7th

 Middle School Important Dates

• Middle School Spelling Bee – Rescheduled: Tuesday, Jan. 20
• MLK Day of Service – Monday, Jan. 19

6th Grade – House of the Carpenter- Drop off at middle school. Transportation will be provided.

7th Grade – YWCA

8th Grade – Elmhurst House of Friendship

• Math Field Day – February 10 @ WP (More info to come)
• National Anthem @ Nailers Game (6th/7th Grade) February 15th 

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• I was out with the plague most of this week, so students mostly read, discussed, and completed assignments regarding Howl’s Moving Castle, and they are developing a character map because there are many characters in Howl’s Moving Castle and it gets confusing at times.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Wednesday, January 21 – Solving Equations
• Students continued practicing one, two, and multi-step equations in preparation for a test next Wednesday. They are working hard at understanding the process. Most complications arise from forgetting negative signs or simple miscalculations. Important: Our class will be working with a math doctorate student from Carnegie Mellon University. He is developing an online computer tutoring program to help math students. This will be the 3rd year that we are working with him. A letter will be sent home next week which explains more about the program.

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – quiz on pH Thursday 1/22

Students learned the differences between acids, bases, and neutral substances and completed a lab for pH testing.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we continued working on the National Anthem in preparation for performing it at a Nailers game on Sunday February 15th. Information about this will be going out to you soon!!
• We continued learning our Mozart body percussion routine. Once it is completed, we will filming it and uploading it to youtube, so you can see what we did!
• Our journal entry was a response to hearing the opera aria “Der Holle Rache” (Queen of the Night) from The Magic Flute by Mozart.

SEL w/ Mrs. McFadden – 

• This week we extended our talks on conflict resolution by adding on the skill of apologizing. Some of the big ideas were what an apology can do to mend a relationship, how it can actually help you, and why it is sometimes difficult.

Elective –

• Robotics – The students have completed the first part of their robot build for our Freeze Tag unit. They did a mini-driving competition to see who has the driving skills with their robot. The “driver” position will change throughout the trimester. This is not the only driver for the group. The students continue to work together on all of the skills which include building, modifications, and notebooking.
• Speech and Debate –  Now that we have our pieces for the competition, we are spending each class rehearsing and refining the presentations. The quicker the kiddos can memorize their pieces, the better off they will be.

 Middle School Important Dates

• Middle School Spelling Bee – Friday, Jan. 16
• MLK Day of Service – Monday, Jan. 19

6th Grade – House of the Carpenter

7th Grade – YWCA

8th Grade – Elmhurst House of Friendship

• Math Field Day – February 10 @ WP (More info to come)
• National Anthem @ Nailers Game (6th/7th Grade) February 15th 

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none. Vocabulary will be going out soon.
• We started our reading and discussion of Howl’s Moving Castle.
• We went in depth on the basic template for making descriptive writing, and we followed prompts using the templates like cheat sheets. I modeled examples of my own with showing over telling using the 5 W’s and 5 senses.
• We kicked off our first writing assignment with New Year focus.

Math w/ Mrs. Bishop –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Test Friday over 4-1 to 4-5
• We started back with a new chapter– rational numbers. The kids started with learning the differences between repeating and terminating decimals. Then, they began converting fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions. We ended the week with comparing and ordering decimals. 
• Next week we will pick up on comparing and ordering decimals. We’ll move to estimating sums and differences with decimals and then adding and subtracting decimals. 
• The plan is to have a test Friday on all of these topics listed above.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None scheduled.
• This week we concentrated on solving one and two-step equations. They are learning how to check their answers by plugging their solutions back into the original equation. They are also practicing using all operations with fractions (their nemesis). They have 4 practice problems a day to solve. Next week, we move into multi-step equations.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we started working on The Star Spangled Banner, which we will be performing at The Nailers game on February 15th. There will be information about this being sent out next week!
• We also began learning a body percussion routine to Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca”. In preparation for this, students broke into small groups and had to come up with their own 8 bar body percussion routine. They then presented them to the class. It was fun to see what they created!
• This week’s journal entry was a response to what we have done so far this year and the Holiday Show.

Elective –

Speech and Debate – We spent all day today at Wheeling Park High today for the speech and debate workshop. The kids learned more about their competition category and picked their pieces for the competition in February.  They got to work with many WCDS alumni who are now are part of the WPHS Speech and Debate team.

 Middle School Important Dates

• December 15th– Middle School Holiday Show 6:00 pm @ Main Campus (Drop-off that morning will be at the main campus for a run-through.)  We will transport the kids over to middle school for the afternoon.  Pick-up that day will be at the middle.
• December 18th – Boys’ Home Gifts Due 
• December 19th – Winter Break Begins @ 11:30 am (Return to school on Jan. 5th)
  

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

We wrapped up our final (full) Friday of the year with some wonderful music at Wheeling Park and topped it off by skating with 5th!

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• Continued our reading and discussion of Maze Runner. We are going to try and finish it before we go on break.
• We covered in depth non-fiction, memoir style again and started a winter piece. My goal with these is to get students exploring and elaborating on the strong memories in their minds.

Math w/ Mrs. Bishop –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Test next week on inequalities
• Kids are working hard on mastering inequalities. And doing a really great job. We’ve finished up solving one-step inequalities and next week we’ll head to two-step inequalities. 
• Once we complete those two-step equations, then the kids will have a test.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None Scheduled
• The students continued working on evaluating expressions. Expressions with fractions seem to be challenging for them.
• They are doing a quick five question warm-up with Fractions when we start class. Notes and “how-tos” were also given as a refresher on how to do all operations with fractions.
• The students are also practicing how to solve one-step equations with addition and subtraction.
• We still have a full week of learning next week! We’ll be moving on to solving equations with multiplication and division. 

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – no quizzes scheduled. On Thursday, December 18th, weather permitting, students in 7th grade will have a short field trip to the lakes at Oglebay Park where they will assist in stocking rainbow trout into the lakes from a fish hatchery. We will leave the school around 9:30 and be back before lunch.Warm coat and gloves are needed since this will be outdoors.

SEL w/ Mrs. McFadden – 

• This week our students are learning the ever-important skill of apologizing. Like any skill, we all need practice. While there is not necessarily one set way to apologize, we are teaching our students to first calm down, tell the person they are sorry for what they did and the harm they caused, and ask how to fix it (for older students, focusing on forgiveness and giving the other person time is also important). See if you can bring these

Elective –Robotics – The students learned how to write a page in their engineering notebook. They also started building their first robot. They will use this robot to learn how to move and drive it with the controller.

Middle School Important Dates

• December 12th  – 30th Anniversary of Wheeling Park High School’s “Festival of Sound” @ WP High School 9:30 am – 11:30 am (Transportation Provided)
• December 15th– Middle School Holiday Show 6:00 pm @ Main Campus (Drop-off that morning will be at the main campus for a run-through.)  We will transport the kids over to middle school for the afternoon.  Pick-up that day will be at the middle.
• December 19th – Winter Break Begins @ 11:30 am (Return to school on Jan. 5th)

How lucky are we that we have all this outdoor space in the winter time? Check out the photos of kids having some fun in the snow.

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• We continued our reading and discussion of Maze Runner.
• We reviewed in-depth sentence structure, and I had students write their examples on the board and diagram them. 

Math w/ Mrs. Bishop –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None
• We finished Chapter 2 this week. Overall, my kids did well with equations. I’m going to continue to give them practice with these problems because it’s an important skill for 8th grade and high school algebra. 
• Next week, we’re starting with inequalities. 

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None scheduled.
• Students started learning about algebraic expressions and equations.
• They also used the distributive property and adding like terms to simplify expressions.
• The second trimester grades are available to see as the students turn in their assignments.
• Next week, we will start with solving one-step algebraic equations.

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – none until 12/16
• Students continued learning the names of super scientists and filled out bingo card to use to recall them.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we focused on the details of our songs! We worked on adding in scenes and props. We are in the home stretch and I am so excited to share what we’ve been learning so far this year!

Art w/ Mr. K – 

• Students have finished their texture painting, and we moved on to a fun little project before break called a cartoon mashup. They will draw two characters separately and then combine them into a crossover. Think of SpongeBob and Batman mashed together!

SEL w/ Mrs. McFadden – 

• This week, students are learning about self-talk. Self-talk is just that: how we talk to ourselves inside of our heads. Inside their heads, children (and adults) are often much harder on themselves than encouraging and kind. It takes five positive thoughts to make up for one negative one. Ask your students what are some positive and negative messages they said to themselves this week and encourage them to practice positive self-talk.

Elective –

• Robotics – Students are learning about the parts and components of the Vex Robotics system. They are eager to get their hands on their robots! We will continue to introduce elements of robotics, which concentrates on critical thinking, math, engineering, and organization, aside from simply building the robot.

Middle School Important Dates

• November 25th – Thanksgiving Luncheon @ Main Campus 12:30 pm early dismissal (Drop off and pick up @ Main) 
• December 1st – 5th  – Middle School Book Fair @ Middle School 
• December 12th  – 30th Anniversary of Wheeling Park High School’s “Festival of Sound” @ WP High School 9:30 am – 11:30 am (Transportation Provided)
• December 15th– Middle School Holiday Show 6:00 pm @ Main Campus (Drop-off that morning will be at the main campus for a run-through.)  We will transport the kids over to middle school for the afternoon.  Pick-up that day will be at the middle.
• December 19th – Winter Break Begins @ 11:30 am (Return to school on Jan. 5th)

At WCDS, we do not shy away from failure, in fact, we promote the idea of risk taking and failure being necessary steps for success. Well, every year, the alumni return for shot at the faculty in the faculty/alumni kickball game. This year won’t be an exception when it comes to the faculty enforcing the very principles we strive to instill in every student.

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• Students wrapped up their Gratitude Letters.
• Students continued their reading and discussion of Maze Runner.
• We warmed up every day this week with sentence fluffing, and we wrapped up the week with WeWillWrite.com.

Math w/ Mrs. Bishop –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None
• The class continued working on equations and began solving for an unknown in formulas. The class is continuing to make progress in understanding how to solve for a variable. 
• The chapter 2 test has been pushed back to after Thanksgiving to allow for more time to practice and sort out any confusion/mistakes.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None scheduled
• The students learned about the Converse of the Pythagorean Theorem, which determines if a triangle is a right triangle or not.
• The students also worked on Pythogorean Theorem word problems. They had to draw a picture of what was being describe and solve for what was missing.
• We’ll start solving equations with multiple steps when we return from Thanksgiving break.

Deep Dive w/ Mr. Jividen, Mrs. Ochap, Mrs. McFadden, & Mr. K- 

• This week we introduced our new deep dive to the entire middle school.  We have chosen to do a Youth Show of Hands.  The students will get to hear from previous winners and then try their hand at entrepreneurship. 

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – No quizzes scheduled until after break.
• Students began lesson on types of scientists and their careers
• On Thursday, students used different masses to cause helium balloons to hover above ground.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we worked on our three holiday songs being memorized – we’re almost there!! We also added the finishing touches on our piece “cold snap”! It’s got some fun surprises!
• Our music journal entry this week was responding to the piano piece “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven. It’s known as one of the most beautiful pieces for piano ever written – take a listen!

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• 7th Grade students began the second trimester studying relationship between humans and the environment
• Adaption, modification, and dependence 
• Groups explored real world examples of this via case studies

Art w/ Mr. K – 

• Students have been focusing on textured paintings and have the freedom to use any material at their disposal. 

SEL w/ Mrs. McFadden – 

• This week, students learn more about the development of an adolescent’s brain. Through hands-on learning and discussion, students explore the different challenges teenagers face and how many of their thoughts and feelings are completely normal for their age.

Elective –

• Robotics w/ Mrs. Boldrick & Mrs. Bishop – Students will learn and use the VEX robotics system. They will work in teams to build a robot and follow a curriculum using the robot. We will also build two competitive robots which everyone will learn to use. These competition robots are used in the VEX Robotic Competitions held all over the United States.

Middle School Important Dates

Nov. 17th – 7th/8th Grade Around the World Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Middle School

Dec 1st -5th – Middle School Book Fair!

Dec. 15th – Holiday Show 6:00 @ main campus. Morning Drop off will be at main campus for practice. Pick-up will be at Middle School

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• Students continued their reading and discussion of Maze Runner.
• We started professional letter writing, and as a chance to practice it, students will be writing a letter expressing gratitude for an influential teacher/coach in their life.
• We worked on voice while using different dialogue prompts.

Math w/ Mrs. Bishop –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Chapter 2 test on Friday
• While learning one step equations, the kiddos for the most part know which operation is needed to isolate the variable. 
• They’re able to add and subtract integers easier. With all the work we do, they will continue to do better with this. 
• We started two step equations. The students will need to undo two operations to isolate the variable now. With more practice, they will continue to improve in this also.
• We will continue two step equations next week and will finish chapter 2 with formulas.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None Scheduled
• The students have been working on using the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for the missing length of a triangle.
• They are using what they know about perfect squares and square roots to simplify their answers.
• Next week, the students will apply their Pythagorean Theorem skills to real world problems, a.k.a word problems!

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – None scheduled
• Students finished up study of matter with lab making a colloid that acts as both a solid and a liquid. They tested it for viscosity, ability to bounce, ability to flow, and others.

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• First Trimester Review
• Previewing upcoming second trimester topics

Elective –

• Cooking w/ Mrs. McFadden – We made some outstanding recipes this week, like pecan pie truffles, carrot cake muffins, spicy roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin no bake cookies, pumpkin chai lattes, and pumpkin donuts!  

Nov. 10th – 6th Grade Face Your Face Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Ohio County Library 

Nov. 11th – No school for students (professional development day) no aftercare

Nov. 17th – 7th/8th Grade Around the World Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Middle School

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• Continued our reading and discussion of Maze Runner.
• Finished up the Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest entries.
• Ended the week with a dialogue and voice lesson where the students wrote a scene of dialogue using two distinct voices (I provided).

Math w/ Mrs. Bishop –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Test Wednesday on 1 step equations (all operations)
• We got through almost all of the operations with 1 step equations.
• The last one is division. We’ll do that next week. 
• The class did a wonderful job on their quizzes this week for adding and subtracting with equations.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None Scheduled
• This week the students continued working with radicals.
• The students improved with simplifying radicals that are not perfect squares.
• They also learned how to simplify radicals using variables.
• Next week, we move into learning about the Pythagorean Theorem, and will use radicals to solve for the unknown side of a triangle.

Deep Dive w/ Mrs. McFadden & Mrs. Wallace -Exhibition Monday, November 17th

• Students have been busy creating artifacts to showcase at their exhibition stations.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we are continuing our newest holiday song “Cold Snap”! We reviewed and started trying our two other holiday songs from memory. They are doing so well!!!
• Auditions for chipmunks will be next Friday!!
• Our music journal entry this week was “Have you ever been to a live performance? Did you enjoy it? What is the most memorable part about the experience?”

SEL w/ Mrs. McFadden – 

• This week’s lesson wass about I-Statements, which is a way of talking about feelings that can keep othersfrom getting defensive. Communicating with others about conflicts is usually more effective when we takeresponsibility for our own emotions — that’s where an I-Statement is handy. The basic idea is to name the emotion we are feeling and the specific event that led to that feeling. You-Statements, on the other hand, can make people feel defensive and often make conversation harder.

Elective –

• Cooking w/ Mrs. McFadden – 
• Gluten free oreo truffles and cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds were a great success!

Nov. 10th – 6th Grade Face Your Face Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Ohio County Library 

Nov. 11th – No school for students (professional development day) no aftercare

Nov. 17th – 7th/8th Grade Around the World Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Middle SchoolCLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Now begins the (seemingly) quickest stretch of the school. We get through a few full weeks of school and then winter break is here. This week was an eventful one, please see photos of the Pumpkin Drop. Also, please check the dates for exhibitions- we had a date change.

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• Continued our reading and discussion of Maze Runner.
• Worked on our MLK Contest Essays and did rounds of peer review.
• Did some Halloween prompt writing on WeWillWrite.com.

Math w/ Mrs. Bishop –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Quiz next week (Wednesday)
• We started our work on algebra this week. We began with knowing key terms like coefficient, variable terms, constant terms, like terms, etc. 
• Then we moved to combining like terms and checking solutions in equations. 
• We began solving one step equations with addition. We will continue working on that early next week and adding in the other 3 operations (subtraction, multiplication and division). 
• So far, so good!

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes 
• Students were introduced to states of matter and the effect of temperature on energy and compaction of particles. In the lab, we tested the effects of cold, warm, and hot water on glow sticks.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we started learning on our last holiday song “Cold Snap”! We also played the class favorite, “pass the beat around the room”! 

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• 7th Grade Students completed study guide for upcoming quiz on November 5th
• Will Review Monday for quiz

Middle School Important Dates

Oct. 24th – Glow Fest Fall Party (7pm – 9pm @ Middle School)

Oct. 28th – Pumpkin Drop @ Middle School 

Nov. 6th – 7th/8th Grade Around the World Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Middle School

Nov. 10th – 6th Grade Face Your Face Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Ohio County Library 

October-November tends to be packed full of fall festivities, work events, and full weeks. This year is certainly no exception, and we are happy for all the opportunities we’ve had to connect with the community and students. Vantober Fest, Reimagine Middle School, Faculty vs Volleyball Team, Glow Fest Fall Party, you name it! Please mark your calendars for the exhibitions.

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• Started the Maze Runner by James Dashner.
• Started work on our MLK Essay Contest entries. The theme is forgiveness.

Math w/ Mrs. Bishop –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- No tests next week
• We spent a lot of time preparing for the chapter test. Which covered everything we’ve done so far. 
• Next week, we start our work to prepare us for solving equations. 

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Quiz, Wednesday, October 29 – Perfect Squares.
• This week, the students did a quick review on order of operations. They concentrated on using rational numbers such as decimals and fractions.
• The students were also introduced to square roots and perfect squares. They will need to memorize the perfect squares to 20.

Deep Dive w/ Mrs. McFadden & Mrs. Wallace –

• This week we finished up our regions of Europe presentations, and had several European international students from Linsly come visit us to talk about their countries. The kids love hearing from the high school students! 

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – Science World News quiz 10/30
• Students learned proper lab procedures and worked on pumpkin drop challenge.

SEL w/ Mrs. McFadden – 

• This week’s SEL focus was on a mindful body. Mindful body has two meanings: 1) being aware of your body; 2) the traditional sit-up-straight posture used in seated mindfulness practice to encourage attention and deep breathing. Mindfulness practice can be done while walking, singing, slouching, or doing most anything! This lesson touched on both aspects of “mindful body.”

Middle School Important Dates

Oct. 24th – Glow Fest Fall Party (7pm – 9pm @ Middle School)

Oct. 28th – Pumpkin Drop @ Middle School 

Nov. 6th – 7th/8th Grade Around the World Exhibiton 5:30 pm @ Middle School

Nov. 10th – 6th Grade Face Your Face Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Ohio County Library

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• Finished The Giver and our summaries. We wrapped up the week with watching the movie. Students will need a copy of Maze Runner by James Dashner. 

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none scheduled
• Students reviewed and practiced integral exponent rules on Monday and Tuesday.
• They started their test on integral exponents on Wednesday.
• Most students requested more time to complete the test, so they had Thursday and Friday to finish. I worked one-on-one with each student to ensure they understood the problems. 
• Next week, we will work with order of operations problems using rational numbers.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we started learning “The Chipmunks Song” in our best chipmunk voices!!
• Our music journal entry was “Please respond to the piece ‘The Rite Of Spring’ by Igor Stravinsky.” It was a very controversial piece when it premiered in Paris in 1913 – ask your kids why!

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• 7th Grade students began an economics lesson
• Explored supply and demand
• Scarcity and incentives

SEL w/Mrs. McFadden-

This week we addressed the need for a lesson on perspective taking. We watched a video of “The Six Blind Men and the Elephant” in which each man touches a different part of the elephant and gets a totally different idea of what an elephant must look like. They argue that each one is right, until the wise man teaches them that we all have different perspectives based on our background experiences. They were all partly correct, but they needed to “see” each others’ perspectives as well to get the most accurate picture. Then we had an ink blot gallery walk in which everyone wrote down what they saw in each inkblot. It was fun to see what everyone else saw, and eye opening to realize that someone else’s perspective was most likely different, and quite possibly even more interesting, than our own.

Cooking w/ Mrs. McFadden – On Monday, we made African chicken and potato recipes. Both were delicious! On Friday, we went with a seasonal recipe – popcorn balls! These were also super tasty!

Deep Dive w/ Mrs. McFadden & Mrs. Wallace – We finished up our whirlwind tour of the 54 countries, then jetted off to Europe. We learned about the six different geographic regions, then split the kids into research groups to find out more about their region. The map is growing, and it looks amazing! We have many talented artists and a very talented cartographer in our group! We have also lured in a few geography loving 6th graders who work on the map during down time.