School's Out!

Summer is here! I wanted to take a moment to thank my students for a great school year. I enjoyed teaching and getting to know each of you in my classroom. To 8th graders (or should I say, freshmen): Congratulations! You all have the potential to do great things in high school and beyond. I feel proud to know you and look forward to hearing about the great things you do with your futures. 7th graders, you will return at the top of the school next year as 8th graders. You made it! Have a safe and restful summer break, I hope to see you in the fall!

Some suggestions for staying sharp this summer:

• Read! Anything and everything! 7th graders, there are two more books in the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. They are excellent, I hope you get the chance to read them!

Other book suggestions can be found here:

Parkway Middle School Reading List

Middle School Summer Reading List

• Keep a summer journal or blog! Continued writing practice this summer will ensure you are at the top of your game when I see you in August. Writing fictional stories, making comic books or simply writing letters to your friends or family members are great ways to practice!

• Enjoy the outdoors! Ride your bike, play catch at the park, shoot hoops with your friends, walk around your neighborhood... You know I love video games myself, but don't stay glued to the tube all summer, OK?

Half Way There!

Dear Students and Parents,

            Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a nice winter break. Now that we have all adjusted to our school routine again, I have a few reminders and requests to help make the rest of the school year a success.

Review of Class Expectations: Students will be expected to (1) come to class on time and prepared, (2) treat all members of the class with respect, (3) follow directions the first time. These have been the expectations since day one. Any student not meeting class expectations will first receive a warning and if behavior continues, lunch detention or a “yellow card” referral will be given. Continuous deviation from class expectations will result in a phone call to the student’s home and administrative action.

Review of Procedures:

• All students are required to keep a journal (8^th grade) or warm-up notebook (7^th grade) and bring it to class daily.
• Students are also expected to be prepared for class by having notebook paper, pencil and blue or black pen. Work that is turned in for a grade must be written in pencil or, if in ink, blue or black only. Final drafts of essays should always be typed or written in blue or black pen.
• Students are given 4 bathroom passes to use during my class for the whole quarter. If a student uses all of the passes or loses them, they aren’t given another set. The purpose of this is to keep students in the classroom and to limit bathroom use to passing period and lunch time.  Students who save all 4 passes will be rewarded at the end of the quarter with a homework pass or prize from my basket.

Supplies: I truly appreciate those students and families who brought in supplies at the start of the school year. I still have plenty of tissues, pencils and Expo markers to use for our class, but I am running very low on many necessary supplies. If you are able and would like to donate supplies to our classroom, it would be very helpful. Our classroom is in need of:

• Loose leaf lined paper
• Construction paper
• Markers
• Colored Pencils
• Tape
• Hand sanitizer

Contact Info: If a student or parent needs to contact me after school hours, I can be reached by email at MsLsparks@gmail.com. Please feel free to email me with any concerns or questions you might have. You can also find my classroom blog at http://lsparkslpa.blogspot.com/ or by clicking on my name under Lakeside Teachers on the school website, www.lpatucson.org. 

Let’s have a great second semester!

J Ms. Sparks