Parent Newsletter – October 12, 2017 Dear Families, We are fortunate to have a nationally renowned speaker coming to Seekonk High School at 7:00 pm on October 18th in the Seekonk High School Auditorium! “Chad Hymas is truly an inspirational award-‐winning speaker who forever touches peoples' hearts.” His presentation on October 18th is titled “Inclusive Schools—All Means All.” You can reserve your seat now by using the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chad-‐hymas-‐inclusive-‐schools-‐all-‐means-‐all-‐tickets-‐38498375678 I am extremely excited about our first “Pizza with the Principal” session of the year, scheduled for next Thursday, October 19th at 6 pm in the HMS Cafeteria. I will be covering topics such as Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction. I will also discuss school culture, as well as many other school-‐related topics. Our Assistant Principal, Ms. Alexis Bouchard, will join me. The session will also include presentations from Mrs. Dawn Costa, our Math Curriculum Leader, and Mrs. Kristina Dieringer, our Science Curriculum Leader. Following the presentations, we will offer a Q&A Session, as well as opportunity for those in attendance to provide feedback. I encourage parents and guardians to join us next Thursday evening. We will have plenty of pizza, soda, and water on hand for everyone to enjoy! Yesterday, I met with our 8th grade class to present information on the 2018 class trip to Washington DC, Philadelphia, PA, and Baltimore, MD. The trip is scheduled for June 5-‐8. I presented the details of the itinerary as well as logistical information to our students. On Tuesday, October 24th, I will be holding a parent meeting for those of you with 8th graders that may be interested in participating in the trip. The meeting will begin at 7 pm, following the regularly scheduled PTO Meeting that begins at 6 pm. The 8th Grade DC Trip Parent Meeting will take place in the HMS Cafeteria. I will also be presenting information regarding important fundraising opportunities for students to help defray the cost of each student’s trip. Our Wreath Fundraiser officially kicks off on the evening of October 24th. The HMS Halloween Dance is scheduled for Friday, October 27th at 6:30 pm. This dance includes a costume contest for students in all grades. Masks, as well as accessories that resemble weapons, are prohibited. I am pleased to say that tomorrow, I will be presenting at the 11th Annual CPS Showcase of Model School Programs and Promising Practices along with Ms. Bouchard. This conference is made available by NEASC and NELMS. I am extremely honored and proud that these organizations have asked us to present at the model school conference. The request for us to present was made after Dr. Kevin Hurley Middle School was named a NELMS Spotlight School last March. It is because of our excellent, hard-‐working faculty, wonderful students, and strong school culture that we received this honor. I am looking forward to speaking to other administrators from across New England about all of the wonderful things that are happening at our school. Topics around curriculum, assessment, instruction, and school culture will be included in our seventy-‐minute presentation. Dr. Whalen
Hello Hurley Families, It was so great to see so many students and staff members wearing blue on Wednesday in support and recognition of October being Bullying Awareness Month, and our core value of The Warrior Way, BE KIND. Many students and staff members recognized others with BE KIND Warrior Shout-‐Outs, while enjoying music at the lunches. Below is the morning announcement I shared with students and staff on Wednesday as well as some pictures!
Today we wear blue in recognition and support of October being Bullying Awareness Month and our core value, BE KIND, of The Warrior Way! Bullying can be verbal, physical, written, or through cyber means. Bullying can also be excluding someone from a group, gossip, rumors, and threats. Bullying is planned, repeated, there is an imbalance of power, the victim wants it to stop and it doesn’t. 57% of the time it is stopped when bystanders stand up and report bullying. Bullying as well as rude and mean comments/behaviors can hurt others deeply, so in the days to come think about the how you want to be treated, and the way you treat others. I leave you with today’s Warrior Wednesday message from all of us here at
HMS. “In a world where you can be anything, BE KIND.”- anonymous
Also, on Wednesday we had our second fire drill practice of the school year, and I am very happy to report that students and staff evacuated the building timely and orderly. BE SAFE! Have a great weekend, Ms. Bouchard Assistant Principal
Red Team News:
Math with Mrs.Handfield We wrapped up talking about multiplying fractions by making arrays to model the expressions. Check out your child’s notebook to see this! This week we practiced a ton with multiplying fractions and mixed numbers as well. We played a Bump game and used the computers to solve a Gizmo on Explore Learning! Students have now set up their accounts on Explorelearning.com and can go there to practice anytime! I will be adding past topics to the class site shortly. We started dividing with fractions today...does anyone enjoy KFC??? Ask your child why the Colonel is in my room :) As we work through this topic and practice our division skills, students will be completing the typical homework, however a lot of class time will be spent playing games, completing task cards, mad libs or even a scavenger hunt! Lots of fun is on the way!
English with Mrs.Thiv. We are starting my favorite short story of the year, this week - The Landlady! It’s a spooky, Halloween-time story that the kids always enjoy. I’m sure they’ll have plenty to tell you about it as we close read and find out what happens to poor Billy Weaver! We’ll be working through the elements of fiction with the story, and then diving into our culminating common assessment - a full literary analysis of The Landlady! That is coming up in the next two weeks, so keep an eye out for it! :) Happy Friday!
Social Studies - Mr. Durand Students did a great job on their first map quizzes! Over the past two weeks we have worked through some of our African History. We started with Early Humans such as Australopethicus, Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens. With this information we completed our first project! Students were given the role of director of a short film/documentary and they had to draw images to summarize information onto film strip pieces and write some summaries about Early Humans as well.
Since moving on from Early Humans, we went over Mansa Musa and his trip through Africa. This week started to work with some Triangular Trade, European Conquest information. We will read some first hand experiences about slavery as we tackle this very dark time in human history. I hope that you have a great weekend!
Science - Mr. Coury For the past week and a half, our students have been solving the case of the Mystery Bird! Using close reading and ELA skills taught by Mrs. Thiv, as well as their knowledge of Biotic and Abiotic factors and their interactions - students have been searching for clues to the mystery; as well as facts and evidence that shed light on the causes and effects that led to the Mystery Bird's demise. Students have been actively engaged in the reading and in solving the case. Students are learning that Abiotic and Biotic factors interact, and that a change in these interactions can fundamentally alter an ecosystem and the survival of many of its living organisms. Something as simple as a 5 degree F change in ocean temperature can disrupt the systems that support life. Students are using “systems thinking” to connect their evidence to the case and describe the causes of the breakdown in the system, and in turn the food chain that supported the Mystery Bird. This unit is leading us into food chains, food webs, and the different roles involved in them (producers, consumers, etc) and connect our previous topics to the upcoming ones. Students are culminating this unit with a large poster that outlines the “System” and the disruptions that eventually led to the Mystery Bird's demise.
BlueTeam
ELA:-Students have designed their own final projects for Among the Impostors and presented them to the class. The ideas were varied and included plays, dioramas, Venn diagrams, poems, collages, word clouds, etc. Caroline Eddy even brought in her guitar and played and sang original lyrics to an Ed Sheeran song! Next, our mystery unit begins just in time for Halloween! Science: The students did a great job with the Wanted Ads and researching bacteria. Microscope week!!! We spent lots of time looking at real live cells. First, we learned how to make a wet-mount slide to view and compare a plant leaf cell to our own cheek cells. Next, we were ready to examine how real live single celled organisms moved, ate, and looked under the microscope. It was easy to see the difference between the complexity of a multicelled organism vs. a single celled organism. Next week we will be wrapping up our cell introduction and will be having a test. Math: Most students finished up their unit on rational numbers this week, with a test on Thurs/Fri. Many are also working on Real World Problems that utilize the skills from this unit. Period F students Have been simplifying variable expressions by using the distributive property and combining like terms; they had a quiz on this material on Thursday, before beginning simple one-step equations. Supercore students have worked on a decimal operations review. Social Studies: Students started our next chapter of the Sumerians this week. They discovered the various inventions of the Sumerians and specifically how they believed in polytheistic religion and the invention of writing with cuneiform. Make sure your sons/daughters come into school Monday ready to get a little “messy” as they write their own cuneiform tablets!
World History Eighth grade world history students are learning about the Golden Age of Islam, a time period between 750 and 1500 known for expansion of scientific learning, art and architecture. Textiles made in the Islamic Empire were prized for their beauty and craftsmanship. Students will learn about this history and then will craft their own "textile" complete with a "museum tag" that explains their design and the history of similar designs. This will be completed largely in class. 7th Grade Green Team Math - Mrs. Costa All of Mrs. Costa's classes have finished their units on integers and rational numbers. We will continue to practice these skills throughout the school year. We are now working with expressions and equations. What does Chuck Norris and a plum have to do with math? Students are checking out a Khan Academy video that explains this connection. Is it possible to have too many Chuck Norrises (Chuck Nori?)? We shall see! As the school year progresses, your child may be finding the math concepts we are working on more challenging. Please help me remind your child to bring home his or her math binder on a nightly basis. The GOs we complete in class are a very helpful resource for completing homework and for preparing for quizzes and tests. Every few weeks, I have posted batches of extra work assignments that students can take advantage of to review and practice their skills and to earn bonus point coupons. They are posted on Google Classroom. All owed work must be made up before a student can take advantage of these assignments. Students will get a chance to demonstrate the math skills they have learned so far this year on a Common Quarterly Assessment to be given during class time on Tuesday, October 24th. These questions are similar in format to those found on our state assessments. I can't wait to see how they have grown mathematically in a few short months!
Mr. Sandstrom’s History Classes: This week, Mr. Sandstrom's classes dove deep into Sumerian culture, reading passages from The Epic of Gilgamesh and drawing comparisons between Mesopotamian leaders and modern superheroes. More myth than historical document, these writings portrayed the fabled king of Uruk as an ancient precursor to Superman, offering insight to Sumerian views of their leaders! Later in the week, the students created their own front page newspaper stories chronicling the domestication of Enkidu, the wild yet noble companion of Gilgamesh! We have also begun researching the early religious beliefs of these polytheistic people, as well as the development of writing. Students worked to decode self-made glyphs and embraced the challenge of communicating through pictographs. The kiddos did a great job - maybe a homework-free weekend is in order!
Friday, October 27th 6:30 – 9:00 pm Admission - $5 Costume Contest for Students in All Grades! Masks and Accessories resembling weapons are prohibited
Physical Education News… Ms. Skodras & Mr. Pellegrino
Net Games 6th grade -‐ Pickleball Pickleball is similar to tennis and ping-‐pong! The ball must bounce once and players have one shot to return it over the net. We discussed the history and started practicing some skills such as the forehand and backhand shot. We set up a video projector to watch and analyze a regulation pickleball match. 7th grade -‐ Badminton We discussed the history and set a video projector to watch and analyzed an Olympic badminton singles and doubles match. Students learned and practiced the forehand/backhand/clear shots, and underhand serve. 8th grade -‐ Volleyball We set up a video projector and watched an indoor and beach volleyball game to analyze the game play and differences. Students had the opportunity to track different objects in the air and “keep it up” working on adjusting to the objects and communicating with each other. Students will learn the bump, set, spike, and serve. We also discussed the history of volleyball and some game concepts.
Muscular
Strength/Endurance Throughout this unit students will be participating in fun fitness challenges to improve their muscular strength/endurance. The first challenge was all grades performing wall sits up to 4 minutes!
BAND NEWS
Thank you to all the new parents joining the HMS Band Parent Association. We had a good discussion regarding experiences for your band student. Extra help for 6th grade clarinets was AWESOME. Many students went “over the break” and in the upper register. Nice work! Special thank you to 7th grade helper Faith Boutin! The next extra help sessions for 6th graders are: Trumpet-Wed. Oct.18 Saxophone-Mon. Oct 23 Flute-Wed. Oct 25 Percussion-Wed. Nov.1 T-bones-Wed. Nov 11 Dates to keep in mind: Holiday Concert-Thursday, Dec.14-2017 Spring Concert-Thursday, May 31-2018
News from Sr. Dilworth’s World Language classes Sr. Dilworth’s 6th grade classes just got finished with a unit on classroom vocabulary. Next week they will be learning the names of the parts of the body and the names of pieces of clothing. 7th grade Portuguese students have started working on a group project that will result in class presentations on Portuguese-speaking countries/regions. The places they’ll be researching and presenting on (one per group) are : Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Mozambique, the Azores, Madeira, and mainland Portugal. This project will wind up at the end of October and will take the place of a test, so students should be working hard on this from now until Hallowe’en. 8th grade Portuguese students are pressing on with reviewing grammar and vocabulary from last year. Right now they are wrestling with grammatical gender, how to tell the gender of a noun, and how to use adjectives with nouns correctly. Please continue encouraging your children to use their Portuguese every day, even if they have no officially assigned homework. They have all been show how to access several web sites - Quizlet, DuoLingo, Conjuguemos, two Portuguese newspapers and RTPI (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal Internacional, where they can watch Portuguese shows either live or recorded). Até a próxima semana!* Sr. Dilworth *Until next week
HEALTH OFFICE NEWSLETTER The first month of school is now behind us and with that
thought I have seen scattered illness, so continue to remind your child to avoid touching or wiping at their nose and as always proper handwashing is essential during cold and flu season. If your child does have a cold please provide for them some tissues and hand gel that they can self-‐carry and manage.
Of note, cough drops are no longer purchased for students, from the health office, so if you want your child to have cough drops please provide for them with a note, and I will keep them in the office, labeled, for your child to consume as needed throughout the year. I do offer fluids and suggest salt-‐water gargle rinse if a child has complaints of sore throat or cough.
Polished LLC, a program providing preventative dental care, will be coming to the HMS. Look for a yellow information/application that went home on October 10th, and if interested please complete the form and return. The following dental services may be offered:
• Dental Evaluations provided by registered Dental Hygienist
• Dental cleanings • Sealants(as needed) • Fluoride varnish application • Toothbrush and toothpaste • Referrals to dentists
FREE KIDS GLASSES -‐Back to school eyeglass promotion for children 13 and under with a complete Eye exam by Dr. Joseph Tarantino. Most insurances accepted including Mass Health. Call for details:
Pearle Vision, 20 Commerce Way, Seekonk, Ma 508-‐336-‐7040
I am more recently starting to see students with tired minds and bodies as we acclimate back into managing the school day and what follows thereafter. The middle school age is a time when sleep is essential due to their growing bodies and developing minds, however, it is a time when the mind no longer feels tired at 8 or 9 pm but rather later in the evening resulting in less sleep hours. Beyond the obvious reasons for not feeling sleepy, there are also changes that are happening in your youngster's biological clock.
What is a biological clock? “It is a part of the brain that coordinates the timing
of all bodily functions such as when you are alert and when you are not, when your body produces a compound called cortisol that liberates sugar in your body and when it does not, when melatonin is secreted and when it is not -‐-‐ and when you feel sleepy and when you feel quite awake. Not only does this biological clock coordinate the timing of physiological systems, it also assists in coordinating how our bodies accommodate to the rotation of the earth around the sun. This is why we tend to feel sleepy (and able to sleep!) when it is dark outside, and all else being equal why we feel awake (and able to be awake!) when the sun is in the sky.”
The changes that occur when a young person enters adolescence is how soon after the sun has set when he or she begins to feel sleepy and is in fact ready to sleep, biologically speaking. There is mounting evidence from research in a field called chronobiology (the biology of time) that adolescence delays the "sleep-‐on" setting in the biological clock until many hours after the sun has set. The consequence? One reason why the majority of adolescents begin resisting an 8:00 or 9:00 (or even 10:00) bedtime is because the clock that times them has changed its sleep setting. Sleepiness does not come until later hours.
The young person might go to bed at 10:00. However, there's a strong likelihood that sleep won't come for another several hours. The result? If she or he gets up at the normal, early time to get to school, the result is sleep deprivation, insufficient sleep, and it can take up to 3 days for the biological clock to re-set again. This means that for three out of the five school days a week the student may be sleep deprived. How do you know if sleepiness is a significant issue in your teen?
• It is very difficult to get him out of bed in the morning, to the point where he is missing his morning class regularly
• Complaints of headache are very common due to feeling tired
• Grades are falling. • Teachers have complained about her sleeping in class. • Napping after school is common or prolonged.
• Weekend catch-up sleep is excessive with usual wake times after noon or later.
• Your teen has had a car accident or near-miss car accident
It can be hard for teens to get enough sleep during the week. They may need to wake up later on weekends. But they should not wake up more than two hours later than the
time when they normally rise on a weekday. Sleeping in longer than that will severely disrupt a teen's body clock. This will make it even harder to wake up on time when Monday morning arrives. “ The Center for Disease Control recommends that teenagers get 9–10 hours of sleep per night yet only about 10 % of teenagers get this Information retrieved from the following site: New Technology Publishing, Inc., http://www.newtechpub.com or Healthy Resources http://www.HealthyResources.com and provide a complete URL or link to the original article(s). Sleep Problem Alert for the Parents of Teenagers, Preteens, and the College-‐aged http://www.healthyresources.com/sleep/magazines/sleepwell/teens.html
A Glimpse into Mrs. Farrows 8th grade ART Class Artists are painting their interpretation of the masterpiece "The Scream" with water-color paints. Halloween themed ideas are perfect for this assignment. Students are instructed to capture an emotion and convey a feeling though their art work. The emotions explored so far are fear, anxiety, joy, and excitement.
THANK YOU for all the Hurley families who donated to help the people and animals affected by
Hurricane Harvey!
Because of your donations, we were able to donate approximately $362 to the SPCA of Texas and the Red Cross. Please see below for the thoughtful letter that we received from the SPCA of Texas, thanking us for our donations. Again,
from all of us at HMS, thank you for showing our students the importance of helping others and being kind (and of course, supporting “The Warrior Way”).