From the Middle: Week of February 5

Geography Bee A Success!

On January 24th, students competed to be the New Hampton Geography Bee Champion.  All students in 4th through 8th grade had the opportunity to compete.  The competition began with a test in social studies class to narrow the field.  Finalists for each grade were then selected and then competed against each other.  There were several rounds to narrow the competitors into the final two. The final two went head to head for three questions.  The winner was Katie Steinlage, 8th grade.  She will be competing in the state competition soon.  Congratulations to everyone for their hard work making it a success!

Could Your House Survive An Earthquake?

Students in Mrs. Rodgers' class answered that very question in class.  Students began the unit by learning about earthquakes and waves.   Students then built a device to measure earthquakes.  The design was to have some of the same properties as a modern-day seismograph.  After students understood how earthquake waves move and are measured they had to construct a building out of cardboard and non-glue based materials.  Students had to learn about properties of foods and other substances to put these building together.  At the end of the week, students added the building to the test machine and then put weight on top of it to see if it would stand after an earthquake.  This whole process models how our teachers are implementing PBL tenants into our classrooms.

Spotlight of the Week- Mrs. Feldman:

Mrs. Feldman is the 7th grade ELA teacher at New Hampton Middle School.  Students have been setting goals to get better at reading this year with the implementation of the Accelerated Reading program.  Students are able to pick books they are interested in and read them for points.  This creates a challenge when each students sets an individual goal for the quarter and works hard to reach it.  Mrs. Feldman also uses Daily Language Review to get students thinking about all of the intricate parts of the English language.  Students then will apply learnings in various activities and writings in class.  One of our building goals is to get students to think in the growth mindset.  Mrs. Feldman has taught this to our 7th graders and demonstrates this philosophy as she wants to always be better tomorrow.