8th English Poetry Unit

Students in Mrs. VanDyk's 8th grade English classes are working on an ELP Independent Study, researching favorite poets to gain a better understanding of poetry.

Using the Internet and books from the Media Center, students will learn more about the poet's life, education, and career and will read a variety of poems published by the poet. They will share a three to four minute "Poet Talk" about the poet they selected with the class at the end of the unit.

Eighth Grade Goal Sessions

Eighth  grade students have been rotating into the ELP room during homeroom period to establish academic and social goals for the year and to participate in an exercise on divergent thinking, the ability to consciously generate new ideas, and creativity.   The goals students establish can be viewed on Infinite Campus.

Students unable to attend a goal session are welcome to stop in E109 during Activity Period to complete the activity.

Science Bowl Learning @ Lunch Seminar

7th Grade Goal Seminars

Seventh grade students have been rotating into the ELP room during homeroom period to learn about the 7th and 8th grade Extended Learning Program collaborative format and to establish academic and social goals for the year. Students that don't complete the goal sheets are welcome to stop in the 7-8 ELP Room during activity period.

The 7-8 ELP teachers are currently visiting classrooms to assist teachers,
creating materials for teachers to use in the classroom, and preparing for future cluster groups. Stay tuned for more information!

ELP Learning@Lunch: Science Research in the News

7th and 8th Grade Students:
If you like science, and especially if you are thinking of doing a Science Fair project, come to the 7th&8th Grade ELP  Learning@Lunch:  Science Research in the News on Friday, September 9.  Bring a hot or cold lunch to the ELP room, and find out about recent published research that is simple in concept and/or execution.  A study of how ropes tangle, for instance.  We'll share ideas about research topics for the Science Fair of Iowa, too. 

ELP Lunch: Lost in Space

Are you a creative thinker? How good are your creative problem solving skills? Join us to solve some group puzzles and to learn more about 7-8 ELP opportunities this year. 

Bring your lunch or pick up hot lunch and meet in the 7-8 ELP room ( E109). 

8th Grade: Wednesday, August 31st  and Thursday, September 1st, 2011

7th Grade: Tuesday, September 6th and Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Back To School Night

Parents are invited to learn more about the 7-8 Extended Learning Program on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 5:30 in the Media Center before Back To School Night. Our brief presentation will include a description of  ELP in 7th and 8th grades and upcoming events. We hope you can join us!

Science Fair Working Lunch

All 7th and 8th grade students are being offered the opportunity to do a science research project to enter in the Science Fair of Iowa at the Hilton Coliseum on March 30 and 31 of 2012.  Researchers will have an opportunity to present projects at the Ames District Fair in January and at Ames Middle School in February.  Anyone wishing to participate should obtain an instruction sheet from Mrs. Dixon or a science teacher.  Participants should email a research question to Mrs. Dixon by September 30, 2011.   

A Peek in The ELP Classroom

Talent Search Time Again!

Each fall, high ability middle school students have the opportunity to participate in a Talent Search sponsored by various universities. A Talent Search allows students to take an out of level test, usually the ACT or SAT, and have their scores compared to students their age with similar abilities.  Out of level tests provide more information about a student’s strengths and weaknesses than grade level standardized tests and the scores, if shared with the school, can be used as another tool for making academically appropriate decisions.  Most Talent Searches offer awards for high scores as well as invitations to summer enrichment opportunities.

Enrollment for participation in Talent Searches is in the fall. Additional information about Talent Searches can be found at < http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/talent_search.htm

Welcome to the 2011-2012 School Year!

Welcome! 

We have exciting plans in store for the school year and are looking forward to working with you!

 The 7-8 ELP Collaborative model allows the ELP teachers to work with classroom teachers to provide an enriching, challenging learning environment for high ability students. Each year brings different learning needs and many new activities. Rather than a set pullout schedule or curriculum, students rotate in and out of the ELP classroom based on classroom performance and learning goals. ELP teachers also spend time in the regular classroom, team teaching with or assisting the regular classroom teacher in differentiated activities.

 In order to be responsive to classroom and students, the ELP schedules are determined weekly. Mrs. Staniforth, the English-Social Studies ELP teacher, is at AMS three days a week and Mrs. Dixon, the Math/Science ELP teacher is at AMS two days a week. They share administrative and group student responsibilities. Either teacher can be contacted for information or concerns.

 ELP students establish academic and social goals at the fall ELP Mini-seminar in early September. Students will receive a note in homeroom telling then when to attend.

 Participation in each ELP cluster group activity is documented on Infinite Campus. Click on the envelope next to ELP on the grades section of Infinite Campus to view participation records. Additional information about current ELP activities can be viewed on the 7-8 ELP Blog.

We look forward to working with you and hope to make this year the best year yet! Please email us if you have any questions. 

August 10, 2011

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year! We have many exciting things planned for the coming year and are eager to see all of you. Please check the blog often for updates on ELP activities. We update the blog regularly with information about what is happening in classes, invitations to ELP Lunches or Learning @ Lunches, contests,  and other learning opportunities.

We will be popping into your classes in the next few weeks to get acquainted. If you have a free moment before then, stop in and see us!

End of the Year Message for 8th Graders

The 2010-2011 school year is drawing to a close. We want to wish all 8th graders continued success at Ames High School. We have enjoyed working with you!  Your enthusiasm for learning, commitment to excellence, and willingness to work hard to achieve goals inspired us.  Please keep in touch.

We wish you all the best!

Mrs. Staniforth and Mrs. Dixon

End of Year Message for 7th Graders

Congratulations on a terrific year!  From Math Challenge groups and Science Fair projects to puppet skits, vocabulary study, and research projects you have grown in your abilities and understanding of the world. We are already excited about next year. Until then read some books, listen to music, learn a new skill, and continue learning until we see you in August! Have a great summer!

Mrs. Staniforth and Mrs. Dixon

Multi-modular Origami Cubes

Students learned to create multi-modular origami cubes at an ELP Lunch in May. Here are some of the projects they brought in after the ELP Lunch. Additional patterns for the cubes can be found on the internet.

Congratulations 7th WordMasters!

AMS 7th Graders Earn Sixth Place Nationally in the 
WordMasters Vocabulary  Competition for the Year 


A team of students representing Ames Middle School recently won   
highest honors in the WordMasters Challenge, a national vocabulary   
entered by over 27,000 seventh graders from 291 schools nationally. 

Competing in the difficult Blue Division the Ames Middle School group   
earned sixth place in the nation in the year end cumulative standings.   
Two of the school's students won highest honors for year long   
individual achievement as well, each of whom made only two 
mistakes in the course of the year's three meets. Both placed among the 
27 highest ranked  seventh graders in the entire country in the year-end 
standings.  

The WordMaster Challenge is an exercise in critical thinking that   
first encourages students to become familiar with a set of interesting   
new words( considereably harder than grade level) and then challenges   
them to use those words to complete analogies expressing various kinds   
of relationships. 

The WordMaster Challenge has been administered for the past 24 years   
by a company in Allendale, New Jersey, which is dedicated to inspiring   
high achievement in American Schools. 

Math/Science Competition Results

National Science League

The results are in for the National Science League.  All 8th grade students took part in the competition during their science class.  The Ames Middle School team (top ten scorers) placed 7th among 44 participating schools with a team score of 468, out of a maximum possible score of 500.  The top score of 493 was earned by Hopkins Junior High School from California.  The contest is a 50 question test with one point per question.  The  questions measure solid conceptual understanding of physical science, and almost all of the topics are part of the Ames 8th grade curriculum.  Our top scores were 49 (1),  48 (1), 47 (3-way tie), and 46 (5-way tie).  The median score for AMS was 31.5.  Scores for ELP students have been entered in the ELP grading detail in Infinite Campus.  The graph shows the distribution of scores at Ames Middle School.  Congratulations, Ames Team!


Continental Math League

All  8th grade students taking Algebra or Geometry and all 7th grade students took part in the Continental Math League competition.  The five meets, consisting of six problems each, were administered once a month from November through March during the math classes.   Eighth grade students took the more difficult Pythagorean level of the competition and seventh grade students participated in the Euclidean level.  Both require  creative problem solving and mathematical insight, and neither requires knowledge of algebra.  These are team competitions, and the ten highest scoring students for each of the meets contribute to the team cumulative score.  The Ames Middle School 8th grade team placed 2nd out of 15 in our four-state region (IA, MO, WI, and MN) and  31st out of 155 nationally, with a score of 165.  The 7th grade team placed 7th nationally out of 134 schools with a score of 171 out of a possible 180, and second out of 20 in Region 6.  Nice work, Ames team!

DNA unit in 7th Grade Life Sciences

During the week of April 18 all of the students in Ms. Kurrle's and Mrs. Glenn's Life Science classes investigated genetics and DNA through a variety of activities.  Mrs. Glenn and Ms. Kurrle regrouped some of their students for three days to explore DNA through different lab work in each classroom.  Ms. Kurrle's group extracted DNA from strawberries and kiwis while learning about the structure and function of DNA.  Mrs. Glenn and I staged a mock crime scene ("Which Dog Chewed Farmer Brown's Boots") and had students conduct DNA electrophoresis to find the culprit.  These students also read science articles from Science News, Scientific American, Discover, and various high quality online sources to learn about current issues concerning genetic analysis.

It's Show Time!

The 7M Puppeteers will culminate their study of puppetry by performing the puppet plays to seventh grade English classes on Thursday, May 19th, 2011 during their English period. Parents are welcome to attend. 

Purple Comet! Math Meet Results

Several teams of AMS students participated in the Purple Comet Math Meet on April 7 as a MATHCOUNTS activity or a 7th grade Math Challenge Group activity.  This is a very difficult competition and students who are taking Algebra have a distinct advantage.  All teams rose to the challenge and worked creatively and persistently at solving the problems.  One of the MATHCOUNTS teams received an honorable mention for scoring in the top 10% of teams nationwide (score of 14), and a mixed group of Math Challenge and Algebra students came within 2 points of the top 10 % with a score of 12 (top 14%).  The chart below shows the distribution of scores nationally.  Team scores have been entered in Infinite Campus under ELP grades for students participating through the Math Challenge Group.

Library g Congress/ Archive It Project

Thirty-eight students from Mr. Esslinger’s 8^th grade American Studies class met periodically with Mrs. Staniforth (7-8 ELP) to archive websites for the Library of Congress this year. Digital content is lost permanently when websites are updated unless the sites are archived. The Library of Congress started this program three years ago to give students an opportunity to select what is stored for future generations to see. This project connected to the primary source training students received as part of the research component to American Studies.

Nationally, fourteen schools in thirteen states participated in the program. They created 56 collections and archived 149,925,000 documents. A majority of the sites archived were not being archived by other institutions, risking the permanent loss of those resources as digital content changed.

AMS students brainstormed how they used the Internet and selected three main areas to collect primary sources.  The Educational Resources collection illustrates sites commonly used by students for school projects.   The Popular Culture collection represents sites used for fun outside of school. The All About Ames, Iowa 2011 illustrates what students valued in our community.

This is the third year AMS has participated in the program. The archived sites can be viewed at the following site: http://www.archive-it.org/k12/10AmesMS.html.

Puppets!

Seventh grade ELP students in Mrs. Parson's English class have spent the past week creating puppets for the puppet show they will  give later this month.

Students wrote a short story, selected a story to turn into a skit, collaborated with the group to write the skit, and are putting the finishing touches on the puppets and the puppet set.

ELP Lunch: HexaFlexagons! Friday, May 13

Come to the ELP room for lunch on Friday, May 13 to make and decorate your hexaflexagon.  Can you find all of the faces?

May Learning @ Lunch Seminar

May 
Learning @ Lunch Seminar


Interested in learning more about student life at  Ames High School? A panel of ninth grade students from Ames High School will discuss their experiences at  AHS during 8th grade lunch on Thursday, May 12, 2011. Join us! 

National Science League Exam May 6th

All eighth grade students will participate in the National Science League exam in Science class on Friday, May 6th. The fifty question, multiple choice exam assesses basic physical science knowledge as well the students' understanding of scientific processes. The exam takes 35 minutes. Our top ten scores becomes our school score for the competition.

The test allows comparison with other high achieving students and schools in the United States. Last year, AMS placed second nationally out of 55 competing schools. Good luck on the competition!

WordMasters

It will be a few weeks before the final WordMaster results are in and we meet for our final session.  Test scores have been posted on Infinite Campus. Please stop in and look over your test this week.

8th WordMaster Quizlet Sets

Ready to practice for the WordMaster Test? Here are the web address for Quizlet Sets for Lists I , II and III for the 8th grade Gold Division.



Set I : http://quizlet.com/5236845/8th-wordmasters-gold-division-november-2010-flash-cards/

Set II: http://quizlet.com/4076269/8th-wordmasters-goldnovember-2010-flash-cards/

Set III: http://quizlet.com/5237988/8th-wordmasters-gold-division-april-2011-flash-cards/

Note: 7th Grade students should use the WordMaster Test Prep site!

Attention 8th Graders

Interested in taking honors classes at Ames High School?  The April Learning @ Lunch Seminar on Wednesday, April 20th will feature AHS Honors teachers. 
They will talk about their classes, course requirements, and how "honors" coursework differs from general classes.

Guest Speakers: 

Honors Earth Science Teacher; Ms. Tibben

Honors World Studies teacher: Mr. Sullivan

Honors English Teacher: Mr. Webb

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

 7-8 ELP Room

8th Lunch Period

Honors Class Applications for 9th Grade

Honors applications and Appeal forms are now available online at the AHS-ELP website. Forms are to be turned in to the Student Services office by the end of the day on Wednesday, April 20th.

http://www.ames.k12.ia.us/Departments/ELP/ELPAHS.html.

Note: Students that have turned in forms for testing out of a year of study should still sign up for honors classes in case they do not meet the acceleration requirements.

7th and 8th WordMaster schedules for List III

8th WordMaster Words- Gold Division- April 2011

sheen	reverberate	importunate	supplicant	constrain
lugubrious	contumely	raze	diaphanous	antecedent
foment	imperious	demagogue	whet	clamorous
nicety	ricochet	evanescent	precursor	disseminate
fawning	hoi polloi	obliterate	dolorous	relic

7th WordMasters Words- Blue Division- April 2011

panache	garrulous	carnage	domineer
reticent	vendetta	wield	redolent
bellwether	coalesce	mottled	vanguard
abate	delectable	blandishment	condescend
motley	brio	inveigle	servile
array	kowtow	secluded	pandemonium

WordMasters Review Site

     The final session of WordMasters is scheduled to begin the first week of April. Reviewing the first fifty words before the final list is introduced in class will help students prepare  for the final exam. The WordMaster Challenge Prep Site has digital flashcards, games for testing knowledge of the first two lists,  and analogy practice. The third list is also listed on the Test Prep site for students that want a head start. Check it out!

http://wordmasterschallengeprepsite.com/eighthgrade.html 

Acceleration Forms Due April 20th, 2011 Update

The due date for acceleration forms has been pushed back to Wednesday, April 20th.

Eighth grade students interested in testing out of a ninth grade core class must turn in the completed AMS/AHS Acceleration form to the ELP teachers (or the ELP mailbox in the main office) by Wednesday, April 20th.

Students that were unable to attend last week's Learning @ Lunch about acceleration may make an appointment to discuss acceleration options by emailing either Mrs. Staniforth or Mrs. Dixon.

Once the forms are turned in, test scores and grade reports are attached and the forms are then given to the high school department. The AHS department will contact the student when textbooks can be picked up at Ames High School.

ELP Learning@Lunch: Touch Virtual Reality and Make Music!

Dr. Christopher Hopkins of the Iowa State University Music Department will provide a hands-on demonstration of his VE SoundSynth computer interface. Bring a hot or cold lunch to the ELP room on Friday, April 8.

ELP Lunch: Geometric Origami April 7

The April ELP lunch will be Geometric Origami.  There will be a choice of traditional origami, the unit origami pattern from the November lunch (the Sonobe unit), or a new unit origami pattern.  Bring a hot or cold lunch to the ELP room during your lunch period on Thursday, April 7. 

Science Fair of Iowa

The Science Fair of Iowa takes place this Friday and Saturday!  (April 1& 2).  Twelve students from AMS will be presenting their research.  The projects include color preferences of young children, how video games and exercise affect short-term memory, the effect of cranberry juice on bacterial growth, the effectiveness of household acids at killing biofilms, the effect of salt water on the growth of peas, plant growth in CO2 enhanced atmospheres, and how twisting an airfoil affects the lift-to-drag ratio.  The Science Fair takes place at the Hilton Coliseum and is open to the public on Friday from 12-5 and on Saturday from 9:30-4.  Detailed information can be found at http://www.sciencefairofiowa.org.

The researchers will give a Science Fair preview on  Wednesday, March 30.  The 7th grade participants will set up posters in F107 and present to Ms. Kurrle's 2nd period science class.  The 8th grade researchers will set up posters in F102 (the LEGO League room, in the 7th grade science wing) and present their research to staff and 8th grade students during Activity Period.  If you are an 8th grade student and would like to come to the preview, obtain a pass from your Activity Period teacher. 

Purple Comet! Math Meet Update

7th grade students: if you are doing this competition, you are encouraged to come to a practice session during Activity Period on Wednesday, March 30, provided that you do not have other commitments.  You are welcome to get an early start by coming during lunch.  The session will take place in the LEGO League room (F102, next to the 7th grade Science rooms), and we will work on problems that have come up frequently on previous contests. 

Purple Comet! Math Meet

Members of the 7th Grade Math Challenge Group are invited to participate in the Purple Comet Math Meet.  This is a 60 minute competition in which teams of up to 6 contestants solve 15 math problems and enter them on a form online.  The contest will be given during 2nd period and Reading Group time on Thursday, April 7th.  If contestants need to come out of classes other than math, they will attend the missed class during their normal math period.  Anyone who wishes to participate must let Mrs. Dixon know by the Monday following Spring Break (March 21).  To find out more about the competition, see http://www.purplecomet.org.  Purple Comet practice booklets will be available to borrow in Mrs. Smith's and Mrs. Craig's classrooms.