November 26 - Celebration of Voice Assembly
November 27 - No School
November 28 - Happy Thanksgiving!
November 29 - No School
December 2 - Site Council Mtg (3:15 p.m. in Blake LMC)
December 4 - 7th Grade Parent Coffee (see reminder below)
Lip Sync Meeting
December 2-6 - Scholastic Book Fair at Blake
Musical Auditions (see details below)
December 2 - Blake Bands Concert - 7 p.m.
December 3 - 7th/8th Chorus and 6th-8th Orchestra Concert - 7 p.m.
December 6 - 7th/8th Grade Dance (7-9 p.m.)
December 10 - Royal Pizza Night for Blake
December 11 - Spaghetti with Santa
Ski Club Rental Fitting
December 13 - Higgins Armory Presentation - Grade 8
December 17 - Subway Night for Blake
December 18-19 - Christmas in the City Field Trips for 8th Grade
December 23-31 - No School
January 1 - Happy New Year! (No School)
Topic/Question(s) for the Dinner Table
To help encourage conversations about gratitude, our Topic/Question for the Dinner Table this week is: As a parent - or a teacher - if you used this approach: If someone were to try, and fail, as opposed to not trying at all, would you be grateful that they tried?
26 Days/Acts of Kindness
We have had a great first week of our 26 Days of Kindness. The students and staff are enjoying the small, easy gestures that honor Sandy Hook victims as well as build a stronger school culture. As we head into the Thanksgiving break, please continue to send Tracy Allen any pictures, videos, or feedback on your student's participation in the daily activities. She will be putting a visual representation of all the wonderful things we're doing. Her email is [email protected].
iPad Initiative Highlights Info Session
It was great to have a nice cohort of parents attend our first set of iPad Highlights sessions. Our intention is to have more nights throughout the year. For those who missed the presentation, the 'Google Presentation' can be found at iPad Highlights November 2013 Presentation. I also encourage you to visit our Mobile Learning in Medfield blog to gain a greater understanding of the work that is taking place.
8th Grade Parents/Guardians - Save the Date!
February 27, 2014 @ 6:30pm
High School Auditorium
Please join members of the high school faculty as they present an overview of the Medfield High School academic curriculum. Additional information will be sent home as the date becomes closer. If you have any questions prior to the event, please contact Katie Nunes, Dean of Academics at [email protected] or Heather Mandosa, Guidance Content Specialist at [email protected] or call the high school at 508 359-4367.
Scholastic Book Fair
The whole school is excited about our upcoming Book Fair beginning on December 2nd and ending on December 6th. An amazing selection of books is headed our way! At the Book Fair you will find the latest and finest titles for kids, as well as books of interest to parents and teachers. The Book Fair is a great way to get everyone excited about reading. You can also help support our school by shopping online at Blake Middle School Scholastic Book Fair from November 27th to December 9th. Thanks for your support!
7th Grade Parent Coffee
Reminder that our 7th Grade Parent Coffee, which was postponed from November 20th, will take place Wednesday, December 4th at 9:30am. There's still time to get your questions in. Please RSVP via our Google Form link (7th Grade Parent Coffee) to let us know if you are planning on attending the session so that we can make sure we are prepared. Please fill out the form for each parent/guardian attending the presentation. You may register questions in advance via the link or walk in with your list.
Curriculum Highlights - English and Music
This week's curriculum updates come from the English (Gail Duffy, Content Specialist) and Music (Doug Olsen, Content Specialist) departments...
English
Grade 6:
Students in Grade 6 English are hard at work practicing open response essay writing. Using their ET graphic organizer to help them create essays that clearly answer the question and provide specific evidence, students are making remarkable progress in this important skill.
Grade 7:
Students recently completed their first five-paragraph essay of the year on an influential person. While each cluster is at a slightly different place in rolling out Google docs as a useful tool for this assignment, feedback from both students and the seventh grade English teachers has been positive. This tool is extremely helpful in allowing students to better understand the editing process and truly reflect on their strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
The seventh grade is now moving into reading A Christmas Carol. Work on the novella will begin after Thanksgiving break, and one of the culminating experiences of the novel will be a trip to the North Shore Music Theatre to see a performance of the story.
Grade 8:
Using the analytical study of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, Grade 8 students have been practicing open response essays. After an in-class practice essay, students participated in a teacher-led editing exercise designed to increase clairity and specific detail in each student's work. In addition to working on open response essay skills, students have also been hard at work on a geometric poster project where, working in character committees, they created symbols representing one character from The Crucible and how that character's role in the drama connects symbolically with others.
Music
The 6th, 7th and 8th grade Orchestras have been busy preparing for our first concert of the year. We will be playing pieces from a variety of genres and styles - spanish, hoe down and traditional just to name a few! The concert is on December 3rd starting at 7:00 p.m. at the high school. We look forward to performing for you!
7th and 8th Grade Chorus are both eagerly preparing for our Winter Concert in conjunction with the 7th and 8th Grade Orchestra on Tuesday, Dec 3rd. The evening will feature several soloists and students are looking forward to this evening. The 6th Grade Chorus is also preparing for a concert on January 14th in conjunction with the Dale Street Choruses. All three grades 4-6 will present a combined piece at this concert. General Music is going strong as well at Blake, and students have been learning about the history of Jazz Music. We hope to see you at our concerts in the near future!
Blake Theater Information
In case your student has not filled out the theater interest google form and are interested in tech crew, stage crew or audtioning, the deadline has been extended to December 1. Auditions beging on Monday, December 2. The rehearsals will start January 6th at 2:15pm. During the month of January, we will have two days of rehearsals for each show and one day of stage crew each week. In February and March, we will be doing more daily rehearsals for both shows. It is a $60 activity fee for each student. The performances will be April 11-13. Kids will get a confirmation letter for you to sign that will include all of this information and the expectations we have of participants once the plays are cast. Blake Theater Auditions/Crew Form
Lip Sync Information
The 15th annual lip sync is now full. At this time, all songs have been approved unless Mrs. Dondero has requested the group change the song. Songs are due on a CD by 12/11. We will have a mandatory meeting on 12/4. All group members must attend.
Private School Applications
Anyone applying to private school should notify the student's guidance counselor. Information about the process is on the guidance page. All application materials should be to the guidance office by December 6, 2013.
Music at Blake - Guess the Blake Pandora Jockey!
Last week's Blake PJ/DJ was Brandee Franciosi, and we did not have a student winner! Our new PJ/DJ will begin next Monday. We encourage all students to participate by voting at our Blake Pandora Jockey Link, and all entries must be registered by Thursday evening at 8 p.m. An 'electronic selector' will highlight a winner each week, and the winning student will be the Blake PJ for the following Monday. Each student may register only one vote. Encourage your students to participate!
Winter Athletics
Blake Middle School winter athletic registration is open to all 8th graders interested in participating in basketball for both boys and girls. Blake 8th grade basketball will begin on December 2nd. Please visit the athletics page on the Blake Middle School web site or click the following link to register:
https://www.familyid.com/medfield-public-schools
Please contact Eric Scott ([email protected]) with any questions.
CSA News
Fall Fundraiser Wrap-Up and Raffle Winners
Thank you to all who participated in this year's Fall Fundraiser with Innisbrook - it was a great success and Blake is extremely appreciative and thankful for all your support. Students who sold 6 or more items had their names entered into a raffle to win gift cards ... the following students are our raffle winners - CONGRATULATIONS! The prizes will be distributed to you this week at school: William Sievewright, Katelyn Pelkey, Catherine Lynch, Justin Fugelstad, Catherine Caputo, Jack Bodozian, Morgan Hall, Megan Hawley, JT Woolley, Christopher Gauch, Benjamin Alford, Brigitte Cronin, Colin Wirsig, Kaitlin Taylor, Drew Conde, Benjamin Rothstein
Great news - the communication boards funded by the Blake CSA are up and running!! The two boards are located at the entrance outside of the library and the cafeteria, that showcase life at Blake Middle School. Profits from the SCRIP program funded the project. Please continue to purchase SCRIP so that we can continue funding of these essential projects for the school!!!
Your trash, Blake's cash! Clip and send in your box tops. Collection box in the office.
MCPE News
Please consider making MCPE part of your family’s annual charity gift giving.
The Medfield Coalition is so grateful to its supporters for their past contributions. As a non-profit fundraising organization, we work hard to raise funds to support enriching programs for our Medfield schools and for our children. As we approach the end of 2013, we ask that you consider making MCPE part of your family's annual charity gift giving. Please visit http://www.medfieldcoalition.org/support-contribute/donate-now/ to make your year-end tax-deductible donation and to learn more about our events and the recent grants we've awarded. Thank you for making the success of our schools a community effort.
MCPE Community Trivia Night a Sold-Out Success
Thank you to all who helped to make Trivia Night a fun and successful event. An eclectic group came out Friday night; all sharing one love -- trivia. This was the MCPE’s first fund-raiser of the school year, and we raised $5700 toward our goal of $80,000. Congratulations to the Blake trivia team of Kelly Campbell, Cori Jacomme, Kelly Dengos and Nat Vaughn for a job well done!