In the Reading part of ELA, 6th graders wrapped up their Short Stories Unit, and have begun Literature Circle Discussion Groups. Each group was assigned a novel from a different genre of fiction, and will apply characterization, plot, and summarizing skills taught in the previous unit. Fridays are the book discussion days-when students fulfill their assigned roles within the group to have a scintillating discussion of that week’s chapters.

The students in 7th grade are currently reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. There are nightly reading assignments in Actively Learn where students can access an audio version of the text.  They have been provided with a physical copy of the novel as well.  At the end of the unit, we will be drawing images of the ghosts, making blackout poetry from pages of the novel, and comparing and contrasting the movie version of the book to the actual novel.

The 8th grade is currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  There are nightly reading assignments in Actively Learn where students can also access the audiobook narrated by Sissy Spacek.  Students  have also received a physical copy of the book.  At the end of the unit, we will be watching the movie and comparing and contrasting it with the book.

6th grade Math is completing their study of inequalities prior to Christmas Break. This included a look at where we see the greater than and less than symbols in both mathematics and real life. When we return from break, we will begin by taking the winter NWEA and then beginning our study of ratios. 

Mean...Median...Mode...Mean Absolute Deviation....so many words that start with the letter "M!" The 6th grade Prealgebra students are in the middle of their unit on data and statistics. This is a fun, real-world unit that focuses on calculating statistics, analyzing graphs, and making sense of their world through data.

Balance is healthy for life.....and extremely helpful for Algebraic equations. The 7th Prealgebra students are studying properties that apply to expressions and equations. They will soon be learning that an operation that you apply to one side you also have to apply to the other. These problem-solving skills will be learned over this unit and the next one on inequalities.

Two variables!! The 7th and 8th grade Algebra students continue their exploration of systems of equations. They’ve been modeling real-world scenarios such as profit versus cost to find intersection points using graphing, substitution, and elimination solving methods.

Our 8th grade Geometry students are once again hard at work writing proofs; this time around they are proving triangles congruent. ASA, AAS, SSS, SAS….no bad words in Geometry!! Christmas break is a great time to refresh old skills - there are review materials for Algebra 1 in their Canvas page to work on over the next semester before they have to take their tests to place into upper levels of math.

6th grade - In this unit we will explore what makes up the Solar System. We will also investigate the causes of day and night, eclipses, seasons, and tides. Throughout the unit, students use their newfound knowledge to answer the question: How have observations over time changed different models of Earth in space?

I encourage you to discuss this topic at home with your child. Here’s some ways to connect the learning at school to home: 

• Discuss any cultural connections or stories from your family background related to space, objects in space, or changes observable on Earth such as the seasons or tides.
• Observe the Moon and discuss how it changes appearance throughout the month.
• Discuss what your life would be like without seasons. Would any of your family habits change?
• If you could live on another planet, what planet would it be and why?

7th grade - Students are starting to explore their body systems. We are currently focusing on the skeletal system and then transitioning into the muscular system. We will combine the two systems for our chicken wing dissection of the musculoskeletal system. From there we will move into the digestive and circulatory systems before dissecting a frog. 

8th grade - Students have a firm foundation with the periodic table. We are now on to chemical reactions and balancing chemical equations (my favorite!). Coming up is a Mystery Christmas Cookie Lab, which is typically a big hit right before break. When we return we will take a closer look at factors that increase the rate at which a reaction takes place. 

6th graders have been analyzing maps of ancient Egypt and Canaan to explore the influence of water, topography, and vegetation on the process of figuring-out where to settle successfully. After that, they "took" a felucca tour on the Nile River to explore the ancient monuments created by some of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs. Finally, they worked in small groups to create dramatizations of their assigned social classes on the Egyptian social pyramid. The next topic of study will be Ancient India.

7th grade students have been exploring the rise and fall of the West African Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai and how these kingdoms have left a cultural influence throughout the world. Students recreated the Trans-Saharan Gold- Salt trade and acted out the Tale of Sundiata as a griot. Students will wrap up the unit with a test and a Document Based Question (DBQ) writing assignment over the prompt, "Did West African have strong kingdoms before European colonization in the late 1800s?". Various items will be explored and analyzed with the West African trunk donated by Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute. The final project of the unit will be a presentation over an African country. 

8th Grade - It's time for a favorite unit, the United States Constitution. Students are learning about the events leading up to the Constitutional Convention, and the reasons why our Constitution has been successfully guiding our country for more than 230 years. Students will also take an "8th Grade Bar Exam" in which they demonstrate their knowledge of the Constitution, and qualify to participate in the “Law Firms Competition.”

New opportunities for service hours can be found HERE 

In 6th grade religion this month we are working our way through the book of Genesis. We have read the 1st creation story and learned that God's creation is good and God creates with order and purpose. The students worked together to write creation "raps" and presented them in class. 

The 7th grade is learning about Jesus Christ through the Scriptures. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament (which they learned about last year). Salvation history is a divine love story, a progressive revelation, growing intimacy of God with Israel and with humanity. God dwells in the midst of Israel, he shepherds his people, fights for Israel, heals her of her wounds, takes her as a bridegroom takes a bride. This will set us up for our lessons on Theology of the Body when we return from Christmas break.

The 8th grade is learning about the Catholic Church and our discipleship. By receiving the teachings of the Church we are formed – to be Christlike. Receiving the teachings is not an academic pursuit but rather an exercise of discipleship. We are coming to know that we are not just knowing about God as much as we are coming to know God. 

We are learning how the Church calls us to live a life of Christ - not for the benefit of the self, but rather to seek and to love God and neighbor. Only love can bring forth love – God is love and we need God’s help if we are to love. Our ongoing conforming to Christ is the necessary prerequisite to love as we ought.

In class the 8th graders have finished up our clay unit making coil clay bowls. Students worked on pastel corn on the cob for our fall project. Our next unit will focus on foldkart. Students will learn about Grandma Moses and the history of American Folk Art. Students will work on watercolor winter scenes when we return from Christmas break. 

Our 7th graders worked on some Dreamy Desserts last month while using different graphite pencils.  In this lesson, they chose a dessert to add a variety of values to their 3D Geometric Shapes and it gave them the Illusion of Form.  We talked about how to add value by creating shadows and highlights with the graphite pencils.  It was a hard concept, but they did an amazing job!

They are now working on a brand new lesson that I've never done before. I am super excited to do it with them!  They are making an awesome Acetate Reverse Self Portrait using just a few things…a fun picture of themselves with some props they chose, an old transparency sheet, a sharpie, 3 analogous colors (ask them what that means:) they picked out, and a patterned piece of craft paper for the background.  I cannot wait to see how these turn out!  I think they will even be surprised!!  The picture shows just a little bit of the beginning process!

Our 6th graders just finished up an awesome project that made them think about some of the Elements of Art.  We used Color, Line, Shape, Form, and Value to create their own version of what The St. Basil’s Cathedral could have looked like if they would have designed it!  We practiced our overlapping techniques and created amazing towers of color and design. They are now working on Printmaking.  This can be a tough medium when it comes to the kids letting go of the idea that everything needs to be “perfect!”  I always tell them, nothing is perfect, especially in art!  We turn accidents into “happy little accidents” like one of my favorite painters, Bob Ross always used to say:)  They have started the process and are really doing a great job!  To wrap up the project, we will be using acrylic paint on top of the print and add cherry blossoms.  It will be beautiful!

In December, members of the Intermediate and Advanced Bands were introduced to a variety of holiday songs spanning different genres. This month, we’re especially focusing on jazz and swing music, exploring the rhythms, melodies, and styles that make these genres unique.

The Intermediate Band had the opportunity to showcase their hard work by performing a selection of holiday tunes at the SPX Senior Luncheon this week. The students thoroughly enjoyed the chance to perform, and our parishioners were delighted by the festive concert. The performance allowed the students to practice their musical skills in front of an audience and allowed them to connect with the parish community during this special time of year.

Students are also working in small groups—duets, trios, or quartets—to perform Christmas songs as part of their December Playing Project. This collaborative effort encourages teamwork, musical expression, and creativity, giving the students the chance to explore different aspects of holiday music in a more intimate setting. Overall, it’s been a month filled with festive performances and musical growth for our talented young musicians.

6th grade students have begun ear training practice with simple melodies. They are practicing decoding melodies and short patterns while learning to sing and play accurately on recorders and xylophones. The classes will practice performing both solo pieces and ensemble pieces.

7th grade students are currently learning to decode and improvise simple melodies. They are developing their "inner hearing" while they improve their pitch accuracy through singing exercises. Students are beginning to improvise sung patterns as well as melodic patterns on recorder.

8th grade students are developing their improvisation and reading skills. They are building their pitch accuracy through singing exercises and ensemble singing. Students have been improvising sung patterns, patterns on recorder and patterns on xylophone. Students have begun reading simple melodies both in unison and in parts using standard music notation.

Middle school students have been studying George Frideric Handel in the month of December. They have listened to and explored oratorios and various orchestral pieces to practice using music vocabulary and descriptive writing. Each class has also practiced and performed circle folk dances and contra folk dances in class.

8th graders are currently working on Unit 19 “El Biblioburro”. This unit focuses on prepositions of location. We continue to include more grammar-based concepts as students prepare for spring placement tests. We are also celebrating the season of Advent with an Árbol de Jese (Jesse Tree). At the beginning of each class we look at scripture in Spanish from either the Old or New Testament that tells the story of the genealogy of Jesus. Students complete a page in the Libro de Adviento (Advent Books) which includes creating an ornament for the story. We will spend the last week before break learning about the famous Christmas Lottery in Spain, El Gordo, and have our own class lottery!

7th grade ended Unit 8 La comida latina (Latin Food) with a research assigment of a traditional dish found in Latin America. They also gave their first presentation in Spanish. Several students brought in a sampling of their dish to share with the class. Thank you to all the parents that helped with these tasty treats! We have just begun Unit 9 El cucuy. In this unit students will learn to talk about what they are afraid of using the Spanish expression tener miedo de… We will also celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe by creating a class mural. 

6th grade finished Vamos Unit 5 (Cuba). We spent time playing traditional Cuban dominos at the end of the unit. We are currently working on Vamos Unit 6 (Chile) The cultural focus this unit is Rapa Nui, a national park in Chile, also known as Easter Island. Our core vocabulary for Unit 6 is: sabes (you know), piensa que (thinks that), está (is feeling). In preparation for the Christmas season we will make poinsettias and learn about their Aztec origin. 

COMPUTER SCIENCE

Computer Science Class meets once a week with Mrs. Bostwick. We devote some time each class to developing our keyboarding skills. Do you know the recommended words per minute for your student?

6th grade's end-of-year goal is 35 WPM. 7th grade's end-of-year goal is 50 WPM. By 8th grade, the goal is 65 WPM. Meeting these goals will help students be more successful in everyday assignments, homework completion, and state tests.

6th graders are almost finished with learning all about the Google Suites, and just completed slide shows all about their favorite "______." Ask your student to see his or her project. They turned out great. Up next: internet safety.

7th graders are working their way through an Art unit, and have dabbled with animation, interactive art, and various coding loops. Up next: Makey Makey hardware.



The gaming unit is going well for 8th graders. They have completed racing games, maze games, platform games, and escape games. Up next: coding Finch Bots, which have speed, light, sound, and distance sensors.

GOSPEL GUIDE STORE

The first trimester Gospel Guide Store was a huge success! Middle schoolers submitted a total of 696 signature cards, with 6th graders contributing 380, 7th graders 199, and 8th graders 117. The first trimester gift card winners were Kelly Grace Corba, Lauren Arnold, and Audrey Milliron. You can make a donation to our store HERE.