Team Kathmandu: Week 4
September 19, 2025
Save the Date!
Tuesday, Sept. 23: 6th Grade Picture Day
Thursday, Sept. 25: FIRST FIELD TRIP: Sandy Spring Adventure Park
Saturday, Sept. 27: 6th Grade BBQ (11-1 @ Deal)
Thursday, Oct. 9: Student Led Conferences
Friday, Oct. 10: No School, Prof. Development Day for Teachers
Monday, Oct. 13: No School, Indigenous People's Day
Sandy Spring Field Trip
Next week is our field trip for Sandy Spring on Thursday. Students should arrive at the regular time and report to the cafeteria. Students need to bring a lunch to eat at Sandy Spring and wear clothes for a day outdoors. They must wear closed-toed shoes. Layers are recommended. Bring a water bottle. It is suggested that students bring a string backpack to carry their lunch, water bottle, and layers (as the day gets warm). No money is needed for this trip.
Students who have not yet turned in their permission slip and/or money to Ms. Trenkle should do so no later than Monday. Parents/guardians with concerns should reach out to our Grade Level Assistant Principal Ms. Gathers.
Please make sure you have completed the online waiver! Students cannot get into the trees until the online waiver is completed.
Thank you for all the returned Sandy Spring forms and money! Team Kathmandu is rocking it! Please return signed permission slip ASAP. Money can be turned in separately up until our trip on September 25. Students must turn their permission slip and money in to Ms. Trenkle during Geography class. It is asked for every day in class.
There are three parts to prepare for this trip:
- Sign and return the permission slip (needed for DCPS) (this is paper only and return to Ms. Trenkle)
- Complete the waiver tinyurl.com/Kathmandu2526 (needed for students to get in a harness)—this is online only.
- Return the $50 (cash, check, or Money Order) (there is not electronic payment location at this time, please turn in only to Ms. Trenkle)
English: Permission Slip 09 25 English Kathmandu.pdf
Geography with Ms. Trenkle
This week in Geography we practiced, practiced, practiced our map skills in preparation for our Unit 1 Summative which we took on Wednesday. On Thursday we put our map skills to practical use by reading DC Maps. On Friday we rolled out our CEA (Current Events Analysis) weekly assignment. We all read one article together (about what is happening in Kathmandu!!!) and completed a CEA exemplar for students to keep as a reference in their binder. Starting Monday students will receive a weekly current events article to read and an analysis handout to complete. The article and the template will be posted in Canvas by Monday a.m. and is due by the start of class on Friday. It is an engagement grade each week. Students will turn in a hard copy of their work on Friday in class. Students may turn it in the following Monday for a late grade of 20% deduction. After that the assignment is not accepted. Students will receive feedback on their CEAs each week—on their paper and their grade will be in Aspen.
Next week we will begin investigating our own communities. Students will be asked to make observations and a map of their community as a homework assignment. They may walk and take notes and map and/or use Googlemaps. We will do a practice example of Wisconsin and Abelmarle as our study in class. Ultimately, students will be asked to write an action letter about an improvement to their community they would like to see addressed by a community leader.
Congratulations Team Kathmandu on finishing our world map! It looks great and is a centerpiece of our classroom—serving as a reference point and a source of pride! In the coming weeks we will start to post postcards to it to show what the place on the map looks like! New this year, we have a digital postcard link as well where people can post a picture and write about their experience there! It is then mapped on a digital map. To view or post a digital postcard, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/KathmanduPostcards.
Thank you to all the parents who came out to Back to School Night! So nice to see you again/meet you! Slides for my BTSN presentation can be found here: TRENKLE_BTS_SLIDES
Starting today, we will have a student scribe share a bit about the class from their perspective in our GeoNewsletter! Follow along and see the class through your students’ eyes! https://secure.smore.com/n/nbc3t
For the fall semester, Ms. Holden will be joining our class. She is a Museum Education Program (MEP) graduate student at The George Washington University. She is with us on Mondays and Wednesdays. She has met all students and will be working with us to learn how to scaffold museum education for middle schoolers. We are excited to have her!
Amy Trenkle
Math with Mr. Brown
It was a pleasure meeting parents during our Back to School Night (BTSN). Both the slides presentation as well as the Deal Math Acceleration Policy links are attached to this document at the request of a few parents. In class, during this week’s Short Cycle Assessment (SCA), students continued working on multi digit multiplication with decimals.
This week in Accelerated 6th Grade Math
This week, students worked on using the greatest common factors in simplifying and dividing proper and improper fractions to solve word problems (at differentiated levels). It is imperative that students master their basic multiplication facts. This week students will continue to review previous decimal operations concepts taught. Students should take advantage of iRecess (a quiet space to work and get help during recess MWF), our Virtual Classroom (www.framevr.io/brownmath after school help available upon request), and our Parking Lot (an in class means to submit requests, reminders, and questions) which are amongst various resources available to students outside of their normal class periods (and Advisory) to help towards success. Resources available from Illustrative Mathematics to assist families with the curriculum we are following can be found at https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS/index.html.
This week in 7th Grade
This week students worked on introduction to proportional relationships, related concepts, and its real-world application. Students will continue to analyze graphs, tables, equations, and word problems related to proportional relationships. Students will receive a short project on Unit Rate (Monday) which will be due at the time of taking a Formative Assessment this Friday on the same topic, Proportional Relationships. Please encourage your child to take advantage of iRecess (a quiet space to work and get help during recess MWF), our Virtual Classroom (www.framevr.io/brownmath after school help available upon request), and our Parking Lot (an in class means to submit requests, reminders, and questions) and all resources available to students outside of their normal class periods to help towards success. Resources available from Illustrative Mathematics to assist families with the curriculum we are following can be found at https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS/index.html.
Back to School Night Presentation
CLICK HERE
Thank you for your support
-Mr. Brown
Science with Ms. Johnson
Hello families!
Thank you for attending Back to School Night (slide for BTNS); we had a wonderful turnout! This week, students engaged in their first investigation, The Slime Lab, which allowed them to apply their understanding of the scientific method.
Monday, September 22nd, students will complete their Scientific Method summative. This is the same test as the pre-test they took at the start of last week so they can show their growth.
Next week, we will start UNIT 1, where students will begin to investigate their first scientific phenomenon, Plate Motion. We will start with the Law of Superposition, which will teach students how to figure out the relative age of rocks and fossils.
Also, next Tuesday, September 23rd students will attend Picture Day during their science classes. Make sure they are wearing a fun outfit.
Please note that the weekly Roots Quiz 1.4 will be held on Friday, September 26th, with the vocabulary words listed below.
Roots Words 1.4
Pyro = fire, heat (Think: pyromaniac, pyrotectnics)
Chrono = time (Think: chronology, chronic)
Topo = place, area (Think: topographic, topology)
*seismo = to shake (Think: seismology, seismograph)
Trans = over, across, through (Think: transfer, transport)
Keepers: uni, bi, tri, cent, post, gen, poly, sub, hyper, pre
shanishka.johnson@k12.dc.gov
English Language Arts with Ms. Byrns
This week students read, discussed and wrote about “The Scholarship Jacket” and Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks.” We focused on organizing literary analysis paragraphs into claim, evidence, reasoning and then adding a second piece of evidence and further reasoning. On Friday, students took their first Unit Skills Check assessment. I should have these graded and in Aspen in the next couple days.
Next week students will read “The Medicine Bag” by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve. Students will practice selecting the most relevant evidence in support of a claim. Students will take the unit’s vocabulary quiz on Monday.
Thank you all who attended Back to School. You can find the entire slide deck below. Common Lit. Frequently asked questions are HERE. And finally, for additional questions regarding Common Lit., please use this link.
Katy Byrns
Math 6 Resource with Mr. Shufelt
I’m very sorry to have missed the Back to School night this week, but I am happy to be back with students starting today.
This week students in Accelerated Math 6 worked on finding the GCF (Greatest Common Factor) between two numbers and using that to simplify fractions. Next week we will work on dividing proper and mixed fractions as well as converting between improper and mixed fractions. Just as a reminder, students have one iReady lesson due each Monday. Their homework on Pear is due every Wednesday and Friday.
Resources available from Illustrative Mathematics to assist families with the curriculum we are following can be found at https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS/index.html.
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns:
6th Grade BBQ
Saturday, September 27
11 AM - 1 PM
Families are invited to join the 6th grade team for food and fun!
We could also use the help of parent volunteers. If you'd like to sign up, please complete this form. We need your support with:
- Setting Up - 9:30 - 11:00 AM - Come out early to help us get ready for the festivities!
- Grilling - 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
- Buffet Maintenance - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Keep things neat and tidy!
- Grilling - 12:00 - 1:00 PM
- Buffet Maintenance - 12:00 - 1:00 PM
- Clean Up - 1:00 - 2:00 PM
Deal Clubs
Is your child looking to meet some new friends? Or maybe they just want to join an afterschool activity. You can find the current list of Deal Clubs in the document below.
Attendance
Beginning this year, families are required to submit excuse notes for students in Aspen GO—the mobile-friendly version of Aspen Parent Portal. The previously existing online system we used has been disabled.
Instructions on how to submit an excuse note are available below.
Submitting an Excuse Note in Aspen GO (Parent Portal).pdf - 443.2 KB (pdf)
Envío de una nota justificativa en Aspen GO (Portal para padres).pdf - 543.4 KB (pdf)
Soumettre une note d'excuse dans Aspen GO (portail parents).pdf - 489.0 KB (pdf)
በ‘Aspen GO’ (የወላጅ ፖርታልParent Portal) ላይ፣ ፈቃድ-ማግኛ ማስታወሻ (Excuse Note)ን ማስገባት.pdf - 504.7 KB (pdf)
在 Aspen GO（家长门户）中提交请假条.pdf - 507.6 KB (pdf)
Nộp Giấy Xin Phép Nghỉ học Trên Aspen GO (Cổng Thông Tin Phụ Huynh).pdf - 315.5 KB (pdf)
Additional information on how to use the Parent Portal can be found at dcps.dc.gov/page/parent-portal.
Library Corner with Mr. Reichlan
Learn about the great things happening this month at Deal's library. Check out great books and media, read about events at Deal and around the city, and stay connected with Deal's Library:
https://secure.smore.com/n/rnz0a
Stephen Reichlen
Library Media Specialist
Deal MS – DC Public Schools
