November 3-8, Reminders

This is a reminder of some of events coming the week of 11/3 through 11/8:

• Equations Team Practice: Monday, 5th and 6th; Tuesday, 7th and 8th.
• Book Fair: Monday through Friday, including during conferences.
• Conferences: Wednesday and Thursday
  
• Rake-a-Difference: Monday and Tuesday
• Hat Day for Service Club: Wednesday
• Half Day: Thursday (afternoon conferences)

The Changed World

Our teacher told us that we were getting new social studies books. She also said that we had to take care of them because our previous books had been over 15 years old! I think we might need to make these books last a long time.

We are learning about climate and landforms.

Social studies is the last thing that we do in the day so every one is tired and ready to go home. Some people in my class had trouble fitting the new book in their desk with all of our other books, because that book is like a triple cheeseburger! It’s like 4 inches thick. Everyone fit it in, but it was tricky!

Reporter: Kelsey B.
Photographer: Kelsey B.
Editors: Renee A. and Jessica C.

The Rush!

After school rush! Done with the day, you want to go home and play. Some people prefer to chill out after school and do homework. Others? Not really! Their motto probably is “play now, homework later.” After we are done with social studies we write in our planners and then listen to announcements. After that it is like summer vacation! People itching to get outside, to breathe in the fresh air. Then it's straight home or straight to the playground. It is the after school rush. You gotta love it!

Reporter: Kelsey B.
Editor: Renee A. and Jessica C.

Reading = Brain Power

AR time is here, so make your brain smarter by reading. AR points are due soon for most students, so put down the video game and pick up a book. And no, books on tape don't count for people in middle school, maybe for your sister who is three years old, but not for us. Reading is good for your brain and your soul. Get into a good book and you won't want it put in down. Imagine yourself in the book. Be the characters and be in the book. You will want to spend every second reading!

What is AR? AR stands for Accelerated Reader. AR is a program in which you read a book and take a test on it.
Your teacher will most likely give you an AR range and a goal for a certain number of points. The range means that you can read books that fall within that level. For example, if your reading range is 4.7 - 6.8, this tells you the "readability" level you should choose if you want a book that's not too hard and not too easy. On almost every book in the school, there will be a sticker with the reading level like 5.9 and how many points that book is worth. Every time you pass an AR test on a book you get points for it. You keep taking tests until you get enough points that your teacher says you have made it to your AR goal for that marking period.

So pick out a good book and READ, READ, READ!!

Reporter: Kelsey B.
Photographer: Kelsey B.
Editor: Renee A.

Builders Club: Make-it-Take-it

Make-it-Take-it is a program where students can make Christmas gifts for their family, friends, and even their pets. It's a great way to buy gifts without spending a lot of money. Many kids are involved because a gift that you made yourself for somebody else, really comes from the heart. Students have a number of choices to pick from. Kids of all ages can come on Saturday, December 13th from 9 A.M to 11 A.M. and make something special. You need to sign up and pay in advance. Forms can be found in the office and are due by Monday, November 24th.

Reporters: Anastasia S. and Lauren L.
Editor: Carley L. and Jessica C.

Where Poetry Hides

On team 6B, in English Language Arts we have started poetry. We have been working on a project called "Where Poetry Hides."

Before we wrote the poems we wrote down a list of where poetry hides in us. Our poems were free verse poems, which means it can just be anything you want it doesn't have to rhyme or anything like that. It didn't matter what the poem was about. It just had to make sense.

We all then typed the poems that we had written in the computer lab in the media center. We used the outstanding new computers that were recently added. Then we all posted our poems on colored paper and decorated them.

Wow! In My opinion, they all looked like excellent quality work. Some of them were even 3 dimensional! They blew Mrs. Naugle and Mrs. Kirsch right out of their socks! That tells you that team 6B is definitely amazing.

Reporter: Brooke M.
Photographer: Paige W.
Editor: Paige W.

New Improved Media Center Lab!

When the Middle school was remodeled the media center computer lab still had old computers. Many other rooms got new computers over the years, but the media center did not. The Media center finally got new computers early in October. By that time at least 22 of the computers were over 14 years old. That’s old considering the excepted life of a computer is only 4 years!

We really needed new computers because none of the CD drives or USB ports worked. Many of them would fail and no one could get parts. The hard drives didn’t have enough space for Windows 98 and MSWord together. Students sometimes would lose there work because the computers crashed during class!

Now, finally, we have brand new Dell desktop computers with flat screen monitors. These computers are much better. Their hard drives are almost 300 times larger. The CPU speed is many times faster, and they have a lot more RAM. Plus, they have optical mice so it is impossible to steal any parts.

Students who have used the lab are very excited when they see the new equipment. They can bring in their flash drives or CD’s with files from home and upload the files themselves. Everyone feels more secure because the computers work well and do not crash.

Reporter: Lexi W.

Photographer: Corbin K.

Editor: Paige W.

Band-O-Rama was a Blast

The Band-O-Rama Concert was great!! The high school Jazz Band played, then all of the middle school bands played. 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade all did a superb job. The 8th grade band had some teachers come down and make music by popping balloons and paper bags! Then the high school marching band played. They first played in the dark with a TON of glow sticks, then played in the light. The concert was very fun. If you weren't there, you should have been!

Reporter: Carley L.

Photographer: Kelsey T.

Editors: Laura A., Jessica C.

Week in Review 6B

In team 6B we finished MEAP last week, HALLELUJAH!!

• Our team will soon be having Pumpkin Day and we will also be raking on Rake-a-Difference day!

• In ELA we have started poetry and we have all typed our poems in the computer lab. Last week we all posted our poems on colored paper and decorated them. They all look excellent! They blew Mrs. Naugle and Mrs. Kirsch away.


• In science we are Studying the four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. We also watched a "Bill Nye" video.


• In math we are learning about the Mean, Median, Mode, and Range.


• In Social studies we are working on comparing the two presidential candidates: Obama and McCain. We traveled to the computer lab to participate in Channel 1's "One Vote." Who will YOU vote for?
  

Reporter: Brooke M.
Photographer: Carley L.
Editors: Jessica C. and Carley L.