Below you will find a letter from our team about exams and then information about the individual classes.
Dear Parents and Students,
It is that time of year! Middle School Mid-Term exams will take place beginning January 13th. Exams will be Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of that week. On the Saint Mary’s website, you will find the schedule for the exams. There will be no Mass that week.
Please help your student(s) prepare for the exams by reviewing the material for each subject, getting a good night’s sleep, and having breakfast before arriving on time for school each day.
Each teacher will supply a study guide. If the study guide isn’t sent home before Christmas break, each teacher will tell the students what they will need to study to prepare for their exams during break. Mrs. Clopton will be visiting each of Mrs. Tuskey’s Individual and Societies (History) classes to share exam study tips and graphic organizers for studying with the students.
The students will take two exams each day, and will have time for a snack and a break between sessions, as you will see on the schedule. They will be able to leave after the second exam, if you choose, and you may sign them out at the front door. A teacher will be at the front door with a sign out sheet. Please send a note if your student is to ride home with someone else.
If your student chooses to stay for the afternoon, he or she will be placed in a supervised study hall until 2:50. After that time, he or she may proceed to After School Care, if that is your usual routine. Please note that Friday, January 15th is an Early Release Day for the entire school.
Thank you for partnering with us to teach the students how to prepare for the exams. Please encourage them to prepare, and to remain calm during exam week. Remember, the teachers are available for extra help if needed.
Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you or your student (s).
Sincerely,
The St. Mary’s Middle School MYP Teaching Team
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Language and Literature- Mr. Schaefer
6th Grade Literature and Vocab– We finished Cheaper by the Dozen this week and the children enjoyed the book. The next novel we will be reading is The Giver. There is no exam for this class.
7th Grade Literature and Vocab– We just finished A Christmas Carol. God bless us everyone! There is no exam in this class.
8th Grade Grammar and Vocab– The students have been getting ready for exams because they will be teaching the class on the topics that will be covered on the exam. Every student received an exam study guide today.
Language and Literature- Mr. Maddock
6th grade Grammar and Writing– The students received a study guide for the upcoming exam.
7th grade Grammar and Writing– The students received a study guide for the upcoming exam.
8th grade Literature and Language– There is no exam for this class.
Science- Mr. Short
6th Grade: The students will be starting to think about ideas for the science fair. The topic submission is due Jan 8th. They will start working on the project after exams. The students got a study guide which needs to be completed by the day of the exam.
7th Grade: The mini science fair is due January 11. I moved the due date back to give them a little more time to work on it. After break we will be learning about electricity. The students got a study guide which needs to be completed by the day of the exam.
8th Grade: The students will be making a choice to work on the science fair or teach a scientific experiment lab to a younger grade. There are limited spots available to teach. This decision and the start of the project will begin after exams.
Language Acquisition- Madame Rooks
French students should all have their study guides by now. Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année à tout le monde!
Mme Rooks
Language Acquisition- Senora Thompson
6th grade- We are working on our weather phrases and will be recording the weather in Spanish for a week. This is their first project which will be written completely in Spanish. They will have a quiz on the weather phrases and we will have a study day for any midterm questions.
7th grade- We are finishing up on Unit 4 and will have a test when we get back in January. We will review all the AR verbs and three irregular verbs IR, DAR and ESTAR. We will have a couple of days of review in class for the midterm.
8th grade -We are finishing up on Unit 8 and will have a test when we get back in January. They have been working very hard to learn how to use the verbs SER and ESTAR correctly. This is a very important concept to have going into Spanish level II. We will have a couple of days in class to review for the midterm.
Thank you all so very much for all of your wonderful and generous gifts. I am so grateful for the opportunity to teach your children. Some of the cards written by your children are the best gifts any teacher can get! Thank you for sharing them with us. Enjoy a peaceful Christmas with your family.
Math- Mrs.Dyer
Middle school exams are right around the corner when we return from our Christmas break. Prepping for the math exam was discussed in each class this week. Each class knows what chapters are included on the exam and have been advised to start preparing sooner rather than later. Students have been encouraged to study Math in several small doses. A review packet with sample problems was given to each student, complete with answer keys. The packet should come home with the students for the break. Quizzes and tests taken during the first and second marking periods are another study source and should all be “filed” in the test and quiz section of the math binder. These contain additional practice problems and also let the students know what concepts may need additional honing. Math class on Monday and Tuesday, January 11th and 12th, will be dedicated to student question and answer time. Any question, about any concept or problem, will be addressed in class, so students should come to class those days with a list of math questions.
Peace and Joy to you and your families! Merry Christ-math!!
Math- Mrs. Schiavo
Pre-Algebra
This week we finished Chapter 5, reviewed for the test and completed the Chapter 5 test. We are really getting good at solving problems involving fractions. Problems involving unlike denominators are just a minor nuisance now. No homework is assigned during the Christmas holidays but a gentile suggestion is to begin review for the midterm. The students received a detailed study guide which includes the exam problem that correlates to the textbook page and problem number, vocabulary and their favorite word problems from previous assessments. Who knows, some of those questions may reappear on the exam.
Algebra 1
Students have been working hard on solving a system of equations using various graphing and algebraic techniques. We pulled the chapter “all together” by looking at characteristics of various lines on our graphing calculators. Students learned many new calculator keys, i.e. trace, zoom fit, intersect, making lists and linear regressions. They used their calculators to estimated values outside the range of known values or between two known data values. No homework is assigned during the Christmas break but students should start their midterm review. The exam will feature many of their favorite word problems from first semester along with computation problems. They should go over their old assessments.
Individuals in Societies- Mrs. Tuskey
6th grade:
The students have been spending the week before Christmas presenting their projects to the class. After Christmas vacation, I will distribute the study guide for the first semester exam. If students want to start studying over vacation, they may use their old tests, quizzes, and study guides. Mrs. Clopton will also share some great exam preparation tips the first week of January in my classes.
7th grade:
The students have been spending the week before Christmas presenting their projects to the class. After Christmas vacation, I will distribute the study guide for the first semester exam. If students want to start studying over vacation, they may use their old tests, quizzes, and study guides. Mrs. Clopton will also share some great exam preparation tips the first week of January in my classes.
8th grade:
The 8th grade will wrap up the week with an old-fashioned essay test on Sparta and Athens. After Christmas vacation, I will distribute the study guide for the first semester exam. If students want to start studying over vacation, they may use their old tests, quizzes, and study guides. Mrs. Clopton will also share some great exam preparation tips the first week of January in my classes.
I wish you and your wonderful families a Blessed Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year!
Religion- Mrs. Slifka
- All grades: Have a wonderful Holiday!
Midterms- study guides were distributed today. Students should have all that they need in their religion binders and may bring home as long as they continue to bring it back to class daily to class. If a student is missing an assignment- they have been advised to copy from a buddy in class. We will review when we return in January.
6th:
- Identify sacramentals- Seven Sacraments-just identify
- Advent and Christmas
- Joseph and the many colored coat- discussed different ways of expressing scripture thorough movies, stories, music…
- How to be holy- one holy moment at a time- Ask them about this (Matthew Kelly video)
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7th
We spent lots of time going over the Christmas play- reading scripture on the infancy narratives, doing guided imagery, and practices the various roles. Discussion on how many people experience Jesus in their particular way. Your kids really got the message of our Christmas this year as they took on the many perspectives in the play – I am so proud of them. They realized that they were a part of God’s message in spreading the Nativity story and no matter the part, each child did a great job. I also saw such cooperation in helping each other- it was simply beautiful.
- Identify prophecies about the Messiah
- The liturgical year
- Advent and Christmas
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8th: areas we have or will work on in class in the next week or so include:
- Review the Angelus
- Advent and Christmas
- Infancy Narratives
- Understand the liturgical year’s sequence and the colors associated with its seasons p273-5
- Articulate and celebrate the liturgical year which parallels the life of Christ 273-5
- Understand that liturgy is when members of the Body of Christ worship together