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October 10, 2008

We hope that you had a nice day off yesterday.  Please remember that this is also a long weekend, so there is no school on Monday, October 13^th, as we celebrate Columbus Day.  Classes will resume on Tuesday, October 14^th.

It was nice to see so many parents on Monday night as McDevitt Middle School held its annual open house.  There really was not enough time to speak to everyone, so if you feel the need to speak to the cluster, please contact us through the guidance office to set up a time.  The Honey Bees times for such meetings have been set for Wednesdays between 8:15 and 9:00.

We hope that you have all had a chance to review your child’s progress report that was sent home in the Tuesday folder.  If you have not done so yet, please return the signed report to us after the weekend.  A yellow copy of your child’s progress report was given to each student once the white copy was returned to us.  Students still have plenty of time to improve before marks close on November 10^th and report cards are sent home Thanksgiving week.

Students who either missed or want their pictures taken again, will have the opportunity to do so on December 1^st.  Circle that date on your calendar.

October 17^th the first middle school dance of the year will be held here at McDevitt.  Admission to the dance will be $5.00. Tickets can be purchased at the door if students failed to purchase during the week during lunches.  The dance will have a Halloween theme to it, so students will be able to wear costumes and vie for prizes for the best costumes of the night.   Masks and weapons that might go with the costume will not be allowed.  The dance begins at 6:30 and ends at 9:30.  It should be a fun night.

The first early release day for the Waltham middle schools is scheduled for Thursday, October 23^rd.  Students will be dismissed at 12:30 and return home soon thereafter.  We hope that arrangements will be made for your child on this day.

Social Studies – Mr. Hammond

          We have almost completed our unit on the five themes of geography.  A test was given this past Tuesday and should be in your child’s weekly folder.  I was very pleased with the results.  Everyone worked hard and the grades for all groups reflect a great effort by all.

            All paper work for the culminating activity on the unit was distributed to all classes today.  Students will be working all next week in school and at home creating a travel brochure using the five themes that we have been discussing in class.  A mock-up, worksheet, and scoring rubric were given to each student.  Please check on a nightly basis to see how your child is progressing.  The due date for this assignment is Monday, October 20^th.  Hopefully everyone will be finished on this date, but those who do not, will be graded according to what was completed, or not completed.

Reading/English – Miss Lenza

          We spent the better part of this week working on our first official close reading set practice.  This will be scored by a group of Reading teachers at our next meeting and then I will return them to be placed in their binders.  From what I could see most students were making use of the strategies and test-taking skills we have discussed and were also making sure that they read the article at least three times for comprehension.  I will be correcting their multiple choice responses myself this weekend so I will be able to let you know about that part of the test in next weeks Buzz.

            We have completed our reading of Hatchet and there will be a test on Tuesday of next week.  Our focus then will be the exciting genre of mystery.  I will be reading a few short stories to the class and we will also be focusing on that incredible American author, Edgar Allan Poe.

Math- Ms.Turkington

            I was thrilled to meet so many parents at the open house on Monday night.  Thank you to all who came!  On Monday we worked on identifying and extending arithmetic and geometric patterns.  On Tuesday students went over their chapter reviews and played games to help reinforce the key concepts we learned in Chapter 1.  On Wednesday students took the Chapter 1 test, and on Friday the students corrected any mistakes they made on the test.  Please check your student’s assignment folder to sign and see his/her first test.  Next week we will review measurement and then begin my absolute favorite unit, algebra!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and please remind your student about Math’s Mate Monday!  They often tend to forget that weekend homework.  Thank you for all of your help and support.        

Science – Mrs. Murray

Thank you for coming to the open house.  It was a pleasure meeting you. As mentioned in the meeting, please feel free to email me at anytime for concerns and questions.  We continue to work on measurement, reviewing the customary U.S. measurement and learning the metric system.  We will practice measuring length, volume and mass and temperature.  Take a moment with your child and discuss how you use measurement in your daily life. Are you working on a project that involves measuring? Involve your child. I will also be assigning some measurement activities to do at home.  Check out the measurement website found in the ALL folder of homeworknow site.  On another note, if your child loses clothing etc please come into school to check out the lost and found bin.  You would be surprised how many times the bin is full of unclaimed clothing etc. After a certain time items in the bins are donated to charity.  So don’t spend more $$ on shoes, jackets etc. before checking the bins. Have a great weekend.

English/Reading – Miss Gurry

We are continuing to read the novel, Hatchet. Students are working on vocabulary from chapters 6 – 8 and will be having a quiz on these words on Tuesday. Study guides will be going home to help the students review for the quiz. Students finished their character trait webs and we will be continuing to discuss what character traits are throughout this week. Also, we will be analyzing the descriptive language the author uses in the novel to help the students understand the importance of creative language in their own stories.

Writing – Last week, we worked on learning what transition words are and how to use them in narratives. Students had a quiz on using transition words and they all did great! This week, students will complete an activity that requires them to use their five senses to help them add more description in their narratives. We will also be taking a practice MCAS test on Friday.

If you have any questions regarding any assignments please feel free to e-mail me.

English/Reading – Mrs. Creonte

 This week the students reviewed parts of speech in reading class.  We talked a little more about nouns and verbs and then also discussed adjectives and how they describe nouns or pronouns.  Toward the end of the week the students independently read decodable stories to go along with the blends unit and answered language expansion questions that focus on students’ comprehension skills as well as critical thinking abilities.

            In English, we discussed and practiced a few more strategies for brainstorming ideas to write about in our writer’s notebooks.  These strategies include responding to literature and questioning.  This week we also started to think about the MCAS.  As a class we discussed the importance of the MCAS and test taking strategies.  The students have all completed a practice sample MCAS test which involved seven multiple choice questions and one open response.

English/Reading – Miss Scalese

"…He had to find new ways to be what he had become."

~ Gary Paulsen, Hatchet

            Our class reading of Hatchet has come to end, but our discussion of the themes and the practice we've had with characterization and locating details will continue throughout the school year.  This week, we realized that some of our predictions for the text were correct, while others were not!  We had the opportunity to have the final say by creating alternate endings for the story and had fun sharing them with our classmates.

            Before the long weekend we learned about descriptive writing and will use the colors to write descriptive passages about people and places of our choice.  Next week, we'll create our own "Haunted Houses" using descriptive words and phrases and then we'll be moving on to our Mystery and Horror unit where we will celebrate the month of October, Edgar Allan Poe and all that is spooky, suspenseful and shocking! (*Alliteration!)

            Due Next Week: Your student's first "Choice Book Project" is due on Wednesday, October 15th! Students have assignment checklists and rubrics in their homework folders, but it can also be accessed through our class webpage.