dennis lab middle school news - dps61.org
TRANSCRIPT
September 13, 2013
Dennis LabMiddle School News
PBIS Behavior ChartYou may have noticed a note in yourchild's planner saying “Think About It"or "Ready To Learn", this is referring tothe behavior system we have set inplace this year. Everyday your child'sclip is placed on ready to learn. Whenyour child exceeds expectations theymove up the chart. If they fall belowschool expectations, they may movedown the chart. After the initial warninga child may be sent to the BuddyRoom. This is a chance for the studentto calm down and think about theirbehavior. If the issue continues, theywill then be sent to the AlternativePlacement Room (APR). If the childmoves down again, they will receive areferral and you will be contacted. Ifthe child moves up the chart, they willreceive and extra PAW for every levelthey move up. They can use thesePAWS at our school store or for entryinto our reward events.
Super StudentGreat Job
Good ChoicesReady to Learn
Think about it (warning)Teachers Choice (Buddy room or APR)
Parent Contact
Doing a little light reading
Project Based Learning**Our PBL Presentation for Plan. Work. Party (P.W.P) has been changed toSeptember 19 and 20th.***
Due to early dismissals we will be changing our PBL presentation times fromFriday September 13 to September 19 and 20th . The students have beenworking hard on planning and budgeting their event and we are looking forwardseeing some wonderful presentations. We will be sending home schedules so youmay come watch your child’s presentation if you choose.Information is included ona handout in the Friday Folder.
AthleticsHere are the upcoming sporting events for the week:
Monday 16th Cheerleading Tryouts; Girl’s Basketball vs LSA Tuesday 17th Cross Country Wednesday 18th Soccer vs TJ Friday 20th Girl’s Basketball vs. Bloomington St. Mary’s
Volume 1 ∙ Issue 5
Hanging out
English Language ArtsRead to Self RubricThis week the students in all of the ELAclasses worked to create a rubric forwhen we spend time in “Read to Self”.The students identified behaviors ofsuccess and created this scoring guidethat we will use when grading thestudents. They have a goal to becomebetter reader and if they hit the targetsthey defined they will! Next week we willbegin charting our data so that we cansee the progress we are making.
This week we built our stamina up to 23minutes. We are almost to our goal of 25minutes. While students read, I meetwith students to check that what they arereading matches their current level..Please encourage your students to readat home!
Social Studies6th This week students have beenresearching facts about the differentcontinents. They have worked on locatingthe continents and the oceans. We havebeen using atlas diagrams to determinethe climate and population of a continent.We read the timelines provided to pickout important events in the history of thecontinent.7th Our 50 States test is Tuesday! Wehave been reviewing all week in class, butthe students need to spend time at homebrushing up on those names and places.We will have one more review day onMonday, before the test Tuesday. I amworking on a surprise activity for thestudents when we finish the test. If wecan make it happen, be sure to ask themabout it because it should be a neatexperience.
ScienceWe have started using a new organizationtool this week in science. Both 6th gradeand 7th graders are being asked to keepan interactive notebook for the semester.In this notebook, we will be keeping ourhandouts and tests/quizzes on the rightside. The left side will be a spot for thestudents to place homework, drawings orother graphic organizers. Taped to thefront cover is an explanation of how thenotebook will be organized, and on theback is a rubric for how it will be graded.In 6th grade, the students were able towork with triple beam balances andgraduated cylinders. They are now able tofind the mass and volume of variousobjects. The 7th graders have spent theweek reviewing chemical and physicalproperties and changes. Our next step isto start exploring the concept of density.________________________________________
MathLast week, both the 6th and 7th gradersconcluded their math units by takingposttests. They all did such a terrific jobthat my wall is now covered with“Math”terpieces. The students were giventhe opportunity to see what they havelearned throughout the unit, by analyzingtheir pre – and post – tests. Using ourmath data folders, we graphed thepercentage of each test and saw thesignificant difference between the two.Many students were blown away by howmuch they learned throughout the pastcouple of weeks. Be sure to ask yourchild how their graph looked, and howmuch growth occurred in theirmathematics understanding.
The 7th graders have begun the next unitwhich is multiplication and division ofrational numbers within real worldapplications.In 6th grade, we have startedComputations with Decimals.
I hope your child has been enjoying theirlearning in math, and has begun to see apurpose in their learning.
What are you reading?
Habitudes QuoteAdaptability"The only way to make senseout of change is to plunge intoit, move with it, and join thedance." Alan Watts
Upcoming Events 9/13 1st Quarter Midterm
9/14 HIP Parade 10:15
9/16 Fundraiser Orders Due
9/16 CoOp Meeting 6:00
9/19 PBL Presentations 1:00
9/20 PBL Presentations 11:00
9/26 Sloan’s Calzones Night
Contact InformationPhone Number: (217) 4243236
Email: [email protected]
Website: bit.ly/1cId6uA
FaceBook: on.fb.me/17R4Ssa
Twitter: @DSeventhians
Volume 1 ∙ Issue 5