It’s hard to believe we already completed our third full week of school this year! These first few weeks have been filled with the joyful work of building community—hearing summer stories, watching old friendships grow stronger, and seeing new friendships begin to blossom. One of my favorite things to notice has been the small moments when students look out for one another: helping a classmate, inviting someone into a conversation, offering encouragement, or simply noticing when someone needs a little support.
This week, we built on those moments by talking about our core values and how they can guide us when we are faced with big emotions or things we don’t particularly want to do. As quizzes, tests, and projects begin to fill our calendars, students are learning that our values can serve as an anchor. When we are frustrated, overwhelmed, or tempted to give up, we can choose to lean into perseverance, kindness, responsibility, courage, or whatever value helps us make a choice we can be proud of.
I am so grateful for the energy and kindness I have seen in our middle school community these first few weeks. There is something special about watching a group of students grow our community, one conversation, one shared laugh, and one small act of kindness at a time.
I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend and has the opportunity to rest, recharge, and enjoy some time with the people they love. I can’t wait to welcome everyone back on Tuesday feeling refreshed and ready for another great week together!
-AB
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, September 7: Labor Day, No School
- Wednesday, September 9: 5th grade off campus – wear sneakers, wear clothes for ropes course, and bring water bottle
- Wednesday, September 9: Cooper Cluster Day – Pizza Lunch!
- Wednesday, September 9: Middle School Curriculum Night, 5:30 – 6:30
- Thursday, September 10: MS PE day – all students wear sneakers
ELA: This week in 6th grade ELA, readers continued to annotate Boy looking particularly for examples of rich UK dialect writing and inferring Roald Dahl’s tone and mood. Readers also started their first grammar unit of the year, with a test schedule for Friday 9/11. Their final annotations and Boy comprehension packet will also be due next Friday (their rubric is attached to the assignment in the google calendar!).
Next week, 6th grade will complete Boy and take part in a small reading comprehension intensive before moving to the next unit. Be sure to use the study guide in their blue take home folder to prepare for next Friday’s test.
Science: This week in science, 6th graders explored the layers of Earth’s atmosphere. Using a simulation, students traveled through each layer of the atmosphere, collecting data about temperature, air composition, and air pressure. They then used their data to make inferences about how air particles behave as a weather balloon rises higher into the atmosphere. After reviewing everything they have learned about weather and the atmosphere so far, students took an assessment to demonstrate their learning.
Next week, students will continue investigating air pressure and use their understanding to create and interpret air pressure maps.
Social Studies: Sixth grade has done a fantastic job on building their own city state and trying to use deductive reasoning on how to build it and support their large population. They used their prior knowledge to defend, grow and develop the city and ensure their population would thrive. Next week we will start looking at Mesopotamia and their contributions to society and the growth of civilization. I hope you enjoy the long weekend!
Math: This week in math, 6th graders wrapped up their first unit of study – area and surface area – with their end of unit assessment and corrections. We completed another fun surface area activity that you’ll see on curriculum night! Next week, we’ll dive into unit two which explores rates and ratios – we’ll learn about different strategies like drawing diagrams, creating double number lines, and using ratio tables to help us identify equivalent and growing ratios.
JICP Challenge Course Pics!
