Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8

5TH GRADE

Fifth grade students have made a successful transition back from vacation and are busy practicing many new skills.  In language arts, students have received their third quarter reading requirements, which were sent home before vacation.  They are also continuing to work on grammar and are learning about the differences in genres.  Some science classes are finishing a unit on matter and will soon be learning about animal behavior.  Others researched biomes and learned about adaptations used by animals and plants in order to survive under specific conditions.  Most classes also visited Beaver Brook in Hollis, N.H. to see how our winter climate requires unique adaptations.  The remaining students will visit in early March.  The salmon eggs, which we are tending as part of the Adopt-a-Salmon Program, have reached the alevin (sac fry) stage.  In math, students are practicing geometry concepts.  Social studies classes have wrapped up their studies of New Spain and New France, and are now studying the thirteen original English colonies. 

Looking ahead, students can plan on attending a movie social on March 26th.  Stay tuned!

6TH GRADE

Sixth graders in language arts and social studies will be exploring the world of ancient Greece as well as mythology.  In social studies, students will be learning about the role that myths and stories from classical Greece play in our understanding of the Greek culture today through discussions about examples of Greek gods and goddesses, heroes and events.  In language arts, students will read myths and identify common structures and stylistic elements of the genre while reading a variety of selections of traditional literature from the Greek culture.

In math, we will be completing Covering and Surroundings and then be moving to Bits and Pieces III.  We will be exploring and computing with decimals and percents, and discovering ways to use and explain algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of decimals.  In science, we will be completing our study of the Solar System and how each planet relates to our planet.  Some classes will be studying living systems by exploring the classification system and living organisms next.  This will include the study of cells and structure of plant and animal cells and how the system works together.  

7TH GRADE      

Our next to last field trip on March 16th to the Chelmsford Performing Arts Center is quickly approaching.  Black Violin promises to be very entertaining.  It is performed by two classically trained musicians who have combined their training with some hip-hop music.  This is our first time seeing this particular group, but we have been very pleased with the performances we’ve seen so far.

Seventh grade is busy with Asia in geography, the human body systems in science, a three-dimensional unit on geometry in math/pre-algebra, and language arts classes are focusing on MCAS practice with open-response questions along with written forms of the oral tradition (legends, epics) and a project culminating a unit with a survival theme. 

8TH GRADE

In Science, we are learning about chemical bonding and chemical reactions.   We will also take a few days to go over the manufacturing process as it relates to the Product Fair.  Independent investigations are due March 5th.  It will be exciting to see everyone's results! 

Math 8 students are engaging in activities that center around data analysis.  A focus on measures of central tendency, variability in data and comparing distributions of equal and unequal sizes gives our students the opportunity to experience first-hand how data is used to represent real-life situations. 

Algebra students are studying the rules of exponents and are exploring exponential functions.  A look at compound interest, population rates, and growing mold gives our Algebra students the opportunity to experience exponential growth and decay firsthand.

Students in Language Arts are continuing much of the activities in last month's newsletter along with MCAS preparation.

In the next few weeks, eighth grade Social Studies classes will be completing their units about the cultures of East Asia and moving on to the study of three civilizations of the Americas in the centuries before European contact.  Our study of the Aztec, Inca and Maya will focus on social organization and the ways that physical geography and the availability of natural resources worked together to influence the development of these great civilizations.  The units will then look at the short-term and long-term effects of European contact on these cultures.