upcoming dates to remember

Dear Eighth Grade Parents and Guardians,

Many of you have been asking about upcoming dates and events as we approach the end of the school year.  Here is an overview.  

• Civil Rights Museum, Wednesday, June 8, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

• Step-Up Day (Laptop Turn-in), Tuesday, June 14, 11:15 am - 2:25 pm (Students have a regular morning schedule at HMS, and then walk to YHS at 11:30 am for a mini class rotation.)

• Yearbook Assembly, Monday, June 13, 7:50 am - 8:25 am

• Range Pond, Thursday, June 16, 8:00 am - 2:15 pm (Just a reminder:  all outstanding payments (lost textbooks, library books, computer charger, etc.) need to be addressed before a student can participate in the Range Pond trip.)  More details to come.

• Last Day of School (half day for students), Friday, June 17.

• Breakfast sponsored by the parents (HMS café), 7:50 am - 8:15am

• Year-End Celebration (HMS café), 8:15 am -  9 am

• Movie (HMS café), 9:00 am - 11:00 am

• Dismissal, 11:00 am

Mom's Middle School Blues

http://www.wsj.com/articles/moms-middle-school-blues-1463505537

8th grade update

Hard to believe, but we are currently two-thirds of the way through the school year!  Last week we completed our MEA testing in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics.  MEA testing in the area of science will occur at the end of April or beginning of May.  

Looking forward, we have three busy weeks ahead of us before April Break....

Wednesday, March 30 - Intensive Math Investigation 3 Quiz

Thursday, March 31 - Periodic Table test in science classes

      Math-(A and C) Investigation 5 (Exponents) Quiz

Monday, April 4 - Spring sports start

Thursday, April 7 - Cold War time period test (Part 1) in social studies classes

Friday, April 8 - Cold War time period test (Part 2) in social studies classes

Tuesday, April 12 - Parody due in Language Arts classes

Tuesday, April 12 - Impact baseline testing in science classes (completed in conjunction with the YHS trainer, Sarah Holmes)

Friday April 15 - No school (first day of April Break)

Fwd: High School Transition Conference Information

Dear Parents,

Tuesday, March 1 and Wednesday, March 2 have been scheduled for Eighth Grade Transition Conferences at the middle school.  These conferences will include you and your child, along with myself and your child's future high school advisor.  This is one of several activities scheduled for students and parents to begin the transition from Harrison Middle School to Yarmouth High School.  Students will be completing their pre-conference activities the week we return from February vacation.

In order to coordinate conferences for each eighth grade student that include both the homeroom teacher and high school advisor, it is necessary for the eighth grade team to assign the date and time.  Please try to keep your schedule as free as possible for those afternoons/evenings.  Once we have set up the schedule,  I will send you an email with your specific conference date and time.  

At the conclusion of your transition conference, you, your child, and the high school advisor will schedule a registration conference for the following week (please bring your calendar).  This meeting will be held at the high school and will involve, among other activities, setting up the student's course schedule for ninth grade.

In the coming weeks, I will be sending home more information on the whole transition process.  I look forward to seeing you at your conference!

Sincerely,

Rod Corey

Coming up in the 8th grade...

Tuesday, January 12- 

• Electricity Quiz 
•  MATH(A and C Block) Investigation 1 and 2 Quiz

Wednesday, January 13- 

• WWI Quiz 
  
• Intensive Math - Looking For Pythagoras Unit Test

Monday, January 18th (MLK, Jr. day)- No School!

Daylight gain so far this year?  9 minutes and 6 seconds!  

8th grade classroom update

Welcome Back!  We wanted to remind you that the first trimester closes on Friday, 12/4, as well as share the upcoming units of study for the next three weeks.

Social Studies classes will focus largely independent study of the Gilded Age.  Students received a menu of activities from which to choose to demonstrate their learning.  Some of the menu items have common due dates, which can be viewed on the 8th grade Google calendar.  Students will assign themselves due dates for the remaining activities.  One hundred points on the menu earns an A+.  Please ask your child to share his/her menu and calendar of due dates.  

Science classes will embark on a study of Energy and Systems focusing on Simple Machines and work.  This unit will culminate with a classroom project that involves creating Rube Goldberg machines and a Simple Machine test on Friday, 12/18.  

Language Arts classes, having recently finished a brief short story unit that focused on literary elements, are now engaging in poetry writing.

Math classes will be finishing our unit Filling and Wrapping over three-dimensional measurements, and then we'll shift gears toward studying the Pythagorean Theorem and its application to various real world scenarios in our unit Looking for Pythagoras. Students will be provided a makeup opportunity for the Filling and Wrapping unit test if the need arises.

Article for you to read

Below is a link to an article about online privacy that I wanted to share with you.  I think you will find it interesting, and may possibly want to share it with your children. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Rod

https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/that-most-used-words-facebook-quiz-is-a-privacy-nightmare/