News from Miss McDonald

April - May 2008

Sixth graders are venturing into science fiction, exploring topics of debates, and learning the art of reason.  More importantly, they anxiously are awaiting a new title, Seventh graders!  In preparation, they are taking on more responsibility and learning to manage their time, prioritize their responsibilities and strengthen their study skills! 

Enter room L07 during first period and be prepared to meet such characters as Nick Bottom, Puck, Lysander, Helena and many more as we study William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream!  We are learning, reading, reacting, and loving this play, stop by!  

Eighth graders are preparing for their field trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on Tuesday, April 15th.  In addition, these students will participate in a live broadcast from the high school, featuring a Holocaust survivor.  This interactive experience will help ready them for their field trip and enrich their understanding of this historical time.  Visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum online.

February - March 2008           

Sixth graders are diligently working their way through their Autobiography unit.  They recently completed a critically analysis of a famous author.  This month, they are finding exploring cultural influences, writing styles, and background experiences and how they are integrated into an author’s writing. 

On March 5, 2008, the Sixth Grade LEAP students along with members of the Intermediate School LEAP program will visit The Franklin Institute to visit Identity: An Exhibition of You. 

 Searching for man’s perfect world is an ongoing task in the Seventh Grade Humanities classroom.  These students just finished reading Lois Lowery’s The Giver and are reflecting on how Lowery’s book fulfills man’s a sense of utopia and dystopia. Additionally the seventh graders are analyzing art and discovering how to interpret pictures illustrating utopia.    

The Eighth Grade Humanities students are "stitching and sewing" together their Threads of Change group presentation for 19th Century American Literature which is due early March. 

Sailing through murky water and words, our eighth graders are reading Herman Millville’s Billy Budd.  Students will analyze the main character as they continue to critically examine the concept of change throughout American literature from the 1800s to present day.

REMINDER:   Money and permission slips for the United States Holocaust Museum Field Trip are due Wednesday, March 12th!

 Enjoy your mini-winter hiatus from February 15-18!

December 2007-January 2008

Grade 6:
We are jumping into Autobiographies.  In this language arts unit created at the College of William and Mary’s Center for Gifted Education, the students will be studying the concept of change by looking at autobiographies of writers.  Autobiographical writings from authors such as Beverly Cleary, Eloise Greenfield, Isaac Singer, and Lawrence Yep will be explored.  Through discussions of these autobiographies, the students will then consider ways to take responsibility for their own education and talent development. 

The sixth graders will use analytical, interpretive, persuasive, and communication skills to relate various pieces of literatures to their own lives and see how the concepts apply to today's world.  Additionally, students will be finding ways to develop and nurture their own hidden talents. 

Grade7:

Searching for man’s perfect world is no easy task, ask any seventh grader studying Utopia!  The students are diligently reading, reflecting, and gaining a understanding of the concept of utopia.  Through reading, art, and writing students will be examining why people’s ideas about utopia continues to evolve over time.  As part of this unit, students will be writing creatively and persuasively.

Grade 8:
The eighth graders are STOMPing through the Harlem Renaissance, studying an age of change, reform, and enriching culture.  Please take a moment to view the pictures of the Humanities Harlem Renaissance Class Museum Exhibit which was held on Friday, December 7th.  

Feminism, romanticism, transcendentalism, are just a few “ism’s” 8th graders are beginning to weave into the Threads of Change in 19th Century American Literature Unit.  In mid-December and into the winter months, the “big men and women” on the middle school campus will visit Walden pond, delve into Emerson, and critically examine the concept of change throughout American literature from the 1800s to present day.

Calendar Update:  The field trip to United States Holocaust Museum will be on Tuesday, April 15th.  More information will follow in January.  Please note that this is a different date from the date published in September!

 Happy Holidays from Upper Moreland Middle School LEAP students!

November 2007

The 6th graders are beginning to delve into ethics.  In class you might find these youngsters deep in thought or a heated discussion.  Following up from our mind unit, students will wrap their brain around right versus wrong ethical dilemmas as well as right versus right dilemmas. 

“To be or not to be” – Hamlet, that is what the 7th graders are learning.  After successfully completing our Expert Historian Unit, we are now moving into William Shakespeare and the Middle Ages.  As part of this unit we will be performing scenes from two plays.  Pop in to see our class’s renditions of The Song of Roland and  Midsummer’s Night Dream! 

While finding their “Place at the Table,” the 8th graders are discovering how people fight for their “place at the table” in America both historically and present-day.  In mid-November, the students will STOMP! their way into the Harlem Renaissance and gain an appreciation for the legendary music, art, and poetry that evolved from this era.

September-October 2007

6th Grade

Creep into the mind of a sixth grader, and you will find lots of information about Bob’s brain. As a class we named our brain model Bob to make our anatomy investigation more personal. In the coming weeks, we will begin to venture away from the physical parts of the brain and into the abstract mind. The sixth graders will discover how memory works, how opinions are formed, and how intelligence exists.

7th Grade

From websites to note-taking, the seventh graders have been busily studying to become an “Expert Historian” on a person or event for our Trends and Traditions Unit. Be sure to ask your child to share with you our calendar of upcoming projects and due dates! We thought it might be an effective tool for communication and planning!

On October 2, we will travel to the PA Renaissance Faire to step back in time and become a citizen of the era. Students who are on sports teams will be excused from practices or games that day for purposes of our field trip.

8th Grade

What is diversity? How about interdependence? How can we get along and fight to cross boundaries that exist in our school, our community, our world? Eighth graders are currently  grappling with these questions which are a part of a series of discussions and simulations that focus on tolerance, acceptance, and civic action. In the upcoming weeks, students will begin an alliance simulation in which they protect and defend their “country” while learning to live among other nations!