Junior High School News
November 1, 2019
Events
11/11 Veterans Day, All District Offices Closed
11/12 Parent Teacher Conferences, No School for Students
11/27 Thanksgiving Recess, No School for Staff and Students
11/28 Thanksgiving Recess, District Offices Closed
11/29 Thanksgiving Recess, District Offices Closed
Library News
The library makerspace has been a busy place during Junior High S.T.o.P. time. Some of the activities students can explore are Lego challenges, board games, reading, crafts, coding robots, puzzles and circuit building sets.
Foreign Language News
Foreign Language Exploratory students are learning about the geography of French speaking countries around the world, their culture, food, traditions, and some basic French expressions. They will be wrapping up the end of the course with French studies and how to pick the foreign language that is appropriate for them. 

Spanish 1 students are learning to talk about themselves and others using the verb "ser" and adjectives. They will be working on a “Lo Que Soy” (All about me) project and they are also learning about el Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. 

French 1 students are learning about France’s history, the French Revolution and France’s footprint in America and the Caribbeans, including French speaking parts of Canada and Louisiana. They are practicing ways to describe themselves and items in the classroom. 
English Students Share Stories with Kindergartners
Applied 7th and 8th grade English students have been busy working on a short story unit. They have been working to write their own short story, concentrating on developing literary elements of character, setting, plot, mood and theme.

Students practiced presenting their stories using good eye contact, having appropriate volume, with clear pronunciation, and with confidence--knowing that they have produced "a clear and coherent story appropriate to task, purpose, and audience." (Essential Standard W.8.4)

As a culminating activity, students went to Barry Primary School on October 31st to read their stories to Mrs. Pasalugo's kindergarten class.
Math News
In 7th grade math all students began the year with an Integer Unit.
Our next unit will be a Rational Number Unit. We have also spent time using the calculator and all of its functions. Students are also using the colors of M and M's to write ratios.

In 8th grade math, we are finishing up our unit on algebraic equations. Students just learned that some equations don’t have a solution, and some equations have an infinite number of solutions. Soon we will begin our study on functions. Khan Academy is a very useful website for students and parents. It has video tutorials on almost everything we will learn this year. 

In Algebra 1R, we are almost halfway through our "introduction to functions" unit. We will have a test next week, then immediately start a unit getting a more in-depth look into functions. Video tutorials for each of our lessons can be found on eMathInstruction.com .
Ghanaian Drumming Performance
Junior High general music students in Mr. Bellamy, Mrs. Phetteplace and Mrs. Rafferty’s classes visited Barry Primary on Thursday, October 24th to give a special performance of Ghanaian drumming, dance and culture. 
Through the performance they shared information about Ghanaian culture and taught the 2nd grade students how to dance and play Ghanaian drums and other instruments. Students were smiling from ear to ear as they performed and played the Ghanaian music. Students and teachers wore traditional Ghanaian dress called a “kente.” The different clothing and meaning behind the colors of the clothing was explained to the 2nd graders by the Junior High Students. One of the songs that was performed was called Kpanlogo, which is a Ghanaian independence song. Click the video below to see images of our performance.   Read more...
Physical Education
The JH girls PE classes are into gameplay of flag football and the boys are playing soccer. Later this month, each class will start the introductory unit to the fitness room where the students will learn safe use of all equipment and how to implement an indoor workout.
News From the Nurse
New York State Education Law requires a physical exam of all students in 7th grade. School physicals will begin November 6th for those students who have not yet submitted a completed health form from your private medical provider.             

BMI and weight status group must be included as part of the student’s school health examination. Each year school districts are randomly selected by the state to provide estimates of childhood obesity rates at the county level. The information is taken from the health appraisals of students from the previous year. Cortland School District has been selected for the 2019-2020 school year. 

***If you do not wish for your child's data to be included in this survey, please contact the school nurse by December 1, 2019 ***
Author Visit
On November 14, Isabel Sterling (author of These Witches Don’t Burn ) will be coming in to speak to our 8th grade English students. She will be talking to us about her writing process just as we wrap up our essay writing unit!
Junior High Band
Junior High band lesson attendance is excellent! Congratulations to those students who are keeping close track of the lesson schedule and remind app and have perfect lesson attendance so far! The more students that practice and come to lessons, the better they will sound and the band will begin to improve by leaps and bounds! In lessons, students can challenge themselves by learning up to 13 scales. There is a reward after 3 scales, 7 scales, 10 scales, then 13 scales.

Also...students can earn band bucks by practicing their instruments and completing material in their lessons. Students can cash in their band bucks by picking from a prize box, eating lunch with a teacher, conducting band rehearsal for a day, or arranging the band seating for a day. For more information on how the band bucks work, click on the link below . Also, visit the junior high band website for event dates and current lesson schedules. Stay tuned for an upcoming field trip for the junior high band that’s coming up in December!
Social Studies News
In 7th grade Social Studies, students learned how the first humans migrated to North and South America. Additionally, students looked at how the unique geographic regions these early Americans encountered influenced their cultures. Students are also taking an in depth look at the culture of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquios). Next up is a unit on the Age of Exploration and Colonization.

In Social Studies 8 we have been busy learning about the journey Westward by Homesteaders of the mid 1800s. Students worked on Westward Expansion skits and Cowboy poems. Each project was shared out by students to their peers. Next up, the students will be studying Industrialization!
Technology News
8th grade students in Computer Digital are finishing up their logo designs in our graphic design unit. 1st period students in Learning by Design are working on creating wood whistles and catapults. 9th period Learning by Design students are creating tin can lanterns and floor plans for their personal house designs. Ms. Slack has an updated website you can visit as well: http://slackchs.weebly.com
Science News
8th-grade science has been working on science skills and using the scientific method. To practice their skills at the end of the unit students conducted a ping-pong ball lab to collect and analyze their own data. Students have taken their exams for this unit and will be moving on to the composition of matter.
Farm to School Grant
On November 1st the HS Food and Nutrition class, taught by Jill Pace, will be learning the importance of farm grown foods and how to prepare them. Bob Cat, from Main Street Farms, will be coming in and working with the class to prepare farm grown vegetables and then our junior high students will be taste testing the prepared vegetables. This is all part of the Farm to School grant. Bob Cat and Emily Fusco will be working all year with our JH students through the farm to school grant. They will be coming into our classes to teach the students the importance of healthy eating and how to prepare foods as well. We are hoping to in the future start our own school garden.

To learn more about Main Street Farms click here: https://mainstreetfarms.com/meet-us/
Character Trait of the Month is Kindness
Students and their families will have the opportunity to participate in a food drive competition between their homerooms, as well as a stuffed animal drive. Please help us by cleaning out your pantry and sending non perishable goods to help our community, as well as NEW or gently used (but clean and ready to hand out) stuffed animals for the Waterworks event!
School lunch is a nutritious &
delicious option!
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