This is a reminder that student led conferences are this evening, 4/23, from 3:45-7:00 in our classroom. This is a great time to review your student’s work and learn about their year. I will be around if you have any questions. If you would like to set up a private conference, please contact me.

We have been very busy in class with inquiries, writer’s workshop and health projects. Most of the work that has been assigned has already been due. Any additional work will be completed in class in the next week and a half. All students have a calendar with due dates for the last two months of the year. Here is a list of some of the past important due dates from the last three weeks:
5/7 RD Object Story – to get edited before score
5/8 Infectious Disease Project
5/10 Health Final
5/14 FD Object Stories
5/15 Whirligig Science inquiry (in class)
5/22 Math Problem Solving (in class)
5/25 Cardinal 3 Portfolio – we will try to have these done before student led conferences
5/25 Student Science Inquiry (in class)

We are also sharing our object stories in class, finishing our read aloud and planning for next year. I will post end of the year event times today or tomorrow.

When I was in a sixth grade I went to Outdoor School. I was a bit nervous at first but the staff there makes you feel at home, you stay in cabins and get to eat great food. Animal life and plant life are some of the thing your kid learns. It is also a way for the kids to enjoy the wonders of the outdoors and have fun. Environmental education is important because you can
understand more about nature and you learn respect nature.  When you’re there you learn things that you didn’t know and by the end you don’t want to leave.

I’d like for the experience of Outdoor School to continue for everyone.

For the diseases, we picked an infectious disease and were doing a presentation on it. I am doing a talk show about polio!

Inspired by works at the Portland Art Museum; Object stories involve bringing in an object to share.   You write about something you have that you would never give up.  These are due on May 14 and we are going to share them.

Cardinal 3 needs to be turned in by May 16th because its almost time for…WILD HORSE!!!!!!!

We are so excited!  It’s our last field trip of the year!!!!

We just finished Art Talks. For art talks, we got to pick three art pieces; a literary, a music and a art piece. We got to talk about them and present to the class.

Mr.Leone just started a new read aloud book which is called The Apothecary by Maile Meloy which so far is a good book.   I hope he gets to finish it before the year ends.

We just started a science unit about Newtons laws of motion. About every day of the week we got to do a science experiment, it has been fun.

The eighth grade speech’s are coming along great! A lot of people have already gone but we still have a lot more to go.

This week we also did a vocabulary cartoon. We picked a word from our reading book that we didn’t know before and drew a picture of what it means and wrote the definition down.

Well thats what I have for you this week.  Come back next week and you will have more for to read.

My apologies to anyone who checks in regularly; I have meant to have the students keep this updated.  I cannot believe how fast the year has gone by!

Your student is currently working on two assignments; Ancient Civilization Metaphors and Art Talks.  Students have received written instructions for both of these assignments.

The Ancient Civs Metaphor project is a week long assignment that has the students brush up on a common theme for ancient Greece, Egypt and Mesopotamia and compare them through metaphor.  Students will present their posters on Monday, April 9th.

On April 2 we began Art Talks.  This assignment challenges your student to find three pieces of art that they feel go together using visual, musical and literary art.  The spirit and intent of the assignment is to share art we love and discover new art in the process.  I have asked the students (verbally and in writing) to come up with more than one idea so we do not have students comparing the same samples.  Students have used prompts to brainstorm and organize their ideas and should have a rough draft to edit on Monday April 9

Thank you all for coming to the Ancient Civilizations Night. The students learned a lot and had fun making it interesting for you!

This trimester we are exploring factors that make civilizations fall, comparing and contrasting modern civilizations, and searching for reasons why some civilizations thrive and some struggle.  We will also be studying modern public health issues such as bacteria and viruses. Energy will continue to be a theme in our science studies as we explore different ways modern civilizations collect and use energy.

We have three field trips this trimester.

Outdoor School (6th Grade only) – April 15th-20th

Lincoln City Overnight (7th/8th Grades only) – April 18th and 19th

Wild Horse Canyon – May 16th and 17th

Here are some brief notes from Corbett Middle School Parent Meeting on 4/4. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s core teacher.

Please join us for our principal chat, first Thursday morning each month at 8 a.m. Coffee is provided. There is no agenda, just time to ask questions and learn more about the school.

Outdoor School – If you need any copies of paperwork, especially the packing list, see Mr. Lutes. Waterproof and warm gear is needed. All information has been sent home.

The spring overnight field trip for 7th & 8th graders is 4/18-4/19. A permission slip has been sent home. We will be doing our science inquiries. We will stay in heated cabins. Their is a reduced cost of $10 for this trip. We will return by 2:00 on Thursday so that students participating in track can attend their meet.

All parents/guardians with access to the internet should utilize the connect feature of the corbett website. Go to www.corbett.k12.or.us and click on “connect” at the top of the screen. Be sure to sign up for your student’s teacher’s name and middle school notes. This is a great tool for communication because sometimes things get lost when they are sent home with students.

We will wrap up our studies on ancient civilizations and move into modern civilizations this spring trimester. Students will focus on writing compare and contrast papers. Right now for writing we are working on Art Talks. Some classes will complete an object story. We are hoping to work with the Portland Art Museum to showcase our stories in May. We will be doing science inquiry at Outdoor School and on our overnight field trip. We will be also focusing on energy for science this trimester. Health will include studies on virus, bacteria and epidemics. We will tie both the science and health studies into our focus on modern civilization. Math every day, reading every day, like normal.

Cardinal 3 – Students should have had conversations about what they are doing by this time. Portfolios are due at the end of May (due dates vary in each classroom). The teachers will collectively go over Cardinal 3 portfolios of 8th graders to decide who gets Cardinal 3 honors.

If you want a copy of the promotion slideshow, we hope to make them available at the end of the year for $10.

Wildhorse – We go to this location, to celebrate our year and build community in our school. This is the 16th and 17th of May. We will leave at the beginning of school on the 16th and return late on the 17th. You will get a list of things to bring. We need a work crew and life guards. The work crew is hard work. Vance Rogers will help coordinate that crew. Please sign up and give your email and let us know if you have a truck/trailer that can haul gear.

It’s a magical time here. 8th grade speeches have been going on. If you would like to see an 8th grade speech sneak in the back of the commons at the beginning of morning meeting.

Student led conferences are May 23rd from after school until 8:00 p.m. This is not an individual conference but a time for students to walk through their portfolio and what they have accomplished this year. If you want to set up a conference, contact your child’s core teacher.

Last day of school is 5/31. Promotion is that evening. Students should dress sharp, but it’s not the prom. It’s important for kids to come to school that day. There will be a dance after the ceremony. Any parents who would like to help out, especially parents of 7th and 6th graders, please let Mr. Leone know. Exact times TBA.

Move up day will occur the last week of school during class time. It is not affiliated with promotion.

Again if you have any questions, please contact your student’s core teacher. We only have about nine weeks left in school. It’s a busy time and we have a lot of exciting things planned to finish out the year.

This trimester we are exploring factors that make civilizations fall, comparing and contrasting modern civilizations, and searching for reasons why some civilizations thrive and some struggle.  We will also be studying modern public health issues such as bacteria and viruses. Energy will continue to be a theme in our science studies as we explore different ways modern civilizations collect and use energy.

We have three field trips this trimester.

Outdoor School (6th Grade only) – April 15th-20th

Lincoln City Overnight (7th/8th Grades only) – April 18th and 19th

Wild Horse Canyon – May 16th and 17th

We have now started working on either a radio ad or a commercial ad for our Marblandia projects! It should only be thirty seconds long and is due on Friday February 24th. Our work cited is also due for Ancient Greece. This is going very well for my group of people, and I hope it is going the same for everyone else!!

We have also started working on plays with Mr. Lutes class! We have until Friday to perfect our work, and they will be presented on Monday in front of our two classes.    We will see the myth of Orion, Andromeda, Narcissus, Callisto and several others.   From my perspective it has been going really well.

Mr. Leone has started reading a book called Pandora of Athens. It is by Barry Denenberg. Its about Pandoras life in Ancient Times. This book is filled with action, adventures, glory, and of course the drama that she went through. Pandora is trapped by her father. And she is forced to marry a man that is more then twice her age! She has to wait until she turns fourteen, that way it will be legal for her to marry the man. But one day when Pandora went to get some water, she met a man named Socrates, and what he told her changed Pandoras life. So far the book has been really good, and very informative.

From all of us in Mr. Leones class room, GOOD DAY!!