Man's feelings are always purest and most glowing in the hour of meeting and of farewell.
- Jean Paul Richter Dear Knight Families, Summer is a time for our children to unwind, rest, and rejuvenate. It is also a time to ensure our children stay connected to reading without stress. In order to facilitate that end, all students will be required to complete a chosen Sunshine State Reading Book for 2019-2020. The book can either be purchased hard copy or electronic; or borrowed from the Public Library. The expectation is for your child to choose one of the books from the SSYRA list on the attached brochure. After reading their chosen book, each student will have a choice of 6 different options to share their knowledge of the book. This completed project will be your child’s entry ticket to our annual first Friday of school celebration! We will have other activities surrounding the book upon returning the first week of school, and their first grade will be based on the students’ assigned novel. I am already in progress for reading them all as well. I would encourage you to read along with your child and incorporate some “book chats” over the summer. It takes a bit of time and scheduling, but it is honestly a rewarding experience for both kids and adults. Trust me on that! Please encourage your child to stretch out and set a goal to read ALL Sunshine State Books this year. Be sure to check out the LCMA Sunshine State webpage. On this page you will find an annotated list of the 2019-2020 Sunshine State books. They are all quite engaging. More information to follow on the Sunshine State Reading Contest when school begins. For more information on the Sunshine State Young Reader Program, please open: http://www.floridamediaed.org/ssyra.html Project Options here: LCMA Summer reading project 2019 PDF.pdf Thanks ~ Brian J. Andrews Principal Kids did a great job Saturday at the Polk County Championships. Full results can be found here - http://elitetiming.net/live-results/2019/officialresults/20190511-pub/complete/ .
Here are some highlights. Girls team finished County Runner Up, Boys team finished 3rd. There were 3 individual County Champs. Lauren Butler - Long Jump Avery Smith - 800 meter run Tyrell Brooks - 100 meter dash Other notable performances include: Lauren Butler - 6th place - 100 meter dash Payton Spears - 6th place - 200 meter dash Tyrell Brooks - 4th place- 200 meter dash DeShawn Salter - 6th place - 200 meter dash Grace Boatright - 5th place - 800 meter run Andrea Paez - 6th place - 1 mile Charlotte Levasseur - 8th place 1 mile Lauren Butler/Hannah Kazmier/Payton Spears/Avery Smith - 2nd place - Sprint Medley Relay Tyson Gast - 6th Place - Long Jump Anna Lloren - 5th place - Long Jump Larry Jones - 2nd Place - Shot Put Darian Anderson - 3rd Place - Shot Put Kali Benzee - 7th Place - Shot Put Geometry students are studying volume and area as they relate to real world situations. From Cavalieri’s principle to calculating density of populations, we are quickly wrapping up the year and preparing to take the state end-of-course exam.
Algebra students are working on a statistics unit currently focusing on relative and conditional frequencies. They are also preparing for the state exam and have been meeting after school on Mondays and Wednesdays for extra practice. The music department is preparing for our spring concert which takes place May 14th at 6:30pm at Florida Southern College. The show is a combination of classic and modern music as we take you through a journey of music. Last week we hosted the LCMA talent show and the show was spectacular! Congratulations to our winners! Lavelle's students just concluded a unit that focused on analyzing how modern works of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new. Students began with a passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible where Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into freedom. They then applied their understanding of the ancient story to a nonfiction pieces concerning Harriet Tubman, who was known as the "Moses" of the Underground Railroad. Students then connected language and ideas from both passages to Robert Hayden's poem from the 1960's, Runagate, Runagate, which contains clear references to both Moses and the Underground Railroad. Their final assignment (which has proven to be one of Ms. Lavelle’s favorites this year) required students to read a selection from Colson Whitehead’s 2016 novel, The Underground Railroad, to examine the evolution of the original story and to determine how Whitehead took that ancient story and rendered it new. After they rock both FSA Reading sessions on Friday and Monday, students will spend the rest of the year reading William Golding’s classic novel, Lord of the Flies, and discussing Golding’s commentary on human nature in a post-WWII world. Mrs. Sitta’s advanced science students have learned about how living things are organized into Domains and Kingdoms. They are currently learning how the human body systems are organized and interconnected. Did somebody ask, “Will there be any Dissections?” The honors classes have learned about matter, compounds and mixtures. They are delving into the Elements of the Periodic Table and exploring how the Atomic Theory has changed over time. The 6th graders in global Technology read a series of novels. Now are using their STEM skills to build a theme park. They are using their engineering skills to be as creative as possible in the creation of the park. Some students are making editable parks, some are building it from pool noodles, others are using craft sticks and stem sticks. While other team members are using their technology skills to make websites advertising their theme park. This project will continue through the end of the semester ending in a competition to see which group did best! Below are some of the pictures of them beginning to build their parks! Students in Mrs. Ferrell's Photography 1 & 2 classes have been experimenting with macro photography. Macro photography is composing images in which very small subjects appear larger than life. Look for these macro photos, and more, in the digital collections students are creating to share later this month! 6th and 7th grade Language and Literature students have been analyzing universal themes in the forms of folk tales, fables, myths, and legends. Also, they have written their own modern myth or folk tale that explains something in nature. Sixth grade U.S. History classes are learning about the events that led up to the Civil War. Students are realizing the many causes of the Civil War. Next week we will begin learning about the leaders, battles, and consequences of the war. Students are so enthusiastic about this topic In Creative Writing/Drama: 6th graders are learning about the production process of a play/skit through vocabulary, and are working on dress rehearsals for their scenes in the script "Ten/Two." Final performances will begin next week around the FSA testing schedule. 7th graders are watching the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical, "Oklahoma!" We have discussed the devices used in the musical which changed the style and plot for all future musicals. Ask them about the Oklahoma land grab, "stake claiming," a box social, or the importance of the dream ballet. 8th graders finished outlines for an original mystery and we read a short Sherlock Holmes case together. They have been extremely creative with their dramatic openings, plot twists, confrontations, and conclusions. Several of them would be great script ideas for detective TV shows or movies! Civics students have been learning about foreign policy, as it applies to the US. When should the US get involved with other countries? Why do we get involved in the business of other countries? The answer is when it has the ability to impact us. We are also looking into international organizations and their roles in government. The Civics EOC is coming soon! Please visit your teacher's website for a list of resources that can be used from home. "Work hard, put forth maximum effort, and have a good attitude. Most importantly, never give up!" 7th grade accelerated science students used their math brains to convert standard measurements into scientific notation. This made it much easier to compare the relative size and/or distance of over 30 objects in our universe and order them from smallest to largest. Gibson's 8th grade students are using technology to create presentations to teach various topics regarding Human Impacts on the Environment for their SSA review. The shows are both entertaining and educational! What an exciting night for our Knights at the annual Polk County Poetry Awards! Please help us celebrate the following award-winning published poets:
6th Grade: 1st Place - Kai Richardi (Narramore) 3rd Place - Megan Myers (McDaniel/Jones) Honorable Mention - Gracie Braswell (McDaniel/Jones) 7th Grade: Honorable Mention: Morgan Day (Narramore/Jones) Honorable Mention: Quinn DeJarnette (Narramore) Published: Emma Abdoney (Whitehurst/Jones) 8th Grade: 2nd Place: Haley Doddy (Lavelle) Honorable Mention: Lucy Sanzobrin (Lavelle/Jones) Published: Aurora Herrington (Lavelle/Jones) Congratulations to Genesha Rhymer - LCMA's 2019 Television Production Student of the Year! Genesha was honored at the Polk County Video Awards on April 30 where she also served as a presenter for one of the awards categories. Genesha is an 8th grader finishing her third year in TV Production. She is a leader to her peers in the Knight Vision TV program and always strives to produce top-notch programming for our morning news show. We wish Genesha well as she moves to high school in the fall and continues honing her broadcasting skills! Good Morning! Our LCMA PTSO Online auction is LIVE!
Here is the link: https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/lcma-ptso-annual-online-auction-2019-7611 We need your help! Please take a few minutes to check out the auction and share with friends and family. There is something for everyone – Gift Certificates, LCMA Reserved Parking Spots, Art Classes, Voice Lessons, Chick Fil A, Tim Tebo and Dabo Swinney autographed footballs, Risse Brothers and Spirit Wear Gift Certificates, BOTOX and BRACES! . Bidding will be open through May 3 at 5 pm. Gift Certificates will be mailed to winning bidder at close of auction. Larger items may be picked up at LCMA on Monday, May 6th between 7:30 am - 8:15 am or 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Or, other arrangements can be made. Items can always be purchased and donated to Staff Appreciation Week for LCMA teachers! We have created a Facebook Event called “LCMA PTSO Annual Online Auction” where we will highlight items daily over the next 10 days. If I haven’t invited you to the FB auction page already, send me a friend request – Lisa Strollo Ruthven – and I’ll invite you! Please invite friends and family to the Facebook event to see all the highlights! Thanks for your support! Congratulations to Kate Gonzalez for her surreal art being accepted into The Dali Museum Student Art Exhibit!
Title: Anything and Everything Under the Sun Material: markers Grade: 6 Congratulations to the following students for making a superior rating at solo and ensemble on Saturday, April 13th! We had 10 ensembles and 9 received a superior rating and one an excellent rating. There were 12 solos and 4 received superior with distinction ratings, 7 superior ratings and 1 excellent rating.
Superiors with Distinction Bobby Boone Emma Wuitschick Pranav Gunjala Julianna Ishihara Superiors Sean Abuan Nia Acheampong Haven Lee Jeffaria Torbert Jenna Fain Cheyenne Whitehead Elizabeth Peterson Annunziata Versace Caroline Yu Brandon Doddy Alex Vasquez Anthony Weiss Sariana Landfair Bobby Boone Bo Seymour Ethan Stanley Trenton Haynes Juan Landeta Cristina Barrios Ellie McSwain Georgia Mohr Lina Rifai Hailey Thomas Excellent Kyla Runcie Sansel Smith Juliana Varela-Chanex Alex Vasquez Nahayah Bruno Haven Lee Alison Richarz Caroline Yu Environmental Symposium students at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy had a fundraiser to purchase emergency tools for all LPD patrol cars. They sold Krispy Kreme donuts before school on Fridays for 6 weeks to raise the $1500 that was needed for the tools that break car windows and cut seatbelts. After seeing a news story where an officer in another county had to use a passerby’s shovel to break into a burning car, we decided to make sure ALL patrol cars in Lakeland have the life-saving emergency tools.
Chief Garcia will be at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy on April 15th at 10 a.m. to meet with the students and accept the tools. Over the weekend, LCMA had three teams compete in the State Finals of Odyssey of the Mind. Please congratulate these remarkable students today!
13th in the State! Hadyn Bush, Luke Shamoun, Jimmy Barrios, Jonah Meyers, Nate Achinger 15th in the State! Naomi Garner, Caroline Mank, Avery Brower, Alexander Andrade, Nioolas Barrios, Thomas Chancey 17th in the State! Kate Gonzalez, Josceline Cabanas, Norah Secrist, Bianca Emmons, Nadean Shehadeh, Sumi Muthias, Melanie Coleman Please congratulate the 2019 A-Team competitors for their awesome win yesterday! Number #1 in the county!!! The seventh grade team also was top 7th grade team in the county go Knights!!!!!
Lavelle's classes have begun studying literature associated with the Holocaust. Their introduction included a rumination on Martin Niemoller's famous words, "First they came . . .", followed by an article from The New Yorker about the creation of a real Holocaust survivor's "digital doppleganger," in which Eva Schloss meets an artificial version of herself, one that will be available for interaction with students for generations to come. Schloss’s desire to preserve the first-person account of the Holocaust experience is similar to the ideas presented in Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Keep Memory Alive. Students are annotating the speech for rhetorical techniques as a way to review for their upcoming FSA Writing Exam, while also evaluating the effectiveness of Wiesel’s powerful language. In the next few days, they will watch a video of Wiesel delivering the speech in 1986 and will compare the written text with the spoken word.
Mrs. Guuzman: My students learned about the Spanish tradition of "La Tomatina". We even had our own "Tomatina festival" in the classroom. It was a lot of fun. 6th and 7th grade Language and Literature students have been reviewing how to create effective organizational patterns in their writing by developing thesis statements, topic sentences, and strong introductions and conclusions. Also, we have started Unit 4 which focuses on drama and how visual/audio elements influenced by stage directions help the reader/audience understand the point of view. Advanced 7th grade math students are studying geometry and working on learning their formula chart. We have learned how to tell if 3 line segments will create a triangle, how to tell if parameters will give you an unique triangle and learned how to work with the circle formulas for circumference and area. Students will be learning how to construct triangles using rulers, compasses and protractors. PreAlgebra students have been completing their study of scatter plots, lines of best fit and relative frequencies. We are beginning our study of the Laws of Exponents and Scientific Notation. Sixth Grade U.S. History classes are learning about Westward Expansion. We are packing our wagons this week to head west on the Oregon Trail. Students will work together to decide what exactly they will pack. They will need to consider size and weight of these items and the necessity of them. It's a long trip, so students will determine what is worth bringing, packing, and carrying and what they can do without. Geometry students are working on their polygon creation project. Students are demonstrating their understanding of the properties of polygons through art, song, prose or other methods of their choosing. Algebra students are beginning their study of exponential functions and how they model situations in the world. We will be solving problems involving radioactive decay, population growth/decline, compound interest and appreciation or depreciation of value. Ms. Whitehurst’s 7th graders are reading the teleplay famously featured on The Twilight Zone, “Monsters are Due on Maple Street” by Rod Serling. Students are acting out their roles and examining how the narration and notes concerning camera angles impact literary elements such as setting, tone, and mood. Later in the week, students will be able to view the episode from The Twilight Zone and make direct connections and comparisons between the two mediums. Excerpt from the text: “Words which carried with them a strange kind of validity that came without logic but nonetheless registered and had meaning and effect.” My hope is that the teleplay script will register, carry meaning, and effect our students by thinking critically and understanding the dangers of mob mentality/groupthink, as well as the rewards of embracing individuality. Ms. Whitehurst’s 8th graders are preparing to enter into an examination of Holocaust literature including works by Elie Wiesel and an interview with Eva Schloss. In an effort to activate prior knowledge, students recently participated in a “Vote with your feet” activity in which they chose to agree or disagree with statements containing an ethical dilemma or moral gray area. An example includes, “I would help someone in trouble, no matter the danger.” Several students were divided on this topic, and it came down to the severity of “danger”. We then discussed how several people risked their lives and reputation in order to protect Jewish people during the Holocaust. Themes from this activity will appear in later studies of Holocaust literature. Quote from Elie Wiesel: “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” 8th grade science classes are taking their practice State Science Assessment this week. They have been working hard and tell me that they thought it was 'super easy’. The assessment is in early May and we will be working to fill in any learning gaps throughout the month of April. 6th grade advanced math is designing boats, finding the surface area, and making a map of an adventure they take on their boat using coordinate planes and ordered pairs. If they finish in time, we'll be racing our boats on Thursday! Rutledge: In order to examine and identify the causes of westward expansion and settlement in the first half of the 19th century, students "Go West" by planning, documenting, and presenting their experiences on the trails together, with their group (traveling company). Mrs. Bland's 6th grade Global Tech students just finished their unit on Upcycling,, complete with an upcycled product, logo, and a website to merchandise it! The students are creating self-propelled gutter boats this week to race on Thursday! The continue working on their TSA projects. Environmental Symposium students are giving presentations this week on causes they feel strongly about. The students are spreading awareness about a variety of topics close to their hearts. Gifted elective students are learning valuable lessons on Finance(8th grade), Flight (7th grade), and Modern History (6th grade). We also have three teams gearing up for the State Odyssey of the Mind tournament, the week following Spring Break! In Creative Writing: 6th graders have recently completed their "Fake News" stories where they took a common nursery rhyme or fairy tale and turned it into a news report complete with byline and tip number. They will next watch the classic play, "Driving Miss Daisy," and apply our IB/MYP Learner Profile traits to the three characters. 7th graders just learned about the four different personality types (sanguine, choleric, melancholy, and phlegmatic) and wrote a story or scene that included four characters who each displayed a different type/trait based on their actions/dialogue. Next up is a 50-100 "Ghost Ship" story using perspective. 8th graders finished a Scene Spur entitled "For Sale" where they wrote either a monologue, script, or story based on a provided picture. Now, they are writing a legacy regarding how they would like to be remembered by family, friends, the community, and strangers. Seventh Grade Civics students have been conquering our standards-early America, US Constitution, Branches of Government, Amendments, Supreme Court cases and more! Much work has been done to prepare for the Quarter 3 Exam! The hard work is paying off! Keep working hard and visiting the practice sites. Let's Finish STRONG! Congratulations to the LCMA choirs for beautiful performances at the district music performance assessment. Advanced Chorus received straight Superiors on their ratings and the combined choir received a superior in sight reading and excellent on the stage performance. Please help me congratulate these students on their hard work!
Over the weekend, the Gifted elective students competed in the Regional Tournament of Odyssey of the Mind. Teams participated in Long Term and Spontaneous with lots of laughs and creativity! LCMA ended the day with THREE teams moving on to the State Tournament at UCF on April 6th. They are Omer to the Rescue, Again: 8th graders- Hadyn Bush, Nate Achinger, Jimmy Barrios, Luke Shamoun, and Jonah Meyers. 6th graders- Kate Gonzalez, Norah Secrist, Bianca Emmons, Sumi Muthia, Joceline Cabanas, Nadean Shehadeh, and Melanie Coleman. 6th graders- Caroline Mank, Naomi Garner, Avery Bowers, Alexander Andrade, Nicolas Barrios, and Thomas Chancey.
Congratulations and Good Luck in April! Please help spread the word and join us for this amazing upcoming concert on March 11, 2019. We have a very exciting upcoming event on March 11, 2019 at 7:00p.m. a combined concert with Mark Wood and Lawton Chiles, Lakeland Highlands as well as George Jenkins High School. The concert is general admission at Branscomb Auditorium at Florida Southern College. Tickets are on-sale through Eventbrite and a link is here: Mark Wood Electrify Your Strings or you can go to www.lcmamusic.com/EYS If you could spread the work with your family and friends we would greatly appreciate your help! Here’s a little information on Mark Wood: Recording artist, performer, producer, inventor, Emmy-winning composer and music education advocate Mark Wood has spent the past four decades electrifying the orchestra industry – literally. Dubbed “The Les Paul of the Violin World” by PBS, the Juilliard-trained violist (he attended on full scholarship) is the premier electric violinist of his generation, pioneering the entire genre. Wood first turned the string establishment on its head in the early 1970’s with his invention of the first solid body electric violin. His company Wood Violins is now the leading manufacturer of electric string instruments worldwide and he holds the patent for the first-ever self-supporting violin. The company stands behind its claim to have made the most important change to the violin in 400 years and is often referred to as the “Stradivarius of electric violins.” A world-renowned performer who rose to fame as string master and original member of the internationally acclaimed Trans Siberian Orchestra, Mark is a successful solo artist in his own right and has released seven solo albums (his latest, TURBOW, was released in August 2016). He tours with his band The Mark Wood Experience (MWE) which features his wife, vocalist Laura Kaye. His commission credits include The Juilliard School and extensive TV broadcast music including The Winter Olympics and The Tour de France (for which he won his Emmy). In addition to his continued solo and commission work, Wood has collaborated with and appeared alongside some of the biggest names in music such as Lenny Kravitz, Celine Dion, and Kanye West. Wood had the honor of performing with the legendary Billy Joel for both historic final concerts at Shea stadium, sharing the stage with Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, and Roger Daltry. He also starred in a Kanye West produced national Pepsi TV commercial and has appeared on the world’s most venerable stages including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Madison Square Garden. But his true passion is music education. His Electrify Your Strings program, now in its 18th year, is an intensive music education experience that boosts student self-esteem and motivation and helps raise money for music education. Today EYS visits upwards of 75 schools per year and there is a waiting list of schools wanting to participate. The program has been featured on The Today Show and CBS Evening News and in countless local media outlets. Mark is recognized as a leader in the music education field and recently premiered his curriculum at the prestigious Ohio State University, at the invitation of Dr. Robert Gillespie. He was also honored to have served a wonderful term as a proud board member (a position he won in a landslide victory) of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). A genuine family man, Wood runs his operations alongside his wife, business partner, and longtime collaborator Laura Kaye out of their home in Port Washington, New York. Their 23-year old child Elijah is a drum prodigy and has toured with EYS, The Mark Wood Experience and most recently Shania Twain and Kaya Stewart. In addition to EYS, Wood and his family run the annual Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp, now in its 10th year, as well as the Mark Wood Electrify Your Music Foundation, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to supporting music and the arts. With more than 100,000 students reached, millions of dollars raised to help high school music departments across the US, and dozens of school orchestra programs saved from the chopping block because of funds raised through his efforts, Mark Wood has proven himself a man of ideas, action and results. Showing no signs of slowing down, the multi-faceted visionary continues to write, perform, record, invent and inspire. As a matter of fact, Mark Wood is just getting started… Find out more about Mark Wood by visitingwww.markwoodmusic.com Congratulations to the LCMA orchestra on receiving straight superiors at their music performance assessment on Friday, February 22,2019. Please feel free to enjoy their performance by watching it on my website. ( My personal favorite song played is El Toro.)
https://www.lcmamusic.com/Orchestra If you see any of these students around, please be sure to congratulate them on their huge success at the Chapter Mathcounts Competition on Saturday!
Our 4-man team consisting of Jacob Gmitter, Jimmy Barrios, Raghav Bansal, and Nicholas Kieffer took 1st place for the team round and 1st place for the ciphering round! Indivudally, out of 127, here’s how our students ranked! Nicholas Kieffer- 1st Jimmy Barrios- 2nd Raghav Bansal- 9th Jacob Gmitter -13th Eesh Sahay – 14th Mohon Nakka- 22nd Pranav Gunjala- 24th Alexander Andrade (our only 6th grader!) – 25th Anna Cheng- 38th Luv Patel- 67th And Krishna Patel participated as the alternate and unfortunately they do not give us his scores. Orchestra students are working to prepare for this week’s music performance assessment and are also preparing for our upcoming collaborative concert with Trans-Siberian Orchestra member Mark Wood.
Chorus students are also preparing for their upcoming MPA which takes place on March 20. The music department is excited to perform at the black history festival next week and are learning and performing songs by celebrated artists such as Bill Withers and Ben E. King. Mrs. Tregler’s 8th Grade American History cluster classes chose a significant African Americans to research and create websites. Other classes are then using these websites in the next few weeks to gone on a Black History Month scavenger hunt. Mr. Rutledge’s classes are working on an arts integration project to show their knowledge of key ideas and influences of Jacksonian democracy. Students are getting creative while using a variety of media to show what they know!This week is about diversity and differentiation. Student volunteers are working hard, gearing up for the first Black History Festival, while working on our "Arts Integration" lesson for Andrew Jackson. Students are creating an arts-infused product of their choosing from varying perspectives (African American, Jackson's wife, etc.), which will be centered around this controversial president. 6th grade Language and Literature students have been digging in deep to the connotation of words. How does the context of the lines of a poem affect the meaning the author wanted to get across to the reader? Also, they have been learning about figurative language and analyzing why author's would choose certain phrases and the effect they have on a text. 7th grade Language and Literature students used music as a way to see figurative language in poetry. They designed presentations to discuss how the songwriter's word choice affected the tone and how the musical notes and beats could change the tone or reemphasize the tone. Students also have been analyzing narrative poetry for rhyme schemes and rhythm patterns and sharing how the structure of the text affects the meaning. Mr. Coombs' 6th grade classes are rolling along studying energy through creating roller coasters and identifying the types of energy and the forces involved. Eighth grade is burning for knowledge about the sun, so they are making models of the sun's structure. Creative Technology students are using their Design Cycle skills to create their own designs from concept to completion! We have projects ranging from online games to creating a new water filter to 3D printing a hockey helmet! The students are learning designing is fun as well as educational!! Creative Writing & Drama: After days spent reviewing the "Rules of Paragraphing (TiPToP) and Dialogue," our 6th grade students began writing their first original fiction story. It is based on five random items brought in by a classmate for the activity "Story in a Shoe Box." Early rough drafts demonstrate that our 6th graders have a strong command of vocabulary, figurative and sensory language, and imagery. As a reminder, strong readers make strong writers! Seventh graders are putting the finishing touches on their original "Tall Tale." These stories have been entertaining as they follow the steps of: an interesting childhood, conflict/competition, humor, and hyperbole (exaggeration). Next, the students will be converting either their original fable or tall tale into an illustrated children's story that we will share with a local elementary school. Our eighth graders are "hitting the boards" as they present their interpretation of the scripts "My Hero" or "Weird." It's always entertaining to watch our students come out of their comfort zones and become new and interesting characters. A written reflection regarding the script, characters, and performance will follow. Algebra students have been learning how to solve quadratic equations and graph quadratic functions. They have learned that quadratic functions are the perfect models for any trajectory that has a parabolic shape. Geometry classes just wrapped up their study of basic trigonometry and continue to apply that knowledge to find unknown dimensions in quadrilaterals. 8th grade science students just completed researching and building 3D models of the Sun. Each model includes an informational legend and all of the major solar structures. Attached are some examples of some of the amazing creativity these small groups display on a regular basis! Civics students have been learning about the judicial branch. They have learned about different kinds of cases and different levels of courts. They even participated in a mock trial where the jury had to render a verdict in the case Humpty Dumpty v. Sherman King. We have some great actors and actresses in our midst! We are currently looking at landmark Supreme Court cases and learning how they set precedents for future court cases. The Environmental Symposium students have been sharing the Crayola ColorCycle Project with neighboring elementary schools to save over 400 million dried up markers from landfills and oceans. Please come see the Honey Bunch team at First Friday! As they meet their Final Challenge of the Lexus Eco Challenge, they will be selling Bee Hotels and seed bombs, along with educating the community about the importance of our honey bees! The Gifted Elective students will be showing off their solutions at the regional Odyssey of the Mind tournament on March 2nd at Bloomingdale High School in Valrico. Creativity at it’s best! We are preparing for Concert MPA in Symphonic Band, Jazz Band is preparing for performances at the Black Heritage Festival, and the Polk Fine Arts Festival in March. Lavelle's classes have been familiarizing themselves with the visual aspects and utter desperation of the Dust Bowl through iconic photographs and scenes from the Ken Burns documentary of the same name. They have begun reading aloud from Karen Hesse's novel-in-verse, Out of the Dust, winner of the John Newbery Medal. Students are examining the ways in which the individual poems work together in order to structure the novel. Students will also experiment with the intricacies of Hesse’s structure by taking lines from one poem and applying their meaning to various other places in the novel. When they have finished reading and discussing, they will work in groups to determine how the meaningful structure of the novel compares and/or contrasts with that of other pieces concerning the Dust Bowl, such as excerpts from Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads, and Sanora Babb’s Whose Names are Unknown. |
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