1

News from the Principal

James P. McGuire

January has arrived and so has our cold weather. We have

also out done our snow totals from 2011-2012. We should all get

ready for what may be in store for us weather wise in 2013.

Our mid term just closed and teachers are now posting their mid term grades for your children. Mid term reports will be sent home

with the students on January 30th so please be sure to check their

progress and let us know if you have concerns. The mid terms indi-

cate that we are half way through our second trimester and the school

year.

Marks close at the end of the school trimester on March 15, 2013 and report cards will be distributed on March 22, 2013. This

gives us all plenty of time to make sure your child is academically on

target this year.

Our application to gain grant funding through he 21st Century

grant program this year was unfortunately unsuccessful. We will how-ever be providing after school programs in much the same manner as

we did last year. We are currently offering programs for Math and Or-

ganizational Skills and will also continue a number of our very suc-

cessful school programs. Students may also participate in Student

Council, Point Painters, Robotics or Yearbook. Our traditional middle

school sports programs are also being offered as usual. Our volleyball season is winding down. Both teams played well and

learned the game from coaches Flynn and Principal as the season

went along. The students had a very nice experience provided by our

coaches who were wonderful role models. Our boys team experienced

late season success and will be competing in the play off tournament

at North Quincy High on Saturday January 26th. Thanks to our stu-dent spectators and fans for supporting both teams this season. Good

luck to our boys.

MCAS testing is again just around the corner. This year test-

ing includes ELA and Reading Comprehension for all students in

grades 5 through 8. This will take place March 19 through 28. Test-ing will resume in May and all our students will be testing between

May 7th and 17th this year. A testing schedule will be sent home with

students as we get closer to the actual testing dates.

Grade 8 Course Selection sheets will be distributed to students

in school in February and must be returned by February 25th as this

process begins. Quincy High School Grade 8 Parent Night is sched-

uled for March 5, 2013 and NQHS Parent Night will be March 6, 2013.

Please let us know about any questions or concerns you may

have regarding your child’s academic progress or any other issues.

I hope you enjoy a safe and cozy winter season in 2013.

News from the Principal

James P. McGuire

Point Webster

Middle School

Newsletter

Upcoming Events January - 30-Mid Terms Distributed

February- 6 School Committee 12 Early Release 14 Valentine Dance 1-3 15 Superintendent DeCristofaro visits PW

10:30 18-22February School

Vacation 25 HS Course Selection

Sheets Due 26 Early Release PTO Meeting 6:30 PM

March 12– Early Release

MCAS

19– Gr. 7 Long Composition

20-21 Gr. 5,6,7,8 ELA

19-PTO Meeting 6:30 26– Early Release 29-No School Good Friday

Interim Report Dates

Mid Term Ends

Term 2 January 30

Term 3 May 9

Marks Close

Term Ends

Term 2 March 15

Term 3 June 19

Report Cards

March 22, 2013

June, 2013

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Notes from Ms. Bucci

As we reach the mid-point of the school year it has been a great start to what I am sure will be another wonderful year.

Many families have come in for Parent-Teacher conferences in November and December and left with a good under-

standing of how their child is doing. Some reminders on Helping Your Child Succeed from The Parent Guidebook include:

Provide school supplies and a place to study at home

Help set academic goals

Insist on daily attendance

Attend all parent programs

See all interim reports and report cards

Use rewards and consequences

Encourage a healthy lifestyle

Help improve organizational skills

Help with time management

Make homework your child’s responsibility

Encourage involvement in school activities

Encourage independent problem solving

Provide academic support

Contact the school to share any major life or family changes that impact your child.

If you have any questions about how to help your child succeed please call the school or send in a note to the appropri-

ate staff member. We are happy to help with any of these areas.

Fundraisers: Stop & Shop A+ Rewards-

We have raised over $950.00 so far this year in the Stop&Shop A+ Rewards program. If you are participating – Thank

you for your support! If you haven’t signed up yet, you can help the school at not cost or effort by logging on to:

www.stopandshop.com/aplus . All you need to do is enter your 13 digit Stop & Shop card number and our school code

which is 08564.

Box Tops for Education-

Keep sending in the Box Tops so we can earn school funds. Brands include: Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Welch’s, Nestle,

Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Total, Progresso, Old El Paso, Chex, Yoplait, Land O Lakes, Huggies, Cottonelle, Ziploc,

Hefty, Kleenex, Scott, etc.

Labels for Education-

Keep sending in the Labels for Education so we can earn prizes and school funds. Brands include: Post Cereals, Pep-

peridge Farm, Campbell’s, Prego, V8, Dannon, Pop Secret, BIC, Glad Bags, People Magazine, etc.

3

PTO News-

The PTO helped organize and run the Zumbathon on January 12, 2013. Thanks to everyone who helped to organize or partici-

pate in the event. It was organized to assist with raising funds to defray costs of the Grade 8 trip to New York in June. The

event was a great success and raised over $1,200.

The BiddingforGood.com auction is underway and there are over 90 items that can be won by students, family and friends of

Point Webster Middle School. The auction will run from January 18- February 1, 2013. All proceeds will support the school and

students. BiddingforGood.com is open 24 hours/day for your bidding convenience.

There will be a Pampered Chef party on Tuesday, February 26th from 6p.m.-7p.m. at Point Webster. Everyone is welcome to

attend and sample a variety of fun food dishes while learning about Pampered Chef products. Students can bring home cata-

logs showcasing products, and orders can be submitted at school or online through March 13th. Funds will be used to defray

field trip costs for students in grades 5-8.

Principal Student of the Month - October 5th Grade—Elizabeth Huynh & Sean Dwyer 6th Grade– Lucas Gomes & Victoria Reginaldo 7th Grade– Slade Burke & Kendall Kelleher 8th Grade– Johnny Nguyen & Sadaf Tauhid November 5th Grade– Jelinsky Alteus & Karen Wong 6th Grade– Robert Zangla & Mackenzie Gallagher 7th Grade– Ziuling He & Dash Chin 8th Grade—Savanah Gray & Aniruddha Doke December 5th Grade—Thomas MacPherson & Bhuva Sundararajan 6th Grade– Anne Ballard & Vincent Vo 7th Grade– Joey Landry & Samantha Pan 8th Grade– Wendy Zhou & Andrew Cristina

Students were recognized by Mr. McGuire with a certificate and medal of achievement as well as joining Mr. McGuire for a pizza lunch.

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News from Grade Five

Social Studies—We have just started our unit on the Thirteen

Colonies! Our studies will take us back in time to early colonial life! Through our class discussions, textbook readings and art projects we will have an understanding of what life was like back then. We are currently studying the New England colonies and then we will journey onto the Middle and Southern Colonies. We will also focus on MCAS reading and writing activities for our testing in March.

Math—We have had a wonderful start to the 2012- 2013 school year. The students started off the year reviewing the place value system with whole numbers and decimals. They have now moved onto multiplication and division of whole numbers. The students have practiced solving larger multiplication problems accurately and efficiently using the stand-ard algorithm for multiplication. Students have also gained fluency in solving three -digit by three-digit multiplication problems. The last part of this unit will include developing strate-gies for division problems with one and two-digit divisors.

Language Arts/Reading—What more appropriate way to start the New Year, than with some resolutions. Students posted their New Year’s resolutions on their lockers to re-mind them each day what they chose to work on for 2013. Students have begun working on persuasive writing pieces and perfecting the art of persuasion, so watch out! Students worked on book reviews and persuasive letter writing, learning how to convince their listen-ers to do something or believe a certain way. Will they be able to convince you to let them do something? Put your child to the test and see if they have perfected the art of persua-sion! We are currently working on the different types of pronouns and about halfway through our spelling lists for the year! We continue to use our story works magazines each week and explore a variety of genres, while improving reading/writing skills.

In reading, the students are continuing to work with the theme “A Changing Planet” and have finished reading Everglades, a short story about the importance of the Florida Ev-erglades ecosystem, and Summer of Fire, a nonfiction story about the fire in Yellowstone National park, and “Oceans”. We have had the opportunity to read about what Earth looks like from space and how important it is to protect and preserve it. The students’ next book report will be a Newberry Honor book of their choice. Students have already chosen their novels in class. Book reports are due after February vacation. Check the grade 5 website for due date information. In reading we will also begin working on our animal research re-ports, by choosing an animal and finding 3 resources to use for gathering information for their reports.

Page 4 News from Gr. Five Point Webster Middle School

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News from Grade Five

Science—It was a busy fall, as we learned many things about biology or life science. This included the way plants and animals live and interact. We were also fortunate to be visited by representatives from the Staples Energy and Environmental Management Program and American Landscape Company from Sharon. During the visit the students learned much about energy and ways to conserve it. We also planted four trees in front of our school.

Prior to the holiday vacation the students kept track of different components of the weather, and they are now tracking the lunar calendar, having recently learned about the earth, its moon, and the rest of our solar system. We’ve begun to focus on Earth Science which will include things such as the water cycle, soil, and rocks. Then we’ll move onto energy, mat-ter, and technology and engineering which will include looking at simple machines. Also in the spring the students will be working on their Wild Kingdom research projects. Stay tuned for more information on this.

Finally, as the spring approaches we will begin to have some review sessions with the goal of keeping the material covered earlier in the school-year fresh in the kids’ minds. As you may know, the students will be taking their first Science MCAS test this spring. Again, stay tuned for more information on the MCAS.

STARS— Students in Miss Flynn/Mrs.Reid's class rang in the new year by creating new

year's resolutions. In 6th grade Social Studies, the students wrapped up their unit on Latin America by designing travel brochures while the 5th grade is working on completing the Middle Colonies. For Math, the class is finishing long division with one and two digit divi-sors and will be moving on to the order of operations. Students will be celebrating Martin Luther King Day by reading about Martin's "Big Words" and creating their own "I have a dream" essays. Also, during black history month in February, students look forward to re-searching and constructing their own bottle biographies. Keep posted for more updates coming in the spring!

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News from Grade Six

Social Studies—The passports of the sixth grade students are starting to fill up as we backpack are way

through Europe and we get ready to jump on over to Russia and then work are way east to China. January

was geography bee month and the class winners were 6-1 Braeden Johnson, 6-2 Nick Hewer, 6-3 Eric

Zhou, 6-4 Andrew Grant, and 6-5 Nieyah Remy congrats to each of the class winners. Eric Zhou and

Nick Hewer went on to represent the sixth grade in the school wide event. Nick Hewer came out on top

as the 2013 PWMS Geography Bee Champion, Nick’s hope to be selected to move onto the state-wide

bee coming up this April, good luck we are all cheering for you! Please check the class website for any

class updates, upcoming quizzes and tests, and most importantly daily homework assignments.

www.classjump.com/nutley

Math- The students have done a great deal of math. The classes have further strengthened their understanding of ex-

ponents, factors, and multiples. They have gained an excellent grasp on the basics of integers and their presence in their

everyday life. They have learned about input and output tables, finding an expression, creating expressions and using

inverse operations to solve for a missing variable. By combining the use of integers and expressions the students have

also been exposed to some basic components of algebraic equations. These skills will serve them well in years to come.

The classes have also used Study Island as a supplement to all of these concepts.

As the new year has rolled around fractions have become the main focus. The students are manipulating frac-tions to be equal in many different forms such as: simplifying, changing mixed to improper, and multiplying exact quanti-ties to a numerator and denominator. By developing these skills the students will be able to comfortably add and subtract fractions and then they can attack multiplying and dividing fractions with ease. The students will be learning the skill of cross-cancelling, which is a form of simplifying. This concept will likely be easy for students who recall their facts and re-member earlier concepts about multiples and factors.

Keep up the good work!

Reading- It seems hard to believe that the Holiday Season has come and gone. It feels like only yesterday that we were

anxiously anticipating the first day of sixth grade at Point Webster. The students’ effort and behavior these past few

months are to be commended .The students in Grade 6 are now familiar with the routine and what is expected of them.

Over the past few weeks the classes have been enjoying the novels Maniac Magee and Sign of the Beaver. While read-

ing these novels the students were reintroduced to figurative language. The students also enjoyed a unit on short stories.

The students were introduced to the writings of Washington Irving and Langston Hughes. In preparation for the MCAS

which will be administered in March, our students have been working on reading and vocabulary in the content areas.

These nonfiction resources will help our students develop their reading, writing, and oral communication skills within the

content area.

In preparation for Black History Month, we will be reading the novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham. This novel by Chris-

topher Curtis deals with an African-American family from Michigan who travels to the South during the turbulent sixties.

The students will also be introduced to stories and poetry dealing with the Buffalo Soldiers of long ago.

I would like to thank all the parent/guardians who took time from their busy schedules to attend Parent Conferences which

were held in November and December. I enjoyed meeting and speaking with all the parents/ guardians.

Mrs. Driscoll Grade 6

7

Grade Six news continued

Language Arts—The sixth grade students of Point Webster Middle School are having a

fantastic year in English Language Arts!

Students are continuing to focus on spelling, with a new set of vocabulary words each

week. I am impressed with their knowledge of words and enjoy seeing them incorporate

their new vocabulary into both their conversation and writing!

In grammar, students have so far covered kinds of sentences and parts of sentences,

nouns, and verbs. They are also continuing to brush up on capitalization and punctuation.

Additionally, students have begun their preparation for the MCAS ELA/Reading test, which

will be administered on March 20 & 21, 2013. They are currently taking practice tests to

prepare for the big day. They are writing furiously away on their open response questions

to become stronger writers! I’m very happy with the effort and progress they are showing in

this exercise.

I encourage parents and guardians to check their child’s agenda book on a daily basis to

make sure they are up to date on all assignments. Students are to write homework, upcom-

ing tests/quizzes, and reminders in their agenda books each day.

I look forward to a wonderful finish of another great school year here at Point Webster.

Thank you for your continued support.

LDC— We have been working very nicely for Mrs. Gurwitch and Mrs. Ready. Before vaca-tion we finished reading “The Great Lilly Hopkins. She was “one tough cookie.” Now we are studying about “the Great Depression”

Science—Currently, science students are finishing up our Astronomy unit by studying the

solar system, including the sun, inner and outer planets, and small solar system bodies like comets, meteors, and asteroids. Our discussion of the electromagnetic spectrum given off by the sun is a great introduction to our next unit, Weather and Climate. The focus will be on how the sun’s uneven heating of Earth’s surface affects the density of air and water, which in turn drive local and global weather patterns. The students will continue to work in their field journals where they are completing their monthly nature quests, making observations, sketching, and asking questions. Take a peak in the back of your child’s science notebook to see all of their interesting discoveries! Come March, your child will pick one question from their field journal to thoroughly research.

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News from Grade Seven

Science— Grade 7 Science is moving right along and finishing up their first of 3 books, Environmental Science. The

last topics we will discuss before moving on to the study of Physics are; alternative energies, global warming and solu-tions to the energy crisis. After we finish that we will begin Physics and then end the year with our study of chemistry. We have just begun our second major research project. Each student pair was assigned a different alternative energy and will be teaching a lesson in class on that topic. The choices for the project were; solar energy, wind power, hydroelectrici-ty, geothermal energy, biomass/hybrid fuel and nuclear power... It has already been an exciting start to 2013 and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next!

Math—

Student Challenge:

Fill in the grid with numbers 1-16. You may only use each number once. Each row, column, and di-agonal must equal 34. The first 3 students in each 7th grade division to com- plete and turn in this task will receive an extra credit 100% for a quiz grade this term. Good Luck!

Social Studies—Wow! I can’t believe we are already at the half point of the year. Seventh graders have continued

their progress through ancient civilizations in Social Studies. The year has been flying by, and it is an everyday occur-

rence I see progress, success, and achievement in the students’ faces. It really has been incredible to see. So far

throughout the year, students have studied early hominids and archaeology. They have learned everything there is to

know about ancient Mesopotamia, and have just completed talking about one of the most successful civilizations in the

ancient world: Egypt. Throughout the year, students will continue to study different religions, governments, trade, philoso-

phies, and the arts of these civilizations. Students will also continue to develop and strengthen learning and comprehen-

sion skills that include organizational, or and written communication, research, and problem solving. As we continue into

the second half of term 2 and into term 3, students will dive into the civilizations of Greece and Rome. I am positive they

will continue to work through the rest of the school year, and succeed with each challenge that they face.

Mr. Angell’s 7th Grade Math classes are hard at work learning about percents, proportions, and ratios. In the coming weeks, we will be focusing on shapes, similar figures and scale drawings. Throughout the year, the students have been challenged to answer questions like, “Why are you doing that math process?” and “Does your answer make sense?” Although they may find those questions difficult, they are developing a better understanding of mathematics and problem-solving skills.

7 1

2 8

16

6 4

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Grade 7 Continued

Language Arts—Grade 7 students have been working hard in Language Arts! Their CNN Hero

of the Year Essays were fantastic, and all students showed how writing persuasive essays can

be quite easy when you have passion for what you are writing about! As we gear up for the

March MCAS, we will be perfecting our Open Response and our Long Composition writing.

Good Luck Grade 7!

7th

& 8th

Grade S.T.A.R.S. Program- The 7h and 8

th grade S.T.A.R.S. class has had a fan-

tastic first half of the year. Our students have been focused and driven and have been making positive gains in the classroom. Our science class has been focused on chemistry. This area of science is dependent on math and data analysis which have provided an opportunity for cross curricular learning with our math class. This has stressed the importance of the information we learn, why we learn it, and how it is useful outside of the classroom. The application of what we learn does not end with math and science. Our social studies class has been engaged in an-cient cultural studies. Language Arts have focused on reading skills and the writing process; an invaluable skill to have that will last a lifetime.

As the year continues we look forward to any and all challenges that may be presented to us and working together to overcome them. "Greatness is not where we stand but in what di-rection we are moving." –Oliver Wendell Holmes

Page 9 Point Webster Middle School

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News from Grade Eight

Math- Linear Systems, Linear Systems, and more Linear Systems! Since the winter break

has come to a close, the 8th grade has been studiously working to grasp such a challenging

topic. Whether students have been trying to figure out the Substitution Method or the Elimi-

nation Method, progress has been slow but steady. At this point in the year, the majority of

the students have started to master the art of solving multi-step equations as well as gra-

phing linear equations using Slope-Intercept form. Students that are struggling need not

worry, as the rest of the winter will be utilized to further review before entering into the Ge-

ometry and Data Analysis strands

Social Studies—The eighth grade is cruising along in Social Studies. Before winter break

we finished up the causes of the American Revolution. The students were able to play the

roles of a British soldier, a Loyalist, a Neutralist, or a Colonist during the Revolution. We

looked at the Revolution from all viewpoints and had in class simulations of some of the ma-

jor battles and events including Bunker Hill and the signing of the Declaration of Independ-

ence. We are now finishing up the Constitution. The students completed excellent projects

on the Bill of Rights and became very excited when they learned what rights they have un-

der the constitution. We will continue on with Washington’s presidency and the warnings he

told the United States in his farewell address, followed by the Louisiana Purchase and the

beginning of Westward Expansion.

Language Arts - As we begin 2013 the 8th Grade ELA classes are getting ready for the

ELA MCAS test which will take place in March. We are going to focus on “Informational Texts” and writing. We will also read The Contender and delve in to the world of poetry.

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Grade 8 continued

Science—Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed a restful vacation. The students have settled in and are ready to begin a term full of new challenges. Wonderful technology projects and reports are pouring in as we finish our technology unit. Students have done a superb job and have truly become scientists since our trip to City Lab in September. I am proud of their hard work and performance. Students who shine in science this term include Vanan Phan, Matt Jonah, Wendy Zhou, Ricky Wong, Anirouddha Doke, Andrew Cristina, Samantha Jackson, Michael Reardon, Kristen Tran, and Johnny He. Keep up the great work!

This term students will study biology focusing on the cell, genetics and evolution. Claire Gold from UMass Boston’s Anthropology Department will visit PWMS in February and teach the students about human evolution using cast models of human, chimpanzee, and hominid skulls and pelvises. In addition to their regular assignments and lab reports, stu-dents are working diligently on their science fair topics. The grade 8 science fair exhibition will take place in the late spring. Information about student projects can be found in their science folders and blue lab notebooks. More information will be sent home regarding the science fair open house as we get closer to May. Best wishes for the New Year!

News from the Point Lego Robotics Team:

Wow – what an amazing fall season! The Point Lego Robotics Team competed in the FLL

competition at North Quincy High School on December 1st. Point competed against 48

teams from South Eastern Massachusetts. The team missed the state qualifying tourna-

ment in Worcester by two places! The theme this year was Senior Solutions. Team mem-

bers competed in 4 different events all relating to how to improve a senior citizen’s daily

life. The events included robot design, robot missions, teamwork, and project presentation.

The Point team partnered with special education teacher, Mrs. Castagnozzi to produce

their project presentation. With her guidance the team chose to research the topic of arthri-

tis and how to better help those struggling with this condition. With a donation from Stop

and Shop, they designed a shopping cart to help seniors with their grocery shopping. The

team is very thankful to Mrs. Castagnozzi for her advice and mentoring. In addition to the

project, the team also competed in intense robot missions, such as programming the robot

to knock down bowling pins and assemble a Lego quilt. The team was fortunate to have a

QHS camera crew following them during the competition. Excitingly this will be televised

soon on Channel 22!

Students are now preparing for the Presidents Cup in May, in which they will compete

against the all QPS middle schools. For the last two years, the Point Robotics Team was

won the President’s Cup. The pressure in on and we hope to regain this title for 2013! The

team will also visit the Quincy High School Hyper Robotics team in February and hope to

learn from the best. The team is also thankful to all the Quincy High School students who

volunteer their time each week at our after school club. It has been a wonderful 2012 and

we look forward to more success and learning in 2013.

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News from Grade Five

Guidance Department

Mr. Bogan-Grades 5 & 7, Mrs. Markarian-Grades 6 & 8, Mr. Holet-Stars

Guidance focuses on academic, behavioral and social goals for students. This year there is also an increased focus on

Anti-Bullying. All students started the year with an Anti-Bullying presentation and continue to have Anti-Bullying curricu-

lum presented throughout the school year. Included is information about cyber bullying & texting.

Avoiding problems with texting is really about common sense, not so much about understanding technology. If you don’t

know as much as your child about texting and cell phones, don’t worry about it ! Here are a few practical tips…

Sending text or images is a life-long commitment. Once you send it, you can never suppress it or get it back.

Consider the age of the child when considering if, or when, to permit texting privileges. Texting is a very powerful

technology to give to young children.

Children can have a cell phone without texting abilities; just call your cell phone provider to turn these off or limit

them on your child’s phone.

Talk with children about the permanence and the impact of what they text.

Texting is convenient and it’s easy for it to become a habit. Every now and then, ask yourself: would it be better to

talk in this situation?

If can be difficult to “read” emotions in a text and that can make it easy to be misunderstood.

It is easy to say something in texting that you would not have the courage to say to a person’s face. Sometimes,

this means that it’s better left unsaid. Think before you text !

Don’t go to your cell phone when you’re angry. You may text something you’ll regret later.

Don’t let anyone ever pressure or force you into texting something. Don’t let anyone borrow your phone to send a text.

(Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center)

Guidelines for When to keep Your Child Home

A fever of 100 degrees or more. They should remain fever free for 24 hours.

If they have vomiting or diarrhea within the last 24 hours.

Severe Cold Symptoms

Strep throat-*Stay at home until the child has been treated for 24 hours

Conjunctivitis-*Stay at home until the child has been treated for 24 hours

Getting a Good Start

Come to school well rested

Children who get at least 8 hours sleep will be more alert and will function better in school.

Have a healthy break

We offer breakfast every day between 7:30 and 8:10 a.m.

Just a reminder: As you are bringing your children in for annual physical exams, students entering 7th grade need

to have an updated copy of their physical exam as well as a Tetanus Booster for 7th grade entry. Please drop off a

copy to the main office or the nurse’s office at your convenience.

Page 12

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News from Specialist

Physical Education—

Students have been playing a game called Speedball. It is a big keep away game between two teams with

fun ways to score popints. Students that have excelled at Speedball are: Joseph Osgood, Sean Dwyer, An-

drew Cudmore, Hayley Parrish, Dominic Laptiste, Nathalia Damata, Kenny Decie and Layla Johnson. Our

next two units will be basketball and European Wiffleball.

The Annual Great Race will be taking place the first week in May. The Great Race is a 1 mile fun run/walk

held after school for students and staff. Refreshments will be served to all participants and awards given to

the first boy and girl in each grade. More information will be available in April.

Please be sure your child has their PE clothes on PE Day. Students should have sneakers and sweats/shorts

in order to receive credit for the class. If your child misses their clothes three times in a term they will fail the

term. I strongly encourage students to bring a second shirt to class and to also have deodorant.

Spanish Class—Hola! Hello! We have been learning many exciting things in Spanish class so far this year. We

have learned how to greet and say goodbye to someone formally and informally in Spanish, how to say our names,

the date, when our birthdays are, the alphabet, numbers, where we are from, our favorite colors, and classroom

expressions…just to name a few! We have also been learning about Spanish culture such as the different Spanish-

speaking countries and their capitals, and up next is El Dìa de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), which is celebrated

October 31-November 2. We will also be learning how to say that we like/don’t like something in Spanish, along

with many other verbs! I am very fortunate to be able to work with such a great group of students this year and I am

very excited to share their learning experiences with them, as we discover the Spanish language and culture!

Art— During our second trimester students at Point Webster have been working dutifully on various

projects building on knowledge skills and techniques that were explored last semester. The students

continue to use their environment, personal experiences, and artistic past as a source of inspiration.

Throughout this semester, Elements and Principles of Design continue to be the focus for grade

5. Students are creating brilliant Banyan trees using oil pastels and just finished their productions of

Paul Klee Landscapes.

The Natural World is the focus for grade 6 students. Some of the subject matter for this unit in-

cludes watercolor paintings of Audubon birds and remarkable flower prints. Next, the students will be

creating underwater landscapes with value on depth perception, layering, and warm and cool color use.

Grade 7 has concentrated on The Built Environment. Students have been producing representa-

tions using torn paper in material based portraits. They have also proven imaginative with Paper Ma-

che Monsters in brilliant color as well as, Mandala’s that appear to illuminate before you.

The Invented World has been the current challenge for grade 8. They too are exploring their fig-

ure production talent with Paper Mache Monsters. They have also produced amazing Non-Objective De-

signs with the focus on abstract art. Next, the students will learn about one and two point perspective.

Speciality Classes:

Eighth graders focused on shapes, rhythm, and movement inspired by Matisse. Fifth graders are painting some wild tropical birds using watercolors. Eighth graders are painting some incredible African masks using brightly col-ored tissue paper, paints and markers.

Last, all students are taking part in the international “Imagine Peace” poster contest. This is a wonderful opportunity for each student to think about peace, and creatively express what peace means to then, and share their own unique visions of the world.

I am seeing a lot of great artwork from Point Webster Middle School students and look forward to showcasing their work at the end of the school year art exhibition. EXCELLENT WORK, students!!! Thank you.

Page 13 Point Webster Middle School

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News from Grade Five

Specialists’ Grading

E = Excellent: Student goes above and beyond the standards taught; excels

S = Satisfactory: Student is reaching the standards taught; doing what is expected

U = Unsatisfactory: Student is not meeting the standards taught; not putting forth effort

If your child fails a specialists’ class they will not make the honor roll or be invited to the Honor’s

banquet in June.

Health

Hello and Happy New Year! Students in grade 5 started 2nd trimester learning about tobacco prevention,

followed by the Human Respiratory System. Please question your child about the Great American Smoke-

out. We will continue to explore the human body systems by studying the Human Circulatory System and

other gateway drugs: alcohol, marijuana; inhalants. Further topics to be covered in all grades are the

physical, mental/emotional and social effects that drugs have on the user, his/her family, friends and com-

munity. Healthy alternatives to drugs, assertiveness skills and the fact that most teenagers do not use

drugs will be emphasized throughout this trimester.

Grades 6-8 students began this trimester by watching a movie, The Ryan White Story, a true story about a

7th grade student who learned he contracted AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) by receiving

contaminated blood during a transfusion in the 1980’s. This story has been followed up by learning about

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and the Immune System.

Point Webster Middle School is very grateful for three health grants: The BID-Milton Hospital Grant; Great-

er Boston Council on Alcoholism; Impact Quincy. These grants are breathing life into the middle school

health curriculum!

The BiD-Milton Hospital Grant enabled us to host, “ Doin’ The Right Thing” by Deana’s Theater this fall; pur-

chase Safe and Positive Curriculums (Brick by Brick and FISH! For Students) and will pay for eleven 7th and

8th graders to travel to the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) office for a “Youth

Lead” training on Friday, January 25, 2013. This initiative will culminate with peers teaching peers during

health electives. The following students will be attending the field trip: grade 7: Marisa Douyotas, Pierina

Morales; Mario Vrapi, grade 8: Brianna Cristiani, Maysson Khan, Shelby Maze, Tiara Osgood, Kevin Phu,

Michael Readon; Kristen Tran. Students were chosen by Northeastern University’s Human Right Squad

trainers Saffa and Craig, the opportunity to submit reasons why the students thought they should be chosen

as a peer teacher and me.

In addition, The BID-Milton offered additional funding to support safe and positive school messages outlined

in the above for Human Rights Squad’s t-shirts. The 8th grade Human Rights Squad helped designed these t-

shirts. The base of the t-shirt will be green and the letters will be white (Point’s colors). The front will proudly

display the Point compass with “Human Rights Squad” written underneath. The cuff of the short sleeve will

have the word “Point” circling it. The message on the back of the t-shirt will read: We’ve got the Positive

Point…We are all about ROPES!” The acronym for ROPES is:

Respect Open-minded Pass Express-Yourself Share

The improbable PLAYERS presented a play, “Running on E” on January 8th for grades 7-8 in the auditorium.

This was made possible through the generosity of The Greater Boston Council on Alcoholism. Immediately

following the play, smaller break-out groups were held for questions and answers regarding the subject mat-

ter. The program was very well received.

The Impact Quincy Grant is providing our school with an “Artist in Residence.” His name is Dennis

Staroselsky. Dennis has earned his master’s in theatre education from New York University, and his bache-

lor of fine arts from Boston University. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Dennis appears on

several television dramas and performs in New York and in the regional theatres in Massachusetts. He has

been an actor and drama teacher with Improbable Players since spring 2010. Dennis will work with grade 8

peer advocates on elective days. The students will design and perform an original play Tuesday, (an early

release day), on February 12th

for their peers. This will take place during specialists’ time in the auditorium.

The peer advocates will depict healthy alternatives to drugs, assertiveness skills, the fact that most teenagers

do not drugs and local prevention resources. Parents/Guardians are welcome. The times the play will be

performed are: 8:45-9:15, 9:15-9:45, 9:45-10:15; 11:45-12:15. The play will be video-taped and air on Chan-

nel 22 at a future date.

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15

Health News continued

Elective class offerings for the 2nd

trimester are: “Peer Advocates,” grades 7 and 8 and “Brick by Brick” for grade 5. All

electives focus specifically on the “Safe and Positive School Climate” proposal.

In addition to the general interim reports sent home, all students will be asked to bring home a 2nd

trimester health pro-

gress report to be signed and returned to me. This is an attempt to foster excellent communication skills between stu-

dent/parent/guardian and teacher and give more specific details regarding health classes to all stakeholders.

I am very excited to be teaching your child(ren) this year! If there are any questions/concerns, I can be contacted by e

-mail: bfenby@quincy.k12.ma.us. Thank you for your continued support!

Specialist Student of the Term -

Art Health

Grade 5– Amaryllis Gu & Kyler Hoang Grade 5— Maeve Farrell & Eric Manter

Grade 6– Maggie Zheng & Xavier Molina Grade 6-William Ryan & Anne Ballard

Grade 7– Deeksha Muralidhar & Cody Brown Grade 7-Samantha Pan & Bashkim Jacelli

Grade 8- Josephine Marstjepovic & Robert Kyller Grade 8-Shelby Maze, Michael Reardon,

Maysoon Khan

Music Physical Education

Grade 5 - Nicholas Crockett & Alexandra Smith Grade 5– Olivia Skinner & Sean Dwyer

Grade 6 - Michael Berfield & Hannah Robinson Grade 6– Rachel Hawley & Bashar Abraham

Grade 7 -Glaytson Barbosa & Samantha Pan Grade 7– Ziuling He & Chi Tsao

Grade 8 - Amy Blois & Joseph Cristiani Grade 8– Kaitlyn Naumann & Inal Orzaliev

Holiday Schedule

02/18/13—02/22/13—February Vacation

03/29/13– Good Friday

04-15-13—04/19/13– April Vacation

05/27/13– Memorial Day

Vacations—The School System does not condone vacations taken other than those

assigned. Prolonged absence from school may result in summer school. If a stu-

dent is absent over 28 days, retention may result.