Continuing with our unit on “Youth Paradoxes”, students have begun reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. We will be discussing themes in the story that revolve around identity, decision-making, and belonging. Students will have the opportunity to make connections from their personal experiences to the main characters. We are focusing on becoming active readers during this unit. Students have been familiarized and assessed on the 6 reading strategies (predict, visualize, question, connect, infer, and evaluate). We will be using these strategies to practice annotation skills throughout the novel.
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We are continuing with our narrative writing unit this month, as we learn more methods for how to tell a captivating story! Students just finished writing the setting for their stories. They used sensory details and imagery to enhance the description of their settings. Students are currently working on developing their characters by following STEAL, a tool for writing indirect characterization. We cannot wait to see their stories come to life!
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Students in science have been exploring plate tectonics, the idea that Earth's continents and ocean floor move very slowly over millions of years. The central mystery is why fossils of an ancient reptile, the Mesosaurus, are now found thousands of kilometers apart in South America and Africa. Your child is acting like a geologist to investigate this continental movement, learning about the different ways Earth's plates interact and how fast they move. They are using models and simulations to see how the continents are still separating today, solving the mystery of the distant fossils!
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This month, our students are diving headfirst into the awesome world of proportional relationships! They’re discovering the relationship between numbers — from comparing prices to scaling up recipes and even exploring real-world patterns. Through challenges, they’re building the skills that will power their future math adventures!
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In October, students will be continuing to explore topics related to Eastern Europe- particularly how the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire shaped the landscape of the region in the present-day. We will then be moving on to investigate Russia- the formation and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, and the effects of such on modern Russia. Activities will be based on literacy (reading and writing), politics and government, and geographic features of the world areas studied.
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November 4th - NO SCHOOL
November 11th - NO SCHOOL
November 13th - 7th grade field trip to CT Science Center
November 17th - 21st - Door Prize Fundraiser during lunch
November 24th & 25th - Early dismissal due to parent conferences
November 26th - 28th - NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving Recess)
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All artists have been working on developing their ‘ personal Portfolio Cover illustrations. Most classes in October focused on problem solving within visual communication, preliminary sketches and layouts expressing their thoughts, ideas, and interests. Getting to know each other, our hobbies, our favorite music, sports, games, experiences, and our cultural backgrounds has been fun! Capturing it all within a series of illustrations has been challenging and coming along quite well. Next up – November – final drawings, Color, shading, and cultural celebrations or traditions. Can’t wait !
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Band and Choir students have been working hard preparing for our Winter Concert on December 16! We’ve already learned two songs and can’t wait to add more to our repertoire.
Music 6 just wrapped up their first unit on musical styles from cities across the U.S. — exploring over ten genres while also sharpening geography and map skills. Next up: our exciting drumming and rhythm unit for quarter two!
Keyboard students are doing a great job reading the grand staff and playing simple songs. Soon, we’ll be adding intervals and chords to expand their skills even further.
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PE/Health students have completed the CTPF assessments and began their Volleyball Unit. They are learning key skills such as serving, passing, setting, and teamwork through fun drills and mini games. Students are also focusing on communication and sportsmanship. Great job to all!!
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The results are in for the Paper Skimmer/Hover Board results.
1st place-reaching a distance of 54 ft-designed & built by Ruben Negron-launched by Alia Musaed.
2nd Place - traveling a distance of 51 feet - designed, built, and launched by Jacob Popolizio.
3rd Place - traveling 47 feet - designed, built, and launched by Armani Perez
Selected Topics in Engineering
Grade 8 students learned about Food Science and the engineering elements that are incorporated with the design, creation, and manufacturing of food. The students were tasked with designing and creating a drink that had never been made before. They were allowed to make a flavored soda, coffee, tea, water, or juice. Mr. Bonagiuso tasted each one and agreed that many could actually be marketed and sold in supermarkets. Great job by the classes and lots of fun learning about engineering involved in the food process.
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7th and 8th Grade Manufacturing Students have just completed construction on their themed-decoration projects. Students began by brainstorming and completing simple pencil sketches of their design ideas, transferred the lines and measurements to plywood, and used basic shop machines (scroll saws, band saws, and drills) to process the designs. This project is a great introduction (or refresher) to the basic shop machines, and learning how to function safely in a shop environment. Additionally, students took their first measurement summative at the end of Quarter 1, and I am happy to report tremendous growth in their ability to accurately record and apply dimensional measurements!
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7th grade students at JMMS meet every other day for a full year. The course will include a more in depth study of basic communication and cultural topics in Spanish. The students will be given the opportunity to explore cultural topics.
8th grade Spanish 1 students at JMMS meet daily for the whole school year and will follow the already approved Spanish 1 curriculum in Atlas. This course should cover everything from the Para Empezar chapter through Unit 5A/5B. There is some overlap between the first few units covered in this course and the material covered in 7th grade classes.
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Students in Grade 6 are completing their Digital Citizenship website building assignments. Students in Grade 7 are working to complete their Sprite Creation Lab for their coding projects. Students in Grade 8 are currently working to create their Autobiographies, which is their first independent video project on the WeVideo platform.
The Unified (Addams) Family hopes you had a great Halloween!!!
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