What's Up in English/Reading

In English and Reading, Incredibles students are continuing to learn the elements of fiction, and are practicing writing narrative and persuasive essays and dialogue. In addition, students are reading (or about to read) class novels as well as Accelerated Reader books. 

At the end of the first quarter, students will take a benchmark assessment. Results will be sent home with report cards.

What's Up in Math

We are off to a great start in Math!  We began the year by reviewing computation and then worked with exponents and using the correct order of operations to simplify expressions (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally!).  Next, students will evaluate expressions that contain variables.  Properties of addition and multiplication such as the commutative, associative, distributive and identity properties will be introduced.  Students will also use scientific notation to express large and small numbers.

In our next unit, students will be learning about integers and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide them.

What's Up in English/Reading

As we start our new school year, students are diving into literary analysis, narrative writing, and review of many different aspects of the English language from affixes to periods. In addition, beginning-of-the-year evaluations will assist teachers in meeting their students' individual needs, and ongoing assignments will help to develop students' reading and writing skills.

What's Up in Civics

We have hit the ground running in civics.  This week we are getting to know each other, but we have already had two homework assignments.  This will NOT be the norm.  Homework will be given very sparingly.

Our first unit will cover SOL's CE 3 and CE 4.  These units cover what it means to be a citizen and what our duties, rights, and responsibilities are as a citizen.

We will be taking notes every time we meet and an open note quiz will follow during the next class meeting.  Our first test should be around Labor Day.

I'm looking forward to a success year for your students and a fun year of getting to know each other.

Summer 2010 Team Letter

Dear 2010-2011 Incredibles Team Parents and Students:

Welcome to the Incredibles Team! What a year we have planned for you. We been busy planning exciting lessons, games, and experiments for you, and we have arranged a terrific spring field trip.

In June 2011, the Incredibles team will be taking an all day field trip to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA. We will be learning math, science, English, and economics as we spend the day touring the park, experiencing the rides, taking the chocolate factory tour, and checking out their zoo.

This is an expensive trip. The estimated cost is approximately $64.00 per person (plus food). As a team we will have some fund raising activities, and a payment plan will be organized so that you can pay a little at a time throughout the school year.

Start saving your birthday money and any other money you acquire during the summer for helping with jobs around the house. This will be a day you will always remember from your middle school years!

Hershey Park…here we come!


Sincerely,

The Incredibles Team Teachers

2010-2011 Student Materials (grade 7)

J. Frank Hillyard Middle School

7^th Grade Materials List

2010-2011

General Student Supplies

Pencils/Pens

(*It's never a bad to keep some extras in your locker!)

Notebook paper

Glue Stick

Highlighters

Math

1” 3-ring binder

2 packs loose-leaf paper

English

2” 3-ring binder

1 set of at least 5 dividers

1 composition notebook

1 folder with pockets

Civics and Science

2” 3-ring binder

1 pack of thin dry-erase markers

Colored Pencils (to be kept at home)

Requested items to be turned in to Homeroom teachers

1 pack of computer paper

Pencils

Tissues

Dry-Erase markers

Highlighters

Glue Sticks

What's Up in English/Reading (final six weeks)

In English and Reading classes, students on the Incredibles team are reviewing for the SOL test. They are also continuing to read Accelerated Reader books, write essays, and expand their understanding of language and literature.

Midterm Reports

Students on the Incredibles team will receive midterm reports today or Monday. Students who bring back signed (by a parent) midterms will receive 10 talons.

What's Up in English/Reading (5th six weeks)

In the fifth six weeks term in English and Reading, Incredibles students will review key SOL terms, test-taking strategies, and SOL skills in preparation for their SOL tests in May. Students will also continue in the Accelerated Reader program and will write essays.

Midterm Reports

Incredibles students will receive midterm grade reports on Friday, February 26.

Parents, please sign the report and have your student return it to his or her homeroom teacher in order to receive 10 talons.

4th Six Weeks Extended

Due to the days missed, the end of the 4th six weeks (previously March 11) has been changed to Friday, March 19, with report cards being distributed on Friday, March 26.

What's Up in Math

Seventh grade math students are finishing their unit on applying percent. We have learned how to calculate sales tax, tip, discount and simple interest. Students also worked on finding percent of change and used statistics to predict results of a larger group. When you are shopping or in a restaurant, talk with your child about sales tax, tips and discounts. They should be able to tell you how to calculate each of these!

We are now ready to start working on geometry. Topics will include classifying triangles and quadrilaterals. We will use proportions to work with similar figures and also translate figures on a coordinate grid. Next, students will work with two-dimensional figures as they find the area of parallelograms, triangles, trapezoids and circles. Once they master this, students will be able to calculate the area of complex figures. We will also work with three-dimensional figures as we learn how to find the volume and surface area of cylinders and rectangular prisms.

As we begin the second semester, students will take a math benchmark test to measure how well they have learned concepts we have worked on the last nine weeks. It is a 20-question test that will be taken on the computer through a new software called Interactive Achievement. This system is very similar to the one we use for SOL tests and we hope it will be beneficial in helping students prepare for the SOL testing.

What's up in Civics

As the second semester begins, the Incredibles’ civics students are studying the Judicial Branch of government. We will finish up this unit during the first week in February. Our next unit will cover political parties, and should last 2-3 weeks.

By the end of the fourth six weeks, we will switch from civics to economics, and learn about everybody’s favorite subject…money! We will be answering questions like:

*How can I be ready to earn the most money?

*What are employers looking for in an employee?

*How does the govt spend money?

*Why are taxes important, even to me?

*What happens to the money I spend at a store?

In the first part of March, Mrs. Fawley’s students will welcome our student teacher from JMU. She will be with us until the beginning of May. An extra adult in the classroom will be a welcome change for all of us.

Parent Conference Day is Thursday, February 4

Thursday, February 4, 2010, is a parent conference day in Rockingham County Public Schools. There will be no school for students on that day, but there are opportunities for parents to meet with their students' teachers to discuss grades, questions, and concerns.

We invite you to come meet with us on that day during the following times:

...12:00-4:00 SCHEDULED TEAM MEETINGS (parents meet with core teachers as a group, by
appointment only). *To schedule an appointment, please contact Mr. Clymer Kurtz.*
...4:30-7:00 DROP IN to meet with specific teachers of your choice.

To make an appointment, please contact:
Christopher Clymer Kurtz, Incredibles Team Leader
(540) 896-8961
cclymerkurtz@rockingham.k12.va.us

What's Up in English/Reading

In the fourth sixth weeks in English/Reading, students on the Incredibles team will write expository essays and read nonfiction. Students will also begin reviewing SOL vocabulary terms and study adjectives and adverbs.

Enjoy the unpredictable nature of winter--and come to school every day ready to work for success!

All our best, all the time!

What's Up in Math

Seventh grade math students on the Incredibles are finishing up their unit on fraction operations. We have reviewed how to simplify fractions, make equivalent fractions using a common denominator and to convert mixed numbers to improper fractions. These skills allow students to accurately add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions and mixed numbers.

Our next topic will be ratios and proportions. Students will learn how to write ratios and convert ratios to unit rates. They will apply their knowledge of equivalent fractions as they set up and proportions and work with scale drawings and models. Students will also learn how to convert fractions, decimals and percents as well as solve percent problems using proportions.

Mrs. Fawley Helps Decorate White House

Incredibles Civics teacher Mrs. Fawley went to Washington D.C. over the Thanksgiving weekend to help decorate the White House for Christmas.

Before her trip, in an interview with the JFHMS student news service The Hawk Eye, Mrs. Fawley said that it was a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.

But The Hawk Eye wasn't the only news outlet keeping a watch on Mrs. Fawley:

***

People: The first of 17 White House holiday parties was held Tuesday night, for the 92 volunteers who strung lights and hung ornaments. Mrs. Obama herself, who teased the volunteers about making a lot of partying noise, only popped down for a minute.

"She said the girls were upstairs doing homework and she couldn’t stay," said volunteer Kim Fawley, a schoolteacher from Broadway, Va.

***

CNN: Kim Fawley, a schoolteacher in Virginia who volunteered her time to help decorate, said she was impressed by the handmade ornaments, which include the Statue of Liberty, the Boston Celtics, Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo and the DuSable Museum of African American History.

"They're just beautiful. The love and the care that they took to put them together is obvious when you hold them in your hands," Fawley said.

The video:

***

Washington Spaces:





















Kim Fawley, one of the many volunteers who did a beautiful job of helping to decorate the White House, shared secrets about decorating the White House Christmas tree, which is in the Blue Room.

“This room was filled with boxes, scaffolding and cherry pickers,” said Kim Fawley, a volunteer, who is a 7th grade civics teacher in Broadway, VA, in the Shenandoah Valley. “We started last Friday taking the ornaments out of the wrappers and putting on the wire hangers.” She explained that in addition to the beautiful hand-decorated ornaments - some were decoupaged, some painted or adorned in other ways - gold Christmas balls were hung towards the inside of the tree and clear glass balls were hung closer to the outside so they’d reflect the low-energy lights on the tree. This year’s theme was reflected on blue ribbons tied to the ornaments. Reflect, Rejoice, Renew was hand- or machine-stitched by Girl Scouts onto the blue ribbons, Fawley said.

It looked like one giant gold ribbon crowned the tree, but it’s really four gold bows tied at the top. And what appeared to be one continuous golden ribbon circling the tree is actually 6-foot sections of ribbon, she shared.

***

Politico 44: Kim Fawley of Broadway, Va., took off several days of teaching seventh grade to help adorn the 18 ½-foot Douglas fir in the Blue Room along with about 30 other volunteers.

“I have a very, very nice principal,” she said.

What's Up in English/Reading (3rd six weeks)

During the third six weeks term, English and Reading classes on the Incredibles team are focusing on theme, verbs, making inferences, expository writing, and a reading strategy that focuses on making inferences.

Internet Safety Presentation and PowerSchool Tips for Parents

Facebook....MySpace.... Twitter..... 2nd Life...Online Predators....Downloading Music... Chatting...and a lot more!

Do you know what you need to know to keep your child safe on the internet?

You are invited to attend an Internet Safety Presentation at J. Frank Hillyard Middle School on Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00pm in the school library.

Joe Showker, an expert in the area of internet safety, will give a fast paced and interactive look at what you need to know as a parent of middle school students.

Childcare will be provided for all school age children (Kindergarten-12th grade).

Mr. Showker will also demonstrate for parents how to access and check grading and attendance information using the PowerSchool Parent Login.

We hope you will join us for this important and informative event.

Feel free to call JFHMS with any questions (896-8961)

Midterm Reports

On Wednesday and Thursday, November 4-5, Incredibles Science teachers will print midterm reports for students whose parents used the green paper (sent home with report cards) to request paper copies of the reports.

Parents who use PowerSchool can monitor their students' grades at any time online.