Penn Delco School District Northley Middle School Monthly · 2013. 5. 2. · A color version of...

A color version of this newsletter is available on our website: http://www.pdsd.org/nms/site/default.asp

Penn Delco School District

Northley Middle School Monthly MAY 2013 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10

Principal’s Message

PSSA testing is finally over and we are in the home stretch of the year. The testing, though tiresome, proceeded nicely and the students worked diligently on every section. We have a full schedule of events and ac-tivities to end the year. Northley received, for the 2nd consecutive year, recognition as a National ―Mix-it-Up‖ school. We are being featured on channel 10, Fox news, and Wired 96.5 for our ―Million T-Shirt March Against Bullying.‖ Our 800 students are being joined by community and family as we take a stand against bullying. The 8th graders are looking forward to their final dance at Northley. This year’s theme is Cruising into Your Future. We thank the PTL and parents for making this a special event. All grades will be conducting their end of the year activity so be looking for more details. Current 5th graders will be visiting this month to learn about NMS! There are a number of other exciting events coming up in May, so be sure to visit our website and read the weekly bulle-tins. You are invited to attend our spring drama performance ―Honk‖ on Friday, May 3rd or Saturday, May 4th. Sun Valley will be hosting ―Jazz at the Valley‖ on Tuesday, May 14th. Our NMS jazz club will be performing at the event. On Tuesday, May 21st, we will be hosting our annual Energy Expo in the gym. Students have been working tirelessly on their projects and are focusing on green and renewable energies. Our 7th grade science teachers invite their students’ parents to visit for a ―Day in the Garden.‖ Parents will be able to work alongside their student in the gar-den. Finally, the building renovation will begin at the end of the month. As we approach warmer weather, please monitor the clothing your student selects to wear to school. We ask that you refer to the student dress code in the handbook with particular attention to the acceptable length of shorts, skirts, and the degree to which young ladies tops are revealing. We appreciate your cooperation as we focus our students on learning during the school day. Spring has sprung. Enjoy the beauty of nature.

L. J. Blair

Principal

Northley’s Green Garden Northley’s 7th graders are hard at work planting and tending their Green Garden. Upon returning from Spring Break, students saw their plants had germinated. All plants are growing now and stu-dents are busy tracking their progress. The stu-dents are using the garden to learn about ecosys-tems, both the living and nonliving parts of eco-systems, and how matter and energy cycle through ecosystems. Students also observed how the envi-ronment plays a role in the growth of their garden: they saw their plants get sunburned on an 89 de-gree day! Luckily, the sunburn wasn’t too severe and all plants survived. As we move into May, April’s showers will give the plants the water they need to grow. The seventh grade will be hosting its first Parent Day in the Garden. At the end of May, parents will be invited to join their child’s science class to experience a day in the garden. Students will act as hosts, help their parents perform gardening tasks, and work with their parents to complete the day’s assignments. Please be on the lookout for a flier per-taining to this event within the next week. The garden has expanded its selection this year and is growing a wide variety of peas, kale, radishes, beets, lettuces, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and swiss chards. Once harvested, students will be able to take their produce home or donate it to be sold in Northley’s own Café managed by the Community Based Instruction class. Proceeds will help fund next year’s garden. This year is gearing up to be the most successful gar-den year yet!

Energy Expo It’s almost here! The 4th annual 8th Grade Energy Expo will be held on May 21st. At the Expo, 8th graders create and present to the districts’ 5th graders what they have learned about energy and electricity. Each year the Expo gets bigger and better. We have many new additions. Our newly created Energy Club has been hard at work all year discussing the 3R’s; reduce, reuse and recycle. They have been planning their reused Wawa bottle presentation for the Expo by collecting, cleaning and preparing the bottles. Make sure you visit their exhibit and ask them about it. In addition, we have invited other great Northley groups to partici-pate with us. The Environmental Club will have an exhibit showing all the wonderful things they do and they will have a fun giveaway for the kids. We also invited our Com-

munity Based Instruction/Autistic Support group. They have been working on making Save the Earth bracelets and Love the Earth magnets. These fun crafts will be sold for a nominal fee to help support our Expo. We also invited community members to par-ticipate again. PECO and Covanta always come and share their knowledge of Energy and electricity pro-duction with us in a fun and engaging way. Parents can volunteer and share their expertise in their en-ergy field. Visitors who come to the expo will learn about Energy and its’ many forms.

This year we are including a special one hour evening session, so parents and the commu-nity can come in and have the same great experience our 5th graders enjoy each year. It will be an open house from 5:30 to 6:30 and will be run by our 8th graders. We are really excited about the community participating and our 8th graders want to show off all their hard work. We look forward to seeing you on the 21st!


Page 2 NORTHLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL MONTHLY

PTL Update Spring has finally arrived, and the school year is coming to an end, soon. I just wanted to thank all of you who supported or helped the PTL in any way this year. I truly ap-preciate it! The PTL is busy working on the 8th grade Spring Dance which will be held on May 10th from 7:00-9:00. We are hoping for a great turnout and we are working hard to make it another memorable night for the kids. Our next and last meeting for the year will be held on June 5th at 6:00 in the library. If you are interested in helping out next year, we have plenty of things you can do. We will have sign up sheets for all of our events at our June meeting, so stop by and sign up. We’d love to have more members!

Viking 200 Winners Congratulations to the most recent Viking 200 Winners: 6th grade: Sarah Lawson, Michael Ventura, Ornell Profi, Christian Parker, Josh Dougherty 7th grade: Connor Behrle, Erica Williams, Julia Skwirut, Nick Bailey 8th grade: Austin Jester, Ben Eunson, Othello Kwaidah

Keep Up With Your Student’s Academic Progress

Stay informed about your child's grades by doing one or all of the following: 1. Have your child log into Pinnacle Internet Viewer and review grades to-gether once a week. Use this time to discuss specific assign-ments, as well as any issues your child may be having at school. 2. Log in yourself, often. Go to www.pdsd.org and select "Grades Online" on the left. Click "here" to enter Pinnacle Internet Viewer. Use your child's 6 digit student ID (0#####) and 8 digit birthday (mmddyyyy). Be sure to click on the grade for each class to see individual assign-ments. 3. Sign up for weekly or daily emails. Once logged into Pinnacle Internet Viewer, click "email notification" on the left. Enter your email address and then follow the prompts. You can pick days and times to receive grades by email (ex: Every Friday by 4:00). You may also sign up to receive an email if your child's grade in any class drops below a number of your choice. Staying informed is key to helping your child be successful in school. If you are having any trouble accessing grades online, con-tact your child’s Counselor.

Communications Update

Fourth quarter Communications

students have started honing content

area skills through creative technol-

ogy-based projects. Seventh and

Eighth Grade Communications II

students are currently using a comic

-generating website to showcase

their understanding of non-verbal

communication and subtext. Sixth

Grade Communications I students

recently used PhotoBooth to create

and interpret non-verbal messages.

http://www.pdsd.org


Page 3

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10

6th grade Nicki Sayre [email protected] 610-497-6300 ext 3355

7th grade Kevin Siegel [email protected] 610-497-6300 ext 3332

8th grade Gina Yannarell [email protected] 610-497-6300 ext 3336

Get to Know Your Guidance Counselors From The Nurse’s Desk SAVE THE DATE!! Tuesday, May 7, 2013 is ―World Asthma Day‖. To celebrate this, we will have an Asthma awareness event here at Northley. This event will be in conjunction with Crozer Chester Medical Center and Keystone Mercy Health System. There will be many presenters on site with information to help us learn more about Asthma. We will learn about what Asthma is, what can trigger an Asthma attack, what we can do to manage it and how smoking can affect someone with Asthma. There will be interactive stations and giveaways too! We will also be having a poster contest with prizes for the best

posters. This is shaping up to be an excellent event. Hope to see you there!

STEM Essay Winners Congratulations go out to four Northley Stu-

dents who were named winners in the Boeing

2013 “Diversity through Science, Technol-

ogy, Engineering, and Math (STEM)” Essay

Contest. The Winners are Dominique Schae-

fer, Sarah Lawson, Casey Purfield, and Nas-

sir Ali. The students and a parent attended an

awards luncheon on May 1st, where they

learned what place they earned. After the

presentation, the students and parents toured

the V22 Osprey plant. This is a great

achievement and a wonderful opportunity for

our students. Stay tuned next month for an

update on the winners and their experiences

at Boeing!

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


Attendance Policy Reminder


Truancy: Overview of Legal Responsibilities 1. Student is absent—Absence is considered unlawful until School District receives a written acceptable excuse per District policy.

2. If 3 calendar days pass after the absence with no excuse (or acceptable excuse per School District policy), the absence is permanently

considered unlawful.

3. School District personnel (principal/teacher in public/private school and private teacher (tutor)) are required to report cases of habit-

ual truancy (3 days, or equivalent, of unlawful absences without lawful excuse).

4. If a student is absent 10 consecutive days, the School District must drop the child from active membership roll unless:

a. a legal excuse is provided, or

b. the School District is pursuing compulsory attendance prosecution.

5. Up to 10 cumulative lawful absences during a school year are permitted; all absences beyond the 10 day limit require a

physician's excuse.

Environmental Club News The Environmental Club recently visited Highland Orchards where students went on a Spring Growing Tour. They learned about the various types of fruit trees, helped the farmers with techniques to deter pests and other animals that may harm the crops, and enjoyed apple cider donuts and apple cider. A good time was had by all, and students learned a great deal about sustainable farming techniques, limiting the use of pesticides, and all that goes into growing massive amounts of crops. In other Environmental Club news, for the first time ever, Environmental Club will have a presence at the upcoming Energy Fair. Club members have been working diligently on an activity in which the elemen-tary students can learn how to reuse every day materials to make crafts and useful household items rather than contributing to the growing piles of trash in the landfills. The elementary students will be able to see examples of this and take directions home for how to make them on their own.

Music News The students in the music department put on two outstanding performances for the spring season of 2013. The band concert was held just before spring break on March 21st. The 6th Grade Concert Band selections included ―Pinnacle‖ and ―Celtic Air and Dance.‖ The 7th and 8th Grade Symphonic Band impressed with selections such as ―Through Darkened Sleepy Hollow‖ and a foray into the world of electronic music called ―The Ma-chine‖ where the band played along to a track. The chorus concert was held just after spring break on April 4th. The 6th grade chorus selections included the playful folk song ―Hi! Ho! The Rattlin’ Bog‖ and ―Come In From the Firefly Darkness,‖ which featured student accompanist Abigail Das. The honors choir performed two selections: the Renais-sance madrigal ―Now Is the Month of Maying,‖ and ―Lightning!‖ The 7th and 8th grade chorus selections in-cluded a setting of the familiar tune of Salley Gardens, ―Song of the River,‖ and the ―Dies Irae‖ from Mozart’s Requiem. Both concerts were well-attended and well-received! Additionally, the 6th graders wrapped up their spring season

on April 12th with the 6th Grade Celebration Night—both

ensembles (band and chorus) had the opportunity to work

with clinicians from West Chester University, which provided a wonderful learning ex-

perience for the students. This was followed by a great party in the cafeteria. The 7th and

8th grade ensembles are looking forward to their upcoming adjudication performance at

Dorney Park on May 17th. Finally, all of our student ensembles are still plugging away to

prepare for the final concert of the year—the Pops Concert—which will be held at Sun

Valley High School on June 6th. This is arguably their favorite concert of the year—you

won’t want to miss it!

Congratulations to Ivy Gong and Haley Lofland

for their winning entries in the Aston Library

Bookmark and Art Contests!

Ivy Gong Haley Lofland


Page 5 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10

From the Library Desk Northley’s Library Renovations The library is scheduled for renovation this summer. All library books and materials need to be packed up and moved while work is being done. Please note the following dates for student check-outs and returns: Friday, May 24 is the last day for checking out books. Wednesday, June 5 is the day ALL library materials are due. Parents, please encourage your students to return their books on time. If your child receives a fine for a lost book, payment should be made by June 14. Checks for lost books can be written to NMS. Since NMS students won’t have access to our library this summer, remember that the Aston branch of the Delaware County Public Library is open. Students will be able to find their summer reading books at the public library. Visit their website at www.delcolibraries.org, and visit the library at 3270 Concord Road, Aston. Summer Reading Counts Northley students will be able to take Reading Counts quizzes this summer at Sun Valley High School. The dates and times have not been determined. Check Northley’s website for updates.

POSTER MANIA in ART CLASS! Art For a Cause! In April and May our focus in Art has been on using Art as a tool for communication and social change. Throughout history, artists have used their skills to draw attention to causes closest to them, and Northley artists are no exception. April has been Autism Awareness Month. So many of our students have had Autism touch their lives, whether it's a neighbor, friend, sibling, class-mate, or even part of our own lives personally. Autism effects 1 in 88 students now, and that number my reach as high as 1 in 50 by year's end. We believe that understanding and awareness will help others to be better citizens, friends, and relatives and to better assist our classmates on the autistic spectrum as well. We used our posters to help spread awareness of this baffling and often frustrating condition. May is Asthma Awareness Month. In conjunction with Northley's "Asthma Fair"-- to be held on May 7th- World Asthma Day-- and with the sponsor-ship of several local healthcare organizations, we are having a poster contest-- and have created posters to help bring attention to the cause, treatment and understanding of juvenile asthma, which currently effects 1 in 12 American school children. Watch this space...next month we will report on our big winners!

Callum Grealy Gr. 6 Brittany Valentine Gr. 7 Megan Bowen Gr.

http://www.delcolibraries.org



Annual Career Day and College Fair - Friday May 3 NMS is gearing up for its main career awareness event! Middle school is the most crucial time for students to gain awareness about their future and the world of work. Students spend much time in the "middle years" of their academic career, figuring out where they fit and developing their identity. This time of personal growth and development allows students to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and areas of interest. Our goal for students is to ex-plore the many options that exist and help them find opportunities through coursework, extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, or classroom projects, to gain the skills needed for higher education and the world of work.

6th Grade: Students visit four career speakers and participate in activities to build career awareness. Selected individuals or groups are invited to sell or market their business con-cepts at an Entrepreneur Fair held at the end of the day. 7th Grade: Students board buses to visit a place of employment in the surrounding area. Students will select their trip preferences at an upcoming assembly. They return to participate in career development activities and join the 6th grade for a keynote speaker.In 7th grade, students will be visiting local job sites in the morning in one of the 16 PA career clusters. Students will attend an assembly at which they will see a slideshow of the various sites. They will then pick where they would like to go based on their interests and abili-ties. So far, the following employers have signed up to partner with us for this wonderful experience for our students: Michael Baker, Inc., Crozer Chester Medical Center, Camden Riversharks, Sun East Federal Credit Union, Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, Covanta

Energy, ECovanta, Delaware County Courthouse, Brandywine River Museum, PA State Police, West Chester Veterinary Medical Centers, Rizzieri Aveda School, Dever Architects, and Longview Farm – Greener Partners. In the afternoon, students will complete classroom activities and listen to a keynote speaker from a local charitable foundation. 8th Grade: A student run college fair is assembled where peers can visit select college and university "booths" to find information about location, stu-dent population, majors, student activities, and campus life. A few admissions representatives from area schools are also on hand. A keynote speaker from the Delaware County Technical School discusses careers in the technical field and options for attending the tech school while at Sun Valley. If any parents or community members are interested in coming to NMS to speak about their career, or hosting a small group of students at their place of employment, please contact Ms. Sayre at [email protected] or Mr. Siegel at [email protected]

Autism Partnership Program The Autism Partnership Program has been busy doing activities with their new buddies. They have participated in game days to practice social skills, lunch bunches to encourage camaraderie and acceptance within their peer group, as well an an Autism Awareness Activity. When asked what their favorite part of the program is, Amanda Soscia stated, "I like getting to play with them because they may not have as many friends at school. I want them to feel welcome, happy, and have kids to play with." Molly McGroarty says, "I like interacting with the boys because they get extra company. It makes me feel good and I like helping them!" When asked why this program is important, David Crowell says, "It helps everyone realize and learn that Autistic kids are regular kids, they just have different needs." Madison Koons says, "It helps make more people aware of Autism and how it affects people and I am learning a lot so I can teach other people at school about our new friends." Amanda Neubauer says, "The autusic students can play with us and not feel left out. My favorite part is getting to sit down one on one with a student and play!" Natalie Chambers said, "They still get treated like regular kids. They just get different work and they are getting a great education. Mrs. Scharrer and the other teachers in the room have taught us to use less words when talking to them but they can learn just like we do!" This is another excellent opportunity for all of our students to come together to better understand each other and the world around them!

Students working together to make candy to sell at the 6th grade Entrepre-

neur Fair during Career Day.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]



3rd Marking Period Homeroom Competition Winners

Congratulations to the following homerooms for their victories in this

month’s Homeroom Competition. The Homeroom Competitions are de-

signed to build community within the students’ Homerooms, while also

building school spirit and working toward a common good. For the 3rd

Marking Period, students participated in a Flyer’s spirit day, a Boxtop

collection program, College questions, and a Northley Spirit Day. Con-

gratulations to Homeroom 207, Mrs. Ventura’s Homeroom, in 6th grade;

Homeroom 119, Mr. Kaufhold’s Homeroom, in 7th Grade; and Home-

room 109, Mrs. Mier’s Homeroom in 8th Grade!

Homeroom 207

Homeroom 119 Homeroom 109

Bringing Literature to Life in a Powerful Way After reading Number the Stars, the sixth grade had the pleasure of having guest speaker, Arnold Vanderhorst, a Holocaust survivor, share his inspiring story on Friday, April 12th. Mr. Vanderhorst was born in Holland in 1935. The Germans invaded Holland in 1940. He had to wear a yellow star and was tormented by his classmates. When he was six years old, his mother dropped him off to a neighbor and then gave her-self up to the Nazis. He never saw his parents again. Mr. Vanderhorst lived with various foster families to avoid being cap-tured. After the war, he was sent to England to a camp where he was able to recuperate. He was then sent to various or-phanages until he finally immigrated to America in 1963. This is an experience that the students may never get to have again because of the age of living Holocaust survivors. The students were very respectful during the assembly and inspired by his life events. We are very appreciative of Mr. Vander-horst’s presentation and helping the students bring Number the Stars to life!

SUMMER ART CLASSES AT NORTHLEY! The Penn-Delco School District will be offering three terrific Art summer classes for boys and girls in grades 6-12. "Teen Painting" is for both boys and girls, and focuses on 2D design, optical illusions, and basic painting skills. "Teen Painting 2" will further develop those skills, and we will create more complex paintings and portraits. In "Jewelry Making Workshop" we will be creating wearable, cool and funky art from recycled materials, jewelry findings, clay, beads, and more! Keep your eyes open for the course catalog- coming soon-- both in your mail and on our district website at www.pdsd.org --- all courses will be held in late June and early July... email Miss Sharp at [email protected] for more information!

http://www.pdsd.orgmailto:[email protected]



Spotlight on...

Technology… Transforming Teaching and Learning By Barbara Hagerty, Instructional Technology Coordinator

Online learning has become an important aspect to education. Higher education has been using online tools for a number of years to share con-tent and have students collaborate on projects. Having the ability to do so in the K-12 environment, will better prepare our students for college. As higher education has continued to utilize online learning, a number of businesses have also incorporated it to train their employees. In addi-tion to training, businesses can work globally through the use of online collaboration.

In Penn-Delco School District, we use My Big Campus. My Big Campus is a safe, social networking site that allows students and teachers to share information and work together. My Big Campus allows for online file storage, submission of schoolwork to the teacher, collaboration among peers, and is monitored for inappropriate use and language. If you have access to the Internet, you have access to My Big Campus. Links to access the website are listed below in the Home/School Connection. In addition to the website, there are mobile apps available for both Android and iOS devices that can be downloaded for free.

A new feature to My Big Campus is the Parent Portal. The Parent Portal allows you to view the groups that your student(s) are a part of, view their schoolwork, and their online activity. To sign up for a free Parent Portal account, visit our parent resource page at http://www.pdsd.org//site/Default.aspx?PageID=4445. We welcome you to be part of the My Big Campus online community as we continue to prepare our students for college and career readiness.

Home/School Connection

My Big Campus App available through Android and iTunes Market for free

My Big Campus website for student access: http://www.mybigcampus.com/

My Big Campus website for parent access: http://parents.mybigcampus.com/

Penn-Delco School District Digital Citizenship page: http://www.pdsd.org//site/Default.aspx?PageID=4444

Parking Lot Safety Reminders

Drop off and pick up in parking lot between NMS and the Administration building,

only.

Please do not stop in the bus lanes during AM or PM bus runs.

***Please observe NO PARKING/FIRE LANE designations in front of the

building when picking up from after school activities.***

Please drive slowly— Our children's safety is at stake.

Northley Writers win Awards Congratulations to the following students, who were named as winners in the DCIU’s Young Authors’ contest. They will be recognized at a county-wide awards ceremony to be held at Northley, this month: Brendan McGinn Lou Fidalgo Samantha Burke Jessica Fisher Lauren Langschwager Janice Park Gillian Keener

As the weather begins to get warmer, we wanted to share this reminder with our families. No flip flops, open backed shoes, shorts/skirts that aren’t down to one’s finger-tips, tank tops, shirts that expose one’s midriff, shirts that are low-cut, or torn clothing (jeans with any tears or holes) are permitted to be worn. Thank you for your cooperation with this policy.

Dress Code Reminder

http://www.pdsd.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=4445http://www.pdsd.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=4445http://www.mybigcampus.com/http://parents.mybigcampus.com/http://www.pdsd.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=4444



This year, the Giant Card total was $3,767.49! This is twice as much as

last year! All of the funds raised go towards the Great things the PTL

does for your children at NMS. Thank you for your support!


May 1: 8th Grade Class Picture – 8:15 a.m. May 3: Career Day May 3: Drama Club ―Honk, Jr.‖ Performance – 7:00 p.m. May 4: Drama Club ―Honk, Jr.‖ Performance – 7:00 p.m. May 6: PTL General Meeting - 6:00 p.m. in Library May 6: Incoming 6th Grade Student Orientation – 7:00 May 7: Progress Reports Mailed

May 10: Early Dismissal - 12:30 p.m. – Professional Devel-opment for Teachers May 10: Spring Dance (8th Grade) – 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. May 14: "Jazz in the Valley" SVHS & NMS Jazz Ensembles @ SVHS – 7:00 p.m. May 24: Field Day (Time TBD)

Important Dates

Northley Middle School 2801 Concord Rd Aston, PA 19014 610-497-6300 x3400 www.pdsd.org

6th Blue & Gold: The sixth grade hallway is all abuzz with learn-ing. The students just concluded the PSSA tests, and we were all impressed with their efforts! In just a few weeks the students will be preparing to move on to a new adventure in 7th grade. In Reading class, students are actively engaged in reading the novel Hatchet, by Gary Paul-son. They will be working on a self selected cul-minating project to demonstrate their understand-ing of the novel’s concepts. In English class, the students will be sharpening their skills learning about argumentative writ-ing. This type of writing allows students to per-suade a group to believe their point of view. The Social Studies classes are going back in time to study Ancient Greece. They are completing the Greek mythology unit. They will be creating a research project to further demonstrate their knowledge of ancient times in Greece. In Science, students are soaring above the clouds to further demonstrate their understanding of cloud formation, dew point, and relative humidity. It is a real balancing act in Math when students are exploring algebraic expressions! Math stu-dents will be exploring algebraic concepts by working on the Comparing Quantities mod-ule. They will discover, represent, analyze, and generalize a variety of patterns with tables, graphs, words, and symbolic rules. They will developing an initial conceptual understanding about the different uses of variables. On May 23rd the students will be attending a field trip to see a Blue Rocks game as a culminating activity for sixth grade.

7th Blue & Gold

Gold Team Student of the Month: Casey Purfield Gold Team Viking of the Month: Alexis Colasante Blue Team Students of the Month English – Anthony Soscia Math – Ben Kirk Reading – Rebecca Gomes Science – Emma Robinson Social Studies – Shane O’Neill Now that PSSA testing is all wrapped up, our students are putting the finishing touches on the

novel, Hoot. Students engaged in lively discus-sion about protected animals. 7th grade Reading students will be brushing up on their oral presentation skills! They will be giving speeches about an interesting and fun topic – themselves! They will also be sharing their knowl-edge of a ―How – To‖ process. Math classes have finished working in the Build-ing Formulas Unit and are now exploring the Triangles and Beyond Unit. They have been working on many hands on activities throughout the unit to help them explore a variety of top-ics. Students are studying the Pythagorean Theo-rem and are investigating triangles and quadrilat-erals. In this unit, students are looking at proper-ties of parallel lines, and learning the difference between parallelograms, rectangles, rhombuses, and squares. In English, students are exploring the meaning of advocacy, looking at important animal rights ad-vocates, identifying the qualities of an advocate and ways of advocating for a cause. In response to examining several important animal rights is-sues, students will have the opportunity to engage in advocacy by selecting a cause and writing a letter to a government official. Following the advocacy unit, students will engage in a group project in which they will develop a utopian soci-ety and present the governmental, social, and educational components of their ideal world. This project is an extension of the novel, The Giver, which all students have or will have read. Finally, we will work with Reading to exam-ine the world of myths and legends by comparing and contrasting ancient mythical heroes with modern day super heroes. Students will have the opportunity to choose from three projects: a graphic novel, movie script, or research paper that compares ancient and modern day heroes. In Science, we are exploring various areas of ecol-ogy and the environment. Students have been studying how organisms in an ecosystem interact with other organisms and the environment. Stu-dents are also grasping how matter and energy support life within an ecosystem and how humans and human population growth impact the envi-ronment. Students are absorbing our ecology unit by studying hands-on how organisms interact, how matter and energy move, and how humans impact the environment through our Seventh Grade Green Garden’s ecosystem! In Social Studies, we are creating story quilts that tell about the trials and tribulations of slav-ery. The quilts will have pictures that emulate

slave life on the plantations and their escape through the Underground Railroad to freedom.

8th Blue

In Spanish, we are finishing chapter 5, our chapter on sports. We’ve learned to conjugate ―stem-changing‖ or ―boot‖ verbs as well as to express our likes, interests, and dislikes. We will end the chapter on a cultural note, learning about Roberto Clemente, a baseball player from Puerto Rico who played baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In Social Studies, we are sharpening our note-taking skills as we examine the trends, people, and events of the 1920s and 1930s. High School readiness skills are the focus as students learn how to take useable notes. Connections are being made between the spending habits of the 1920s, including the popularity and abundance of avail-able credit, and those of recent history. Students are being asked to find similarities and differences between the economic downturn of the 1930s and today. We will also look at the differing opinions on how to fix the economic issues of the thirties, and the successes and failures of those pro-grams. Students will complete sensory figures from the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depres-sion, and The New Deal . This month, Science has been focused on energy transformations, starting with the sun, and leading up to how electricity is made. The students have been working on their energy source project to prepare for the Energy Expo. Students will be preparing for the Expo in these coming weeks!

8th Gold:

Congratulations to all of our eighth graders at Northley for their success in raising almost $1500 in our Pennies for Patients campaign. Money from this fundraiser, inspired by our grade-wide reading of Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie, will be turned over to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We salute the following Gold Team students who were recognized in recent team meetings for their accomplishments. March awards went to Gioia Maiale, Student of the Month; Katie Walker, Vi-king; Kayla Graver, English; Jack Connolly, Math; Nicole DeStefano, Reading; Kelly Pflugh, Science; Victoria Vinson, Social Studies; Artricia Nou, Spanish. In April, certificates of recognition were awarded to Montana Miles; Student of the Month; Steve Blasakovich, Viking; Isabelle Glatts, Eng-lish; Christian Bateman, Math; Brandon Saul, Reading; Ashley Marano, Science; Jessica Oberg, Social Studies, Liz Luoma, Spanish.

Penn Delco School District Northley Middle School Monthly · 2013. 5. 2. · A color version of...

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