January 2014

RMS Wolves
ALL STUDENTS WILL GRADUATE FROM ROME HIGH SCHOOL PREPARED FOR COLLEGE OR WORK

From the Principal

Dear Parents:

RMS Wolves

Greg Christian gchristian@rcs.rome.ga.us Greg Christian

The second semester always brings excitement as well as anxiety. Next week we have the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the eighth grade writing test!

From the Principal

school each day and keep up with their gchristian@rcs.rome.ga.us assignments. If they feel that they are getting behind they should speak to their teacher about getting extra help. We have been very successful at Rome Middle School for the past nine years due to the hard work and dedication of our outstanding faculty, the commitment of our students to learn, and the outstanding support of our parents and central office staff. Lets make the 2013-14 school year the best yet for Rome Middle School! Greg Christian Principal

Tuesday January 14, 2014 two new school board members were sworn in at the school board meeting. We welcome Dr. Dixon and Mrs. Beeman to the RCS family! We will continue the transition to the Common Core Curriculum and the mandates of the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). It is important that our students attend

Inside
Beta Club News................ 8 Grand Illusion ................. 9 Magellan Highlights ......... 2 Media Center .................... 8 Nautilus ............................ 3 Pathfinder ......................... 5 Seawolf ............................. 4 Spelling Bee .................... 2 Stardust ............................ 7 Voyager ............................ 6

Attention Parents and Guardians:

page Happy

New Year to all our families! Please stay tuned for more information regarding Literacy Night, Math Night, and Technology Night. They will take place prior to CRCT. We continue to seek donations for the Wolf Cart. These can be small trinket items, candy or snacks. They can be turned in to the guidance office. In addition, if you would like to help out in the school building, please contact Theresa Quilici, parent involvement designee, to learn more about the process for becoming a volunteer. Please keep the Box Tops and Coke Rewards codes coming. We recently

received a check for $354 from Box Tops for Education which will help purchase student incentives in the library. Did you know that Rome Middle School has a Twitter? Here you will find news, announcements, and events occurring at RMS. You can follow us @RomeMiddle. Also, you may wish to sign up for parent involvement notifications. To join, text @romeparent to (404) 445-1263, or send an email to romeparent@mail.remind101.com.

Spelling Bee 2014

Congratulations 2014 RMS Spelling Bee Winner,
John Knauss,

and Runner-Up,
Elisabeth Ashton!

Magellan Team Highlights

Georgia Studies (Ms. Deese) In Georgia Studies, Magellan students are beginning a unit about the Progressive Era. They will study about many new inventions, Georgia businesses and entrepreneurs, and life in the early 1900s. Students will begin discussing racial unrest during that time period. They will learn about key Georgians such as Henry Grady, Alonzo Herndon, Leo Frank, and John and Lugenia Burns Hope. Language Arts and Literature (Ms. Caldwell and Ms. Wilkins) In Literature, Ms. Wilkins is excited to begin the new unit and the new year! Students are reading the biography Surviving Hitler, which retells how a young man struggled to survive the Holocaust. They are also reading two other informational texts this nine weeks, Tell Them We Remember and Six Million Paperclips, that provide background information and a greater understanding of World War II and the events leading up to the Holocaust. Students will be asked to choose an essay, multimedia project or a representation through art as a final performance task to present to the class. The Language Arts classes on Magellan are getting ready for the Middle Grades Writing Assessment (MGWA) which takes place on Wednesday, January 22. Students have been learning strategies such as SNAP (Subject, Number, Audience, Purpose) which helps the student to analyze the writing prompt to determine what they will need to write about in the essay. The students are also preparing for the MGWA through a new online writing program called Write to Learn. This program allows students to type their essays into the program, and it analyzes their writing and gives them feedback within minutes of the students submission of the essay. After the MGWA, students will also study the Holocaust through the diary of Anne Frank. Math (Ms. Ray) The Magellan students have started the second semester with Algebra. They are learning about relations and functions. They are graphing, mapping, and making tables to represent the relations and functions. They will be learning about functions with equations and doing some hands-on activities to demonstrate their knowledge. This is the start of many new topics involving Algebra. The students will be more than ready for the CRCT in April. Physical Science (Mrs. Bollwerk) In Physical Science, the students have begun learning about magnets and magnetic fields. We have several great labs that go with this unit and will even be building our own electromagnets! Next, the students will study forces and motion; this includes gravity, velocity, acceleration, and friction.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Nautilus Team News

Nautilus Geography The New Year brings us to India in our Geography class. During this unit, we will be learning about the physical features of India, its government, environmental issues, and Ghandi. We will also be reading Homeless Bird as part of our study of India. Nautilus Mathematics In the month of February we will begin our Geometry unit. This unit covers many different concepts such as volume, surface area, and crosssections of three dimensional shapes, angle relationships, and area and circumference of a circle. This unit provides students with many opportunities to explore concepts using hands-on Dudley D. Freeman, Ed. S. strategies and technology Nautilus, Geography Teacher Nautilus Science Nautilus Language Arts In February, we will be reading the book The Friendship, a companion book to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Students will write a short narrative at the completion of the reading. After we are finished with our narrative writing, we will begin to read the non-fiction book called The Freedom Walkers, a book about the American Civil Rights movement. When we are finished reading the book, students will write an argumentative piece about one person from the book. Nautilus Literature Literature classes have begun reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, which is a work of Historical Fiction. We will continue studying characterization, and will also focus on theme in this unit. Students will practice their higherorder thinking skills by writing constructed responses to questions related to our novel.
All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

January brought us the wonders of adaptations and the beauty of the circle of life. After finishing our evolution unit and seeing if we could adapt to our environment we have moved on to our ecology unit. The balance of life in the wild will open the eyes of students to realize the importance of the things often taken for grantedlike grass! Students will see that the sun is the source of our energy and how energy then flows through each organism all the way to humans, the top of the food chain. Students will be fascinated to discover the diet of animals and the transfer of energy through the energy pyramid! After our evolution test at the end of January we will begin the study of ecology. Happy studies!

Seawolf Team Highlights

With the beginning of the New Year, we have noticed many of our students need to check their supplies. Many students say that they are out of pencils and paper. Also, we have noticed that a lot of notebooks and folders are coming apart. Please double-check with your child and make sure they have paper, pencils, pens, cap erasers, a hand sharpener, and binders in good condition. We are halfway through the school year. We are also in desperate need of the hand sanitizer, Kleenex, and paper towels. We have only a few bottles of hand sanitizer on hand, 3-4 boxes of Kleenex, and no paper towels. Typically, the next few months are prime sniffle/sneeze season and students use a lot of these items. If you could possibly send some or all of these items with your child to school over the next week or two, it would be greatly appreciated. You could also drop it off in the front office and just have it labeled Seawolf Teachers on the bag. With the first semester completed, encourage your child to put forth his/her best effort for the remainder of the school year. Students should review social studies and science daily. All academic tests are announced several days in advance of the actual test and frequent review is better than trying to cram the night before the test. Vocabulary for literature should also be studied daily. Students in math and science are continuing with standards that were introduced and in the December newsletter. India is the current unit of study in geography and students are also reading Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan to gain insights into the daily lives of many people living in India. Students in language arts are preparing for the writing assessment at the end of January.

Congratulations

Seawolves of the Week:

Sarah Whitlow Sawyer Hernandez

Thanks for a great first semester, Seawolf Teachers

Seawolf teachers are in need of hand sanitizer, Kleenex, and paper towels. Thank you!

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Pathfinder
Math Weve begun Unit 4 which concerns statistics and probability. Students are utilizing Thinking Maps to organize their thoughts and understanding of topics such as sampling and central tendency. The students have been analyzing results from sampled populations and drawing inferences and conclusions based on their findings. This is a quick unit that will end on January 28th. If any student needs additional help, please consider bringing them to tutoring sessions on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 8:00am. All students will need a pass to attend. Mrs. Lanier Science In Life Science on Pathfinder we have just finished taking our semester exam and will be beginning Chapter 7 Evolution and Adaptations. Students will learn how organisms adapt to survive in a constantly changing environment. This topic will also give students an opportunity to study fossil records and how scientists study the past. Mrs. Miller World Geography We are winding down on our Southern and Eastern Asia unit. Over the last few days we studied the components of a democracy and learned how to distinguish a democracy from an authoritarian form of government. We are now comparing and contrasting various forms of government found in Asia. After a quick review of Asian economics we will complete the unit with analysis and discussion surrounding important Asian historical events of the 20th century. The students have enjoyed learning about this region because two growing economic powers are found here (China and India, not to forget Japan and South Korea). Mr. Graney Language Arts 7th Grade Language Arts is excited about a new writing system that our students will be using frequently this spring semester. Write To Learn is an online essay system that allows students to type an essay and receive immediate feedback. The program will also allow parents to view their students progress and writing ability. Most of our students have already used the program and are excited for using it in the future. The website is www.pearsonkt.com/WriteToLearn/ga/rome. We will be working more with technology in the spring as well. As the 8th graders will be taking the writing test in a few weeks, the 7th graders will be taking a "mock" test on the same day. In preparation for this, we will be learning how to accurately analyze a writing prompt and how to write to specifically and fully answer the prompt. We will discuss the writing process and discuss times that should be spent on each area as a guideline for students to use. Mrs. Robinson Literature The first novel of the second semester is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. We will read, discuss, and write responses for this book in class. Every two weeks, students will have a new set of 20 vocabulary words to master. That means every other Friday there will be a vocabulary test. On the alternate Fridays, students will write a constructed response from the most recent section of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Each night, students should study vocabulary words and/or read an independent reading book. Mrs. Mueller IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL CLASSES We are beginning to discuss the constructed responses that students will be required to be doing on their testing next year. Here are some helpful websites if you would like to look at what a constructed response is. What is a constructed response? http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/L earningInnovation/Documents/Learning%20Portal/NCES/N CES%20Presentations/Constructed%20Resp onse%20Questions.pdf More info about constructed responses: http://mdk12.org/assessments/k_8/items/cr_g rade7_reading.html http://prezi.com/chph-kvtgml-/writing-aconstructed-response/ http://www.brighthubeducation.com/help-withwriting/33366-constructed-response-essayquestion/

Pathfinder is in need of Kleenex. Should anyone feel the urge to donate, it would be greatly appreciated by all.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Voyager Team News

Many great things are happening on Voyager! In Mrs. Goyas literature class, we are beginning our unit on the Holocaust by reading Surviving Hitler. The book is about a young teenage boy and his struggle to survive in a concentration camp. Vocabulary quizzes are every Friday. Tutoring is offered on Friday mornings from 8:00-8:25. In Mrs. Pecks science class, students have been experimenting with the relationship between magnetism and electricity. Students have explored the concept through the use of electromagnets, electric motors, and electric generators. Students will be learning next about the laws of force and motion. In Ms. Renshaws math class, we are learning about functions and the various ways they are modeled. We are using tables, graphs, and mappings to determine which relations are functions. We will have a test on Thursday, January 23. In Ms. Wolfes GA Studies class, we are currently studying the New South. Students are participating in a voting simulation of the county unit system. Our next test is January 24. In Mrs. Williamss language arts class, we are preparing for the upcoming writing test on January 22 by learning to SNAP on prompts. We are also analyzing 2013 sample writing from the state. Our goal on Voyager is to EXCEED on the writing test! Please make sure your child is attending tutoring as needed. As always, please let us know if there is any way that we may be of assistance!

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Stardust
Stardust team is looking forward to a wonderful 3rd Nine Weeks at Rome Middle School!
Students in Ms. Carles's science classes are working with generators, motors, and electromagnets as they wrap up their unit on electricity and magnetism. Next they'll be learning about the forces that cause objects to move the way they do. Classes will do labs demonstrating the factors that affect the amount of inertia and friction as objects move. In Literature, students are reading a biography about a young man who survived the concentration camps during the Holocaust. The informational text on which this unit is based is Surviving Hitler. Supplementary texts also read in class are 6 Million Paperclips and Tell Them We Remember. Classes will be demonstrating their knowledge of a theme from the book through their choice of a performance task either through a multimedia production, a written analysis, or an artistic representation. Students have been very engaged in the text and are doing an excellent job honoring those WE REMEMBER. All 8th grade language arts classes are working toward the Middle Grades Writing Assessment that will be administered in their homeroom classes on Wednesday, January 22nd. The students have analyzed past state writing prompts and writing samples in effort to better prepare themselves. Ms. Chapman's math students began working through Unit #4 last week when they returned from break. They have learned about relations, domains, ranges, and functions; specifically, when a relation is a function and when it is not. We have also been using tables, maps, and graphs to determine certain characteristics of both a relation and a function. In addition, the students have started using algebraic equations to construct tables and graph certain linear equations. We will be finishing up Unit #4 next week, and students will be assessed on their knowledge of this content. Students in Mrs. Beavers' classes are working on moving on from Reconstruction and into the New South era of Georgia. Students are learning and discussing Civil Rights issues, political and economic reform and many of the key people who played apart in this reform between 1877-1918. As we move through this unit we are discussing how these people helped to shape Georgia during this time period.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Media Center Message

New YearNew Books! The library has recently added a ton of new books to the collection. Titles by popular authors such as Jeff Kinney, James Patterson, Rick Riordan, and Roland Smith have been flying off the shelves! Students with V.I.P. library cards got a sneak peak at these books before Christmas break. Students should continue to take Reading Counts quizzes to earn prizes:
100 points: Courtyard pass 200 points: V.I.P. Library pass 300 points: Prize box/package 400 points: Entered to win Kindle Fire 500 points: Movie and Popcorn party

In addition to new print books, the RMS media center has over 500 electronic books. For e-book access, students can log in to Mackin Via (www.mackinvia.com) using their SRI number and password. Yes, there is even an app for that! If you wish to browse our e-books or have other children who would benefit from our online collection, we are happy to share the generic login with you if you call (706) 235-4695 or e-mail tquilici@gmail.com. Please be mindful that licensing restrictions prohibit sharing login information with students in other districts. The staff of the RMS media center would like to wish each of you a happy and healthy 2014! Theresa Quilici Media Specialist

Also, please send in your Box Tops to help support the library and Reading Counts incentives.

Beta Club News

Thank you to everyone that participated in the Toys for Tots collection. Rome Middle School raised over 1500 dollars! Beta club members shopped at Wal-Mart to fulfill the wishes of many children in our community. 7th grade students that achieved honor roll or high honor roll status for the semester will be receiving invitations to join the Beta Club at Rome Middle School. There will be a dance after school on Thursday, February 13th from 4:00 until 5:30. All proceeds will support the Rome Middle School Science Department.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Grand Illusion Update

by Kobe Johnson

In the past month or so, Grand Illusion has been working hard and gearing up for success. Lately, the show choir has been performing at schools and churches. Their first competition of 2014 will be held in Cleveland, TN, where Grand Illusion will defend its Grand Champion trophy. Also coming up soon, Shrek, the Musical, will be performed at the Rome City Auditorium. Beware of green ogres, little piglets, and sugar plum fairies!

Grand Illusion is having much fun during the 2013-2014 school year. They hope to score many wins in their upcoming competitions.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work