It is hard to believe it is the final quarter of the school year! I have seen great changes in our 7thgrade students this year. Many of them are taking more responsibility for their own academicprogress. It is important that students continue to remain focused and work hard both inside andoutside the classroom. This is especially true as the end of the year approaches and the nice weatherbecomes an easy distraction. Students should begin to plan out their final exam review preparationsso that they are studying a little at a time and not rushed as finals approach.

Most of our 7th grade teachers use Schoology. I encourage you to remind your student of this greatresource when they are absent, need class materials, or are unsure of when an assignment isdue. Students should continue to utilize our various supports such as the Learning Center andSuccess Lunch for help.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Ashley Dreibelbis

Principal’s Message

On March 14th, students were fortunate to see a presentation from former UB football player and WNY native, AlexNeutz, about the dangers of the opioid epidemic and also how to deal with mental health concerns. Please continueto have discussions with your children about keeping healthy, making appropriate choices and finding that trustedadult they feel comfortable with. If you have any concerns, please call a student services professional forassistance.

Seventh graders only have a quarter of the school year left and it is going to fly by. Just a reminder that this couldbe the most important quarter for students. Please encourage your child to continue to work hard when it comes tohomework and studying. I understand that outside activities are starting up. With the nice weather it is harder tofocus, but focusing is exactly what we need from our seventh graders. Find that designated time each night tocomplete assignments and study for tests. Regarding final exams, students should start looking over previouslyassigned quizzes and tests and use them as study guides; the sooner the better. Cramming doesn’t work. Studentsneed to look over their “study guides” over time. Research states that looking over notes for short daily periods (20minutes) over a long stretch of time (2 weeks) will increase students’ recollection of the material. Happy studying!!!

Dan Fox

7th grade school counselor

Student Services

This past marking period has been a whirlwind for seventh gradeELA students. Students participated in Woods Runner Day, an in-school immersion that allowed students to explore many aspectsof Revolutionary War life. After reading Gary Paulsen’s novel,Woods Runner, and studying the Revolutionary War in socialstudies, the disciplines came together - and came to life - asstudents participated in both outdoor and indoor activities, suchas baking, dancing, catapulting, creating art, decoding, andstudying the diseases that affected so many soldiers during thewar. Fun was had by all, but we weren’t done yet! This year, thanksto a grant from the Clarence Schools Enrichment Foundation, ourstudents celebrated National Poetry Month in April with a visit andworkshop given by a local poet, Sherry Robbins, who inspiredthem to stretch their thinking and find their inner poet. Weculminated our study of poetry with a celebration of Poem in YourPocket Day. Students recited poetry to adults and earned ClarenceCards. As the year comes to a close, we’ll be wrapping up with anauthor study project and a study of one of America’s favoriteauthors: Mark Twain.

English Language Arts

The students in the are focusing on the Age ofHomespun, which is the era when Clarence wassettled. Some of the sections will be doing projectsrelating to the history of our town. The year endswith units on the West and Civil War. All classes willreceive final exam review materials as exam weeknears.

Social Studies

All aspects of geometry will be explored this quarter as students find volume, surfacearea, and transform shapes around the coordinate plane. The ideas of congruence andsimilarity are introduced and extensively applied to reflections, rotations, translations, anddilations. We will also study linear functions and solve systems of equations. A journey toAncient Greece will help us learn Pythagoras's theorem as well as all different trianglerelationships. Students will need to have a Texas Instruments 30XA or 30 XIIS calculatorfor use during the final exam and the New York State Assessment.

Math 7

Pre-Algebra

As the third marking period comes to a close, we have just finished experimenting withprobability. Statistics focuses on appropriate ways to present data and how data canmislead. Our geometry unit will explore circumference, area, volume, and surface area,with an emphasis on real-world problem solving. Students will need to have a TexasInstruments 30 XA or 30 XIIS calculator for use during the final exam and the New YorkState Assessment.

Life ScienceIn this final quarter, students will learn about human body systems. We will spend timelearning about the different groups of organs and how they function together. We willtravel through the human body and students will discover how all the organ systemsinteract with each other to make the body work properly. As our year comes to a close thestudents will be given review sheets to complete in preparation for their June exam.

During the third marking period, we finished up the Physics portion of theclass by studying Heat and Waves. We began the Biology unit with a study ofcells and their processes. We looked at plant and animal cells and learnedhow to differentiate between them. As we enter the fourth marking period,we will be studying Evolution, Ecology, and Body Systems. We are lookingforward to a very busy end of the year!

Advanced Science

Latin students have finished learning about verb forms as well as subjects and directobjects. We have enjoyed talking about Roman food and dining habits. Ancientoccupations will be an interesting part of our culture studies. We will also be learning aboutthe parts of the body in Latin. In quarter four we are looking forward to finding out howRomans spent their leisure time.

Spanish & French

Latin

This quarter we will be focusing on the family. We are learning the vocabulary words forfamily members, professions, and animals! Our topics for the fourth quarter include houseand home, and various culture topics. We have also been adding entries to our InteractiveNotebooks. The students will be taking their "INB" to 8th Grade.

Home & CareersThird quarter got off to an exciting start! Seventh grade metand exceeded the sewing challenge, The String Bag. Weexplored numerous yet unusual careers and now have abetter idea as to what it is we’d like to do in the future. As thefood unit concluded we made our own pita bread—fortifiedwith the benefits of whole grains. Leadership characteristicswere integrated throughout the quarter—including properetiquette. Be sure to ask your 7th grader to demonstrate atyour next family dinner!

Concert Band & Symphonic BandUpcoming performances:

April 20 Clarence Jazz Festival @ CMS 7:00PM

April 26 Concert Band to NYSSMA Ratings Festival 11:00AM @ Williamsville North

May 8 Concert Band Performance @ Sheridan Hill 8:00AM

May 11 Symphonic Band Performance @ Clarence Center 8:00AM

May 28 Memorial Day Parade 11:00AM

June 5 Clarence District Band Spectrum Concert @ CHS 7:00PM

Congratulations to the following band members who were selected to the Erie County Junior High All County Band or Orchestra: Amy Isaacson and Alex Laski. Also, congratulations to Adam Brophy for his

selection as an alternate to the 2018 All State Middle School Honor Band.

General music composed and performed Percussion Compositions using instrumentsof Latin America. Working in groups, the students wrote rhythm patterns, layered therhythms together, and performed for the class. Each student also successfully played amelody in both the Baroque and Classical styles on a piano. The music lab was filledwith the sounds of Bach’sMinuet in G Major and Papa Haydn’s Surprise Symphony.

Music

Seventh grade chorus will complete their CMS stage career with our last concert- the Spring Choral Festival. The performance will be held in the CMS Auditorium and will feature Show Choir, Girl's Choir, Voce and all three choruses.

Chorus

OrchestraThe 7th grade Orchestra performed a beautiful concert on March 20th, and they really enjoyed performingSweet Dreams are Made of This with the 7th grade chorus! They are now preparing for their performance atthe NYSSMA Ensemble Festival, on May 18th at Orchestra Park High School. The orchestra will beadjudicated by two certified NYSSMA judges and receive comments along with an award for the level oftheir performance. We’re definitely going for the gold! The next school concert is on May 24th, at 7:30 pm.The students are studying a piece by Hofeldt, called The Gift, and a composition by Atwell called Modus a4. Special congratulations to violist Emily Morelli, and cellist William Oh for their acceptance andperformance with the 2018 ECMEA Jr. High North Orchestra! In addition, several students are auditioningtheir solos for the NYSSMA competition on June 1st and 2nd. Good luck to everyone! And one last reminder,please look for summer lesson information at the beginning of May.

ArtSeventh grade artists began quarter three by heightening their awareness ofspace. Space is a design element that refers to the distance between, around,above, below, and within things. We discussed the importance of negativespace and its impact on composition. As we progressed through the quarter,we experimented with color mixing using tempera paint. We then created alarge painting which had to follow a specific color scheme. We then immersedourselves in making a functional sculpture out of clay. We finished up thequarter by making shaded drawings of everyday objects based on the work ofthe famous Pop artist, Jim Dine.

LibraryAll 7th grade students visited the CMS Library Media Center with their socialstudies classes to gear up for Homespun research. We started off with arefresher class on notetaking with the goal of how to avoid plagiarism. Thestudents also were able to get hands on experience with the print resourcesthat were set aside for the Homespun project. Once students were on theirway with their project, we met again a few weeks later to learn how to use theCCSD subscription service, NoodleTools, to digitally work with a partner to takenotes, create a works cited, and organize an outline for their written summary.

Technology

The seventh grade Tech Ed students worked diligently on their CO2Car designs to get ready for the final race-testing event that wasscheduled for the last two days of the quarter! The beginning of thequarter was spent learning how to refine their CO2 Car designs onthe Auto-Desk Inventor software. For the remainder of the quarter,they focused on how to cut their cars out of a block of basswood,sand, paint, and attach the wheels and axles. The excitement of raceday was mounting as many students chose to come in early and/orstay late to perfect their CO2 Cars before the big race!

Health

Health Education classes have recently completed decision making and refusalskill practice. Currently, topics relating to stress management, supportnetworks, and suicide prevention are being discussed. May and June will focuson items relating to skin cancer prevention, personal safety, and HIV and AIDSeducation.

Physical EducationThe seventh grade boys and girls just finished a great volleyball unitin PE class. Mrs. Shifflet is offering a volleyball clinic for middleschool boys and girls the month of April. Email her for moreinformation. Badminton is the current unit in physicaleducation. All students need their own safety goggles.

7th and 8th Grade IntramuralsCo-ed badminton intramurals will be starting at the end of April. Intramurals runfrom 7:50 am to 8:50 am in the lower gymnasium. Students should get a groupof friends together for some morning exercise to start their day, and some funsocialization with their peers. Volleyball intramurals will be the last intramuralsoffered this school year.

Message fromthe Transportation Office

TRANSPORTATION HOTLINE 716-407-9098

Did you know the Transportation department has a hotline to checkon your child’s bus?

This Hotline will be updated if a bus is behind schedule due tomechanical problems, bad weather, etc. Please call 716-407-9098 toreach our hotline. Magnets are available by calling theTransportation Office at 716-407-9500.