Parent Information

Some hints on how to help your child succeed in science

Science is perhaps the most dynamic subject that a middle school student will study. It is forever changing as new information and understanding displaces the outdated and unknown.

With this in mind, St. Mary School replaced all of the science texts last year with the most up to date middle school books that Prentice Hall offered. These texts are a system that will take the student from grade five to grade eight using a similar format. The texts not only provide current scientific information, but they also contain information on how to learn science.

Every chapter begins with a title page that includes the publishers web site (www.phschool.com) that has activities related to the material in the text, and a list of other activities that the students can do. Some of these I incorporate into the classes, others can be done at home. The Discover activities that begin each section are nice into to the subject being studied and can often be done out side of the class. Some of the “Try This” activities are specifically designed to be done at home and involve the family. These activities can be a great tool for understanding the important ideas of the section.

Each section begins with Guide for Reading which is two to three questions, that when answered, are the essence of the section. There are also checkpoint questions mixed into the text that the students should be able to answer before they move on.

Each chapter includes a study guide at the end of the chapter, as well as a practice test that has questions similar to the type that will be found on their quizzes and tests. I encourage the students to take these practices and correct them because it is better they discover what they don’t know before the quiz, then I discover what they don’t know during the quiz.

Every text has a skills handbook near the end. These are the science skills that the students will be developing as they study science. They are not a separate block of instruction in the curriculum; these skills are part of all the activities related to science. As such, they will be continually part of the curriculum. As their teacher I am continually assessing the students on their strengths in these skills and adjusting the curriculum when a greater emphasis is needed on a given topic. The individual students should be referring to these sections as needed.

Lastly, I strongly encourage all students to have an appropriate dictionary available in their study area at home. Although the text provides a glossary for the key vocabulary included in the book, there will be times when they will be presented with an unfamiliar term.

I will continually encourage students to understand the importance of critical thinking and understanding in science so they will be better positioned to deal with the new information as it arrives.

Thank you,
Michael T. Moakley

Classroom News - Fall 2009

Math with Mrs. Ethier

I share the grade 8 math teaching assignment with Mrs. MacDonough and Ms. Lordan. Students are divided into three homogeneous groups. Students in my Algebra 1 class have completed chapter 1, Connections to Algebra and will soon complete chapter 2, Properties of Real Numbers. Following this is the chapter on solving limear equations. Problem solving activities are part of each lesson. Students continue to expand on their writing in math skills by explaining how they arrived at an answer in paragraph form. Homework assignments reinforce the day’s lesson and are an integral part to success in math class.

Algebra with Mrs. MacDonough

The six students that I have for eighth grade algebra work energetically to master all material introduced to them. As we work through their curriculum, the students are reviewing topics such as evaluating expressions, inequalities, and functions, number properties, absolute value, solving multi-step equations, and proportions. We will investigate the intersection of lines using the graphing calculators and will explore different programs on the calculators as we work through the year. We will begin graphing linear equations and inequalities, solving exponential equations, and factoring polynomials in the months ahead. They are never afraid of a challenge and it a pleasure to see them work so hard and enjoy their accomplishments. Additional resources related to our text can be found at www.classzone.com.

Literature with Ms. Seraichick

We opened the year with a review of our summer reading books, including Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, And Then There Were None, and To Kill a Mockingbird. We analyzed characters, settings, plots and historical background to these books. We also used these texts for Book Check I, Paper bag Book Check.

Next, the class delved into the first unit in Holt’s Elements of Fiction, Plot and Setting. We have read several short stories by notable authors such as Walter Dee Myers and Daniel Keyes and discussed how setting directly affects plot. Our next unit, Character, will take us into December. In this unit the class will explore character development and characterization, both direct and indirect. Students will analyze character’s motivations and actions. The class will read short stories by O. Henry, Ken Mochizuki, Yochiko Uchida and Maya Angelou. Written and oral expression will be incorporated into class lessons and homework assignments.

English with Ms. Seraichick

We have been working on an in-depth review of parts of speech including: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Formal assessments and workbook assignments have been incorporated to assess mastery of each part of speech. Additionally, students have already begun to write short, descriptive essays. A formal study of writing will be introduced within the next month. Students will receive direct instruction in all phases of the writing process and written assignments will be assigned on subjects of interest.

Spelling and Vocabulary with Ms. Seraichick

Students are tested weekly on specified spelling and vocabulary lists. Spelling lists are taken from grade level spelling books. Vocabulary lists are taken from Holt’s Elements of Literature anthology as well as SAT preparation books. The goal is to have students develop robust, active vocabularies.

American History with Ms. Seraichick

Our study of American History began with launching the new government and the first three administrations of Washington, Adams and Jefferson. Emphasis was placed on key issues such as the emergence of political parties, the beginnings of sectional and regional interests, industrialization and growth, the rise of the national bank, the quest for neutrality and the astute leadership of the founding fathers. Prior to the holidays our class will study the Jacksonian era (1824-1840), westward expansion, and the crucial issues that caused deep divisions between the north and south. As part of our integrated curriculum we will incorporate a joint technology/social studies project into our curriculum, focusing on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Math with Ms. Lordan

Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students enter the math room each day eager to begin our time together by writing the date and objectives of the day in their notebooks. Next they contemplate the RAP question(s) of the day. This activity is designed to involve everyone in the study of mathematics immediately upon entering our classroom. RAP is an acronym for Review and Preview. The questions posed often assess students understanding of the objectives from previous lessons or preview their knowledge of the next topic.

EIGHTH GRADE students began the study of algebra, the foundation of all upper level math courses, by writing and evaluating variable expressions, checking solutions to equations and inequalities, using verbal and algebraic models, and organizing data to represent functions. We developed number sense by exploring categories of numbers in the real number system. Next, we performed operations with real numbers, learned to combine like terms, and use the distributive property to simplify expressions. The end of the term finds us solving a variety of linear equations. I am counting on this topic to keep us all in line! This creative group poses many interesting questions.

Music with Mr. Gannon

The seventh and eighth graders have been discussing “Music and the Media.” We have talked about radio, record companies, and music and television. The class is moving into discussing and producing their very own music video. The project will involve discussing the various roles in producing a video, and they will also compose and perform their own music for the project. This is always a fun, rewarding, and challenging project for both the students and me.

The 7th and 8th Grade Ensemble is off to a great start. We have nine students participating this year on piano, drums, saxophone, and vocals. I am very excited about this year’s group. We will be working towards our first big performance coming in 2010!

Classroom News - Summer (from last year)

Math with Mrs. MacDonough

The eighth grade students in the Advanced Algebra class have worked unbelievably hard this year to cover as many topics as we could. The students have solved polynomial equations, factored polynomials, solved and graphed quadratic equations and solved radical equations. We are currently preparing for their cumulative final exam which they will take on Wednesday, May 20th. Also, all of the students competed in the Saint John’s Math Competition on April 16th and performed extremely well! They have worked hard all year and have made my job very enjoyable. They will be missed!

Math with Mrs. Ethier

Students are currently preparing for their final exam in math. They have worked hard this year and have made a great deal of progress in solving, graphing, and writing linear equations as well as solving and graphing linear inequalities.

Classroom News - Spring (from last year)

Math with Mrs. MacDonough

The class is continuing to work so hard through this third quarter and their progress is outstanding! We have completed the units on graphing inequalities and solving systems of linear equations and inequalities. We are currently working on evaluating exponential expressions and graphing exponential functions. The remainder of the year will be filled with challenging material for the students, including Factoring and Polynomials, Quadratic Equations and Functions, and working with Radicals and Rational Equations. They are always eager to learn and are an absolute pleasure to have in the classroom. Along with a few seventh graders, all of the students will be participating in the next Middle School Math Invitational at Saint John’s on April 16! Wish them luck!

Math with Ms. Lordan

EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS have been continuing to give their best efforts this term. Their knowledge of linear equations assisted them in solving compound inequalities, absolute value equations and inequalities, and graphing inequalities in two variables. Together, we have mastered the laws of exponents and can explain how to find a product of powers, a power of a product, and a power of a power, which is the most powerful! We are able to graph exponential functions and use scientific notation to solve problems. Many real-life situations involve a quantity that either increases or decreases at a rate proportional to an amount of time. Applications of exponential functions involving growth and decay have included compound interest, depreciation of the value of an automobile, and the amount of medicine in the bloodstream after a given number of hours. Students successfully graphed exponential functions, used scientific notation, and modeled exponential growth and decay functions. Graphing calculators have assisted us in looking at these functions. These topics seem particularly relevant given the current state of the economy!

Classroom News - Winter (from last year)

Math with Ms. Lordan

Modeling linear equations is a key concept that EIGHTH GRADE ALGEBRA STUDENTS are mastering. They are working diligently to solve linear equations involving multiple steps, variables on both sides, decimals, fractions, ratios, rates, and percents. The students are becoming adept at writing linear equations in three forms: standard, y-intercept, and point-slope.

All are encouraged to speak and write the language of mathematics correctly. They can be heard discussing function notation, domain, range, inverse operations, and properties of equality. As we advance through the course, our goal is to use the Cartesian coordinate system to link the concepts of algebra and geometry in order to gain insights that are essential to the study of higher mathematics.