Our first group of Science Field explorers went to Crystal Springs Preserve on Tuesday August 29, 2018 students from Mrs. Butler’s and Mr. Bartuska’s classes journeyed to Crystal Springs Preserve where they experienced looked for microscopic critters that are found in all the waters around us, they performed water chemistry on spring and river water and they also were caught on the wild side with a reptile encounter!
Here are the winners for the Summer Reading Project! It was a tough decision because so many of the pieces were well-done, but we wanted to make sure we rewarded more than one option.
Grade 6 – Heston Birkhold, shadow box for Restart Grade 7 – Anna Cheng, Map of Setting for Wing & Claw: Forest of Wonders Grade 8 – Skyler Hollinger, newspaper article for Restart After a week of getting to know each other and classroom expectations, the Creative Writing & Drama classes really took off this week!
6th Grade: All good writers need a strong foundation in grammar, so our sixth graders began a review of the parts of speech, figurative language terms, and word usage. Next up, the history of writing including hieroglyphics! 7th Grade: Using The Diary of Anne Frank as a model, students began working on an original journal/diary. They chose a time period (past, present, future) and began writing five entries. To complete the project, they will bind their writing in a creative cover. This assignment is due on Tuesday, September 4th. 8th Grade: For the third year in a row, LCMA’s 8th graders have been asked to write a script for Lakeland Community Theatre’s “Out of the Box” performers! This troupe with special physical and/or developmental abilities rehearses every Monday at the theatre. We are excited that ELEVEN of our students are volunteering as “TKs” (Typical Kids) with this group! They will assist during both rehearsals and performances which will take place in May, 2019. The “Out of the Box” director, Maureen McGowan, wrote: “Seriously, this is what it’s all about. I had parents of my special needs students come up yesterday saying how impressed they were with everyone…so welcoming and helpful. Your kids had hearts of gold. They were ready to give of themselves. Thank you for preparing them and sending them our way!” YOU’RE THE BEST, KNIGHTS (and your supportive parents). This week, LCMA was treated to a Gallery Walk for Summer Reading through the ELA Department and the work of its students! Students in each Language and Literature class were able to visit the other classrooms and see the work of their peers. There were some incredible projects this year, and students were able to attach “sticky notes of specific praise” to three projects of their choice. The students enjoyed the freedom of visiting each classroom and seeing the variety of projects at each grade level.
In addition, all students in the Language and Literature classes participated in a letter-writing activity. The ELA teachers wrote letters to their students, and the students wrote letters to their teachers in response. The purpose of the activity was two-fold; it gave the students and teachers a way of getting to know each other, and it also gave each teacher an idea of each student’s individual writing style. 8th grade American History students have started their study of American History thinking about their own lives by completing “3-2-1 What’s your history?” reflections. Civics students have been learning what it means to be a good citizen! We are going to have an awesome year learning about our government! 6th graders in Language and Literature have completed job applications and will be working in the classroom to build responsibility. They also are writing their first informative practice essay for the school year and having fun talking about our summer reading, Framed. Pre Algebra students are exploring transformations and angle relationships. We will be creating art and a city map by the end of the first nine weeks. Geometry students learned to rate quadrilaterals by their “squareness.” They have been studying midpoint and distance as well. Algebra students are exploring polynomials and already preparing for their first quiz next week. After all the news of lead in the water, even at schools, the Environmental Symposium students were concerned for the quality of water at LCMA. Good news! You can rest easy! They have tested the water in drinking fountains in Building 1 and the Gym, with no trace of lead or other toxins! And much more........ The ELA Department wants you to know that we’ll be conducting a Gallery Walk for Summer Reading during all periods (except 5th) on Thursday. The students’ Summer Reading Projects will be on display in each ELA classroom, and during the first part of each period, students will be moving in and out of those classrooms to observe the work of their peers and to provide positive feedback in the form of handwritten praise on sticky notes. Please feel free to come up if you have a chance! We’ll be showing off some incredible work! We may even give you a sticky note if you’d like to participate.
We are all so proud of our students for their committment to reading and participating so vigorously in their chosen projects! The addition of choice this year has enriched the process so much! Thanks parents for your buy in and assistance. We appreciate you as well. Below is just a small sample of over 650 individual projects. All were unique and amazing! |
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May 2019
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