Southern Columbia Area Middle School, 810 Southern Drive, Catawissa, PA 17820 (570) 356-3400
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA
MIDDLE SCHOOL TIGER NEWS
November
2007
May 2010
From the Principal’s Desk…
HEY SCA!
I told you the nice weather was coming! Looks like we are still getting some days with rain, but, they will soon subside.
There are lots of things going on this last month of school so please check your child's agenda, our website, and my blog
daily. We will attempt to keep you up-to-date with the latest happenings! Please start thinking about taking care of endof-the-year obligations and if your child is missing clothing, why not come in and visit our lost and found barrels. We
have lots of clothes here!
Please reiterate to your child that although we are close, the year is not over yet. We still have final exams in 7th and
8th grade coming up and all teachers will be doing culminating activities in their courses. It is important for students to
be here and be attentive during class. Summer vacation is close, but, it's not quite here yet. As always, if you have any
questions or concerns, please get ahold of us.
Have a great month!
Yours in Education
Roger W. Nunkester, Jr.
SCA MS Principal
THE PRINCIPAL’S PEN
Roger W. Nunkester, Jr., Principal
Southern Columbia Area Middle School
STEP UP!
THINK LIKE A WINNER…
If you change your thoughts…
You will change your beliefs.
If you change your beliefs...
You will change your expectations.
If you change your expectations…
You will change your attitude.
If you change your attitude…
You will change your behavior.
If you change your behavior…
You will change your performance…
If you change your performance…
You will change your LIFE!
5th Grade
In Language Arts, fifth grade students have started their second literature circle books. Mrs. Bloom's classes had a choice of 5 different fantasy novels. Mrs. Visnosky's classes had a choice of 5 different adventure novels. Students will need to complete one of six
literature circle jobs for each meeting. Each Tuesday and Friday, we will have literature circle meetings for students to share their
jobs and discuss the novel they are reading. Literature circles will account for a very large portion of the fourth marking period
grade. Students are also creating their own fantasy worlds as a culminating project for the novel Bridge to Terabithia.
Science: Classes have begun our last major unit of study for fifth grade: Genetics and Heredity. In this unit, students will be exploring how traits are inherited; the effects of a dominant and recessive genes; and the difference between DNA, genes, and chromosomes. Without a doubt, this is one of our most fascinating topics of the school year. It helps explain why no two individual people
are exactly alike (not even identical twins) and how DNA is applied to crime scene investigations. As the unit draws to a close, students will apply the laws of inheritance. Encourage your child to stay focused and up to date with notes. They should be reviewing
foldables that are created in class to help reinforce concepts and vocabulary. This unit is supported by the textbook, pages A80101.
Math: Greetings! Our transition to 6th Grade connected math in the 4th marking period is going better than I could have possibly imagined! The students really seem to be taking to it very well. Thank
you students for keeping up with your part and working hard in class and on homework. Thank you
parents for all of your help you are giving at home as well! I have a feeling the transition next year is
going to better than ever! Please remember, if you have any questions or other concerns about the Connected Math program PLEASE be sure to get in touch with me by email, phone or in writing! First in
Math is beginning to wind down for the year. The last day to earn 300 stickers toward your math grade
will be May 31! If you have not yet done so, please visit my revamped web page! I have been keeping
things updated daily with not just homework, but class info, test and vocabulary info and a lot of other
interesting items! You can access it via the main district page.
6th Grade
Social Studies: All sixth grade classes are currently studying the American Civil War. Presently, we are focusing on major battles
in 1862. This year all classes will be doing Civil War projects. The due date for these projects is Tuesday, May 31, 2011. Students
will be presenting these projects to the rest of the sixth grade class.
Mr. Visnosky’s Reading class said goodbye to Miss DeNardo at the end of April and wishes her the best in her future teaching endeavors. Mr. V’s class started the second round of literature circle discussions. Students are reading Civil War novels and meeting
twice a week to share with other group members who are reading the same novel. As the year comes closer to an end, the class will
finish investigating and reading biography and autobiography stories. For the last three weeks of school, the students will learn to
read, analyze, and interpret poetry.
Sixth grade Math students are working on Covering and Surrounding, a two dimensional geometry. This will probably be the last complete unit we finish before the school year ends.
Science: Sixth grade students at Southern Columbia Area Middle School developed service learning weather forecasting presentations aimed at teaching others how to accurately forecast the weather based upon weather variable such as temperature, air pressure and dew point. Presentations were conducted for family members on May 12,
2011. Thank you to all who attended and supported our project! Please check out my
new web site at: http://websites.pdesas.org/apecora/default.aspx.
Student Support is working on 4 different novels in reading class. Each individual is completing a Literature Packet for the book they are reading. In Math we are reviewing multiplication and division skills. We are also working in Covering and Surrounding for the Connect
Math Program. In Writing class, we are wrapping up the year with our Civil War research papers. Students selected Civil War battles, important people, and other topics and completed
extensive research to write a research paper. To wind up the year in writing class, we will be
completing a poetry study.
7th Grade
7th grade Math: 7th grade mathematicians are currently involved in a unit entitled, "What Do You Expect?" In this unit, students
are evaluating games of chance and analyzing situations using an area model. Soon, we will begin preparing for the end of year
final exam by reviewing all key concepts and ideas from the beginning of the year. All 5 classes are still competing with each other
in our weekly "First in Math" competition. Player of the month and Class Period of the week are being rewarded for both their individual and group efforts.
In Geography we will be finishing our study of Latin America and preparing for our Final Exam.
Mr. Young's Science class will be investigating environmental science for the remainder of
the year. Please remember, Friday, May 20 is the 7th grade field trip to the FM Kirby Center.
Students will arrive and depart school on that day on their normal bus runs as we will depart
at 8:00 am and return by 2:30 pm. Thank you for a great year goes out to the 7th grade students and parents.
Mrs. Barbarito's 7th Grade English Classes - Students will
be working on grammar including the eight parts of speech and
their functions in a sentence. We will also review for the final
toward the end of the month.
8th Grade
Civics- Students are currently working on a Pennsylvania History simulation activity.
Math: Algebra-Students are learning the basics of solving quadratic equations. Connected Math-Students are finishing up the final
book on working with equations and algebraic symbols.
Earth & Space Science-Students are working on the earthquake-resistant building design project. This project has multiple in-class
and out-of-class parts, and is worth a total of 260 points. The project is due on May 25th when students will present their models
and blue-prints to the class.
Language Arts-We are finishing our unit on persuasion with a final writing
piece that will include some of the persuasive techniques we have discussed.
We will end our instructional time with a mini poetry unit.
Congratulations to our Students of the Month:
Amanda Burns, Cole Roadarmel, and Jared Brezinski
Art News
Six grade art classes are completing a unit on Impressionism and beginning to learn about Pop Art. They will be creating an example of their own inspired by artists like Andy Warhol and Wayne Thiebaud.
The seventh grade classes have been working with elements of design and are beginning artist reports in which they select an artist,
make a drawing or painting from a detail of the artist’s work and do a short report to accompany it.
The eighth grade classes are completing an example of Surrealism using one or more of the common components of Surrealism
(scale, dislocation, levitation, transparency). The following project provides them a chance to learn about making an effective poster.
A number of students are working on individual projects including wall murals.
A small group of students attend chess club on Wednesdays during Core Plus.
Supervision…
Just a reminder concerning students staying after school unsupervised. Some students remain after school and are either on a sports
team or waiting for a game or match to start. That means they are staying here from dismissal until the start of their practice or the
event they wish to attend. There are times when practices or events don’t start until 5 or 6 pm. That is entirely too long for students
to be here without supervision. If practices or games are not starting until that late, they should be riding the bus home and be
brought back to school at the appropriate time and/or coaches should be telling them where and when to report. Staying after school
with no supervision is a liability that we take very seriously. Coaches have told students when to report for their events and some
students take it upon themselves to stay here without proper supervision. Please talk to your child about this. I will hand out consequences to those not following these guidelines. We simply can not have these liability or safety concerns. Please call me if you
have any questions. Thank you for your support.
Rog Nunkester, MS Principal
Notes from the Nurse:
5th grade parents: Physicals examinations are mandated by the state of Pennsylvania for 6th graders. You should find a letter
and form in your student's 6th grade physical included in their progress report. If you have questions about this mandated physical
you may call the nurses' office at 356=3253.
6th grade parents: Dental examinations are mandated for 7th students. You should find a letter and form in your student's progress
report. If you have questions please call the nurses' office at 356-3253.
7th grade parents: Some students have not returned their mandated 7th grade dental reports. Please check your students' progress
report and return the mandated dental form as soon as possible. If you have questions please call the nurses' office at 356-3462.