November Newsletter

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Ви можете легко перекласти цю розсилку, натиснувши одну кнопку! У верхньому правому куті натисніть «перекласти». Коли з’явиться спадне меню, виберіть мову, і інформаційний бюлетень буде автоматично перекладено.

تاسو کولی شئ د یوې تڼۍ په کلیک کولو سره دا خبر پاڼه په اسانۍ سره وژباړئ! په پورتنۍ ښیې کونج کې، "ژباړه" کلیک وکړئ. کله چې د ډراپ ډاون مینو ښکاره شي، مهرباني وکړئ یوه ژبه غوره کړئ او خبر پاڼه به په اوتومات ډول . که تاسو مرستې ته اړتیا لرئ یا کومې تېروتنې ته اړتیا لرئ، مهرباني وکړئ د پرنسپل مک میلن سره اړیکه ونیسئ

In our new unit students are reading Realistic Fiction and exploring the topic, Life Lessons. Some skills your child will be learning in this unit are using the best evidence to support an opinion and how to create strong claims and thesis statements.

We also visited the library to select books for independent reading. Look for my Talking Points message for how to support your child’s growth as a reader!

Our friends the therapy dogs were at the library that day, and we had a chance to visit with them too!

We have been busy with writing these last few weeks! Starting with a short literary analysis of The Wise Old Woman. We are currently working on our toughest assignment yet, a comparative essay looking at comparing and contrasting two excerpts, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli and Seventh Grade by Gary Soto.

Students have also been identifying and describing character traits, setting, and plot as we dive deeper into our texts. They have been practicing how to write objective summaries, annotate effectively, analyze theme, and provide textual evidence to support their claims.

Essay Prompt: Stargirl takes place in high school, while “Seventh Grade” is set in middle school. Write a short response in which you compare and contrast how the setting of each story impacts the main conflicts and resolutions.

We will start our first novel of the year, The Giver!

In October we finished our first science unit, Contact forces.

Here are some photos from Contact Force Investigations:

In November, we will begin our second unit, Thermal Energy. The Thermal Energy unit explores how containers keep things from changing temperature by having students investigate different cup designs and their features, model how thermal energy is transferred, and ultimately design their own insulated containers.

What We're Learning

We successfully wrapped up Unit 2: Solving Percent Problems at the end of October. In November, we are immediately diving into Unit 3: Operations with Integers. This is a shorter, yet critical, unit that will cover:

• Adding and subtracting integers.

• Multiplying and dividing integers.

• Simplifying expressions involving integers using order of operations

Term 1 Testing Goal

Our main goal is to complete Unit 3 and hold the Unit 3 Test before the end of the month. This will ensure your student has one final test grade to complete their Term 1 grade. The exact testing date is To Be Determined (TBD); please look out for an update on this and other important dates in the upcoming Talking Points announcements.

Math Class in Action

We believe math is a team sport! As you can see in the included photos, students have been actively engaged in group work, utilizing our vertical working spaces to review, teach, and learn from one another. This collaborative and hands-on approach keeps math concepts engaging and far from boring.

Please review the upcoming Talking Points for important dates and feel free to reach out with any questions you may have. I hope everyone is enjoying the nice fall weather!

We have finished Module 1: Proportions and Unit Rates

• Using ratio tables to determine proportionality

• Completing a Proportion Station activity for Lesson 1.3

• Using graphs to determine proportionality

• Finding the constant of proportionality

We have started Module 2: Percents!

Covered so far:

• Percent of a Number
• Discounts
• Sales Tax, Tips, and Commission

In the weeks ahead we will be looking at practicing our percent skills in a Cactus Grill Project that looks at Sales Tax, Tips, Commissions, and Discounts. Further ahead, we will be learning about Percent Change and Percent Errors.

Wrapping up our Percents unit with a Christmas Shopping Spree Project and a Module 2 Test.

You can help your child strengthen their understanding of percents by connecting them to everyday situations:

• When shopping, ask your child to calculate the discount on a sale item or the sales tax on a purchase.

• At restaurants, have them figure out the tip on a bill (for example, 15%, 18%, or 20%).

• Talk about commission by discussing how people in sales earn a percent of what they sell.

• Use simple examples of percent increase or decrease, like comparing last week’s gas price to this week’s or tracking changes in the weather forecast.

These real-life applications help students see how math shows up everywhere — and build confidence using it beyond the classroom.

In Social Studies class, we have been learning about the ancient civilizations of South Asia and trying to understand how different belief systems and leaders influenced people’s lives. We spent some time examining different artifacts from the Harappan society, which developed along the Indus River Valley. Students worked with a partner to examine the evidence and turned their findings into a paragraph.

Then, we have been learning about the origins and essential beliefs of Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions and see how they have developed over time. We will then study the Mauryan Empire of India and ask larger questions about government, like ‘what makes a good ruler?’ Before Thanksgiving break, we will be wrapping up our Unit 1 study of South Asia by looking at the contributions of common people in creating the Gupta Empire’s success, and then diving into our Unit 1 assessment.

Our Unit 1 Assessment will be a multi-day performance based task where students will review the many lessons about South Asia, identify common themes that connect the lessons and then write a paragraph describing their key take-aways from the unit.

Right after the Thanksgiving break, we will be launching into Unit 2: East Asia, including the countries of China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia and Vietnam. We will begin by learning about the geography of the region as well before moving into the history.

Quiz! What do you know about the Harappans? (Ask your student for help!)

1. They had a very sophisticated government where kings ruled each city

2. Despite being 4,000 years old, ancient cities show evidence of plumbing and bathrooms for nearly every home!

3. There isn’t anything new left to learn about the Harappans thanks to all the books and journals they left

As a reminder, please continue to check PowerSchool regularly for updated grades and assignments. Students should also be reviewing their own grades and monitoring any missing work in PowerSchool. To support this, students will be provided with organization and planning documents designed to help them prioritize missing assignments and stay on top of upcoming due dates. These tools are meant to encourage independent learning and build executive functioning skills, while also fostering responsibility, awareness, and accountability for their academics.

November 4- No School for Students

November 7- All School Dance

November 11- No School

November 17th week- Spirit Week and All School Pep Rally

November 25- End of Trimester 1 (Grades Close)

November 26-28- Thanksgiving Break