Friday, April 14th

Announcement: 7th and 8th grade dance: St. Francis will be hosting the Middle School Dance for 7th and 8th graders on Friday, May 5, in our school gym.  We are looking forward to a fun evening and hope you can join us!  Please click on the link below to donate items and/or volunteer your time at the dance.  Thanks in advance for your help and please contact Mrs. Mistry (lmistry@saintfrancisschool.org) with any questions. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b45a4ac28abfe3-stfrancis1 Religion--Mrs. Timmins The past two weeks the 7th graders completed chapter 18 and started chapter 19. Chapter 18 discussed the Cardinal and Theological Virtues. Chapter 19 is covering topics such as death and forgiveness, which ties in nicely with Holy Week. We took time this week to participate in Adoration which was very special during this Holy Week. Holy Thursday we took time to discuss The Last Supper, Judas’s betrayal and Peter denial. Holy Friday the students mourned Jesus’s death. They took time to reflect on His ultimate sacrifice for us. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Have a very Happy Easter!

Language Arts--Mrs. McFarland We've been studying Shakespeare in language arts and looking at some of his most well-known sonnets and plays. This week, 7th graders are working on writing their own sonnets and next week will start memorizing a monologue to recite and share with the class, wrapping up our Shakespeare unit.  Reading- We are continuing to read The Wednesday Wars in reading class (which ties directly into our learning about Shakespeare and his works!). We will be wrapping up this book in the next two weeks and will have a test over The Wednesday Wars at the end of April.

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace The 7th graders have been learning about the current geography and events of Central and Southwest Asia; the area that we commonly know as the "Middle East." We have been reviewing the geography and then also discussing issues such as the current war in Syria along with the exportation of oil as well. The 7th graders will have a geography quiz over the countries of Central and Southwest Asia on Wednesday, April 19th. A reminder that the deadline registration discount for the Washington DC trip is coming up on April 28th.  The Washington DC trip will be from June 1st-4th, 2018.   How to register: Trip ID# 147323 Online: www.worldstrides.com/signup Phone-1-800-468-5899 Mail with registration form

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 7th graders are continuing their study of Food, Digestion and Nutrition.  We have been learning about the different food groups and how different food groups help provide nutrition.  The students also kept a food log and analyzed them to see if they were meeting their daily food requirements.  We used the website below to learn about the food groups, food choices, etc.  It has a lot of information that is worth checking out for students and familie.  Click on the link below to access the site. https://www.choosemyplate.gov/ Currently we are learning about the organs of the digestive system and how the food that we eat is changed into energy that the body can use.  As part of our nutrition study, we will have a fruit tasting lab next Friday, April 21.  I am asking the students to bring in a whole piece of fruit (not cut up) and I will show them how to prepare the fruit and we will do some taste testing.  I am sending home a permission slip today that they will need to return on Tuesday.  Thanks in advance for your help with this fun project!

Math--Ms. Cline  Students in 7A are finishing up their unit on angle relationships and area of polygons. Their test will be Wednesday, April 19. Students in 7B and 7C have been working on finding the surface area and volume of three-dimensional shapes. Next week, we will be creating three-dimensional shapes and measuring the surface area and volume of our creations.

8th Grade

Important 8th grade dates:

Friday, May 5th: St. Francis Dance

Thursday, May 11th:8th grade service day at Meals from the Heartland (9:30-11:30 am)

Thursday, May 18:  Science Fair:  open from 8:00-5:00 in the Science Room.  Students will be with their project during their class time.

Saturday,May 20th: 8th grade dance at St. Theresa's

Friday, May 26th: Adventureland: 9:30-5 pm

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

Announcement: 7th and 8th grade dance:

St. Francis will be hosting the Middle School Dance for 7th and 8th graders on Friday, May 5, in our school gym.  We are looking forward to a fun evening and hope you can join us!  Please click on the link below to donate items and/or volunteer your time at the dance.  Thanks in advance for your help and please contact Mrs. Mistry (lmistry@saintfrancisschool.org) with any questions.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b45a4ac28abfe3-stfrancis1

Religion--Mrs. Timmins The past two weeks the 8th graders finished up chapter 14 and took a quiz over it. The students started chapter 19 and they are the “teachers” for this unit. I am so proud of them and how they are presenting the information. We will have an open note quiz on Wednesday, April 19. There was an email sent out earlier this week about Theology of the Body which is the next unit 8th grade is going to cover. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. We took time this week to participate in Adoration which was very special during this Holy Week. Holy Thursday we took time to discuss The Last Supper, Judas’s betrayal and Peter denial. Holy Friday the students mourned Jesus’s death. They took time to reflect on His ultimate sacrifice for us. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Have a very Happy Easter!

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

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace The 8th graders have been giving presentations over major events from American History in the years of 1800-1850.  We will finish up the presentations next week and then start to prepare for their test on Friday, April 21st. Their next test, on April 21st, will be an all-written test.  From the topics presented in class over the major events in US history from 1800-1850, the students will need to write on five selected topics.  Their answers should be 4-5 sentences in length and contain detail from the text.  We will be creating a study guide in class and the students will have a couple of days to review.

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 8th Graders are continuing their study of Chemistry, currently focusing on the elements of the periodic table.    The students have learned about the history and structure of the periodic table and how an element's location on the table can be used to predict its properties.  We will soon be learning more specifically about ionic and covalent bonds.  The students will learn how to use electron dot diagrams and how valence electrons affect chemical bonds. We are continuing to work on Science Fair projects.  Most students are right on track with their projects.  They have completed their experimental problem, hypothesis, background information reports and have written up their experimental procedure (materials and method).  Students have a packet of information regarding each stage of the project which will helpful to you if you have questions about their projects.  Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Math--Ms. Cline Students in 8A have been studying translations and reflections of images on a coordinate plane. They will be taking a quiz on Tuesday, April 18. Students in 8B are finishing up their study of exponent properties. There are lots of misconceptions when it comes to exponents, so we have been finding patterns with exponents and making sure the properties make sense to us. They will be taking a quiz on Tuesday, April 18. Students in 8C have begun working with polynomials.