EPMS Express

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Winter Fest is next week! We are challenging all advisories to a friendly competition.

Every day of the week is a theme dress-up day, and for every student who participates in the theme of the day, the Advisory Class earns a point. The Advisory Class with most points at the end of week WINS! The PRIZE IS A SURPRISE! We are so excited to see all the fun ways our students choose to show their school pride.

• Monday February 10 - Twin Day - Students must choose another person in their advisory to twin with
  
• Tuesday February 11 - Hat Day - Students may wear a hat that is not disruptive to the learning environment
  
• Wednesday February 12 - Pajama Day - Please make sure they are school appropriate and follow the dress code guidelines
  
• Thursday February 13 - Orange and Black Day - Orange top/black pants or black top/orange pants
  

Starting Thursday, February 6, middle school students are going to be prepping for the big event! Our teachers have been working hard to coach students in best strategies and techniques for PSSAs. Every Thursday from now until May, we are holding brief practice sessions in the morning for students to test out their skills and become familiar with what’s to come. Be sure to ask your student how their practice went - as we know, practice is what moves ordinary to extraordinary!

A reminder to parents that cars are not permitted on the top loop during arrival (7:30-8:00am) and dismissal time (2:40-3:10). Parents that are waiting in the bottom lot at dismissal should be in a marked parking spot in order to facilitate appropriate traffic flow. In addition, student safety is paramount, so it is essential that cars are not blocking student view of driving paths. We appreciate your support in following the procedures outlined to ease the drop off/pick up process and maintain the safety of all our students.

The EPMS Yearbook is now available for purchase. This year, the book will be in hardcover form. To order a yearbook to be delivered in May, go to https://www.balfour.com and search East Pennsboro Middle School. The cost is $20 per book. Don’t delay and order today. There will only be a limited number available for purchase in May.

On January 30, 2020, East Pennsboro Middle School students competed as finalists in a school wide National Geographic GeoBee. The GeoBee is open to students in grades four through eight. Congratulations to our finalists and winners.

• First Place - Brock Shaffer, sixth grade
• Second Place - Grace Rullo, fifth grade
• Third Place - Benjamin Hunsicker, sixth grade
• Ethan Cooksey, fifth grade
• Lani Farkas, sixth grade
  
• Foster Lemley, seventh grade
• Owen Thomas, eighth grade

Students were selected to participate based on a written evaluation. The highest scorers went on to the final round. The first-place winner, Brock Shaffer, is eligible to take the online State GeoBee qualifying test. State GeoBee qualifiers will be announced on March 2, 2020. You can visit NatGeoBee.org/results to see who is going on to the State GeoBee. The state GeoBee will be held on March 27, 2020, and the National Championship will be held in Washington, D.C., May 17-21, 2020.

Good luck, Brock!

A reminder that state law requires written notification from a parent/guardian every time a student is absent from school. Excuses may be brought to the main office, or an email can be sent directly to our Attendance Office at epmsattendance@epasd.org within three school days of the absence. Please be diligent in checking the portal regularly for attendance, discipline and academics updates.

The EPMS PTO will be providing a Valentine's Day breakfast to the teachers on their upcoming in-service day, Friday, February 14. With all of this cold, gray weather, we know they could use a pick me up! We will be serving fruit, baked goods and lots of coffee - and maybe a surprise or two! If you are able to help out, please sign up at ttsu.me/upr9eb. Items need to be sent in by Thursday, February 13.

Help us show our teachers and staff how much we love and appreciate all they do for our kids!

Contact Rayna Wilson at rewilson621@verizon.net with any questions.

Every day, Flex is available for any student that wishes additional academic support. Teachers remain from 3:00-3:30 to work with students that may have missing work to complete, are not understanding the concepts being taught, or wish to further their understanding of the subject. There is an activity bus that can transport students to their homes, or you can arrange for them to be picked up. Please consider this option when you feel that your student is in need of some extra time with a teacher.

Click here for a quick video that will guide you through how to access your student’s Google accounts from your home computer.

The PantherPack program is available to all students in EPASD who are participating in the Free or Reduced Lunch programs. PantherPack will provide a bag full of nutritional food each school week for each student enrolled in the program. The contents are different each week and may include: cereal, juice, pasta, granola bars, tuna, soup, and more. Interested families should complete the PantherPack registration form and return it to school as soon as possible. Participants must also include a copy of the approval letter for free/reduced lunch during the 2019-2020 school year. A welcome letter will be sent after we receive your registration, in which you will find your PantherPack numbers and instructions for pick-up. The registration form is available through the Community page of the EPASD website, or by using this link: https://www.epasd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019-20-Form.pdf.

If at any time you have questions, please email Leanne Kalb, Program Director, at leannegrossi@comcast.net or PantherPack@epasd.org.

If you wish to be a part of the PTO, or find out how you can help, please feel free to attend. If you have any questions, please contact Rayna Wilson at rewilson621@verizon.net.

An EPMS PRO is a student that is caught going ABOVE and BEYOND the expectations here at the middle school. Staff are on the lookout for students modeling excellent behavior and demonstrating solid character education skills.

Congratulations to this week’s PRO!

Turner Barlup

February 7 - Early Dismissal - 12:50 p.m.

February 10-13 - Winter Fest

February 14 - NO SCHOOL - Staff Inservice

February 17 - NO SCHOOL

Congratulations to the following fifth graders for reaching Keyboard Allstar Status in music class in the second quarter:

Jason Allen, Laurel Blymire, Grade Geissler, Bianca Gomez, Donald Hill, Yasser Khadri, Riley Klose, Kayleigh Lingle, Hailey Marshall, Mika Miller, Lucas Rineer, Maddy Sharer, Robbie Strickland, Samantha Sullo, Jade Weston, Mikayla Barninger, Natalie Bittinger, Connor Dierwechter, Aidan Dugan, Torray Eden, Wyatt Fairchock, Connor Flynn, Taylor Gogets, Amari Harvey, Brendan Hoeflich, Kaycee Martin, Kylie Martz, Dubby Morrison, Elizabeth Rudy, Dante Sebastian, Taylor Steinhagen, Jullia Vasquez, Bladen Weaver, Re’ne’e Wouna Mballa, Chuck Wright.

Congratulations to the following sixth Graders whose group projects were voted “Class Favorite” in the second quarter:

6A: Gaige Sholly, Haydn Lay, Will McCloskey, Jovanni DeJesus Gilreath

6B: Chase Doupe, Taydin Good, Nate Payne, Jonas Alleman

On March 1, 2020, students from Small Ensemble and Seventh/Eighth Grade Chorus will be singing the National Anthem at the Hershey Bears Game. We need more singers!!! If your son/daughter is in these two groups, please come! Tickets can be purchased at a group rate of $17. Please contact Mr. Forshey with any questions.

If you like watching hockey, please come to support our students! Anyone who orders tickets through the school will receive the group price. All money and order forms must be returned to Mr. Forshey by Friday, January 24. Please see this order form for more information.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TCpfRe9vklooHiMibWOyAJgTB9Q5Akok8zhMJZ0CLJ0/edit?usp=sharing

This month we have been focusing on our Fitnessgram National Fitness Tests. Students are all working hard to reach goals that they had set for themselves at the beginning of the year for each of the tests. The tests include sit-ups, push-ups, the Pacer, and sit and reach. Ask your students how they are doing with reaching their goals.

Lightning

5 Lightning is studying the moon and the eight phases it goes through as it revolves around the Earth. Take a moment one evening to observe the moon and see if your child can identify its correct phase. Hint: Sunday will be a full moon.

In math, students are learning that fractions are just another way to write division. They are solving real-life word problems and showing the relationship between division and fractions. In addition, they are learning how to simplify fractions, how to convert an improper fraction into a mixed number, and how to find the Greatest Common Factor (GCF), Least Common Multiple (LCM), and Greatest Common Denominator (GCD). Next up is comparing fractions and writing fractions as decimals. Fractions can be tricky for some students, therefore, if they want extra practice, they can always log into Khan Academy to watch videos and/or complete practice problems or stay after school with Mrs. Embleton. If students do not have internet access and want extra practice problems sent home, please let Mrs. Embleton know. Remember to have your student practice their math facts on a regular basis.

Looking ahead, students are allowed to use their own calculator for PSSAs. We just ask that they bring them in ahead of time in order to be approved. We do have calculators for each student, but if a student is more comfortable with their own, that’s great!

The Lightning students are working very diligently on reading for details, creating mental images, and summarizing and synthesizing information in various types of text. They are learning about the importance of making connections, annotating and finding the main idea within an informational text and short stories. All of these skills are making better readers of our students. The students are also practicing how to answer TDA's (text-dependent analysis) questions by following an outline and taking careful notes.

Photos: Lightning students working in cooperative groups, summarizing and synthesizing an informational text.

Thunder

The fifth grade Thunder team has been taking a close look at the moon. Through video demonstrations and art work, the students have learned about impact craters. They discovered the size of many and how the impacts from long ago caused volcanic activity to surface. Some created the near side of the moon and others created the far side; where no man has gone before. To finish up the study, the students created their own moon craters by carefully mixing paint onto a canvas. They had fun discovering how a simple art technique can create depth, a look that would represent the light and dark spots on the moon.

Art

Fifth grade artists have mastered drawing zentangles using lines and shapes. They are being introduced to drawing animals/characters this week to help get them ready for their Watercolor painting project. They will be researching images using Google and then practicing drawing those from small scale to large scale.

Fifth Grade Coding

The students are learning about coding and how it relates to our world. They are working on coding programs in code.org. The codes can be very difficult to solve; however, the students are preserving and working hard until the problem/code is completed.

Panthers

Social Studies: Australian Bush Fires, China's Coronavirus, Russian Spy Ships, and Bombings in Iraq are all topics students have chosen to investigate for their current event projects. Students had a choice of format for their projects. Brochures, slides, posters, flipbooks, and dioramas will be shared with small groups starting on Friday, February 7.

This has been a very busy week in ELA class. We FINALLY finished writing and illustrating our Tall Tale books! Then on Wednesday, we shared our stories with Mrs. Shermeyer and her 5 Thunder students. The 5th grade students shared their “Terrible, Horrible” stories with us too! This Thursday we will be completing our first building-wide PSSA TDA practice writing. We are all anxious to see how well we do! We will also be completing our 4th Benchmark test.

In Math, the 6 Panthers are learning how to solve and check one-step algebraic equations. They are learning how to use inverse operations and how to follow the algebraic process.

Students in STEM will be working through the scientific method to conduct various friction tests. This will lead them into learning about and working with simple machines.

Science: In science we will be starting our topic of energy and the law of conservation of energy.

Please remember you can access our Panther Team Homework page daily and also remember to join our team “Remind” to receive assignment updates: Join REMIND: On your cell phone Text: @dmartz to 81010.

Jaguars

In ELA class, students have started a review of non-fiction text structure – description, sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution and question/answer. As we review each structure, we are analyzing short articles looking for signal words to indicate the structure.

In social studies, students are continuing with their study of the various regions of Asia. They will even get the chance to try to use chopsticks to see how they are used. They are also creating current event projects that they will be able to share with their class.

This week students begin to consider a number of computing devices and dive into what makes a computer a computer. We will also begin looking at different types of input and output devices and their uses.

Students in STEM will be working through the scientific method to conduct various friction tests. This will lead them into learning about and working with simple machines.

Reading Workshop

For the first activity of Reading Workshop, students have enjoyed reading Casey At the Bat. This is a poem written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer and tells the story of an arrogant baseball player that is the last hope for the Mudville Team. Next week, we will be reading a story about a make-believe friend, named Charles.

Art

Sixth grade artists are completing their Personal Name Design where they manipulated objects into the shape of their letters. The focus will be on spacing, sizing and realistic details. While finishing up, they are also brainstorming and sketching ideas for their Mask designs.

Olympians

On Wednesday, students completed their Ancient Egypt Test to prove that they have learned all things Egypt. Student historians will now be moving to the Indus River Valley and become experts in the land of Ancient India. To start, they will discover the geography of India's rivers, mountains, and monsoons. Then they will read a source about the mysterious twin cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Next week, they will investigate Indian culture, religion, and society through the use of a fascinating PBS website's gallery of images and well-researched information. Feel free to check out this website that they will use for their India WebQuest assignment: http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/gallery/

In science this week, students are analyzing and interpreting genetic pedigrees to determine inheritance patterns of certain traits. They will be creating their own pedigrees later in the week. Next week, we will begin a new focus in the unit of genetics, genetic engineering.

Happy February, everyone! This week in ELA it is a bit of a transitional week. We are starting the week by finishing up our TDA preparations that we began last Monday. Then, on Thursday students will have their first day of what we have dubbed “PSSA Boot Camp.” Students will have a period in the morning dedicated to PSSA preparation where they will be challenged by their teacher to show that they can do the TDA work they learned previously in ELA. Later in the week, we will be starting to take a look at text structure in preparation for the next novel we will be reading.

Titans

In science this week, students are analyzing and interpreting genetic pedigrees to determine inheritance patterns of certain traits. They will be creating their own pedigrees later in the week. Next week, we will begin our new focus in the unit of genetics, genetic engineering.

In history, we are beginning our studies on Ancient India. India's first civilization began in the Indus River Valley lasting from 2600BCE until 1900BCE. The Indus Valley people left no written records. Experts have studied what is left of cities to learn what life was like there.

Math In Action

Math is Action is geared towards exploring how math is directly integrated into real life applications. The goal is to provide students with experiences to work with math in ways that might be different from their typical math class. Students begin each class with a problem, such as “if there are 20 people in the room and they each shake each others hand once and only once, how many handshakes occurred.” Students are going to explore perimeter, area, and scaling for the first topic.

Art

Seventh grade artists have transferred their names to their final Radial Design and are now concentrating on color in their masterpieces with color pencils. They will be using a border color and a fill color in a symmetrical fashion.

In American History, students are studying the causes of the American Revolution. The students will be creating a timeline of the events leading up to the American Revolution. They will also have a project in the form of an A, B, C booklet or a sports card research type project on the American Revolution. Students will also be participating in a Socratic Seminar discussing the American Revolution.

Now that students have some background knowledge of World War 2 and the Holocaust, ELA students will be reading the play, “The Diary of Anne Frank”. We will focus on the analysis of character interactions, their actions, and their thoughts.

Math students have been practicing written responses to real world math problems, utilizing the RACE graphic organizer. Students are practicing Restating and Answering the question (in a complete sentence), Citing their evidence (which in math means “showing their work”) and Expanding/Explaining how they solved the problem, using math vocabulary, ELA transition words, and specific details in their explanations.

Well, the best laid plans often need to be changed. The Griffons have started an Alternative Energy group project. It runs for one week and culminates in presentations about those technologies. The Phoenix team members are designing roller coasters that may qualify them for Physics Day at Hershey Park.

Art

Eighth grade artists have been drawing their Pop Art images from small scale to large scale concentrating on spacing, sizing and realistic imagery. They are warming up by completing some practice painting skills then moving on to their final images.

Eighth Grade Integrated Media

The students are working on the nine elements of Digital Citizenship and how the elements correlate to their lives now and in the future. The class is currently working on the elements of Digital Access and Digital Commerce.

Email: DFrey@epasd.org
Website: www.epasd.org
Phone: 717-732-0771
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EastPennsboroMiddle/