Thank you to all who have filled out the 5E survey! In case you haven't had a chance yet, here's the link.
5 Essentials Parent/Guardian Survey-English & Spanish
Feb. 14- No Missing Work Party at 3pm
Please sign up for our Valentine's Day Cookie Party!
Feb. 17- Presidents’ Day- No School
Feb. 25 - 27: TIPP for selected students
March 11 - ALP Projects Due (students will still have time for improvements)
Mar. 13- Drama Club Play at 5pm Crossroads
April 3rd - ALP Showcase Evening 6:00 - 7:00 pm (students will display their ALP Projects and be ready to share project details - more info to come!)
Shout Outs!
Audrey - won first place in the school spelling bee and will advance to regionals
Jayden- tied for second place in the school spelling bee
Olivia, Olive, and Rihann for taking on the challenge of working on the independent study project in Social Studies, on their own time!
Claire for being the first student to ask a clarifying question about the current issues presentation in Social Studies!
Olivia auditioned for and made All State Choir and gets to sing in Denver!
In February we will focus on writing different types of essays including informational, narrative, and literary analysis. In sixth grade, we are beginning with a literary analysis essay focused on the short story We Beat the Street. In seventh grade, we are writing an informational essay based on the non-fiction text The Vanishing Island. In eighth grade, we are finishing our book study Inside Out and Back Again and using the text to answer the overarching question, “How does where we live affect how we live?”
We will focus on pre-writing planning, crafting a strong thesis, citing evidence from the text, explaining or expounding on each citation, and using transition words. We will begin a school-wide narrative writing competition towards the end of the month. Please remember to read outside reading books. The first book is due this Friday, Feb. 7 to be able to attend the No Missing Work Party.
Math 7: We will be wrapping up Module 3 this week and beginning Module 5. We temporarily skip Module 4 because Module 5 is tested much more heavily on CMAS and we want our students to be as prepared as possible. This module covers Percent and Applications of Percents. A good chunk of this brings us back around to proportions from Module 1.
Math 8: Our Math 8 students have finished Module 3 and started on Module 4. This covers Linear Equations in One and Two Variables. We start by solving one- and two-step equations. This can be challenging for some in this group as they were not exposed to it in Math 6 and Math 7. Please encourage patience and positivity with your kiddos - they will get it and it’s okay if it’s a challenge along the way!
Algebra 1: We are wrapping up Module 3 and beginning Module 4 in Algebra 1 this week. This module is on Quadratic Functions. We’ll start with graphing and understanding how they’re used, then move into factoring and completing the square, and finish the module with modeling quadratics.
6th Grade: In sixth grade, we are wrapping up our Aztec unit. Students will be choosing an Aztec artifact and writing a persona poem from the perspective of the artifact. Students really enjoyed the work of archaeologists, but they quickly realized that most digs are unfortunately nothing like the adventures of Indiana Jones. We will be working through our Incan unit. Don’t be surprised when you hear about us running relay races around the track holding secret messages on knotted strings, quipus. Does anyone have random strings they no longer need? Please feel free to send them our way!
7th Grade: In seventh grade, we are wrapping up our ancient India unit and jumping right into ancient China. Students are building their monsoon stupas this week and seeing if they can hold up to a torrential downpour. Seventh graders will become archaeologists this month and will be looking for real coins that they may keep! We do have a group of students working on independent study projects this month, and they are analyzing modern day concerns in India. We are looking forward to the problems and solutions they will be presenting.
8th Grade: In eighth grade, we are completing our unit on the Constitution. Students made their own ink; I was impressed by their chemistry skills! For our next unit, we will be changing it up with choice projects as we discover what there is to know about our early presidents. I am impressed by the connections our students are making and how passionate they are about the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Current Issues Presentations: All of our scholars will be self-selecting a current article to summarize, analyze, interrupt, and develop an opinion. I am excited to see students empowered to scour the news to find topics that are important. Each scholar will present once in February.
6th Grade: We explored thermal energy through the phenomena of making ice cream! We discussed how salt affects the temperature in ice. We are also working on our graphing skills to interpret our collected data from labs.
7th Grade: We are finishing up building our earthquake towers and will test their stability this week. We will then move onto building a volcano model and learn about fossils soon.
8th Grade: We are finishing up with the skeletal system and are moving onto the muscular system. Later this month, we will be dissecting pig lungs to investigate!
Side note - Spanish Club begins February 4th! This is for students who have never experienced learning Spanish before or would like a refresher on basic/introductory skills.
