Drug and Alcohol Education Update

Listed below is the overview for the March program:

Assembly:

Basic information regarding alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs (including myths and risks)

Peer Pressure, including refusal strategies

Workshops:

Goals/Decision Making Skills

Valuing a Substance Free Lifestyle (long term impact of addiction)

For the 8th grade we will include what this all means as they transition into high school.

Activities:

Substance Use in the Media

Peer Pressure Scenarios

Substance Specific Worksheets (alcohol, marijuana & tobacco) 

In mid-March, PEER Services will be providing the Advisors with 5 the discussion topics/activities that we can use in the classroom to continue reinforcing the information. They recommend that this is done after all students have attended both the assembly and grade-level break out sessions so that the students have all had the same foundation curriculum. 

Drug and Alcohol Education

Hello all,

For our Drug and Alcohol (D&A) unit in advisory, we are going to bring in a group called PEER Services http://www.peerservices.org/  They are an Evanston based company that specializes in substance abuse education, prevention, and assistance.  In order to truly dive into the subject, we will be covering this topic throughout the month of March by bringing in PEER Services on 4 different dates: March 5th, 10th, 24th, and 31st.  Here's the overview of the four sessions:

March 5th: Introduction and large meeting.  6th grade will be gone on a field trip this day.  Therefore, Mrs. LaGorio and Ms. Hovey will be going over the material with 6th grade on the following day 2 during their study hall. 

March 9th: 6th grade Introduction.  As stated, Mrs. LaGorio and Ms. Hovey will cover everything that was shared on March 5th with the 6th graders during their study hall.  Advisors will let your 6th graders know about this make-up lesson, so they won't plan on using the time for homework, etc.  

March 10th, 24th, and 31st: Break Out Sessions.  Students will be divided into groups based on their class (6th, 7th and 8th) in order to discuss substance abuse topics that are relevant to them. 

On the days when PEER Services is not at NPES, the advisors will be facilitating discussion and helping to answer any questions the students might have.  Also, PEER Services is providing the advisories with handouts and activities that the teachers will lead within our smaller groups. 

According to the student survey completed at the end of last school year, drug and alcohol education is something our middle school students really wanted to see in advisory.  We want to help to best equip our students to make smart decisions as they leave NPES and go onto high school.  

Please contact Tiffany LaGorio, Middle School Advisory Coordinator, if you have any questions at lagorio@npeschool.org 

The Renaissance

This week, the 6th graders are starting their Renaissance unit in Social Studies.  We began the unit by focusing on the cause and effect connections between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance.  Students worked in pairs to really break down the connection between events.  We talked about how it is important to show how the events are connected to one another.  Later in the week, we will discuss how the Italian Renaissance changed the economy and culture of Europe.

Question for your 6th grader:

How did the Black Death lead to an improved economy in Europe?

Save the Date:

Renaissance Festival    Thursday, April 2, 2015 8:30 a.m.

Week 25: 6th Grade Science

Week: 25

This week in 6th grade the class will review and reinforce what they learned from their moon observation project. 

Topic:  The Moon

Objectives: 

Explain what causes the phases of the moon?

Essential Question:

 Why don’t we see the far side of the moon? 

This week kids will perform labs to see the moon’s phases, what causes the shadows, and its position along with with the sun and Earth in space. 

Key Terms:

phases 

crescent

quarter

gibbous

new and full

Differentiation:

Observing

Predicting 

Inferring

Using Models

Finding patterns

Upcoming:

Gravity and Motion

Week 24: 6th Grade Science

Week: 24

This week the 6th grade will look at some unique properties of the moon.  Why don’t we see the other side of the moon?  Based on the moon’s rotation and revolution around the Earth, What would a moon calendar look like?

Topic:  The Moon

Objectives: 

Explain what causes the phases of the moon?

Demonstrate how the moon rotates on its axis and revolves around the Earth.

Essential Question:

Why don’t we see the far side of the moon? 

This week kids will perform labs to discover these unique properties of the moon. 

Key Terms:

phases 

Differentiation:

Observing

Predicting 

Inferring

Using Models

Finding patterns

Upcoming:

Gravity and Motion

More negative numbers

This week in 6th grade math we will be continuing to work on unit 6 on number systems and algebra.  This week we will be learning about how to multiply and divide negative and positive numbers.  We will then learn about different types of numbers like real numbers, integers, whole numbers, and we will be finishing the week off with learning about absolute value.

End of Middle Ages

This week, the 6th graders are finishing up their unit about the Late Middle Ages.  Today, they worked on planning the essays that they will write for their tests.  The question that they will answer is "Were the Middle Ages truly the Dark Ages?".  The students learned about how to gather evidence from the unit to help prove their opinion.  They filled out graphic organizers that will help them write their essays and discussed them with their partners.  They will take their test on Thursday.  Next week, we will begin the Renaissance and Reformation unit.  Don't forget to mark your calendars for the Renaissance Festival, which will be held on Thursday, April 2 at 8:30 a.m.  I hope to see you there!

Question for your 6th grader:

• Were the Middle Ages truly the Dark Ages?

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Week 23: 6th Grade Science

Week: 23

This week the 6th grade will continue with Earth in space.  They will discover how Earth’s revolution or orbit (an ellipse) around the sun is a year.  

Topic:  Earth in Space: A year

Objectives: 

Demonstrate how Earth moves in space.

Explain what causes a year and Earth’s path around the sun.  

Essential Question:

What is time? 

This week kids will use Kepler’s Law to model Earth’s revolution or orbit around the sun.  

Key Terms:

revolution

orbit

Differentiation:

Observing

Predicting 

Using Models

Creating geometric shapes

Upcoming:

Gravity and Motion

Algebra

This week in 6th grade we will be beginning our new unit on Algebra.  This week we will be learning about reciprocals and then using them to divide fractions.  We will then be reviewing how to add and subtract negative and positive numbers.  I always try to get the students to understand that when they are subtracting negative and positive numbers that they are "adding the opposite."  It can be a little hard to understand that when you are subtracting that you are just adding a negative number.

L.A. Blog-Research and Mosaics!

Good afternoon, parents! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

This week, the students are very busy working on two different projects: one, their research paper, which is moving along quite quickly, and the other, their book club mosaics project. After receiving their grades outlines and works cited pages, the students know where to begin on their first draft. We also had a lesson on how to create in-text citations and when it's appropriate to add these in.

The mosaics project is really exciting! The students are coming up with some amazingly creative ideas and illustrations, along with some well-written descriptions and summaries. I have pushed back the due date of this project from this Friday, February 13th, to Tuesday, February 17th, due to the snow day we had last week.

We are using class time this week to work on both projects, as well as a couple of spelling sheets and Writer's Notebooks.

Here are this week's/next week's due dates:

Mosaics Project: Due Tuesday, February 17th
Rough Draft of Research Report: Due Tuesday, February 17th

Have a great three-day weekend coming up!

Happy Presidents' Day!

L.A. Blog-Happy February!

It's hard to believe we're already into February, and we had our first official Snow Day! I hope everyone had a good three day weekend because of it.

This month, we are wrapping up some big projects. The sixth graders have completed their adventure books and are going to be working on a new project: a mosaic! It's an art-based project that relies on creativity, and I think it'll be really amazing. The project is an individual one, but students can talk with their groups to get ideas and inspiration. This project is due Friday, February 13th.

Next, the students are working hard on their research papers. They just turned in their outlines and works cited page, both of which are essential to the final draft. Any errors they make on these should be corrected for the final paper. The final paper is due Tuesday, February 24th.

The most important thing to remember for this month is that the students need to balance their time between doing work in class and at home. I often give them a lot of class time, so they should be using it wisely!

Wrap Up:
Mosaic Project due Friday, 2/13
Final Paper due Tuesday, 2/24

Have a wonderful week!

Late Middle Ages

This week, the 6th graders are learning about the Crusades and other events that changed Europe in the Middle Ages.  Today, they participated in a choose-your-own-adventure simulation where they made decisions as if they were soldiers in the fourth crusade.  Later in the week, the students will learn about how events like the signing of the Magna Carta, the Hundred Years War, and the Black Death changed Europe.

Questions for your 6th Grader:

• What was the outcome of the Fourth Crusade?
• Do you think the crusaders made wise decisions?

Week 22: Sixth Grade Science

Week: 22

This week we will continue with Earth in space and see how Earth’s tilt and orbit (an ellipse) effects our seasons. 

Topic:  Earth in Space

Objectives: 

Demonstrate how Earth moves in space.

Explain what causes day and night and the cycle of seasons on Earth.  

Essential Question:

What is time? 

This week kids will use models to explore Earth’s rotation, revolution, and tilt.  

Key Terms:

astronomy

axis

rotation

revolution

orbit

calendar

solstice

equinox

Differentiation:

Observing

Predicting 

Using Models

Upcoming:

Gravity and Motion

Geometry and Algebra

This week in 6th grade the students will be finishing up unit 5 on Geometry.  Today we will do the last section of the unit covering parallelograms and angle measures.  We will have a review day tomorrow and then the test will be on Thursday and Friday of this week.  We will then start our next unit on solving algebra equations next week.