1. education
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GREAT FALLS MIDDLE
SCHOOL
OCTOBER UPDATE
From the Desk of the Principal:
Our school year is well underway and students have settled into the academic routine. As
you may have seen through the school committee meeting or in the newspaper Great Falls
Middle School is very proud to have achieved Level 1 status with the State Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education. Our teachers have worked hard with our students to teach the skills
necessary for our student to achieve at high levels. The teachers, students, and parents deserve a
GFMS “Shout Out” for our continued improvement!
Many students are participating in fall sports and although winning is great we really
want to teach our students good sportsmanship and the feeling of achievement for hard work.
Our students are involved in football, soccer, field hockey, golf, and volleyball. The season will
be over for another year before you know it. So please try and come watch a game or match and
support your student athlete.
We have some parents excited about reinstating the GFMS PTO. If you are interested in
joining or helping out please let me know and I will forward your information to the parents.
They are planning their first meeting soon and we will post it on our webpage so as many parents
that want to get involved can join this organization.
We also have parents ready to serve on our school council. I will be planning the first
meeting for October. It is a public meeting and observers are always welcome. It will be posted
with the superintendent’s administrative assistant, as well as, on our webpage and other public
venues. The time has not been set but it will most likely be late afternoon or early evening.
Finally, I would like to thank all of the parents that helped make our Open House a
success this year. It was great to see so many parents actively involved in their child’s education
by supporting Open House. If parents have questions about things happening at GFMS be sure
to check out our webpage, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Donna Fitzpatrick, Principal
CLASSROOM NEWS
Related Arts Classes
Art
The beginning of the year is so busy and exciting! While getting our classroom
management routine down we have also started a project in every grade. Be sure to check out
Edline for information on grading and classroom policies.
Sixth grade students are beginning their first project as middle school students. They are
completing a drawing based on Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” They learn historical
information about the painting and are participating in a drawing that recreates it. Students will
put their own spin on the project by adding at least three drawings of things that would make
them “scream!” Be sure to look for the finished and colored drawings.
The seventh grade is also working on drawing skills and learning about setting up their
own still life. Students will be choosing the objects and arranging them at their tables and
completing a drawing based on the setup. Students are asked to look at the scale, placement,
shape and detail of all objects and draw them as realistically as possible.
Finally, the eighth grade is continuing the drawing theme and building upon the skills
learned as 6th and 7th graders. We are exploring shading through different media and creating
our own still life setups. Being able to find lights and darks within objects and adding shadows
is a huge step in creating objects that look 3D. After going over the steps, I am very impressed
with focus and dedication that all students have shown in their drawings.
Physical Education
Hello, for the people new to Great Falls Middle School I would like to take this time to
introduce myself. I am Mr. Kennedy the Physical Education teacher. For all returning students
welcome back. Along with teaching Physical Education for grades six, seven and eighth, I also
have a seventh grade CPR (circle of power and respect) class.
I would like to pass on a couple of reminders. First everyone must wear sneakers in order
to participate and receive credit in class. Students who have Physical Education class in the
morning may want to have a second pair of dry sneakers and socks in case their feet get wet from
the morning dew. Secondly we will primarily be outside for class this fall and it can get chilly so
everyone needs to dress appropriately.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to contact me by email DKennedy@gmrsd.org or call the school at 863-7300 ext 7328. Please take a look at the
edline page for activities, grading procedures, and other information. I look forward to the
coming year.
Welcome to Reading with Ms. Byrnes!
I am a certified reading specialist and I teach Reading and Literacy.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will my child have this class all year?
No, your child will have Reading for one semester (every other day) and Math
Apps with Mrs. Peck for one semester.
2. What is the purpose of this class?
The purpose of Reading is to support your child’s core English Language Arts
concepts. It is also a time for students to shore up weak areas and to challenge
them in areas where they are ready to race ahead!
3. When are you after school?
I am after school on Tuesday and Thursday.
4. What is your grading policy?
I have printed a copy for you tonight, but it is also available on Edline.
5. What is the best way for us to communicate?
The best way to get ahold of me is by email: barbara.byrnes@gmrsd.org
I almost always answer within 24 hours (usually less). If you prefer to chat with
me by phone, just let me know the best time and number to reach you.
6. Does this class have homework?
No. Because I see students every other day, I have found that homework is
difficult to keep track of; therefore our work is all done in class. Students
needing extra time or who need to make up work from an absence should stay
after school or make arrangements to bring work home.
Health Class
Welcome to our new students and welcome back to our returning students! I am thrilled to be a
part of Great Falls Middle School and look forward to an exciting year.
Health class has started the year off with Communication. Through learning vocabulary, role
playing, and interactive games we have begun creating amazing communicators! I have strongly
encouraged students to practice the learned skills at home!!
In addition, we have been discussing the food additive EDTA. Many students have been on the
lookout for this chemical in their food and beauty products at home. We will learn more about
this and other chemicals once we launch our nutrition program in November.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at tamara.wozniak@gmrsd.org. I
welcome your feedback and communication!
T.Wozniak
Math Applications J
Welcome to all the new students and welcome back to all the old! This year in Math
Apps we have some changes! Students will have Math Apps for one semester and Reading for
one semester. This keeps our classes smaller so we can better meet the needs of our students.
Right now, 6th grade is doing a project called “Get a Job”, where they find a job and an
apartment, calculate their wages and create a budget. This has been a lot of fun and quite an eye
opener for some! 7th grade is doing a unit about monarch butterflies which centers on their
annual migration to Mexico. We have been calculating such things as migration rates, percent
change in roost populations, and learning how much “fuel” monarchs burn during flight. 8th
grade is doing an extended version of what the 6th graders are doing. Their unit is called “The
Game of Life” which includes finding a job, calculating gross and net wages, finding an
apartment, choosing a car and calculating payments, as well as a variety of other budget related
activities.
I hope if you have any questions or concerns, you will feel free to contact me. My
extension is 7239 and my email address is: sandy.peck@gmrsd.org. My after school days are
Tuesday and Wednesday.
Our year is off to a good start! Students are managing their schedules and most
locker combinations have been learned.
Our Annual Fund Raiser is under way. Packets went home on September 9 and will
conclude Sept.29.We know that some parents groan when fund raisers come home
and we understand it. However, because we do this annual fund raiser it allows us
to enrich our curriculum in ways that we would not be able to otherwise. We will be
headed to Northfield on Oct. 3 for a day of team building and an informative
guided trip down the Connecticut River on the Quinnetuket II that relates directly
to our science curriculum. In November we are scheduled to go to The Fine Arts
Center at UMass to see the outstanding performance of the National Acrobats of
China which aligns with our geography curriculum. We are hoping to travel to Salem
in the spring. The students will have read “Witches, The Absolutely True Tale of
Disaster in Salem” in their Ela class. In order for us to be able to make these trips
and keep them affordable we need the fund raiser to be successful. We are hoping
each student will aim to sell $90.00 worth of items, of which we receive forty
dollars.
We now have a late bus for students that stay after for academic support.
Academic support is available Mondays through Thursday, no support on in-service
days or the second Thursday of the month when we have our faculty meetings.
After School Academic Support
Mon. Mr. Driscoll, Mrs. Gunnison
Tues. Ms. Howland, Mr. Driscoll
Wed. Mr.T, Ms. Howland
Thurs. Mrs. Gunnison, Mr.T
Our thanks for making sure your child is prepared for school by having their
binders, pencils, and paper. You should be seeing their daily planners that have the
daily homework assignments. You can check Edline for weekly updates on their
progress.
Thank you for your support,
The Sixth Grade Teachers
We‘ve been working on thinking like scientist by about learning the Scientific
Method. We have learned how to make sure we have a testable question, write our
hypothesis, identify the variables (independent, dependent, and constant),develop
our procedures, record and graph our data, and after doing all this how to draw a
conclusion summarizing our results. So, now that we are thinking like a scientist we
are going to put all that we’ve learned to use. In the upcoming week we will be doing
a couple of labs which will require the completion of lab sheets, where we utilize all
of our newly developed skills.
Next up we will start looking at the forces that are continually shaping our planet.
We will start by finding out how cartographers map the surface of the Earth. We
will be reading and interpreting topographic maps of Turners Falls as well as
creating our own topographic maps of a mountain we’ve designed.
Please email me if you have any questions or concerns. Check the sixth grade
general news for our After School Academic Support Schedule.
Maggi Gunnison mgunnison@gmrsd.org
School phone 863-7224
ELA
In 6th grade ELA, students have started off the year by looking at the elements of literature. We
have dissected stories and broken them into their core components including conflict, resolution,
climax, rising action, falling action and theme. Students will continue to use these elements to
demonstrate comprehension as they summarize what they have read. At the end of this unit,
students will use their knowledge to write their own short stories that include all of the elements
of literature.
Grade 6 Mathematics
Dear Families,
The sixth graders have taken off running with our first math unit of the year, “Prime Time,”
which is a study of factors and multiples. Students have learned about prime, composite, and
square numbers. They are working on finding the least common multiples and the greatest
common factors of pairs of numbers. Soon, they will use factor trees to find the prime
factorizations of numbers and they will review the order of operations for evaluating math
expressions (PEMDAS).
All 6th grade math students should have a binder in which they keep their math handouts and
notes, as well as a math homework folder (which I gave to the students in the second week of
school). They should also each have a copy of the textbook (which is a thin, soft-cover book)
called “Prime Time.” This is the first of seven textbooks that they will use and return throughout
the year. I typically assign homework on Monday through Thursday nights, so students should
take their binders, folders, and textbooks home each school night.
Please feel free to get in touch will me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. My
email address is catherine.howland@gmrsd.org and my school phone number is (413) 863-7221.
I hope everyone gets a chance to go outside and enjoy these gorgeous fall days!
Sincerely,
Catherine Howland
Grade 8 Team NewsWe want to welcome everyone back to school. It has been a great start to
the year. It is nice to have all of the smiling faces back in our classrooms. We are
already learning about all kinds of things on our team from linear functions to
astronomy.
Having a quiet work area that can routinely be used is a part
of creating good study habits. If students claim to have no
homework, it is recommended that they still keep the routine of
homework time and read a book or study notes for 30 minutes.
Please support making good choices about work areas, as
completing assignments with thoroughness is the preparation that generates greater
confidence and more active participation in class the following day. Be a part of
the change!
8th Grade Science- Mr. Tully
Astronomy has been the focus of 8th Grade Science in September. We’ve begun our year with
discussions about the formation of the universe, galaxies, and our solar system. We’ve continued
the unit with discussions about how the Earth, Sun, and Moon interact- more specifically how
moon phases, tides, and eclipses occur.
We have also begun our 1st term research project about the diverse moons orbiting our solar
system’s planets. Students are completing a project consisting of an oral presentation and visual
aid. We will start presentations on Friday, September 19th.
Please check Edline for grade updates and class-relevant material. The “Weekly Schedule”
documents list all of the classwork/homework for the week and the relevant Massachusetts
science frameworks. I post all my notes so students have a second chance to see any of the notes
they may have missed in class. I also post assignments and weekly grade updates on Edline so
you can keep track of your students’ progress.
Current MCAS frameworks:
ES-8: Recognize that gravity is a force that pulls all things on and near the earth toward the center of the earth. Gravity plays a
major role in the formation of the planets, stars, and solar system and in determining their motions.
ES-9: Describe lunar and solar eclipses, the observed moon phases, and tides. Relate them to the relative positions of the
earth, moon, and sun.
ES-10: Compare and contrast properties and conditions of objects in the solar system (i.e., sun, planets, and moons) to those on
Earth (i.e., gravitational force, distance from the sun, speed, movement, temperature, and atmospheric conditions).
ES-11: Explain how the tilt of the earth and its revolution around the sun result in an uneven heating of the earth, which in turn
causes the seasons.
ES-12: Recognize that the universe contains many billions of galaxies, and that each galaxy contains many billions of stars.
8th Grade Social Studies with Ms. Mason
The school year is off to a great start in Social Studies!
This year we will study World History from the “Fall of Rome”
through the Enlightenment in Europe, and also learn about many
cultures, religions and histories from across the globe. We
started the year with a review unit where we focused on the
importance of being active global citizens. I encourage all 8th
graders to stay informed on global events and issues by reading
the news and asking questions to clarify their understanding.
We have just begun our unit on Africa which focuses on the history and
culture of this diverse continent prior to European colonialism. Students began the
unit by interpreting and illustrating African proverbs and will soon transform into
Griots, the storyteller-historians-musicians of West African who have kept alive
oral tradition for centuries. Over the next few weeks, students will also
investigate the impact of Islam and Christianity on the continent, and explore the
West African trading empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. Our Africa unit will
wrap up during the first few weeks of October with a short introduction to the
Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Saharan slave trades.
Please feel free to visit my class website for Weekly schedules and Homework as
well as resources:
https://sites.google.com/a/gmrsd.us/ms-mason-ss/
MA Social Studies Standards: Grade 8: WHI.15 Describe indigenous African religious practices; WHI.16. Explain how extended family/kinship
systems have shaped African culture; WH.17. Impact of Islam and Christianity on indigenous African Culture, WH.I.18-19. Identify and describe
empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai, and their political and economics characteristics; WHI.20. Describe development and effects of the transAfrican and trans-Atlantic slave trades. 8 th Grade ELA
with Ms. Hollands
We have been taking a look at the different elements that make up a story.
Students were shocked at the plot twists in Shirley Jackson’s short story “Charles.”
After concluding “The Lottery,” the class will have a short debate about the ending,
discussing the moral issue that it presents the reader with, as well as begin our first
essay of the year. This essay will be used to determine what focus areas students will
need to improve.
Almost every day, the students begin class with a look at grammar. We will be
doing small grammar activities at the beginning of most days to help students improve
their writing. We began the year looking at proofreading. That way, all of the students
are using the same editing symbols and understand changes that a teacher might mark.
We have also been working through some root words and their
meanings. Currently, the students have three new root words.
L2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing RL2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text & analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and
plot; provide an objective summary of the text
R6: Analyze how different points of view of the characters and the audience or reader create such effects as suspense or humor
Math with Mrs. Kaczenski
To start off the school year, the 8th graders did a quick review unit to review all of the
mathematics materials from 7th grade. This unit went well and we
are ready to conquer the 8th grade standards!
The unit we are working on is called, Thinking with
Mathematical Models. In this unit we will look at linear
relationships, write equations, represent “real life” situations with
tables, graphs and equations, and begin looking at inverse
variation. We will also develop our algebraic skills by solving linear equations algebraically.
We conducted some experiments at the start of this unit testing bridge length vs. breaking weight
and bridge thickness vs. breaking weight. We used paper “bridges” and dropped pennies into a cup to see
how many pennies our paper “bridges” would hold. Ask your 8th grader about their results!
By the time we finish our unit, we will learn the formal representation of slope. This is the form that
many adults remember as slope
rise
run
Remember to check your Edline account for weekly schedules and assignments, grade updates, helpful
math tips, and links to other helpful math websites. Also, there is a link on the math website so that you
can look at the released version of last year’s 7th grade MCAS to see which questions you made mistakes
on. Learn from your mistakes. Try the problems again. Bring in your work (and defend your answers)
for another opportunity for extra credit on a math homework. You can also find last year’s released 8th
grade MCAS. Get some early practice to get ready for this year’s MCAS.
Our focus has been on MA Mathematics Standards: 8.EE.5 graph proportional relationships; 8.EE.7 solve linear equations in 1
variable; 8.F.1 understand a function is a rule; 8.F.2 Compare two functions represented in different ways; 8.F.3 Interpret y = mx
+ b; 8.F.4 construct a function to model a linear relationship; 8.F. 5 analyze a graph and describe the features; 8.SP.1 construct
and interpret scatter plots; 8.SP.2 straight lines as linear models; 8.SP.3 use the equation of a linear model to solve problems;
8.SP.4 understand patterns of association and use two-way tables. Additional for Algebra 1: A-CED.1 interpret parts of an
expression; A-CED.2 create equations to represent relationships; A-CED.4 Rearrange formulas; A-REI.1 explain how to solve an
equation; A-REI.3 Solve linear equations and inequalities in 1 variable; N-QA.1 use units to help solve problems; N-QA.2 define
appropriate quantities; F-IF.1 understand domain and range; F-IF.4 interpret features of graphs and tables; F-IF.6 calculate and
interpret average rates of change over an interval; F-IF.7 graph functions; F-IF.8 write a function in equivalent forms; F-IF.9
compare two functions; F-BF.1 write functions; F-BF.2 write arithmetic sequences; F-LE.1 distinguish between linear and nonlinear functions; F-LE.2 construct linear functions; F-LE.5 interpret parameters for functions in context
7th Grade News
Science
In Mr. Begg’s 7th grade science class we have been studying a physical science unit on the
properties of matter. We first learned that in order for scientists all over the world to understand
each other’s data they needed a common system of measurement. Scientist’s use the international
system of units commonly referred to as the metric system.
Our 7th grade scientists have been actively using meter sticks to measure length in meters and
centimeters. They have learned to measure the volume of liquids and irregular shaped solids in
milliliters using graduated cylinders. In the next several weeks we will measure, in grams, the
mass of different objects using the triple beam balance and learn about density by looking at why
things sink or float. We will also learn how to measure and record temperature in degrees
Celsius.
Once our young scientists have a basic foundation on how to design projects and record their
observations we will embark on several hands on science investigations.
Science Rocks!!
ELA
Hello Parents & Guardians,
Our school year is in full swing! Our seventh graders have spent a lot of time practicing routines and
procedures as well as behavior expectations.
The students are in the middle of a short story unit, reviewing the elements of literature; characters,
setting, conflict, theme. They completed "Who I Am" projects, a display about themselves. Many of these
projects are fantastic!
If you have any questions or concerns please e-mail me at kmartin@gmrsd.org or call my number at
school.
Have a great September!
Kara Martin, grade 7 English Language Arts
Math
Hello Math Moms and Dads,
Our first unit of the year (2-Dimensional Geometry) is well underway. I would like to take this
chance to explain math homework. Essentially homework is an assessment of how well your
child understood class. I (try to) never send homework problems home without having first
given your student the skills necessary to solve the problem. That being said, it will NOT always
be true that I have covered a specific type of question before. Many times the homework
problems are designed to force the student to use several ideas from class together in a new way,
or take some deeper understanding and then apply it to a specific situation.
Each class is centered around a problem from our workbooks. Your child should be able to find
the work they did that day in their “classwork” section of their binder. Formulas, vocabulary and
“big ideas” can be found in the “Math Journal” section. I post our weekly assignments on edline,
so you can look up the lesson that we cover each day.
So far homework production has been fairly good, with most students getting all of their
assignments in to me. The best way to help your child is to be positive and patient while they do
their work. Encourage perseverance, help them understand difficult vocabulary, and have them
write out their thoughts when they are stuck. The trick to learning math is to stay calm through
the struggling. Rising above the struggle is where understanding is developed, and how lasting
memories of mathematical ideas are formed.
Social Studies
The seventh grade classes are off to a great start this year! The kids started off the year
talking about how the past is studied and who is responsible for studying the past. They then
turned their attention to a fun story called “Motel of the Mysteries”, where they were able to see
a futuristic archaeologist make some misinterpretations about our ways of life in the 21st
Century. This book was used as a discussion point about how we make our best efforts to avoid
misinterpreting the past by not having enough background information. Students then created
their own idea of what may be misinterpreted in the future. This is always a really fun
assignment and the students get a kick out of the creativity among their peers.
More recently, we have begun studying the origins of man and have had some
discussions about fossils that have been found and how scientists have come to the conclusions
they have. This week, students have been working on building life size skeletons in class and
will be making observations and playing the role of a classroom archaeologist. In the upcoming
weeks, students will participate in the village game in which they will be responsible for creating
their own civilization. This simulation helps students to understand the key characteristics of a
civilization and they enjoy learning and creating their civilizations. So far, the year is off to a
great start. I look forward to working with you throughout the year. If there are any questions,
please feel free to email or call.
NOTES FROM HOME:
When a student arrives to school after 7:45am they are considered
tardy. When this happens, please send them in with a note explaining
the reason for being tardy. They should report to the middle school
office, with the note, before reporting to class. They will be given a
tardy slip at that time.
If your child needs to be dismissed from school early, please send
him/her in with a note in the morning. This note should be brought
directly to the office upon entering school and they will be given a
dismissal slip. This procedure saves much time as a parent does not
have to park, come into the school and find the classroom where the
student is. The student will be all ready to go with their dismissal note.
If your child is absent from school for any reason, please call the
school office at 863-7300 and leave a message. Also, a written note
stating the reason for the absence should be brought to the office upon
the students return.
Thank you!
If you would like this document translated please contact:
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Si usted desea que este documento sea traducido por favor contáctese:
Rebecca Wright, English Language Learner Coordinator, 413-695-9593/rwright@gmrsd.org
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October 6th grade field trip – Quinnetukut II boat ride
9:30am to 2:00pm
In-Service Day. 11:00 dismissal
Faculty Meeting. No after school help for students
No School - Columbus Day observed
Halloween Dance 5-7pm in the school cafeteria
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