Friday, December 9th

7th Grade Religion--Mrs. Timmins The 7th grade students are working on a Sacrament book. They have completed the Baptism section and are currently working on Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist section is due on Monday. We are still collecting items for the Adopt a family. If you are interested in donating anything for the family we will be accepting items until December 16. Please have your students bring the items into the classroom. We will be taking a day to wrap and make Christmas cards for the family. If you need a list of the items, please click here.  If you have already donated THANK YOU! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Language Arts--Ms. Hilton This week in language arts was full of jokes and laughs as we wrote mad libs and shared them with the class. We also reviewed some top grammar mistakes and wrote jokes with the tricky there, their, they're and its, its. Reading- We have been reading Nothing but the Truth by AVI as a read-aloud, but we will pause this book to read an abridged version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens next week. We also have a quiz on Monday over plot structure. We have been studying plot diagrams and the parts of a plot using fairy tales as examples.  This is my last week as Ms. Hilton as I will be getting married next Saturday, December 17th! When I come back I will be Mrs. McFarland :) Mrs. Rupprecht will be in my place starting on Wednesday of next week and will be here all the way up to Christmas break. Wishing you all a merry Christmas and happy new year!

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace The 7th graders are finishing up their study of Mexico City.  The students have been working on a flipbook over Mexico City which is due on Monday, December 12th. They will have a vocabulary quiz on Tuesday, December 13th.  After we have completed Chapter 9, we will be moving onto the study of the geography of Europe.  Also, we will be participating in the Geography Bee the week before Christmas break as well.

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 7th graders recently completed their study of cells and heredity with their final unit which was Geologic Time.  They learned about how plant and animal life forms have changed over the history of the earth, the eras of geologic time and conditions on the Earth during all of geologic time We created a room sized timeline of the Earth's history, with each student creating a life form to place on the timeline.  The students also learned about how fossils can be studied to learn about the history of living things and how various types of fossils are created.  They made their own cast and mold fossils, using plaster and rubber molds, which we then painted to look like real rocks.  These should be coming home in the near future. Our next area of study will be a mini unit on weather and climate, which will take place during the time before Christmas break.  The students will not be using Pearson Realize for this unit.  They will be using a textbook and we will still be using Google classroom and other online resources. I have really enjoyed working with the 7th graders and wish you and your family a very blessed Christmas season!

Math--Ms. Cline  We have moved from solving inequalities to working with ratios, proportions, and rates. 7B and 7C will take their second quiz of the chapter on Tuesday, December 13. We will finish up the chapter with a test and a scale drawing project, using our knowledge of proportions. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas break!

8th Grade

Important 8th grade dates:

Religion--Mrs. Timmins The 8th grade class has been studying the 4 Marks of the Church. We have learned about "One" and "Holy" and just started "Catholic."  We will continue to learn about "Apostolic" and will take the test over the 4 Marks when we return from break.   We are still collecting items for the Adopt a family. If you are interested in donating anything for the family we will be accepting items until December 16. Please have your students bring the items into the classroom. We will be taking a day to wrap and make Christmas cards for the family. If you need a list of the items, please click here.  If you have already donated THANK YOU! If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Language Arts--Mrs. Callaghan Reading: Language Arts: Dates to remember:

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace The 8th graders have finished Chapter 5 related to the events leading up to the American Revolution.  We will now be studying the Declaration of Independence next week in addition to participating in the Geography Bee in class as well. The 8th graders will then start to write their "break-up" letters with Great Britain before Christmas Break.

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 8th Grade students are continuing their study of animals.  Last week we completed worm, mussel and frog dissection labs.  The students did a great job with these labs and learned a lot about the body systems of each animal.  Today they are having a test on Chapter 5 "Getting Around" which compares muscle structure, skeletal and nervous systems of various animals.  Since the students studied these systems in humans last year, it has been interesting for them to compare and contrast our body systems to those of animals.  Next week we will be focusing on the circulatory and digestive systems of various animals, both vertebrates and invertebrates. the 8th graders are showing excellent leadership at SFA and we are proud of their hard work so far this year.  Hope you and your families have a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Math--Ms. Cline  Sections 8B and 8C are finishing up their study of linear functions. We will spend the last full week of class before break reviewing the concepts we have learned so far this year to prepare for the midyear exam. Students will take this exam on Monday, December 19.  Section 8A is now beginning to look at systems of equations. Our first approach to solving these is by graphing. Students are beginning to see that all the skills we have learned so far this year are building upon one another. After systems of equations, we plan to tackle exponents. Have a wonderful, relaxing Christmas break!

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016

7th and 8th Grade Newsletter! Religion--Mrs. Timmins It's hard to believe that the trimester has come to a close! The past two weeks we have been learning more about Apostles and parables. The students read many different parables and created one of their own. The used the message that Jesus was teaching but put it into an everyday story. They did a fantastic job and it was neat to see the creativity they used in their creations. We also finished the book, Tuesdays with Morrie. We will spend the next few days watching the movie. When we return from break the students will complete a short essay over Tuesdays with Morrie (their thoughts on the meaning of life...what is important to them.) We will be taking a quiz on Tuesday, November 29 over chapters 7 and 10. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Language Arts--Ms. Hilton We've been doing a variety of writing in class. After finishing their mystery stories, 7th grade has been working on interviewing, researching, and writing about a topic of their choice. This informative writing assignment has also challenged them to organize their thoughts into an outline before drafting and editing their completed writing. Next, we are doing a short creative writing piece from the perspective of a turkey at Thanksgiving. I encouraging them to be as creative as possible with their ideas! Reading- Reading- With the end of the first trimester, we are done with logging reading minutes on bookmarks and are switching to something new! Your 7th grade reader received a BINGO card on Friday where they will be keeping track of their reading to earn BINGOs and rewards. Their new minimum requirement is to read at least 600 minutes each MONTH. Because November and December are shortened months for this trimester, we are combining them. Your child should read 600 minutes (or more) before Christmas break!

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace The 7th graders finished up their study of the physical geography of Latin America.  We then examined the issues of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro and were able to take a virtual tour of the favelas through a web tour created by Google.  The 7th graders are now working through presentations, as city developers, on how they can solve some of the current issues of the favelas. We will then focus in on the various forms of government throughout the world.  The students will have a short quiz over the governments the week after Thanksgiving. For our final study of Latin America, we will finish with the discussion of the natural resources of the Amazon Rainforest and deforestization.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 7th graders have finished up with genetics and did a great job on their most recent test.Please remind your child to turn in test evidence on the day of the test if they wish to be considered for a retake. The students have made so much progress this trimester! It is really fun to see their success as they master science concepts. Our next area of study will be geologic time. We will be learning about Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution based on natural selection. This week we did an activity that demonstrated how natural selection works using (pretend) mice. The students also viewed video and photos of the animals that live in the Galapagos Islands. Planning our next field trip.... In the next couple of weeks we will be constructing a classroom size timeline showing examples of life forms in each era, learning about how fossils are formed and creating plaster fossil models.I am enjoying working with your children and wish you all a very blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Math--Ms. Cline  Sections 7B and 7C have finished their study of solving inequalities and are now working on rates, ratios, and proportions. We will be building upon concepts learned in sixth grade to solve problems involving similar figures, maps, and scale models. Section 7A is beginning to solve inequalities and graph their solutions on a number line.

8th Grade

Important 8th grade dates:

Thursday, May 8th: 8th grade to Drake basketball game

Friday, May 5th: St. Francis Dance

Tuesday, May 30th: 8th grade graduation.  Class picture at 6:30 pm. Graduation Mass in Church at 7:00pm.  Reception following Mass in Parish Hall.

Religion--Mrs. Timmins The students have completed one trimester and I couldn't be more proud of them! They have done an amazing job so far and I know that they are only going to continue doing so. The past two weeks the students have been working hard learning the Nicene Creed. We are focusing on the four marks of the Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. We have worked on One and Holy...they just submitted a slide presentation over the Gifts of the Spirit (Holy) and are going to present when we return from break. We also finished up the book, Tuesdays with Morrie and are going to watch the movie the days before Thanksgiving break. We will be taking a test over the Marks of the Church in early December. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Language Arts--Mrs. Callaghan Reading: Hello All! I can't believe the first trimester is done already. This year is going so fast! We have completed The Outsiders and have moved on to an amazing book called Mergers. My goal is to have this book wrapped up by Christmas time so we can come back and do a Readers Theater Unit. I am sure your kids will come home and tell you over the next month their thoughts on the books. It is filled with great questions revolving around equality, friendship, individuality and much, much more.                 Language Arts: We continue to do our DLR, weekly vocabulary and prefixes, suffixes and roots but our main focus has moved onto a Poetry Unit. So far we have watched the World Champion Poetry Slam winner present a few of his winning poems, compared music lyrics to the classic writer Robert Burns, and analyzed "Oh me! Oh life!" by Walt Whitman. My goal is to show that poetry does not fit in a box. It isn't perfect and can be done by anyone...anywhere! Dates to remember: Vocabulary Quizzes Friday. Prefix, Suffix, Roots are every other Wednesday. The next quiz will be December 7th. I am hoping to have t-shirts back the first week in December.

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace The students are continuing to study the events leading up to the American Revolution.  This week, they started a crime scene investigation of the Boston Massacre in which they will have to decide if the British soldiers are guilty.  We will then finish up with the discussions of the Boston Tea Party and Lexington and Concord.  We will end up testing over Chapter 5 after we return from Thanksgiving.  Tentatively, I have Friday, December 2nd as our testing date for Chapter 2.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break with your families!

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 8th graders are continuing their study of animals. This week we will be focusing on invertebrates, especially marine invertebrates. We have been comparing and contrasting nervous systems and movement in various animals and then will move on to the circulatory and respiratory systems, beginning with invertebrates and ending with mammals. The students finished up their ecosystem unit and all of our goldfish have found homes. This was a fun and educational unit for the students. Thanks to all of you who are “hosting” the fish. This week, with just a couple of days of class, we will be doing some lab activities and an introduction to our dissection labs which will begin after Thanksgiving. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and many blessings to you and your families!

Math--Ms. Cline   All eighth graders have begun studying linear functions. We have been finding the slope of a line and graphing lines using various strategies. We are applying this knowledge to real world situations, noticing that slope is really the rate of change and the y-intercept is the initial value of a function. I hope everyone has a relaxing Thanksgiving break!

7th Grade

Religion--Mrs. TimminsLast week students were given the opportunity to participate in Adoration. It is a wonderful time to see the students spend time with Jesus and appreciate prayer. We spent this week learning about the baptism of Jesus. Next week we are going to learn about temptation verses sin. The students will be having a quiz over chapters 5 and 6 on Wednesday.

Language Arts--Ms. Hilton Reading-

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace This week, the 7th grade students finished up their in-class Google Map assignments and also completed a quiz over 2.1-2.4.  I will be updating those grades very soon within the gradebook.  Next week, we will be finishing up Chapter 2 and I have scheduled a Chapter 2 test for Thursday, October 27th.

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 7th graders are continuing their study of genetics.  This week, we continued to work on Punnett squares and dominant/recessive traits.  We are also learning about incomplete dominance and codominance, as well as traits that are transmitted by multiple alleles and more than one gene.  The students had a quiz on Punnett squares and genetic terms yesterday and they did a great job.  There will be a test on Chapter 3 on Tuesday, October 25.  Please have your student review their study guide and quizlet.  Make sure that if I refer to a page or diagram in the study guide that they review that in their workbook. I am enjoying the 7th graders positive attitudes and hard work in class!

Math--Ms. Cline We are finishing up our chapter on equations. Sections 7B and 7C will take the Chapter 2 Test on Friday, 10/28.

8th Grade

Important 8th grade dates:

Friday, May 5th: St. Francis Dance

Tuesday, May 30th: 8th grade graduation.  Class picture at 6:30 pm. Gradution Mass in Church at 7:00pm.  Reception following Mass in Parish Hall.

Religion--Mrs. Timmins Last week students were able to participate in Adoration. This is held once a month and it is a wonderful experience for the students to spend time with Jesus. We spent this week learning about the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and how we can all be called to be people of service. There will be a quiz over chapters 4 and 5 on Monday and a Unit test over chapters 1, 3, 4 and 5 on Friday. Students will be given their quizzes back as study guides.  **Please note that 8th Grade will be leading the masses Nov. 1 (Tuesday for All Saints) Nov. 9th and Nov. 16.**

Language Arts--Mrs. Callaghan Reading: We have completed The Outsiders, and this week the kids have been working hard on completing their project/presentations. They began presenting today and I hope to finish them up by Tuesday. On Wednesday we will have a review and the test will be next Thursday. The next book with be Mergers and more information will come on that later. Language Arts: The Prefix, Suffix & Roots Test has been handed back and needs to be signed and brought back on Monday. We have completed a small non-fiction unit and for the last couple of days we have done some round robin writing. Today those that volunteered shared their stories.  We will work on summarizing next week and start a short creative writing unit. Dates to remember: Mondays and Fridays: Vocabulary pre-quiz and quiz Wednesday: 10/27/16 Prefix, Suffix & Root Quiz ========================================================== Red Ribbon Week: 10-24-16 to 10-28-16 Monday:  “Give Drugs the Slip” wear slippers Tuesday: “Journey Day” wear a shirt/sweatshirt from somewhere you have visited Wednesday: “Band Together, Be Drug Free” wear red day Thursday: “Rock Star Hair Day” Friday: “Drugs Bring Me Down”: Mission Dress Down Day Have a GREAT weekend! Mrs. Callaghan

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace This week, the students worked on their Thirteen Colonies mindmaps and commercials.  Within groups, the students created a commercial for one of the Thirteen Colonies using the website PowToon and also created mindmaps related to the economy, geography, and settlers of the colony.  When we study each colony, the students will present their Mindmap and commercials.  I look forward to seeing them! We will wrap up Chapter 3 next week and I have scheduled a Chapter 3 test for Friday, October 28th.

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 8th Graders are currently in the middle of their study of plants.  We have been learning about various types of plants and plant structures.  They have learned about nonvascular plants, angiosperms and gymnosperms and the life cycles of each type of plant.  Some activities that the students have participated were a leaf identification lab, a lab in which they counted and compared the annual rings of various types of trees and planting radishes.  We are growing our radishes under grow lights and the students are making daily observations of their plants.  The plants will later be used as part of our ecocolumn project.  Next week, weather permitting, we will be taking a tour of the church and school grounds and identifying some of the trees.  I hope that they students will be able to identify at least 10 different common Iowa trees by the end of this unit.  The students are working hard and demonstrating a positive attitude during class and labs.  Next week they will have a test on Chapter 3, Plants.  The test is on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Math--Ms. Cline Algebra students are working on solving literal equations, using conversion factors, and solving proportions. 8th grade math students are finishing up their study of linear equations, and their second quiz will be given on Friday, 10/28.