NORTH TONAWANDA MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENT NEWSLETTER ~ WWW.NTSCHOOLS.ORG

November 2015

Monday, January 18th—NO SCHOOL—Martin Luther King Day

SAVE THE DATE

Chorus Winter Concert: Tuesday, December 8.

Seventh Grade Chorus concert begins at 6:30 PM. Please have students

report to the chorus rooms by 6:10 PM.

Eighth Grade Chorus concert begins at 7:30 PM. Please have students

report to the chorus rooms by 7:15 PM.

Concert dress: black or dark colored bottoms and a plain white top.

Boys can also add a tie of their choice if they wish. Please let us know if

you need help outfitting your child.

All County Chorus Auditions- December 12 at North Park Middle

School in Lockport.

Audition times have been e-mailed out as well as sent home with stu-

dents. If your child is participating and you have any questions please

contact Mrs. Vallas

7th Grade Math with Mrs. DiRienzo . . . We have been finishing up learning about rational num-bers. The students completed their work on fractions. We are currently working on alge-braic expressions and equations. Students have also started working on a new computer pro-gram called Think Through Math – take a mo-

ment to have them share what they are doing with you. Please encourage students to complete daily as-signments in order for skills to be practiced & learned.

8th Grade Math with Mrs. DiRienzo . . . We have been busy learning about rigid mo-tions, translations, reflections, and rotations. Students should know that rigid motions pre-serve segment length and angle measurement. Students have also started working on a new

computer program called Think Through Math – take a moment to have them share what they are doing with you. Please encourage students to complete daily as-signments in order for skills to be practiced & learned.

Team Orion would like to thank all the caregivers for taking the opportunity to share in the making of the bread that was donated to the NT Food Pantry. It was an overwhelming re-sponse that resulted in many boxes of bread from Orion that was donated to the pantry.

Math 7 – Mr. Bush – We have just finished up our unit on Algebra that is the staple to suc-cess in future years of Mathematics. We will have a mini-unit on circle geometry and con-tinue on to inequalities which are an extension of solving equations. Doing homework nightly is an asset to maintaining desirable grades. The parent portal is a great tool to en-sure homework is being done. Please encourage your child to seek help when it is need-ed!!

Advanced Math 7 – Mr. Bush - We have just finished up our unit on Algebra that is the staple to success in future years of Mathematics, especially next year in Common Core Al-gebra. We will continue on to inequalities which are an extension of solving equations. Do-ing homework nightly is an asset to maintaining desirable grades. The parent portal is a great tool to ensure homework is being done. Please encourage your child to seek help when it is needed!!

In December, Mrs. Quinn’s English classes will be drawing to a close the Scary Story Module. Starting with Poe, the unit returns to another classic author, Washington Irving, who penned the famous Legend of Sleepy Hollow. As a celebration of their learning, stu-dents will display their understanding of the unit theme by design-ing an original movie poster for the story of their choice. In addition, students will move forward on their essay writing journey as they

read and write about Edgar Allan Poe and the devout fandom that carries on his literary legacy to this day.

Mrs. Marcantonio’s ELA class has been working on a scary stories unit. Edgar Allan Poe’s works “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven” were read in class. We also learned several literature terms that are referenced in the stories.

On Tuesday, December 8, we will be going on a field trip to the Riviera Theater to watch plays regarding the scary stories unit.

Please visit my teacher web page to see assignments and literature terms.

Use Google Chrome to log into websites.

Log in at: ntschools.org, Middle School, Teacher Pages: Marcantonio,F.

Also log into quizlet.com and type in fmarcantonio in the search box in order to study literature terms. (Literature Terms 1-4, Plot Line, and Listening Terms)

Thank you for your continued support of your children and their education!

Mrs. Sturgeon’s Math 8 finish up the Module on Congruency. Students learned

about the three basic rigid motions, reflection, translation, and rotation. Rigid Mo-

tions preserve angle measures and length of segments for figures. This has led

us into Module#3 in Similarity. Students are making connections with the differ-

ence between Rigid Motions and a Dilation. Concepts are being reinforced daily

and discussed to continue the learning process of all these great mathematical

ideas.

Our Algebra students keep moving right along with their study of Functions. They

have transformed functions with reflections and translations by making foldables

and review cards. The exploration on the graphing calculator helps them see very

quickly how a function can be moved on the coordinate plane. We will continue to

re-visit the concepts of domain and range, while we move into Proportional and

Non-Proportional Relationships.

On Team Aries, students in ELA are currently working on a New York State Module Unit. Along with nonfiction texts, stu-

dents are reading the novel A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Students will be completing an analysis of the text by us-

ing close reading strategies.

Mr. Carlson's 7th Grade Social Studies classes did a really nice job on last marking period's Native American Project. The classroom was full of dioramas and displays of habitats, dwellings, cultural universals and creation stories of the several tribes we had looked at. We are currently studying the French in North America and are about to follow the English as they create colo-

nies along the east coast. Students will have another project this marking period on the Fort at Jametown. This ought to be fun!

Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Czora would like to thank all of the families who contributed to our classroom celebrations involving el día de los muertos and National French Week. Spanish students enjoyed exploring customs and practices surrounding this special time of the year including a special Mexican bread, pan de muertos. Students also shared a well-loved tradition of making and

decorating sugar skulls in class.

Our French students made and decorated French berets, while studying more than fifty French-speaking countries around the world. They also shared snacks such as croissants and Nutella, cream puffs, crêpes, flan, macaroons, ratatouille, couscous,

mousse and other delicious treats.

As usual we would like to emphasize the need for daily vocabulary study to build a solid foundation, necessary for communica-tion in a second language. All vocabulary lists for the year are housed at Quizlet. Links for each of the packets can be found at www.ntschools.org> our schools> middle school> Czora OR Morgan.

Quizlet is an online resource that is free for all students to use. All students can practice flashcards, and games that promote vocabulary acquisition. What is really fantastic is that students can hear any term they are studying just by clicking on the word. They can also print vocabulary lists, make flashcards and self-check quizzes if they have their own account. Accounts are easy to set up and free of charge. This site is like having a personal at-home tutor at their disposal, around the clock. Please encour-

age your son or daughter to show you Quizlet. Students who are using this fabulous site are making amazing progress!

In December students will study the calendar and weather, and various holiday traditions around the world. We will also have our first unit test that will include everything we have done since September. Quizlet makes studying for the unit test fun. You

will be surprised at how much they have learned!

Draco Newsletter Article

Mr. Reilly's students are concluding their

Big Business Unit and will begin the Immi-gration Unit shortly after the Thanksgiving

Recess. Mr. Reilly recently introduced the Gilded Age Inquiry (Inquiry Design Model)

to his students. The students have been working very hard tackling this challenging

task. Mr. Reilly has been pleased with the results and is looking forward to reviewing

the students final product. I hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe Thanksgiving Re-cess!

Regents LE has completed a lengthy bio-

chemistry unit and is moving into cells and cell processes. Students are learning a vari-

ety of study techniques in class that will help them as they prepare for exams and

high school. They will also be visiting the library to learn more about paraphrasing

and research guidelines.

Math 8 students are finishing up a unit on

similarity. Our next Unit will be the biggest unit this year – Linear Equations. We will

be solving and graphing linear equations well into January. Common Core Algebra 1

students are just finishing up a unit on functions. The next unit we will cover is Lin-

ear Functions and Arithmetic Sequences.

7th Grade Students Take Part in “Learn Bake Share” and Give Back to NT

The FACS Department hosted a successful community service assembly at NTMS. 7th grade students were ac-

cepted to take part in King Arthur Flour’s “Learn Bake Share” program on November 2, 2015. A King Arthur in-

structor visited NTMS and taught students how to make bread and other related yeast recipes, while integrating

the subjects of Math, Science, Reading and FACS into the lesson. Students were then provided with a recipe book

and all the necessities to make bread at home. They were asked to bake two loaves of bread over the weekend-

one to keep for their family and one to bring back to donate to the North Tonawanda Food Pantry. The following

Monday, 165 loaves of bread were brought back to donate! Students did an amazing job giving back to their com-

munity and the overall feedback of the program was very positive. Students talked about how much they learned

and how excited they were to be able to come together with their family to make the bread. Many students have

mentioned that they have continued making recipes from the recipe books they were given. Thank you to all who

supported this program and helped make this program such a huge success!

Student assistants Sarah DiNardo and Sophia Scime help prepare recipes at the King Arthur Flour Assembly

Team Orion participated in an assembly put on by Miss

Kelly of the Family and Consumer Science Department.

Students were taught how to make bread and were

given the supplies to make 2 loaves of bread at home.

One loaf of bread was for the student to share with

his family, the other loaf was to be donated to the

community food pantry. Students discussed in Social

Studies class the importance of Community and the

need to help those who are less fortunate. The re-

sponse from the team Orion students was outstanding.

Students and parents alike commented on what a won-

derful opportunity this was. Pictured students are

Ethan Drajem, Braeden Dempsey, Hailie Dillabough,

and Sarah DiNardo.

The first quarter has ended and have the students been busy! For the

majority of the 7th grade students this was their first time using a sew-

ing machine. Once they get the hang of it they just wished to sew

everything they could find. The finished product is a an apron we

hope they use at home and again in school next year. Each student

made a coffee cozy which taught them to sew on buttons, the running

stitch, and the overcast stitch.

The 2nd quarter 7th graders will be making a Marble Chocolate Chip Pound Cake the week of

December 14th, so if you missed the first sale we hope you catch the next one. The funds

raised are used to add another cooking lab to the 7th grade curriculum.

The 8th grade students concentrated heavily on career exploration. Our guest speaker was Mrs. Ortolani, the granddaughter of the original founder of Ted’s Hot Dogs in the area. Each student received an employment application to see what the real thing looks like and to use if they are old enough to apply. Be sure to ask the current 8th grade FACS students about the guidance direct program, and have them start inputting information as soon as possible.

Our 8th graders also have a new community service project this year. We have teamed up with Northgate to donate eye glass cases to their residents and out patient clients. It is won-derful practice for our students before they make their pillow project and a way to give back to their local community. Much of the fabric for this project was donated through a parent of a middle school student and we are so grateful.

We are looking forward to our next set of 7th graders, and to continue with these 8th graders on a few more cooking labs and a strong nutrition unit to finish up their twenty weeks.

Miss Catalano

Miss Kelly

Cold & Flu Season

The cold and flu season is upon us. PROPER HANDWASHING IS THE BEST

PREVENTION. Please keep your child home from school if they are sick.

Students that come to school who are ill, pass germs to other students. The

school nurse cannot diagnose students with health concerns. Parents/

guardians need to make an appointment with their child’s health care provid-

er if they have a concern.

Health Appraisals

All 7th

grade students and all students new to the district are required to

have a health appraisal (physical). Any student who does not submit a phys-

ical to the school will receive a physical from the district health care provid-

er. Please notify the school nurse if your child will be receiving his/her physi-

cal from their private physician.

Mandated Screening

All 7th

graders are required to have vision, hearing

and scoliosis screening completed for the school

year. All 8th

graders are required to have scoliosis screening. The

school nurse will be completing this screening during January,

February and March. Letters are mailed home regarding all

screening failures.

The National Junior Honor Society had a busy first quarter. Members

raised over $1,000 from the Platter's Chocolates sale! This money will

be used to fund activities throughout the year including food drives,

community service, field trips and the end of the year induction cere-

mony. Members helped organize and deliver over 200 loaves of bread

to the NT Food Pantry which were made by students after the King Ar-

thur Flour bread baking assembly.

Our first field trip was a successful and fun visit to Niagara Falls and a

ride on the Maid of the Mist. Look for the video link in the upcoming

issue of the NTMS Express Student Newspaper which several National

Junior Honor Society students help publish.