8th Grade Parent Newsletter Principal's Message Every student at East Middle School depends on that one very special person in their life that is constantly supporting them. If you are a mom of a EMS student or you take on the traditional role of "mom" for one of our students, we say a heartfelt "thank you." We know that schools cannot provide a world class education for our students without the help of families. COVID Protocols: Many of you know about the Governor's announcement regarding the plan to loosen various requirements over the next few weeks. EMS will continue to follow the same COVID protocols that we have been using since the return to in-person instruction for hybrid students. The only exception is that students are now able to remove their masks when they are outdoors and properly spaced. The bus is not considered an outdoor space and students must continue to wear masks while riding. "Since our youngest Minnesotans are still not eligible for the vaccine, the Safe Learning Plan for schools will continue to the end of the school year. We have to protect students, teachers and staff in Minnesota's schools, and that doesn't change." -Commissioner Mueller, MN Dept of Education EMS Book Drive EMS Student Council is sponsoring a book drive! The drive will take place May 3 - 21. Students and staff are encouraged to bring new or gently used books to East and place them in various drop boxes throughout the school. These books will be given to our Little Lending Library and students. Thank you! Order Your 2020-21 Yearbook Yearbooks preserve the events that happen each school year, and this year is so unique! The Yearbook Club has been working diligently to document and reflect this special year at East Middle School. If you would like to order a yearbook, please visit Jostens. The cost is $35.00. Media Center and Book Checkout Distance Learners library book pick-up (school days from 9:00 - 4:00 p.m.): It is important that distance learners check their Destiny account before coming to retrieve books. After the student logs in they will see the "my info" tab. Select that tab and then confirm that the book that has been put on hold is actually checked out to the student. There will be times when the book on hold is still checked out to another student and will not be ready for pick up on the designated day. If you have other questions, please email Beth Benezra. Enrichment Opportunities East now has an Enrichment Canvas page. This page houses academic enrichment opportunities that are open to all students. What We've Been Working On - Over the past 2 weeks, students have been reviewing several math concepts from 8th grade. This includes systems of linear equations, absolute value equations, absolute value inequalities, and parallel and perpendicular lines.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - Solve the system:
- y = 3x +4 over 6x + 3y = 12
What We're Working on Next - Over the next couple of weeks, 8th graders will continue to refine their skills in solving systems of linear equations, solving equations, and simplifying exponential expressions.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - Simplify: [(n^3)(n^-5)(m^10)] / (m^3)
What We've Been Working On - We took a short break from out work on quadratics to do some review for the MCA math test.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - How did you like coordinate geometry?
- What makes a rhombus a rhombus?
- How do show that a quadrilateral is a rectangle?
What We're Working on Next - We will be reviewing quadratics before moving into systems of nonlinear functions.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What are the solutions to a quadratic function?
- What strategies are there to solve a quadratic?
- In how many ways can a line and a parabola intersect? (draw them)
What We've Been Working On - We are busy in our poetry unit. Students just finished writing a poem analysis and they took a multiple choice poetry test.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What is a poem you have studied that you enjoyed?
What We're Working on Next - We are still working with poetry. Students will be presenting a poem with a group and will be writing a couple of poems.
- Next we will start our "Mysterious Circumstances" unit.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - Read me your poetry machine poem or the ode you wrote.
Notes - If you have our classroom books (Johnson or Marcouiller) lying around the house we would love to have them brought back to the classroom. Thanks!
What We've Been Working On - Moon phases
- The solar systems
- Stars and The Milky Way Galaxy
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - How are the inner planets different from the outer planets?
What We're Working on Next - MCA Review of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade material
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - How has MCA review been going?
- What concepts do you remember well and what concepts were difficult?
Notes - The MCA Science Test will be held on Tuesday, May 11
What We've Been Working On - Students finished up their unit on Economic Geography and took the unit test, which covered the basic concepts and terms at the core of economics.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What is a brief summary of the "law" of supply and demand?
What We're Working on Next - Students will engage in a series of presentations, discussions, and simulations that focus on "personal finance" topics, ranging from paying taxes to managing an income to buying a house.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What is one important thing about personal finance that you feel will help you in the future?
What We've Been Working On - Allen: Ultimate Football Unit - Throwing, Catching, Defense. Fitness Concepts.
- DeVoe: Volleyball Unit - Pass, Set, Hit, Serve. Strategies and Fitness.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What are some skills acquired in the current unit you are in that transfer to your everyday well-being?
What We're Working on Next - We will continue our current units, take our unit quiz and participate in more fitness activities.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - How can team sports enhance your social, mental, and physical health?
Notes - Please make sure students are wearing their masks covering both nose and mouth, both inside and outside. Right now this is the directive and we are reminding the same students every class period to respect this expectation for the safety of all students and staff. Thank you!
What We've Been Working On - We progressed through our choir songs, moving to two and three part harmony. Students are singing out more, but we are still working on confidence as an ensemble. We have moved away from the piano on the solfege scale. Students are to work as independent singers to have correct pitch with solfege syllables and handsigns.
- Last week the students on Friday started watching The Lion King. This movie musical is from 1994 and provided the world with music from different cultures, genres and theatrical presence. As students watched The Lion King, I gave them the task of listening and picking out one song to reflect on. Out of the list of songs provided, students will then answer 4 questions to complete the movie lesson.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - Can you sing the solfege major scale without piano?
- What are two things you feel confident in when it comes to choir and two things that you need improvement on?
- What is your favorite song in The Lion King and why?
What We're Working on Next - We will continue to work on our choir songs. Students will be provided time to use garage band as a tool to create their own musical composition/production project. There is the potential to record our songs. This is TBD because of the process being interrupted for the first 2/3 of school.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What do you want to know about choir as we come closer to the end of the year?
What We've Been Working On - Reviewed playing in cut time
- Learned about eighth note triplets
- Rehearsing "How to Train Your Dragon"
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What are eighth note triplets?
What We're Working on Next - Practice balance, blend and counting in 3 Concert songs-(virtual concert)
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - Which song do you like the best that you are working on?
What We've Been Working On - Dotted eighth sixteenth notes
- Sonata Vivant
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What are important things to consider when starting to work on a new piece of music?
What We're Working on Next Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - How is D Major different from D minor?
Notes - Students should still be practicing 20 minutes 3-4 days each week!
What We've Been Working On - Students finished their study of Hoagy Carmichael and his famous song "Heart and Soul".
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - Play the piano song "Heart and Soul" for me on your iPad piano.
What We're Working on Next - Students will begin to explore African drumming.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What are the two types of drums you will use in your African Drumming unit?
What We've Been Working On - Students have finished their Surrealism artwork.
- Students have begun the Art History and You Unit, which requires them to research an artist/artwork/art movement and infuse their personal culture into the historical artwork or art style. This unit requires a deep level of analytical thinking to tell a personalized story about culture.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - Can I see your final surrealist artwork on your iPad? How is this a story about your future?
- What artist are you researching for art class? (notes are on notability)
- How are you infusing your culture into the artwork?
- What media are you using in your final artwork?
What We're Working on Next - Students will be working on making, refining, and then reflecting on their culturally infused artwork.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - How is your final artwork coming along?
- What's been the hardest/easiest/most unexpected part of developing your final artwork?
- Where are you going to put/hang this artwork when you bring it home?
What We've Been Working On - Working towards completion of the wood project
- Dry Fit, Gluing, Assembly, and Final Sanding
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What is Dry Fitting your project and why is it important?
What We're Working on Next - Finish up the Wood projects
- Starting the Technology Choice Project
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What is the Technology Choice Project?
Notes - There is a $10 lab fee Distance Learners and $30 Lab Fee In person, that is associated with making the Wood project. The fee can be made through EPay (on our schools website – a printed receipt would help me record it on a timely basis). If there is a financial hardship please feel free to send me an email.
What We've Been Working On - Over the last two weeks, we have been working on knife skills. Students first practiced their abilities to reduce a recipe, follow it and make play dough. Students then used this play dough to practice knife cuts before moving on to the real deal using a chef knife to practice different cuts such as peel, shred, slice, dice, julienne and mince.
- Students have been working on finishing up our last food lab, yeast!! Students had a choice to make focaccia bread, personal pizza, or a recipe of their own that included yeast.
- We also discussed reading food labels and taking a look at how food labels have changed over the last five years. We looked at serving sizes where students went through their cupboards at home and dished out how much they would normally eat and compare it to how much an actual serving size is. We then finished our food unit with a foods final assessment.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What are the different parts of a chef knife called?
What We're Working on Next - We are moving on to our Child Development Unit. We will talk about family structures, how parents in other cultures parent, how children develop, physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially. Students will be creating a culturally related children's book for this unit!
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - How much experience do you have taking care of young children?
What We've Been Working On - Practice for and Writing assessment about vacation in Chile
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What did you write about in Chile?
- How did you do on the assessment?
What We're Working on Next - Hispanic Heritage Month and the beginning of Vamonos 2: sports, inviting and declining invitations
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What did you learn about HIspanic Heritage Month? What surprised you?
Thank a Teacher with a bundt cake! This school year has been unusual to say the least! Our teachers and staff have been a consistent, welcoming presence in our students' lives this year more than ever. Show your support for all they have done with a donation to the Wayzata Education Fund. Each donation made in honor of a teacher or staff until June 1 will include a special certificate of thanks from you, and every donation of $25 or more will come with a bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Whether they’ve helped make a difference in-person or virtually, show your appreciation by participating in our Thank a Teacher program. WHS Recognized as One of Nation's Best High Schools With an overall score of 97.6 out of 100, Wayzata High School (WHS) was recently ranked #2 among traditional public high schools in Minnesota by U.S. News & World Report. The ranking, which factors data on 17,857 public, charter and magnet high schools across the nation, is based on state assessments and preparation for post-secondary education. We have a big summer of youth camps planned! Join us at Oakwood Elementary School where your child can learn, grow, and play with friends all summer long. Youth camps include everything from science, engineering, arts and crafts, dance, theater, and more. With a wide variety of camps to choose from, there is something to spark your interest! Registration is now open. Register now! Tuesday, May 11, 2021 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Monday, May 10, 2021 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Monday, May 24, 2021 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM 12000 Ridgemount Avenue, Plymouth, MN 55441 | 763-745-6200 |