Challenge Lab at SOMS

Bailey O. is one of SOMS Gifted and Talented students who uses her Challenge Lab Class to further refine her skills and create masterpieces which she shares with family, friends and community members. The work shown here is a piece where she explores design elements to bring her art to life. The Challenge Lab is home to many creative and academic projects. Students explore areas of interests related to their giftedness in addition to the core curriculum.  Areas of study include Science, Math, Art, Literature and Technology. We encourage student participation in various academic competitions including Science and Math Olympiads, National History Day and The Rockland SIT Fair. Several of our students also take Virtual High School Courses in Latin, Sociology, Mythology, Business Foundations, American Popular Music and Animation and Effects .All students are preparing for the March Faculty and Family Challenge Lab Open House.  The SOMS Community is looking forward to this event.

Investigation's Class and the Infusion of 21st Century Skills
The Day I was Born, a project which infuses many disciplines including investigation was conducted in 6th grade classes. In this project, they had to make a double bar graph comparing prices of various items from the year they were born to today. They researched and wrote about historical facts in negative and positive years around their birth year. They also researched authors, popular tv shows and movies the year they were born. The project's goal was to apply math, history and writing into real world applications. The presentations had to be made on an on-line presentation resource and Ms. Eyer, Library Media Specialist, outlined each and posted tutorials for students on her blog of Web 2.0 Presentation Tools at http://staff.socsdblogs.org/peyer/presentations.

Mr. Thomas Kleiner visits SOMS Home & Careers Class

Mrs. Massillio's Home and Careers class was visited 1/17/12 - period 3 by Mr. Thomas Kleiner.  Mr. Kleiner currently works for New York Department of Labor and had served as the Orangetown Supervisor in the past. He trained as a lawyer and spoke to the students about law and government. Careers was also a topic of discussion. Students learned all about career zone for children.

The SOMS Music Department congratulates the following students, who participated in this year's Junior All-County Music Festival:

Chorus: Julie B, Belinda B., Greg D., Tara D., Sydney J., Elzabeth L., Hannah L., Sarah M., Jarrett M., Monica M., Laura O., Selena, Q., Emma S.

Band: Livia B., Ryan F., Liam F., Kyle F., Skylar K., Paul K., Daesob L., Stefano M., Estella M., Lukas P., Jessica S., Amy Z.

Orchestra: Diana C., John C., Jane C., Olivia D., Elena K., Alexander L., Bridget O., Sienna P., Alice T.
 

SOMS 7th Graders Participate in National Geography Bee

On January 6th, the 7th grade Geography Bee was held in the SOMS auditorium. Winners from each individual class competition assembled on the stage to vie for the title of the overall 7th grade winner. Questions were posed to each of the contestants by teachers Sarah Kukla and James Amendola, who, along with teacher Chip Foley are the advisors for the 7th grade portion of the Geography Bee. From the original 11 competitors, the winning answer came from 7th grader Max F. Max will now be a semi-finalist and will go on to face the winners of the 6th, and 8th grade competitions. The winner of that contest will go on to compete in the National Geography Bee at the regional level.

The winners for the Geography Bee are:

6th Grade - Michael P.
7th Grade – Max F.
8th Grade - Jack D.

School Geography Champion – Jack D.

"Engineers Teaching Algebra" Visits SOMS

Students in Mr. Vincent Piscitelli and Mrs. Maureen Hobday's 8th grade Integrated Algebra Honors Math class recently attended a problem solving, hands on workshop taught by visiting engineer, Mark Love, of Engineers Teaching Algebra. The workshop uses interactive activities to show students the everyday value of algebra using fractions, ratios, estimation, reasoning, combinations, sequences, etc. "Real life situations that develop throughout the lesson peak student interest and could possibly assist in career decisions in Engineering and other paths later in life," said Piscitelli. "We would also like to give a special thank you to the PTA for funding the workshop," he concluded.
 

6th Graders in French Club Appreciates Cheese

“French 6th graders have discovered the true meaning of “le Fromage” by enjoying a tasting of many different cheeses and breads and learning about their origins. The smoked cheese as well as the Saint Andre Brie won the students over! Kuddos to the parents of those students who graciously donated the food!

Some French club members enjoyed playing the nationally famous French sport of “Pétanque” (the equivalent of Bocce ball) on our baseball field earlier on in October. Other members imitated a famous race run in Paris where waiters have to run over obstacle courses with glasses filled with water without spilling any! What a sight to see girls against boys!

Last week our club also partook in a scavenger hunt in French in the classroom for Halloween. After finishing the game, students tasted French candy called Carambars and ate jelly candy in the shape of the Smurfs since those characters were invented by a French speaking author from Belgium.

We are now busy preparing our French National week (starting November 20th) by making French tee-shirts, hats, signs and more!   Voilà!! Au revoir!”
 

SOMS 7th Grade ELA Reading/Writing Units

The seventh grade ELA classes are currently immersed in a “Reading Like a Writer” unit. They have been using creepy tales such as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” and “The Monkey’s Paw” as mentor texts to discover how writers engage readers through language. Over the next few weeks, they will be creating their own short stories using some of the techniques they’ve learned through the course of the unit.

Italian Heritage Month at SOMS

The South Orangetown Middle School Italian club was very busy celebrating Italian Heritage Month during the month of October. The club members started the month off by marching in the Columbus Day Parade. The celebration continued with two field trips to Torino's Deli in Blauvelt. The Paris family, once again, extended their friendship and hospitality to the SOMS Italian club by inviting the students to an afternoon of learning about and tasting Italian delicacies. The students learned how to make Mozzarella and Italian sausage. The afternoon ended with a tasty dish of pasta with meatballs.

Mock Archeological Dig
Students have been flexing their analytical skills in 6th grade Social Studies with a mock archeological dig. Skeletal remains have been rolled into each class and it is up to our future archeologists to figure out this Ancient Man or Woman’s life story. Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Jaquith, and Mr. Freeley enjoy using this hands on activity to help their students understand what it is like to use clues to tell a story from the past.

Spanish Club Goes Halloween
The Spanish Club at its last meeting of October watched "Casper" en español, drank "limonada", ate "dulces", "tostitos", and made and decorated "calaveras" masks for Halloween/Día de los Muertos. A fun time was had by all!!

Opening Days at South Orangetown Middle School
Staff and students had a wonderful opening at SOMS. Students came back from a long summer vacation excited to meet their new teachers and see their friends. Our Staff was eager to meet their new students.