Middle School: January 12 - 16, 2026
Hello, Middle School Families,
Thank you to families who participated in the MLK Day of Service, either by making cards at last week’s Wednesday Community Walk, donating food items, or participating in packing and delivering lunches on Monday!
The class continues to delve into the elements of a short story. Last week, students focused on character and point of view. The class has read short stories from the first, second, and third points of view, analyzing the pros and cons of each type of narration. The class recognized the difficulty of writing from a second-person point of view, but agreed that for a particular type of story, such as seen in “First Day Fly” by Jason Reynolds, it can be a particularly powerful type of perspective.
Students have been delighted by stories with twist endings, especially when they encounter unreliable narrators, because, as they have learned, the reader assumes trust in what they are reading. Throughout all of the short stories read this week, the class analyzed flat vs. round, static vs. dynamic, as well as indirect vs. direct characterization.
Students continued to work on their own short stories, using pictures as prompts for inspiration. Along with this block, the class practices grammar and punctuation concepts, both in practice sheets and by editing their own work. In particular, this past week’s focus was on correct punctuation for dialogue, so that these skills can be incorporated into their short stories effectively.
The Seventh and Eighth graders have been helping the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth graders to practice for the Pentathlon that they will attend in April. They have been great teachers to their peers!
Last but not least, the class also celebrated Rory’s half-birthday on Monday. Happy ½ birthday, Rory!
Announcements & Reminders:
The Auction is arriving, and as mentioned in the parent chat, it is time to compile ideas for the Middle School Auction project! If you have an idea, please email me. From here, a list of all ideas will be created for parents to vote on. We also need a parent to lead/assist with the auction project for our class. Please let me know if you are interested.
January 31: Community Work Day
February 7: Early Childhood & Grade Curriculum meeting at 11 am & All School Meeting (Spring) at 12:30 pm
February 12: Lunar New Year Performance 2:30 pm (all families welcome)
Thank you for the honor of teaching your children,
Ki Lesley
