VMS PURPLE NEWSLETTER
Volume 20
Issue #14
Dec. 14-18, 2015
Calendar
Dec. 14
Board of Education Meeting, 7:30PM, LGI
Dec. 15
Grade 6 Winter Concert, 7PM
Dec. 16-18
Book Fair (VMS Foyer)
Dec. 17
Grade 7 & 8 Winter Concert, 7PM
Dec. 23
Grade 7 Bowl A Thon Town N Country Lanes, 10AM-1:45PM
Dec. 24-Jan. 1 Holiday Recess
Jan. 4
PTA Meeting, 7-8PM, ES
Holiday Craft Activity
Mrs. Lyons is hosting an afterschool Holiday Craft Activity open to all middle school
students on Wednesday, December 16th. Students will have the opportunity to make
holiday decorations, ornaments, or cards to give to someone special.
Builders Club
Builders Club will meet on Wednesday, December 16th. We will be working on an idea
stemming from the Action Plan from the Character Education Conference that students
attended earlier this month.
* Students will be able to attend both of the activities above as advisors will be
working together.
Bells for Life – Builders Club
Please remember to help the Builders Club support the Albany Medical Center Pediatric
Intensive Care Unit by donating a dollar for a Bell of Life at lunch until December 18th.
Thank you to those Builders Club members who came to Crossgates Mall on Sunday to
sell bells! We had a blast!!!!
GRADE 6
English 6 students will write our literary essay drafts. We will then revise and edit in
partnerships, then begin typing in Google Docs. We will not have a quiz on Friday.
Math 6 students will begin our unit on percents. We will have a quiz Wednesday on
unit rates.
Social Studies 6 students will investigate Big Era 3 through the 7 elements of
civilization. We will look for evidence of writing, government, specialized jobs,
organized religion, social classes, cities and complex technologies in Egypt,
Mesopotamia, China and India.
Science 6 students will learn about how the Earth's orbit around the Sun affects our
lives here on Earth. We will complete an activity on how orbits work. There will be a
brief quiz on this material, probably Wednesday. After our quiz, we will begin learning
about the Moon.
FACS 6 students will have a quiz on reading food labels this week. We will be starting
our food preparation unit.
GRADE 7
Team 7 website: https://sites.google.com/a/voorheesville.org/team-7/home- check
regularly for team updates and information.
English 7 students will continue reading The Giver. Students have a schedule in their
orange Giver packets of what chapters need to be read each night and if there is a
journal response. This is also posted on Mrs. Gray’s website, which can be accessed
from the middle school website under the parents tab. As students read, they should
fill in their reading log. The last box is especially important this week, as there will be
more and more text details that support their claim they made about dystopias.
Friday we're going to the library to choose a free choice dystopia book students will
read after break.
Math 7 students will be working on their scale drawing projects in class on
Monday and Tuesday. We will then be working with percent applications using
proportions. We will specifically work with tax, tip and discount.
Social Studies 7 students have a Unit Test on Chapters 5 & 6 (light and dark pink)
on Wednesday, 12/16. Students were given a review guide to complete for the unit
test. Students may self-check their answers with Mrs. Young’s answer key prior to
the test date. Remember weekly Castle Questions are to be completed online. Please
see the class website at https://sites.google.com/a/voorheesville.org/ss7young/ for
more information.
Science 7 students will take a test on the Excretory System on Tuesday. They should
study their Cornell Questions and corrected study guide. On Wednesday, we will
begin to study the Circulatory System.
FACS 7 students should be starting their sewing projects this week. Laundry
assignments are due December 21st.
Art 7 students are working on their 2pt. perspective cities.
GRADE 8
English 8 students will begin our argument research unit this week. We will begin the
unit by discussing the qualities of argument writing. Together as a class, we will close
read argument articles, and analyze them to identify the different argument writing
components. Students will be required to write on-demand essays after analyzing
each article, in order to improve their writing efficiency.
Math 8 students will continue studying linear functions. They will have a quiz on this
topic along with some review topics on Friday.
Algebra 1 students will continue their study of linear and non-linear functions.
Social Studies 8 students will continue exploring our unit on imperialism. Students
will examine the Spanish American War, and will participate in a history mystery
activity, where they attempt to solve the question: Who was responsible for the
sinking of the U.S.S. Maine? Students will also have a vocab quiz on Thursday,
December 17th.
Science 8 students will be learning more about conservation of mass and balancing
chemical equations, before getting deeper into different types of chemical reactions.
Students should be reviewing their notes along with vocab sets 6 & 7.
FACS 8 students will be working on their human development unit this week.
Art 8 students are continuing to work on their Audubon bird projects.