Week of October 30

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Lesson 34 - 5 word problems

Spelling: Complete spelling Lesson 7- compound words          Writing: Some students need to finish final drafts.                                                

  Read: Reading an average of 20 minutes daily is an ongoing homework assignment.

MATH: 

We learned about the associative property and rounding decimals. This coming week we will add in graphing decimals and then review for the test. The test will be Friday.

WRITING:  

Students finished their "Spooky Stories" and we read them to the class- I love that part and the kids really enjoy hearing other's stories as well. 

READING:

We finished reading the article Burning Town about the Peshtigo fire in WI back in the 1800's. This week we will begin literature circles. 

SCIENCE:   In science we have been investigating simple machines. Yesterday we made marshmallow catapults - levers in the simple machine family. Students tested and adjusted their catapults to make the marshmallow go the farthest. We will continue this on Monday.

 

WORD WORK:

We have been working on prefix meanings and usage. We will add in suffixes this coming week. Knowing the meanings of prefixes and suffixes can help students figure out words they don't know.

 

 SPELLING: The test over compound words is Tuesday.

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Multiplication and division review page

              Lesson 2-5                                                             

 

Read: Reading an average of 20 minutes daily is an ongoing homework assignment.

MATH: 

In our Place Value Unit we have learned about the value of digits in each whole number and decimal place as well as what this looks like using pictures- tenths are like dimes in a dollar, hundredths like pennies, etc. Students are practicing comparing and ordering decimals, writing decimals in three ways and adding and subtracting decimals.  We will begin rounding this week. There are video tutorials on the blog and students may want to watch how to write decimals in 3 ways.

WRITING: Students began writing a "Spooky Story" last Thursday. They are to show they know how to write a simile and use onomatopoeai's (sound words like, WHOOSH!) as well as use descriptive language.

READING:  

 Students are reading 2 short articles in groups of 3 and practicing responding to text questions in a complete way by paraphrasing and/or quoting.  They will read the next article on their own and work on these comprehension strategies.

SCIENCE:   We have been learning about balanced and unbalanced forces and Newtons' 1st & 2nd Law of Motion. The activities for this are fun and help student experience these concepts. And I found a couple NFL videos that explain these concepts which many kids love and can relate to!

 

WORD WORK:

We have been working on prefix meanings and usage. Knowing the meanings of prefixes and suffixes can help students figure out words they don't know.

 

 SPELLING: Our spelling test tomorrow is over the homophones there, their, and they're.

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: None                                                               

Read: Reading an average of 20 minutes daily is an ongoing homework assignment.

MATH:  Students took the Adding and Subtracting Fractions test on Friday. We will begin our Place Value unit on Monday.

WRITING: Thursday students chose from 4 articles in order to begin their own opinion writing piece. The last one we practice together. They read their article and chose the side of the argument that they would write about. They will complete plans on Monday.

READING:  

We will finish reading Guests on Tuesday, There will be an assessment on the following Tuesday that we will be studying for.

We will then read non-fiction articles and work on reading comprehension strategies in this area.

SCIENCE: 
 The test was Friday over motion and graphing. We will begin our unit on Balanced and Unbalanced Forces next.

WORD WORK:

We have been reviewing what nouns, pronouns, and verbs are. Next week we will do some more activities around those. We will also focus on prefixes and their meanings.

SPELLING: Next week's skill lesson is the various ways of spelling the /k/ sound.

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Complete Lesson 2-1  (ALL)                                                               Read: Reading an average of 20 minutes daily is an ongoing homework assignment.

MATH:  We have been practicing adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators as well as estimating to see if our answers are reasonable. We have been reviewing all concepts and working on word problems as well.

See the math tab for tutorials when needed.

WRITING: We continue to work on complete sentences and paragraphing as we write our Opinion Piece: "Should Fidget Spinners Be Banned?" We read an article giving both sides of the argument. Students chose a side and we worked through the structure of the plan which they are using to write their paper.

READING:  

We are reading the novel, "Guests". It is a historical fiction book from the perspective of a Native American boy when the Pilgrims arrive for the first Thanksgiving. This ties in with our U.S. History unit.
We are studying/practicing theme, comprehension strategies, vocabulary in context strategies and character traits. We are also focusing on writing a summary and finding information in order to respond to text questions.

SCIENCE: 
  We have done a couple of investigations using the movement of students. They are jogging, skipping jumping, etc down a ten meter path and recording their times. They graphed their results of the distance and time. We will continue to practice creating a graph and studying for the test which will be Friday next week.

Week of September 18th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Complete Lesson 1-7                                                                       Read: Reading an average of 20 minutes daily is an ongoing homework assignment.

Field Trip:  Thank you to parents who went on this HOT field trip! The kids were pretty hot and tired and ready for home when the time came. I was very pleased with their behavior, how well they listened to instructions, their willingness to try activities and encouragement of others. It was such a hot day and they hung in there so well even when it got hard at the end. I let them know how much I appreciated it. 
I will add pictures to the blog in the photos tab hopefully tomorrow. I will email to let you know when they are there. 

MATH:  We have been reviewing improper fractions and mixed numbers, comparing fractions, equivalent fractions, factors and multiples. We began adding and subtracting mixed numbers with like denominators. Next week we will begin adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.

See the math tab for tutorials when needed.

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: We continued our practice of writing complete sentences by writing about our Camp Manitou field trip.

READING:  

We are using nonfiction articles to continue to practice reading strategies and work on finding the main idea and details as well as how to respond to text questions. Next week we will begin our first genre unit with the book Encounter and then moving into the novel "Guests". This ties in with our U.S. History unit.

SCIENCE: 
  Groups designed an obstacle course for a marble in order to make it move as SLOWLY as possible from one end to the other during our investigation of motion. They ran 3 trials and revised their first try. Tuesday they will try out their revised runs. They will then graph their results of the distance, time, and speed.

Week of September 11th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Complete the equivalent fractions math lesson                   Read: Reading an average of 20 minutes daily is an ongoing homework assignment.

MATH:  We have been working on improper fractions and mixed numbers, comparing fractions, equivalent fractions, factors and multiples. We will continue review of these concepts this coming week. There will be a quiz over these concepts on Friday. 

See the math tab for tutorials when needed.

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing: We have discussed what makes a complete sentence and parts of a paragraph. This week students chose a topic and began writing a paragraph with a topic sentence and 3 details which they will elaborate on. We will be using this to discuss/practice the difference between revising and editing and practices good writers use to communicate effectively.

READING:  

We are using nonfiction articles to focus on vocabulary in context, text features and how they help us find information and summarizing sections as we read to be sure we understand. We will continue to practice these strategies and work on finding the main idea and details as well as how to respond to text questions. 

SCIENCE: 
Our focus has been on motion and how we use a point of reference (a non-moving object in the background) to determine something is moving. We used plastic frogs to jump along a measuring tape to observe this. Students graphed their results. Next week groups will design an obstacle course for a marble in order to make it move as SLOWLY as possible from one end to the other. They will graph their results of the distance, time, and speed.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Students learned the preamble and began early American history.

Here is the Middle School website: 
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/

 This first week we have been doing getting-to-know-you activities and practicing routines. We will be involved in all classes beginning Monday which will help students fall into routine better.
 We have been talking about having a Growth Mindset- we can do and learn anything if we give effort, get comfortable with making and learning from mistakes, and don't give up!

Field Trip: A note about our September 21st field trip to Camp Manitou-Lin came home on Thursday. It's team-building day and quite fun. Students will need to return the permission/lunch order form and $30 by Friday. If cost is an issue, please contact me and we can set up a payment plan or other option.

Planners: You do not need to sign your child's planner. Your child should look at the planner each night so they are prepared and don't forget anything. We only write in homework, special events, notes needing returned, etc.

"Home" Folder: Your child chose a folder to be the "Home" folder. This should go home every day. Students will put notes and homework in it. Some students chose to use an accordion folder in their Trapper keeper which is fine. Students should check this folder every night to create good habits.

Personal Technology: We have a policy throughout the building that students have no personal devices on from the moment they are in the building until 2:45. They may bring it to school, but it should be shut off and in their lockers.


Bus: At the MS, students aren't allowed to get bus passes to go home with other students on the bus.

Lunch: I shared a slideshow with the kids about lunch which I will attach to the email I send out. Lunch can get expensive fast if kids are not getting a Type A lunch. 
Additionally, you may want to discuss how often you are OK with your child buying treats such as slushies, sports drinks etc. Lunch can go from $2.85 to $5 pretty quickly.
  Free and Reduced Lunch- if you need this form. please contact me.

Your Kids: Being at a new, larger school with a lot of new faces can be a little scary. When we wrote down our MS Jitters on Wednesday, the commonalities were: 

*I'm afraid I will get lost- They are all doing well and teachers are helping out.
*I'm afraid I won't get my locker open - By Friday most could consistently do this, and all teachers help them out.
*I'm nervous about making new friends/not having my usual friends in my class.
They will make friends with others and still see other friends. This all takes time. 
    If your child is feeling more than the normal nervousness about new things at school, please contact me so I can help out.

MATH:  We took the Delta Math test on Friday and completed a unit pretest on Thursday. Next week we begin our Adding and Subtracting Fractions unit. We will also begin Math RTI which will be 4 days each week.

LANGUAGE ARTS 
This week we discussed the difference between a complete sentence and sentence fragments and had a group activity. We also began some work with main idea and detail.

SCIENCE: 
This week we just discussed our unit briefly which is Forces and Motion. It is a very hands-on unit that kids enjoy. We try to get outside for these activities as much as we can.

SOCIAL STUDIES:
Students began seeing Mrs. Maxson for Social Studies on Thursday and will begin a unit on early American History next week.