Winter 2011-2012

Empty Bowls Night

On 3/1/2012, SLMS hosted its first  Empty Bowls night.  Guests enjoyed a meal of homemade soup, bread and a beverage and selected a unique, one of a kind student handmade bowl.  The 7th and 8th grade Art classes created beautiful handmade pottery and the Family Consumer Science classes added their culinary marks by creating tasty homemade soups! A check for $1,245 was donated to Betty Lou’s Food Bank from the soup/bowl sales (see picture below).

Click HERE to check out the Morning Call Article.
 

Middle Student Academic Showcase

Click HERE for the Article from the Upper Saucon Patch
Watch the slideshow below (it may take a while to load)

 

DC and Marvel Comic Artist Bob McLeod Visits SLMS Art Room

Bob McLeod, a comic artist who specializes in drawing Spiderman, Superman and the new Teenage Mutant Turtles arrived eagerly during our 2^nd and 3^rd period 7^th grade classes to discuss what a career in Comic Art entails. He shared hand drawn comics from the countless number of pages he created throughout his career with DC and Marvel comics. Mr. McLeod also gave tips to our students while drawing Spiderman using a Wacum Bamboo tablet. Our students were presently drawing their own comic hero using Adobe PhotoShop and the Bamboo tablets. Several of our students were selected to show Mr. McLeod their work and ask for his expert advice. His advice to us, “Draw everyday.”

MS Odyssey of the Mind Teams Wins 3rd Place In the Southeast Region

Six Southern Lehigh Odyssey of the Mind teams competed in the Southeast Regional Odyssey of the Mind Tournament held at Southern Lehigh High School on Saturday, March 17th. All six teams did an excellent job and gave a performance to be proud of. One Southern Lehigh team from the Joseph P. Liberati Intermediate School placed first in their problem and will now move on to the state competition. Three Southern Lehigh teams placed 3rd in their problem including your very own Middle School team. The Middle School competed in Problem 5: Odyssey Angels. The team created and presented a performance where a group of students "traveled" and encountered negative situations. The “Odyssey Angels” turned the negative situation positive. One angel was not allowed to speak and another angel had special powers.

The Middle School Team also had the top score on the Spontaneous problem in their division. Congratulation MS Team!

Click HERE to read more in the Patch.

Shot Into Frost

Lauren's photograph, "Shot Into Frost"  has earned national recognition in the Scholastic Art Awards of 2012. This year 200,000 works of art were submitted after receiving Gold Key awards at the Regional level.  Only the top 1,500 were recognized at the National level.  Lauren and her parents are invited to Carnegie Hall, NYC and Parsons The New School for Design on June 1st to participate in the showcase events! Congratulations Lauren on this most prestigious award!

  

Podcasting in Music Class

What do Pearl Jam, Johnny Cash, Skillet, Lady Antebellum, Bob Marley, and Adele have in common?

These were just a few of the recording artists who were recently featured in the Favorite Podcast projects in Mrs. Lebrecht’s 8^th Grade General Music Classes. In the course of this project, students were given the opportunity to choose a favorite recording artist and song to share with their peers through a podcast. There is great enthusiasm for this assignment because students are invited to share their own music. To prepare for this project, students researched the life and work of their chosen artists and wrote a script that they later recorded. Students used GarageBand to record their narration and extract three different song clips. With the help of volume automation, students then blended their recorded narration with the song clips to create a smooth, informative, and entertaining podcast.  When sharing about favorite songs and artists, these 8^th Graders were using 21^st Century skills to communicate and make a connection with others through technology.  Students were excited for the opportunity to share their preferred music examples, and the available technology enabled and enhanced their ability to do so.

Pi Day

Four friends split a 14-inch pizza evenly. How many square inches of pizza does each friend get? That is just one of the questions that Mrs. Mays’s math classes had to answer on Pi Day. Pi Day is a “holiday” celebrated in math classes around the country. Pi (3.14…….) Day is celebrated, appropriately on 3/14. Pi (p ) is used to calculate areas and circumferences of circles and volumes of spheres.

This year, Pi Day coincided with the PSSA testing, so Mrs. Mays’s classes took the day to practice their math skills using round food as the examples. Other questions on the worksheet were about donuts, cookies, cans of food, and of course, pies. So that the students did not get hungry reading about all sorts of food, the students brought in food to eat. There were some rules to the food: it had to be shared and had to be round (or roundish). Foods sampled that day included fresh pizzas delivered by a very generous father, a Pi Cake baked by a pastry chef, ice cream cakes, homemade cookies, large pizza-sized cookies, and a cherry pie. When the day was done, everyone had a good time eating and we learned how Pi applies to the food we eat.

Valentine’s Art

The Middle School students explored their artistic sides when a door-decorating contest was held in honor of Valentine’s Day. Take a look at photos of the winning homerooms!

7th grade winner is Mrs. Sterner, second place Ms. Grube, third place is Ms. Walker.

8th grade winner is Mr. Williams, second place is Mrs. Gruver, and third place is Mrs. Gonzalez.

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Chinese New Year was observed in the Middle School with the help of the Art (Mrs. Yocum ) and Family Consumer Science Departments (Mrs. Snell). Students in their art class used traditional Chinese designs to develop placemats that later served as decorative hangings. In addition students were invited to use their imaginations when drawing, and decorating paper dragons that were hung in the landscape planters of the main lobby of the school. In Family Consumer Science classes, students were given a lesson in the proper use of chopsticks and in preparing a traditional dish of fried rice, followed by a dessert of a tangerine. Click HERE to view a slideshow of the days events. The tangerine is a gift given in honor of the New Year with best wishes for good fortune! The lessons were intended to expose students to the culture of a far-off land and to provide them with a healthful and inexpensive recipe that can always help to stretch a budget! The students clamoring for more was a good indication of the success of the plan!

Try the recipe for yourself!

Egg Fried Rice    

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 scallions, sliced

1 green or red pepper, cored, seeded and diced 

4-6 cups of cooked rice

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp soy sauce

In a wok or large frying pan:

1. Heat the pan over high heat until very hot. Add oil and swirl around. Add the scallions and pepper and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until softened but not colored.
2. Add the rice to the wok and stir-fry for about 5 minutes until heated through. Push rice away from center of pan pour in eggs and stir until scrambled and set
3. Once eggs are scrambled, toss all of the ingredients together, add soy sauce, and serve at once.

Organization – A Common Middle School Issue

By Anne Cooper, Guidance Counselor 

 Middle School is a time of change and a large group of our students struggle with how to get organized in this setting. Here are some tips on how parents can help with their child’s on-going battle with organization.

• Make sure your child is using his/her agenda to write down homework and due dates of long-term assignments. Get in the habit of looking over the agenda with them nightly if needed.
• Use a large desk calendar to write down long-term assignments and upcoming tests.
• Set aside time once a week, or nightly if needed to have your child organize their notebooks and book bag.
• If your child struggles with putting papers in the wrong place, try using an accordion folder, that way everything is still in a central location and can be sorted out at home. Color-coded folders work well for some students also.
• Have your child get their homework put away and backpack ready the night before, so you can avoid the rush in the morning and mistake of leaving work at home.
• If your child does not have or understand an assignment, have them check teacher webpages and/or know a phone number of a reliable friend they can call to ask questions.

Greenhouse

Black Forest 8^th graders built mini ecosystems (terrariums) in our greenhouse. The Science department appreciates the use of this great structure; and appreciates the generosity of the School Board in restoring this terrific advantage for our students.

Spelling Bee

Classroom spelling bees were held during Language Arts classes on 12/15. Winners from each Language Arts class advanced to the school spelling bee. The school bee was held on the evening of 1/24/12 in the Middle School auditorium. 

After a close competition 8th grader Naomi L. came away a winner of the school spelling bee and will be moving on to regional finals at Northampton Community College on March 22, 2012.

National Day of Writing and Scholastic

The Language Arts Department held a Haiku poetry contest in conjunction with NCTE’s National Day of Writing and Scholastic. The students were given this question: What does your future hold? Their responses had to be written in the form of a Haiku poem.

Congratulations to Katie Y. and Joe D. who were our first place and second place winners in 8th grade.

Congratulations to Cassie L. and Nicole S. who were our first place and second place winners in 7th grade.

Honorable mentions go out to the following students:

Kevin P., Jack W., Robin S., Ashley J., Brandon L., Mitchel J., Noel L., Corinne I., Noelle A., Ireland C., Samantha B., Bridget C., Ryan P., Nathalie W., Ada S., Peter M., Jordan M., Niko K., Joey C., Taylor C., and Emine L.

Word Masters Challenge – National Level

The students in Mrs. Frasch’s 7th and 8th language arts classes are participated in the WordMasters Challenge this year.  

The WordMasters Challenge is a national competition for students in grades 3-8 which encourages growth in vocabulary and verbal reasoning.

During the year the students are given word lists three times a year. The students study the words and are then challenged to solve analogies based on relationships among the words they have learned.

The first challenge was held on November 22, and our students scored very well. The eighth grade class scored 172 out of a total of 200 points. The seventh grade class scored 167 out of 200 points. Congratulations to Naomi L., Fiona B., and Sarah M. who achieve perfect scores. The next challenge will be held in February 2012.

Word Masters Challenge UPDATE

Three students representing Southern Lehigh Middle School recently won highest honors in this year’s WordMaster’s challenge- a national language arts competition entered by approximately 220,000 students annually. Competing in the Gold Division of the challenge, seventh graders Sarah M. and Daniel Q. and eighth grader Fiona B. earned perfect scores in the year’s second meet. In the entire country only 123 seventh graders and 85 eighth graders achieved at this level. Other students at the school who also achieved outstanding results in the meet included seventh graders Sloane S., Mindy W., Alexandra B., Jason M., and Kristopher R., and eighth graders Alex S and Lauren W. The students were coached in preparation for the challenge by Mrs. Frasch.

Builders Club

The builders club moderated by Ms. Alison Bauer and Mr. Blaze Meyers sponsored two fundraisers for cancer research.

During the month of October, Builders Club continued the tradition of having a "Teacher Pinked-Out Day" in October for Breast Cancer awareness month.  Teachers were asked to dress in as much pink attire as they could for the day. Afterwards, students and teachers voted for the most "pinked-out" teacher by donating money to support Susan G Komen. The teacher who collected the most monetary votes won. Mr. Chris Strobl won the contest for the second year in a row!  $312.39 was raised for the Susan G. Komen breast cancer fund.

During November each year, “Movember” is responsible for the sprouting of mustaches on  thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. Builder’s Club sponsored this beard/mustache growing contest among male staff members. Those who could not grow facial hair could purchase fake mustaches. $312.39 was raised for Male Prostate Cancer research.

The Pennsylvania Scholastic Art Awards  

Click HERE to see a slideshow of all the winners.

This annual exhibition celebrates the creative achievement of teens in Carbon, Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties of PA. Since 1923, students who excel in the visual arts and creative writing participate in the Regional Scholastic Art Awards to earn recognition, get their work exhibited or published and to earn scholarships. 

The David E. Rodale Gallery will feature paintings from the entire group. The Rodale Family Gallery will feature work by middle school students. The Exhibition will take place at The Baum School of Art and the Allentown Art Museum January 15-February 5, 2012.

                                   Middle School Winners

 

Midterm Review Games

7^th Grade students in Mrs. MacIntyre’s class designed and created games to help them review for their upcoming midterms. Students work in groups to design or adapt existing games to help their classmates review the topics they have learned over the past semester. The types of games ranged from adaptations of board games like Monopoly, Memory, and Candy Land to on-line games like Jeopardy and Quizlet. These games are also designed to act as a fun way for the students to review and prepare for their upcoming Science midterm. Topics covered in the games include forces and motion, physics, and many of the human body systems, such as the digestive, respiratory, circulatory, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems.

Videoconferencing: What a Great Collaborative Tool!

Videoconferencing provides meaningful and exciting 21^st  Century experiences for students. It brings experts directly into the classroom and brings together students from around the globe to collaborate on contemporary issues. Students learn what a videoconference is, what it looks like, how to plan for one, and teaches the proper etiquette within an authentic context. This hands-on experience provides students with the opportunity to learn a collaborative tool they can utilize in the future. 

In DESIGN21, numerous students have had the opportunity to participate in videoconferences. 

Below are some of the videoconferences that the students have participated in since January 2011.

• Kids Are Heroes through Magpi (March 2011)
• Internet Safety Videoconference with Palisades Middle School (April 2011)
• AntiBullying Conference with Ni River Middle School in Spotsylvania, VA (April 2011)
• Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand through Magpi (May 2011)
• Magpi’s 2^nd Annual Virtual Fieldtrip Videoconference (Story of Pro Football – October 2011)
• Magpi’s 2^nd Annual Virtual Fieldtrip Videoconference (States of Matter with NASA 00 October 2011)
• Magpi’s 2^nd Annual Virtual Fieldtrip Videoconference (Wild Weather – Mount Washington Observatory – October 2011)
• Awesome Adaptations through Magpi (January 2012)
• Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand through Magpi (Coming Soon…May 2012)

It is truly amazing that we can meet with others in “real time” throughout our state, country, and even the world for collaborative opportunities without ever leaving the classroom.

Videoconference With the Opera Company of Philadelphia

On December 15, 2011, eighteen 8^th Grade Chorale members participated in a videoconference presented by Michael Bolton from the Opera Company of Philadelphia. This program was offered in partnership with The Opera Company of Philadelphia’s Sound of Learning Program. During the videoconference, Mr. Bolton explained techniques used in opera singing. Opera singers do not use microphones and must use only their bodies to maximize sound production. Students gained an understanding of the human voice, anatomy of the face and torso, plus the importance of breath and resonance in singing. In addition to Southern Lehigh, students participated in the videoconference from Troy High School in Montana, Forbes Road Junior-Senior High School in Pennsylvania, and Chisago Lakes School in Minnesota. Students were challenged to find who had the largest lung capacity in the group by blowing up balloons with only one breath inhalation and then measuring the circumference of the balloons. Mr. Bolton anticipated that those who had the largest breath capacity might also be swimmers and/or wind instrument players. Students guessed that those who had the loudest singing and speaking voices might also be those with the largest breath capacity. This was not always the case!   To demonstrate the use of good breath control and resonance, Mr. Bolton concluded his presentation by performing a bass aria from The Magic Flute for the group.