Lance Lightning Newsletter January 2017

Lance PTO Next meeting is Monday,

January 17th

at 6:00 P.M. in the

Lance Library.

NO SCHOOL 2

nd Quarter ends January 19

th.

NO SCHOOL on Friday, January 20th

.

NO School Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 16

th

From the Principal’s Desk Happy New Year! I sincerely hope everyone had a happy holiday season and were able to spend time with family and friends. It is hard to believe that we are almost done with the first semester, and it is 2017. December was a very busy month for our students and staff in and out of the classroom. Lance Middle School held our annual “Penny War” Challenge and was able to raise over $3000 for local charities. Excellence House was the winning House this year for Penny Wars. Thank you to all students for the generosity. We held an all-school assembly on December 16th to announce the winning house and celebrate school spirit. I look forward to more great school-wide celebrations and a chance to see our students shine inside and outside of the classroom. Happy New Year, Mr. Dahlk Principal

Parent-Initiated

Transfers All applications for a parent-initiated

transfer to another school for the

2017-2018 school year is due to the

school between January 1 – 21. No

late applications will be accepted. If

you are on a transfer or have moved

out of the Lance Middle School

boundary, you must complete a

transfer request to remain at Lance

for the following school year, or your

child will return to their boundary

school next year. (Refer to KUSD

policy 5330 for more details.)

Inclement Weather

Procedures

Click here to see details.

Text Alerts - School Closing Alerts

To receive district-wide text alerts concerning emergencies and school closings, please click here and enter your name and mobile number in the boxes.Once you submit the form, you will receive a text within 24-48 hours from the sender 684-53 asking if you want to receive text messages from Kenosha Unified School District. You MUST respond Y to this message to be fully registered.

Infinite Campus

It is critical that parents follow their child’s academic progress to

support the student along their educational path. Infinite Campus

is an easy way to monitor your student’s academic progress. You

can use any computer to access the online page or have the app on

your phone. Please click here for details on how to access Infinite

Campus.

The link above is also on the Lance Middle School website. City Bus Passes

City Bus passes will increase to $45

starting in January.

Galileo House Science (Ms. Shawver) - We are so close to finishing our unit on plants. We have learned about plant classification including non-vascular, vascular, vascular seeded and seedless, angiosperm and gymnosperm plants. We did a celery lab and dissected a flower too! We will be having a test on plants towards the end of the week when we return from break. Then, onto one of my personal favorites - genetics! We will explore what makes you so unique!

Social Studies (Ms. Pendleton) - The students have just begun learning about Ancient Egypt...to be continued after the holiday. They will learn about the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Kush. The students will see that the geography of areas helped these kingdoms to develop. Furthermore, they will learn about how Egypt conquered and ruled Kush, and then how Kush conquered and ruled Egypt. Additional information about the economies of these kingdoms, which was based on trade, will be discussed. Finally, the students will learn about the importance of religion to the people of both of these ancient civilizations. Math (Ms. Kwasigroch) - This week were are finishing up chapter four; inequalities. Once we come back to school after the holiday break, we begin chapter 5. We have planned a fun project to go along with this chapter. The students will be planning their road trip to California and will need to figure out many different things along the way. How much gas will they need? How much money will they need? They will also plan to make stops on the way to see attractions! I am excited to see how creative the students will be with this project! English (Ms. Jantzen) - Comparing and contrasting “historical fiction” to “historical fact” has kept us traversing between informational text and literature. We are gaining insight as to what goes into writing “historical fiction” and why it is valuable to read about “historical fact” immersed in “historical fiction”. In addition, we continue to practice Greek and Latin Root Words. Please ask your child about the following: phobia, tri, pre, inter, in, anti, centi, mis, re, un, de, dis, less, en, and ier/iest. Our next focus for writing will be Expository Writing. Also, your child may ask some questions about his/her name or your favorite eating establishment. Thank you for your continued support! Please feel free to contact me, anytime: bjantzen@kusd.edu Thanks!

Physical Education

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a good

winter break. Upon our return to school, physical

education students will be taking part in wiffle ball,

kickball, castle ball, and a second rotation of health in the

classroom. Our wiffle ball game was action-packed. 21

students made the “Home Run Leader Board.” 10 of

those students hit multiple home runs. All teams did very

well playing defense. As part of the Family Life

curriculum, the school nurse will be here in January to

present to 6th and 7

th grade. The semester will be ending

January 20th. Students should be giving one last push to

do their best. They will then leave us and have a different

elective class.

Dream Team December was a quick and very exciting month for the

Dream Team! We won the school's Penny War competition for the first time ever this year! As the

winners our class will receive a pizza party and we have

a huge shiny penny trophy on display in our classroom. We enjoyed getting out into the community this month

for our annual movie, lunch and shopping field trip. Topics covered this month in our News-2-You

newspaper were; high tech toys, the 50th anniversary of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and the new movie

Sing. The Dream Team staff would like to wish our

students and their families a very Happy New Year.

Integrity House

Social Studies (From the Desk of Mrs. Owens) We just completed the culture unit. I cannot wait until students present their culture boxes after the break. The due date for the culture boxes are January 9th. After break, we will begin our unit on Population. The Population unit will focus on push pull factors and immigration within a country. Once population has been completed, students will explore countries around the world. Study Skills We will focus on one or two study skills each month. This month our focus has been on chanting with repetition to study for tests. It was suggested to use flash cards to study for the culture test. We also learned how to design scenarios or mini stories to remember related concepts. Last month we used leveled reading to create our own notes on the topic of government. We also learned how to cite sources from text and images. Previously the emphasis was on the importance of a study guide and notes to review for a test. Communication Don’t forget to check Infinite Campus on a regular basis. This is my daily communication to you. A great resource to check is Google Classroom. You can find assignment worksheets, the current event packet, and criteria sheets in this area. Current Event Packet due: January 5, 2016. This is a test grade. Students received their second quarter packet the first day of the quarter. Science (From the Board of Mrs. Petersen) This month has us studying the planets. We have learned about the inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. They are considered “terrestrial” due to their makeup of rocks. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They are called “Gas Giants” due to being made of mostly gases. Did you know all of the outer planets have rings? We are only able to observe Saturn’s. We then created projects. They were able to choose a planet and how they wanted to present. Many chose Google slides, others chose models, posters, and stages. We then had a gallery walk where they were able to compare and contrast their planet to another one. Next month we begin studying our restless Earth with the Geologic Time Scale. We will be looking at the 4.5 billion years that scientists have been able to record. English (From the Pen of Mrs. Schrandt) In English we have been very busy. We have been studying figurative language, focusing mostly on similes and metaphors. This month we are beginning our unit on narratives. We are currently studying plot structure. We will be analyzing plot in literature so that the students can apply their learning to their own narratives. We are continuing to read Wonder as our read-aloud book. We are also continuing to focus on answering questions using RACE (Restate, Answer, Cite and Explain.) For grammar, the students will be learning the four types of sentences. When we come back from Christmas vacation, we will be beginning literature circles. Please continue encouraging your child to read at home. The next Tower of Books “check-in” will be January 19th. Enjoy the holidays and time with family! Math (From the Pencil of Ms. Murrie) Integrity House students have been working hard during the month of December. We have finished our unit on fraction and decimal computation, and moved on to Unit 3. In Unit 3, students are learning how to solve algebraic expressions, how to use variables to represent numbers in algebraic expressions, how to write algebraic expressions, and how to use algebraic expressions in real-life problems. Soon, they will be learning about the properties of operations, and using these properties to simplify algebraic expressions. Please check Infinite Campus regularly to monitor your child’s progress in math. If students are looking for ways to raise their math grade, please encourage them to correct low homework assignments and retake quiz scores they are unhappy with.

Shakespeare House The Shakespeare House students have been working hard and are looking forward to a break to recharge. Thank you to the parents who have sent the tissues with their child. It is allergy and cold season, and the tissues are much needed. If you have not sent the tissues yet, please do so soon. Thank you!!!!! English - English classes have written their narratives. Our house has an abundance of talented writers! Students have been comparing and contrasting historical fiction with historical events and analyzing how authors weave historical events in their stories. When we gather after break, we will be working on informative writing skills. Science: Science classes have been focusing on plant classification and reproduction. The students have been learning about how plants can classified as vascular, nonvascular, seeded, seedless, and/or angiosperms or gymnosperms. The kids have made leaps and bounds in their understandings of this topic. Students have also been investigating how water and nutrients travel in plants, and how much we rely on plants in our day-to-day lives. We couldn‟t live without them! When we return from winter break, we will finish up our animal and plants unit and take the summative assessment. Genetics is up next on the agenda. Math - Math classes have completed chapter 4. We took the summative before winter break and students did very well. After break, we will begin chapter 5. In this chapter students will be working in groups on a project about rates, ratios, and proportions. We will be taking a road trip to California and using chapter 5 skills to determine the stops we need to take, how much gas we will need, what kind of food to buy, how much time we have, how far we will travel and other things associated with a road trip. It will be a very exciting project and I look forward to seeing the results! Social Studies - I hope that everyone had a great break and is ready to get back to work in social studies. In social studies, we are working on Ch. 4 Egypt. We have started a coaching cycle with the Lance Instructional Coach to work on the students writing on the DBQ‟s. Along with also citing their evidence, which is important in all classes. This will also help get them ready for the tests in the spring and higher level high school courses. If they do miss time due to illness make sure that you remind them to check the assignment chart in the front of the classroom and pick up any necessary worksheets from our weekly assignments board. Make sure to check Infinite Campus on a regular basis, so that you know exactly where your son or daughter is at this point. It is a long stretch between now and Spring Break, so please keep encouraging your son and daughter to do their best in school.

Dear Eighth Grade Parent/Guardian:

I would like to meet with you regarding your student‟s eighth grade Academic and Career Planning conference. This conference is promoted by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and is part of the Wisconsin Comprehensive School Counseling Program. During this meeting, we will discuss the following:

Introduction to transcripts Your child‟s:

- Academic and Personal strengths

- School Involvement -Community involvement and service activities

-High school and postsecondary goals and aspirations

High school course selection form High school graduation

requirements Career Cruising and other online

resources Answer questions and concerns

you may have regarding the transition to high school

The Department of Education states that, “While home involvement is most important, a parent‟s involvement with the school is also critical to their child‟s success.” The transition from eighth grade to ninth grade is one of those critical times. That is why it is important that I schedule this meeting with you.

This conference is held during the school day and approximately lasts a half hour. If you would like to schedule your conference, please contact your student‟s eighth grade counselor, Mrs. Sue Murray at 359-2186 or smurray@kusd.edu.

I look forward to meeting with you and your child.

Sincerely, Mrs. Sue Murray

Lance Middle School Eighth grade counselor

Honesty House

Social Studies (Mr.Sandberg) Hello Honesty House Families! Happy New Year! We just wrapped up with Core Concepts 7 (Culture) and I am really looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful Culture Boxes on January 9th. We will be moving on to Core Concept 6: Population and Movement and then moving on to studying various regions around the world starting with Mexico. Just a reminder, Quarter 2 Current Event packets are due January 12th. I hope everyone enjoyed their Winter Break and was able to get plenty of rest. Please keep in mind, the most useful tools to use in order to ensure student success is Infinite Campus (please do not follow the To Do List), Google Classroom, and the Honesty House page found on the Lance website. The best way to contact me is through email: msandber@kusd.edu Social Studies supplies for every day: writing utensil, red notebook, red folder, assignment notebook, and take-home folder. Science (Mrs. Hamdan) Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!!!! The science fun will continue with learning more about our planet Earth. Before winter break we finished learning about the formation and organization of our solar system. We ended the unit by each student adopting a planet. Students did a great job presenting their planets and also had an amazing and fun time making their models of their planets. After break we are starting the earth book where students will study the geological time scale and will be able to put the times in order on their own scales that they will make themselves. We will continue learning more about the layers of earth, rocks, minerals, and fossils. A lot of the students are excited to start this unit and looking forward to explore Earth. . Please continue to check the infinite campus regularly. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at shamdan@kusd.edu. Thank you! Science supplies needed: Art supplies (glue, scissors, coloring utensils, etc.), yellow notebooks, pencils, and highlighters. Math (Mrs. Beth) In math we are venturing into Algebra. After break we will be working on the commutative, associative and distributive properties. It has been an absolutely wonderful quarter so far and I thank you for taking your time to send emails when you have questions. Students are in need of new supplies after break. Many need a new green spiral, pencils and ear buds to leave in the classroom (inexpensive). (We need these things every day). Thank you for monitoring how your child is doing on Infinite Campus. They are such a great bunch of hard working and kind kids. I thank you so much for that! English (Mrs. Biernat) Happy New Year! We closed out December 2016 with a flurry of learning activities, experiences, and fun including riveting storylines in our “read-alouds,” Greek & Latin Roots and prefixes, figurative language, responding to reading with summaries, using textual evidence to support our claims in writing and speaking, and ongoing grammar skills. January brings exciting new ventures into Literature Circles (aka Book Clubs) and Narrative writing, as well as ongoing work with plot structure, characterization, and word choice. We enthusiastically look forward to what 2017 will bring as we set and revisit goals to achieve whatever it is we want for ourselves, academically, socially, and personally. The future is bright and so are we! Please support us by encouraging nightly reading, keeping on track with Tower of Books Challenge, and quiet study time as needed. Thank you for your commitment, support, and love for your child’s education. Happy January to all! dbiernat@kusd.edu

Independence House Grade 8 English Language Arts with Mrs. Valeri Happy New Year! Following their independent reading comprehension practice, students will be selecting a final student-developed research question to use for the summative informative writing assessment. The question will be based around the era of their Quarter Two historical fiction novels. Short research using key word searches and credible sources will be the focus for the first part of the process. Then students will organize and elaborate their information logically with transitions and proper punctuation and grammar. Since it‟s the holidays, I‟ll keep it short… The end of the quarter is near, so if you have any questions, please call or email any time before January 20th (359-2800/avaleri@kusd.edu).

Stay warm, Mrs. Valeri

Math (Ms. Bornhuetter)

Students will continue working on writing, solving, and graphing linear equations using different forms. Real-life content is always incorporated in the unit.

Algebra 1 students will begin our unit on solving systems of equations. Real-life content is always incorporated in the unit.

Math help is available before school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings starting at 7:45 am. Students have access to computers at this time, too. Daily lunch time help is also available.

Google classroom is up and running for each math class, and math assignments are listed and corresponding documents are uploaded. Parents can view the Google Calendar as well. Lastly, the textbook can be found online using at https://clever.com/in/kusd uisng the student‟s Lance id number for both the login and password.

8th Grade Social Studies: MR. LEGLER

Season‟s Greetings and Happy Holidays from U.S. History! We are currently working on finishing our fourth unit of study that examines the newly established United States and the process of forming government. After break we will start work on the “Create a Country” project. Please touch base with your student as some are required to purchase a tri-fold poster board that will be used to visually represent each group‟s “country.” This project is a great way for students to be creative and apply what we have learned over the course of this unit. Our next unit of study, Launching the Nation, will examine key people, concepts, and events such as: Washington‟s Presidency, the Presidential Cabinet, the role of government, the Jefferson and Hamilton perspectives, challenges for the new nation, political parties, the electoral college, tariffs, the national debt, Jay‟s Treaty, and much more. Please continue to monitor Infinite Campus for grades and missing work as well as Google Classrooms for any class work or additional materials. Please feel free to contact me at elegler@kusd.edu with any concerns. Our textbook is found online at: http://my.hrw.com

Username: lancems

Password: sskusd

Science (Ms. Flox) Happy Holidays! We are finishing up our unit on Energy and will be taking the Common Assessment when we return from break. We will next move into our Waves Unit, which includes many concepts related to Light and Sound energies. We will be doing many labs on these concepts, and could use the donation of the following items- AA, C and D batteries, different gauges of wire, and electrical tape. I wish all of our students and their families a safe and healthy New Year.

Mrs. Flox

sflox@kusd.edu

Revolution House Social Studies - Davidson Happy New Year! In January, we will be studying the Constitution, amendments to the Constitution, and citizenship. We will also begin learning about the first few Presidencies. Science - Heuser We needed to spend a little extra time in the physics unit so we did not start the next unit as originally planned. However, we will officially be starting the wave unit when we get back from winter break. This unit starts off with the basics: calculating wave speed, types of waves, and the parts of a wave. Next, we will be focusing on the similarities and differences between sound and light waves. Math - Kalowski I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break. In Pre-Algebra we are finishing up Unit 4 on Graphing Linear Equations. We'll then be moving on to Graphing Linear Systems - all very challenging. In Algebra we're finishing up Data Analysis and then heading into Graphing Linear Systems. English - Schumaker We finished reading The Diary of Anne Frank in December. We also did a lot of work with making inferences and identifying the central idea of an informational text. Before break, we wrote research questions and began the research process. We'll be writing informative essays when we come back from break. After we're done, we'll move onto a short poetry unit with a focus on figurative language.

Art Mrs. Herron’s classes: 6th grade is learning about the artists Klimt and Giacometti. Klimt is known as “The Golden Boy” and students will create a painting by using gold paint. Giacometti is known for his long figure sculptures and the students will be creating their own figure sculpture. 7th grade is working on creating relief Rainforest from various mediums. 8th grade is will be exploring how to create a relief painting using plaster and paint. We will be looking at the Starry Night by artist VanGogh. Mrs. Krueger’s classes: I’m happy to be back after being gone on maternity leave for ten weeks! Mr. Houghton enjoyed his time here at Lance and taught the students a variety of painting and drawing techniques. 6th grade will be starting a plaster sculpture after we return from break. The sculptures are inspired by Alberto Giacometti and will be constructed using plaster. 7th grade will be starting a clay project after we return from break. Students will be making functional coil pots. We will use a variety of hand building techniques in order to successfully create our coil pots. 8th grade will be starting a clay pinch pot creature when we return from break. Students will be making either decorative or functional creatures that will feature three dimensional details. As always the art department gladly accepts donations of scratched vinyl records, old cd’s or dvd’s, and ice cream buckets all for sculptural purposes! Please consider sending these items to school with your student if you have any to spare. Thank you and hope 2017 is off to a great start for you!

The Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 is an Equal Opportunity Educator/Employer with established policies prohibiting discrimination on the basis of age, race, creed, religion, color, sex, national origin, disability or handicap, sexual orientation, or political affiliation in any educational program, activity, or employment in the District. The Superintendent of Schools/designee (359-6320) addresses questions regarding student discrimination, and the Executive Director of Human Resources (262-359-6333) answers questions concerning staff discrimination.

Spanish As we wrap up this first semester, please be sure to check your child‟s Infinite Campus frequently. Most of the Spanish students (except the Full Year 8th graders) will be moving on to new electives and I hope they leave my class feeling at least a little more comfortable with the language. Remember that Rosetta Stone Advantage (Tell Me More) is available to your child throughout the entire school year so they can continue to work on what they‟ve learned and even learn a little more. For those who will be starting Spanish for the second semester, they will need to bring to class their assignment notebook (I check them daily), a pen/pencil, and a pocket folder that will be kept in class as their language portfolio. While we can check out headsets for Rosetta Stone to the students, they may also bring their own from home if they choose to do so. They must have a microphone and either a USB plug or both a pink and green plug. Congratulations to the Full Year 8th Grade class who just finished reading Pobre Ana, a short chapter book written entirely in Spanish! Señora Clausen

Performing Arts News

6th Grade General Music: In the few short weeks left of the quarter, the students will begin a small project in which

they create a soundtrack for a silent film using the website soundation.com. We will also take the last week or so to

learn "Happy Birthday" on the iPad Piano app.

7th Grade Performing Arts: We just finished a lengthy unit on William Shakespeare and Romeo & Juliet. Our next, and last project, will be working on a monologue. A monologue is when you have one actor speaking alone for a moment

of the play. Each student will be assigned a monologue ranging in length of 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on

what I have seen in class this semester. Students are expected to perform their monologue in front of the class and I am offering extra credit for memorization!

8th Grade Performing Arts: The students have been working hard on their One Act Plays. The class is split into two

groups. This semester the One Acts have a fairy tale theme. The students are expected to memorize their lines as they will be performing for invited audiences of some of their peers.

8th Grade Theater Arts: The students have also been working hard on their third One Act Play. This one is a little more challenging as it combines the aspects of both character and staging. They are expected to be memorized and

will be performing in front of an audience of their peers our the Lance stage.

Drama Club: The rehearsals for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown are well under way. The students performed "Glee

Club Rehearsal" very successfully at the winter pep assembly just before break. The public performances for the show are Friday, February 24th & Saturday, February 25th at 7pm each night. Tickets will be sold at the door for $5 per

adult and $3 per student. Any questions or if you would like to volunteer, please contact Ms. Fiegel!

I hope you had a great Christmas!! See you in the New Year!

Excellence House Mrs. Brown – English - Happy Holidays to you and your family! Thank you for all your help and encouragement from home as we bring our first semester of learning to a close. We will continue to work and reading and writing skills as we begin our second semester of learning in Language Arts Class. Please remember that as part of the class requirements, each student should be reading to complete the Tower of Books Challenge. Please monitor your child’s reading and frequently ask questions about the stories they are engaged with. Your signature is required for each text read. Be looking for Scholastic Book Club order forms each month. These are a great way to put fantastic reading materials in the hands of your students for very reasonable prices. Every time you order, our classroom library will grow! If you order online please use our classroom code: GRLRZ If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me via email at ksbrown@kusd.edu. Or have your student log on to our Google classroom code: myqght Mrs. Casey – Science - After the Holiday Break, we are going to wrap up our Astronomy Unit. We are going to look at the different objects that Explore Outer Space. Students will collaborate using a Google Slideshow to find definitions, examples and facts about rockets, shuttles, telescopes, rovers, and the International Space Station. After we finish with the Astronomy book, our next book will be the Restless Earth. Our first Target will be the Geologic Time Scale. Students will be asked to use the GTS to understand the history of the Earth. In this unit, students will collaborate with other students to make their own timeline of the GTS. We will do further research to better understand the GTS using a website called Enchanted Learning. In this activity we will research when animals and plants first made their appearances in the GTS. The next Target we will focus on will be the Law of Superposition. With this Target we will focus on how the layers in sedimentary rocks are formed. We will look at reasons the layers of strata might not be perfect and why. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at ccasey@kusd.edu. Also, check Infinite Campus for missing work. My Google Classroom has many of the assignments posted each week including the Daily Science. The online textbook site is myhrw.com and the password is: j9f7z, and the username is: iscience45. The username and password for the online textbook is in your child’s planner on the inside cover, and is also posted in my Google Classroom. Mrs. Ford – Math - In the month of January, we will continue our work in Unit 3, Expressions and Properties. In this unit, we are learning the basics of algebraic expressions, including vocabulary such as terms, coefficients, variables, and constants. Please know the students did an awesome job during MAPS testing. Please ask your child to share their new MAPS score as it is something to celebrate. Over break, please encourage continued work on Compass Learning to keep those math skills fresh during their time away from school. Please remind your students also, that the end of quarter two will be coming up very quickly following our Christmas break. Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday season:) Mrs. Vitkus - Social Studies In November we completed our studies on government and economics. Students learned about the election process and were even able to vote in a school-wide mock election. This month we will be finishing up our last two core concepts: populations and culture. As we take a look at populations, students will do some exploration on the topic of US immigration; something we certainly hear a lot about in the news. We will finish up before break by understanding what culture is and how it shapes the world around us. In the coming weeks please look for information regarding the Culture Box Project that students will be expected to complete before or during winter break. This is a great opportunity for your child to learn about his/her own culture with your family. As always, Infinite Campus is updated almost daily. This is a great place for students to find information about their grade and any missing work. We also utilize Google Classroom. Please use this as a resource to find out what we’re working on in class. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at kvitkus@kusd.edu.

Einstein House English – Ms. Blaser

We are focusing on non-fiction and historical fiction texts this quarter. Students have been reading different types of non-fictional texts (newspaper articles, news feed from different periods of time, cause and effect articles, historical academic articles, biographies, etc.) accompanied by historical fictional texts, The Rock and The River and A Christmas Carol. The students have been able to determine the authors purpose for writing, the theme, as well as, fact vs. opinion. When we return from Winter Recess students will be writing exposition/informational essays. Students will conduct short research projects in order to synthesize information across multiple texts. In the process, they will be able to draw conclusions and support their conclusions with textual evidence.

Please make sure students are checking my Google Classroom for information about lessons or class procedures.

Math – Ms. Gosse

Hello families: Blocks 1, 2, and 4 are wrapping up Equations and will continue on to Inequalities. The

students have done very well in the Equation Unit.

Block 3 has just finished their unit on Exponents including Scientific Notation. They had a very successful

unit. This group will be headed back to Chapter 3 to work on Equations and then Inequalities.

I have attempted to work after school with some of the students. Many have come and brought their

grades up. I would like to extend the help into next week. If your child is in need of some one-on-one

please advise them to stay after school on Monday or Tuesday. Please send me an email.

All students take notes and receive study guides for major quizzes and exams. Please check with them

often to see if they are bringing home the notes and are spending 5 to 10 minutes a night studying.

Please be aware that many students are falling ill to colds. Please have your child wash their hands often

and cover their mouths.

Science – Ms. Whyte Having many of you come to watch our presentations on “Redesigning the Human Body” was the highlight of our month! Your children did an amazing job of researching, analyzing and presenting the information. Coming up we are studying animal behaviors and characteristics of successful reproduction. After that we will jump into plants and what reproduction in plants look like. Please feel free to email me anytime if you have a question. Also, we are happy to have parent visitors! If you would like to come to class, just message me at pwhyte@kusd.edu and we can set up a time that works for you! Social Studies – Ms. Le Grange –

We are continuing our study of ancient Egypt. Students completed a unit about the geography of the area

and will begin to learn about how religion shaped the life of ancient Egyptians and also about the many

achievements of the time.

Students used the PhotoCard app on the iPads to create digital postcards from major sites along the Nile

River. Over the course of the next month we will be using the Google Drawing program to create

timelines, maps, and charts to enrich our learning.

Students should continue to bring their interactive notebooks home to study and review material.

Students can access Google Slides for each section on Google Classroom. This includes a link to the online

textbook, Animated History pages, and other support material. Please encourage your child to visit this site

frequently.

Liberty House Science News from Mr. Walton Students are investigating waves; their properties and interactions. We are about to start our studies on light and sound waves. Students will find a number of activities and resources on their Google drive to access at home using Google Classroom. This will help them study for assessments and help catch up on missing assignments after absence. Please feel free to contact me at twalton@kusd.edu and I will be happy to provide you with any missing work. If you would like to follow your child‟s progress on your phone you may wish to download the „infinite campus mobile portal‟ using Google play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.infinitecampus.mobilePortal&hl=en) or iTunes store. The mobile app ID for KUSD is: DYHLCH. In addition to e-mail you may also receive updates and important notifications by typing „rmd.at/waltonscie‟ into your web browser on your phone or computer. The access code is waltonscie. Math News from Mrs. Fioravanti Students are coming to an end to the linear equations unit and will be assessed when they return from break. The next unit will be systems of linear equations, which continues the understanding of linear equations and the three different forms. Google Classroom offers lessons and links. Please continue to check Infinite Campus for missing work. Math continues to build, so it is understandable why the students who struggle the most are ones that did not practice the skills. If you have any questions that your child cannot answer, please contact me at hfiorava@kusd.edu. Algebra News from Mrs. Fioravanti Students finished up the Probability and Statistics unit and will be begin a unit on systems of linear equations right before winter break. Class information is given on Google Classroom as well. Please continue to check Infinite Campus for missing work. If you have any questions that your child cannot answer, please contact me at hfiorava@kusd.edu. FIORAVANTI Extra Help Times Monday and Thursday - Lunch Tuesday and Friday - 8:00 a.m. Core - One Day a Week or Friday English News from Ms. Peura Students will end the quarter with an informative essay. This essay will be researched based. Students will begin by developing their own research question related to the Holocaust. Their research will practice the skill of claim, evidence, and reasoning. In addition, during the research process students will be trying to distinguish bias information. On another note, students will be given a series of three common assessments on the skill of making inferences and supporting the inference with evidence. I will take the highest score of the three opportunities. Our next unit of study will be the poetry unit. This unit is very intensive as far as vocabulary goes. Please encourage the kids to read 20 minutes nightly at home. Students do have reading requirements that they have to meet each quarter. Make sure to check Infinite Campus to monitor student progress, especially since the quarter is coming to a close. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at mpeura@kusd.edu. Social Studies News from Coach Students are studying The Constitution and they will present their piece to the class in the next several days. Please review with your child what they are presenting.

High School Choice Information Meetings

Open House Dates for incoming freshman: Wed. Jan. 4, 2017

Indian Trail High School and Academy Open House, 6:00-8:00 pm

LakeView Open House, 6:00-9:00 pm

Thurs. Jan. 5, 2017

eSchool Parent Information Session, 4:30-5:30 pm

Sat. Jan. 7, 2017

LakeView Open House, 9:00-2:00 pm

Mon. Jan. 9, 2017

Reuther Parent Information Meeting, 6:00-7:30 pm, Room 110

Tues. Jan. 10, 2017

Bradford Open House for Incoming Freshman, 6:30 pm

LakeView Open House, 6:00-9:00 pm

Thurs. Jan. 12, 2017

Harborside Parent Information Meeting, Grades 9-12, Auditorium, 7:30 pm

Tremper Open House for Incoming Freshman, Auditorium, 6:30 pm

Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 High School Selection forms due to Middle School Counselors

More Information, please click here.