Students chose a character and then searched through the novel for moments when their character's personality was revealed either by the words and actions of that character, the reactions of other characters to their character, or statements made by the narrator about their character.
The sixth grade yellow team explored one of our essential questions, "How is character revealed?", during a recent unit on the novel The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. Students chose a character and then searched through the novel for moments when their character's personality was revealed either by the words and actions of that character, the reactions of other characters to their character, or statements made by the narrator about their character. Students completed these "Empty-Head Character Studies" by filling empty-head outlines with the images and quotes that best represented their characters' personality traits. Students experimented with color and non-traditional facial compositions as part of this assignment as well. Take a look! On December 3rd, a group of female students from John Glenn Middle School participated in the Empowering Girls Conference titled, "Curate Your Life: Creating Your Own Story". This conference was hosted by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and the Middlesex Partnership for Youth.
The aim of the conference was to enhance the confidence-building, self-assertion and goal-setting abilities in our female middle school students. The girls participated in a variety of learning activites at this conference. Middlesex Partnerships for Youth Inc. is a nonprofit organization that provides prevention and intervention resources and training to school districts and communities in collaboration with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. Ryan chairs the MPY board of directors. MathCounts is an after-school club coached by Ms. Burstein. It is held on Mondays from 2:25-3:25pm in Mrs. Burstein’s room. Anyone may join our Math Team, but keep in mind that the work is supposed to be challenging! The thirty students currently active in our after school MathCounts program recently completed two national competitions— MATHCOUNTS and AMC8. The Top Ten winners in both competitions are listed below. About MATHCOUNTS The MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is a national program that provides students the opportunity to compete in live, in-person math contests against and alongside their peers. Created in 1983, it is the longest-running MATHCOUNTS program and is open to all sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students. More information regarding MATHCOUNTS can be found online here. MATHCOUNTS competitions are provided at four levels: school, chapter, state and national. The MathCounts school competition was held at JGMS on Monday, December 7, 2015. The top 10 competitors continue on to the Chapter competition, to be held on February 3, 2016. Each school can send a team of 4 students plus up to 6 individual competitors. All chapter competitors—whether they are team members or individuals—participate in the individual rounds of the competition; then just the 4 team members participate in the team round. Top students from each Chapter Competition advance to their State Competition, which takes place in March. Finally, the 4 top-scoring individuals and the top team coach in the State Competition advance to the Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition in May. For most of the past eleven years, JGMS has made it to the state level of competition – either through an individual or through our team! What does the MATHCOUNTS test look like? Every MATHCOUNTS competition consists of 4 rounds — Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown Round. Altogether the rounds are designed to take about 3 hours to complete. At chapter or state competitions, a Countdown Round where students compete head-to-head in an oral round may or may not be conducted, but the Countdown Round is an official part of the National Competition. 2016 Team Members: (in alphabetical order) Alan W. (8th grade) Aneesha M. (8th grade) Derek S. (8th grade) Niles L. (6th grade) 2016 Individuals: (in alphabetical order) Alex B. (8th grade) Angela G. (6th grade) Eddy Z. (6th grade) Leon Z. (7th grade) Prakhar G. (6th grade) Rohan M. (7th grade) This is the third year that Alan, Aneesha, and Derek are competing in the Chapter level competition, and this is Rohan’s second year. We were very excited that last year, Aneesha advanced to the State Competition held in Boston in March 2015. About AMC 8 The AMC 8 is a 25-question, 40-minute, multiple choice examination in middle school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem-solving skills. The contest is held in November every year. Purpose of the AMC 8 The examination provides an opportunity to apply the concepts taught at the junior high level to problems which not only range from easy to difficult but also cover a wide range of applications. Many problems are designed to challenge students and to offer problem solving experiences beyond those provided in most junior high school mathematics classes. High scoring students are invited to participate in the AMC 10 to be held in February 2016. 2015 Top Ten AMC8 Scorers to participate in the AMC10: (in alphabetical order) Alan W. (8th grade) Aneesha M. (8th grade) Derek S. (8th grade) Hailey M. (8th grade) Incheol H. (6th grade) Kengo O. (6th grade) Leon Z. (7th grade) Niles L. (6th grade) Prakhar G. (6th grade) Rohan M. (7th grade) Last year, Alan W. earned the Young Student Certificate of Achievement for the high score he received during the AMC10 contest held at Bedford High School. We are very proud of all of the students who made it to the Top Ten of the MathCounts and the AMC8 contests. Congratulations to them all! We would also like to acknowledge the 30 students who competed in both competitions. |
AuthorSMr. Kevin Tracey Archives
February 2019
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