Summer Reading letter

June 2015

Greetings students and families of Milton Middle School,

As one year winds down, we are already gearing up for the next; can you believe it? Without rushing things, we do want to let you know about the summer reading expectations. We are excited to announce that we will be reading 2015-2016 Dorothy Canfield Fisher (DCF) selection, No Summit out of Sight by Jordan Romero. Students will be given a copy of the book by 6/15; this copy will be theirs to keep and annotate. With its connections to exploration and larger message about persisting, this title is a great fit with our upcoming curriculum. Students should bring in their copies, having already read them, on the first day of school. If your child is unable to receive his or her copy by this Monday, it will be available to pick up from the elementary school throughout the summer.

In addition to reading this title, we are expecting all students to continue their independent reading. Vermont's reading standards challenge students to read one book every two weeks.  Many students love to plunge in and read over the summer with all that free time.  Others need some structure, encouragement, and strategic planning -- plan regular time for reading, read with your child, listen to books on tape or digital recordings, read books then watch the movies, take trips to the library. In fact, the Milton Public Library is offering some fabulous summer programming under the theme Unmask. We have included a list of all of this year’s DCF titles on the back of this letter. Please visit the websites listed below for more information about the books, including recommended ages and descriptions. Additionally, the folks at the Milton Public Library are helpful resources for book recommendations. Families, this could be a wonderful opportunity for you to enjoy some excellent young adult literature, while supporting your child with his/her reading expectations.

When we return in August, in addition to school-wide celebrations of the book No Summit out of Sight, each house will have its own way of discussing and working with the books.There is also a chance that our school will be invited to participate with the Vermont Public Radio program Dorothy’s List. Keep track of those questions and talking points!

So, find a nice sunny spot, curl up, and get lost in some fabulous literature. If you have any questions, please direct them to the appropriate humanities teachers.

Happy Reading!

The MMS Humanities Team

For an annotated list of the 2015-2016 DCF titles:

http://libraries.vermont.gov/sites/libraries/files/CBEC/BookAwards/DCF/DCFMasterlist15-16.pdf

For a list of books with high interest, background building, current trends for all the students in grades 5th-8th.

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/284.Middle_School_Book_List

8th grade speaker survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19h10pRitcP_1RSPu8-bA8Pm7u6mb5R9v-4tWo3Z4CCg/viewform?usp=send_form

STAR Link

https://hosted99.renlearn.com/12260/

boston survey

http://goo.gl/forms/QVaXywSCIh

House D Auction postponed and Tri 3 Progress Reports

Hello Parents,

Tomorrow, your son/daughter will be bringing Trimester 3 progress reports home.  Attached will be a bright half sheet of paper which needs to be returned to advisory teachers with your signature.  This acknowledges that you have received and read the progress reports.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact any one of us.  Thanks.

We have postponed our House D auction until next week (Friday, May 15) because we are have a school wide "Fun, Run, Walk, Barbeque" hosted by the Boosters  tomorrow.  We are still in need of many "auction" items (small games, snacks, $5 gift cards - iTunes, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, or anything you think adolescents would like).  The auction is a way for our students to spend their D-Backs that they have been earning for the past several weeks.  It also is a great incentive..........since implementation of our "Goals and D-Back" program, we are seeing much improvement in work completion.  Any help with auction items would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

House D

Announcements and Weekly Goals: 4/27 - 5/1

Hello Parents,

I hope everyone is doing well.  This week in Humanities/ Social Studies, we are continuing with our "Road to Revolution".  We are examining the events and reasons that led to our American Revolution.  This will be over the next 4 weeks and will include some drama, broadsides, and various connections to present day (or recent) revolutions.  We will then examine government types and why we chose the government we have today.  Tonight, students should be interviewing an adult in the household with questions related to revolutions. 

Next Friday (5/8), we will be holding an auction so students can use their "d-backs" (team currency).  After many weeks, students have been collecting quite a few of these, so an auction is a great way to spend them (also a great incentive).  We are looking for small items such as school supplies, snacks, small games, $5 gift cards - Subway, iTunes, dunkin donuts, and any other kid fun item they would get excited over.  We would appreciate the help because the more items we have, the bigger the auction.  Students can drop the auction items with their advisory teacher.  Thanks.

Below are the goals for the week:
____  SS Chap. 7, Sect. 3 worksheet
____  SS  Interview (due Wed)
____  SS  Road to Revolution vocabulary
____  LA  Vocab 1-4
____  LA  Reading log
____  LA  The Last Dog Argument - graphic organizer
____  SC  Vocab. Weather and Climate
____  SC  Water Cycle / Heat Flow questions
____  M 6th:  complete nightly homework in packets.  12.3, 12.4
____  M  7th:  complete nightly homework in packets.  7.4, 7.5
____  M  8th: finish packets 2.3, 3.1.

Have a great week.

House D

SBAC WEBSITE

http://vt.portal.airast.org/