Camp Innovate

CALLING ALL 5th graders, here's a camp for you!

Lego robotics, Minecraft, Sphero, Breakout boxes, and app creation are just a few of the hands-on STEAM activities available for students to enjoy during camp innovate at Truman Middle School. At camp innovate, we believe in the power of imagination, creativity and innovation.

Dates are set for July 10-13 and July 17-20 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Registration is now open, so reserve your spot today!

Class Update 2/23/17

Important Reminders:

Next week is Dr. Seuss Week February 27- March 3. Students can participate by dressing in the following ways to correspond with Dr. Seuss books!

Monday-  Read Across America Day/Growth Mindset

story ideas are: The Cat in the Hat/And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street/I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew Wear red, white, and blue, focus on Growth Mindset

Tuesday- Fox in Socks (silly socks)

Wednesday- Wacky Wednesday

Thursday- I’m Not Going to Get Up Today/Dr. Seuss Sleep Book (wear pajamas)

Friday-  Green Eggs and Ham/How the Grinch Stole Christmas (wear green)

The final deadline to turn in Six Flags Reading Program forms is tomorrow, 2/24.

Middle School Placement Forms are also due tomorrow.

Class Updates:

In math, we will be continuing to study fractions in Chapter 9. Students will work adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers with both like and unlike denominators. More practice will be given on changing back and forth between mixed numbers and improper fractions as well.

In reading, the students are almost ready for their final class debate next week. They will have one more practice before they debate in front of their peers. Each group's classmates will then vote on which side won the debate. Students have finished another successful round of book clubs and will soon be voting on the next book they would like to read.

The children are making good progress on their second argumentative writing paper. Over the past week they have been reading research, taking notes, and filling out an outline to organize their claim, reasons, and evidence. Most students have started to type their first drafts. Students will be striving towards giving credit to sources for evidence in their papers and working to push their own thinking so that it elaborates upon the evidence they use.

We are finishing up Chapter 4 in social studies and will be having a test on Tuesday, February 28th. The review pages in the chapter packets will also be due on that day. Students were given a study guide to help them prepare for the test.

Class Update 2/12/17

Important Reminders:

Thank you for helping donate to Jump Rope for Heart. As a building, we raised an amazing total of $11,628! The Major Savor Fundraiser continues through tomorrow, February 13th.

We are celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week all week. We will be participating in a school-wide Kindness Walk on Wednesday during our building family time. Children can also help by following the theme for each day:
Monday 2/13: Dreaming of Kindness - Students may wear pajamas.
Tuesday 2/14: Valentine's Day - Wear pink or red
Wednesday 2/15: Peace, Love, and Kindness - Wear tie-dye
Thursday 2/16: Ride the Kindness Wave - Wear Hawaiian clothes
Friday 2/17: School Spirit Day

This week is the midpoint of third quarter. As a reminder, you can see your child's current averages for all subjects except reading on SIS at any time. Grades will be updated on SIS by Tuesday evening to reflect the most recent projects and writing pieces that students have completed. Please let me know if you have any questions.

This Wednesday, February 15th, is an Early Release Day. Students will be dismissed at 1:40. Please make sure your child knows how they will be going home that day in case it is different from their regular routine. Monday the 20th, school is closed to observe President's Day.


The book fair is going on all week in the library! Students may bring in money to shop during the week.


Class Updates:

We are continuing to study fractions in math. Students have been learning how to find the greatest common factor to help put fractions into their simplest form. We have also reviewed equivalent fractions and are working on finding the least common multiple for a set of numbers, which will help with comparing the size of fractions. We will have a quiz on the first half of Chapter 8 on Wednesday the 15th. A study guide will come home on Tuesday.

We finished our second practice debate in reading and students have now chosen which side they would like to argue for. In preparation for the final debate, students will work on filling out outlines for their reasons and evidence, as well as prepare to rebut potential counterclaims from the opposing side.

The children worked hard to finish up their first piece of argumentative writing about the chocolate milk debate in schools. I will be meeting with students later this week to review their work with them and discuss their strengths. Students will also be making a goal for an aspect of argumentative writing they would like to focus on in their second paper. For the second piece of writing students will be able to choose their topic from a list of choices, including whether or not the penny should be eliminated, whether or not kids should have cell phones, and if zoos should be banned. The children will explore their choices this week and make a selection so they can begin researching.

We have started the next chapter in our social studies books, covering further European exploration into North America. Students will be learning about motivations for starting early settlements, such as Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth, as well as the hardships and problems that had to be faced. 

The Mission to Mars STEM project is coming along well! After much discussion, planning, and sketching out a design, students are now working in groups to build their Mars colony prototypes. Each colony must have houses, a plan for oxygen supply, and an electrical supply. The children are also getting very creative and adding in some fun to their colonies with workout centers, shopping centers, and movie theaters among other ideas. They are using all recyclable materials to build their prototypes. Here is a look at the beginning stages of engineering. Stay tuned for pictures of the final products!