Middle School Chatterbox

We wrote personal narratives this month about memorable events that happened in our lives. These stories focus on telling the tale in a way that paints a vivid mental picture for the reader and clearly conveys the story being told.

8th Grade: We're debating the question: does technology control or improve our lives? The pieces in our book provide several selections that give credence to both sides of the argument.

We're exploring and analyzing texts that ask the question: what blurs the line between make believe and reality. The pieces include topics such as how real are the lives that people post on social media?, what lengths will someone go to to confirm that they aren't losing their mind?, and if there ever was a successful human brain transplant, what determines if they are still the same person they were?

We're debating the question: does technology control or improve our lives? The pieces in our book provide several selections that give credence to both sides of the argument.

All three classes have been learning about the scientific method and practicing by creating experiments. 6th grade's experiment was about making slime and 7th and 8th grades' involved penny boats. Currently the 6th graders are working on bar graphs and line graphs. 7th graders are learning about characteristics of living organisms. 8th graders are working on the metric system, accuracy and precision, and significant figures.

6th grade students have spent their time learning about how historians work and research. They have also spent time reviewing geography terms and discussing how to be be a good citizen. They also discussed whether artifacts should be returned to their country of origin when they are found.

We have investigated how geography impacts our everyday lives. We have also used Minecraft to observe how people interact with the environment around them and to experience working in different types of economies.

The 8th grade students complete a research project about different jobs one can do with an interest in social studies. We also spent time discussing the first Americans and the importance of farming as a reliable food source.

Crossing the river activity working on problem solving skills

Silent squares activity

8th graders learned about different types of graphs by doing human graphing in the gym.

6th-8th graders had a Zoom with Professor Kevin Smith from a DSU. Smith wrote a book called “Yucky” that talks about a student who thought math was yucky until she found a teacher who related math to her interests. They also learned how to draw the Impossible Triangle.

We have been working on presentation skills such as speaking loudly and clearly, creating visually appealing visual aids, and elaborating on bullet points so that slides are not congested with words. Sixth grade has also practiced note taking skills by listening to community members present about their careers.

We have worked on life and job skills. Most recently we did an activity that taught the students how to count and hand back change.

Fall conferences are October 10th from 2:00-8:00. We follow a student led conference format, meaning that your student will lead the conference discussion about their first quarter this year. We believe this format encourages students to take ownership in their education and promotes communication between home and school. Teachers will elaborate and give their insight to the student's comments. Conferences are a great time to ask any questions that you might have regarding anything happening at school. There will be an email sent out with the signup information. You may sign up using this link as well https://bit.ly/4esZ6Gw Fall conferences are mandatory.