Red Announcement
Welcome to the 2011-2012 School Year
Hello and welcome to 7 RED ! We're all looking forward to getting to know all of your students throughout the year and are confident that working together your children will not just grow intellectually, but socially and emotionally as well! We're constantly striving to integrate best practice in conjunction with our own expertise in regard to your children in order to create the best experiences possible. To meet that end, we gather as a 7 Red team up to 3 times weekly in order to adjust and change instruction in order to best meet the needs of your children.
Mrs. Molloy will serve as the 7 Red communication liaison to you, the parent community, and will be updating you on the variety of ways you can stay abreast of the myriad happenings occurring throughout the year including celebrations, school functions, china alive forms, and course work. However of course if at any point you have any questions, you are encouraged and welcomed to email any of your child's teachers directly.
Scott Williams -- Language Arts -- scott.williams@saschina.org
Juli Rester -- Math -- juli.rester@saschina.org
Kirk Irwin -- Social Studies -- kirk.irwin@saschina.org
Carla Molloy -- Science -- Carla.molloy@saschina.org
Tara Musk -- ESOL -- tara.rogersonmusk@saschina.org
Juanita McGarrigle-Drama-- juanita.mcgarrigle@saschina.org
Dinner Table Discussions Vol. 4
Time for another round of “Dinner Table Discussions” with your children.
Interestingly, I have been reading a book by Robert Marzano, a well-known meta-analysis educational researcher, in which he talks about the many factors that impact student achievement. He breaks those factors into three categories: (1) School-Level Factors, (2) Teacher-Level Factors, and (3) Student-Level Factors. He notes that the home environment is one of three key Student-Level Factors that contribute to student success. As part of his discussion of the home environment, he notes that communication about school in general, and more specifically “parents having frequent and systematic discussions with their children regarding schoolwork” are important factors that contribute to a student’s academic success. If you are interested in reading more, I would recommend that you pick up a copy of his book.
Marzano, R. J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action.
Published by ASCD and available through Amazon.com.
Now for some “Dinner Table Discussion” questions that you can use to engage your child in the discussions to which Marzano was referring:
1. What are some of the important parts of a cell and what makes them important?
2. Tell me about your Giant Cell Analogy Poster where you compared the cell parts and functions to some other system.
3. Why are cells so small? What would happen to them if they were big? How do you know this?
4. What happened to the chicken egg when you put it into vinegar? What do you think is going to happen now that the egg is in syrup? Why?
5. What happened during the cornstarch and iodine experiment? What did that show about how cells function?
Have a wonderful weekend and a fantastic New Year holiday!
Best regards,
Theron J. Mott
EAGLES Awards and Educator's Corner
We are pleased to announce our EAGLES winners for Quarter 3. These students embody and reflect our EAGLES here at SAS. In addition, please find the latest Educator's Corner article at the following link:
Gold Winners:
Seth Pippenger:
Seth is an individual who takes risks. Whether in performing in front of his peers a mime of his own creation or finding a solution, he is imaginative and courageous.
Natalyn Pow:
Natalyn is a powerful, young woman of integrity and honesty. She takes in the world around her, assimilates the information, and critically discerns what she allows to become a part of her.
Jasmine Hui
Three of our SAS EAGLES are Adaptable, Literate and Skilled Inquirer. Students who demonstrate excellence in these areas are those who are resilient,
flexible, self-motivated learners. They communicate articulately and can analyze information to create new knowledge and develop understanding. They use
information and communication technologies effectively, and they strive for academic excellence. From my observations over the first half of the year, it
is clear to me that Jasmine Hui exemplifies the Adaptable, Literate, Skilled Inquirer that we strive for in our students here at SAS. Congratulations for
all of your hard work!
Josh
Josh is a young man who is able to apply his technological knowledge to his world and generously share that knowledge with others. He is a leader among the highly skilled.
Jimmy
Jimmy has demonstrated a persevering and positive spirit in the SAMS community, earning him an EAGLES Award.
Red Winners:
Jonathan Sim - Literate
Seeks deep understanding through challenge-based inquiry and is always forming eloquent arguments in various disciplines.
Michelle Lee - Skilled Inquirer
Always works very hard, going above and beyond what is necessary - a great example of learning for learning's sake.
Cecelia Chu - Adaptable
A social ambassador - always including others into what she is doing, providing a great model for others to follow.
Min Hyeok Kang - Empowered
Takes control of his own learning, never afraid to make mistakes and always has a positive glowing attitude.
Emily Tang - Globally Minded
Showed initiative and care for others by engaging whole-heartedly in the Giving Tree activity and is just all-around awesome.
The Newbery Project
We wanted to point out a new and exciting project grade seven students can join. This is the Newbery Book Challenge.
Follow the above link to find out more!
Progress Reports
Dear Grade 7 Parents,
We just wanted to send a quick reminder that starting today until November 25th you will have access to your child's individual assignment grades by logging on to PowerSchool. You should have received a letter from the school with your user name and password about three weeks ago. If you have misplaced that letter or are not sure what your user name and password are, please feel free to contact the Middle School Secretary, Erlin Trihandini (erlin.trihandini@saschina.org), and she should be able to help you get that information.
Also, please keep in mind that when you look at grades, it is best to look for trends rather than focus on individual assignments grades or the overall grade at this point in the quarter. With so few assessments and assignments in the grade book at this point, each one carries much more weight than it will at the end of the quarter when there are a greater number of assignments and assessments to average.
For example, right now your child may have something like the following:
Quiz #1 - 16/17 = 94%
Homework #1 - 1/1 = 100%
Homework #2 - 1/1 = 100%
Homework #3 - 0/1 = 0% - Missing
Project #1 - 2.5/3 = 83%
Lab #1 - 13.5/18 = 75%
Homework #4 - 1/1 = 100%
Homework #5 - 0.6/1 = 60% - Incomplete
TOTAL as of now - 35.6/43 = 83%
What you should pay attention to in the above grades is not the final grade, but rather the fact that your child needs to seek additional assistance on labs, and he needs to be consistent about completing assignments and getting them turned in.
Please take the time to look at your child's progress with her. She should have all of her work and she should be able to answer any questions you have at this point in the quarter. The conversations that you have with your child about her progress are invaluable.
As always, if there is anything that we can do to help support your child's learning, please let us know.
Regards,
Theron J. Mott