Mrs. Hall's Happenings

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Please use your myDSD account to sign up for a parent-teacher conference.

Parent Surveys

It is also time to fill out the parent surveys. This year there are three surveys to complete. Please see the email from Mrs. Pickett with details about the surveys. I really appreciate getting parent feedback. The surveys are completely confidential. As a little thank you, if you fill out the surveys, please send a note or email letting me know and I will give your student a homework pass.

Junior High Information

It's getting to be that time of year when the junior highs begin their registration process. I have talked A LOT of parents through this process, so if you have any questions such as honors classes and math placement I will do my best to answer them.

Mueller Park Junior High--We will be taking future MPJH students on a field trip to the school on the morning of February 3. Registration information will come home with your student. Then Panther Preview Night is Wednesday, February 4, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at Mueller Park.

Millcreek Junior High--A counselor from MJH will be visiting our school on January 28 to meet with future MJH students and talk about registration. Watch for a registration packet that will come home that night. Registration will be in person at MJH on Wednesday, February 4, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at Millcreek.

A note about variances: If you are interested in applying for a variance, the window is currently open. Information is available on the district website. Both junior highs have VERY LIMITED variances available for next year. Your student needs to plan on attending his/her assigned school and go through the registration process. If you do receive a variance, you will be notified in March and will register with the new school at that time.

What We’re Learning This Week

This week in language arts we’ll be reading and analyzing the myth of Zeus and Prometheus in our Amplify curriculum.

In math we'll be learning about greatest common factors and least common multiples.

Our science focus will be on climate.

And in social studies, we will be learning about the city-states of Athens and Sparta and about Ancient Greek architecture.

We are also starting several weeks with the art integration instructor. We will have a lesson once a week for 30 minutes for the next two months. She will use the topics I am teaching in class to create lessons exploring visual arts, music, and drama.

Greek Festival

As the culminating activity in our study of Ancient Greece, sixth graders will be participating in a Greek Festival Day on February 6. We will start the day with a presentation of our festival projects. Please remember, the "Project Card" just gives an idea about what to do for the project, but students do not have to do exactly what is on the card. For example, if a student chose the project on Greek pottery, they could make a Greek pot (as described on the card) or create a presentation about pottery--on a poster or a PowerPoint. They can be creative in showing what they learned about the topic. This project needs to be completed at home. We will have the projects on display in the school cafeteria from 9:15-10:30 on February 6. Parents are welcome to attend. Then afterwards we will be holding a "Greek Olympics" with events like the discus (with tortillas) and javelin (with pool noodles). We are in need of parent volunteers to help run the events. If you would be able to help on February 6 from 10:30-12:30, please let me know, Also, students will be dressing in Greek chitons (Romans called them togas) for the day. Basically, students need to bring a white sheet, and I will pin it into a chiton for them. Sheets should come to school on February 5, so we can get them pinned and ready for the Greek Festival the next day.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is coming soon. We will be celebrating with a valentine exchange and some party games in class. Students may bring valentines to exchange with their classmates. I will provide a bag for students to decorate, so there is no need for students to bring a special box from home. We have 25 students in our class. I will send home a class list of names if students want to label their valentines. Please note: Bringing valentines to exchange is completely optional. If students choose to participate, they need to bring a valentine for every student in class. They should not bring special valentines for individual classmates. I will have a link to a sign-up genius for treats and goodies in next week's newsletter.

Learning to Breathe

Please see the information below from our instructor:

Dear Parent,

Last week we had our second Learning to Breathe class. After a brief opening mindfulness practice, we continued to build on our theme from last week:

B- Body: Listen! The body is trying to tell you something

You’ll want to continue referencing the B section of the parent handbook and pull out the L2B Discussion cards for theme B if you haven’t already. Also, hopefully you’ve downloaded the L2B app. If not, now is a great time to do that so you can listen to a Body Scan recording with your child.

Please reach out with any questions.