9:30pm. The doors will be

open for students from 7:00-

7:30. At 7:30 the doors will

close and students will not be

allowed in. If a student has

entered the dance and chooses

to leave they will not be re-

admitted to the dance. The

dance is open for Adams Mid-

dle school students in 6th

through 8th grade only. Cost for

admission to the dance is $3 per

student. There will be a con-

cession stand that will be sell-

ing snacks and refreshments.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent teacher conferences are

coming up on March 8 and 9.

Please plan to attend. While

phone calls and notes home are

helpful, the very best way to

stay in touch with what’s hap-

pening academically with your

child is to meet with the teach-

ers face to face.

News from your

Principals:

Winter and Spring Assess-

ments at Adams

As we continue our student test-

ing schedule at Adams Middle

School we will be working at

finishing up our MAP testing

(Measures of Academic Pro-

gress) for the 6th grade during

the first week of February. We

will test the 7th and 8th grade in

the area of Math on February 7th

and 8th. MAP testing will finish

up at Adams with the 7th and 8th

grade taking the Language Us-

age test on February 21st and

22nd.

We will also be administering

the National Assessment of

Educational Progress (NAEP)

test to a group of 8th grade stu-

dents that were selected ran-

domly. This test helps assess

our student’s abilities in the core

subject areas. This test is ad-

ministered nationwide to se-

lected schools. The results are

used for the Nation’s Report

Card. This test will be given on

February 17th. Parents of stu-

dents chosen to participate were

notified by mail.

State Testing in Reading and

Math will be coming in March

and April for All Middle School

Students. The NeSA (Nebraska

State Accountability) testing is

what is reported annually to the

state to determine our adequate

yearly progress (AYP) toward

standards. NeSA-reading will be

administered to all students the

last week in March. NeSA-Math

will be administered to all stu-

dents the first week of April.

Our students will also participate

in a state science pilot test some-

time this spring. These results

will be used to field test items

for the actual state science test-

ing beginning in the spring of

2012.

Health Screening

Health screenings will be con-

ducted for our 6th grade students

on February 7th and 8th in the

Adams Middle School building.

The screening for the 7th grade

will take place on February 17th

and 18th. Our 8th grade students

will have their health screening

on February 28th and March 1st.

Health screenings are conducted

by our school nurses and offered

to families free of charge by our

district.

Valentine’s Dance

The Adams Middle School stu-

dent council is hosting a Valen-

tine’s dance in the gym on Fri-

day, February 11th. The dance

will begin at 7:00pm and ends at

From the Principal’s Desk:

M R . J E F F S T E I N B E C K ,

P R I N C I P A L

M R S . M A R Y D E R B Y ,

A S S O C I A T E P R I N C I P A L F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 1

Calendar of Events:

Feb ruary 23 - An t i-

b u llying assem b ly

March 8 & 9 - Paren t

t eacher con f er -

ences

Adams Middle School

V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 4

P A G E 2

Other Office News

The office will soon be using the School Notification System when your child has a negative lunch account balance, in addition to other important announcements. If you have changed phone numbers, please be sure to call the office with your correct number. If your child is an 8th grader, beginning March 14, please be aware we will be preparing them for the high school rule that they will not be able to go into a negative balance in the cafeteria. All other students, will not be able to charge after April 29th, in preparation for the end of the school year.

Parent Volunteers

Recently we have had some parents inquire about volunteering at Adams Middle

School. If parents are interested in volunteering in the school they should contact

either Mr. Steinbeck or Mrs. Derby at 535-7112. We can talk about what aspect

of volunteering would fit best for interested parents and their schedule.

Health Requirements for 7th Grade:

All students entering 7th grade for the 2011-2012 school year must have a 7th grade

physical and updated immunizations.

A new law, effective in July 2010 requires that all 7th graders have 1 dose of Tdap

vaccine which must contain pertussis booster. The law requites that this shot be given

after age 10 or 11 depending on which brand of vaccine is given. A new law effective

July 2011 requires that all students must have two Varicella/Chicken Pox vaccinations.

The physical form and updated immunization record must be turned into the school

office before the first day of school or your student will not be allowed to attend until

we have the needed information.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Student Health Services

A D A M S M I D D L E S C H O O L

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 4

.

NEWS

P A G E 4

Media Center

It was busy in the Adams School Library in January. Many sixth

graders came in daily(sometimes three times a day) to check out poetry

books. Seventh grade students checked out a lot of non-fiction books about

the Revolutionary War period. Eighth graders continued reading a variety

of books. They requested some new titles, which they had heard about and

wanted to read.

Several classes came in to check out new books and to sit and read in the

library. Mrs. Brouillette’s plus class came in a few times to read and discuss

a book.

We have added several new titles. Some popular books are the Hunger

Games series by Suzanne Collins, Gone series by Michael Grant, Evermore

series by Alyson Noel and Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo.

Eighty-five students are participating in the promotion of the Golden

Sower nominees “Star Chart.” Two students have already received their

free book for reading and giving a short booktalk on ten of the nominees.

The Reading Classic teams are working hard to prepare for the State

Reading Classic Contest in April. Our Division III team came in as state

runner-up last spring. We would like to improve on that this year. Many of

the Division III members this year are returning veterans.

Winners of the January library contest were: Michael Adams, Iliana

Avalos, Corbin Baumfalk, Treyvn Bokoskie, Jordyn Childears, Zach Lee,

David Mata, Danny Munoz, and Angela Twidwell.

A D A M S M I D D L E S C H O O L

Counselors Corner

The guidance office will be conducting "How to Deal” Workshops this semester. These workshops are designed to help middle school students cope with some of the issues that they are faced with. They will be led by the Adams Middle School guidance counselors and attendance is optional. Each “How to Deal” Workshop will meet once a week during Supervised Study for 3 weeks. Students can register for workshop(s) in the guidance office. Contact Mrs. Fessler or Mrs. Pettera for more information.

How to Deal with Anger 6th grade—Jan. 18, 25, and Feb. 1 7th grade—Jan. 20, 27, and Feb. 3 8th grade—Jan. 21, 28, and Feb. 4 How to Deal with Stress 6th grade—Feb. 8, 15, and 22 7th grade—Feb. 10, 17, and 24 8th grade—Feb. 11, 18, and 25 How to Deal with School 6th grade—Mar. 1, 8, and 22 7th grade—Mar. 3, 17, and 24 8th grade—Mar. 4, 18, and 25 How to Deal with Grief 6th grade—Mar. 29, Apr. 5, and 12 7th grade—Mar. 31, Apr. 7, and 14 8th grade—Apr. 1, 8, and 15

6th Grade News

P A G E 6 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 4

6 Blue Literacy

The students

in 6 Blue

Literacy have

been busy

reading and

presenting poetry. Some of

the presentations have been

outstanding. Students are as-

sessed on fluency, volume,

eye contact with the audi-

ence, and visual aids that

add to their presentation.

Parents will be able to see

some examples during PTC in

March. Students should now be

checking out different genres

like :* Myths *Mystery

*Science Fiction *Folktale

*Fairy Tales, and * Fables.

They will read four books and

complete a book review when

finished for accountability

and a grade.

We continue to practice DOL

(Daily Oral Language) with

sentence editing, correct

punctuation, pronouns, and

parts of speech. The students

have weekly root words to

study for Vocabulary tests on

Thursdays or Fridays. Cur-

rently we are reading a "

Mystery" novel titled,

"Closed For The Season", by

Mary Downing Hahn. Through

this book the students are

using the seven thinking

strategies to help understand

text like, building back-

ground knowledge, making in-

ferences, determining impor-

tance to name a few.

All students should be read-

ing at home for 40 minutes

from their chosen book and

then reflecting on what they

read to help their comprehen-

sion.

Mrs. Elmshaeuser

Science

In 6th grade science we just

finished studying lunar phases

and sunspots. The students

now should know what a waxing

and wanning phase looks like

when they view the moon.

The planets are next in our

study. The planet projects

will provide the students re-

search skills and an opportu-

nity to create using their in-

formation gathered about plan-

ets. They will be using the

netbooks to research and also

be presenting their informa-

tion to the class.

Mrs. Gertsch

Mrs. Florke

Social Studies

Happy Belated Chinese New Year

on February 3 this year. It is

the year of the Rabbit. Stu-

dents in 6th grade Social

Studies will be learning about

ancient Chinese culture during

the month of February. Stu-

dents will learn about the

different dynasties and the

different ways these rulers

held power and influenced

their people. The sixth grad-

ers will learn about how

China’s geography effected the

development of the civiliza-

tion and why they built the

Great Wall of China. Did you

know that the Chinese were

great inventors? We owe them

due for many tools we still

use today. The students will

investigate an ancient inven-

tion and then present an

“infomercial” on their

product.

Mrs. States and Mrs. Isom

Math

Sixth grade math students

are continuing to work on

fractions. Students should

be able to show you how to

find the Greatest Common

Factor and Least Common

Multiple. Students have

also been comparing and or-

dering fractions. Next the

students will also learn

how to add, subtract, mul-

tiply and divide simple

fractions and mixed num-

bers.

Mrs. Nelms and Mrs. Boyd

P A G E 7

7 Blue

Math 7 Blue Math had its

second Parent Math

Night of the year.

There were 26 in at-

tendance. Topic of

the evening was

"Understanding the

Tests and How to Pre-

pare for them." We

discussed the differ-

ence between MAPS and

NeSA and how the ex-

pectations and scores

will be different.

Students worked with

their parent from the

Mathlady Blog and

showed them how to

access some practice

tests online for

MAPS.

We are currently en-

joying 2 step equa-

tions and inequali-

ties! The class

started with the ma-

nipulative Hands-On-

Equations and have

now moved on to the

abstract method for

solving. We finished

our unit on integers

and now

it is included in

every homework until

the end of the year.

Feb 7th we started

MAPS testing and hope

to finish all students

by the end of the

week.

Science Students are recogniz-

ing several traits

they have inherited

from their parents!

We will continue the

genetics unit for an-

other couple of weeks.

The end of January

students will have an

opportunity to explore

a variety of concepts

pertaining to chemis-

try. Here come the

goggles!! We will

continue with the word

of the week and cur-

rent science events.

7 Gold Math 7 Gold math finished up

MAP testing in Febru-

ary. We are continuing

with our exploration of

algebra. Solving two-

step equalities and in-

equalaties has been our

focus for the last few

weeks. During our

study of algebra we are

also using the four

phases of a function

and determining how

each phase is useful.

The end of the quarter

should be the time we

are ready to wrap-up

our unit of algebra.

A D A M S M I D D L E S C H O O L

7th Grade News

8th Grade News

P A G E 8 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 4

Science 8th grade science is learning

about catastrophic events and

how they not only destroy, but

also create features of the

earth.

8-

Blue Literacy

8th grade literacy stu-

dents are currently comparing

historical fiction to historical

fact by reading two pieces of

literature. Out of the Dust by

Karen Hesse is a Newbery Medal-

winning book written in blank

verse. Billie Jo Kelby, the main

character in this fictional

book, tells the story of her

family's struggle for survival

during the dirty thirties. Chil-

dren of the Dust Bowl by Jerry

Stanley is a true story of the

school at Weedpatch Camp that

sprung up as a result of the

migration of folks down on their

luck moving from the dust bowl

states into California looking

for work. Participation in ac-

tivities and projects will help

students answer these essential

questions:

* What is the difference between

the purpose, structure, and ele-

ments of historical fact and

fiction, and

why is that difference

important?

* How do literary devices such

as symbolism encourage critical

thinking?

* How are analogies (word

equations) used in historical

factual and fictional pieces?

* How dies an understanding of

the historical period enhance

the reading of these two se-

lected pieces?

* What connections can you

make between life during the

1930's and your life today?

* What inferences can you make

about natural disasters, envi-

ronmental impact, and social

responsibility?

* What connections can you

make with how the people coped

during the dirty thirties to

how we cope

today when times get

difficult?

* What new ideas can you glean

from this topic that might

push your thinking in new di-

rections?

* How important is it for your

progress to understand your

own thinking as a process?

* What insights can you pro-

vide about the Dust Bowl from

your interpretation of the as-

signed readings?

Why is it important to

study topics like this?

Mrs. Evans

8 Grade Gold Literacy

This month we will be reading

the book, Out of the Dust.

Going along with the time pe-

riod of the book, students

will learn about the Dust

Bowl, and do activities/

projects that go with it.

Also a reminder that all gold

students are expected to have

20 books read by the end of

the year. Of these 20 books,

they must cover 10 different

genres from a list the

teacher has provided. For

more information on genres,

go to msklimek.wordpress.com.

Ms. Klimek

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri S

31

Practice

1

Games

2

No

Practice

3

Games

4

Practice

5

6 7

Practice

8

Games

9

No

Practice

10

Games

11

Practice

1

2

13 14

Practice

15

Jamboree

Begins @

3:30 pm

At Adams

16

17

18 1

9

20 21 22 23 24 25 2

6

27 28

7th & 8th Grade Boys Basketball

FEBRUARY 2011

Practice Time & Games 3:20 to 4:30 pm Times are approximate Recreational League Coaches: Adams - Mrs. Songster, Mr. Johnson; Madison - Mr. Byrn

Skills League Coaches: Adams - Mr. Hiatt, Mr. Werkmeister, Mr. Reed, Mr. Allberry, Mr.

Sterup,

Mr. Nicholson; Madison - Mr. Johnson, Mr. Whitney