February 24, 2025

schoolhouse.pngMrs. Hall's Happenings

**The February book report is due on Friday, February 28.  Students can use A Long Walk to Water or Home of the Brave if they wish.

What We’re Learning This Week

This week in language arts we’ll be starting a novel that goes with our district Amplify reading series.  We will be reading Summer of the Mariposas over the next few weeks. This novel is a magical Mexican-American retelling of The Odyssey and a celebration of sisterhood and family.  Please note, there is a very short comment in chapter 2 about Santa Claus not being real. I do have some extra copies of the novel if you would like to read it yourself along with your student.  Please just let me know.

Students' homework each night for the next few weeks will be completing what Amplify calls a "Solo."  Students will read 1-2 chapters in the novel and then answer questions about the reading.  These assignments are digital and through the Amplify platform.  The audiobook and text are available on the Amplify platform.  Students will also be checked out a hard copy of the book.  If students are choosing to listen to the story, they need to be following along in the digital or hardcopy text. The Solos are preparing students for the next lesson.  It is very important students stay on top of the reading each night so they are prepared for the close reading assignments we will do the next day in class.

Our writing assignment this week will be answering a Document-Based Question,  Was Alexander the Great really great?

In math we’ll be learning about inequalities.

This week in science, we'll be starting our unit on ecosystems and how the stability of populations can be affected by resource availability.

And in social studies, we will be starting our unit on the Middle Ages.  This week we'll learn about feudalism, castles, and the black death.

Learning to Breathe

Here's information from our LTB instructor:

Dear Parent,
Today we met for our fifth Learning to Breathe class.
We began exploring a new theme this week:
E-Emotions: Learn to Surf the Waves of Emotions
There are many resources in the parent handbook to support you and your child in developing skills to mindfully work with emotions. You’ll find this content in the E section of the handbook and will also find a linked parent video. We hope you’ll explore the Emotion Wheel as well as the Mindful Pause.
Please reach out with any questions.

Student Body Officer

Becoming a Student Body Officer is a great chance for a new seventh grader to make friends quickly.  Please see the information below about  what to do if your student is interested in becoming an SBO next year.

Millcreek Junior High--Students need to pick up a form from me.  They will be writing a one-page essay about why they would be a good student-body officer.  The essays are due back to me on March 14.  Millcreek will then judge the essays and choose an officer from Bountiful Elementary.  No late essays will be accepted.

Mueller Park Junior High--There is a MANDATORY meeting for all students interested in becoming an SBO at MPJH.  It is March 4 in the MPJH library at 6 pm.  After attending the meeting, interested students need to pick up an application from me.  These will be due on  April 11.  One student from Bountiful Elementary will be selected who will then be interviewed at MPJH to determine the final selections for officers.