03 October 2014 MRMS PDF

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A note from the principal . . .
October 2014
Main Office
303-387-1800
Fax
303-387-801
Attendance
303-387-1802
Athletics/Activities
303-387-1812
Bookkeeper
303-387-1808
Registrar
303-387-1820
Transportation
303-387-0415
Weather Hotline
303-387-7669
Twitter
follow@mountainridgems
Online Payments
dcsdk12.revetrak.net

Second quarter already? Wow! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful
fall break. This time of year always makes me think about changes. I
look at the leaves and think of how their changing colors relate to
middle school students. Strange, I know, but hear me out.

At the beginning of the school year, all of the leaves are green and full
of life. Then, as the summer winds down and the fall rolls in, we begin
to see changes. Some trees stay green late into the fall, others turn
beautiful shades of yellow and red while hanging on, and still others
turn quickly and fall. There is beauty in all of these stages.

So, what in the world does this have to do with our students? They,
like the leaves, begin the year excited and full of life. They possess an
innocence and wonder. This is a beautiful time to watch them and
enjoy their energy. Then we have some students who mature,
change, and lose some of that youthful innocence earlier than others.
This is also a fantastic time to watch. These students are growing into
a new form of themselves. They are experiencing new challenges and
trying out different perspectives. As challenging as these fallen
leaves can be, it is such a wonderful and necessary time that every
middle schooler goes through.
continued on next page

P A G E 2
Mountain Ridge Middle School
A note from the principal . . .
continued
We also have students who are changing, but maybe a little more
slowly and clinging more tightly to their trees. These students may be
trying new things, but doing so with continued hesitance and
innocence. All of the students at any of these stages are unique and
beautiful. They are worth our awe and wonder. They are worth the
drive to view these amazing changes.

As parents, these changes can be difficult. Just remember, like the
leaves, these changes must occur in order to rejuvenate and grow.
Even the fallen leaves are beautiful and can lead to amazing fun (I
certainly remember raking these up time and time again and jumping
in!)

Fall is a great time to
step back and look at
the beauty that
surrounds us both in
nature and in our kids!
Enjoy their stages and
their color. They are
quickly changing and
growing.

General Announcements

P A G E 3

REMINDERS

We are enjoying a beautiful, warm fall here in Colorado, but we do have
a reminder about our school dress code. Even though the days are warm
and summer-like, our school dress code is in effect: shorts must be at
least as long as the fingertips when arms are fully extended. Short
shorts and skimpy shirts are a distraction in our learning environment.
Appropriate footwear is also a necessity. Although a day may start out
beautiful, we have been known to see a dramatic weather change by
dismissal time!

We also wanted to remind parents and students that we DO NOT wear
costumes to school on Halloween. This includes hair colors, face paint,
wigs, hats, masks, etc.

Students whose wardrobe choices do not follow the school dress code
will be given MRMS clothing to wear for the day. Students are allowed
to call home for alternate clothing, but they will not be allowed to miss
class while waiting for a clothing delivery. They are permitted to check
the office during a passing period to see if clothes have been delivered
and to change.

Thank you for helping students make good choices about wardrobe
during these transitional weather days and for helping us keep the focus
on learning here at MRMS

General Announcements continued

P A G E 4
Parent Corner
The Gift of Struggle, Part 2

In last months Parent Corner, we talked about
the importance of resilience and grit and how
these qualities are crucial to a persons success.
This month, we want to explore some ways in
which we can develop them in our students.

Set Goals and create Action Plans. Help your student learn to
set realistic goals AND to create Action Plans to help reach those
goals. Reviewing the progress from first quarter is a great place
to start. What went WELL? What can your student build on? What
growth has been made? Andwhat did not go so well? What improve-
ments does he or she want to make for second quarter? How can he or
she use the strengths identified to work on the areas that need improv-
ing?

Identify a Plan B. What happens when things dont go the way
you planned in the first place? Help your student create a Plan B,
which will allow them to roll with the punches. Also help them
review what went wrong and, most importantly, what can they LEARN
from this as they move forward?

Help them develop a growth mindset. This is the belief that
your basic qualities can be cultivated and grown through your
efforts. In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,
Dr. Carol Dweck says, The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to
it, even (or especially) when its not going well, is the hallmark of the
growth mindset. For our students, this means helping them learn we
can (and we need to) keep going and keep growing when the going gets
tough.

Shepherding our students through the process of developing grit is not
easy. Our natural inclinations are to pave the way for them, make their
lives easier than ours were, take away obstacles in their paths. When
the urge to do that occurs, we must remember the butterfly: without
the struggle of getting out of the cocoon, the butterflys wings never
form properly, and it is never able to take flight.

P A G E 5
MRMS Library News -
The MASIV Project and other adventures
We have a particularly interesting project going on right now. We refer to
it as, The MASIV Project. This endeavor still has a fair amount of work to
bring it to completion, but we have made quite a bit of progress on it thus
far. The first phase of the project was to build, then paint and decorate a
large (as in 30 feet long and 7 feet tall) L-shaped mobile wall. The wall
space was used on the first day back from fall break to display student
work related to beauty. Students had been asked to identify something
they thought was beautiful and provide a color image along with a
written description of their chosen object and why they thought it was
beautiful. At this point, we still have room on the structure for more
student work. Several language arts teachers in the building will be
working with their classes to help students create more work to be
displayed. The next phase of the project will be to take the structure to a
local site, such as a public library or assisted living facility, to share student
work with community members and to collect other peoples examples of
beauty. Once we have enough student and community member examples
of beauty to fill the MASIV structure, we will be setting it up again in the
MRMS commons for display.

Coming up next week, team 72 will be in the library working on their
nonfiction reading and writing skills as they learn about Harry Houdini.
We will be finishing up that unit on the anniversary of Houdinis death (as
in October 31
st
a.k.a. Halloween). Find out more about the Houdini unit
and many other library activities by visiting the MRMS library wiki. Your
student should be familiar with the quickest way to get there (googling
Hardwired for Stories).

continue on the next page


P A G E 6
MRMS Library News continued

Two quick reminders:
Reading for pleasure is a learning experience. Please encourage your
student to read often. Listening to an audiobook or having a loved one
read aloud to them is a great way for kids to enjoy the power of books.

If your student has library fines for overdue materials encourage them to
get those materials turned in as soon as possible. Fines for overdues can
be avoided by simply returning the undamaged materials.

Updates
Please verify your email address through your
Parent Portal / Preferences. We have many
parents who have invalid email addresses and/or
email addresses that have blocked DCSD. Right
now many parents are not receiving emails from teachers, Administration
and District because of this.

We also recommend that you double check spouse and ex-spouse emails
as well.

For an email address update that is NOT YOURS, you may email our
Registrar at Kathy.sheehan@dcsdk12.org , please include the name of
the person you are updating, their relationship to the student and your
students name.

P A G E 7
Moving but staying at MRMS ?
A new proof of residency will be needed to
update addresses (Warranty Deed, Lease
Agreement). You may scan and email this
information to
Kathy.sheehan@dcsdk12.org

Changing schools/districts ?
Please contact our Registrar at Kathy.sheehan@dcsdk12.org or by phone
303-387-1820 for withdrawal information so that you and your student
will have a smoother transition into the new school.


P A G E 8
Phone Recycling
We live in the middle of a digital age where cell
technology is almost essential to our lives. It
seems that over 90% of our students at MRMS
have their own cell phone, tablet, laptop, or
some other personally owned device (POD).

For the last year and a half MRMS has
participated in a cellular technology recycling
program with Eco-Cell, a cellular recycling company based in Kentucky.
You can find them online at www.eco-cell.com. Through this company
Mountain Ridge has recycled over 200 cell phones. However, we are
looking to recycle more than 200 by the end of this school year. Eco-Cell
pays MRMS for every phone that we recycle, and they also pay for the
shipping of those phones. We get a few cents for every cellular device
that we recycle which actually averages to about one dollar per phone
(some phones are worth more than others), working or broken. We
collect cell phones, handheld gaming systems, electronic tablets and e-
readers (Kindle, Nook, etc).

As a society we are fortunate to have cell technology and recycling
opportunities for items when they have outlived their use. Unfortunately
for MRMS, there has been a growth in recycling opportunities for
consumers that has hindered our recycling efforts here at Mountain
Ridge. For example, some stores are offering a huge discount for trading
in old phones for new ones, and most recently in our community, King
Soopers on Red Cedar has a new electronic recycling bin that will pay cash
for cell phones. As these new recycling opportunities have grown, our
school recycling efforts have become more difficult. So it is at this point
that I am asking for your help, as a community, to continue support of our
school

P A G E 9
Phone Recycling continued
and its fundraising efforts by recycling your cell phones, hand-held gaming
systems, tablets, and e-readers at Mountain Ridge Middle School.

I know that the personal financial benefits are greater to trade in your
phone for a discount, or to get cash for them, but we have been able to
use funds from our e-cycle program to benefit our school and we would
like to continue to do so.
With the holiday season quickly approaching, this may be a wonderful
time to recycle your used (working or broken) electronics with MRMS.

If even half of our student population brought in one cell phone to
recycle, that would be around 500 phones. Think about how our efforts
would be improved if each of those students had a family of three cell
phones to recycle! What if every student had three to recycle? Three
thousand cell phones could potentially bring in $3000 for our school.
Maybe even more.

So I ask you to please consider MRMS as
your source for paying it forward with our
e-cycle program. If you have any further
questions, please feel free to email me,
Mr. Beckett, at
brett.beckett@dcsdk12.org.
Thank you so much.

From the heart,
Mr. Beckett
Multimedia

Naviance
MRMS is proud to use Naviance, an online tool for students and families
to access college and career information and help connect academic
achievement to post-secondary goals, and improve college and career
planning. During the month of October, counselors will be in classrooms
to teach and instruct students how to use Naviance. All 7th grade
students will register for their Naviance account and will complete career
interest inventories. 8th grade students will log into Naviance accounts
and complete a learning stye inventory and review their career interests
in preparation of the DCSD 8th grade Career Expo.

8th grade Career Expo
The Career Connect 8th Grade Expo is a one day event for all eighth
grade students in the Douglas County School District to experience
meeting with businesses and higher education representatives. It will be
held on Thursday November 13, 2014 at the Douglas County Events
Center in Castle Rock. The Expo was created for the Douglas County
School District by a group of business leaders and education
professionals. The Douglas County School District lends its support to the
event and will be sending 5,200+ 8th grade student to the Expo.

Please click on the following link to see more information about the
Expo. Career Expo. info for parents
opportunity to 8th grade students. Please let us know if you have
questions about the day.

The Counseling Corner

P A G E 10

8th Grade Career Expo continued
We will be asking all students to dress professionally and to bring a sack
lunch on the day of the Expo.

Also, we will need you to complete the electronic permission form so
that you child may attend the Expo. Please use the following link;
electronic permission form

We are looking forward to providing a career and college awareness
opportunity to 8th grade students. Please let us know if you have
questions about the day.

Paula Moore - Team 81
paula.moore@dcsdk12.org

Jennifer Hutchings - Teams 83 and 84
jennifer.hutchings@dcsdk12.org

8th Grade
School Counselors
The Counseling Corner continued

P A G E 11

P A G E 12
Athletics And Activities
We have just wrapped up 7
th
grade flag football, 7
th
grade
volleyball, and have started 7th/8th grade wrestling and 8
th

grade girls basketball. We are having a very successful year
so far with our athletic programs. Parents are very
supportive, our coaches are working hard, and our athletes
embody sportsmanship!

Thank you to everyone who filled out our survey.
The responses were overwhelmingly positive!
Eighty-eight percent of the responses indicated
that your childs experience was either a 4 or 5
with 59% being a 5 on a scale of 1-5! Six percent
rated the experience a 3. Three percent (4
responses) rated the experience a 2 and two
percent (3 responses) rated the experience a 1.

Thank you also for your comments and feedback; I read
them all. There were two responses regarding bussing
back to school after a competition. This was something
we decided to cut 3 years ago in order to keep more
money in each sports budget. The return busses were
only being utilized by a very small percentage of
students. Our return trips busses would return home
with less than 10 students and most times less than 5.
I remember returning home on the bus after all the wrestling meets with
only two athletes. I will communicate to my coaches that we need to
provide a list of parents who are willing to carpool.

I also had a few comments about leveling the C teams.
This means for volleyball and basketball we would
create our C teams based on ability level. I agree and
this was brought up in our last two Athletic Director
meetings. There was a split decision and it was decided
that schools would gather more input from coaches and
parents. People opposing this idea had valid concerns
regarding athletes self esteem and staying consistent
with a philosophy of positive participation opposed to a competitive
philosophy of winning. Our A/B level is our competitive level, and the C
level is for skills building and participation. Proponents to leveling the C
teams argue that leveling would positively increase the athletes


P A G E 13
Athletics And Activities continued
experience because they can compete and grow in their skills
development. Also, we feel the athletes self esteem will stay positive
because they are playing with others with a similar skill level.

I had two responses that focused more or less on communicating how
the athletic fees are utilized. There is a separate fund for athletics and
activities in order to ensure the money we collect from participation fees
goes towards athletics and activities. Participation fees are what keep
the programs going and these fees are decided at the district level. Each
school does receive funds from the district to pay for most of the
coaches salaries. However, when we have high student numbers and I
feel we need an additional coach for supervision, safety, and/or a better
experience for the students, that money comes out of the schools
athletic fund. In addition to extra coaches, the school is responsible for
paying for sports equipment, busses, referees, game workers, extra
custodial support, and uniforms. Unfortunately, we do not have a large
surplus that would enable us to make a lot of big purchases. We have to
be diligent and plan for our uniform purchases and large equipment
purchases.

Again, thank you so much for your comments. It is important for me that
we have open communication and continuously look at how to improve
the experience for our athletes. Please email me if you have any
questions or would like to share your thoughts and ideas.

Sincerely,
Zac Hess
Assistant Principal, Athletics/Activity
Director
zachary.hess@dcsdk12.org

P A G E 14
Athletics And Activities continued
iCode Club will start meeting Thursday October
23
rd
. Come and learn how to create an app for
your iPod, phone or iPad. The club will run
every Monday through Thursday from
6:50 7:20 am. Be sure to sign up and pay on
the school website. Bring a friend and join this
amazing group of students.

MRMS will be starting its first TSA club this
year. This is a great opportunity for students
to explore their interests in technology and
engineering. Please join Ms. Personett and
parents for an informational meeting Thurs-
day, October 23
rd
and Thursday, October
30
th
from 3-4pm in the Tech Ed classroom.

Want to find out more about TSA? Check out Ms. Personetts website and
click the TSA tab. Hope to see you soon.

P A G E 15
Septembers Students Of The Month
Health
Written by: Shaela Rhodes, Kaia Dale, Madison Vatter, and Kay Foley

Weve been working hard---exercise after exercise. Now we have started
sprinting out the door. We see the group in front of us, and we are
determined not to lose. We speed up. We rush back inside, passing the
group in front of us. Our squad and I finish together, winning P.E. Land.
The most important thing we learned first quarter in P.E. is working
together as a squad line and accomplishing our goals. As we finish out our
two weeks of P.E., we move into health.

Mr. Lemons has assigned us a three paragraph essay on Mount Everest.
The stress has kicked in. We use the skills that we learned on stress
management to control our stress and not panic about the assignment.
He also taught us about the health triangle which consists of physical,
mental, and social health. This is important so we know how to balance
our health throughout our lifetime.
Team 7-1
Jason Gilliss - Libby Frey - Skylar Hennessee - Kobby Adu

P A G E 16
Science
Written by:
Victoria Heydman, Michael Walker, and
Benicio Archuleta

In science, first quarter, we learned about cells,
the three different eras of the Earth, and how
life evolves. During the different eras of the
Earth project, each table group chose one of the
three eras and made a creative presentation.
The three eras are Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and
Cenozoic.

Then we started the Future is
Wild project where we chose
an animal from our previous
era project and came up with
five or more adaptations the
animal would need in order
to survive the next era.

The project that we are
currently working on is
on cells. We watched a
video on cells, studied
the different types of
cells, and looked at
plant, animal, and
bacterial cells under a
microscope. We are
excited to keep
learning about our
world!

Team 7-1 continued

P A G E 17
iLab
Written by:
Ali Sportsman, Libby Mackin, Audra Craig, and Leah Ortiz

The first quarter of iLab has been a busy learning experience that has
been a blast for your children (us)! We have been working in our iLog
reflecting on our work and deconstructing the 4Cs. The 4Cs--creativity,
collaboration, critical thinking, and communication--are deconstructed to
encourage high level thinking. Each core has created a classroom
constitution to make their learning experience better. Also, iLab and
social studies have combined to have kids create a flag and motto for their
social studies class. Furthermore, the students in iLab are studying inquiry
and the design process. In the future, Mr. Loucks wants us to do a
capstone project to find each of our passion, put it in motion, and apply it
to real world situations. iLab has been a stimulating class for each of us
and Mr. Loucks looks forward to spending more time with us as we work
on things we enjoy doing.

English/Language Arts
Written by:
Maddie Mosley, Alison Child, Kristiana Honeker, and Sarah Hensler

Can you name
the elements of fiction?
Backwards?
Alphabetically?
In Japanese?

Well, maybe not in Japanese. However, in ELA, we have been carefully
studying and mastering all six elements of fiction and what they do to
improve and even create stories. We watched Pixar shorts, like Partly
Cloudy, and For the Birds, and read stories like Anna Banana and Me
by Lenore Blegvad, and The Seventh Grade by Gary Soto to identify point
of view, setting, characterization, conflict, plot, and theme. Then, we had
the opportunity to teach one of the elements to the entire class! We are
excited to move from identifying the elements of fiction in a story to using
the elements of fiction as the building blocks of our very own stories!

Team 7-1 continued

P A G E 18
Math
Written by:
Lucas Rottman, Julia Kirsch, Anna Von
Hoene, Shaina Droke, Jason Gilliss, Carter
Cingrani, Logan Cantrell, and Jack OSullivan

Math--some people cringe at the word, but
others jump for joy. Mrs. Tuccio makes
math so much fun; its hard not to jump for
joy! She cares so much about learning, and
she always answers our questions. In first
quarter, we discovered our new online
textbook, realized real-world applications of
skills, and participated in fun math units.
One example was the Trip Me Up project
which tested our knowledge of solving proportions, using online resources
for research, and converting certain units. Regarding the project, Mrs.
Tuccio said, I feel like the students are enjoying all the projects and
lessons that Ive gone over, which makes me happy. Ms. Tuccio also
plays fun and funky tunes--a bonus! We love our math class!

Team 7-1 continued

P A G E 19
Social Studies
Written by: Ellie Smith, Hally Aman, Mackenzie Gamble, and Lauren Cowie
I came into seventh grade just thinking my social studies teacher, Mr. D,
was all about sports. I soon realized he knows so much about the subject
and really has us digging deep!

So far this year, we have learned a lot in this class. For example, we have
learned about different types of government. We also unpacked history
into a whole lot of ideas that go into the one subject. One project that we
have done was called the travel comparison. During the travel
comparison project we learned about how to find the cost of driving,
flying, and taking a bus from city to city. A regular activity that we do in
his class is watch the news. We watch CNN student news everyday
because we need to know what is going on in the world.

Now, we know social studies doesnt just happen in a classroom, but also
in our daily lives. Most of the students in 71 are excited to go to social
studies.

Road Rally
Everybody start your engines! On Thursday, October 9th, the students of
team 71 participated in our annual Road Rally! Students showed off their
atlas skills by working in collaborative partnerships to identify longitudinal
and latitudinal coordinates. Students raced to be the first to find all 25
locations.
Team 7-1 continued

P A G E 20
Road Rally continued
All students earned prizes after completing
each lap--equal to two correct locations!
Some students found themselves in trouble
with the law when they were caught speeding
(or moving onto the next location, before the
previous one was found), and ended up in the
Pit Stop completing everyones favorite--math
worksheets! Davis Helmerich and Allie
OBrien were this years winners! Their prize?
Eternal glory--and a giant candy bar, of
course!
Team 7-1 continued


P A G E 21
Team 7-2 Are You Aware?
Team T-Shirts are HERE!
The winning design emphasized creativity and team spirit. By now every
student should have received this years Team 72 T-Shirt. We will be
designating special Team Spirit days when everyone will wear their shirts
but students are always welcome to represent!
Road Rally!!!
On Team 72 we ended the first quarter in a race to the finish line! Our
annual Team 72 Road Rally pitted student teams (of 2) against each other
in a geography challenge that took them around the world and our race
track. Thank you to all of our parent volunteers who judged student
answers, ensured that the rules of the road were followed and imposed
penalties when they were not! Tough work but somebody had to do it.

Congratulations to our winners!
First place Megan and Keelin,
Second place Jack and Carter,
Third place Colby and Nathan.

P A G E 22
Team 7-2 Out and About to Become More Aware
Whats A Flutter-by?

Oct. 27 and 28 we will travel off campus
for our annual trip to our local
invertebrate zoo-otherwise known as
the Butterfly Pavilion. Students will put
into practice their science skills of
observation and investigation. They will
collect butterfly data (flutter-bys and
landings) in order to test their
hypotheses related to butterfly activity
and color. When students return from the field trip, they will graph and
evaluate their data in order to discover patterns and evaluate the validity
of their hypotheses.

Well let you know how it all goes in our next edition of this newsletter!

More Road Rally Pics!
On your marks! Get set! Learn!

P A G E 23
Team 7-4 One Of The Top 6 Teams At MRMS
Students went to International Towne as a culminating event to learning
about financial literacy, global economics, and the cultures of 16
countries. The kids performed their jobs amazingly well, so we have great
expectations of them in the future. If there was an issue or challenge,
each kid handled it with grace and poise. They were awesome!

P A G E 24
Team 7-4 One Of The Top 6 Teams At MRMS
Students went to International Towne as a culminating event to learning
about financial literacy, global economics, and the cultures of 16
countries. The kids performed their jobs amazingly well, so we have great
expectations of them in the future. If there was an issue or challenge,
each kid handled it with grace and poise. They were awesome!
October Change Agent of the Month
Our October Change Agent of the Month is
Charlie Sabin. Charlie exemplifies everything of an
ideal team and group member. He always brings
a positive attitude to everything he does, and
elevates every group he is in. As an active
listener, he is natural leader who doesnt impose
his own ideas and opinions, but instead gets
every group member to contribute and
participate. Charlie has a great sense of humor
and a tremendous work ethic. Whenever he is
given a task, he is good at analyzing and prioritizing responsibilities and
involves everyone around him in solving problems. All of the teachers on
Team 74 are so grateful to have Charlie on our team and gladly recognize
him as Change Agent of the Month.

Dates to remember for 74
10/29- Bridging the Gap Meeting
11/4- No school for students
11/19- Bridging the Gap Meeting
11/21- Road Rally
11/26-11/28- Thanksgiving Break

P A G E 25
Team 8-1
Team -Welcome back from Fall Break. As a reminder, second quarter no
late work will be accepted for credit. Please make sure everything is
turned in on time!

Science - Students will be finishing up the unit on Force and Motion. We
have recently finished our experiments on the factors that affect friction
and now we are moving on to experiments on elastic force and buoyant
force. After fall break, we will begin the end of the unit project, which is
an egg drop carrier. Students will design and build their carrier and drop
it from the second floor of the commons. Their designs will be explained
based on their understanding of Newtons laws of motion and the
different types of forces that affect the motion of the carrier.

Math 8 - Parents: Did you fall for the Awesome Allowance proposition
and end up owing your student $10,000,000 by the end of the month? :)
We are working on making connections between graphs, tables, and
equations. In Algebra, we are using tiles to create generic rectangles
which helps students understand how to multiply binomials. Parents, do
you remember FOIL?

Language Arts - Students will be reading nonfiction this month relating to
natural resources- specifically fossil fuels. They will be gathering
information and making connections to all the different subjects (STEM,
science, social studies, math & health). We will be finishing up with a mind
map and a letter to someone in the business world regarding ideas for
improving business and the use of these resources.

Stem- Students are finishing their final project. For robotics they are
designing a program to make the robot move in a creative way and stop in
a designated area. For programming, students are designing a video
game. We will soon be swapping our units.

Health/PE- In health, we will be wrapping up influences in our life. Groups
will be presenting an persuasive commercial. This assignment is one of
my favorites because we see students creative side and it shows how they
collaborate effectively. Talk to your kids about the influences that
challenge their thinking. How are the influences in our lives really
affecting us? Something to ponder.

US History - Good news - we won! The American Revolution is over and
the hard work of creating a new nation begins. As a nation we will
struggle through the Articles of Confederation only to realize that we
need a new Constitution. The Constitution will become the new law of the
land... and who better to lead us but George Washington!


Trip to Cherokee - A few weeks ago we spent an entire day hiking around
Cherokee Ranch and enjoying the wildlife. This was a sneak peek at what
the team will encounter in the spring with our multiple day trip.

Math - We are knee deep in learning at this point. This month in
Geometry has been primarily focused on triangles and angles. We are
building upon our knowledge to apply algebraic rules to triangles. Ask
your student how we they feel about working with proofs to show that a
theorem is accurate. Doesnt everyone just LOVE PROOFS in Geometry?
Luckily, my Algebra class doesnt have to worry about those fun and
exciting proofs. Instead, we are focusing on the distributive property and
rewriting equations into another format. Our goal is to use all of this
information in order to solve systems of equations. Ask them about how
you know when to rent a car from one company that charges a $25 fee
and $0.25/ mile vs. $15 fee and $0.50/ mile. This is a classic real-life
example of a system of equations.

Math 8 is actually working on a little algebra and geometry with our
Transformations Unit. Our focus is how similar figures relate to each
other and what patterns help to determine translations, reflections,
rotations, and dilations. How do transformations help an artist or
construction worker?

Language Arts -We are continuing with our study of robotics and the use
of rhetoric in writing. It will culminate in an argumentative essay.
Advanced classes are finishing up with the rebellion literature circles with
discussions and a flag project. We will briefly study archetypes and their
relevance in society and then return to robotics and the argumentative
essay.

Social Studies - We are finishing up with the American Revolution and will
end with an exuberant rendition of capture the flag to review the
weaponry and strategies used in the war. Get ready for so much fun!!

Science- McKinney says, If you burn, they learn. If you want to teach
chemistry to 8th graders use fire. Are you addicted to fire? Find out the
answer to this question and many more in the winter ID unit.

P.E. and Health - Run, Forest. Run!

STEM -Poop to Power is coming up November 5th and/ or 6th. The team
will have an exciting trip to the Denver Zoo where we will be looking at
their unique system of recycling water and using animal waste to create
power. This is directly related to the STEM class and our study of
alternative energy resources.

P A G E 26
Team 8-3 continued

P A G E 27
Team 8-4 News
All The News Thats Swagworthy!
Team 84 has thoroughly enjoyed first quarter. Students are enthusiastic,
engaged and downright awesome. Many of the kids did very well in
demonstrating their understanding and knowledge throughout the quarter.
Students have had the first few months to adjust, learn expectations, and
begin to form study habits and routines. For those students that did not
fully meet the expectations, second quarter is the time for a fresh start.
Many members of Team 84 have figured out exactly what to do to be
successful in eighth grade. Here are their strategies for success.

Consider posting these ideas on the fridge at home. Talk through them
together as a family.

Team 84s Tips for a Successful Second Quarter (these are things students
should do):
Plan carefully. Break down time each day to work on upcoming
assignments, study notes, read, and practice skills. Habits take a long time
to develop. Consistency is the key!

Be proactive. Do your work the day that it is assigned, not the day
before an assignment is due. If you get stuck or need more time, you still
have another day to work. Sometimes, all you need is a break from your
thinking--some ideas click overnight.

Seek ways to exceed expectations. Remember, a 3 means you have
done exactly what you were supposed to do. Comb through your rubrics,
ask questions early, collaborate with teachers and peers, and find a way to
personalize your learning or take it to the next level. Think about setting
the standard for what 8th grade work should look like, not just being one of
the herd.

Check the Team 84 website daily for whats going on in class,
assignments, projects, etc. Check Infinite Campus at least once a week to
monitor your grades.


P A G E 28
Team 8-4 News continued
Check the Team 84 website daily for whats going on in class,
assignments, projects, etc. Check Infinite Campus at least once a week to
monitor your grades.

Communicate early. If you are struggling, talk to a teacher today. Dont
wait and hope it gets better. Oftentimes, we are on our email, in the office,
or in the building, and a quick conversation can help you find a starting
spot, clarify expectations or brainstorm.

Schedule times to meet with your study teams/project groups, either
before or after school, during access or lunch time, or after school at
someones home or the library to get extra time and teamwork for working
on group assignments. Be sure to exchange emails and/ or phone numbers
to assure that everyone is connecting.

Talk to your parents, siblings and friends about what youre learning or
what youre planning for a project. When you talk through your ideas, you
will find places where you are confused or places where you may have a
better idea. Say, Hey, can I bounce an idea around with you? You will get
good feedback, solidify ideas, and gain energy for your work. Parents like
these conversations!

Seek out new ways to study for tests and quizzes. Think about the ways
that YOU learn best and think about how you can apply that to studying! It
is often most helpful if you put in the time to take great notes during class
and spend a few minutes reviewing them at the end of each day. This will
save you the time from cramming later! Compare notes with a friend, did
you both get the same information from class? Think about what is
important.

P A G E 29
Electives - Visual Arts
In the coming weeks, there will be Chihuly style sculptures popping up
on the landscape outside on the school grounds. Art students have been
building 6 foot armatures which they are plastering and painting
(highlights) to look like glass sculptures, similar to the Dale Chihuly glass
sculptures on display at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Students are in the
plastering stage now and will be painting and high glossing the sculptures
before (literally) planting them in the ground.

P A G E 30
Electives - Visual Arts continued

P A G E 31
Electives - Creative Writing / ePub
This year Creative Writing has been the best class ever. We started off our
wonderful year with all the little quirks about each of us. After that, we
started writing odes. Odes are poems which are written to praise
something, or in our case, sarcastically praise something. After practicing
writing odes, we started our first project; an ode to a Mid Century
invention. We each chose one invention from the Mid Century and started
writing. I myself chose the Mid Century Jello salads that were filled with
different fruits and vegetables.

Everyone chose something different, including Mid Century kitchens,
furniture, and many other things. Next, we all learned about iambic
pentameter. This is a sentence which has 10 syllables. This format added
emphasis to our poems and helped them flow. We wrote our odes and as
we finished, we printed out our different poems. Once we finished, we
started a new project with 365grateful.com. This project consists of
writing down things we are grateful for throughout this semester
including an explanation. Even though we have not had this class for a
long time, Creative Writing/ePub has been a blast!

By: Ben Nailen

03 October 2014 MRMS PDF

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