St. John the Baptist School, kenmore,ny

Teacher's Name:  Mrs. Linda E. Garrity

Grade/Subject:  Grade 6 Homeroom/Mathematics Grades 6, 7, 8, Regents Integrated Algebra and Religion Grade 6

Contact:  lgarrity@stjohnskenmore.com (email) or (716) 877-6401 (telephone)

 

February News and Highlights

"Faith.  Academic.  Service."  

As we begin the month of February, we are in the heart of our Catholic Schools Week celebration.  Catholic Schools Week is an awesome celebration of what sets our school apart from all others.  For it is the outstanding academics, coupled with our fervent faith in Christ's message to not only love our neighbors and to serve them, that makes St. John's School truly unique.  From our junior high students who perform off-site service projects of feeding those in need weekly--to our school wide support of St. Luke's of Mercy and others--that our children not only learn how to empathize, they live it.  St. John the Baptist School--investing in your child's tomorrows!  Thank you for allowing us to be part of your child's life. 

 

Crunch 'n Munch Math:  The after school Crunch 'n Munch Math program is held weekly.  The purpose of Crunch 'n Munch is to strengthen existing skills, provide remediation (if needed), and to expand upon current concepts and topics to further students' understanding and interest.  Sessions are held in Mrs. Garrity's homeroom (Rm. 216) from 2:10 pm to 2:45 pm as follows:

• Wednesdays: 6th grade
• Thursdays: 7th and 8th grades
• Fridays*: 7th and 8th grades  (*Note:  Friday availability is limited; sessions may be cancelled, but I will give students advance notice.)

I encourage parents to email me if you have any questions regarding the Crunch 'n Munch schedule; this is the most direct means to contact me.  You may also telephone the school.  Please scroll up to the top of this webpage for my contact information. 

On-Line Math Textbooks:  Students have on-line access to their math textbooks and workbooks.  Additionally, the on-line site provides interactive quizzes, engaging videos for every lesson, mathematical tools (such as calculators, fraction bars, etc.) and other resources, too.  Students received an overview of the resources at the start of the school year and I encourage them to advise me if they are having difficulty remembering how to use the site.  To access the site, type in my.hrw.com using the Internet.  Each grade (math) level has its own user id and password; students placed them on the first page of their planners. The grade (math) level codes are listed below:

• Grade 6:    user id:  course14       password:  r6n6j
  
• Grade 7:   user id: course211      password:  r8j5v
• Grade 8:   user id:  course37       password:  k2u4v
• Algebra:    user id:  algebra453   password:  y5w5h

• Daily Specials:  Sixth grade students in homeroom 216 (Mrs. Garrity) have Physical Education and Library class on Thursdays.  Tuesdays students enjoy a sustained silent reading opportunity.  Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, students will take Computer during the first trimester, Music during the second trimester, and Art in our final trimester.  This exposure to the technology, media, the arts, and physical well-being will nurture your child. 

Curriculum Information:

• Religion:  Sixth grade is very excited about celebrating Catholic Schools Week.  On Monday, January 30th, students will dress up as we commence the week by celebrating Mass and listening to the awesome sound of the Mt. St. Mary Marching Band.  Tuesday, January 31st will be a dress down in SJS colors (navy and white).  We will listen to our guest speakers from St. Luke's of Mercy Mission as they tell us the story of how it all began and welcome the students of Our Lady of Hope, St. Luke's Elementary School.  Please remember your paper towels as we prepare a school-wide 'welcoming basket' to send home with the group.  After the assembly, the two schools will enjoy donuts and juice and then we're off for a movie day!  Wednesday is all about moving and groovin'  Dress down in our class color--green--and get ready to move all day long, including our culminating event of an all-school obstacle course.  Thursday is Sabres Spirit Day so we'll dress down in Sabres colors, blue and gold.  We also will attend a Magic Show in the afternoon with the elementary kids and look forward to next year when we'll be the  7th/8th graders who go off-site to bowl!  And we'll end the week on Friday, February 3rd in our favorite dress-down outfit with a Talent Show displaying the talents of the St. John's Junior High (and faculty!!).  We will be incorporating all the tenets of our Catholic Schools Week theme--faith, academics, and service--as we put Christ's message of loving our neighbors and self into action.

• Grade 8 Advanced Math (Integrated Algebra):  We are wrapping up systems of equations and will continue to review the key skills of linear equations, throughout February.  However, we now turn to exponential expressions and polynomials for a well earned break from strictly graphing.  Students will become masters of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and simplifying them and from there, we'll be moving on to the fantastic fun of factoring them!  The next couple units truly are generally well-received by students and prepare them for working with quadratic functions.  After the February break, we will begin our after school Algebra review classes; I will be speaking to the students to choose a good "day of the week."    Please remember to purchase your child's Barron's review book if you did not purchase it through SJS.

• Grade 8 Math:  Geometry has definitely been the focus of the past weeks and we will continue into February with this critical curriculum topic.  In 8th grade, students blend their algebra skills with geometry knowledge to solve problems that require students to apply both.  As we return from Winter Break, we'll shift back towards algebra and focus on polynomials.    

• Grade 7 Advanced Math:  Please refer to grade 8 above.  Thank you.

• Grade 7 Math:  Grade 7 is immersed in rates, ratios, and percents.  We are strengthening our real-world understanding of "better buys," discounts, sales tax, and other practical applications of percents.  Students should also become fluent in mastering their ability to convert fractions, decimals, and percents back and forth between each form.  Please encourage your child to focus on the quality of their homework; students should look back at their notebooks and planners as they complete their homework to ensure it is complete and accurate.

• Grade 6 Math:  6th graders have become the fraction masters of the junior high after our intense unit in January!  And, we'll be incorporating this knowledge into our next unit which begins by converting "real-life data" into ratios and rates.  From calculating the outstanding "teacher to student" ratios offered at St. John's to determining how many "words per minute" they can key, students are seeing how practical this information is in the "real world."  From there, students will expand their knowledge of percents to include problems involving percents, such as percent of a number, discounts, sales tax, and more.  By the end of this unit, students will understand that percents are just another form of fractions and decimals, and should be able to readily express percents, decimals, and fractions in any of the three forms.