Red Sox Season and MCAS Practice Sites!

It's springtime in New England and we all know that that means the arrival of BASEBALL season! The Red Sox have been practicing for a couple of months now getting ready for Opening Day and the 2010 season. If you're a Sox fan you've probably been following Spring Training and have seen how all the ball players put in a lot of time and effort working out and practicing the skills that will be key to helping them do well on the baseball field.

Just like the Red Sox have their big season ahead of them, the MCAS Testing season is also upon us.

Teachers at Walsh, like the Coach of the Red Sox, Terri Francona, have been preparing us all year for these testing sessions. Different subject lessons and projects that our teachers have us work on throughout the year are all efforts to help us learn; learn how to problem solve; develop new ways to think; and get familiar with the content and format of the MCAS tests. Along with learning some good test-taking strategies all grades are now practiced in answering not only multiple-choice questions, but also how to write a good essay response to the "Open Response" questions.

Think about learning how to throw a baseball - do you think Josh Beckett always pitched that hard and fast?! Or, learning how to ride a bicycle for the first time - nobody just jumps on a bike the first time and rides away without some practice! In the same way  it helps to practice, practice, practice and study some of the possible questions that may come up on your grade level MCAS test.

The Boston Public Library has put together a good practice site that you may find helpful to go to to review some of the MCAS questions from past years. This is not to add more to your school workload, but just like before your Little League baseball season, you might want to get yourself ready for the MCAS season by warming up just a little more.

So, practice up. We're sure it will help ease any anxiety you might have, and it may even help you learn a little thing or two!

*Parents may like to try some of these questions too, see how you well you do!

http://www.bpl.org/teens/mcas/index.htm


One more thing - let's hope the Red Sox have practiced well and give us another great season!

Go SOX!

Walsh Literacy Specialist Julie Gorman Honored

On March 18, 2010, Walsh Middle School’s Mrs. Julie Gorman was honored at the annual Salute to Framingham dinner at the Sheraton. Many educators and business people from Framingham came together to honor students and educators in Framingham. Mrs. Gorman received a well-deserved “YOU ARE SPECIAL” award for her devotion and hard work on behalf of Walsh’s students.

During her 35 years of teaching, Mrs. Gorman taught remedial reading, reading workshops, language arts and literacy. She helped develop curriculum, worked on MCAS, and was Language Arts Department Head for many years. Over the years
she mentored new teachers and encouraged students to believe in themselves and do their best. We think you'll agree that Mrs. Gorman  has always taken a sincere interest in all her students and it truly shows in their respect and affection towards her. She is loved by students and faculty alike.

The evening included FHS students receiving awards, the FHS line drummers, cheerleaders, a delicious buffet, and the awards to three local men who have supported Framingham schools for years: Arthur DelPrete, George Hulme, and Richard Chesmore.

All of the Framingham teachers who received awards were heartily applauded by their co-workers and families, but none more boisterously than the Walsh contingent cheering for Mrs. Gorman! She truly deserves this award! Mrs. Gorman is retiring after this school year and is irreplaceable. Congratulations to Mrs. Gorman, and thank you for all your work over the years helping so many students and teachers! You will be missed.

(photo - "Salute to Framingham-You Are Special" Recipient - Julie Gorman)

Dormia Author, Jake Halpern, Visits Walsh!

By Judy Welch
Librarian Assistant


Welcome to the World of Dormia - -
"Ordinary sleepwalkers wake up in the living room or in the kitchen eating ice cream. But twelve-year-old Alfonso Perplexon tends to wake up tightrope-walking along a set of power lines or clinging to the top of a massive, wind-blown pine tree. No one in his hometown of World's End, Minnesota has seen anything like it, until one wintry evening an old man arrives at Alfonso's doorstep with an astounding explanation."


from Jake Halpern's -  Dormia


On Thursday, March 11th, Walsh was fortunate to have a very engaging and entertaining author as a guest speaker. His name is Jake Halpern and he offered to visit our school and speak with our students. Halpern already has 2 published books, more for adult readers. The book he discussed at Walsh is called Dormia. It is a fantasy fiction book, his first for 5-8 graders. Halpern is also a producer and commentator on National Public Radio as well as a professor of journalism at Yale University, which is his alma mater.

Halpern is a very interesting young man and an up-and-coming author who grabbed the attention of the 6th grade Walsh audience and kept it for the entire hour! Can you remember the story he told right at the beginning when he asked us to listen and see if we could figure out what part of his story was a lie? As he said in his presentation yesterday, he takes little memories here and there from his personal life and puts them in his fiction. We heard about his visit to the middle of nowhere in Poland to meet his future wife's interesting family; a trip to Egypt where he experienced a sandstorm feeling and watching the sand pile up around him while trying to stay protected in just a nylon camping tent; and, he also shared with us his memory of a college roommate who had "Sleep Terrors" that Halpern experienced firsthand in the middle of the night in his dorm room...regularly accompanied with loud screams, often right in his face! Some part of all of these experiences in his life have ended up in his books in one way or another.

The 6th graders not only were riveted with all of Halpern's stories, they asked him some very good questions about being a writer, how he comes up with his stories, and tried to get him to give them some more clues about how the story of Dormia develops! (But, unfortunately, he didn't reveal any more to us...we're going to have to read the book! Which isn't really a BAD thing - if it's anything like the author's presentation, I'm sure it's going to be a good read!)

Autographed copies of his book are for sale. Students should have received one of the orange order sheets from their homeroom, or you can inquire at the front office. The Walsh library also has two copies available. Walsh is very grateful for Jake Halpern's visit, which was a resounding success!

Visit the World of Dormia website.

http://www.worldofdormia.com/

Remember he mentioned that there will be two more books in this series and that on the website you can participate in a contest where you can offer suggestions for names of future characters!

By the way, we're sure 7th and 8th graders will be captivated with the Dormia series as well!

Walsh 8th Grade Student Wins Boston Globe Scholastic Writing Awards!

By Ms. Migliano

On February 14, 2010, students from around the state were honored for creative achievement at the Boston Globe Scholastic Art and Writing Awards held at the John Hancock Hall in Boston.

The program is designed to recognize and encourage students in the creative arts by offering scholarships and visibility. Students in grades 7-12 spanning public, private, and parochial schools in Massachusetts submitted works of art and/or writing to the contest.

In the writing category, the organization received almost 400 pieces of written work which judged by teams of Massachusetts educators. These jurors awarded over 150 awards to selected students, honoring them with either a Gold Key, Silver Key, or Honorable Mention award.

Three of these awards were bestowed upon Walsh 8th grade student, Madeleine Barowsky. Madeleine received a Gold Key for "Jirah", a science fiction short story; a Silver Key for "Katy", a fictional short story; and an Honorable Mention for "My Silent Language", a personal essay.

This prestigious contest is very competitive, and Madeleine's creativity and work ethic rose to meet the occasion. She stayed after school on many occasions to seek feedback on her submissions, constantly striving to improve her revisions and meet her own standard for excellence. All of her hard work certainly paid off, and we here at Walsh couldn't be prouder!

To view the full list of all the Scholastic winners and honorable mentions, please visit the following link:

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/02/14/full_list_of_the_scholastic_art__writing_awards_winners_and_honorable_mentions/?page=6

Madeleine's stories are included in the March issue of the Walsh Wildcat E-Zine.

http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/schoolid/1402/articleid/340209/newspaperid/1378/Walsh_8th_Grader_Wins_Boston_Globe_Scholastic_Writing_Awards.aspx

We hope you enjoy her writing as much as we do!