Canaan Middle School Update

Canaan Families,

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of the 3rd quarter! We have been busy over the last few weeks with trips to the AWS Think Big Space, Space week for 5th grade, the 6th-grade dance, and a lot of really interesting and engaging classroom lessons just to name a few. With everything happening over the last several weeks, I have been so impressed with how well our students have worked together and collaborated on many of these lessons/activities. It is fun to see where students started the year and where they are now. I have also had the opportunity to observe students work through conflict and come to a mutual agreement on their own. It is amazing to see the amount of growth our middle schoolers have made this year in all areas academically and with their peers!

As we move into the final week before Spring Break, please keep an eye out for a few items. All students in both 5th and 6th grade should have brought home a Growth and Development Talk Permission Slip for you to review. Students will participate in these lessons on March 17th. Please reach out to Mrs. Rutherford, our school nurse, at rutherti@japioneers.org if you have any questions.

Also, next week, March 13-17 is a Spirit Week as we head into Spring Break. The themes for next week are:

Monday: Comfy Day

Tuesday: Dress Like Your Teacher Day

Wednesday: Cancer Awareness Month (Wear Dark Blue)

Thursday: March Madness (Basketball/Favorite Team Attire)

Friday: St. Patrick's Day (Wear Green)

***Please note that Friday is also a Hat Day where students can wear a hat all day if they bring in a dollar. All proceeds go into our 6th grade Camp Scholarship Fund for students.***

We will close out next week with our Canaan Middle School Talent Show. Students have signed up and have been preparing to showcase their talents. We will include pictures from our Talent Show in our next newsletter! These are busy times at Canaan Middle School, but full of excitement and energy!

Mr. Walter, Principal

Canaan Middle School

5th Grade students had the chance to experience a hands-on Space Unit in science class. Here is a list of all the activities at the Think Big Space:

1. Pilot a Mars Rover with coding
2. Design and build a rocket
3. Visit the solar system using pear deck slides
4. Be a NASA scientist while measuring craters
5. Navigate a sphere bolt using vocabulary words

Students also had the opportunity to use a virtual reality headset to explore space and the space station. All in all, students had an amazing time while learning about space!

Next Friday, March 17th we will have our 1st 6th-grade camp meeting with the students. Be on the lookout for a camp brochure and permission slip coming home. If you know your child will be absent on this day, please contact the homeroom teacher so that we can get these items to your child before they leave.

There was a buzz of excitement running through the hallways today for the 6th-grade dance! More pictures to follow in our newsletter next week, but check out these cuties!

Empathy is connecting to someone’s feelings and understanding their perspective and why they feel that way. Developing a sense of empathy is critical for students as it relates to overall well-being, improves peer relationships, increases helping behaviors, and decreases bullying behavior. This month, students are practicing and applying this skill by playing a game where they imagine themselves “walking in someone else's shoes” in a variety of situations. Students put empathy into action by providing support through active listening, including others, asking questions and showing they care.

This week I am going to interview Mr. Polston, our art teacher. Among students, he is better known as Mr. P as students finished up their clay projects. I went in to talk to him. In my first question, I asked Where did you live before Plain City? He responded, "I still live in Columbus Ohio". My next question was, What was your job before you worked at CMS? He said, "I was an art teacher at the High School and Monroe Elementary." and he is still teaching at Monroe. My third question was, "How Many people are in your family?" He answered, " I have three people in my family: Me, my wife, and my daughter." My next question was, Do you have any pets? If so, how many he said, " I have a bloodhound lab mix named Benny." My fourth and final question was "Do you like CMS?" He responded, "Yes, everyone here is great" That will wrap up this week's interview read next week to meet Miss. Myers goodbye and thank you for reading my article.

Griffin Keene

CMS 5th Grade

Commonsense Media

Commonsense Media is an online tool that can help parents and students make informed decisions regarding media use. This tool can be used for many types of media, including books, movies, video games, and apps.

Canvas

Canvas is a Learning Management System that is used in grades 5-12 at Jonathan Alder. You and your student will find a lot of information about the school and your student's classroom through this platform. It is VERY important to stay connected and log on to Canvas. This link should help you log on and explain Canvas.

Families: Please add the following dates to your calendar.

March 17: End of 3rd Quarter

March 20-24: No School Spring Break

April 7: No School

April 18: 5th Grade ELA State Testing Part 1

April 19: 5th Grade ELA State Testing Part 2

April 20: 6th Grade ELA State Testing Part 1

April 21: 6th Grade ELA State Testing Part 2

April 27: 5th Grade Science State Testing

May 2: 6th Grade Math State Testing Part 1

May 3: 6th Grade Math State Testing Part 2

May 4: 5th Grade Math State Testing Part 1

May 5: 5th Grade Math State Testing Part 2

Email: walterro@japioneers.org
Website: https://www.alder.k12.oh.us/canaanmiddleschool_home.aspx
Location: 7055 U.S. 42, Plain City, OH, USA
Phone: 614-873-5621

Click on the School Flyers icon for updated community activities and events. PCABA ball sign-up has recently been added!