HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS FROM THE … and News (Middle School...National Geographic in an...

HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS FROM THE HORNET’S NEST

Principal’s Point of View Can you believe it is already October? The fall season brings much excitement and enthusiasm to the middle school. Thanks to all our wonderful volunteers, registration was painless and parents were in and out in record time! Open House was also a great success; I heard only positive feedback from both parents and teachers. We are excited to announce Highlands Middle School has been recognized as one of the top 30 public schools in Cook County. Enclosed is part of the article that appeared in Chicago magazine, October 2006. I hope you find the monthly Hornet’s Nest filled with valuable information about what is happening within the middle school. We inform you of what is taking place at each grade level, what your child is experiencing with the Performance team, what extracurricular activities are taking place, a calendar of events, helpful ideas and articles to improve your child’s middle school years (Middle School Parents). We also include flyers, permission slips, PTC information and other important notices, so please make sure to read the entire packet. Finally, I write a one page introductory, filled with a potpourri of current information. Red Ribbon Week Red Ribbon Week is the week of October 23-27. It is a time to pledge to live a safe and drug-free life, a time to remember those we have lost in the fight against drugs and a time to show gratitude for all the lives that remain drug free. I encourage you to engage in conversations with your children about healthy choices and healthy lifestyles. We will celebrate the week with a variety of activities to remind students to live a safe and drug free life. Highlands Visits Springfield The seventh grade class is taking a one-day trip to historical Springfield, Illinois. The bus will depart at 6:30am and return at approximately 9:00pm. Students will have the opportunity to visit different war memorials, the Lincoln Museum, Lincoln’s Tomb, the Old State Capitol and Lincoln’s home and neighborhood. We feel that recognizing and developing pride in our country’s government at the federal and state levels is very important. Please call if you have any questions. Are you involved? (4 quick tips)

• Touch base with your child’s teachers or team leader. Share any information that might help in the classroom. Maintain that contact throughout the year.

• Whenever possible, attend conferences and parent functions throughout the year. • Find out about volunteering at school. Call your child’s teacher and see how you can help! We would like

to see you in our hallways as much as possible. • Ask about what happened at school. Be specific. For example, ask your child, “What did you learn in math

class, and how will you apply it to your life?” or “What did you discuss in Social Studies, and how did you contribute to the discussion?”

Bullying - Friendly Reminder Teach assertiveness. Confidence is the best weapon against a bully, and fighting back is the worst. Help children devise clever comebacks, and get involved in anti-bullying efforts at school. Always intervene! Finally, please give me call and keep me apprised. Remember, I can’t help if I am not aware of what is happening. Together we will not only prepare our children for the future, we will prepare them to lead the future! Mr. Michael Papierski

October 2006

News from the Hornets Nest Page - 1 -

Welcome to Highlands! A special WELCOME to all of the middle school students who are new to District 106.

New sixth graders New seventh graders New eighth graders Cristina Garza Courtney Cleveland Jocelyn Lima Joshua Hirt Adam Jumpa Christine Nash Taryn MacLean Kyle Mysiewicz Sofia Valdivia Nicholas Maldonado Adam Rodgers Kamolphan Weeraklaen Katlyn Marino Michelle Martinez Liesel Metz Geno Ott Hillary Schaeffer Na-on Weeraklaen Also, please welcome 4 new staff personnel: Mrs. Susan Arvans - middle school nurse Mrs. Gina McHugh - middle school secretary Ms. Nicole Nelson - 7th grade paraprofessional Mr. Stetson Steele - 8th grade social studies teacher

PARENT HANDBOOK

Every middle school student was issued a Parent-Student-Teacher handbook. The handbook will answer many questions you have about procedures in the middle school. If you have not already done so, please return a completed emergency form for each of your children. THANK YOU ROOM PARENTS

A big THANK YOU to the room representatives for all their assistance in collecting fees, selling gym suits and taking care of all the details on registration day. You helped us to begin the school year smoothly. Also, thank you to the P.T.C. for the beginning-of-the-year staff luncheon. We appreciate all the planning and work involved. Everything was delicious! If any parent is interested in volunteering to assist the middle school office, please stop by or give the office a call.


Important Office Reminders

Student Absence To avoid classroom interruptions, all absences and/or late arrivals should be reported to the middle school office prior to 8:30 a.m. Homework requests should also be made at that time. School Day Dismissal Procedures Students are asked to submit a parent note to the office on the day of anticipated absence. A pass will then be issued to the student excusing him/her from class at the appropriate time. Upon dismissal from class, students should meet parent(s) in the office to sign out. Please note: These procedures help office staff avoid unnecessary classroom interruptions. Lunches Should you need to drop off a student lunch, please be advised that classes will not be interrupted to inform your child. Please drop off your lunch in the middle school office. Students have been instructed to automatically check with the lunch lady or middle school office when without a lunch. Lunch Money Please avoid sending students to lunch with large bills. Change may not be available for denominations over ten dollars. Homework Homework is available on our district web page (www.district106.net). If a parent is unable to access information on the website, please let the middle school office know when calling in your absence. Homework requests must be made by 8:30 a.m. Homework may be picked up between 3:15 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. in the middle school office.

Lost and Found Articles are piling up in the lost and found area. Please check for any misplaced items. Unclaimed articles will be donated to charity at the end of each quarter. Oct. 20th marks the end of first quarter.

Visitors to school Any person wishing to enter the school needs to ring the doorbell in the front vestibule. We will ask the purpose of your visit. Then you may enter through the door and report to the middle school office.


HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS

6th Grade

Social Studies 6th grade Social Studies kicked off the new year by time traveling all the way back to prehistoric times. We learned how cave drawings have given archaeologists information about how people lived during the Stone Age. We then turned off the lights, crawled under our desks and became cave men to create our own cave drawings. We have since moved on to ancient Mesopotamia and are learning about daily life in the Fertile Crescent. Your student might be busy making a Mesopotamian brick for an extra-credit project to test in class. We will be testing the strength of the brick by rolling it, placing 50 pounds on it and attempting to break it after "eroding" the brick in a bucket of water. We are looking forward to learning about ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt in late September by going on a field trip to the Oriental Institute as well!

Language Arts The sixth grade Language Arts students started the school year with the humorous novel Regarding the Fountain, followed by an innovative redesign project. Students used their imaginations to improve upon the designs of such varied objects as wristwatches, hats, chairs, desks, eyeglasses, lockers, animal houses, and even a podium! Students described their designs in a friendly letter accompanied by a detailed diagram. More recently, students have begun reading and discussing short stories from our literature anthologies in order to discover how an author develops his or her characters. Meanwhile they have been writing about their own personal experiences in narrative essays. Students have been reading up a storm, both in class and at home, and then recording their reading in the new and improved Reading Incentive Program located on the school website. All together, the sixth graders have already read over one million words!

Spanish ¡Hola! Ms. VanVoltenburg’s students have been on a roll learning many new Spanish terms. The students began with a review chapter, where they revisited many of the things that they had learned with Mrs. Bishof, like how to say hello, goodbye, and how to introduce themselves. More recently they have just finished learning the vocabulary of the classroom, colors, shapes, and animals. The students are beginning to write sentences and will be making a poster about their favorite animal.


6th Grade (cont.)

Math

The 6th grade math classes have been busy clearing the dust from their math brains. We start each class with a "Dust Buster" or timed test of the basic math facts. Currently, we are working on subtraction facts and addition of integers. We just finished practicing 100 addition facts in one minute! Congratulations to all of the 6th graders who improved their scores. All classes are also starting a unit on integers. We will be learning the rules for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing integers. Students are excited to be learning these pre-algebraic concepts.

Science Science students recently completed the CSI Mystery to find out who broke into the science room. Almost everyone found the evidence pointed to Ms. O’Brien. Students learned how to conduct a scientific investigation and how the scientific method works. Kids analyzed data from shoe prints, pen ink chromatography, handwriting analysis, and powder testing to determine what the culprit did. We are now investigating how the earth works and how scientists use data from earthquakes and volcanoes to uncover the layers inside the earth. We will be using the latest volcano information from National Geographic in an upcoming internet activity. Students will also be using Bunsen burners next week to uncover what makes plates move.

Health We are off to a great start this year in our 6th grade health class. We began the class with a general discussion about the four parts of health (physical, social, emotional, and mental) and the importance of finding a balance among these aspects of health. We are now exploring the structure, function, problems, and care of skin, hair, and nails. Kudos to those who were able to make a healthy choice and run in the Highlands 5K!


7th grade

Language Arts

We are off to a great start this year! Students have recently completed their first writing projects, which included a narrative writing workshop. Some students are reading the novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Accompanying the reading will be a genre study of fantasy. Students will be working in literature circles, student led discussion groups, to analyze the text. This unit will culminate in various writing activities and novel related projects. On October 20th, all 7th grade students are invited to see the play, The Hobbit, performed by students at L.T. High School. Permission slips will be going home with students within the next week. Other literature classes are continuing to read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Currently, we are studying methods of characterization. Students will be comparing and contrasting the novel to the movie Mutiny on the Bounty.

Science

Our young scientists have been exploring physics this quarter. Some of the topics that we have covered include motion, forces, gravity, speed, friction and acceleration. The 7th graders have had a couple of labs to measure and calculate force, velocity and acceleration. In addition, they eagerly designed and examined roller coasters through a few computer simulations and were able to grasp a better understanding of Newton's laws of motion through various classroom activities. We are hoping to design and launch our water rockets near the end the quarter as a cumulative physics activity.

Math The students have been off to a great start this quarter with the adoption of the new math series. A note will be sent home once the textbook is available online. In Pre-Algebra, students have been working with writing algebraic expressions, finding patterns, computing integers, simplifying order of operations and substitutions. We will concentrate on solving one step equations and inequalities in chapter 2. In Algebra 1, we have been working with writing expressions, identifying independent and dependent variables, determining the correlation between data on a scatterplot and evaluating expressions. We will concentrate on identifying properties and calculating rational numbers in chapter 2.


7th Grade (cont.)

Social Studies The seventh grade Geography classes will be studying climate and vegetation in the next week. They recently completed a unit on the 5 Themes of Geography, which concluded with a test. Later this month they will study the United States with an emphasis on Illinois and the midwestern states. The culminating activity will be our field trip to Springfield on October 26th.

Spanish - Mrs. Rus and Ms. VanVoltenburg The 7th grade Spanish students are off to a great start. They have learned many new songs and even created a few of their own using the Spanish vowels. The students just finished up the preliminary chapter and are starting unit one. The preliminary chapter was a review of many of the things that they learned in 6th grade. In unit one the students are starting to learn about the many Spanish speaking communities in the United States. They are also beginning to learn vocabulary related to professions as well as new verbs and pronouns. The students are looking forward to learning about the many Spanish traditions as the first one, “Day of the Dead,” is fast approaching.

Springfield Trip – October 26th

Don’t forget to turn in your permission slips to the middle school office.


THE 8th GRADE TEAM “MAKING A DIFFERENCE” IN OCTOBER Foliage, football, and fundamentals are the focus in October. As the leaves color on the trees, students are reviewing, gaining new skills, and discovering new interests. The 8th Grade Team’s mission is to assist students in becoming insightful, creative, analytical, and responsible communicators in all academic subjects. We are looking forward to a great year and working together, across all content areas, on the 8th Grade Research Project, as well as many other interdisciplinary experiences planned throughout the year.

Math Mrs. Funk’s regular 8th grade class will be studying operations with integers, matrices, the distributive property, real number properties, and probability of single and compound events. The students did an excellent job in Chapter 1 last month and have settled in nicely with the new series. The math department is still in close contact with Prentice Hall and will let students and parents know as soon as possible when the textbook will be available on-line. We do appreciate your patience. The PAL 8th grade class will be finishing their study of real numbers, matrices, the distributive property, and probability. Students will begin studying algebraic equations with single step equations and quickly advance to multiple step equations and equations with variables on both sides of the equal sign. The study of functions will continue to be developed, as well as a review of rates, ratios and percents. The graphing calculator will be used in creating scatter plots and graphing linear functions.

Science Mr. Zeman’s students are hard at work studying the systems of the human body, including the digestive and circulatory systems. After dissecting earthworms last week, everyone is looking forward to the upcoming frog dissection.

Social Studies

Mr. Steele’s 8th grade U.S. history students are currently learning about the formation of our first national government that was created after the Revolutionary War. The students will be making their own political cartoons to show their thoughts on the power of our first government. They will also be performing various skits in class as they discuss the lives of the first leaders -- George Washington and John Adams. So, if your son or daughter asks for your help in powdering a wig or pressing a white dress shirt, you will know why!


8th Grade (cont.)

Spanish

Students are starting Unit 3, Chapter 2. It covers Spanish vocabulary pertaining to sports. Students will be discussing playing sports, what sports equipment is needed, and the locations where the sports are played. Mrs. Rus has been reviewing all of the material students learned in 7th Grade last year. The students will also be learning how to express their opinions in Spanish by learning how to make comparisons and how to say what they know how to do.

Strategic Reading and Writing

The students of Mrs. Sheers are receiving instruction in a small, motivating, individualized group format. As their reading specialist, she has designed a curriculum, which parallels that of the regular language arts program, utilizing compatible classroom and supplemental materials. The goal of the program is to support students to become more independent and effective readers and writers. The students have been working with a number of strategies to help them predict, locate and verify information, visualize text, and connect texts to their lives.

Language Arts The focus this month is on short stories, novel units, writing in a variety of formats, and oral presentations. Mark your calendars for our annual 8th Grade Shakespeare Field Trip taking place on February 13, 2007. The students will be seeing The Taming of the Shrew. Mrs. Schweizer’s language arts students spent time in September reviewing the Six Traits of Writing. The month was finished with a descriptive essay, which focused on specific aspects of the Six Traits. The students have enjoyed using the laptops for a Writing Workshop each week. In October, students will choose another essay from the workshop to revise and edit using the Six Traits of Writing. Time will be spent practicing paraphrasing and listing sources in preparation for the 8th Grade Research Project. In literature, students will continue to review literary terms and active reading skills through various novel studies. Mrs. Babcock’s classes have been using short stories and novel units to review and reinforce a variety of literary terms and the elements of literature. In October students will be using dramatic readings, writing essays, and creating oral presentations to demonstrate their understanding of how an author uses these literary terms and the elements of literature to entertain the reader and advance the story line. These techniques will then be used to improve student writing, along with the writing skills of the Six Traits of Writing program. The students have also been finishing an interdisciplinary unit in conjunction with Mr. Steele’s classes in the study of the American Revolutionary Period. They will be creating a group project that will incorporate their skills in note taking, summarization, research, report writing, and oral presentation. Also, throughout the month, spelling, vocabulary, and English grammar are intertwined within the various language arts activities. As always, a monthly book report is required of each student.


News from the Performance Team

Dans les classes de français….. In the 6th grade French classes we are telling stories about animals and chocolate, Ferraris and fish. We are learning the vocabulary for colors, numbers, calendar and weather. We will be playing “Lotto” with a number of our vocabulary categories. We are also singing – a lot! In 7th grade we have just finished learning about French speaking countries through our geography projects. We are talking about telling-time and will be talking about activities we like (and do not like) to do. The 8th graders are learning how to get around a typical “quartier” (neighborhood) in France, and how to ask directions. We are learning the names of different shops and establishments. We will also be starting our Paris projects this month.

from Mrs. O’Reilly’s classroom! Highlands’ sixth grade general music classes have been performing basic rhythm patterns including whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes and rest, as well as time signatures, ritardando, and accelerando. The students then took these rhythms and put them on the staff. We became composers working with the key signatures of C, F, and G. It is exciting to take this knowledge into our Music In Education keyboard lab. Finally, we will conclude our block playing guitar. I’ve enjoyed working with the “mighty” sixth graders. They are a terrific addition to our middle school student body! Highlands’ seventh graders chose to play guitar for their first block. We have learned many chords including Em, D, A, G, C, Am, E, E7, D7, and F. One of the greatest things about learning the guitar is that after learning a few chords you can play many, many songs. We have also played and written our own blues songs incorporating the classic 12-bar blues. They are strong musicians and creative composers. Highlands’ eighth graders chose to play the Music In Education Keyboard Lab. We began with very simple exercises, familiarizing ourselves with the keyboard itself and all of the special buttons and features on the keyboard. We have moved from playing the black keys according to the pictures to actually playing the notes from the staff. The eighth graders have also mastered the C major scale and the A minor scale, as well as composed their own melody based on one of those scales. They performed their composition live or had the option of recording their melody into the keyboard for me to hear privately. It is a magnificent piece of technology rooted in a thorough music education curriculum. Thanks to the Educational Foundation for making this investment and to the students for making this class so much fun!


Computer Classes Students in the computer classes are focusing on various applications including keyboarding, word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software. We also partially disassembled an old computer as students learned about its various parts.

Physical Education The physical education classes are finishing soccer and flag football units this week. The block will conclude with a written test. Students are preparing for their mile run and completing their fitness tests.

Health

Health has focused this month on keeping our reproductive systems healthy! We have learned how to identify and seek treatment for a variety of health concerns. The 8th grade health class has also worked on our research skills. We worked hard to document sources correctly and use information to communicate to a target audience. Finally, we have had the chance to use the laptop cart several times to enhance our health curriculum! Seventh graders are studying healthy relationships.

What’s new in Art Class? Sixth graders are currently working on a new drawing project. They are learning drawing techniques to better their skills from elementary school. Other projects have included stained glass windows, linoleum block prints and eventually a painting project. Seventh graders in sculpture are working on paper mache masks. So far, the results are great! They have finished their plaster shoes and their clay metamorphosis project. Eighth grade painting students are working on a coffee stain project. At this point, they have created a watercolor project and a banner. They are doing a good job!


Highlands Band News

Hello all band parents and students. We have had a wonderful beginning to the year. The Concert Band has begun working on three new pieces in preparation for the December concert. I’m excited about the enthusiasm and work ethic present this year! Jazz Band has also had a great start. I was so pleased with the turn out for auditions. Thank you to everyone who came out and auditioned. We have started working hard and I am very excited about the talent this year! Mrs. O’Reilly and I are excited about joining forces again and have a vocalist in the jazz band. Auditions for the jazz band vocalist are taking place on October 3rd. Good luck to all those singers trying out. Basketball Pep Band is beginning again this year. We will be supporting the girls’ basketball team at three home games this season. Come and support the basketball team and enjoy the cheers from the Pep Band! Thanks for such a great start to the year! Mrs. Hardesty

Microsoft Products For Students The Illinois Learning & Technology Purchasing Program has established a Microsoft purchasing program for all Illinois K-12 teachers, staff and students. These are licenses that students/parents, faculty and staff buy on their own and will personally own forever. In the past, this group would have to pay $499 for Office Professional in local stores, now they only pay $79- for the same product. Parents and staff can literally save hundreds of dollars and obtain life long learning tools like Microsoft Office, Front Page, Visio and more. All pricing and orders can be found at: www.shoptrc.com/savings


Student Council

The Highlands Student Council “Back to School” dance on September 22 was a great success. We have extended dance hours to 6:00-8:30 pm. All Highlands students have been invited to join one of the four Student Council Committees. Committee members meet periodically throughout the school year to plan and organize the various activities for which that committee is responsible. The four committees and their responsibilities are described below. Activities Committee Arrange and organize fun student activities other than dances, such

as picnics, movie nights, game nights as well as staff vs. student events. This committee will also be in charge of spirit week.

Dance Committee Members are in charge of planning and working all Student

Council sponsored dances. Fundraising Committee Members of this committee help decide on Student Council

fundraising efforts, work with other Highlands groups, such as the Service Club, and make sure any fundraiser successfully represents Highlands.

Communications Committee This committee is in charge of keeping the school up to date. They

will be in charge of advertising clubs, keeping the information current on the bulletin board, putting info on the electronic sign, and giving announcements to the officers.

Any student who did not sign up and wishes to join a committee may see a Student Council officer to do so. Students who wish to participate in Student Council have another option this year. Each homeroom was presented with quarterly sign-up sheets. Students could sign up, by quarters, to attend meetings. These meetings will include new information to be presented as well as a chance to bring up questions and issues.


To the Highlands Schools Community, On behalf of the District 106 Educational Foundation, I would like to thank everyone who helped make the 3rd Annual Highlands 5K Fun Run and Walk a huge success. The list includes Dr. Armanetti, Dr. Powers-Richard and Mr. Papierski, members of the school staff and faculty, the police departments of Cook County, Western Springs and Indian Head Park, the Pleasantview Fire Department, the Township of Lyons, local businesses, Highlands' families, and of course all of the volunteers and those who came out to run, walk and cheer that morning. Your contributions were greatly appreciated. For those who love statistics, here are some highlights from the big day:

• 227 people came out to run and walk on a gorgeous Saturday morning to kick-off the Labor Day • weekend. This number represented a 12% increase in participation as compared to our race last

year.

• There were 154 runners who completed the 5K course, while 73 others opted for the one mile loop. 53% (68 5K runners and 53 one milers) of those who finished were in age groups 14 or under, up from 47% last year.

• Our largest gender-age groups of 5K runners were Male 40-49 (25), Male 11-12 (21) and Female

40-49 (20). As for the one-mile, the largest groups were Female 8 and under (15), Female 9-10 (11) and Female 40-49 (10).

• Since our races courses were certified by the USATF in 2005, we had two new records set this

year:

• Mr. Steele was the overall 5K run winner with a time of 17:14, a new course record. The top finishing female posted a time of 20:31.

• A Sixth-grader was the overall one-mile run winner with a time of 7:10. Our top finishing

female, also a sixth-grader, posted a time of 7:22, also a new course record.

• The median finishing time for the 5K was 30:21. The median finishing time for the one-mile was 10:05. Both of these times were more than thirty seconds faster than last year's median results. At this rate, we may have someone ready for the 2016 Olympics.

Results for all participants of the 2006 Highlands 5K and one-mile runs can be found on the District 106 website at www.district106.net, as well as www.chicagoathlete.com. One final note--if you finished in the top three of your gender's age category and did not receive a ribbon on race day, please call me at 708.246.7336. Thanks, Lou Kafkes

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