December 2013

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

From the Principal

Greg Christian gchristian@rcs.rome.ga.us

Dear Parents:

Greg Christian Principal

Attention Parents and Guardians:

Inside
page Academic Competition .....8 Counselors Corner ..........9 Baseball.............................9 Magellan Highlights ..........2 Media Center .....................8 Nautilus .............................3 Pathfinder..........................5 Seawolf..............................4 Stardust .............................7 Voyager .............................6

Christmas is a time of joy and celebration! It is also a time of sharing and giving to those around us. We would like to thank those of you who have given your time and assistance to support Rome Middle School in 2013. Your involvement helps contribute to your childs success. Stay tuned for announcements for Literacy Night, Math Night, and Technology Night. We are excited to bring these events to you in 2014. They will take place prior to CRCT, and the times and dates are pending. We continue to seek donations for the Wolf Cart. These can be small trinket items, candy or snacks. They can be

turned in to the guidance office. In addition, if you would like to help out in the school building, please contact Theresa Quilici, parent involvement designee, to learn more about the process for becoming involved. Box Tops will be gathered again and submitted between January and April. Please keep the Box Tops and Coke Rewards coming. Students can turn these in to their teacher or to the media specialist. Finally, we encourage you to sign up for parent involvement notifications. To join, text @romeparent to (404) 4451263, or send an email to romeparent@mail.remind101.com.

Magellan Team Highlights

Parents:
Cold and flu season is here! If you can, please donate these items to our team (your child can bring items to his or her HOMEROOM teacher): Clorox wipes Boxes of tissue Hand sanitizer Georgia Studies (Ms. Deese) In Georgia Studies, Magellan students just finished reviewing for the Georgia Studies exam. They feel so prepared! Also, the students spent about three weeks working on a Prezi project. The students used various methods of technology to research a topic from the Civil War unit. They spent time in the media center, in the Literacy Lab, and in the classroom using iPads. They used all of their research to create a short Prezi about the topics. Students then presented them during the non-exam days. The Prezis have been wonderful! The Magellan students really showed out on these projects! Not only did they work hard while at school, most of the students went home and worked hard using the internet at home! What a great way for the students to learn! Language Arts and Literature (Ms. Caldwell and Ms. Wilkins) The flurry of activity that was mentioned in last months newsletter continues! Students in both Language Arts and Literature have just completed the joint performance task, Could It Happen Again? The students worked hard on completing the argumentative essay. This task had the students to write a claim (similar to an opinion statement). Then, the students had to write arguments to support their claims, and use evidence from various books, articles, and a video to support the evidence. During this essay, the students learned to cite information, a skill that they will need as they go on to the high school and beyond. The essays have been graded, and the students did a great job with the performance task! Math (Ms. Ray) In math, the Magellan team just finished Unit 3, which covered Pythagorean Theorem and Volume. The students have discovered the formulas for the volume of cylinders, cones, and spheres, and they have applied these formulas to real world problems. Mr. Ray is proud of the students hard work! Physical Science (Mrs. Bollwerk) In Physical Science, the students are exploring electrical energy. They have tested static electricity and practiced creating it in the lab. From there, the students learned about different types of circuits, and the students even built a few of their own! After the holidays, we will move on to magnetism and electromagnets.

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

Nautilus Team News

Nautilus Geography When we return in January, we will be concluding our unit on Southern and Eastern Asia with a focus on India. In conjunction with our unit on India, students will read a book called Homeless Bird. Although this is a fiction book, the novel explores many elements of Indian society and norms. cess for getting a pass to come to tutoring. Parents, you may also e-mail or call me to set up tutoring times. I can be reached at astuart@rcs.rome.ga.us or 706-235-4695. Nautilus Literature

Nautilus Wolves of the Week!

November 15Jenna Farrer November 22Juan Bartolome December 6MaiAsia Johnson December 13Shikeem Hudson

In January, Nautilus Literature classes will begin the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. During this Historical Fiction unit, students will continue practicing how to When we are finished with that unit, cite textual evidence to support analysis of the we will begin our next unit which will extext, as well as learning how different literary plore Africa. elements, such as characterization, plot, setting, etc. work together in a novel. We will also Dudley D. Freeman, Ed. S. discuss several possible themes for this novel, Nautilus, Geography Teacher and learn how to distinguish theme from topic. This novel is always a highlight of the year, and th I find that many students cant wait to get to 8 Nautilus Language Arts grade so that they can read the sequel! In English Language Arts, students Nautilus Mathematics will continue to learn how to write a constructed response. Although I introduced First of all I hope you had a wonderful winthis topic before the break, we will go ter break. With our return we will begin a new deeper beginning in January. If you are unit. Unit 4 will cover data and statistics, includinterested in learning more about coning sampling populations, drawing inferences structed responses, here are some webbased on data, comparing two sets of data, and sites that you can use to find more inforusing measures of center to draw inferences mation: about a population. Concepts we will learn to help us in successfully meeting the standards of What is a constructed response? this unit are characteristics of a valid sample, http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisio mean, median, mode, and range, mean absons/LearningInnovation/Documents/Learni lute deviation, box-and-whisker plots, and stem ng%20Portal/NCES/NCES%20Presentati and leaf plots. We will also be using Thinking ons/Constructed%20Response%20Quest Maps to help us organize much of the inforions.pdf mation in this unit.
More info. about constructed responses:

Nautilus is in need of hand sanitizer (Germex or other brands) and Kleenex ( any brand Please send these items to school with your student. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Nautilus Science

The holidays have been filled with cheer and genes! Life science has revolved around http://prezi.com/chph-kvtgml-/writing-athe mystery of why we inherit the traits we do constructed-response/ and the amazing process of cell division. We http://www.brighthubeducation.com/help- have discovered the intricacies of DNA and its with-writing/33366-constructed-response- nucleotides and look forward to the unit ahead: evolution! We will be studying the adaptations essay-question/ that nature has made to survive with a changing We will end January with the book climate and ever-intrusive human beings! We Freedom Walkers. We will be reading this will discuss the fossil record, natural selection, book in conjunction with the literature and the creative ways organisms have learned class study of Roll of Thunder Hear My to endure over millennia! I look forward to the Cry. new year and the new unit with your children! If your students are struggling with writing, please encourage them to come to tutoring which is offered on Wed. and Friday mornings or after school by appt. Students should be familiar with the proMs. Massey

http://mdk12.org/assessments/k_8/items/ cr_grade7_reading.html

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

Seawolf Team Highlights

In December, we concluded our study of heredity in science. The students enjoyed learning why everyone has different traits and why they have certain genetic abilities such as rolling ones tongue. We had some lively discussions about genetic engineering and selective breeding. The students were surprised to hear that they are probably eating cloned beef or pork on a regular basis. The honors classes presented reports on genetic diseases. In January, we will begin our study of how organisms have changed over time. In literature we ended the semester with Song of the Trees by Mildred Taylor to introduce her next book in January. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a story set in Mississippi in the 1930s, addressing issues of race and integrity, friendship and justice. We will be learning new vocabulary along with literary elements of characterization, imagery, plot, conflict and others. Throughout the story students will be participating in Readers Theater and responding to the story events and characters in writing, with a culminating written performance task. Taylor is an excellent author, and this book is sure to entertain and teach much. In Math we have just finished Unit 3, our ratios and proportions unit. We will begin Unit 4 when we return from break in January. This unit will focus on inferences. We will be working on data collection and analysis, as well as central tendencies and box and whisker plots. Khan Academy has some great videos for this unit. Dont forget to use Edmodo and Study Island. Tutoring is Monday morning!!! In social studies, we are almost finished with the continent of Asia. In January, we will study the Indian subcontinent with the emphasis on the present day country of India. In addition, students will also read the book Homeless Bird for insight into India today. Mohandas Gandhi is the key historical figure we will study.

Congratulations

Seawolves of the Week:

John Knauss Salomon Diego JaKiyah Ragland Abby Corona

7th Grade Language Arts is excited about a new writing system that our students will be using frequently this spring semester. Write To Learn is an online essay system that allows students to type an essay and receive immediate feedback. The program will also allow parents to view their students progress and writing ability. Most of our students have already used the program and are excited for using it in the future. What is a constructed response? http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Div isions/LearningInnovation/Documents /Learning%20Portal/NCES/NCES%2 0Presentations/Constructed%20Resp onse%20Questions.pd
More info. about constructed responses:

http://mdk12.org/assessments/k_8/ite ms/cr_grade7_reading.html http://prezi.com/chph-kvtgml-/writinga-constructed-response/ http://www.brighthubeducation.com/h elp-with-writing/33366-constructedresponse-essay-question/

Have a safe and happy holiday season

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

Pathfinder
Math
Our first semester has come to an end. The students have learned a multitude of concepts in units one through three that our first semester final exam covered. Weve addressed integer rules, simplifying or expanding algebraic expressions, evaluating equations and inequalities, as well as analyzing and utilizing rates, percents, and proportions in real-life context. The content from this semester will be the foundation for the Spring semester. I hope everyone has a fantastic and safe winter break, and I look forward to seeing everyone back in the New Year! Mrs. Lanier that allows students to type an essay and receive immediate feedback. The program will also allow parents to view their students progress and writing ability. Most of our students have already used the program and are excited for using it in the future. The website is: www.pearsonkt.com/WriteToLearn/ga/ rome. We will be working more with technology in the spring as well. Mrs. Robinson

Literature
Just before exams, we read the Mildred Taylor short story titled Song of the Trees. This not only gave us a chance to review our literary standards, but also introduced us to the main characters for our next novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. I look forward to reading this classic with the students. Year after year, they truly enjoy this book. Mrs. Mueller

Science
Over the past few weeks, Pathfinder students have been learning about genetics, heredity, and pedigrees. With this, students have worked with probabilities and ratios. We have also been learning about DNA and how it controls the body. This week we will be reviewing for the semester exam and "Creating a Face" using the skills learned over the past few weeks. Mrs. Miller

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL CLASSES

We are beginning to discuss the constructed responses that students will be required to be doing on their testing next year. Here are some helpful websites if you would like to look at what a constructed response is.

World Geography
We are more than halfway through our study of Southern and Eastern Asia. We were introduced to four new religions and found out there is a whole bunch of water and air pollution in this region of the world. When we return from the holidays, the class will analyze the main economies and compare and contrast command/market economic systems. We will conclude our journey into this influential part of our world with a review of imst portant historical events of the 21 century. I look forward to sharing this experience with each student. Mr. Graney

What is a constructed response?

http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/Le arningInnovation/Documents/Learning%20Portal/NCES/NC ES%20Presentations/Constructed%20Respon se%20Questions.pdf

More info about constructed responses:

http://mdk12.org/assessments/k_8/items/cr_gr ade7_reading.html http://prezi.com/chph-kvtgml-/writing-aconstructed-response/ http://www.brighthubeducation.com/help-withwriting/33366-constructed-response-essayquestion/

Language Arts
7 Grade Language Arts is excited about a new writing system that our students will be using frequently this spring semester. Write To Learn is an online essay system
th

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

Voyager Team News

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Voyager!
We hope you are all enjoying the time off with family and friends during this special season. There are many exciting things happening on Voyager 2nd semester as we get ready to move your middle school student to the high school!

In Mrs. Goyas literature class, we are beginning our unit on the Holocaust. We will read a book entitled Surviving Hitler. It is a true story of a teenage boy living in Poland during Nazi occupation and his journey to survive in a death camp. We will also read a book called Paperclips. It is about students in Tennessee who have built a Holocaust memorial out of paperclips, one for each victim. Mrs. Goya has tutoring on Friday mornings from 8-8:30. Vocabulary tests will be every Friday. Its getting interesting in Mrs. Williams language arts class! Could It Happen Again? An epidemic like The Sleeping Sickness; A Pandemic like The Spanish Flu, or outbreaks like HIV/ AIDS, SARS, or measles? Well, this was a question the students on Voyager were faced with last month. Before they could give a resounding answer, they had to take a journey through Plagues, Pox, and Pestilence, by Richard Platt, Deadly, by Julie Chibbarok, and Fever, by Laurie Anderson. After reading these books in Literature and several articles in Language Arts, students were equipped to answer this question in their own way. This short research project also required students to cite their sources using MLA style. All of this research and writing is equipping them with

the necessary tools to become successful students at Rome High. In Ms. Renshaws math class, we completed Unit 3, which consisted of using the Pythagorean Theorem to find missing side lengths and diagonals as well as using given dimensions to find the volumes of three dimensional figures. We are preparing for the comprehensive final exam. Students will recall concepts from the beginning of the school year to the present. These concepts include transformations in the coordinate plan, exponent rules, scientific notation, and rational numbers and irrational numbers. After final exams, students will practice mutli-step problems that require analytic and critical thinking skills. In Mrs. Pecks science class, we will be working on electricity and magnetism. They will be building their own electromagnets in the science lab. We will also begin our CRCT preparation!! Mrs. Peck offers tutoring on Tuesday mornings from 8- 8:30. In Ms. Wolfes Georgia Studies class, we are currently creating Prezis about the Civil War and Reconstruction. The students are working in partners to research a topic of their choice. They are using their research to create a Prezi. They will present their final products to their class next week.

Thanks so much for all that you do for your children! Please let us know if there is any way that we can help you or your child! Have a great holiday break.
All Students will Graduate From Rome High School Prepared for College or Work

Stardust
All of our Stardust students have been working hard and were looking forward to finishing out a wonderful third nine weeks in the 8th grade!
As you know, cold and flu season is upon us, so please send in any tissues, hand sanitizer, or sanitizing wipes to help us keep the germs at bay.
In Mrs. Beavers Georgia Studies classes, students just finished learning about the Civil War and Reconstruction time period. Students are now looking forward to beginning our Unit on the New South and Progressive Era of Georgia. We are going to be learning about many key political and social leaders during this time in Georgia history and how Georgians were able to rebuild and establish themselves post-Civil War. book. Students are working hard to make sure they end the semester well.

Students in Ms. Chapman's mathematics classes have just finished learning the material included in Unit #3 (Pythagorean Theorem and volume). Students have been assessed on this material, and are beginning to review for their Final Exam. The exam covers topics from Unit #1 - TransforLiterature and ELA both have mations/Congruence/Similarity, Unit been busy! Nearing the semester's #2 - Exponents/Equations, and Unit end, we have been working to com#3 - Geometric Applications of Expoplete our Informational Text unit on An nents. These units cover topics such American Plague. Students wrote an as: transformations, special angles, insightful essay about whether or not conversions, exponents, Pythagorean a large scale epidemic could happen Theorem, and volume of threedimensional figures. After the holiin society today. Most of your studays, we will begin working in Unit #4 dents believe that it most certainly could and wrote an argumentative es- - Functions. say to convince the rest of the world Science classes have just finthat their viewpoint is the most accuished our unit on electricity. Students rate. Recently we took the Scholastic learned about the causes of static Reading Inventory test to measure electricity and constructed series and growth in lexile scores. Many stuparallel circuits to discover the addents saw great improvement. We vantages and disadvantages of each. will work hard to make sure all stuAfter the holiday break we'll be studydents show growth by the end of the ing magnetism and the interaction of school year. Finally, we are in the electricity and magnetism: electromidst of exams and final magnetism. Students will build elecjects. Honors classes have particitromagnets, using electricity to make pated in a Socratic seminar to share a magnet, and use hand generators to their knowledge of a book they read produce electricity by spinning a magindependently, Deadly. They did a net inside a coil of wire. great job demonstrating their group discussion skills and knowledge of the

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

Media Center Message

Reading Counts incentives continue to be a huge success. By the end of November, approximately 100 students had earned 100 points, 30 students were above 200 points, and 12 had earned above 300 points. Four students in grades 7 and 8 had over 500 points before the end of the first semester. Keep up the good work, students! Circulation continues to average right around 2000 books a month. Yay! In addition to the new e-books added in November, there are 800+ new print titles. These will be made available as quickly as they are processed. Students who received a V.I.P. library card get first pick of brand new books. Please encourage your child to read over the break. Reading together as a family can help foster a lifelong love of reading, and there are a number of titles especially designed for reluctant readers. Students can see Ms. Quilici or Ms. Bramlett to check out one of these books. For e-book access, log in to Mackin Via (www.mackinvia.com) using the students SRI number and designated password. There is also a generic login, and we will be happy to share that information with you if you call (706) 235-4695 or e-mail tquilici@gmail.com. Students are encouraged to share the login with family members; however, licensing restrictions prohibit sharing login information with students in other districts or in this newsletter. Finally, from the RMS Media Center to you and yours wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Enjoy and well see you in 2014!

Academic Competition
RMS Geography Bee Winner: RMS History Bee Winners:

Jaaie Varshney
Geography Bee Runners Up: Tori Huynh Nic Bray Cannon Rogers Caroline Young Jalen Linville T.J. Dupree Logan Murdock Lauren Murphy Hunter Nelson Skylar Breeden

Jaaie Varshney Cannon Rogers Jalen Linville John Knauss

History Bee Runners Up:

Nic Bray Logan Murdock Ryan Ward Ricardo Martinez Meredith Burton John Finn 8

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

Counselors Corner
Rotary Terrific Students
Each month our teachers nominate four 8th grade students to be RMSs representatives at the weekly Rotary Meeting. These students are recognized by the Rotary Club for their positive attitude and enthusiasm, their determination and effort, and for making school a priority. These students also receive a $25 gift card to Barnes and Nobles and a Certificate from Rotary.

kcumming@rcs.rome.ga.us 706-235-4695 ext. 1412

Congratulations to our December Rotary Terrific Students: Yadira Aguilar-Voyager Dionicio Perez Voyager Hanna Bates Stardust Oralia Escutia - Magellan
GACOLLEGE411.ORG

Our students have been working in their accounts on GACollege411.org. Please ask your child about their career interest inventories and about the career clusters they have explored. Encourage your child to continue to explore this website from home. There is a parent section for you as well, so please log on and see all that the site has to offer. It has been a pleasure to work with your children here at RMS! Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call or email. (kcumming@rcs.rome.ga.us 706-235-4695 ext. 1412)

Baseball News
Unbelievably, it is time to start talking about baseball! For many, cold and damp weather brings about the thoughts of hunting season. However, for me it means baseball season is about to start up for another season. We have two teams that compete in the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Prep League. Coach Taylor Woodrow will lead the 7th grade team. This is Coach Woodrows first year with our baseball program. I will be heading up the 8th grade team and this is my 6th year with Rome Baseball. Tryouts will be in mid-January 2014 with the season scheduled to begin in mid-February 2014. To be eligible for tryouts, interested players must be students of Rome Middle School, must be passing 4 of their 5 academic classes, must have a current physical on file with the Athletic Director, and complete a grade/behavior sheet prior to tryouts.

Baseball contacts are: Rome High Baseball: Michael Dougherty: mdougherty@rcs.rome.ga.us RMS Athletic Director: Randy Nobles: rnobles@rcs.rome.ga.us th 7 Grade: Coach Taylor Woodrow: twoodrow@rcs.rome.ga.us th 8 Grade: Coach Dudley Freeman: dfreeman@rcs.rome.ga.us

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