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PS/IS 226 Panther Pride Press
“Together We Make Our
School a Success”
What is New from the Middle School Teachers…..Volume 1 Issue 3- November 2016
6th Grade Ms. Issa: The sixth grade just finished analyzing and creating
poetry with their unit on challenges and how they help shape people. The
unit will dive into critical reading and writing about the lives of two famous
people and the challenges in which shaped them into becoming who they
are today. Their written pieces will consist of the techniques the author uses to describe
the challenging experiences of the characters. Through both the reading and writing
portion of this unit, students will discover how experiencing challenges can affect and
strengthen a person throughout their life.
7th Grade Ms. Jompulsky: The seventh grade is excited to embark on our brand new
Code X unit all about sports. We will be critically reading two texts--one about running
and the other about football-- in order to engage in discussions and written pieces about
whether physical strength or mental alertness is more important in athletics. We will be
challenging ourselves and perhaps even changing previously held ideas about what it
takes to be successful in the world of competitive sports.
8th Grade Ms. Giordano: The 8th Grade is on an adventure with our Code X "Survivor"
unit. Here we learn all the skills needed to embark upon a short shory and a novel
excerpt. We are delving into close readings with student-led accountable talk
discussions by reading the stories of "Keesh" and "Life of Pi". Both tales are about two
brave young men who tackle the challenges of extreme environments. Each class has
gone to the Ryder Library to check out independent reading novels and get a tour. We
are looking forward to our next trip where we will learn all about the Ryder Library
Research Data Base Program.
Ms. D’Acierno: Our 6th grade students are tackling realworld fraction problems and applying all operations with fractions in
Chapter 2 of the Go Math curriculum. In viewing videos on www.flocabulary.com and
www.brainpop.com, students are enjoying the topics and creating their own songs and
poems to help them remember fraction rules. Let's keep up the momentum 6th grade
rockstars!!!
7th Grade Mr. Greene: Our 7th grade students soared through our ratios and proportions
unit, learning all about proportaionl relationships in tables, graphs, and real world
scenarios, in addition to real world problems with percents. We are now well on our way
to one of if not th most important units of our school year, expressions and equations. In
this unit students will be leanring all about how to use algebraic expressions and
equations to help shed light on real wolrd probelms, and explore the world of what it
takes to a be a real world mathematician. Keep up the great work 7th grade, and never
forget, "success is built on the essence of hard work."
8th Grade Mr. Hadzovic: The 8th grade is soaring through space with their bulletin board
projects about galactic distance and the speed of light. We are truly thinking like
scientists now. Up next for the B and C class are proportional and non-proportional linear
relationships. Afterwards, we will quickly dive into slope. For the A class we are going to
be continuing expressions and lead into equations. Can you help us find x? How about a
system of x's? These superstars will know how to solve a system of linear equations very
soon!
Gmail accounts have arrived! Each student in the middle
school has received a "psis226.org" domain Google account. Now teachers/students
can work together using Google
Applications!
6th Grade Ms. Travato: The 6th
Graders are focusing on the 4
ancient river civilizations. Students
will analyze how geography played
a major role of development in
society and early civilizations.
7th Grade Ms. Sapienza: The 7th
grade is moving into our second
part of our first unit- Colonization in
the Colonies. Students will be
focusing on the three regions of the
colonies in North America. Some of
the text sources that will be
analyzed include the Diary of John
Smith and Pocahontas, interactions
between Natives and the Europeans,
and court evidence from the Salem
Witch Trials. This analysis is in
preparation for our field trip to
Historic Richmond Town in Staten
Island on November 22nd.
8th Grade Ms. Sapienza: This month
the seniors will be learning about
urbanization and industrialization,
with a focus on New York City
during the late 1800s. Connections
between our technological
inventions we have today and from
the 19th century will be made
through a group cross text-based
study. Students are going to be
studying several push and pull
factors that influences immigrants to
come to the United States and make
connections to their own
immigration stories. Texts and video
diaries from immigrants will be
explored and analyzed. This unit is
to help prepare them for our field
trip to the Lower East Side Tenement
Museum on November 23rd.
This month my bilingual learners are
finishing their Spanish menus. Next,
they will learn about the cognates
techniques which they will be applying
to our next project.
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Panther Pride Press- Volume 1- Issue 3 November 2016
A Note from Mrs. Tsekouras
Dear 8th Grade Families, I hope that you
are off to a great start attending the Open
Houses of High Schools you are interested
in. Remember to sign their attendance
sheet and include your child's OSIS
number (very important for the Limited
Unscreened High Schools). Here are a few
things you should be doing this November:
-Reviewing the High School application
process -Attending auditions and
interviews, if applicable -Continuing to
attend open houses and go on school
visits/tours Remember, the High School
Application is due on December 1, 2016.
You can list up to 12 program choices on
your application. Use the High School
Directory or [School Search] to explore
programs of interest.
Mr. Geraci: Students have been studying
the Mexican celebration "Dia De Los
Muertos" or Day of the Dead, which takes
place at the beginning of November. They
have been creating amazing works of art
using images associated with this
celebration. Skeleton faces, also knowns
as "Sugar Skulls" detailed with floral
patterns have become very popular
images.
This month 6th grade band students have
been working on the first 5 notes of the Bflat scale, the basis of beginning band
playing. Seventh grade band students are
focusing on Level 1 literature and
expanding their range and rhythm reading
skills. Eigth grade band students are
working on Level 2 literature and you will
hear the fruits of their labor at the holiday
concert on December 15th. Several 8th
grade band students have been working
on their audition material for various high
schools. We wish them luck and hope they
continue to play their instruments in high
school regardless of where they are
accepted.
“Monthly Highlight from Ms. Montanes”
The month of November is full of opportunities and important dates for our students.
Our fall sports season is in full swing and we are preparing for our annual student
election. Eighth grade student elections will take place on November 7th in the
auditorium. Recently, we completed our first marking period at 226. We also
conducted our first student-led conferences. Thank you to all the students and
parents who attended. It’s important that students see your support and
communication with the school regarding their academic progress. We look
forward to continuing to work together to provide your child with the best
educational experience here at Alfred De B. Mason. On behalf of our faculty, we
hope you have a great Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends. This
year, I am once again very thankful for the opportunities to lead a student-centered
staff, to collaborate with supportive parents, and to work with your incredibly
talented children within a strong community. Thankful to be a Panther!
Ms. Salcedo 6 & 7th Grade Science -The 6th graders are
focusing their explorations on the various forms of energy,
transformations, and their uses. They are designing
models/systems that will demonstrate the use and
transformation of energy. As they continue exploring the concept of energy,
students will understand the application of potential and kinetic energy through
simple machines.
The 7th graders are exploring topics about the surface of Earth, as well as the
natural phenomena that causes the surface to change over time. The students are
excited to create models representing the lithosphere, which will help them
understand the dynamic processes wearing away at the Earth's surface. They will
also conduct controlled as well as secondary research to investigate the
processes that are changing the face of the Earth.
This month our seniors are exploring forces and how they affect the motion of
objects. Through a series of hands-on activities and experiments, they identify the
concepts behind the different forces and Newton's laws of motion. On the other
hand, our 8th grade Living Environment seniors are exploring and experimenting
on biochemistry and the biochemical reactions that have to occur to create us and
allow us to survive. Always remember to: Keep Calm and Science On!
Mr. Pratt: Bump, Set, SPIKE! Enter the gym any day of the week and you will
see our students practicing various volleyball skills. The students are
preparing to compete in volleyball games throughout the month. We are
currently in the middle of boys and girls soccer leagues. Three lucky classes
will also be going on an exploration through the woods of Staten Island. So far,
only success!
Panther Pride Press Volume 1 Issue 3 November 2016
Ms. Pizzo: Students in Class 604 are
continuing to explore the theme of
survival in ELA. They have just completed
a writing task in which they examined a
character's speech, thoughts, effect on
others, actions, and looks. Next, we will
be reading and analyzing the poem "Life
Doesn't Frighten Me" by Maya Angelou.
Students will apply close reading
strategies to analyze the poem's text
structure, point of view, and figurative
language. We are beginning our fraction
unit in Math. Students will learn how to
simplify, multiply and divide fractions. In
addition, they will also learn how to
distinguish between terminating and
repeating decimals. At home, students
should continue practicing basic
multiplication and division facts. They
should also complete at least 3 Achieve
articles per week.
Ms. Mallen and Ms. Tse:
Classes 805 and 605 will be
continuing to work hard in
the month of November. In
ELA, we will be reading
and exploring the features
of informational texts. In
Math, we will be working
on measurement skills that
can be used in the home as
well as multiplication
computation skills. This
month we will continue our
weekly walking trip to
Shoprite to continue to
reinforce our skills in
counting money, reading
food labels and receipts.
We will also be visiting
Prospect Park to enjoy a
day of exercising and
admiring the fall foliage
throughout the park.
Class 704 is moving along in
the first unit of Code X.
Students continue to read,
annotate, and analyze the
novel excerpt "Call Me
Maria", by Judith Ortiz
Cofer, and the poem "The
Road Not Taken" by Robert
Frost. Afterward they will
write a narrative essay about
their own personal
experiences of an important
event or decision in their
lives. In math, they will be
engaged in the Number
System. Students will be
applying integer operations
using the Order of
Operations, as well as
studying rational numbers and
decimals.
Ms. Shammas: What inspires the will to survive? Our swashbuckling seniors are exploring this theme through
an excerpt from the epic text "Life of Pi." While the journey the protagonist Pi takes is a fictitious one, students are making their
own personal connections to this narrative. By comparing their own experiences of survival and struggle to that of Pi, they are
able to make deeper analyses of the text, character, plot and themes. Mathematically speaking, learners are trying not to
"blow it out of proportion" by determine proportional relationships in real world applications. They are expanding upon these
concepts by finding and plotting slope - remembering that they have to RISE
before they
Ms. Thomas: In Digital Literacy students have
been engaging in varied strategies to enable
them to become better readers. Currently, our
digital learners are learning how to “set the
purpose” for their reading by unpacking the
“thought questions” provided by Achieve 3000
to understand what key information they
This month our ENL students will continue
exploring the world of grammar through the
magical art of theatre and "kahooting". Recently,
students completed third person Point of View narratives in
groups that they then performed and re-enacted through
miming for their peers. This month, newcomers will be
working on a digital literacy project in which they will
write the narrative to a wordless picture book and create a
digital video of their final product.
Mrs. Halpern: Middle School open access has now begun
on Monday and Wednesday during period 5 lunch.
Students attending open access may borrow books,
complete homework assignments or work on projects. If
you would like to attend open access, firstly go to the
library during homeroom to get a pass. Secondly, go down
to each lunch in the cafeteria. After eating lunch head up to
the library and sign in Middle School, open access has now
begun on Monday and Wednesday during period 5 lunch.
Students attending open access may borrow books,
complete homework assignments or work on projects. If
you would like to attend open access, firstly go to the
library during homeroom to get a pass. Secondly, go down
to each lunch in the cafeteria. After eating lunch head up to
the library and sign in.