winner!

Congratulations to all students who participated in this year’s school spelling bee. 8th grader, Grace Curry is our school spelling bee champion, and 8th grader, Jillian MacKay is our runner-up! Grace will represent TJMS at the Frederick County bee on March 19th. The winner of that bee will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Go, Grace! We will B-E-E rooting for you!

If your child has volunteered their time outside of the school day to a non-profit organization, they should complete the Record of Volunteer Hours (form) in order to have these hours officially recorded and work towards earning an award their 8th grade year (for 25 hours of service while in middle school). More information can be found here. You are welcome to turn in the forms to me at the end of this school year, or feel free to drop it off at the TJMS front office. If you have any questions, please contact Kerri Cole, TJMS service learning coordinator at kerri.cole@fcps.org

We are in Week Two of March Madness Book Brackets. Want to see the match ups? Click here for more information.

If you are looking for TJMS news, book recommendations, cool art, creative ideas, unique videos, intriguing podcasts, interesting discussions, goofy jokes, and mindbending riddles, please have your student check out our Patriot Portal. Please contact Mrs. Ralston if you have questions about joining.

Arrival: If you are dropping your child off, please pull into the parking lot and drop off at the curb. Do not drop off on Schifferstadt.

Dismissal: All students must be picked up at the curb in the car rider line. Students are not to be in the parking lot. Do not pick up on Schifferstadt. It is not safe to have students cross Schifferstadt and it causes a back up on the road.

If you need to pick up your child from school early, or be one of the first ones out of the lot, please arrive prior to 2:45 to get a curb side space or one of the first backing in spaces.

There have been numerous close calls lately where students have jumped out of moving cars and almost got hurt. Safety is very important at TJMS. We need full cooperation to make this work.

Dismissal Line is clear between 3:20 & 3:25 (8-13 mins after student dismissal bell)

Possible Attendance Scenarios since One Call is now active:

Scenario 1: If you know your child will be absent

• Send email to TJMS.attendance@fcps.org
  
  

Scenario 2: If your child will be leaving early for the day

• Send them in with a note to the front office to pick up a pass or
• Send email to TJMS.attendance@fcps.org
  

Scenario 3: If your child is absent and you receive a One Call voice message stating your child is absent from school

• Send email to TJMS.attendance@fcps.org

Scenario 4: If you receive a phone call from One Call stating your child is not in school, and you believe they are at school. please call 240-236-4900

Attendance: Please use the following email address when sending in notes for attendance - TJMS.Attendance@fcps.org. It’s important to email us when a student is absent for any reason. Please scan or Fax the doctor’s note to us if your student has a medical appointment. Our FAX number is 240-236-4901.

If you are going to pick up your child from school early, please send in a note with them. Ask them to come to the front office to turn that note in. By doing this, this helps your wait time for pick up.

Currently, FCPS is in the need of bus drivers. Due to the numerous openings in transportation, FCPS is trying its best to have all route fulfilled. However, at times, there are delays in pick ups and drop offs. Please continue checking out https://apps.fcps.org/transportation/delay for any delays.

Frederick County Health Department / Frederick County Public Schools

If you have any health related concerns or questions, please reach out.

In addition to school-related COVID-19 posts at www.fcps.org/update, the following are reliable resources for coronavirus updates:
Frederick County Health Department
Maryland Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Governor's COVID-19 Pandemic: Orders and Guidance

Visit this page for helpful Schoology information. Teachers are always a good first connection for a class-based issue, but if you need help our Technology Support Specialist, Shawn Pierre is available via email at shawn.pierre@fcps.org .