News from the Hornets Nest

HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL

NOVEMBER 2013

News from the Hornets Nest Honoring Veteran’s Day Sebastian Tramontana, Zayn Kayali, and Frank Colonna Highlands’ Daily Flag Raisers

This will be an exciting run with:

2 Different Race Times ✴8:00am & 8:45am ✴Live Entertainment ✴Prizes ✴Neat Event Shirts ✴Walk and a Dash for the little ones! Mile Walk starts @ 9:30am 50 yard dash follows Limited space for each race!

All proceeds will go to the Kelli Joy O’Laughlin Memorial Fund to give young people opportunities to develop their greatest potential of friendship, kindness, leadership skills, confidence as well as their education.

At Highlands Middle School, November is Veterans month! All families, homerooms, groups, and clubs are encouraged to show their appreciation for our servicemen and women, past and present. Below are some ways to help: • Send a Care Package = Visit http:// www.operationcarepackages.org/Christmas/ SendSantaToTheTroops.html for a list of supplies needed. We will deliver the supplies on November 22nd. • Write a personal thank you to a veteran you know. • Make “get well”cards for patients at Hines Veterans Hospital. Mail to: 2100 S 5th Ave # 111L, Hines, IL 60141 • We have extended our coat drive for homeless vets. Please bring men’s coats, hats, and gloves to the middle school office. • Do you have another idea? Share it with us!

!

PAGE 1

HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL NOVEMBER 2013 PRINCIPAL PAPIERSKI’S POINT OF VIEW Highlands Makes a Difference

Student-Led Conferences Overall, student-led conferences were very successful. Students confidently led their parents through their personal portfolios, shared personal and academic goals, and gave their parents an insight to what they accomplish in school. As I walked around, I heard conversations revolving around what students accomplished first quarter, why particular artifacts were chosen, reflections were shared, and students and parents were focused on what happens in the middle school. Results from our sourvey indicate that a majority of our parents support the student-led style of conferencing and enjoy spending the quality time talking with their son or daughter about what he/she is learning in school. There are several parents who are not sure about student-led conferences, and a couple who flat out don’t like it. With that being said, I want to share the survey results with you, provide you with information supporting student-led conferences, and attempt to persuade you to embrace the process of portfolios to the actual conference. I will also share a few changes that will be implemented to the process based on your feedback. Survey Results: -86% of middle school families attended conferences - 61% of parents who attended conferences completed the survey -14% traditional conferences were scheduled -78% of parents felt the student-led conference provided a greater understanding of their child’s academic progress -76% of parents left with a solid understanding of their child’s goals -94% of parents felt their child was prepared to facilitate the conference. Why Student-led? There is much more to the process than students presenting at conferences. Students are required to manage and maintain an authentic portfolio throughout the year. This is a life skill that your child will be asked to do in college, and quite often when interviewing for a job. The process also helps students develop responsibility and independence by meeting portfolio requirements and taking pride in their portfolio. Students are also assigned to a portfolio coach, who meets weekly with each student to listen to, guide, and support them in goal setting and managing their portfolio. Students and teachers develop a shared understanding of the process, build relationships based on mutual respect, which eventually leads to an advisor/advisee relationship. The reflections that students are asked to complete are a big piece of this process. We are asking students to routinely reflect on their work to honestly assess their learning and growth. Reflection is a skill that must be developed, practiced, and nurtured. It gives your child the opportunity to strengthen their metacognitive strategies. Simply put, the more we can teach students to be actively thinking as they learn, the more !

PAGE 2

PRINCIPAL PAPIERSKI’S POINT OF VIEW (CONT.) Don’t forget the development of their presentation, writing and self-advocacy skills, along with their decision making skills, and organizational skills that is also happening during the portfolio/student-led conference process. This process allows students, parents, and teachers to become partners in the education process. It gives all three parties input into creating the student’s individual growth plan because everyone is aware of the work being completed, what needs to improve, and what is going well. The growth plan is created by the students and parent at conferences, and is reviewed and approved by the student’s portfolio coach. Content teachers also review goals with their students. Finally, we have increased our participation by more than 60% since we began student-led conferences. This year 86% of middle school families participated in conferences compared to 23% four years ago. This gives all of our families an opportunity to spend valuable time with their children talking about the importance of goal setting, reflecting, and creating a growth plan to improve their academic success. Planned Improvements After reviewing the survey data, I met with the team leaders to discuss how we can improve the overall process of student-led conferences. -Grade specific emails to parents consisting of a detailed description of the arena style student-led conferences several weeks before they take place -One week before the conference, students will email their parents explaining the process, student and parent expectations, and how to prepare for the evening - Present what student-led conferences are and the purpose at Open House - Create a phone card to provide parents the opportunity to notify us if they would like to speak or schedule a meeting with their child’s teacher(s) -Make sure all parents are aware that they have the option to schedule a traditional conference on the conference days -Remind parents they can schedule a conference with a teacher any time throughout the year. Allocated Minutes to Portfolio – Student-Led Conferences The time spent on creating the portfolios is minimal. Students are required to save all their work in all their classes into their working portfolio. They are asked/reminded throughout the quarter to move one or two artifacts from each class to their assessment portfolio. This information is then shared with parents. The time directly devoted to portfolio management is in extended homeroom on PD Wednesdays for 30 minutes.

Parent Visitation/Conferences At LaGrange Highlands Middle School, we value the partnership of parents in helping to enrich learning opportunities for students. We believe it is our working relationship that ensures the success of our students. Throughout the year we will be inviting you to participate in your child’s educational experience. Middle School teachers will send home invitations, call or email you when they would like you to join the excitement taking place in their classroom. Please remember that you are welcome to visit a classroom whenever you would like. Our doors are always open.

PRINCIPAL PAPIERSKI’S POINT OF VIEW (CONT.)

Student-Led Conferences and Portfolio Resources Electronic Portfolios in the K-12 Classroom - http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech111.shtml Portfolios for Student Growth - http://www.gallaudet.edu/clerc_center/information_and_resources/info_to_go/ transition_to_adulthood/portfolios_for_student_growth.html Student-Led Conferences: A Growing Trend http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin112.shtml Student-Led - http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-school/parent-involvement/student-ledconferences/

Make a Difference in your Child’s Education 1. Make that initial contact! Call your child’s teacher(s). Share any information that might help in the classroom. Maintain that contact throughout the year. 2. Attend student-led conferences. 3. Find out about volunteering at school. Call your child’s teacher and see how you can help! We would like to see you in our hallways as much as possible. 4. Ask your child what happened at school. Be specific. For example, ask your child, “What did you learn in math class, and how will you apply it to your life?” or “What did you discuss in Social Studies, and how did you contribute to the discussion?” 5. Sign up for Schoology and get all the information you need to support your child at school.

Together we will not only prepare our children for the future, we will prepare them to lead the future!

Sincerely, Mr. Papierski

6th Grade High Honor Roll - Dani Almase (4.0), Sam Arney, Mary Beck, Mia Bonfiglio (4.0), Bella Brodlo, Shane Cox (4.0), Emeka Ezike (4.0), Julia Fischer (4.0), Siena Froelich (4.0), Jessie Fronk (4.0), Mia Gales, Theo Gazis, Tess Grzegorek, Elisa Jacobo, Meredith Jones, Gina Leonard, Bridget Milam, Lily Mini (4.0), Braeden Norris, Jacqui O’Malley, Jelena Pejkovic, Andrew Rentz, Charlie Sisk, Sam Sugarman, Natalie Swinehart (4.0), Alex Torres, Lauren Tramontana, Chris Vasti (4.0), Erik Westegaard, Emily Williams, Nikki Williams, and Aleksandra Zeglen. Honor Roll - Adam Beitz, Nick Bezanis, Will Brannen, Mitchell Campbell, Anthony Chiappetta, Bella Colonna, Alena Dolgner, Adrien Dumas, Lily Eggerding, Mya Jackson, Macy Kajmowicz, Samantha Kelly, Calvin Keska, Sam Klaczynski, Owen McGrath, Kate Mitchell, Garrett Mitchell, Grace Nelson, Katie Pav, Emily Phillip, Carmela Scambiaterra, Luka Schurla, Jabez Sira, Daniel Sveda, Justin Sweet, Stefan Vasic, and Nicole Walent.

7th Grade High Honor Roll - Xander Allison, Taylor Anderson, Dominika Bachleda-Zawacki (4.0), Destiny Basenberg (4.0), Lindsey Beitz (4.0), Raymond Berg, Mark Brom, Meredith Byrd, Campbell Callam (4.0), Amy Carnevale, Lucia Caruso, Caitlyn Cherney, Wilson Ciecko (4.0), Grace Credit, Ravyn Davis, Sara Dellibovi (4.0), Jacob DelPiero, Michal Drwal, Sarma Ejups, Dana Elqaq (4.0), Kristen Flaws (4.0), Alyssa Frey (4.0), Thomas Fritz, Michaela Giovannelli, Jacob Goetz, Alyssa Grundke (4.0), Emily Henkel, Nicholas Herweck, Andrew Hirstein, Sam Hojnar (4.0), Anja Holzhueter, Charlie Hultmark, Mitchell Johnson (4.0), Olivia Kalata, Tony Klaczynski (4.0), Marta Kogucki (4.0), Milan Korsos, Annalise Kostecki, Adam Koszut, Brendan Lawry, Alec Leinhauser, Jason Lichtenauer, Mitchell Lopez (4.0), Veronica Lubera (4.0), Mariclaire Lynch (4.0), Joe Maino, Katie Materick (4.0), Katie McDermott, Nicole Murino, Sofia Orbegozo, Amanda Phillips, Jenna Phillips (4.0), Alana Prinz, JoJo Prost, Lauren Pyne, Skylar Regan, Adam Rohrscheib (4.0), Michael Rozner (4.0), Alison Sisk, Isabella Smillie (4.0), Greg Smith (4.0), Justin Smith, Dakota Spacek (4.0), Jane Stockbridge (4.0), Maren Torri, Isabella Triantafel (4.0), Isabel Tuisl (4.0), Olivia Tuisl, Riley Uremovic (4.0), Thomas Visgintas (4.0), Ashlee Wagner, Madison Waliewski (4.0), Caitlyn Whelan (4.0), Maren Williams (4.0), Caroline Wing (4.0), Petra Wingert, Renata Wingert, Sam Wojcik, Cala Wolf (4.0), Abby Wolosewicz, and August Woywod (4.0).

Honor Roll - Jacob Bucio, Erin Corcoran, Savannah Cowan, Dennis Didenko, Micaleigh Dowling, Haley Etheridge, Katie Evans, Faye Fegos, Amanda Frey, Mishelina Iracheta, Sam Klitchman, Camryn MacLean, Sophia Metz, Ana Nix, Colin Novinger, Max O’Malley, Miranda Olsen, Anthony Pacella, Hannah Pavlecic, Cara Perez, Emily Rokicki, Rianna Scheer, Noah Szyszka, Giovanna Tellez, Andrew Valentino, Cole Warf and Conrad Wilp.

8th Grade High Honor Roll - Lilly Alicea (4.0), Andrew Barnicle (4.0), Natalie Bednarz, Jack Boo, Will Brodlo (4.0), Max Campbell, Melissa Condon, Aidan Doyle, Mackenzie Drummond, Hannah Fezekas, Allison Fischer (4.0), Tyler Fronk (4.0), Jimmy Gazis, Samantha Gleason (4.0), Marguerite Gronke, Madilyn Guzlas, Ryan Hiatt, Garrett Hinshaw, Holly Hinton, Nina Hoffman, Anna Hohman, Nick Jacobs, Catherine Johnson (4.0), Elizabeth Juracic, Emma Jurusik, Maggie Justus, Zayn Kayali (4.0), Ray Keenan, Kaley Kessler (4.0), Aaron Lack (4.0), Aidan McCauley, Erin McGarry, Michael Mitchell (4.0), Stephanie Nevarez (4.0), Meaghan O’Neill, Philip Panopoulos (4.0), Steven Pav, Salvatore Penachio, Brad Pond, Melissa Rodriguez (4.0), Francesca Rogozinski (4.0), Hailey Rosicky, Nathan Rusk (4.0), Maria Serembytska, Kyle Sexton, Ethan Shockley, Anthony Staiano, Hailee Svrlinga, Michael Swinehart, Jack Tabachka, Milica Tica, Ricky Torres, Sebastian Tramontana, Demetri Triantafel (4.0), Casey VanSpankeren (4.0), Taylor Wagner (4.0), Owen Waunn (4.0), Lily Wojcik, Alex Wolosewicz, Joshua Woolfington (4.0), and Julie Yelnick. Honor Roll - Megan Bonneville, Alex Cefali, Frank Colonna, Lizzy Conboy, Alex Dolgner, Riley Dominiak, Nick Garbe, Jeffrey Gianone, Austin Glazier, Jack Grant, Kathleen Holt, Emily Janis, Zach Laipple, Bella Lestina, Brandon Mahoney, Davis McMahon, SuSu Osman, Bradley Phillip, Kaitlyn Quagliano, Aliya Rangel, Roland Rondez, Abby Sorensen, Jade Soriano, Aaron Valentino, and Emma Watkins.

Look who’s new to the 8th grade class:

6th Grade Language Arts – Ms. O’Brien & Mrs. Scheiwe Over the next few weeks, the 6th grade Language Arts students will continue their study of sentences, phrases and clauses by learning about prepositional phrases and the ways that they can modify nouns and verbs. As the students gain an understanding of how all these pieces fit together, they are learning to combine ideas from many short, choppy sentences to create more complex, interesting sentences in their written work. In November, we will be wrapping up our study of the elements of a story with close reading instruction, as well as practice responding to text-dependent questions. Following the short stories, we will begin delving a bit deeper into poetry. Students will read a variety of poems, learn about poetic forms and devices, and apply this new knowledge to original poetry of their own. The 6th grade advanced language arts students have recently finished reading Esperanza Rising, the first companion novel to their Persuasion unit. They are working diligently on response essays using the I.C.E. Method (introduce, cite, explain) in order to support a thesis with textual evidence. During November, students will choose a second companion novel and begin to read and discuss it in “Book Club” groups. We will continue our discussion of the concept of “identity” as it applies to individuals, groups, and now, cultures as well.

6th Grade Math - Mrs. Novotny ! The 6th grade math classes will continue their work with fractions in Chapter 4. Students will build on their knowledge of fraction concepts to estimate and compute fractions and mixed numbers using all operations. All students will be pre-assessed and will be working in groups according to their readiness level. ! All 6th grade students are working on individualized lessons on TenMarks. Students are asked to complete 30 questions or 3 worksheets per week on TenMarks. They are given time in class and are also expected to do problems for homework. Students can get hints and tutorial videos on TenMarks, if the skills they are practicing are new to them. ! For our cumulative project of our statistics unit, we will be using our real-life data from our “Estimation Spider”. Students will be calculating the measures of central tendencies (mean, median, and mode) to find out which of my class periods are the best at estimating! They will also be creating a triple-bar graph using a Google Doc Spreadsheet to display their findings. Come see their results displayed in the middle school hall.

TH 6

Grade Science November 2013

Latest y Astronom News! doing an n e e b ts n e ent e the stud r! The rec a e y is Wow! Hav th nce and job in scie t n e ll e eclipses, c , x s e e s a h p n n nt on moo I have see g in it r w assessme e nc ce to e best scie th s a w get a chan s u e o y tid e p o h eir ng time. I jects in th o in a very lo r p y m o eir astron d and you r a h d e examine th k r y wo ut They reall . o li o arned abo tf r le o e p v a h y the ow much can see h lex ideas. p m o c y r some ve

t den Stu re a ists t n e sci e to b n g n in a g goi n a ti cip i t t, r pa ay ven e l eD a i v u ann 13 Mo re. llo utu d Apo near f rate e s h i t e f in ovi e. I g m a s u al ng ng Thi nd ion usi r la t ea o a o e f t c m t u G il d ativ P ec a e j n b r r m o fo lte ly e na vie you p a o m i 13 e m s llo hav o this oses, l l p i A w p the pur r child t u bo you ya t i v i n. act sio s i m

The at took apsule th Apollo 8 c und the umans aro the first h 968. moon in 1

Our fiel d trip to the Mus and Ind eum of ustry is Science D ecembe th spend t r 5 . We ime in t will he Henr Center d y Crown iscover Space ing the space r o r igins of ace. Kid the s will ge Mercury t to exa mine th space c e apsule t Carpent hat took er aroun Scott d the Ea Apollo 8 r t h a nd the Comma nd Mod u l e the first that was space c raft to ta humans ke in lunar obit.

Social Studies

Cave Art

Civilization and Culture We have recently begun talking about the seven main components of a civilization and how they work together to not only function as a civilization, but also form a culture. In addition, we have looked at reasons for change in culture over time and have compared our culture in America today to cultures of the past and around the world.

In Social Studies, we have recently completed a unit on Cave Art in which students practiced communicating through pictures and studying the people of the past. We also studied what the drawings and art they left behind can tell us about their lives, and how they compare to our lives today.

We took a virtual field trip to the Lascaux Cave in France and the students explored the cave, giving them a chance to interpret the drawings for themselves and come up with their own interpretations. They did a great job and had a lot of fun!

WHAT’S NEXT? We will soon begin building on our knowledge of civilization and culture by studying the ancient civilizations of Egypt, China, Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley. We will discuss and practice the writing of these civilizations, discuss their governments and their technology, and compare them to modern

Students have recently completed a project in which they were asked to create their own civilizations, while including the seven main components we have been discussing. They did a great job and were very creative!

day America. We will also learn about their laws and lifestyles by learning about Confucianism and the Code of Hammurabi. Lastly, we will learn about the burial techniques of these civilizations, including the mummification practice that was used in Ancient Egypt. I am very excited to begin this unit, and I know the students are as well!

7th Grade Language Arts

The second quarter is off to a great start! Students in standard language arts are in the process of concluding their study of conflict. During this unit, students have studied a variety of fiction and literary elements; this strong foundation of fiction terminology will come in handy as we continue our various literature units throughout the year. Recently, students submitted a descriptive writing piece focused on a point-of-view twist with Sandra Cisneros’s short story “Eleven.” Ask your child which viewpoint they assumed to tell the story in an original way. With this written response, students focused on the writing traits of ideas, word choice, and conventions. We are also excited to have launched our first grammar independent study! Based on data from a grammar pre-assessment, students created an individualized learning plan to navigate their study of “The Parts of Speech”. Ask your child to show you their “EGJ” or Electronic Grammar Journal, which includes their individualized learning plan and the activities they plan to complete to show their learning. Later in the quarter, all students in seventh grade will experience a Humanities approach to learning. Language Arts and Social Studies will connect across the concept of “Courage.” While Mrs. Phillip will focus on the historical impact of westward expansion in the United States, students in language arts will dive into a novel and poetry study highlighting the courageous journeys of immigrants. The culminating writing piece during this study will be a persuasive essay regarding the idea of courage. Advanced Language Arts We have finished George Orwell’s Animal Farm and will work this month on the process of constructing a literary analysis essay based on a thesis statement tied to the novel. In this writing workshop, we will review the structure of an essay and students will learn how to use parenthetical documentation to cite directly from the text. Students will continue to develop their analytical and interpretative skills in literature using Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron” to explore satire. As mentioned above, the advanced class will be taking a break from Utopia to participate in the Humanities interdisciplinary study of Courage.

Math with Mrs. Curran The students in the 7th Grade math curriculum have just completed their lessons on constants of proportionality, when graphs and tables represent proportionality, and writing equations. This was a tough concept, but they did great with it. We will continue with these concepts when we move on to scale drawing and real-world applications because these concepts still connect to ratios and proportional relationships.

Students in the Advanced math curriculum have just finished their unit on Expressions. Their focus has been on simplifying expressions with positive and negative exponents, multiplying and dividing expressions, raising a power to a power, operations that involve scientific notation, and finding the cube root of a number. The next unit of study will involve the concept of transformations, transversals, similar figures, and congruent figures. Please remember that these units are part of the Common Core State Standards. Your child may need extra help with some of these tough concepts. Please encourage your child to seek assistance before school and after school from me or Mrs. Irwin. We are here to help!

We will be focusing on writing extended response in class this year. Students will be expected to show their mathematical knowledge and their strategic knowledge on word problems. After they complete the problem, they will be expected to write in words what they did and why they took the steps they did to solve the problem. The students do a great job on explaining what they did, but explaining WHY can be more difficult. We will be focusing on the WHY through partner work and individual work.

7th Grade Science with Mr. Anagnostopoulos ! This month our young scientists have been finalizing our unit of “motion” by examining Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. To help them understand these concepts they studied roller coaster designs, motion around us, and a host of other labs in class. To finalize the unit of “motion” we formed teams to design, test, and create balloon race cars to measure speed, distance, and time. The Hornets displayed great designs with balloons, cans, and . Please take a look st the labs in their portfolios! We ended the quarter with a “Pick Your Own Assessment” exam. The students were able to show their mastery and understanding of motion by choosing either a Math Exam, an Essay/Drawing Exam, or the classic Textbook Exam. The students seemed to appreciate the choices offered which were differentiated and created to suit their testing styles and strengths while still offering a fair way to measure their knowledge and understanding of the physics concepts studied. We are moving into our next unit with “energy” to learn how airplanes fly, boats float, etc. They have also been taught how to use siphons to transport fluids, how to use pressure to put an egg in a jar, crush aluminum cans, and how to inflate a balloon into a glass jar! The Water Rocket Launch will be by the softball fields. We are hoping to launch either November 15 or November 18! Don’t forget about MSI field trip coming up mid-November!

SOCIAL STUDIES WITH MRS. PHILLIP

Social Studies students have been learning how the United States government began. After a few falters and failures, the U.S. Constitution as we know it today was created. A written Constitution that has endured for over 200 years bears witness to the compromise, vision and just plain hard work of a collection of amazing individuals: our Founding Fathers. One of the areas of compromise was how to decide whether or not slaves should be counted as part of total population when determining representation in Congress. The students studied and analyzed maps in order to understand the differing points of view of the states.

WHO IS THE BEST FOUNDING FATHER PROJECT Students have been researching a Founding Father of their choosing. Soon they will become that person, as they present the culmination of their research in a speech or imovie. The goal? Use persuasion to convince your classmates that YOUR Founding Father was the BEST! Ask your son or daughter to share their presentation with you-it will give them a great practice!

8th Grade Language Arts Mrs. Florek & Mrs. Schweizer ! The Language Arts classes spent some time in October and November reviewing the format and timing of the EXPLORE Test. All eighth graders will take the EXPLORE test at LT on November 16, 2013. Students will read three passages and answer thirty multiple choice questions in thirty minutes. For the English test, students will answer questions about written expression, grammar, and punctuation. For more information about the test, contact Lyons Township High School or visit act.org. We are currently focusing on the following Common Core State Standards: 8.RL.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 8.RL.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. 8.RL.9 Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.

We read a variety of short stories, myths, folktales, and fables to determine the theme, or author’s message about life. We found the message by examining the title, important statements, plot, conflict, and symbolism used in the story. Next, we worked on constructing a written response that cites and explains specific evidence from the story to explain our reasoning.

Ongoing in our classes...... *Continue to encourage reading at home each night to practice stamina and build vocabulary. The only way to become a better reader is to read! *We add to our list of Greek and Latin roots each week. Students should study their flashcards to know these roots and apply them to new vocabulary words. * Spelling and punctuation counts! We expect the students to take responsibility for using resources to aid in correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Advanced Language Arts The Advanced class is working on a unit called Threads of Change in 19th Century Literature. The goals for this unit are: • To develop analytical and interpretive skills in literature • To develop persuasive/argument writing skills • To develop linguistic competency • To develop listening/oral communication skills • To develop reasoning skills • To understand the concept of change In class, students will read and discuss short pieces of literature, including poems, short stories, and essays. As students read the literature they will respond to it and think critically about it by analyzing ideas, vocabulary, and structure. Collaboration and communication with fellow classmates is key in developing ideas and to reflect critically.

Science with Miss Wilson October is coming to a close fast. This month we have learned about the many organ systems of the body that work together to help your body function properly. The students discussed and even wrote a short story about the digestive system. Students had to fully explain how all organs of the digestive system function and work together to help your body break down the food you eat mechanically and chemically. During this unit, students also learned about the circulatory system. The students completed labs to study their heart rate and study blood types.

In November, the students will read and learn about the respiratory system. In this unit the students will learn the function of the respiratory system, the organs in the respiratory system and how they work, how carbon dioxide is removed from the blood in the lungs and exchanged with oxygen that will be circulated throughout the body and how the respiratory system is responsible for speech. After completing our study of the respiratory system students will work on a small project to study what happens when the organ systems of the body are not functioning properly. It is important for the students to see how these systems rely on one another and work together. After the students complete the Organ Systems of the human body unit, we will begin to learn about how organisms gain energy. Humans gain energy from food in a process called cellular respiration. Plants produce their own food in a process known as photosynthesis. During this unit the students will see photosynthesis occur and build a model to represent photosynthesis in plants. Encourage your student to join Science Club. We will meet in room 200 Thursdays after school from 3:15 to 4:15. Our meetings are as follows: November 4, November 21, December 5, December 12, and December 19

8th Grade Math with Mrs. Funk During November core 8th grade classes will be completing a study on transformations. These will include rotations, reflections, translations and dilations. We will be using the application on their computer entitled Geometer’s Sketchpad. This will allow students to easily plot and then transform the points and figures in various ways. Students will be completing assignments and assessments with this program so it is very important if class is missed to come in before or after school to learn the part of the application discussed that day during class. The 8th grade algebra 1 class will be completing their study of systems of equations and then move into a study of inequalities, compound inequalities, absolute value equations and inequalities as well as graphing inequalities in both one and two variables. These concepts will be applied in word problem projects and task projects which are due at the conclusion of each chapter. These are the last two chapters that will be covered before the first semester exam. Information will be sent home in early December about this exam which will be taken on January 9, 2014. The first semester exam along with the L.T. placement test score (Explore) and the second semester exam are the three assessments used for placement into Geometry during their freshman year of high school. Please check Schoology on a daily basis. In the upcoming events the entry titled homework is where you can find a running list of when each individual homework assignment for the current unit or chapter is due. You can also find a list of due dates for many upcoming assignments and assessments and documents helpful to the current unit or chapter as well as grades with comments about missing assignments or ways to improve a score. I am very honored to again coordinate the 9th annual St. Jude’s Math-a-Thon service project for 8th graders beginning in November and concluding in January. All 8th grade math classes will be receiving information asking for their participation in the Math-A-Thon benefiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital located in Memphis, Tennessee. Since 2004 the Highlands community has raised over $55,000 for this wonderful hospital. Look for participation permission slips and further information coming home very soon.

Social Studies with Mr. Steele

In social studies, the 8th graders will begin looking into the concept of “Conflict” throughout United States history. Our main focus during this unit will be analyzing America’s involvement in both World War I and World War II and determining how these conflicts helped shape our nation. We will begin the unit by looking into the “spark” that started the “Great War” – the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. We will discuss how this led to a series of events that pulled all of Europe into the war. We will then look into how the United States got involved in this war. We will continue by discussing trench warfare and the use of new technology in this war, including the use of gas and gas masks for the first time in warfare. During this part of our study, the students will watch clips from “Legends of the Fall” and “Warhorse” to help them see the “human side” of war. We will end our study of World War I by analyzing the Treaty of Versailles to see what this treaty did to Germany as a country, and how it helped lay the foundation for Adolf Hitler to come to power. Finally, a major part of our study will include discussing the use of “gas warfare” for the first time in a world conflict. We will discuss how the use of gas in war changed the face of war forever. One item we will use for discussion purposes is a painting entitled “Gassed”, painted by American John Singer Sargent in 1918. The painting is seen below. Study it with your son and/or daughter and discuss with them whether or not this painting was pro- or anti-war, and whether or not it is an accurate portrayal of what happened to soldiers fighting in World War I.

Highlands MS Art News: All middle school students have been participating in a Day of the Dead art extravaganza, which will culminate into an art installation, occupying the foyer area. 6th Graders are making copper relief triptychs, featuring: abuelas, abuelos, and esposes. 7th Graders are using reduction printmaking, with Day of the Dead inspired imagery. 8th Graders are making skulls of paper mache’ and plaster. All students have been asked to bring in a picture of a deceased loved one to celebrate in our offerendas. When we’re not up to our elbows in plaster and paint, we are making tissue paper banners and flowers. Be sure to check out all our creativity on display, just outside the cafe, on next visit to the Highlands Middle School. Peace, Heidi Burtner, Highlands Ms Art Teacher

PHYSICAL EDUCATION Mrs. Eskra, Mr. Kolar The physical education classes have moved inside to begin the volleyball unit. During this unit, the students will practice a variety of skills and learn a number of techniques that can be implemented into a volleyball game. Each grade level will participate in a tournament to display what they have learned. At the end of the unit, students will reflect about what they have learned, how their skills have improved, and what benefits they have received from the unit. During the volleyball unit, students will regularly use heart rate monitors. Each student was issued a heart rate strap that is theirs to keep until the end of the year. On certain days, they will attach a monitor to their strap and wear a watch that will display information about their heart. The monitors tell us how hard the heart is beating, how long they have exercised, and how long their heart rate was in the “target heart rate zone,” which is set between 135-190 BPM (beats per minute). Heart rate monitors are a great tool to determine individual effort using concrete data. The P.E. department has students using laptops to aid in their learning and reflection and to create portfolio artifacts. Students have taken video of their push-ups to help correct form, are setting fitness goals and recording fitness scores, and are reflecting on each unit. Students who are out of P.E. for medical reasons are given a variety of activities to complete using their laptops. Examples of these activities include sport-related article summaries, study guide development, fitness and diet logs, and a P.E. equipment budget activity, where students are given a $1,000 budget and are responsible for filling out an online order form for P.E. equipment of their choice. Schoology is being used with much success in a number of ways, so be sure to ask your child to show you some of their work. Any student that forgets their P.E. uniform is given a clean pair of rental clothes for the day in exchange for one point (per item) of their daily grade. Students may make these points back by riding a stationary bike any day before or after school. Our rental system enables students to participate if they are forgetful, while holding them responsible for their actions.

HORNET’S NEST

MS R m 1 7 6  H

HEALTHY CHOICES with Mr. Yena Health Units 6th Grade 4 Parts of Health Self-Esteem Sleep Hygiene Nutrition Human Growth and Development

F O C U S O N H E A LT H Click below for more information on this month’s health topic of Prescription Drug Abuse. Monthly Health Newsletter Link

Diseases and Treatment First Aid

7th Grade Health 2 Tobacco Alcohol

Th is mon th i n He a l t h c l ass . ..

Drugs

The 6th grade Health classes are just starting up their big nutrition unit which includes discussions on nutrients, the new MyPlate diagram, and how to read a food label. The students will create presentations about one of the aspects of the My Plate diagram to present to their classmates. They will have a great time digging into the truth behind foods when they analyze what their food consists of during our “Are you reading the food labels?” activity. During this activity the students will determine what a food label really explains. The students will finish up the Health block discussing how their bodies grow and develop over their lifetime.

Nutrition

The 7th grade Health 2 classes have started off the block learning about the negative effects of tobacco use among teens and adults. The students split into groups to work on a tobacco research project about various areas of tobacco use and abuse. The students have gained an understanding of the negative effects associated with tobacco use, and how to educate others on how to quit using tobacco or to not even start using it in the first place. The students took part in a lab that simulated what it would be like to suffer from

a smoking related disease. The lab opened the eyes of many students about the dangers and negative consequences of tobacco use. The classes will be moving onto a unit on alcohol use and abuse in the next few weeks. The 8th grade Health 2 students recently completed a unit about tobacco use and abuse. The students reviewed the concepts they learned about tobacco from 7th grade, and built upon them through various discussions, videos, and activities in class. Specifically, the students analyzed how the media influences tobacco use through advertisements and other hidden messages about tobacco. The students decided to take a stand against tobacco use in the U.S., and in turn wrote a persuasive letter to the Surgeon General about their concerns regarding tobacco use. The students used their skills from Language Arts class to construct the letters and form a polite argument for their letter to the Surgeon General. The 8th grade students will be reviewing alcohol use and abuse in the upcoming weeks. They will be creating various projects to reinforce the responsible decisions teens need to make in regards to alcohol use and abuse.

Depression and Suicide Relationships

8th Grade Health 2 Tobacco Alcohol Use and Abuse Drug Use and Abuse among Teens Nutrition for the Future

Did You Know... Drug overdose death rates in the United States have more than tripled since 1990 and have never been higher.

Dans les classes de français…..

November brings National French Week – November 5-11. Students will be sharing information about France (and French bon-bons) to celebrate!

The sixth grade students will be working on colors and will view the classic French film “Le Ballon Rouge.” We will continue expanding vocabulary to include parts of the body and animal vocabulary and integrating what we learn into conversations. The sixth graders will also be experiencing what is called “total physical response storytelling.” We will listen and act out different stories with complete audience participation. We then follow through with reading and writing activities about the story. We will hopefully discover some enthusiastic actors along the way!

The seventh grade students are working on learning how to express what they are doing, their likes and dislikes, and how to ask questions in French. We are also working on our French-speaking countries project. Students are researching information on a French-speaking country that they will present to the class either in iMovie or Keynote format.

The eighth graders are learning about Parisian monuments, landmarks and museums. They will be producing a two minute travel video about their assigned monument, and then reproduce in model form the monuments they have researched. The travel videos will be due on Thursday, December 6, 2013. The models will be due on Friday, January 10, 2014. We have also been working on how to express our food preferences and vocabulary related to dining in France, and will continue with how to express our clothing preferences and shopping in a Frenchspeaking country.

Both 7th and 8th grade students are receiving pen-pals from Collège Jean Prévost in Villard de Lans, France. They are excited to be able to communicate with them and are looking forward to sharing cultural experiences throughout the year. We are also maintaining contact with the Collège Balzac from Neuilly-sur-Marne, whose students will hopefully get a chance to visit our school in February.

Wishing everyone a “Bonne Fête de l’Action des Graces!!”







Mrs. Provan

Spanish with Mrs. Zita

6th Grade Spanish ¡Noviembre está aqui! In Spanish we are busy with great conversations and projects. Students have been developing some very practical vocabulary to communicate amongst themselves and ask a stranger. Phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays and interests are going back and forth between the students and it is all in Spanish! They are also working on telling time and the numbers up to 100. Students are enjoying the practicality of the things they are learning and seeing how they can use it outside of the classroom.

Spanish with Mrs. Rus

7th Grade Spanish We have been working on describing people and things with various adjectives pertaining to appearances and personalities. This can be a bit difficult since English does not have feminine or plural forms of adjectives. The students will be able to describe themselves and others using their knowledge of the verb ser (to be), as well as what they like to do. We are also reviewing how to ask and give someones's age and birthday. The mini-project is to write a paragraph about a favorite person. Ask your son/daughter who that person is.

8th Grade Spanish The students can describe people and family relationships and talk about where they live. We also have been working on vocabulary pertaining to rooms of the house, chores and how they feel about them using the verb "parecer". Do they consider chores "justo" o "injusto"? Next we will review the verb "estar" and use it to describe where things are located (above, below, next to, behind). The following chapter is about food. ¡Buen provecho!

The Wind Ensemble is doing a wonderful job so far this year. They are working very hard for our December concert. 8th graders have been working on IMEA scales, 7th graders completed a iMovie or Keynote tempo project and 6th graders have been adding major scales into their memorized repertoire! Our promptness and attendance is improving in morning rehearsals, but let’s all continue to work hard to be in our seats ready to play at 7:50am. I also want to encourage you to help your child achieve the practicing goals we set in lessons. Consistent and frequent practice throughout the week is necessary for musical growth! I will be doing everything I can to support them at school... please let me know if there anything else I can do support at home practice. IMEA Auditions took place in October. Congratulations to Nathan Davison, Aidan Doyle, and Bradley Pond! These three gentlemen competed with the best middle school musicians from the Chicago area to earn a spot in one of the honor music groups. Good luck at your performance in November! On November 5th, the 8th graders will be joining with other band members from the area to rehearse and perform with the LT Wind Ensemble. We will be at LT rehearsing the music with the high school band members from 8:30-1:30pm. The joint concert will be at 7:30pm that evening at North Campus. I am very excited for them to have the opportunity to perform with the LT Wind Ensemble. It is also a great chance for them see what the LT band program has to offer and perform with high caliber musicians.

6th grade General Music Our sixth graders will be covering several units including: rhythm – whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes and rests, Italian vocabulary, and performing with the rhythm instruments composition – staff, treble clef, key signatures, time signatures, writing melodies Music Alive – our music magazine, which offers a multitude of articles on a wide variety of topics. musictechteacher.com - games and quizzes on the elements of music. 5) We will conclude our block by applying our rhythmic and melodic knowledge to playing chords and songs on the acoustic guitars.

1) 2) 3) 4)

7th and 8th Grade Keyboard Lab These students have accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time. We have been working on identifying the note names on the staff and on the keyboard. We then transfer that knowledge to playing real songs! So far we’ve enjoyed various melodies including: Music Alphabet, Jingle Bells, Happy Birthday, Fur Elise, Amazing Grace, and Beethoven’s famous Ode to Joy. Students will continue building on their keyboard knowledge and select a song of their choice to perform. We will also continue using the left and right hands together.

FALL SPORTS

7th Grade Jacob Bucio Campbell Callam AJ Hirstein Sam Hojnar Adas Koszut Alec Leinhauser Adam Rohrscheib Michael Rozner Justin Smith Nate Vedok Conrad Wilp Sam Wojcik Managers: Tony Kalczynski Mitch Lopez

8th Grade Jack Boo Alex Dolgner Tyler Fronk Austin Glazier Ryan Hiatt Garrett Hinshaw Nick Jacobs Ray Keenan Brandon Mahoney Michael Mitchel Philip Panopoulos Roland Rondez Nathan Rusk Jack Tabachka

FALL SPORTS

7th Grade

8th Grade

Clare Amonson Taylor Anderson Meredith Byrd Kristen Flaws Emily Henkel Camryn MacLean Katie McDermott Sofia Orbegozo Alana Prinz Skylar Regan Olivia Tuisl Cala Wolf

Megan Bonneville Melissa Condon Riley Dominiak Nina Hoffman Hannah Jumpa Meaghan O’Neill Karli Olsen Kaitlyn Quagliano Frenchy Rogozinski Hailey Rosicky Hailee Svrlinga Aaron Valentino

6th Grade! ! ! ! Alena Dolgner ! Grace Nelson!! ! Isabella Grosso! Payton Rosicky! ! Corinne Lavaty ! Carmela Scambiatterra! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! Amy Carnevale! Caitlyn Cherney! Sara Dellibovi!! ! ! !

7th Grade Katie Evans! ! Sophie Metz! ! Hannah Pavlecic! ! ! !

Jenna Phillips! Ashlee Wagner Petra Wingert ! ! !

1st - Market Day Orders Due

5th - PTC Pasta Lunch Market Day Butterbraid Pick up

6th - PD Wednesday - No Social Studies PTC Book Fair Yankee Candle Pick up Student Led Conferences (5:30pm-8:30pm) 7th - No School - Student Led Conference (2:30pm-8:30pm) 8th - No School - Veteran’s Day 11th - Veteran’s Day Assembly (7th period) 7pm - 8th Grade Future Freshman Night @ LTHS South Campus 13th - PD Wednesday - No Language Arts 15th - Fall Winter Sports Picture Day FSP December Lunch orders due 16th - 8th Grade EXPLORE Academic Placement Exam @ LTHS South Campus 19th - PTC Hot Lunch 20th - PD Wednesday - No World Language 21st - 7th Grade Field Trip to Museum of Science & Industry 22nd - Dessert Day 11:30am - 1:15pm - Show Choir performance @ Helping Hand 23rd - Highlands Woman Club Craft Show 25th - Market Day Orders Due 27th - No School 28th - No School - HAPPY THANKSGIVING 29th - No School