Principal’s Point of View HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL / DECEMBER 2009 / VOLUME 03

NEWS FROM THE HORNET’S NEST

Holiday Season!I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season! As always, thank you for your support and commitment to making Highlands Middle School a special place for kids. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please don’t hesitate to contact me or email me at any time. 708-218-7811 / mpapierski@district106.net

Dress Warm/Stay in SchoolWinter is upon us, so please make sure your child is warmly dressed for school. We will allow students to enter the building at 8:00 a.m. on inclement days. Here are a few tips to help keep your child healthy and in school.

- Avoid scheduling family trips or doctor appointments during school hours.- Make sure your child is eating nutritious food and getting enough sleep and exercise.- Require a winter coat, gloves, scarf and a hat!- Make sure your child is getting a minimum of 8 hours of sleep.- Remind your child to wash his/her hands regularly.- If your child is truly sick keep him/her home.

Traffic/ParkingIt seems to be going a little better. Thank you for your help. Please continue to pull up as far as possible in the pick-up lane, put your cell phones down and maintain a very slow speed. Thanks for the input you have provided to improve our traffic flow.

Teamwork (Get Involved!)I thought this was a very important message from 2008, so I made a few changes and would like you to read it.

Because parents are a child’s most influential teachers and they spend a majority of their time at home, the best place for children to learn to take responsibility for their own learning is at home. Well-disciplined students don’t have to be nagged about doing homework; they don’t make excuses and blame others for their problems, they make good choices about what to do and when to do it. A well-disciplined student is self-motivated and wants to please his parents/teachers.

Here is the catch. These great behaviors are not something children are born with. We must work together to teach them what taking responsibility for their actions means and looks like. We also must teach them what it means when they don’t take responsibility for their own actions. We must be clear with our expectations and consequences. I remind students that every choice they make creates either a positive or negative consequence. So why not make it a positive one?

Reebok’s slogan is –“Because life is not a spectator sport.” I think that defines what responsibility in education is all about. Students who experience school as a spectator will never reach his/her potential in school or life. In order to avoid this, children need to learn the skills they need in order to be an active participant in the “game of school”. Here are some thoughts on how to get your child prepared to participate in this important game.

-Sit down and discuss what you expect of your child. How does a responsible, self-disciplined, self-motivated and self-directed child/student behave at home and school? Be specific!

-Set and review short-term goals. It is important to sit down with your child and reflect on how things are going. Are my actions moving closer or farther to my goal(s)? Every Friday we have our students reflect on how their week went in the MacJournals. Ask your child about their Friday reflection.

-Create a study plan with your child. When? How long? Where? What? Review the goal setting tool your child is using in school. It includes a dream(s), goals (checkpoints) and daily action steps. Let them share their thoughts and dreams with you!

-Use study time as family time. Has your child quiz you? Ask your child to show you what they are doing in school. Use their laptop to keep it engaging. They love technology. Make it fun for both of you! Ask them to teach you something new!

-Make it an expectation for them to show you their assignment notebook every night. After you see the completed assignment notebook for 5 days in a row, recognize their effort! Keep it simple and keep it family time – go out for ice cream, dinner with only one child, let them stay up an extra 15 minutes with you, etc…..

-Take time to read with your child. It could be schoolwork or pleasure reading. Make it a point to stop and ask for the main idea of a paragraph, a page, a chapter, a section, you get the idea.

-Teach your child that being late or forgetting something doesn’t just happen- it is a choice they make. Have them take 5 or 10 minutes before going to bed to prepare for the next day. Make sure their laptop is charging, their backpack is ready and their alarm is set.

-Take the TV away. Successful students read more than they watch TV. Make sure your child sees you read and talk about what you are reading. Create a contract and record Reading time vs. TV time. Make sure reading outweighs the TV!

-Talk about how a responsible child understands that his/her actions have consequences. Don’t let your child “slide”. Hold them accountable, and yes, sometimes it is inconvenient for us, the parent (stay strong). An effective consequence should relate to the misbehavior, it is enforced and it is reasonable.

My final thoughts about all this boil down to a couple simple ideas. 1. It doesn’t happen over night. It takes a lot of effort and patience to teach children to take responsibility for their own learning and behavior. But we all know the time and effort is worth it!

2. Finally, during these growing years, make sure to let your child know how much you love him/her and that you will always be there, no matter what.

Happy Holidays for everyone!Thank you for your support and generosity during this holiday season! Because of our Highlands’ families there will be many happy little children. This year we will continue to support the children of Chalmer Elementary School in Chicago, by providing 51 pre-school students with a gift bag filled with many special clothes and toys. Our Show Choir will also provide cheer and holiday spirit by performing for the entire Chalmer School on Monday, December 8. Thanks to Mrs. Luetkehans for coordinating this meaningful event!

Honor Roll CelebrationOver 75% of our student body was recognized on Tuesday, November 24, for making the honor roll (3.0-3.49) or the high honor roll (3.5-4.0). We recognized students during their lunch period by presenting them with a certificate of achievement and a Highlands bumper sticker. I believe it is important to recognize our students for the commitment they make to their education.

Mid-Term Progress ReportsMake sure you check PowerSchool this week. It is the middle of the second quarter!

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

Mr. Papierski

HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL

HONOR ROLL - 1ST. QUARTERHIGH HONOR ROLL (3.5. - 4.0)

HONOR ROLL (3.0-3.49)

8TH GRADE HIGH HONOR ROLL - Allison Alexander, Sydney Arsenault, Emily Ayala, Aran Balla, Erin Blaber (4.0), Elisha Borgstrom (4.0), Mallory Bryson,Rodger Combs, Christina Cooper (4.0), Stephanie Countryman, Gianna Delise, Alexandra Esposito, Kaitlyn Fehrman (4.0), Melissa Gall, Sean Green (4.0), Angelica Hardman, Molly Henderson, Alexandra Hojnar, Sarah Holt, Emma Jensen (4.0), Joseph Keeler, John Korzon, Taryn Kryza, Nolan Lenc, Matthew Lindeen (4.0), Trinity Lindgren, Dawn Maki, Paige Matusiak (4.0), Mike Mayer, Margaret McDermott (4.0), Alexandra Miller (4.0), Ian Murdoch, Frankie Nix, C.J. O’Neill (4.0), Samantha Pethokoukis (4.0), Richard Podkowski (4.0), Zachary Prinz (4.0), Katherine Raleigh, Justin Rhiner, Patrick Richert, Natalie Schaeffer (4.0), Alyssa Smith, Elaine Smith (4.0), Meredith Stack, Carter Strien, Kelsey Sundberg, Kaira Teschke, Rebecca Valek, Rajko Vucicevic (4.0), Robert Watkins and Gianna Ziccarelli (4.0).

HONOR ROLL - Ashley Acevedo, Hillary Brannen, Barrett Breitenbucher, Erica Camacho, Eileen Campion, John Coleman, Samuel Colonna, Paige Costelloe, Anthony Cuomo, Wesley Dekorsi, Leah DiNicola, Joseph Drummond, Emily Flaws, Kevin Flores, Matthew Gall, Emilio Godinez, Daniel Greska, Mary Gronke, Molly Heger, James Hofer,Kevin Justus, Michael Kearney, Amanda Keeve, Alexandra Kinowski, Brenda Lezon, Daniel Lupano, Joseph Lupano, Angela Madjer, Tihana Madjer, Matthew Maldonado, Ashley Mazur, Hayley McGuire, Kristina Murphy, Sam Norris, Daphne Prieto, Hunter Soyak, and Dustin Warf.

7TH GRADE HIGH HONOR ROLL -Lindsey Allen, Vincent Arata, Jessica Bendyk (4.0), Jack Bibeau, Carolyn Boo (4.0), Trevor Bouma, Madeline Brennan, Caitlin Bresnahan (4.0), Elyse Campion (4.0), Vincent Caruso (4.0), Daiga Cers (4.0), Sydney Cleveland (4.0), Louis Colonna, Abigail Conboy, Kelsey Corcoran, (4.0), Karli Fehrman, Kara Ferguson, Grace Gumbiner (4.0), Emma Hirt (4.0), Anna Hoffman, Chad Holland, Bryce Hughes (4.0), Phillip Janowiak, Elizabeth Johnson, Olivia Jones (4.0), Katarina Kaplarevic, Kevin Karpinski (4.0), Madeline Kirklys, Anne LeFevour (4.0), Joseph Leonard, Stephanie Lerner (4.0), James Lilly, Emma Lopez, Melissa Marston (4.0), Tessa Metz, Megan Moskowitz, Mark O’Connor, Kelli O’Laughlin, Daniel O’Malley, Emma Palmer, Ariah Palter, Georgianna Panopoulos (4.0), Lawrence Pettrone, Maria Philippou, Kelly Roemer, Michael Rundle, Timothy Sam, Julia Saunders, Britta Shockley, Jessica Sholler, Michele Siamis, Elizabeth Skolba (4.0), Ana Sprajcer, Matthew Stevens, Jake Suva, Macy Tabachka (4.0), Shantiera Taylor (4.0), Isabella Tenorio-Bucci, Nicholas Valdivia, Alexander Vasti, Joshua Vedok, Emma Vuillemot, Mariah Walsh, Isabella Watts, Conor Wiegmann, Oliver Wilp, John Wing, Jessica Wittenberg, Erin Yang, Kyle Yang and Jack Zimmerman.

HONOR ROLL - Timothy Acker, Nicholas Bonneville, Seth Briskey,, Ashley Dean, Daniel Drozda, Daniel Farmer, , Christopher Fonseca, Holly Garbis, Olivia Giovannelli, Jackson Golz, Charles Harrigan, Matthew Jurusik, Erika Koch-Weser, James Kourafas, Casey Kutay, Austin LaPenna, Casey Lawry, Ross Leavitt, Andrew Lichtenaur, James McDermott, Eric Mueller, Celeste Muniz, Scott Murphy, Madeline Nelson, Kelli O’Laughlin, Rebecca Pennington, Ellen Rosicky, Dante Stefanini, Alison Swanson, Kevin Whelan, Paige Williams, and Jeffrey Wolf.

6TH GRADE HIGH HONOR ROLL - Jeannette Alexander, Sophia Allison (4.0), Anastar Alvarez (4.0), Jordan Baum, Daniel Benson (4.0), Jack Blahnik, Michelle Blahnik (4.0), Amy Borgstrom (4.0), Kayla Bradley, Claire Brom, Luke Brom, Chelsea Brown, Aurora Camacho, Michael Catrambone, Alexander Ciessau, Margretta Ciessau, Marisol Cowan, Weston Credit, Lara Cuomo (4.0), Nolan Delaney, Vassiliki Demakis (4.0), Reed Doubek (4.0), Gabriella Esposito (4.0), Samantha Ferrer (4.0), Kameron Fezekas, Michelle Flaws, Kevin Foody, Rebecca Gacek, Rebecca Garbe, Noah Goetz, Robert Harlow (4.0), Brandon Hayes (4.0), Nicholas Hojnar (4.0), Bria Holt, Maxim Holzhueter, Cayla Hultmark (4.0), Elizabeth Januska(4.0), Emily Johnson, Diana Kafkes (4.0), Ayah Kayali, Philip Kim (4.0), Spencer Kinzie, Timothy Kogucki (4.0), David Kwok, Jarod Lindberg, Luke Lopez, Katryna MacLean, Paige McMahon (4.0), Brittany McPhee, Avery Millard, Jason Miller, Catherine Mossing, Katherine Nash, Capri Pappas, Jack Petrini, Ryan Phillip, Kiera Prinz, Jessica Pritz (4.0), Jared Rhiner, Brooke Ridlen, Kristen Roemer, Victoria Sam (4.0), Madeline Schaeffer (4.0), Meghan Selip (4.0), Julia Staiano, Nicole Stevens (4.0), Alison Valentino (4.0), Karina Vasquez, Anastasia Velliotis (4.0) and Lauren Whelan.

HONOR ROLL - Christopher Breakey, Benjamin Breitenbucher, Marie Burke, Joseph Cassano, Anna Chaloupka, Samantha Cohen, Stephanie Findley, Robert Fritz, Thomas Hofer, Sara Jane Holland, Parrish Jonen, Samantha Jordan, Filip Kaplarevic, Alexandria Kopicki, Alyssa Lenihan, Maggie McDermott, Kyle Norbut, Kaylah Odea, Filip Radunovic, Dominic Raphael, Andrea Smith, Sarah Smolik, and Lorenzo Valdivia.

HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS Spotlight on Sixth Grade

Social Studies – Mrs PhillipThis month has been devoted to a study of ancient China, India and Persia. We started off looking at ancient China’s development. A few of the highlights include interpreting the sayings of Confucius, making a poster or plaque about Emperor Qin and translating Chinese writing. As a culmination of our study of China, the sixth grade participated in a full day devoted to Chinese activities in all their classes. The kids really enjoyed sampling the art of paper-cutting, and having a chance to use special brush pens to practice their Chinese calligraphy during the SS lesson that day. The kids also had a Chinese lunch, and a big thank you goes out to the parents who came to help make it a success!

Currently we are following the Silk Road, the ancient trade route that linked China with the rest of Asia. We will follow that trail to ancient India and discover some of the amazing advances they made. Did you know that ancient Indian surgeons were performing skin grafts and using sterilized instruments by 400 C.E.? India is also the birthplace of two of the world’s major religions: Hinduism and Buddhism. We will be exploring the beliefs of all major world religions and discussing where they are predominantly located today. We wrap up our study of ancient Asia with a look at the powerful Persian Empire and some of their most famous leaders, including Cyrus and Darius the Great. Hop on the History Alive train and learn along with us!

Math – Mrs NovotnyThis is a big month for the 6th grade math students! We will be starting our pre-algebra chapter. Students will be introduced to the basics of algebraic expressions and equations. Students will be evaluating algebraic expressions with a technique we call "Plug-n-Chug" and they will be writing algebraic expressions using their clue words for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. We will also be solving one-step equations using inverse operations. The 7th period math class will be working with solving multi-step equations and inequalities.Since all of these algebraic skills involve the use of integers, we have been practicing integers using study cards on our laptops at the beginning of class.

Language Arts – Miss O’Brien and Mrs. ScheiweThe sixth graders have recently finished their study of nouns and have been enjoying a read-aloud of the wonderful fantasy novel, Gossamer by Lois Lowry. Students traveled to the Adventure Stage at the Vittum Theater in Chicago on December 1st to see a play adaptation of this book.

In December, students will be writing literature-response essays which ask them to draw connections between their own experiences and the texts they have read, while at the same time helping them learn to support their ideas with evidence and examples from the stories. Meanwhile, they will further their study of the parts of speech as they continue working to memorize their list of prepositions.

6th Grade ScienceWe are creating our plate boundary projects where 6th graders

build divergent and convergent boundaries. Projects should be

able to have motion and also show convection in the mantle. We

will be doing most of the building in class after Thanksgiving. For

more information, download the Plate Project grading sheet off the

homework website.

We have also

started learning

about how plates

form earthquakes

and volcanoes. We

have visited the

National

Geographic

interactive internet

program called

Forces of Nature

that

demonstrates how

earthquakes form. At

www.iknowthat.com,

Mrs. Pilch found a

wonderful website that

shows how epicenters are

formed above the focus of

an earthquake. This is a

fun way to see how

earthquakes start and travel

through the earth.

HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS

Spotlight on Sixth Grade (cont.)

After earthquakes,

we will investigate

how plate

boundaries and other

geologic formations

can create

volcanoes. We will

research some of the

more famous

volcanoes, such as

Vesuvius in Italy, Mt.

St. Helens and

Krakatau.Mt. Saint Helens, in 1982. Notice how

the original volcanic mountain is now

gone, yet a new volcanic formation is

forming and venting. Mt. St. Helens will

continue to be active as long as the Juan

De Fuca plate keeps subducting under

the Pacific Northwest states of

Washington, Oregon and California.

Crater Lake in Oregon is actually

misnamed. This is a caldera, a

volcanic cave-in that occurs after

the top of a volcano weakens after

an eruption.

HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS

Spotlight on Sixth Grade (cont.)

HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS

Spotlight on Seventh Grade

In the month of December, some classes will be reading Avi’s Nothing But the Truth. During this unit, students will be studying persuasion and persuasive writing. Students will explore different persuasive techniques in both the media and literature. Among other activities, the class will be divided into ad teams and will create an original ad project. After finishing the novel, students will incorporate their knowledge of persuasion in a response to literature. Also, this month, all classes will continue a pronoun unit in our grammar studies. In PAL language arts, students will be beginning to work on their culminating research project for the Us and Them nonfiction unit. During this unit, students have been studying issues of intolerance in American’s history. After break, they will work in teams to create an iMovie/documentary to teach others about a specific issue of intolerance that interests them. Topics include all types of intolerance, ranging from religious to racial and ethnic intolerance. Along with researching the topic in depth, students will be writing scripts for their original documentary. Students are learning valuable note-taking skills, using their knowledge of works cited, while learning about important issues. In an era of increasing diversity and divisiveness, my hope is that this unit will help students recognize the importance of working to respect and appreciate the identities of others.

Note to PAL parents: In the upcoming weeks, I will be sending home information to look for parent volunteers who might be available to help once we begin filming (December 9-11). Also, stay tuned for information regarding our presentation to parents, which will be right before break.

Math with Mrs. CurranStudents in Pre-Algebra classes are still working their way through the unit 9 Geometry Unit. New concepts they have discussed are transversals, congruency, central angles, and polygon properties. We are currently learning about circumference and transformations. After Unit 9, the students will begin working with different formulas in Unit 10.Advanced Math classes have just finished their unit on Geometry and have currently started their formula unit. Your child will be finding area, surface area, and volume of different polygons and space figures in the Formula unit. It is important for your child to show work. As I told them in class, your work is your story to the math problem. They may use calculators, but they should still have the math process written on their assignment.

with Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Racolta

Mr. Kissel's seventh grade Geography classes have been studying Canada and the Great Lakes. They created documentary style Imovies with their laptops which combined maps, pictures and demographic statistics on a country of their choice. Some of the movies will be posted on the school website in the near future. We looked at Canada in depth by breaking the country into 5 regions and identifying the characteristics (landforms, economy, population) of each region. Most recently, we have studied environmental issues of the Great Lakes and students suggested ways to deal with invasive species like the Asian Carp and zebra mussels. We have developed a new appreciation for the the Great Lakes by writing an essay evaluating whether they are showing signs of improvement or getting worse. In the next few weeks, we will look at the growth of cities worldwide and the issues that result from overcrowding and overpopulation.

Science with Mr. A

The 7th graders have just finished their Simple Machines and Physics examination and are about to switch to Cells, Genetics, and Heredity. Before they do, we will be doing a little research project on science career exploration. The students will get a chance to examine any career they want, as long as it deals with some sort of science. They will learn how to do either a formal MLA Research Report, which is used in high school and college, or will learn how to use the computer program, Keynote, and create an oral presentation.

HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS

Spotlight on Seventh Grade

with Mr. Kissel

The 8th Grade Team

Language Arts - Mrs. BabcockMrs. Babcock’s classes will continue to use short stories and novel units to review and reinforce a variety of literary terms and the elements of literature. Students will be demonstrating their understanding of how an author uses these literary terms and the elements of literature throughout the quarter in their oral presentations, as well as in their writing of essays and narratives. These techniques will help students improve their own writing, along with the writing skills they learn from the Six Traits of Writing program. The focus in December is on learning how to research, prepare, and deliver a good speech. The students will be using these same skills later on in the school year when they work on their 8th grade research project. This month students will start the beginning stages of their research for their 8th grade research paper. As always, spelling and grammar will be intertwined within the various language arts activities. The focus in grammar is on the parts of speech, capitalization, and sentence punctuation. Students will also be creating a keynote presentation for their December book report.

Language Arts - Mrs. SchweizerThe students in Mrs. Schweizer's Language Arts classes spent time in November working on descriptive essays that focused on a dominant impression of a place. The dominant impression provided the basis for our thesis statement, and colorful, specific word choice was encouraged to add sensory details to the piece of writing. We also discussed simple and complex sentences, sentence openings, and using variety to make our sentences interesting. In December, we'll continue to focus on the Six Traits of Writing as we write about a variety of prompts before writing essays at the EXPLORE testing at LT on December 5th.

The students in Mrs. Schweizer's classes shared their book reports through posters, oral presentations, and essays at the end of November. We added many more titles to our "Great Books" list! Our next book report will be due on January 28th. During December, the classes will read The Giver, by Lois Lowry. This book is set in the future in a world where everything seems perfect. yet emotion is absent. We'll discuss our versions of a perfect world, and whether a world without emotion and memory is the perfect way to live.

Academic vocabulary words for November were sensory detail, thesis, connotation, denotation, alliteration, onomatopoeia, colloquialism, and soliloquy.

The 8th Grade Team (cont.)

Social Studies - Mr. SteeleIn December, Mr. Steele’s social studies classes will be doing an in-depth study of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the 12-day hunt for John Wilkes Booth afterwards. As a class, we will read the book Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James Swanson. This book tells the compelling story of the assassination and the manhunt for the killers. As we read the book, the students will be compiling a list of “fascinating” facts that they gather while reading the book. The book will give the students a good sense of how our country dealt with the death of the president who had just helped to reunite the country, and how people responded once they realized that one of the most popular actors in the country had organized the whole plan.

The book has many great pictures from the time period that we will analyze as a class. Below is one of many prints that was made after the assassination. Rival publishers wanted to be the first to get their print of the assassination out to the public. Because of this rush to publish, the images were often highly dramatic but inaccurate in their portrayal of what happened that night. As you look at this particular, try to find some of the inaccuracies with your son or daughter.

The 8th Grade Team (cont.)

During the month of December regular 8th grade classes will be starting the study of solving linear equation using the four rules of algebra. The work to be shown is very important in algebra and will be stressed in class. Students will be taking notes to refer back to while completing homework in order to ensure the proper work is being shown. Students will be beginning their preparation for the ISAT test through worksheets and the use of the Geometer’s Sketchpad computer program. The second quarter project, “How much is Room 201 Worth?” will also be completed before the winter break.

During the month of December the Advanced 8th grade class will be completing their study of inequalities that include solving single and multi-step inequalities, solving compound inequalities, solving inequalities with absolute values, and graphing inequalities in two variables. The first semester exam will be given on January 13th. Students will be given information about the exam before winter break.

I am very excited to announce over half of the 8th grade will be participating in the Math-A-Thon benefiting St. Jude’s Research Hospital located in Memphis, Tennessee. Pledge envelopes and the books will be distributed before winter break. Thanks to all who have chosen to participate. I am once again overwhelmed by the support of the Highlands community.

Mathematics - Mrs. Funk

Science - Mr. ZemanIn science we just completed the human biology unit and the culminating lab; the shark dissection.

This month ushers in a new era in 8th grade science; Chemistry. The students will begin to learn the new chemical language and are about to dive in to the periodic table of elements. We will use hands-on labs, atomic models, and our minds to explore the wonderful world of chemistry.

Reading Workshop - Mrs. Sheers

Reading workshop students in all three grade levels finished their second novel before Thanksgiving. In addition, all grade levels have been concentrating on improving their writing skills. Sixth graders completed an interview project; seventh graders wrote personal narratives; and eighth graders completed persuasive compositions.After Thanksgiving, sixth graders will read Weasel, a novel of historical fiction. Seventh graders will read a humorous account of the teenaged years of novelist Gary Paulson, How Angel Peterson Got his Name. Eighth graders will be reading Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, a detailed account of evidence in the slaying of Abraham Lincoln.Happy holidays to everyone! Don’t forget that books and bookstore cards would make wonderful holiday presents for your children.

PERFORMANCE TEAM

Dans les classes de français…..December in the French classes will bring discussion of holiday celebrations and French holiday customs in addition to our daily vocabulary and grammar studies. Students will be learning some French holiday songs to share with the school before our winter break.The Sixth Grade French classes will be winding up the first semester with animal vocabulary and descriptive adjectives. The Seventh Grade French classes will be talking about food and French money: what to order, how to order it and how to pay for it. Their Family Tree and Family Album projects will be decorating the bulletin boards inside and outside of the French room. Check them out!In the Eighth Grade French classes we will continue talking about Paris, but we will also begin talking about shopping and clothing vocabulary. (What is a visit to Paris without shopping?!) Just a reminder that the Eighth Grade Paris projects will be due on January 8, 2010.Seventh and Eighth Grade French students will also talk a bit about cathedral architecture and create their own tissue paper “stained glass” rose windows. Expect these to come home before the holiday break. Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année à tous!!!

with Ms. Potokar6th grade The new group of 6th grade Spanish students will be introduced to the greetings, classroom objects, animals, and colors. They will be developing basic conversational skills. They will be creating a slideshow presentation on animals combining the grammar skills of agreeement and adjective placement. They will also learn to discuss their plans using the simple future tense.

7th GradeThe 7th graders have just started Unit 2, Chapter 2. This unit’s vocabulary consists of food and pasttimes. The students will learn how to talk about their likes and dislikes. They will be able to give their opinions and construct more complex sentences. We will also be discussing “las posadas” which is a holiday celebration that occurs in December in various Spanish-speaking countries.

8th GradeThe 8th grade students will be completing their unit on weather, vacation and Puerto Rico this month. They have just finished studying direct object pronouns and are now able to incorporate them in their speech. They will now be learning “tener” expressions and the present progressive tense. The students will be creating a weather news forecast video. They will assume the role of meterologists and will report the weather of 4 cities in the United States using imovie.

PERFORMANCE TEAM (cont.)

6th Grade Music Block 2The sixth grade students have finished the Rhythm Unit and the composing unit by learning scales and writing melodies in the keys of C, F, and G. Finally, we are building upon our melodies by playing chords on the guitars. The students have been learning a variety of chords and familiar folksongs to conclude the block.

7th and 8th Grade ChorusThe seventh and eighth grade students will begin chorus in preparation for the Winter Concert on Thursday, January 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the middle school lunchroom. We will perform a variety of songs celebrating using poetry from familiar writers as Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mother Teresa, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In addition, we will have some special guests join us on the concert—Mrs. Rebecca Elpus and the LTHS Junior Madrigals. Please mark your calendars and join us. I am looking forward to hearing their voices resound throughout December and January.

The month of December brings about the first concert of the year for the middle school band. The Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band and String, Chamber and Concert Orchestras will join together on Thursday, December 10th at 7:30pm in the Middle School gym for the Band and Orchestra Concert. We have a very exciting program planned, so please bring your family and friends and enjoy a concert featuring your children’s hard work so far this year.

The 8th grade band members and the chamber orchestra will be visiting Bethlehem Woods Retirement Community on December 4th. This is a great way for us to share the joy of music with members of our community.

The First Quarter practice challenge came to a close and the Trumpet section was declared the winner for first quarter and enjoyed a doughnut party at the end of October. The competition continues throughout the year, so work hard as a section and win that doughnut party!

LT Solo and Ensemble information will be coming out soon. All 6th, 7th and 8th grade band members can perform a solo or join with other band members to form an ensemble that performs at the solo and ensemble festival in March. The students will be receiving the information and application forms before Christmas break. Applications will be due in January. Please see me if you are interested in participating. This will take place at LT South Campus on Saturday, March 13th from 8:30-12pm.

Basketball Pep Band will begin rehearsing and performing at the Boys Basketball games again in December. Schedules are posted and may be picked up in the band room. We will always welcome new comers to the group. Remember, you get extra credit for every game!

Music with Mrs. O’Reilly

Hornet’s Nest – NovemberPhysical Education – Mrs. Eskra, Mr. Kolar, Mr. Muys

The physical education classes are nearing the end of the volleyball unit. During this unit, the students are put into co-ed teams to play games and participate in a fitness activity on the stage. When they are on the stage, the students wear heart rate monitors and are encouraged to stay in their target heart rate zone. Team records are kept and there will be a tournament at the end of the unit to determine a class champion. The unit will conclude with a written test and we will move on to our next unit, basketball.

PERFORMANCE TEAM (cont.)

6th GradeThe 6th grade Health classes just finished off presenting Keynote presentations on Human Growth and Development. The students were assigned groups, and presented a lesson from the textbook regarding different topics. The students became the teacher for the day by lecturing, providing notes, and engaging the class in an activity. We have moved on to nutrition, and have recently been analyzing the foods we eat everyday and what is in them. The students will understand the science, grouping, and categories behind food after the unit is over. They will be experiencing various activities during this unit.

7th Grade Health 1 has disappeared before our eyes. After moving onto talking about stress and stressors in our lives, we had some very in depth conversations about stress in a middle school students’ life. The students created a stress brochure that compiled all of the information they learned about stress. The students participated in 2 days of meditation and relaxation as a group example of stress relief. We moved onto talking about depression and suicide, and experienced some activities to prevent and help people from experiencing these dreadful times in their lives. During each day in this unit the students were encouraged to compliment another student or perform a random act of kindness. We are finishing off the block discussing relationships and interactions with family, friends, or significant others. The movie “Pay It Forward” will be shown in class as a culmination of all the topics discussed in class.

8th Grade Health 1 The students just finished up talking about pregnancy, and created presentations about the various stages of a pregnancy. The students will be finishing off the block discussing contraceptive methods and sexually transmitted diseases. While discussing all of these topics the classes have been conversing about healthy and responsible decisions teens should be making in their lives. The students will be engaging in various activities to simulate these topics and the repercussions they have on a teenage life.

Health with Mr. Yena

PERFORMANCE TEAM (cont.)

6th grade classes are all in Intro to Musical Theater for block 3…… they will rejoin regular block classes for block 4.

7th grade Painting:This block starts on December 7! Students will be working with self-portraits with a twist, learning about Georgia O’Keefe and her style with flowers. They will implement what they have learned into a flower painting using watercolors, or acrylic paint on glass. Finally, students will learn about batik. This is a way to paint with wax and dye…… I am really looking forward to seeing how some of these new projects turn out!

8th grade Drawing:This class students will take their drawing skill up a notch! Students in this block will work with the grid method of drawing. They will work on drawing black and white self-portraits. They will then chose a subject from nature, and create a pastel rendering of that subject. If they complete both projects, students will have their choice of drawing project with approval.

Art Club:We have started working on the Empty Bowls project…. we are in full swing! Students are learning about basic hand-building techniques, and contributing towards a greater cause.

ART with Mrs. Cavell0

Yearbook Cover Contest-Mrs. Lanciloti & Mrs. PilchAre you interested in designing the 2009-10 Yearbook cover? Use your laptop to design it. The cover design must be done digitally. You can use Pages or Adobe Fireworks. If you need copies of the Hornet, they are located in home2-read only-Hornet Graphics. Submit your design to: home2-dropbox-Lanciloti. Cover designs are due by January 28th. Email Mrs. Lanciloti or Mrs. Pilch if you have questions.

What’s the Buzz-Mrs. LancilotiThe first issue of What’s the Buzz hit lunch tables on Nov 23rd. All students received a copy of the newspaper. It can also be downloaded from the school website. Students submitted outstanding, creative articles and graphics. Thanks to our editors for their hard work. If you are interested in working on the second issue of What’s the Buzz, our next meeting will be January 7th. Watch your email for times and location.

Service Club NewsThe Middle School Service Club's first project of the year -- a combined effort with the 7th and 8th grade girls' basketball teams -- was a HUGE success!  The money collected at our bake sale fundraisers at the girls' basketball home games was donated to the "Nothing But Nets" organization, which provides insecticide-treated bed nets to families in Africa in order to prevent the spread of malaria.  This year we collected $1160.00 total!  Thanks to all who baked, served, or munched on goodies!

In the first two weeks of December, we'll be been pitching in to help with the Food Drive.  The canned goods and nonperishable food items donated will help stock the shelves of a food pantry right in our area so that our neighbors will not go hungry.  We are very grateful to all of the Highlands families who always give so generously to this cause!  Last year, the middle school students brought in 4, 665 pounds of food...  can we top that this year?!

Service Club will soon begin working to produce ceramic bowls for our "Empty Bowls"  fundraiser.  The handcrafted bowls will be available for sale at a special "soup kitchen" dinner in the middle school gym on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, with proceeds benefitting the Greater Chicago Food Depository in order to combat hunger in our area.  Watch for more information coming soon!

Middle School Service Club members:  Watch for email messages from Ms. O'Brien about events and meeting dates for December and January.  We have ambitious projects planned, so we need everyone's help to accomplish our goals!

Looking forward...Keep saving those aluminum pop tabs for our Ronald McDonald House visit in the spring.  Drop them off with Ms. O'Brien in room 152 at any time!

Ms. Jean O'Brien

On November 11th, the Student Council held an assembly in honor of Veterans Day. Local veterans were invited to be our special guests for the program. In attendance were veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. David Moskos, a former Highlands student who served in Iraq was also present. The veterans were honored by the orchestra playing “The Star Spangled Banner, the Show Choir who sang a song about the soldiers who have lost their lives in battle, and the Band played a special version of “My Country Tis of Thee.” Boy Scout Troop 216 presented the colors of the flag, and Michelle Siamis read her contest winning essay, “Why Do We Celebrate Veterans Day?” The assembly was an emotional and educational experience for our middle school.

Looking ahead, our next dance is Friday, January 22nd, from 3:30pm-5:30pm. This is a change from the time of 4pm-6pm on the P.T.C. calendar.