October 29, 2014

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GMS HURRICANES N E W S L E T T E R #2

Quarter 1 Honor Roll

Principal’s List

5th GR: Jerry Brooks

7th GR: Hannah Baird

A/B Honor Roll

5th GR: Imani Boone, Edwin Ingram, Arquasia Kee, Danesha Squire, Courtney Underdue, Kobe Watlington, Lanya Williams

6th GR: Cedric Banks, Zyelle Felix, Nathan Gregory, Ania Sledge, D’Amarie Thorne

7th GR: Ashley Garner, Tierney Huff, Tylek Smallwood, Aniyah Sykes

8th GR: Rasheeda Edwards, Alexis Evans, Mekhi Harris, Teonna Huff, D’Aasiyah Johnson, Alexander Mason, Makiyah Phillips, Tyree Pierce, Avant Stallings, Shaunee’ Whitehead

Congratulations for a job well done!

Notes from the Principal’s Desk Greetings Gaston Middle School Stakeholders:

The first nine-week grading period has ended. In less than one week, you should be receiving your child’s first report card for the 2014-15 school year. It is important to discuss and review your child’s performance in each course. If your child’s grades do not meet your expectations, then please do not hesitate to schedule a conference with your child’s teachers immediately to pinpoint the academic challenges and practice proposed strategies to rectify them.

The Gaston Middle School staff works hard to make sure your child is safe and is in an educational environment free of bullying. Inform your children to immediately tell an adult if they feel they are being bullied by another student or if they witness another student being bullied. As always, it is the mission of Gaston Middle School to equip our students with all of the academic knowledge and skills necessary to successfully handle a rigorous college and career preparatory curriculum.          

Douglas  Kilgore,    

Principal  

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5th Grade Team

Shout Outs

TOP STUDENTS

Danesha Squire, Jerry Brooks, Lanya Willaims, Kenneth Whitfield

HARDEST WORKERS

Tamahjae High, Destiny Phillips, Arquasia Kee, Eniya Whitaker, Jada Broady, Tanijah Epps, Tajaii Allen, Imani Boone, Keyonde Harris, Jashawna Clayton, Alejah Shearin

HELPFUL RESOURCES

NC Wiseowl

www.ncwiseowl.org

EngageNY

www.engageny.org

practutor.com

Highlights of Learning

ELA We have been reading Esperanza Rising, a historical fiction novel by Pam Munoz Ryan. Students are learning about Mexico, the Great Depression as well as our Common Core Language Arts standards. Our focus has been quoting evidence from the story. It is important that your child read the assigned chapter each night. Each student has a novel and a folder. Check the folder nightly for grades and missing assignments. Thank you for assisting me with the success of your child.

MATH Please make sure students are studying their multiplication nightly. Their success with upcoming skills will depend on this knowledge. Also, students use dry erase boards daily. It is important that they bring dry erase markers to class. They are inexpensive and can be purchased almost anywhere. Make sure the markers or low odor or no odor. I look forward to an awesome 2nd quarter.

SOCIAL STUDIES In studying Columbus’ landing in America, students debated from different perspectives (King Ferdinand, Tainos, Queen Isabella, Columbus.) Students also created presentations on exploration and colonization between the Old World and the New World. Students are performing skits that include excerpts from primary sources related to the Boston Massacre and events leading to the Revolutionary War.

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CHALK TALK IN MS. MOORE’S ELA CLASS

Highlights of Learning

ELA Students are continuing to expand their understanding of theme and how to develop thematic statements. We just recently completed our benchmarks and unit 2 mid-unit assessment. Over the next few weeks students will work with Greek myths such as “Theseus and the Minotaur.” Our unit 2 assessment is writing a literary analysis.

MATH Our class is studying ratios. Students are creating posters, applying ratios to real-world problems and situations, and interacting online to better understand this complex concept!

SCIENCE We are having a great time learning and discovering about the formation of the Earth and the powerful forces such as plate tectonics that have shaped our fascinating planet. Students are currently working on a project that involves creating a model showing the layers of the earth including the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core.

Shining Stars Ania Sledge was named the Shining Star for the month of October in Ms. Moore’s homeroom and for Northampton County. She exemplifies the character trait responsibility by being responsible for her words, actions and academic performance.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Please make use of our media center to supplement your child’s learning. We have books on mythology, ratios, and earth.

NC Dept. Of Education has given schools over 10,000 e-books to supplement learning.

These e-books can be accessed through NC Wiseowl database at www.ncwiseowl.org. The password is wise owl.

Khan Academy is a valuable web program that uses videos to teach all major subjects. You only have to sign up. Try it today!

6th Grade Team

October 29, 2014

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7th Grade Team

SHOUT OUTS Hannah Baird, Zion Kendall, Aniyah Sykes scored 80% or above on math benchmark!

Montague Franklin & Hannah Baird scored above 70% on ELA benchmark!

Tierney Huff scored the highest grade on the science benchmark!

Peer Tutors, thank you!

Ashley Garner, Tylek Smallwood, Tierney Huff, Travis Phillips, Hannah Baird, Zion Kendall, Shantazia Hedgepeth, Teven Vincent, Myaira Davis, & Aniyah Sykes

HELPFUL RESOURCES

www.engageny,org

www.tenmarks.com

www.practutor.com

www.studyjam.com

Highlights of Learning

ELA Students are working on creating a 2-voice poem which they will present in class. Our next piece of literature is Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright.

MATH We have been interpreting proportional relationships using graphs, tables and equations. We will be moving into studying scale factors soon! After school tutoring is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 until 4:00 pm.

SCIENCE Our next focus will be simple machines. In addition, we will be reviewing past lessons to prepare for the science final exam coming up in January. Please have your child review his/her notes.

HOMECOMING COURT 2014

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8th Grade Team

SHOUT OUTS

Welcome back to Derondae Ruffin!

Congrats to the 8th graders who went to the Anti-Bullying Rally at Roanoke Rapids High School and received “best acting school” at the assembly!

HELPFUL RESOURCES

schmoop.com

practutor.com

NC Wiseowl

www.ncwiseowl.org

D’AASIYAH JOHNSON JOB SHADOWING

Highlights of Learning

ELA In class we are focusing on citing evidence from the text and digging deep into our literature for meaning, author’s craft, and connections. Block 1 is reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Blocks 2 and 3 are continuing their close reading and analysis of Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai about Ha and the Kim Family.

MATH Students are learning to identify, write, solve and graph linear equations.

SOCIAL STUDIES Our class is studying the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Second Industrial Revolution, and immigration and urbanization of the United States.

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October 1, 2014

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October 1, 2014

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