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Viking News
Principal’s Message
February is upon us, and we have experienced our first major snow storm! Is it wrong to be
wishing for spring already? The third marking period is underway, so we are more than halfway
through the school year. As I visit the classrooms, it is so exciting to see how engaged your
children are in the learning process.
In December, the 6th graders celebrated “Customs and Traditions” day. Thank you to our
teachers and the many parent volunteers who shared their wonderful traditions with our
students. Our fall and winter sports teams have had a great deal of success, and the coaches are
already preparing for the spring sports season! In January, RMS hosted our first cheerleading
competition, and it was very successful. The “Lip Sync” competition is scheduled for May 12 at
HCRHS. Please come out to support this wonderful student council event. The play “Shrek” will
be performed by our talented middle schoolers on March 2 and 3.
The 4th Annual Student Academy Day is coming to RMS on April 7! The students will be
participating in a fun-filled and exciting day dedicated to exploring learning through workshops
with topics that stretch beyond typical classroom activities. Please consider sharing your talents
with our students. You may reach out to your H.S.A. representatives if you are interested in
participating.
RMS is so lucky to have such wonderful staff members, who continue to look for ways to grow
professionally. As a staff, we have participated in many workshops that focus on integrating
technology effectively in the classroom. In addition, the teachers shared best practices for
differentiating instruction to meet the needs of the various learners in their classrooms.
Wonderful, thoughtful, professional discussions occur at our team meetings.
A special thank you to our H.S.A. for sponsoring our assembly on Civil Rights that was held in
January. The students enjoyed this interactive, educational production.
Please continue to check the weekly Genesis e-mail for important information about RMS,
including our monthly calendar of events. 8th Grade parents, please be sure to check the website
for important transition information.
Thank you for continuing to be a partner in your child’s education!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Sharon Moffat
1
From the Assistant Principal
Happy Belated New Year to all. It’s already February, and I hope you successfully weathered our
first major snow storm of the 2017 school year. I feel like the New Year always ushers in the
sense of renewal – a renewal of purpose and a collective commitment to excellence in both
teaching and learning. I am deeply thankful for the talent and energy of our teachers, staff, and
students. I am proud of our middle school students as I observe them actively participating in a
full spectrum of learning opportunities. I celebrate their successes and enjoy watching their
growth. I offer praise to the talented and committed teachers, staff, and coaches who keep our
students actively engaged in the arts, athletics, and learning. Research has demonstrated that
engaging students in the learning process increases their focus, improves higher-level critical
thinking skills and promotes meaningful learning for all. We demand high standards for all.
I am enthused this year about a new “technology” program that was introduced to teachers this
winter. Plickers is a FREE, fun and interactive program that has awesome possibilities in the
classroom to help teachers assess students' knowledge in real time. Unlike so many other
formative assessment tools that use technology, the only person who is required to have access
to technology is the teacher. For a better understanding of Plickers go to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfUB05xiIGM.
Through a close and collegial partnership with everyone associated with Readington Middle School, I am confident we can continue our collective commitment to make our school an even better place for our students to learn and grow in 2017. Best wishes for continued success!
With RMS pride,
Dr. Jonathan Moss
2
Math
Thus far in Algebra 1, students have
been using the Standards for
Mathematical Practice to write expressions and to
solve, write, and graph linear equations and
inequalities. Students will continue to use these
concepts as we begin solving and graphing systems of
equations, applying exponent properties, factoring
polynomials, and solving and graphing quadratic
equations and functions.
In Algebra 2, students have recently completed an
extensive unit on polynomials of second and higher
degree to include operations on these functions as well
as writing, solving, analyzing, graphing and modeling.
Students will now soon complete their study of radical
functions and rational exponents and move on to
exponential and logarithmic functions as their first
experience in Algebra 2 with the transcendentals
The students in Pre-Algebra have spent a lot of time
working with linear equations! They have been writing
equations from a scenario, graphing them, making
tables to find points, determining slope and y-intercept,
and then putting equations together to form systems of
linear equations and solving those systems to find their
point of intersection. We have also discussed what it
looks like if a system has one solution, infinite solutions,
and no solutions. Now, they are working hard
reviewing the first five chapters in preparation for the
midterm. After the midterm, students will expand their
learning of linear equations in relation to
functions. Students will also be introduced to the
Pythagorean Theorem and how it is used to find the
missing side of any right triangle.
Science
In science, we will be learning about the physical
sciences- light and sound waves, potential and kinetic
energy, and Newton's laws of motion. These topics will
be explored through physical demonstrations and
engineering dynamic models.
Social Studies
In social studies, students are deepening their
understanding of the federal government, as it relates
to expansionism, civil rights, and modern issues.
Language Arts
In Language Arts, students will begin a
unit on argument writing. As part of this unit, students
will tackle real-world issues and study a variety of
sources to determine how to convince others to believe
as they believe. Students will learn about logical
appeals, claims, evidence, and counterarguments. This
unit will also include review research strategies.
Spanish
I am very excited to inform you of all the great things
the 8th grade students are learning in my Spanish
classes. Students are presently learning vocabulary
from chapter 7A & B. They are learning AR, ER, IR
verbs in the past tense, names of stores in the Spanish
countries, high numbers from hundreds to millions,
phrases to communicate in the shopping world, and
direct object pronouns. Students are having fun
learning the culture of other countries, what they wear,
the similarities and differences that students from
Spanish countries have with the students in the USA.
French
The 8th
grade French students have been working on
the “clothing unit”. The students learned the verb
“porter” to talk about different clothes they are wearing,
what color they are, as well as the materials they’re
made out of. They learned to give their opinions on
someone’s clothes and learned the cultural difference
between how we give opinions in France compared to
the U.S. The coming weeks, they will be learning about
different accessories and focusing on their project by
putting together a wonderful fashion show with friends
and talking about what they’re about to do based on
what they’re wearing .
Mandarin
Eighth grade Mandarin students have completed the
unit of food. They are able to express different levels of
preference over some fruits, vegetables, drinks, and
meals. The can describe the dishes for three meals of
a day with fast food and Chinese food. They have done
an online shopping project to explore Chinese market
prices for some fruits, vegetables, sport/hobby items,
and clothing from a Chinese ecommerce site. They
have learned about currency exchange between US
dollars and Chinese Yuan. Currently, they are
wrapping around all curriculum they have learned to
prepare for high school.
Grade
8
3
Science
Seventh grade geologists are making a tectonic shift in
science class as we transition into studying
biology. We begin by learning what it means to be
alive. We will then focus on how a cell functions as the
smallest unit of life. Students will hone their microscope
skills as they observe cell division. Our exploration will
continue from there as we explore genetics and answer
the question “Why are we similar but not identical to
our parents?”
Language Arts
The 7th grade is finishing up their Evidence Based
Argumentation Writing Unit and their Mystery Reading
Unit. Students first had to read and research to
become experts on an issue before establishing their
position on that issue. The skills learned in this unit will
be strengthened as the seventh graders begin their
Social Issues Reading unit and Literary Analysis Writing
Unit.
Social Studies
The seventh grade social studies classes have moved
out of Greece and into Rome. Students will have the
opportunity to explore the Pantheon, Colosseum, Pont
du Gard, Hadrian’s Wall as well as hundreds of other
contributions made by Rome to Western Civilization.
This will be a great spring!
Math
The 7th grade Math classes have all been hard at work
solving for x in various situations: expressions and
equations, inequalities, systems of linear equations,
and in proportional relationships. They will continue
solving for variables in different formats and in real-
world situations.
Spanish
Hola! The 7th graders just completed chapter 3B in their textbook in which they covered foods and beverages, discuss food, health, and exercise choices, they also learned about how conjugate the verbs “Ser and Estar” to be in Spanish. Currently, students in 7
th
grade are talking about locations in our community, discussing leisure activities. Also, students are going to study the verb “ir” to go. At the end of the chapter, my students are going to learn how to ask questions using question words in Spanish. ¡Gracias! Señor Fernandez.
French
The 7th grade students spent a lot of time learning how
to conjugate their "er" verbs in French in order to talk
about activities that they do in the present tense. In
addition, they learned about the places where they do
the different activities and what prepositions to use in
front of the places. They have started the "school" unit,
where they will learn about different items in the
classrooms, school supplies, how to talk about their
schedules and their opinions on the different subject
sthat they take. They have also learned the verb “avoir”
in order to talk about different things that they have or
don’t have.
Mandarin
Seventh grade Mandarin students have completed the
unit of Making Phone Calls. Students have learned
about the basic conversation for calling someone in
different scenarios in speaking and writing. Currently,
they are exploring the weather in US and China to
prepare a weekly weather forecast report for a city from
China.
GR. 7
4
Language Arts:
6th Grade is wrapping up their Nonfiction Reading Unit.
Students met in book clubs to read and study books of
varying topics! Readers then worked together to create
group presentations on books such as Growing Up in
Coal Country, Children of the Great Depression, Steve
Jobs: Thinking Differently, Quest for the Tree
Kangaroo, Surviving Hitler, Harry Houdini, and
Abraham Lincoln. Emphasis was placed on group
collaboration and public speaking skills.
In writing, students wrapped up their Informational
Essays. Writers were encouraged to choose topics that
interested them, and essays varied from “The Study of
the Brain,” to “The History of Legos!” Students learned
about the research process and received an
introduction into MLA citation!
Currently we are heading into our Social Issues Unit
where we will be studying varying perspectives in
literature and history through compare and contrast
analysis. Students are sure to be strengthening their
writing with complex sentences!
Fun Fact- 6th Grade students have learned over 90
new vocabulary words this year! Keep up the hard
work!
Social Studies:
The sixth graders are studying the characteristics of a
civilization for ancient Egypt. Over the past weeks,
students have focused on the government and social
structure of ancient Egypt. Students will learn about the
achievements, technology, and inventions of the great
empire through centers and in-class simulations.
Science:
The sixth graders blasted off into the New Year creating
Alka seltzer rockets in class. They also used a balloon
rocket and a combination of Alka Seltzer with various
penny loads to investigate Newton's Laws. Currently,
they are exploring magnetic and electric forces before
moving into our third unit of the year: interactions and
matter.
Math:
The Sixth Grade Honors Math Class is studying
geometry including angle relationships and triangles.
They have used similar triangles to solve problems
such as finding the heights of tall structures and the
distance across a river. Finding square roots to
determine the side lengths of squares, students are
discovering that the exact side length of some squares
cannot be written as a rational number. They will use
this knowledge as they discover one of the most
famous theorems in mathematics, The Pythagorean
Theorem. Students will learn how the Ancient Egyptians
used a knotted rope to measure their property
boundaries and how this relates to the Pythagorean
Theorem. They will also perform a simple proof and its
converse.
Advanced 6th grade math has been busy working on
proportional thinking. This is one of the major focus
areas of the 7th grade curriculum. In chapter 5, we
calculated the unit rate of a toy car and used
proportions to calculate our weight on the moon. We
compared the slopes of ramps for the toy car and
graphed our heart rate. In chapter 6, we will use
percent to calculate percent change, discounts,
markups, and interest. Our classroom becomes a store
filled with sale items. Have your child help you calculate
a discounted price the next time you go to a store.
Math 6 classes are extending the number line and
learning about negative numbers. They are graphing
points in all 4 quadrants of the coordinate plane, using
absolute value concepts to find vertical and horizontal
distances between two points, and reflecting points
over the x and y axes. Students are also using ratio
tables to find equivalent ratios and solve ratio problems.
The ability to use ratios and rates is very useful in real
life events like cooking with recipes, determining the
better buy, and calculating tax, tip, and discount
amounts. The next time you are eating in a restaurant,
ask your child to figure out the amount of tip.
GR. 6
5
Spanish:
The sixth graders did a presentation about 5 specific
places that show an overview of the US, and they just
finished their presentations about Mexico. The sixth
graders are asking and answering questions about the
presentations and then, they will be comparing and
contrasting the Mexican culture with their own.
The new topic that we will be working on is the
prepositions of place that will be combined with the
vocabulary about classroom objects. Students will be
able to describe a classroom, indicate where things are
located and talk about more than one object or person.
Mandarin:
Sixth grade Mandarin students have completed the unit
of “All About Myself”. Students are able to greet, ask
and respond for names, age, calendar dates, phone
number, and where to live. A skit was written and
performed by groups of students to conclude this
unit. Currently students are busy building a model
house for their first speech to introduce their family.
French:
We are learning to talk about our likes and dislikes in
French as well as different degrees of liking something
ex: I love, like, dislike, I hate. We are learning different
“er” verbs and different nouns. We’ve been playing
bingo, flyswatter in order to recognize words, listen to
correct pronunciation of vocabulary words, and learn
how to pronounce vocabulary correctly. The students
learned the difference between a subject and a verb.
They have been applying their knowledge in order to
conjugate their verbs to talk about different activities
that they usually do or are currently doing.
6
VISUAL ARTS… In the Visual Arts, students are
busy creating their masterpieces, as well as their sketch assignments. I am very proud of all the hard work our students have demonstrated. Our sixth grade just finished up their Giacometti sculptures and are starting a project where they get to experiment with many different mediums while learning about the Elements of Art. While the 7th grade Studio classes finished up their Relief Prints, and are learning about one point perspective. They are creating their name in Graffiti letters. Finally, the 8th graders finished up their self-portraits, and can’t wait for the Food Sculpture project. They will soon be busy working in clay making their chosen food. The work is truly amazing, and I cannot wait to display them.
LIBRARY… The Library Media Center continues
to be busy preparing for several upcoming events. Teams of students from all three grades will be competing in a Battle of the Books reading trivia tournament in school on Thursday, March 9th. The top performing teams will go on to compete against other Hunterdon County middle schools at an evening Battle of the Books competition in Tewksbury on April 4th. We're looking to bring the championship trophy back home to RMS! March brings the nationally celebrated Read Across America Day, as well as New Jersey Makers Day. RMS will serve as an official making site with 8th grade science classes participating in a Rube Goldberg machine competition based on physics concepts introduced in class. In April, 6th grade science classes will meet in the Makery for a design challenge utilizing key vocabulary and principles from the year. Follow @rmslmc on Twitter and Instagram to see these events unfold, as well as all the great work our Junior Librarians accomplish
PHYSICAL EDUCATION & HEALTH… In PE,
we are finishing up our Basketball unit this week and we will begin the bowling & floor hockey units. Then we will do some functional fitness exercises, resume project adventure, and begin our units outside when the weather gets nice. In our health classes, 6th graders are learning about how to take care of our bodies inside & out, as well as health products. 7th graders are finishing up their nutrition unit and will soon begin working on a t-shirt project to promote abstinence, and 8th graders are in the middle of their mental health unit
LA INTERVENTION…In LA intervention, students
have been exploring journalism, argumentative
writing and researching for informational essays. In
addition, students have been working on oral
fluency and increasing their volume of independent
reading. The 2nd interval of Running Records will
be conducted over the next several weeks.
CODING…The first semester of coding here at RMS is
a wrap. During the 2nd MP, we worked on creating four
different types of games: maze, platform, escape, and
launcher. Then the students were tasked with creating
their own original games using the skills learned
throughout the course. Ask your child if you can see
his/her original game if you have not done so
already! The new semester of students will be
beginning their first project soon. They will program a
story telling me about themselves. I cannot wait to see
what they put together!
FINANCIAL LITERACY…In 6th
grade, students are
participating in a classroom economy. Students earn,
spend, and budget on a daily basis. Students will be
working on a budget project over the next few weeks.
Our seventh grade students are currently working on their college and career unit. This semester, they will also be participating in a stock market simulation, managing their own stock portfolio of $100,000. In 8
th grade, students are currently working on an
entrepreneur study. Each group has selected a famous entrepreneur for their research. Students will be working on a business start-up project later this semester.
INNOVATION & DESIGN… In this course, Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
learning, innovative thinking, and creative problem
solving are at the forefront of every class. For example,
in 7th grade students are building Earthquake Resistant
Structures. The objective of the project is to build a
tower that resembles a 20 story structure that can
withstand simulated Primary Waves of an Earthquake
for as long as possible. First, students studied
frequency and its effect on objects of different heights.
Next, they observed how forces impact objects of
different shapes. Then, they will design concept
sketches of potential building design; collectively agree
on one and developed a prototype to test on an
Earthquake Simulator. Finally, they will construct their
structure out of balsa wood and precisely glue it
together. They will do this while closely following a set
of specifications, down to a millimeter.
MATH INTERVENTION… Students continue to work
on multiple units, increasing their math ability and
helping them perform better in class. Students recently
completed math reflections, reflecting on their math
performance over the last marking period. All students
continue to work on their yearly goals that they have
selected the last two marking periods.
E N
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1.
E N
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7
Music…The Music Department has a busy
spring coming up! In March the Pit Orchestra
will be performing for the spring musical, Shrek,
on March 2nd and 3rd
. Our advanced
ensembles, smaller student-lead groups, and
teachers will be performing at the 2nd Annual
Showcase of Music on March 30th
. The Viking
Cruisers will be performing at the Mark Cleere
Memorial Scholarship Basketball Game on
March 31st. On April 4th, the Wind Symphony
will take the stage in competition at the NJMEA
Middle School Band Festival at Bridgewater-
Raritan Middle School. Our Spring Concerts are
on May 15th and 24th (Instrumental) and May
22nd (Choral). We will conclude our
performances for the year on June 9th, bringing
the 8th Grade Band, Wind Symphony, Viking
Chamber Orchestra and Readington Rhapsody
to Hershey Park for the “Music in the Parks”
Festival. Our students have been working hard
on very challenging music. Please come out to
support the Music Department at any or all of
these events!
E N
C O
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- C
O N
T’D
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2.
E N
C O
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HEALTH OFFICE HAPPENINGS Debbie Nazzaro, RN & Mary Ann Connelly, RN
Spring Sports forms are being collected through February 24th in preparation for track, lacrosse,
baseball and softball try-outs the week of March 13th. Forms are available in the health office and on the website.
On February 3rd, RMS staff and students participated in the GO RED FOR WOMEN
campaign to support The American Heart Association’s fight against heart disease. Staff and students wore red, our
wonderful Maschio’s staff made a special heart healthy lunch, early-risers walked the Viking Mile before school, and
staff donated money to the American Heart Association. Thanks to all who participated! Excellent information on the
topic of heart health can be found at https://www.goredforwomen.org/ .
During the week of February 6th, the nurses completed vision, hearing and blood pressure screenings of the 8th grade students. Students in 6th grade were screened in December, and 7th grade scoliosis and blood pressure screenings will be completed in the spring.
8
From the Counselors…
The 7th-grade class service project is in full swing as students look to create a library for
students in Ghana, Africa. The African Library Project tasks students with collecting over 1000
books and fundraising $500 for shipping costs. Students have been hard at work creating flyers,
newsletters, displays, sorting and counting books as well as creating ideas for fundraisers. If
you would like more information on how to do donate or get involved, please ask one of your
7th-grade students or head to the RMS website and locate the link in our weekly genesis blasts.
Adam Connelly
Over the past few months, 8th grade students experienced many activities geared to preparing
them for high school, exposing them to many offerings available and understanding the 9th
grade scheduling process.
Stay up to date with activities for students and parents on our website under Quick Links: 8th
Grade 8: Need to Know or join the “8th Grade: Heading to High School” Remind app at
https://www.remind.com/join/ecd7b.
Verna Hegstrom
Next month, the 6th graders will be participating in a workshop on conflict
resolution skills. A component of the developmental guidance program, this
program has been in existence of over 16 years. Peer helpers from the 7th
and 8th grades will be specially trained and will assist the school counselors
in presenting lessons, activities and roleplays. Students will be developing
skills for solving interpersonal differences through improved methods of
communication, active listening and the use of the win/win guidelines.
These workshops were designed to give students the tools to effectively work
out conflicts at school or home.
Pat Loughlin