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SVMS NEWS
Upcoming Events
*PTC Craft Fair in Gym on 12/5 from 9-2pm
*SVMS Band/Chorus in Gym at SVMS on
12/7 6:30-8:00 pm
*SVHS Band/Chorus in Cafeteria at SVMS
on 12/8 6:30-8:00 pm
*Social for Grades 4-6 on 12/18 2:30-4:00 pm
*Dance for Grades 6-8 on 12/18 6:30-8:00 pm
-$5.00 admission for both events
-Refreshments will be available for
purchase
Principal’s Corner
With this newsletter you should receive your first standards
based progress report for your child. It appears much different
from the former traditional grading. The software we use now
to store all the standards is called Jumprope. We will at some
point open the parent portal for the program like we did for
Infinite Campus last year so you can monitor your child and be
notified of anything they may not have completed. In the mean
time, we are all learning how to use this program efficiently.
With the training for the new software, teachers have been
developing rubrics to score each assignment based on the
standards your child needs to become proficient at during the
school year. These standards are based on the Common Core
or other standards adopted by the state, which are benchmarks
for your child’s development. The progress report only shows
those standards your child has been introduced to in class
during the period of teaching. Therefore each progress report
might list different or additional skills as the year progresses.
Finally, many schools like us have adopted the Habits of Work.
These are common skills across the curriculum that students
need to acquire to be successful both in school and in their
future careers. Please bring a copy of this progress report to
parent conference and if you still have questions please discuss
with your teacher or myself. We will be glad to explain the
process further on November 10th at Parent Teacher
Conferences.
Unified Arts
7th Grade French has been learning
about the French-Speaking
countries around the world, the
similarities of French and English
words (cognates), practicing
Introductory Dialogue and the
Alphabet and spelling. 8th Grade
French has been reviewing
information from last year and just
added vocabulary for the fair.
7th Grade Spanish and 8th Grade
World Language Survey classes have
been learning about the Spanishspeaking countries around the world,
practicing Introductory Dialogues and
the Alphabet. They have also been
learning about the Mexican
Independence Day and Hispanic
Heritage Month.
Music ♬
In 5th grade, music students have
learned about instrument families and
tone color. 6th grade students have
started learning about meter and
rhythm body percussion. 6th grade
band is prepping for their first concert
on Dec 7th. 5th grade band is learning
how to put together their instruments
and play their very first notes.
✇ Physical Education
In PE grades 4-6 have completed the
pre-test round of the Fitness gram
assessment. Students will complete
the assessment again in May. Grades
7 & 8 have been working on various
skills including soccer, football and
volleyball so far. Badminton and
pickle ball are up next for 7th and 8th
grade.
Grade 4 News
Fourth graders have completed their first book project for
this school year. All students were asked to read a fairy
tale and complete one of the nine different book projects.
They were able to choose from a variety of projects that
include things like a diorama, a mobile, a cereal box, a
wanted poster, a book jacket and more. Once students
completed their projects they brought them in to share
with their classmates during a three to five minute oral
presentation. During the presentation the students
shared a summary of the book that included the
characters, setting, problem and solution. Book projects
are on display in the Saco River Wing. The next fourth
grade book projects will be due December 1 and the
students will be reading an informational book.
Catch up club has begun in fourth grade and will be held
two days a week. Most Tuesdays and Thursdays one of
the four fourth grade teachers will have her room
available for students needing extra help or time to
complete missing work. Students may be picked up or
ride the late bus home. Catch up club is designed to be
more age appropriate alternative to the Homework
Detention that takes place twice a week.
Class Dojo is going well in all four rooms. Many
students have already achieved multiple reward
certificates that include a Sit By a Friend Pass, Free
Homework Pass, or Treasure Chest Pass. Remember
that downloading the Class Dojo app can check students’
progress. Please contact your 4th grader’s homeroom
teacher if you need more information to download app.
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Grade 5 Update
The fifth grade has been
working very hard.
Collectively, all SVMS
fifth grade classes have
been working together on
the Kid President
community service
campaign, SOCKTOBER.
We have been collecting
items such as socks,
toothpaste, toothbrushes,
and non-perishable items
to send to the Preble Street
homeless shelter. We
created posters and fliers
to put around our school,
as well as had various 5th
grade representatives on
our SVMS Morning News
broadcast to talk about
SOCKTOBER. In
October, we also hosted
our first fundraiser, a fall
social. This was an
excellent opportunity for
the 4th, 5th and 6th graders
of SVMS to interact for
some fall fun and games.
Thank you to all of the
parents and family
members for the support of
the SVMS fifth grade.
6th Grade News
The Sixth Grade Team has had a great start to the school year. We spent the very beginning of the
year getting to know each other and reacquainting ourselves with the school expectations. Students
are working on weather forecasting in Science and enjoying collecting weather data outside. In Social
Studies, we are focused on the Early People of Ancient Civilizations all around the world. Math
classes have been working on ratios and proportional relationships. In English Language Arts,
students have read several genres of stories as well as created their own pieces of writing. Students
are becoming familiar with the Standard Based Reporting structure and are thriving with this new
approach to grading and learning. Sign up forms for Parent/Teacher conferences will be coming
home soon.
7th Grade Update
Seventh grade is moving along with their learning. We have been working on getting to know our world by
studying the names of countries in Europe, Africa and now Asia. Students are able to use Sheppard Software to
help them study and teachers tell them how many countries they should be able to name to achieve a 3.
Knowing extra countries gives students the ability to raise their grade to a 4. Students are just winding up
Chapter 1 in the History book and we will be taking an assessment the week of October 26th.
In Math students in the Pre-Algebra class are working on integers. Students are learning how integers relate to
real world math. Shortly they will be starting a chapter on rational numbers. Course two math students are
working on percentage problems that will lead them to real world problems such as sales tax, discounts, markups and tipping service workers.
In English students have a grammar packet to complete every week. Directions are included on each page of the
packet should your student have difficulties. Also, Mr. Hanken’s classes are required to complete 6 book projects
in the course of the year. The current book project is due Thursday, November 5th. Students have a writing
piece due on Friday, October 30th that is an in-class assignment. Any student not completing that assignment
will be required to participate in homework detention until it is done.
In Science we are just wrapping up the Nature of Science Unit. This is where we learn the differences between
observation and inferences, learn lab safety and most importantly, learn to identify good science in our world. A
good portion of time is spent learning the Metric System (or S.I. as it is called in science circles). Students will
work on these skills all year but have learned the basics to be a good “consumer” of science at this point. The
week of October 26th we will have a test on the Nature of Science Unit and move on into classifications, domains
and kingdoms.
In November the seventh grade will be sponsoring two hat days. One day’s proceeds will go to charity of the
students’ choice and the other one will be to support their field trip in the spring. Please check their progress
report envelopes for a sign up sheet for Parent Teachers Conferences to be held November 10th and 12th of this
year.
Yearbooks For all Students
Order on or before December 19th and the cost of the standard yearbook is
only $20.00. After December 19th the price will increase to $25. Yearbooks
can be ordered online at YBpay.lifetouch.com with YEARBOOK Code:
11109016.
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8th Grade Information
Science: In 8th grade science, in addition to
learning about matter, we are exploring robotics
using Sphero Balls. Spheres can be programmed
through IPAD apps to move, change color and
perform simple tasks. These user-friendly robots
are really engaging and the students are always
excited to use them.
Social Studies: In 8th grade social studies,
students have been working hard to learn the
state capitals. In addition, we have just begun
a new unit about our expanding nation. This
will include topics of the First Industrial
Revolution and the Transportation Revolution.
Students will be learning about the differences
in between the North and South regions prior to
the Civil War.
Math: Students are settling into the structure
and routines of math class. The 8th grade
classes are learning the properties of positive
and negative exponents. They are demonstrating
they can use properties of integer exponents to
create equivalent expressions. The Algebra I
class just completed chapter 1 looking at
expressions, equations and functions. As the
class works through chapter 2 they will be
solving linear equations with one variable.
Students are assigned homework most nights, if
you are concerned about your child’s math
progress or homework completion please contact
jritter@sad55.org.
Language Arts: In 8th grade Language
Arts, we have completed a short unit on Culture
and Belonging that focused on the lives of
people who have immigrated to America. We
are currently in a unit called “The Thrill of
Horror.” In this unit students will be reading
some classic “horror” stories and be asked to do
a variety of tasks to showcase their
understanding, including writing a psychological
evaluation of the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart
and using the technique we are studying to
write their own horror story.
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Counselor’s Corner
On October 27th SVMS participated in the National
Mix It Up Day at lunch. This is an event that
challenges social boundaries and encourages students
to interact with different peer groups. The cafeteria is
often a place where divisions are clearly drawn. So,
we asked students to sit with new people for a day at
lunch. Please ask your child how it went!
School is back in full swing.
Please remember:
Hope to see you all at Parent/Teacher conferences!
~Amy Vacchiano, School Counselor
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