What's Happening in Cluster 5?

Hello Caregivers!

IMPORTANT UPCOMING MCAS TESTING DATES:

ELA April 23rd and 24th

Civics May 7th and 8th

MATH May 14th and 15th

Science May 21st and 22nd

Also, the spring I-Ready testing window will be May 28th- 31st. 8th grade students will take their last reading and math assessment for i-Ready.

-With all standardized tests (and especially with the 10 testing days in 5 weeks), the best way to support your student(s) is by making sure they are well-rested and fueled- breakfast is provided free of cost each morning from 7:30 to 7:45 in the Cafe. Encourage your child(ren) to SHOW WHAT THEY KNOW and REPRESENT THEIR "TRUE ACADEMIC SELF" on these tests!

-Here is a link for our YEARLONG SCHOOL CALENDAR

-Yearbooks are available for customization and order.

The deadline to place your order is Friday, May 10. Follow this link to order: www.treering.com. This service allows guardians to create 2 custom pages for your student. It’s a great way to include personalized photos from the past year! It’s also totally optional and you can still order a regular yearbook too. Thanks so much and feel free to follow up with Mr. Allen, our yearbook coordinator, with any questions.

-Check google classroom for assignments- and see that assignments are completed- not just "submitted".

-Work on ways to get organized- created routines and expectations for the day.

-Make sure the chromebook is charging each evening.

-Email teachers with any concerns (you can find email addresses at bottom of this S'More).

Apr 26, 2024

We are wrapping up our new content for the year and finishing up our study of motion and forces. Please see the calendar for assessment dates. The spring is going to fly by!

Below are our final new content objectives for this school year.

2.1 Gravity and Motion

• Explain how gravity and air resistance affect falling objects.

• Understand how free-fall and centripetal force affect objects in orbit.

• Describe how gravity affects the motion of projectiles.

2.2 Newton’s Laws of Motion

• Newton’s First Law: Explain how objects at rest and those in motion are affected by inertia and mass.

• Newton’s Second Law: Explain the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration.

• Newton’s Third Law: Describe how pairs of forces act on objects.

2.3 Momentum

• Use mass and velocity to calculate momentum.

• Explain the law of conservation of momentum.

APRIL-

Students began their State Testing Season this past Tuesday and Wednesday with the ELA MCAS tests. Please be aware that there are several weeks in which students will be testing in other content areas- Civics, Math, and science.

In ELA class, we will wrap up our year focusing on two specific units. Students will read their second book club novel- a dystopian unit. Please direct your student to read each evening.

Along with the book clubs, students will spend time polishing and publishing their yearlong writing(s) into a collection which will be bound and sent home at the end of the year. Ask them about their portfolios!

Some helpful tips:

-Provide a space, free of noise and technology distractions (take the phone!), so that the student can focus on their reading. It's a battle at first, but will become a routine soon enough.

-Create a nightly expectation for reading- for example, from 6:30-7:15, we are dropping everything and reading.

-Ask questions about the book, the characters, the plot. Something as simple as, "What connections can you make with the main character?", will give your student a talking point.

Once we hit April, students will spend a few weeks preparing for the ELA MCAS testing.

Just a reminder about the ELA policy regarding the method by which grades are tracked through the semester. All assignments are assigned through google classroom. Each student is a member of a specific (class color) ELA roster in the classroom. The assignments are all graded on a scale of 0-4 and the grades are represented as follows in GOOGLE CLASSROOM:

4.0= Mastery/Exceeds Expectations

3.0= Proficient/ Meets Expectations

2.0= Approaching Proficiency/Partially Meets Expectations

1.0= Developing/ Some Understanding (with support)

0 Not Meeting Expectation (often an assignment that hasn’t been completed).

-When the grades are transferred into the powerschool portal and calculated into an overall grade, the “Marzano” grade conversion is used to turn the 0- 4 into a percentage. This is not simply changing the fraction into a decimal (not ¾= .75), but rather assigning a percentage to each number. The conversions are as follows: 4.0= 100%, 3.5= 95%, 3.0= 90%, 2.5= 80%, 2.0= 70%, 1.5= 65%, 1.0=60%, 0= 50%.

***In this grading policy, a student will not receive a grade less than a 50% on any assignment- thus making the grade ranges more level in value.

-As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your 8th grader in ELA, please initiate a conversation by emailing me at daniel.skop@watertown.k12.ma.us

Take care.

Math 8: As we come to the final last two months of the school year I want to make sure that everyone is staying up-to-date with PowerSchool and their students' grades. I have updated PowerSchool with all the assessments and homework assignments that students needed to complete so far this trimester. If you have any questions please let me know. In addition, we have been getting ready for Math MCAS, which is coming on May 14th and 15th. Students have been learning new content and have been reviewing old topics that we have already covered. As we continue to move forward students will be focusing on the Pythagorean Theorem, rational and irrational numbers and functions.

Algebra: As we come to the final last two months of the school year I want to make sure that everyone is staying up-to-date with PowerSchool and their students' grades. I have updated PowerSchool with all the assessments and homework assignments that students needed to complete so far this trimester. If you have any questions please let me know. In addition, we have been getting ready for Math MCAS, which is coming on May 14th and 15th. Students have been learning new content and have been reviewing old topics that we have already covered. As we continue to move forward students will be focusing on the Pythagorean Theorem, rational and irrational numbers and factoring.

April 25, 2024

We are very excited for our upcoming Civics field trip to the Kennedy Institute for the Senate! Cluster 5 is attending this Friday, April 26th, and Cluster 6 is attending Friday, May 3rd. Students will be engaging in a simulation on climate and energy policy, and they’ll get to be senators for the day in a replica of the real-life Senate chambers! We will share some pictures in our next Smore.

In class, our Civics students have been continuing their work on their Civic Action Projects. In the next few weeks, 8th graders will be writing emails to people who have the power to make the change they want to see. We will start creating our slideshows highlighting our background research, email results and action plans for the future. Your student has the chance to inform and empower their classmates to take action to make our communities strong! Students will make their final CAP presentations May 28th - May 31st.

For the next two weeks, we will be taking a break from Civics Actions Projects to focus on the judiciary with our unit on Justice in Action. Students are reviewing their knowledge of the Supreme Court and the judicial branch, and will learn about the impact of court decisions in case studies involving segregation, including Roberts vs. City of Boston (1849), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and Brown v. Board of Education (1954). We are also learning about landmark government actions including Supreme Court cases, laws and Constitutional amendments. Students will practice their slideshow creation and speaking skills, getting ready for their bigger CAP presentations later at the end of May.

CAP learning targets:

• I can demonstrate the skills of lateral thinking and reading while doing research

• I can work together with my group to plan research topics and questions

• I can create an actionable plan for change

• I can write a formal email to an appropriate contact about the change I want to make

• If necessary, I can identify the role the government plays in the change I want to make

• I can create a formal, professional presentation showcasing my CAP work, including writing a script and designing visuals

• I can demonstrate strong public speaking skills in my CAP presentation

Justice in Action Learning Targets:

• I can review key vocabulary and concepts related to the judicial branch.

• I can describe how the Supreme Court operates and makes its decisions.

• I can analyze the outcome and impact of the Roberts v. City of Boston case.

• I can understand the context of the Roberts case in the larger fight for equal rights for African Americans in Massachusetts.

• I can summarize the purpose of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments by writing headlines.

• I can explain the outcome of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, and identify the impact it had on the rights of American citizens.

• I can explain the outcome of the Brown v. Board case, and the effect it had on segregation.

• I can create a presentation to teach my classmates about a landmark government decision, explaining how the decision restricted or expanded rights for Americans, and what impact it had.

Hello WMS families,

My name is Megan Griffin, and I am the Special Education Liaison and Language-Based English Teacher for Cluster 5 this school year. I have been working in the district for twelve years. I have a love for teaching 8th grade, as I find joy in witnessing the significant growth of the students throughout the year and helping them foster independence before they transition to high school. Beyond the classroom, I enjoy spending my free time with my 11-year-old shepherd, retriever, and hound mix named Chance. My other passions are cooking, travel, and my love-hate relationship with the game of golf. Falmouth, Massachusetts, particularly during the summers, holds a special place in my heart where I’ve shared many cherished family memories at the beach.

I look forward to coaching my fifth outdoor track season this spring and spending the second week of June with some of the 8th graders in Washington, D.C.

Go Eagles!

Click this link for more information on the English Language Development classes.

Click this link for more information about the Reading Classes.

Click this link for more information on the Specials Classes.

Click this link for more information on the World Language Classes.

Edward.Cafua@watertown.k12.ma.us - MATH

Karen.Kline@watertown.k12.ma.us - CIVICS

Sheila.Gilmartin@watertown.k12.ma.us - EL

Brian.Donato@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION / MATH

Megan.Griffin@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION/ELA

Daniel.Skop@watertown.k12.ma.us - ENGLISH

Christine.Sorenson@watertown.k12.ma.us - READING

Elissa.Willoughby@watertown.k12.ma.us - SCIENCE

Amanda.Skypeck@watertown.k12.ma.us - GUIDANCE COUNSELOR

Website: https://wms.watertown.k12.ma.us/