Together we can!

Dear Parents and Students,

I have really enjoyed teaching your children this year!  Sadly, I will not be returning to Schilling Farms Middle School next year.  I wish you all a wonderful summer and a great 7th grade next year!  You should be really proud of how much your students have learned this year.  They are all hard working and willing to try hard.

I would recommend to your students to keep studying the multiplication facts and addition/subtraction facts over the summer.  They need to learn these and be able to use them without trouble.  Your students should also read, read, read!  They need to keep up with these skills.  If your student is having difficulties, there are places that can help, such as Sylvan Learning Center.  

Have a great summer.  I will remember your children always!

Love,
Mrs. Chaffin 

We have come back from Spring Break ready to start the last 9 weeks of school.  I am so proud of your students and want to express my joy at their hard work and abilities!  We spent last week and will spend this week working on TCAP skills.  There will not be much homework since we are working so hard in class.  Please encourage your child to continue studying his/her multiplication facts and to read as much as possible!

In Math we are working on reviewing the Countdown to TCAP which is at the front of the book.  You can go over these as well with your child if you wish.  For Language Arts, we are going over parts of speech, prepositional phrases, and sentence structure.  We are also reading for comprehension.

If you have any questions about what we are doing in class, please feel free to contact me at m1chaffin@scsk12.org.  I will try to respond to you as quickly as possible.

In Math, we are still working on adding and subtracting fractions.  This week we are going to be working on Chapters 6-3 and Chapter 6-4.  Your student should also be practicing his 4′s Multiplication Facts.  Every day we have a timed test with a graded test on Friday.  Please help your student study these facts.  If you have any questions about what we are working on, please check your students agenda book or contact me.

In Language Arts we are going to study sequencing on Monday.  Capitals and Punctuation on Tuesday.  Wednesday through Friday we are working in the dictionary.  Your student will also have a review vocabulary list of 15 words that we have been studying.  Your student will have homework every night with the vocabulary.  Please look for these assignments in your child’s agenda.

Your child should have brought home an index card to decorate as his credit card for class.  I have been giving credit for appropriate behavior to work towards free time on Friday.  Starting this week, our credit card will be a debit card.  Your child will start each Monday with 20 credits.  Poor behavior or not following directions or not bringing back assignments with cost your child a behavior check.  Hopefully, this will be enough incentive to keep your child on track and focused on his/her work.

I appreciate everything you do to help your child succeed.  Please make sure your child has enough school supplies to bring to class.  Please help your child complete his homework on time and neatly.  Have a great week and if you have any questions about what we are doing, please e-mail me at m1chaffin@scsk12.org.

We have begun our 3rd nine weeks with a great start!  Period 2 Language Arts just finished reading Baucis and Philemon.  Period 3 Language Arts just finished the story Antaeus.  This week both Language Arts classes will be working on Main Idea, Sequence of Events, Fact and opinion, Simile, and Cause and Effect.  We will also start five new vocabulary words that your student needs to learn.  These are: Magnate, Despite, Conceal, Climate, Swelter.  We will practice these words using sentences, matching definitions, fill in the blanks and practice spelling.

In Math, we are going to be working on Chapter 5-5 and 5-6 in the Glencoe Mathematics book.  We are working on Fractions.  Your students have been working hard learning the Greatest Common Factor and the Least Common Multiple.  This has been tricky for them, and they will get more practice doing this.  We are also studying our TENS times tables.  We finished our doubles and your student has been doing great!  You will see Math and Language Arts homework every day this week.

If you have any questions about what we are working on, please feel free to contact me at: m1chaffin@scsk12.org.