fsus middle school seminole spotlight€¦ · fsus ms seminole spotlight october 2017 vol. 1,...

FSUS Middle School Seminole Spotlight

Spring Semester Quarter 3April 2018

NOTEWORTHY NOLES Students earn Noteworthy Nole Notes for going above and beyond expectations in the classroom and anywhere in the school. When students earn five Noteworthy Nole Notes, they receive a special certificate and recognition from the teacher. At the end of the year, the top 33 students with Noteworthy Nole Notes in each grade level get to go on a special field trip thanks to Mr. Bailey, Coach Kelley, and Mrs. Wilkinson.

Noteworthy Nole Notes 6th Grade: 467 7th Grade: 516 8th Grade: 347

Middle School Total: 1330

October 2017 Vol. 1, Quarter 1

FROM MR. BAILEY

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

PARENT LISTSERV Please make sure to sign up for the Secondary Parent Listserve: https://lists.fsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/fsus-parent-secondary Please also make sure your current email is in our FOCUS system.

FROM COACH KELLEY

I have enjoyed my first year as the Middle School Academic Dean. Thank you students and parents for welcoming me with open arms. The collaboration that has occurred between home and school this year has been phenomenal. Thank you! Also, it is not too late to turn in course request forms. Just drop them by student services. Thanks and GO NOLES!

Middle School students participated in a wonderful pep rally on March 9th. All the middle school sports teams were introduced and recognized. Students and teachers competed against each other in several games, resulting in the 8th graders winning the coveted spirit stick. The FSUS Student Government Association hosted an exciting middle school dance on February 9th. The dance was semi-formal with snacks and drinks. Fun was had by all!

Dear FSUS Middle School Parents – We have definitely “sprung” into our spring semester. There is never a dull moment on our FSUS campus. The best part of my day is when I get to visit classrooms and see the awesome learning happening every day. We are starting a middle school Student Government Association (SGA) next year. Please encourage your child to watch for important dates regarding applications and elections, if he/she is interested. If you have any questions you can contact Mr. WC at [email protected]. Important Reminders: All 2018-2019 course request forms should be

submitted to Student Services at this time. Please make sure to monitor your child’s dress as

the weather gets warmer. Go Noles! Suzanne Wilkinson, Ed.S.

https://lists.fsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/fsus-parent-secondary

https://lists.fsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/fsus-parent-secondary

mailto:[email protected]

FSUS MS Seminole Spotlight October 2017 Vol. 1, Quarter 1

Spotlight on Sixth Grade


SCIENCE

In math, students have been learning about area, surface area and volume. Mrs. Crombie’s students spent the third nine weeks finding the area of squares, rectangles, parallelograms, triangles, and trapezoids alone and combined as complex shapes. After mastering that, students began moving from two-dimensional figures to three dimensional figures. They discovered how to create nets (2D representations) for cubes, rectangular prisms, square pyramids, triangular pyramids and triangular prisms. In order to apply their understanding of concepts, students then created 2D nets and 3D figures with the same dimensions. Some students chose cross-curricular themes such as building square pyramids from Ancient Egypt and then finding the surface area of their figures. Others worked on modern applications like the surface area of a Chick-fil-a’s outside walls for painting their business. As we progressed from surface area to volume students built rectangular prisms that were required to have the same volume, but were built with cubes of different sizes. Students learned that it took one, eight, or sixty-four cubes to build a figure, depending on the size of the cube, but that even though they had more cubes, the total volume remained constant.

MATH

Mrs. Lovel's science classes began the third quarter with a study of weather. The timing couldn't have been better, with recent hurricanes and a snow day over winter break. Students were able to understand the scientific phenomena that created the unusual changes around them. The unit culminated in a Weather Demo Day which included vortex tubes! Before the break, students enjoyed a fun review using science board games focused on previously learned topics. The third nine weeks ended with an introduction to Cell Theory which will lead us into our study of life science as we return from Spring Break.




Mr. Williams-Clark's, aka “Mr. WC”, 6th grade World Geography class wrapped up their Ancient Egypt and Nubia unit by mummifying apple slices. The purpose of the project was for students to grasp the concept of the Ancient Egyptian 70-day mummification process. The classroom project was a cross curricular activity touching on math and science. The students first weighed their apple slices. Then, they put together a solution of either table salt and baking soda; Epsom salt and baking soda; table salt and laundry powder; or Epsom salt and laundry powder. The students then poured their solution in a Styrofoam cup on top of the apple slice. After covering the cup with saran wrap and securing it with a rubber band, the student place them inside the supply closet, where they sat over spring break. When the students return, they looked at the difference in the look and weight of the apple. They also decided which solution mummified the apple the best.

WORLD GEOGRAPHY

Congratulations!

Ana Adank Nicholas Roeder

Onyinyechukwu Okoli Nnabuikem Okoli

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

Ms. Olgar’s students thoroughly enjoyed a unit on Ancient Egypt and Nubia. The students created projects researching the deities of ancient Egypt and tracking the present-day locations of artifacts representing those deities. Students also analyzed artifacts from Nubia and determined their connection to ancient Egypt. The students were even able to incorporate their knowledge into their math classes!

WORLD GEOGRAPHY




LANGUAGE ARTS & DIGITAL LITERACY

DIGITAL LITERACY Mrs. Scott's Digital Literacy Skills classes used the Winter Olympics as the focus of various research projects. Each student was responsible for presenting information about a specific country that has competed and won Olympic medal(s). Their assignments included determining who the greatest Olympian of all time was; learning about the history of the Olympic games; investigating the geographical impact of the countries' Olympic success; and predicting whether a country's climate or economy was a bigger factor for the Olympic competitors. The highlight for the students was choosing and presenting to their classmates what they learned about their countries' culture, by demonstrating dances, preparing foods, creating costumes, or presenting collages. Each student also wrote invented and/or traditional poetry depicting their designated country. When possible, live Olympic competitions were streamed and displayed on the SmartBoard for the students to experience that which they were researching. Luge and Curling were very popular for many of the students who had not previously heard of these sports.

Ms. Clawson’s Language Arts and Digital Literacy Skills classes have been working on additional preparation for FSA testing and mastering benchmarks. FSA Writing is done for this year! The students completed pre-writing, research, composition of explanatory and argumentative texts, revision, and collaborative group analysis. They put their reading, writing, listening, speaking, research, and critical thinking skills to great use with content varying from animal intelligence to news debates related to the benefits/drawbacks of virtual school, whether zoos should be banned, and if video games are too violent for children. The third nine weeks was full of essay writing and reading! Students practiced essay planning, writing, revising and editing during the first half of the quarter. The second half of the quarter was full of informational texts, poetry, and short stories. The week before Spring Break, students completed Reading Breakout Rooms. Students read texts in teams and answered reading skills and literature questions to get the codes to "escape." We had lots of fun!


Spotlight on Seventh Grade



Congratulations! Will Hamon

Halle Solomon Riley Walsh

Sydney Moore

Students in Mrs. Perry’s classes read "The People Could Fly" by Virginia Hamilton and discussed the cultural impact of folktales and the effect of dialect on preserving the cultural aspects of a text.

LANGUAGE ARTS

CIVICS

Seventh graders are sprinting into the end of the year towards our Civics EOC and end of the year activi-ties and are having a great time doing so! This past nine weeks we have gone over the state and local governments through a state constitution scavenger hunt creating their own state and local govern-ments. The big highlight, however, was the class debate where they were able to practice their critical thinking skills and develop their public speaking skills. Students were so supportive of each other in cre-ating and performing their speeches and all remained civil yet feisty in their pursuit of logic and truth. Please be mindful that the Community service hours or the alternative assignment are due on May 13th. If you have any questions regarding them please feel free to email or call Mr. Roberts.


Spotlight on Seventh Grade


In February, Mrs. Kerr’s civics students took time to reflect on the many contributions of African Americans have made to the United States. Students were given the name of an influential African American individual, engaged in research, and then created a project to demonstrate what they learned about their individual's contributions. The students could create one of four projects: an acrostic poem, a Twitter page, a "memory quilt", or a crossword puzzle.

CIVICS

During the third nine weeks students in Mrs. Crombie’s class worked with concepts in geometry. They discovered how to calculate the area and circumference of circles. This was helpful for real world applications such as building a fence around a circular pool (circumference) or painting a circular logo on a basketball court (area). Students also worked on problems with volume and surface area. In our next module, statistics and probability, students worked with simple probability such as picking a red card from a deck of playing cards or rolling a 6 on a standard dice. They participated in hands-on activities with cards and dice to reinforce seventh grade math standards.

MATH

Projects shown here created by:

Ida B. Wells Twitter: Justice Pye

Madame CJ Walker (photograph): Yarely Perez

Louis Armstrong: Emilee Jones

Madame CJ Walker (hand-drawn): Jazlyn Hover

Ruby Bridges: Shruthi Sankuratri

Mrs. Thurman’s 7th grade science classes have been having fun exploring genetics! They are learning just how unique each one of them is and how certain traits can be shared with their friends and family.

SCIENCE


Spotlight on Eighth Grade


Congratulations! Andrew Gelvez Sam Talevich Maricel Lopez

Alanah Woodie


Ms. Suddreth (Mrs. Larkins' intern) created a project that demonstrated students' knowledge of the Horror genre, an Unreliable Narrator, Tone, and Mood. This project enabled students to get creative by writing their own 8 panel short horror story.

LANGUAGE ARTS

U.S. HISTORY

After discussing historical topics, such as the Indian Removal Act and the Holocaust, students worked to create peace rocks. Our rocks are currently on display with others created in middle and high school, in the media center.

SCIENCE

Mrs. Arnold’s classes did a can crushing lab. Students learned about how differences in air pressure can cause a can to crush.


Spotlight on Eighth Grade


LANGUAGE ARTS

Students in Mrs. Perry’s classes read “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Monkey’s Paw” and did a group compare/contrast activity between the literary elements of the two texts.

MATH

SCIENCE In Mrs. Bickel's science classes, students have been working on ADIs on the Law of Conservation of Energy or Momentum.

In Pre-Algebra, students worked hard on filtering through equations and solutions to complete the challenge of solving systems of equations. e entering the realm of transformational geometry and then are proceeding to statistical data. Also, within the next few weeks we will be reviewing for FSA 8th grade Math in preparation for the test in late April.


Spotlight on Fine Arts, Technology & PE


UPCOMING CONCERTS & PERFORMANCES

BAND

Concert and Symphonic Band both earned Superior ratings at District Concert MPA on March 3, and Symphonic Band qualified for State Concert MPA. They will travel to Panama City for State on May 2.

Over 50 band students participated in FBA Solo and Ensemble on Feb. 16-17, and every single one received a superior or excellent rating! They were also fabulous hosts, as we held the event at Florida High.

ORCHESTRA

Middle school orchestra students Noah John-son, Mary Lengacher, Anthony Simons, and Jose Oropeza-Salazar were selected, by audition, and participated in the 2018 Leon County All-District Orchestra. The Concert Orchestra received all superior ratings at their 2018 Music Performance Assessment.

ORCHESTRA All-District Orchestra, March 22-24 Orchestra and Guitar Spring Concert is May 7 at FSU's Opperman Music Hall

BAND

Winter Guard State Championships - April 6 & 7 State Concert MPA (Symphonic Band) - May 2 Spring Concert - May 8 - Opperman Music Hall CHORUS Concert MPA - Mar. 1 & 2 Shrek the Musical -May 3-5 Chorus Concert - May 9- Opperman Music Hall

May 3


Spotlight on Fine Arts, Technology & PE


THEATRE

Students spent this 3rd nine weeks doing a lot of applying what they know about theatre. They started off the nine weeks with a fun game of Jeopardy that helped them brush up on theatre terminology and phrases such as “breaking the fourth wall”, “improvisation”, “blocking”, and “upstaging”. Afterwards, students spent the next few weeks working on a series of activities geared towards applying their knowledge of these different phrases and terms. Each class separated into groups and created scenes that included the fourth wall being broken. Students also did improv skits. They demonstrated block-ing through a series of fun activities. All in all, students had a great time showcasing what they know and love about Theatre!

ART

The students in Mrs. Wallheiser’s Art 3 class have been working on building a portfolio of artwork as a tract to AP Art in high school.

Jordan Richardson

Sofia Rios

Niya Coleman Mary Lengacher

Jetz Correa


Spotlight on Literacy


FROM THE LIBRARY

Congratulations to the following middle school students who have already read 3 or more Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award (SSYRA) books this year! Great work! All middle school students who read 3 or more SSYRA books by April 6 will be invited to a Voting Party on Friday, April 13 during lunch. They will use official Leon County voting machines to vote for their favorite SSYRA book, and then they will enjoy pizza with their classmates. Additionally, students who read SSYRA books earn: a coupon for Krispy Kreme (3 SSYRA books); a coupon for Chick-Fil-A (6 SSYRA books); a free book (10 SSYRA books); and a special prize at the voting party (all 15 SSYRA books).

FROM THE LITERACY COACH

During the 3rd nine weeks, we celebrated Literacy Week.

This year’s theme for the week was to Find Yourself in a

Book! Students and teachers had a blast participating in

“Random Acts of Reading” and participating in the “Favorite

Book Selfies” to encourage students to try new books rec-

ommended by teachers and fellow students! Some of the

random acts of reading were to Choose a favorite book and

select a chapter, section, or scene that "changed your

world" as a reader and create an illustrated cover for a mu-

sic CD created for your book or to create 5 song titles that

could be featured on a CD. We all enjoyed literacy Week!

6th Graders Giselle Birriel Robert Blenman Kira Claypool Maggie Copa Ava Corley Davis Crume Fabian Delgado Ava Duffey Eryn File* Caitlin Hall Braylen Hollinhead

8th Graders Aiden Knippel Eric Srinivasan* Zoe Weddington Vivian Williams

Michael Rubin Molly Russell Shruthi Sankuratri* Jasmine Srinivasan Matt Tabet Aubrey Tangen Evelyn Truitt Riley Walsh Brooke Windom Grace Williams Aarionn Young

*These students have read all 15 middle school SSYRA books!

7th Graders Grace Alday Veronica Dingus* Ronin Gibson Samantha Johnson Gunnar Lanham Harley McDaniel* Saumyaa Misra Luxmi Narayan Chichi Okoli Hakeem Olgar Emma Rodgers

Leah Keller Jaylyn Middleton Carter Nelson Nicholas Oaks Onyinya Okoli Teagan Olson Cannon Ramsey Gaviana Roberts Kyla Rogers Kalan Simmons Maddox Vos Zachary Weddington Madison Wenhold*


Spotlight on Middle School History Fair


Our first annual School History Fair took place Wednesday, February 28. Over 100 students from the middle school and high school participated in this wonderful educational event. The students conducted extensive research on a variety topics related to the 2018 National History Day theme: Conflict and Compromise in His-tory. The students had the option of presenting their research in several categories: Historical Paper, Exhibit, Website, Documentary, and Performance. Students who placed in their respective categories moved on to the Leon County District History Fair, which was held on Friday, February 23 at Lively Technical Center. This event was coordinated by social studies teachers Mrs. Deborah Whetstone and Mr. Marlon Williams-Clark. Any student from 6th-12th grade were able to participate. Next year’s theme will be “Triumph and Tragedy in History”. Questions for next year should be directed to Mrs. Whetstone for high school and Mr. Williams-Clark for middle school.

Spotlight on Middle School Dance

FSUS MS Seminole Spotlight October 2017 Vol. 1, Quarter 1 Spring Semester Quarter 3April 2018

Spotlight on Student Extracurricular Activities

In February, several FSUS middle school students competed with Dance Fusion Studios in the VIP Dance Competition in Tampa, FL. Mackenzie Broome, Victoria Holt, Bryce Kelley, Kennedi Lowe, Allie Manalo, and Ashlyn Powell earned high scores and awards for their individual and group dances at the competition. Some of the highlights of the competition include: Victoria Holt received a Platinum award, 1st place for a contemporary dance, and 3rd place overall. Alexandra Manalo- Her duet received High Gold and #9 overall. Bryce Kelley - Her solo earned High Gold and 2nd place, her duet earned High Gold 2nd and #7 overall. Mackenzie Broome – her quartet earned High Gold and 2 place, and her three group dances earned

High Gold 1 and 2 and #4 overall, #5 overall, and #8 overall. Kenedi Lowe- her solo earned Platinum 1 #2 overall, her duet earned High Gold 1st #4 overall. Kenedi, Bryce, and Allie were in a musical production dance that earned Platinum 1st #1 overall and a

costume award.

DANCE

FOOTBALL The Middle school football team finished another fantastic season, despite the terrible weather that shortened their season. The A Team (comprised of 7th and 8th graders) coached by Coach Faulstrom, Coach Massey, and Coach Metz, bounced back to finish the season 3-3. These great players are now looking forward to moving up to Junior Varsity next year. The B Team (comprised of 6th and 7th graders) coached by Coach Mike Hickman, finished their season 2-2. These players are ready to move up to the A Team next year. Great job players and coaches!

PTSA CONTEST

Congratulations to the

winners of the spring

2018 PTSA Best and

Brightest Essay Contest!

Denim Carter

Shane Mincy

Aidan Stresing


Spotlight on Astronaut Challenge


Spotlight on Teacher Professional Development

The Middle School Astronaut Challenge team competed at the Kennedy Space Center February 19-21, 2018.

They placed 3rd overall in the Middle School Simulator Challenge.


Spotlight on PTSA FUN RUN



Spotlight on National Junior Honor Society


This year NJHS has participated in a Breast Cancer Walk in October, spring and fall school carnivals, and

Literacy Week Door Decorating. We will soon be working on something for secondary teachers for teacher

appreciation week in April.

Currently, NJHS is organizing/raising money for our Leon Havana Relay for Life NJHS team. The event takes

place at Leon High School on April 28, 2018, and begins at 3:00 pm. This is not a 24-hour relay, but instead

lasts until Midnight, with the Luminaria taking place at 10:00 pm and the Closing Ceremony at 11:30 pm.

Relay for Life is very involved and is one of our biggest community outreach undertakings as a club.

The theme is “No Mercy Cancer! Take action to kick cancer’s butt!” and we are asking all of our participants

to wear Converse shoes, Keds sneakers, or crazy socks. We would love to have as many people become a

part of our team to support this cause and represent FSUS. Our goal is to raise $1500.00, and we have

currently raised $1,160. If you would like more information about our team, or how to donate, please go to

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/fsusnjhs.

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/fsusnjhs

fsus middle school seminole spotlight€¦ · fsus ms seminole spotlight october 2017 vol. 1,...

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