March 2014

RMS Wolves
ALL STUDENTS WILL GRADUATE FROM ROME HIGH SCHOOL PREPARED FOR COLLEGE OR WORK

From the Principal

Dear Parents:

RMS Wolves

Greg Christian gchristian@rcs.rome.ga.us Greg Christian

Thank you for your patience as we work through this extended day schedule. Our students and teachers have adjusted well to the extended time and our athletic teams are adjusting as well.

From the Principal

All received superior ratings (1s), as they gchristian@rcs.rome.ga.us expected to do! We are blessed with talent at Rome Middle School in the student body as well as in the faculty. We just started the fourth 9 week grading period. The CRCT is just around the corner and it is important that our students attend school each day on time. Some have make-up work to do and others just need to turn it on for the final push to the end. If we continue to work together, we will continue to be successful at RMS.

The RMS Grand Illusion did a great job with their performances at the city auditorium! Congratulations to all of the students, Mrs. Campbell, Mr. Sikes, and parent volunteers that made Shrek a very huge success! The chorus did well at the Large Group Performance and so did the 7th grade band and 8th grade band. Congratulations to Mrs. Campbell (again), Mr. Williams, and Mr. Hester.

Greg Christian Principal

Inside
Magellan Highlights ......... 2 Math Counts.2 Media Center .................... 8 Nautilus ............................ 3 Pathfinder ......................... 5 Seawolf ............................. 4 Stardust ............................ 7 Voyager ............................ 6

Attention Parents and Guardians:

page Thank

you to all parents whom attended the Title I Math Night. We hope you found the information given in the session Useful. We are here to help if you have further questions. RMS has been working increasing communications with parents. We are on Facebook and Twitter, and you can subscribe to text messages. Please call Theresa Quilici at (706) 235-4695 x 1424 if you need assistance.

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MathCounts
The Rome Middle School math team placed 2nd in the regional MathCounts competition. Lily Chesnut and Jaaie Varshney placed in the top ten individuals and will advance to the state competition on March 17th. Jaaie Varshney placed 1st in the Countdown Round part of the competition.

Magellan Team Highlights

Congratulations to Reco Arnold! He was chosen as Magellans Rotary Terrific Student for the month of February! Way to go!
Georgia Studies (Ms. Deese) Magellan students have been studying the Civil Rights movement in Georgia Studies. Students have finished up the unit discussing Dr. King and his role in Georgias fight for civil rights. We have also talked about different mayors of Atlanta and how each one contributed to integration. We will complete our unit the second week in March with the study of Jimmy Carter and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. That is our last unit for history portion of study. We will begin studying Georgias government in the weeks leading up to Spring Break. We are also reviewing for CRCT by doing a variety of activities during the beginning of our class periods. Language Arts and Literature (Ms. Caldwell and Ms. Wilkins) In the Literature and Language Arts classes, students are beginning the final unit of the year which is Greek Mythology. Students in the Literature classes will read a variety of stories from mythology, beginning with the Black Ships of Troy. The unit will begin with a historical background on the Trojan War. Students will study major characters from the war, as well as the gods and goddesses that impact the story. The students will continue to focus on authors choice of figurative language and different points of view. Students in Language Arts will be given essential background information about the major Greek gods and goddesses that will help them to understand the stories that will be read in Literature. They will also read stories about two major heroes in Greek Mythology: Theseus and Heracles. At the conclusion of the unit, the Language Arts classes will create their own myth based on the characteristics of a myth. What is learned in both Literature and Language Arts during the mythology unit will be helpful to the students because they will begin their year in 9th grade Literature with mythology. The students are excited and they are looking forward to studying Greek mythology! Physical Science (Mrs. Bollwerk) Students in Mrs. Bollwerks Physical Science classes are learning about mechanical waves. The students have looked at different styles of waves and focused on how they carry energy from place to place. Sound is also in this unit. The next unit will be Electromagnetic waves and the Electromagnetic Spectrum. This includes light and how we see.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Nautilus Team News

Geography: Mr. Freeman
The year sure is flying by! So far this year, weve learned about the MiddleEast, Southern and Eastern Asia, and now we are diving into our lessons on Africa. We currently are studying the geographic features of Africa and have read about the Sahara, the Sahel, Tropical-Rainforest, savannahs, and the Kalahari Desert. To reinforce this material, the students have competed maps of Africa in which they identified the key geographic features of the continent. Future lessons will take us on a journey to the nations of Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, and the world youngest nation; South Sudan.

Literature: Ms. Cooper

Students have begun an Informational text called Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, which will be their last Anchor text for the year! This is an intriguing book that walks us step by step through the disastrous voyage, and contrasts the classes of passengers on board. We will continue to refine our skills at citing textual evidence, review organizational structures used in informational texts, and learn to trace and evaluate arguments and specific claims in a text.

Wolves of the Week

February 21Maleiah Spurgeon February 28Erik Vicente March 7-Anahy Lopez-Romero

Mathematics: Ms. White

With the arrival of March, the approach of CRCT testing is imminent. In the upcoming weeks we will be working on unit 6, which covers probability, and heading straight into our CRCT review. Students will be made aware of last years CRCT score, their progress for the year, and asked to set a goal they would like to meet when taking their CRCT for 7th grade mathematics. This should give them motivation and something real to work towards.

Nautilus

English Language Arts: Ms. Stuart

We will begin our next unit with a unit called Grammar Boot Camp. Students will review the rules of grammar and mechanics including correct usage of commas and end punctuation. We will also be focusing on sentence structure, correctly using and punctuating independent, adverb and adjective clauses in compound and complex sentences. When we are finished with this, we will be studying The Titanic in conjunction with students literature classes. ELA students will spend time in the school literacy lab and in the classroom doing research, writing and creating presentations about The Titanic.

Science: Ms. Massey

We have spent the last month investigating the balance of nature in the study of ecology. Weve studied everything from food webs to energy pyramids and the symbiotic relationships that help organisms sustain one another. This next unit will lead students to realize land is classified into different areas depending on common characteristics. Deserts and rainforests will be compared and contrasted and a group project will give students the opportunity to collaborate and hone in their knowledge of a specific biome. After the CRCT, well dive into the human body and all its complexity! Im looking forward to continuing a great year with your students!

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Seawolf Team Highlights

7th Grade English Language Arts will do a quick study of descriptive explanatory unit, using the text and pictures from a National Geographic article entitled, When Rocks Go Wandering. Students will practice writing short captions for pictures using the authors captions as mentor text. In social studies, students have been learning about famous African leaders as we continue our study of Africa. Key countries include Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, South Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria. Students have been studying about the geography and history of Africa. We will study the governments of South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. The economies of South Africa and Nigeria will also be compared/ contrasted. Students will have a benchmark test on March 28th. Students will have a unit test over Africa prior to the benchmark test. On March 13 the Seawolf life scientists, began their study of biomes. Biomes are large areas characterized by the climate and the plants and animals that are specific to that region. We will be studying the eight major land biomes and the two major water biomes. Each student will be assigned a particular biome and with others in a group, will create a poster describing that biome. This project will also incorporate material from our study on the ecosystem. Your child may need to print color pictures at home and/or create charts on the computer. This project will count as 3 class grades and a test grade. If you have any questions about this project please contact me at lhjones@rcs.rome.ga.us. In Math we are currently studying Unit 6 our probability unit. We will be looking at the probability of an event occurring using number lines, decimals, fractions, and percents. Please remind students to come in for tutoring in the mornings. Remember to use Edmodo, Study Island, Khan Academy, and Learn Zillion. They are very valuable resources.

Congratulations to Nigara Nizamidin, Estephany Gomez, and Jason Mendoza for being selected Seawolves of the Week.

After we are finished with the captioning activity, we will begin our next unit, Grammar Boot Camp. Students will review the rules of grammar and mechanics including correct usage of commas and end punctuation. We will also be focusing on sentence structure, correctly using and punctuating independent, adverb and adjective clauses in compound and complex sentences. When we are finished with this, we will be studying The Titanic in conjunction with students literature classes. ELA students will spend time in the school literacy lab and in the classroom doing research, writing and creating presentations about The Titanic. In literature we are about to embark on a voyage on the most spectacular ship ever built: The Titanic. Looking at the whole misadventure through the eyes of the passengers, the students will learn much about the culture of the time, the ship itself, and subsequent changes in passenger travel, all while becoming more skilled at reading complicated nonfiction texts. Activities will include timelines, reading maps, vocabulary study, journal writing, and various other learning tasks.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Pathfinder
Literature: Nautilus Literature students have begun an Informational text called Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, which will be their last Anchor text for the year! This is an intriguing book that walks us step by step through the disastrous voyage, and contrasts the classes of passengers on board. We will continue to refine our skills at citing textual evidence, review organizational structures used in informational texts, and learn to trace and evaluate arguments and specific claims in a text. World Geography: After an introduction to the diverse geography of Africa we are getting ready to begin a detailed study of government. We will compare and contrast Authoritarian verses Democratic forms of government found in Africa. We will examine to link between a country's literacy Rate and their GDP per capita (ask your kid what that means). We will discuss the current poverty of Africa and the bright future for several developing regional economies found in Africa. Language Arts: 7th Grade English Language Arts will do a quick study of descriptive explanatory unit, using the text and pictures from a National Geographic article entitled, When Rocks Go Wandering. Students will practice writing short captions for pictures using the authors captions as mentor text. They will be using techniques such as "write around", and "written discussion." After we are finished with the captioning activity, we will begin our next unit, Grammar Boot Camp. Students will review the rules of grammar and mechanics including correct usage of commas and end punctuation. We will also be focusing on sentence structure, correctly using and punctuating independent, adverb and adjective clauses in compound and complex sentences. When we are finished with this, we will be studying The Titanic in conjunction with students literature classes. ELA students will spend time in the school literacy lab and in the classroom doing research, writing and creating presentations about The Titanic. Math: We have begun Unit 6, which concerns statistics and probability. The students are learning about the likeliness of chance events in both theoretical and experimental circumstances. Given a specific probability of an event, the students are using proportional reasoning to predict the probability of similar events. Our unit test is scheduled for March 21st. As always, students are encouraged to come to morning tutoring for extra help and homework help. Science: Pathfinder students have just finished the latest Unit in Science, Interactions of Living Things. This week we have started the new unit, Biomes. In this unit, student will discover the different biomes of the world. In each biome students will learn about the different types of plants, animals, climates, precipitation and locations. At the end of the unit, after all biomes have been covered, student will be grouped to complete an extensive project. This project will be on one biome and will be presented to the class. 5

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Voyager Team News

Happy spring from the Voyager team! We are looking forward to spring break to allow us time to rest before the CRCT in April! Many good things are happening here on Voyager! Parent conferences will be held on Monday, March 17 beginning at 4:00. We would love the chance to speak with you about your childs progress. Spring break is March 31- April 4. In Mrs. Goyas Literature class, we are finishing up our Holocaust unit this week. We will begin the mythology unit next week. The book we are reading is Black Ships before Troy. It is a condensed version of the Illiad. Beginning in 9th grade, students will read the Odyssey, so this is good preparation for them for high school. In Math, students are expanding their knowledge of rate of change by using scatter plots to predict future outcomes of various data sets. Students are building on prior knowledge of graphing and slope to estimate using linear and non-linear data sets. Students are predicting future sales of a various products and predicting future changes to the oceans tide over time, which enables them to connect the material to the real world. On Friday, March 14, the students will be tested on the material covered in Unit 6. The students in Mrs. Williams's Language Arts class just finished reading 10 Days Anne Frank, by David Colbert. While reading the book, students kept a chart/timeline in which they recorded what happened in history and what happened to Anne on each of the 10 days. They chose one of the 10 days that they thought was the most portentous and wrote a narrative journal entry from the point of view of someone other than Anne Frank describing the events of that day. This journal entry counted as a test grade for the students. Science classes are covering that last unit of the school year focused on Waves. Students will complete a comprehensive benchmark test before spring break begins. Upon returning from spring break, we will begin an intensive review for CRCT based off of the data collected from the benchmark exam. The Georgia Studies classes are currently completing our unit on Civil Rights and Modern Georgia. Prior to this we covered the Great Depression and World War II. Students learned about the New Deal programs implemented by President Roosevelt. They read letters that children wrote to the president and first lady. Each class then completed a performance task in which they created a New Deal advertisement, a play about the Great Depression, or wrote a letter to the president from the perspective of someone their age during this time. As always, please check the tutoring schedule for tutoring opportunities on Voyager. If you would like to schedule a conference with us, please email Mrs. Goya at lgoya@rcs.rome.ga.us.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Stardust
Stardust students and teachers are looking forward to a wonderful 4th Nine Weeks together!
Students in Ms. Chapman's mathematics classes are finishing up the standards from Unit #6 - Linear Models and Tables. They will be assessed over this material in the coming days. Key ideas from this unit include: linear relationships, non-linear relationships, and no relationships pertaining to certain scatter plots as well as drawing and creating equations from the line of best fit with and without an outlier. In addition, key concepts from Unit #5 have also been reviewed; such as rate of change, unit rate, slope, y-intercept, and slope-intercept form. Students will then begin working through Unit #7 - Solving Systems of Equations. This unit involves systems of linear equations and simultaneous equations. Unit #7 is the last unit, so students will begin reviewing for the CRCT upon its completion. In Literature have just finished an informational text unit on the Holocaust. Students have done a great job presenting their themes on the Holocaust through Prezis, essays, and art projects. We are about to begin our final unit that will focus on Mythology. In both Language Arts and Literature, students will read an adaption of the Iliad and learn both the Roman and Greek approaches to mythology. We will also be preparing for the upcoming CRCTs. Students are ready to finish strong and prove all they have learned! Ms. Carles' classes are continuing their unit on waves, focusing on sound waves. We've already learned how wavelength, amplitude, and frequency are measured, and now are relating those wave properties to the sound that is produced by the wave. After sound waves, we will be learning about the Electromagnetic Spectrum of light waves. Classes will be studying visible light waves in detail, learning how humans see colors and how light waves can bend, bounce, and spread apart when they come into contact with different objects. In Mrs. Beavers' class we are ending our unit on the Civil Rights movement in Atlanta and how it impacted our state. We looked at the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and how Martin Luther King, Jr. made such a difference during this time period. As we look to what is coming next, we will be focusing on Government and the Juvenile Justice System. We are already beginning in class review for the CRCT, and as we move past Spring break we will continue to include more and more CRCT review activities into our lessons.

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Media Center Message

As we enter the final nine weeks, its time to start thinking about summer reading. The 2014-2015 Summer Reading List will be finalized soon, and it will be available to parents and students as soon as possible. Over the course of the school year, the RMS media center has added more than 1000 books. These titles are carefully selected by the media staff to meet the needs of our diverse student population. The resultstudents seem to be excited about coming to the media center and choosing books to read. Teacher and student book recommendations are always welcome. We are wrapping up strong with circulation statistics increasing over the past few years. In addition to print books, the RMS media center owns 500+ electronic books. For e-book access, students can log in to Mackin Via (www.mackinvia.com) using their SRI number and password. If you wish to browse our e-books or have other children who would benefit from our online collection, we are happy to share the generic login with you. Just call (706) 235-4695 or e-mail tquilici@rcs.rome.ga.us. Please be mindful that licensing restrictions prohibit sharing login information with students at other schools. I look forward to working with your children! Theresa Quilici Media Specialist

All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work