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Parent Teacher Conferences will be held for students in Grades 6-7-8 on December 7th and 8th, 2017. Students will only attend school in the morning on those dates. If you would like to arrange a conference with your child’s team of teachers, please contact their guidance counselor. Mr. Michael is the Grade 8 counselor & Gr. 6 Team Unity (926-2423), and Mrs. Grimaldi is the Grade 7 & Gr. 6 Team Evolution
counselor (926-2422).
Lake Shore Central Middle School
:
NOVEMBER 2017
“News From The Middle”
Upcoming Events
DECEMBER 7 Gr. 8 Holiday Concert 7 PM 7 & 8 P/T Conf. – Early Dismissal 11:01 AM 12 Gr. 7 Holiday Concert 7 PM 15 Snowflake Dance 7-9 PM 19 MS Booster Meeting 7 PM 20 Gr. 6 Holiday Concert 7 PM 25-31 Winter Recess – No School
JANUARY 1 Winter Recess – No school 15 Martin Luther King Jr. Day-No School 19 End of 2nd Quarter 23 MS Booster Meeting 7 PM 24 District Choral Concert 7 PM
FEBRUARY 9 Valentines Dance 6-8 PM 19 President’s Day – No School 20-23 Mid-Winter Recess – No School
MARCH 1-3 Middle School Musical 7 PM 6 Middle School Booster Meeting 7 PM 7 8th Grade Parent Night @ HS 7 PM 13 District Band Concert 7 PM 15-17 Gr. 8 Washington D.C. trip 16 Supt. Conf. Day – No School 21 District Orchestra Concert 7 PM 30 Good Friday – No School 30 End of 3rd Quarter
Pa News From The Middle
Erich Reidell, Principal Katy Berner-Wallen, Asst. Principal
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Erich Reidell, Principal 8855 Erie Road, Angola, NY 14006 Phone: (716) 926-2400 Fax: (716) 549-4374
E-mail: [email protected]
Dear Middle School Parents & Guardians:
The 2017-18 school year is off to a great start here at Lake Shore Middle School. The vast majority of our sixth graders
have learned their combination and overcome all of their summer “Middle School Anxieties”, our seventh graders, as
Middle School “veterans”, have jumped back into the routine and our eighth graders have begun to assert themselves as
leaders and role models for the younger students. I would personally like to thank the parents and staff for their patience
and for their efforts to make the start of the year a success.
During the first week of school, grade level conduct code assemblies were held. Mrs. Berner-Wallen, the Assistant
Principal, and I spoke to the children about the school wide behavioral expectations that we have. We reviewed the
Middle School Code of Conduct, which can be found on the Middle School website and in the front of your child’s
agenda. We encourage you to review it with them as well, to ensure that there are “no surprises.”
The emphasis of these assemblies was on respect and being a responsible member of the Middle School community and
of the Lake Shore Central Community. We also spoke to the students about being positive ambassadors of the Middle
School at all times.
During Home Coming, Student Government sponsored Middle School “Spirit Week” which concluded with a Middle
School Pep Rally. Red Ribbon Week began on October 24th. A central theme of our red ribbon week activities was
“making decisions to keep yourself healthy and safe.”
Our extra-curricular programs have hit the ground running this year. CS & V Club planned their Red Ribbon Week, the
Newspaper, Yearbook and Drama Clubs have begun meeting, Student Government held class officer elections and the
Middle School Musical organization has announced that this year’s musical will be Bye Bye Birdie.
Extra-Curricular activities are an integral part of our program and there truly is something for everyone. I encourage you
to talk with your child about these opportunities and for you to, in turn, encourage them to get involved in them.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the Middle School Website: http://www.lakeshorecsd.org/Page/11,
once on the Middle School Homepage you will find a great deal of information about the middle school program and links
to the Tops in Education – Money for Our School Program, the Middle School activities calendar, and the Middle
School Conduct Code.
Once again, I would like to thank everyone for a terrific start and I wish you the best during this upcoming academic year.
Erich Reidell
Principal
Team Tradition – Grade 8
The students have been working hard and having
fun on Team Tradition so far this year! Our team is
participating in a year- long character education
program in which a lesson is taught on a specified
character trait for the month. After the lesson is
taught and the trait becomes meaningful, the
teachers are on the lookout for students who are
demonstrating this characteristic through their
actions towards others. Their picture is placed on
our hallway bulletin board to share this
accomplishment with the entire school community.
Our Character Students for September (Caring)
Are:
Donte Salatka
Hayden Haynes
Ethan Taylor
Food Bank of WNY: Cereal Drive
Our character trait for November is Citizenship.
Part of being a good citizen is giving back to your
community. Team Tradition will be hosting a
Cereal Drive for The Food Bank of WNY. Our
drive starts on November 1st and will go for about a
month ending November 27th. Each team in the
school will compete against each other to see who
can donate the most cereal. Team Tradition
students will calculate each team’s donations (by
serving size) during their science classes throughout
the 4 weeks. The team who donates the most
servings of cereal will win an ice cream social for
their team and feel good for helping the Food Bank
of WNY. Please help us make this a success by
sending in at least one box or bag of cereal for this
worthy cause.
English Language Arts
In the classroom, our ELA students kicked off
the character education program by learning a
lesson on caring. They watched episodes of “What
Would You Do?” and had to think of morally
appropriate ways to handle difficult situations. Our
students are creating advertisements for our Cereal
Drive, which includes posters, and catchy dialogue
that they will read on the announcements during the
month of November. They are just starting a brand
new novel called, Salt to the Sea. It focuses on the
refugee experience set in post WWII Eastern
Europe. Outside of the classroom, each student has
been busy reading their independent books and
logging them. A class project on this literature will
be announced soon. It is so important to get your
child reading at least 15 minutes a day outside of
school.
Mathematics 8
One goal of becoming a mathematician is being
able to apply mathematical concepts to real- world
scenarios. Our Math 8 students are solving
equations with variables on both sides and are
working hard on applying them.
Algebra
Our accelerated Algebra students are also
solving real-world problems using Linear
Equations. They will start working on Solving &
Interpreting Compound Inequalities.
Science 8
Science 8 students are starting to learn about
Newton’s Laws through the Forces of Motion Unit.
The students will take time once a week calculating
the serving sizes of all the cereal that the school is
donating to the Food Bank of WNY.
Biology
Our accelerated Biology students are working on
the Classification Unit this month.
Social Studies
Our Social Studies students started the school
year studying Reconstruction after the Civil War.
They then began to study big business and how the
United States turned into an industrial giant. The
students are finishing off the quarter learning about
immigration with information on immigrant life and
Ellis Island.
Students of the Month: September
Algebra: Tristan McMahon
Math 8: Aubrey Snyder
ELA: Donte Salatka
Social Studies: Michael Kirkpatrick
Science 8: Caitlin Zolnowski
Biology: Fantasy Jimerson-Kenjockety
Upcoming Events:
Field Trip: December 1st: Tops Friendly
Markets to drop off cereal for the Food Bank of
WNY/Team lunch at Chef’s Restaurant
Field Trip: January 26th: Theatre of Youth:
“Boy at the Edge of Everything”
Team Pride – Grade 8
Field Trip News:
Team Pride students attended Cradle Beach
Camp on October 13th. The camp has been in
existence since 1888 in serving the needs of
disabled and disadvantaged children from Western
New York. In an effort to help their community,
students rotated through half-hour stations of raking
leaves, picking up twigs, moving furniture and team
building activities. Cradle Beach Camp is hopeful
that many students on Team Pride became
interested in the Pioneer Camper Program, which
allows students to volunteer their time in a summer
program working with disadvantaged and disabled
students.
Classroom News:
Math - Students in the math 8 enrichment class are
currently finishing up a chapter on solving complex
equations. All grade 8 math classes are working on
solving basic equations and working on fluency
skills within the topic. All students also
participated in activities from Drug Free World for
Red Ribbon Week.
English - Students in English 8 are reading a new
novel this year called Salt to the Sea, by Ruta
Sepetys. This novel follows German refugees at the
end of WWII escaping the approaching Soviet
forces. While reading, students will be working on
writing constructed responses, writing a literary
analysis piece, and completing some creative
writing. We will look deeply at character conflicts,
author's word choice, and character perceptions. We
will also be reading some companion pieces in
order to understand the context of the story.
Students will also continue to read personal book
choices outside of class and report their
recommendations to the class in the form of Book
Talks!
Social Studies - Students are researching
inventors/businessmen and women for their
Tombstone Project. Students are learning about
Business and Labor, Immigration and the
Progressive Era.
Science - Science 8 students have just finished a
unit on motion, forces, and energy. They will begin
a unit on energy and heat next. The students have
also already participated in two STEM challenges.
The first challenge required the students to make the
longest paper chain possible with a sheet of paper
and a strip of tape. For their second challenge the
students made and tested marshmallow catapults for
longest distance and accuracy. There will be many
more STEM challenges throughout the year.
Living Environment - Living Environment students
are currently studying cells. They have already
completed their first NYS required lab on
diffusion. The students will be studying genetics
before the end of the year. Soon they will be
participating in their first STEM challenge of the
year.
Team Infinity – Grade 7
Science
Mr. Piede’s science classes have just finished up a
big measurement unit where students were able to
use graduated cylinders, beakers, triple beam
balances, and microscopes. Formal lab write-ups
were done on Google Classroom getting students
prepared for high school lab reports. We used much
technology as Nearpod lessons, EDpuzzles, quizlet,
Everfi, Socrative and Kahoot were all used in
addition to Google Classroom. If you are ever
absent, please check Google Classroom, as an extra
copy and links are often put there for students who
missed class or want to review. If a parent or
guardian is interested in seeing what their student’s
Google Classroom stream is (to stay updated on
their assignments), please email me
[email protected] and ask to be invited as a
guardian to my Google classroom. Communication
is key, so please keep checking grades and contact
Mr. Piede if there are ever any questions or
concerns. We are now in a Chemistry unit where
we will learn about trends in the periodic table, and
manipulate elements with a fun augmented reality
app where elements come to life in our hands! We
also started a STEM collaboration with some
schools in Canada and one in China! It is fun how
technology can bring us together no matter what the
physical distance is between our schools.
Math
The students in seventh grade math are learning
about percents in class, just in time for the Holiday
shopping season. Students will be working to
calculate discounts, tax and tips, as well as find
commission and interest on loans. The students are
responsible for completing many hands on activities
within class to demonstrate their knowledge of
percents. If you check your child’s grades and
notice zeros, they should be encouraged to make up
those assignments. Not only will the zeros change
into points, but also practice makes perfect!
Social Studies
Seventh grade social studies started out the
year focusing on geography. We discuss the five
themes of geography and worked with many types
of maps. We moved to the First Americans unit. We
discussed the migration to America from Asia. This
led to the study of the Aztec, Inca and Maya
civilizations. We focused on their advancements in
learning, great cities, and religious beliefs. The
study of Native Americans is our next unit.
English
We have been reading A Long Walk to
Water and exploring the ideas of character traits in
ourselves as well as the characters in the novel. We
have begun to discuss the influence of culture, time,
and place on ourselves as well as the characters in
the novel. Additionally, we were able to “attend” an
interview with the author, Linda Sue Park and the
main character in the book, Salva via a live
broadcast from Monroe Community College.
Sue Walterich, one of our district technology
coordinators, set this up for us. We were able to
hear about the inspiration for the book as well as the
amazing insights and life lessons of both
individuals.
We have also worked on some persuasive
writing, discussing the recent NFL controversy with
regard to the National Anthem. After reading some
informational articles, students were asked to
express their opinion on the issue in an essay.
We will continue to read the novel and learn
about the importance of clean water and the need
for it in other parts of the world.
Team Valor – Grade 7
As the first marking period comes to a close,
Mrs. Kerl’s science classes have been studying
Chemistry. This includes the study and use of the
Periodic Table of the Elements and how those elements
interact with one another to create all the matter that is in
us and on this Earth. The students will have also taken
their first open notebook test. This test is designed to
show students the importance of taking and keeping
accurate notes for studying purposes. The test is always
announced with one full week’s notice so students can
check their notebooks and ensure that they are
organized. Please encourage your child to keep all of
their papers until the close of the school year. As we
move into quarter #2, we will begin the study of
Astronomy. It should be out of this world!!!
This quarter in English class, team Valor has
been reading the novel A Long Walk to Water by Linda
Sue Park. We were lucky enough to be able to be part of
a live stream interview with Salva Dut, the main
character in the novel, and Linda Sue Park a few weeks
ago. It was amazing and inspiring to hear his story first
hand. Each student wrote words to live by that they will
use as encouragement throughout the year. Many of
these words of wisdom were given to them by loved
ones. They posted these thoughts and phrases on their
lockers for the year. It is wonderful to walk through our
halls and be inspired by them. Students this year are
writing goals for themselves each quarter and
monitoring their progress. In just a few weeks they will
see if they reached their goals and then write new ones
for quarter two. After the holiday we will beginning a
unit on technology and adolescence brain development.
This is a favorite of many students.
As fall winds down, the material in Mr. Kowal’s
Social Studies class begins to get more complex. We
will begin a unit on government. Although the material
is a little bit complicated, it is the most important unit we
study and my favorite! We will study the Constitution,
the three branches of government, how a bill becomes a
law, state and local governments, and finally the “This
isn’t fair- The Electoral College”.
Mr. Shepard and his Pre-Algebra students have
just finished working on solving multi-step equations.
We learned how to find x. (I bet you did not even know
it was missing!). We combined like terms, used the
distributive property like crazy, and found that equations
with variables on both sides of the equation may or may
not have solutions. A brief unit on inequalities will
follow.
Did you know? #1: The ancient Romans never found
Algebra challenging, because X was always 10.
Since the world does not only use whole
numbers we will next study both rational and
irrational numbers. We will calculate square roots
and cube roots. We will compare terminating
decimals and non-terminating, repeating decimals
and their fractional equivalents. Scientific Notation
will also be introduced.
Mr. Shepard’s Math 7 students were busy
working on proportions and proportional
relationships in September. We found unit rates,
compared unit prices, graphed data to create straight
lines that went through the origin, found “k”(the
constant of proportionality) and compared
proportional and non-proportional relationships. In
October, it is on to the study of integers and rational
numbers. (you can’t be positive, if you are
negative). We learned the rules to add, subtract,
multiply, and divide integers and rational numbers.
After this exhaustive study, it will be on to a unit on
percents.
Team Valor is proud to be incorporating character
education themes again this year. Each month a
different character trait will be in focus. For
September we placed emphasis on Acceptance of
ourselves and others. For October we focused on
Respect.
Each month 2 students; one boy and one girl will be
selected for being the best representation of our
Character Trait focus. The students pictured below
are the students for September and October.
Congratulations to our COOL CHARACTER
KIDS! September: Jasmine Carter and Devon Shepherd October: Ava Lawn and Riley Fleming
Team Unity– Grade 6
Mrs. Conrad's English classes are learning
how to increase their vocabulary by completing
Words of the Week, or WOW words. Ask your
child to tell you what scintillate, yammer,
endurance, and punctual mean. The students are
also half way through The Lightning Thief, by
Rick Riordan. The students are currently
following Percy Jackson's path through the book
to see if he is truly a hero by comparing it to "The
Hero's Journey" written by Joseph Campbell.
Finally, the children are learning how to write a
complete paragraph using APEcS.
In Mr. Schamberger’s math class students began
their sixth grade year investigating the concepts of
ratio and rate. They use multiple forms of ratio
language and ratio notation, and formalize
understanding of equivalent ratios. Students apply
reasoning when solving collections of ratio
problems in real world contexts using various
tools (e.g., tape diagrams, double number line
diagrams, tables, equations and graphs). Students
bridge their understanding of ratios to the value of
a ratio, and then to rate and unit rate, discovering
that a percent of a quantity is a rate per 100.
Please have your child work on basic math facts.
They may use IXL to work on their basic math
skills. Please have your child show you Khan
Academy. Mrs. Muldowney and I are having each
student start at the Kindergarten level to see where
their math strengths and weaknesses are. Each
student can explain our chart outside our
classroom.
In Ms. Muldowney's Science classes students
learned about the Science and Engineering
Practices in September. They continued their
study through October by exploring all the
Science Equipment that will be used this year.
Students created Balloon Rockets and constructed
houses out of gumdrops to demonstrate their
engineering knowledge. Classes have also
explored the relationship between Math and
Science by using decimals and the Metric System.
Students in Mr. Herr's Social Studies classes
recently completed a unit on geography. Our focus
now is learning about the history of early man
during Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) and Neolithic
(New Stone Age) times. We are also
working with a website called belouga.org to
connect with classrooms globally and are earning
points to donate to impact campaigns to help
needy children and schools in other countries.
Take a moment at home and explore Belouga
together!
Team Evolution – Grade 6
Science with Ms. Mullins
Science is EVERYTHING...and in this ever-
changing world, the way Science is being taught in
our classrooms is changing. The new New York
State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS)
encourage students to design and create models,
question and collaborate, communicate and test
theories. With this in mind, my classroom practices
are beginning to change. The year started with the
students investigating whether something was living
or nonliving. They wrote theories and then tested
their ideas. Our next unit, chemistry, began with
identifying different atoms and their structures and
concluded with students designing and presenting
their own molecules. The students did an amazing
job and we learned many interesting facts about
everyday compounds. Check out the students
molecule projects on my website.
Currently, the students are learning about the
process scientists use to explore relationships.
Working as a team, the students are applying the
steps of the Scientific Method to create a chain
reaction that will pop a balloon. They have
researched a number of Rube Goldberg type
apparatus’ and are currently working on their own
design. I am excited to see what they come up with.
ELA with Mrs. Evans
In ELA, we are continuing to read the novel The
Lightning Thief. Students have been working on
important skills such as getting the gist, finding and
citing evidence, using context clues/background
knowledge to find the meaning of unknown
vocabulary words, and responding to a text in
writing (constructed response). We are also working
on our WOW each week, which strengthens
vocabulary development, and writing word choice.
Our 40 Book Challenge is off to a good start. Mrs.
Jones, our reading specialist, has been conferencing
with students to get a better understanding of where
they are and encouraging students to make book
selections based on their reading ability and
interest.
Social Studies with Mrs. Chiappone
Social Studies: In September, we reviewed
Geography vocabulary and Map Skills. In October,
we are learning about how early peoples lived and
worked together to survive. In addition, the classes
discuss local and global current events each day.
Mrs. Brumagin has been in our classes to help us
begin a digital pen pal connection utilizing the
belouga.org website. We are excited to see where in
the world this will lead; take a moment at home to
let your child explore Belouga with you.
Mathematics with Mr. Gizzi
Students have just completed studying ratios, unit
rates, and percentages in Module 1. The students
now embark on the difficult task of adding,
subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals and
fractions! The key to this next unit is asking for
help when you don’t completely understand
something. Our focus will continue to be growing
the necessary skills in these areas by not giving up
and doing our very best!
LIBRARY NEWS
In the library, 6th graders in the Library Skills
classes were learning about Digital Citizenship and
what it means to be an Upstanding Digital
Citizenship. Students were asked to brainstorm
what they thought Upstanding means as a group and
we took their words and created these awesome
Wordle's.
Something new this year in the middle school
library will be a Battle of the Books contest. We
will create small teams and battle over who knows
the book and content best. The final competition
will be to compete against other local middle
schools, more information and details will be
coming soon!
Home & Career Skills 6th grade- Mrs. Cislo
It has been a great beginning of the year. 6th grade students have
completed a hand-sewn football, 7th grade students have
completed the construction of a gym bag by using the sewing
machines, and 8th grade students are finishing a unit in careers. All
students will complete the marking period in the foods unit where
they will have several cooking experiences. Basic food preparation
skills are taught in 6th grade and the level of difficulty increases
with each grade level.
Home & Career Skills Club
Our first meeting took place September 13th where we discussed the scheduled meeting dates, activities
& procedures. Our first meeting we made a homemade caramel apple dip & it was a hit!! Students are
looking forward upcoming events: witches hat treats, chocolate fudge, Super Bowl dip & shamrock floats
to name a few. Sign-ups are required on a first come, first serve basis.
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held for students in Grades 6-7-8 on December 7th and 8th, 2017. Students will only attend school in the morning on those dates.
If you would like to arrange a
conference with your child’s team
of teachers, please contact their
guidance counselor.
Mrs. Grimaldi is the Grade 7 & Gr. 6 Team Evolution counselor (926-2422), and Mr. Michael is the Grade 8 & Gr. 6 Team Unity counselor (926-2423). Students will be dismissed at 11:01 a.m. on both of these days.
LAKE SHORE MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSICAL
PROUDLY PRESENTS
“Bye Bye Birdie”
March 1-3 @ 7 PM
General Seating, $5.00 at the door
Chinese Auction to send students to Camp Broadway.
Curtain Up at 7:00 PM
Red Ribbon Week
The entire Lake Shore district celebrated Red Ribbon Week from October 23-
31. Students from all grade levels participated in decorating the halls
of the school and all students signed a poster in the cafeteria to be
displayed. The theme this year was "Your future is key, so stay drug
free" and students participated in dress up days, as well as a homeroom
door decorating contest. Although Red Ribbon Week has ended, we remind
students year round that making healthy choices is important to being a
better you.
Lake Shore Little Librarian Book Exchange Committee
Sixth Grade homeroom representatives have had a very busy start to the year! Representative from each of
the 6th grade homerooms are showing their leadership skills by chairing various committees. The ideas were
all student generated and will benefit our school community in some way.
The Lake Shore Little Librarian Book Exchange Committee used a Lending Library that Mr. Tonelli made to set
up a book exchange in the lunchroom. The premise of the project is for students to leave a book - take a book.
The committee is happy with their work and said that the students are really taking advantage of the variety of
books available. Great job Elizabeth, Lauren, Lily, Mariah and Olivia.
“Now you know what to do with your old books,” said Mariah Joslyn.
Another committee that was hard at work last week was the “RED RIBBON DECORATING COMMITTEE”.
This committee was responsible for decorating the 6th grade hallway to show our support for living a drug free
life. The students decorated each of the classroom doors with a drug free message.
GREAT JOB KIDS...the doors look amazing!!!
Summer Readers' Ice Cream Social
On October 11, twenty-six Middle School students in grades 6, 7, and 8 celebrated
summer reading with an ice cream social. Hosted by reading specialists Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Pupo, the students made themselves whopping sundaes smothered in their
preferred toppings and chatted about their favorite books of the summer. Mr. Reidell and Mrs. Berner-Wallen congratulated the students, who had all completed a Summer
Reading Bingo Board as a way of sharing their reading experiences. As a thank you for attending, each student was also rewarded with a $5 gift card to Barnes & Noble, which
was generously funded by our Lake Shore Middle School Parent Booster Club. Congratulations, summer readers!
6th Grade visits the Albright Knox Art Gallery
The 6th grade art classes took a trip to the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo in October. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery and BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York have partnered to create Art'scool, a school tour program designed to create the critical and creative thinkers of tomorrow The students participate in a docent led Modern Art for a Modern World tour of the gallery which focuses on the art of different countries and eras right up to our contemporary world. The weather was perfect for the trip and lunch at Delaware Park.
In today’s world, peace needs to become more than just a word. On September 20th, students at Lake Shore Middle School and JT Waugh Elementary School celebrated the International Day of Peace with its Pinwheels for
Peace project. Students in 1st grade through 8th grade created pinwheels as part of the international art and literacy project, Pinwheels for Peace, and wrote their thoughts about war and peace /tolerance/living in harmony
with others. The sixth-grade students “planted” all of the pinwheels outside the Middle school as a public statement and art exhibit/installation.
Pinwheels for Peace
Yearbook sponsored
2nd Annual Color Run
At 10:00 am on Saturday, October 21, students and families lined up at the start line in front of the Middle School, in white ready to participate in a colorful 5K. In less than 20 minutes, they started crossing the finish line and after everyone had crossed, had one last color blast. Lots of smiles, laughs and color throughout the community! All proceeds went to the MS Yearbook.
Don’t miss out! We are
capturing the best moments of
the 2017-2018 year!
ON SALE NOW!!!
