Smith Board Report
Swift Middle School 1866 Robert Fulton Hyw. Quarryville, PA 17566 717-548-2187 www.solanco.org
Principal’s Message When children get to middle school, everything changes or so it can seem. The school is bigger. Children no longer have the same teacher all day. Homework increases and of course, this is a time when they go through a lot of personal changes. Something else often changes at the middle school level, too. Parents become much less likely to be involved with their children's education. Even parents who were very involved at the elementary level tend to step back. Parental involvement in middle school is extremely important and we encourage all parents and guardians to partner with us and help to insure all students are growing and yes even enjoying their three years spent at Swift Middle School. Call or even stop by if you have any questions or concerns please stay involved in your child’s education.
Race For Education This month we are having the Race for Education. All the students will participate in the event which will be taking place during the school hours. The event is sponsored by Nike and awards will be given to the top runners in each grade level. The students over the past month have been collecting names and address to put onto sponsor sheets that will be sent to different homes in the community. All the money raised in the event will go to the students for educational needs. The more money raised the more activities the students will be able to do.
Page 4
Principal, Paul Gladfelter
[email protected] Dean of Students, John Dolan
[email protected]
Student Recognitions
School Board Student of the Month for September Chosen by the Related Arts Team Miranda is an eighth grade student at Swift Middle School who came to us only last year from Long Island, but she has made quite a positive impression on her teachers. In addition to being a leader at Swift, Miranda is active in the larger Solanco community in several ways: She is a member of a local dance team and participates in other dance activities. She is a Midget Football cheerleader and she is also the voice one hears singing the National Anthem at our home football games – quite an honor for an 8th grade student by itself. No matter what activity Miranda is involved in she always strives to give her best, a quality her teachers have noticed as well.
Page 2
SWIFT Board Report Enrollment Report: 6th Grade: 128 th
7 Grade 142 th
8 Grade 156 Total 426
Contact Mrs. Pearson
[email protected] In September I met with students to establish and build relationships. I discussed Guidance services and how to access Guidance services as needed. Guidance Services Available to ALL students: SAP- Student Assistance Program; helps students to break the social and behavioral barriers that impede academic and social growth. Small groups: Meet for 8 weeks to discuss a common concern. Groups offered in the past are: divorce/separation, grief group, CARE (Choosing Appropriate Responses Everyday, Controlling Anxiety, as well as others based on need. Individual: meet with student individually as needed. Classroom lessons: 4-6 lessons per grade throughout the year. Student Meetings: In September I started meeting with every 6th grader.
Language Arts- The students will continue learning and practicing the open-ended strategy RIGHT FACE. They will concentrate on effective sentence and paragraph structure. LEAD- The students are learning and practicing a variety of reading strategies such as Talking to the Text, QAR, and SQ4R. READ - We will be looking at reading strategies and starting to use Teen Biz. Math- We are working on operations with decimals. The students will be estimating, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals. Science- We are finishing up with the metric system and moving to learning about physical and chemical properties and changes. Social Studies- This month the students will learn about the development of civilizations with a close look at the civilizations in the Fertile Crescent.
SWIFT Board Report
Page 3
Language Arts- Students finished the Writing Unit by producing a personal memoir after following the steps of the writing process. We are now moving on to our Imagery unit, where students will learn vivid writing techniques. LEAD-We culminated our “Organization” Unit with an assignment to develop the strategies and skills we learned to a home project of cleaning and organizing bedrooms. We will be working on our Study Skills unit next, beginning with mnemonic devices. We continue to read daily and complete book summaries. Math/Extensions – We are completing our unit on problem solving strategies and open-ended responses. Our next unit will involve problems that utilize division, as well as proportions. Science- Students are currently applying their understanding of the experimental design within our environmental site and their written communication skills within the classroom. Students will begin investigating the forces that shape and change our Earth within the next week. They will discover what causes the movement on the surface of the earth and how this movement forms various geological features around the world. Social Studies- We are coming down to the end of our first unit on the arrival of the first inhabitants. We will be finishing up the unit with a discussion forum where the students will discuss and debate the arrival of the first inhabitants as well as the shift from a nomadic to agricultural lifestyle. This will lead us into early civilizations and we will be taking a look at many civilizations such as the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans to name a few.
Language Arts- We will be coming to an end with our PSSA Writing Domains unit. Students will begin their first research paper on a career that they choose. The research paper is an opportunity for students to practice what they learned in our past unit and to also explore different careers. LEAD - We will continue with the Organization Unit. Students will organize and maintain their binders and learn the 8th grade expectations. Students will then begin the Goal Unit in order to establish goals that will help lead them toward academic and personal growth. Algebra - We will continue to analyze students’ needs and prepare lessons to fill in the holes as we move forward into algebraic pattern creating, measures of central tendency, and proportions. Science - 8th grade science will be relating the structure of matter to energy through a series of hands-on experiments and explorations. We will delve into the world of atoms, forces, and motion. Social Studies - In 8th Grade American History, we began the year by learning about the role government plays in our lives. Students will join in the Constitutional Convention, looking at this all-important event through the eyes of James Madison. In addition, students will learn what roles they play in our democracy.
Geography - Students are learning their immediate surroundings by studying the geography, history, culture and economics of Solanco.
Page 4
SWIFT Board Report
Art
6th grade- Learning drawing techniques and applying these skills to a pattern drawing that replicates a quilt. 7th grade- Creating an animal drawing using texture and value as the focus. 8th grade- Drawing a 2 point perspective floating boxes design.
Computer Tech.
8th grade –Students will continue working on Microsoft Excel. Concepts will be reviewed on differentiating between labels, values and numeric labels, writing ranges, adding and subtracting using proper formulas in excel, and the sum function. Students will also be learning the multiplication formula. 7th grade –Students will be working on identifying the title bar, menu bar, standard toolbar and formatting toolbar in MS Word. Students will review items found in the file menu and practiced saving files and reopening files. Students will be creating simple projects such as an invitation and a letterhead using commands found on the drawing toolbar. 6th grade – Students will complete instruction on home row keys and learn new key reaches for “h”, “e”, “i” and “r”.
Integrated Tech. (cont.) 8th Grade students will learn how to program a robot using specific computer software (Lego Mindstorms NXT). Students will also learn how to build the robots using Legos. Music 6th Grade – Reviewing basic elements of music, starting work with rhythm. 7th Grade – Reviewing elements of rhythm and melody from last year and adding new material. 8th Grade – Beginning a study of the Baroque Period. Phys. Ed 6th,7th,8th – Assign locks & lockers; Girls’ Physical Education: finishing Field Hockey; will be doing Fall Fitness Testing/Heights & Weights/ BMI’s; then starting a Soccer Unit; Boys’ PE – football. Grade 7 Health: unit on Physical Fitness Tech. Ed-
6th Grade- Constructed and tested mousetraps, started designing magnetic levitation cars 7th Grade- Constructed and tested model towers 8th Grade- Printed shirt graphics and began electricity unit
Integrated Tech. 6th Grade students will continue to apply the Concepts of Good Design in Graphics. Students will be taking digital photos with a camera and manipulating their images using computer software. Students will also be creating a poster for an upcoming event at Solanco. 7th Grade students will be applying the Design Process to solve technical problems. Students will create orthographic drawings for their solutions to these technical problems. 8th Grade students will continue to program Lego robots. Students will apply math skills to communicate with the robots, and will start using sensors to guide their robots.
Upcoming Dates:
October 14th – NO SCHOOL October 18th – Race for Education October 25th – Breakfast Club Week of Oct. 21st – Red Ribbon Week
