8th

Good Morning,

It was another eventful week at the WCDS Middle School. We are excited to get our students into the community to celebrate the legacy on Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. The 8th grade students will travel to Elmhurst where they will collaborate with the residents to create a Legacy Project. I look forward to seeing the final product. Drop off and pickup will not be affected by our volunteer project! 

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• This was a work week. There wasn’t a specific goal for the paper this week. They continued expanding on their ideas and reviewing papers from previous classes.

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.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week 8th grade experienced a Sound Bath, which is an immersion in sounds that emit frequencies, vibrations and overtones that activate the rain waves responsible for relaxation. It uses various instruments from different cultures as well as the voice to create an improvised meditative concert. Students wrote responses about what they experienced, which was great to read. 
• We started researching in groups more about Sound Baths. They will present their research next week.
• Our journal entry was a response to hearing the opera aria “Der Holle Rache” (Queen of the Night) from The Magic Flute by Mozart.

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• 8th grade students learned about the WV Legislature’s history and role in WV
• They were tasked with understanding the legislature’s role in WV statehood, economics, and quality of life

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

• 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

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes-  none.
• We continued our research and wrapped up the Annotated Bibliography.
• We read intros from previous classes and started workshopping how to write an introduction. I am trying to get them to a solid point before we go on break.

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. 

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

A big thank you to Riley Carpenter for visting our classroom

Students are officially in their groups and developing initial business plans

Budgeting, Branding, and Problem Solving have become the focus

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Science w/ Mrs. McKay – Students continued their lab on osmosis using different solutions with their egg. They also made crystals from a borax solution that will be ready by next week.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• No Update

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• In order to test their knowledge, students were given the challenge to present a WV history, person, place, or event as if they were explaining it to a 1st grader
• I am impressed with the first drafts, as they included great detail and relatable language

SEL w/ Mr. Jividen –

• 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.
• Speech and Debate – No Update

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• We continued our reading and discussion of Lord of the Flies.
• We reviewed annotated bibliographies from previous classes and went over some ways to conduct research through the internet.
• We started our first draft of the annotated bibliography. 

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.

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

Youth Show of Hands is up and running! Students have been tasked with designing an idea or project that would have a positive impact on our community. Students watched some episodes of Shark Tank to understand how an idea is pitched for funding, then a few brave souls pitched some preliminary ideas. Some of the ideas are ones that we would personally endorse! We have begun to assign students to interest groups such as music, art, food, community improvement, sports and animals.–

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

• In science this week, students model the expanding universe with a balloon and galaxy stickers. We also began a lab on osmosis and learned the difference between osmosis and diffusion.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we focused on the details of our radio drama! We spent time going through each scene and coordinating sounds with lines. I’m so proud of their work ethic! We are in the home stretch and I am so excited to share what we’ve been learning so far this year! 

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

Completed quiz this week

Matewan, John Brown’s raid, and geography

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/ Mr. Jividen –

• 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

• 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)
  

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- none.
• We continued our reading and discussion of Lord of the Flies.
• We reviewed annotated bibliographies from previous classes and went over some ways to conduct research through the internet.
• We started our first draft of the annotated bibliography. 

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.

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

–

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

• In science this week, students model the expanding universe with a balloon and galaxy stickers. We also began a lab on osmosis and learned the difference between osmosis and diffusion.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we focused on the details of our radio drama! We spent time going through each scene and coordinating sounds with lines. I’m so proud of their work ethic! We are in the home stretch and I am so excited to share what we’ve been learning so far this year! 

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

quiz Wednesday

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/ Mr. Jividen –

• 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

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 Lord of the Flies.
• Students workshopped research papers from previous classes, and details will be coming, but in trimester 2, the bulk of our work will be the research papers.

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!

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

Exhibition Monday

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• Famous West Virginians Presentation
• First Trimester Review

SEL w/ Mr. Jividen –

• Understand the value of breathing
• Learn multiple breath techniques
• Understand the connection between breath and feelings

Elective –

• Creation Lab w/ Mrs. Boldrick & Mrs. Ochap – 

• 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 

• November 11– Veterans Day and No School for Students
• November 25 – Alumni Kickball, Thanksgiving Lunch, and Early Dismissal at 12:30 (No Aftercare)
• Wednesday – Friday, November 26th-28th  – No School 

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

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Good morning, Please note that there has been a change to the 7th and 8th Grade Deep Dive. It will now occur on November 17th at our Wheeling Park Campus!

8th Grade 

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes-  
• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes-.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

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

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – Density test onTuesday, 11/4

This week students completed their pumpkin drop design for the schoolwide competition. On Thursday, students were introduced to a challenge to make a short video together on the importance of wetlands. We discussed topics such as biodiversity, and ecological and economical benefits of wetlands.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we continued to go through our radio drama script and figure out what sound effects we can bring in to create the world we are in for our listeners!!

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

•  Eighth grade students deep dove into the coal industry
• Company towns
• The Labor Movement
• Matewan Massacre

SEL w/ Mr. Jividen –

• Great Lesson on I Statements and Feelings and Emotions

Elective –

• Broadcasting w/ Mr. Alex – Field Trip 11/7

Middle School Important Dates

Oct. 28th – Pumpkin Drop @ Middle School (We will send out a link so you can watch on Facebook Live)

Oct. 31st – Halloween Parade @ Main Campus (Pick up and Drop off at Main) 11:30 am Dismissal 

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 

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

8th Grade 

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes-  none.
• We wrapped up I Must Betray You. The students loved the book!
• We kickstarted our final project, an essay, for the book. They’re choosing one of two themes. A character study or choosing a theme.
• We also started our entries for the MLK Essay Contest themed around forgiveness.

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- Density quiz 10/30

• This week students solved density  problems from an  unknown  mass volume, or density. They also completed a lab to find the highest to lowest density of various salt solutions.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we finished our scene writing and we had guest Pete Fernbaugh from the Cloak & Dagger Theatre Company come Friday! He is bringing his radio drama expertise to help us create sound effects and take our presentation to the next level!!

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• Mid Trimester review of WV geography, settlements, and industry

Oct. 24th – Glow Fest Fall Party (7pm – 9pm @ Middle School)
Oct. 28th – Pumpkin Drop @ Middle School
Nov. 10th – 6th Grade Face Your Face Exhibition 5:30 pm @ Ohio County Library
Nov. 13th – 7th/8th Grade Around the World Exhibiton 5:30 pm @ Middle School

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

English w/ Mr. Rouse –  

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- nothing.
• We’ve reached the climax of I Must Betray You. Students are having a particularly hard time not reading ahead, as this is the point where the plot really starts to pull together. Students will need their copy of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, soon.
• We continued our work on research topics, and this week, our topic was which pet is more suitable and why? (Cats and Dogs)

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.

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

Science w/ Mrs. McKay – 

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• We continued our scene writing for our Radio Drama retelling of “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. We will be having a guest next Friday, and a couple Fridays in November,  from the Cloak and Dagger Radio Drama Company to help us continue writing and creating!! 
• Please check your email about an upcoming Field Trip to see a Radio Drama Production at the Cloak and Dagger Theatre on Saturday November 15th at 4pm.
• 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 – 

• 8th Graders explored the natural resources that kickstarted West Virginia’s industry
• Thank you to Trennan for making me dig deeper on how WV ended up as the salt capital of the United States

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

Hi all and Happy Saturday! We had a great week at middle school capped off by Special Persons Day. While we have many exciting days at WCDS, this one is probably my favorite. It was great to visit with grandparents and other special visitors!

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Vocab Test – Wednesday (10/15)
• Continued our reading and discussion of I Must Betray You.
• We missed some days this week, so not much else happened outside of our usual vocab and research topics. This week, our topic was early or late start times for school.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- Wednesday, October 15, Integral Exponents Test
• Students learned three more exponent rules. They practiced Power to a Power, Products to a power, and Quotients to a power.
• The students are realizing that showing their work is necessary to move through each problem. 
• The math expressions they are working on may take up to five steps to simplify. Writing each step is necessary to avoid confusion.
• On Monday and Tuesday, we will review and continue to practice for the math test on Wednesday.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• Students continued working on our Radio Drama Scenes!! It’s going really well and I’m so proud of what they have come up with so far!!
• Our music journal entry this week was “What is your favorite song right now, and why? Is there a specific lyric that stands out to you, and why?”

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• Student learned about the four regions of West Virginia
• We discussed economics, geography, and population centers of each region

• https://here.wcdsedu.com/events/

Good morning. I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures today. My dearest iPhone 11 that has been by my side since 2019 has moved on. On a positive note, I have a new phone payment to fill that void until something like 2052…

English w/ Mr. Rouse – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes-  Vocab Test
• Students continued their reading and discussion of I Must Betray You.
• Research topic #2 was on dress codes.
• Wrapped up the week with a writing activity where they wrote the prompts and passed them around.

Math w/ Mrs. Boldrick –

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes- None scheduled.
• Students took a test this week, which covered using rational numbers in all operations. Tests have been recorded and returned.
• Interim grades are current and in Google Classroom.
• Next week, we’ll work on order of operations using rational numbers.

Music w/Mrs. Chelsey – 

• Upcoming Tests/Quizzes – 
• This week we decided on a retelling of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” for our holiday radio drama. Students broke into small groups to begin working on scene writing!
• Our journal entry was a response to the avante garde piano pieces “Sonata V by John Cage” and “The Banshee by Henry Cowell”. Take a listen!!

Social Studies w/Mr. Jividen – 

• Golden Horseshoe Prep
• Field Trip to WV Penitentiary Wednesday October 2nd
• Will leave from school for an 11 o’clock tour and will return for lunch

SEL w/ Mr. Jividen –

This week, students are learning about coping skills. Coping skills are the tools we use to handle our difficult emotions. Coping skills can be used anytime we feel the need to ‘cool down.’ Ask your students what coping skills they are learning and practice using some at home together.