Cluster 2 News
October 26, 2023
Cluster 2 News!
Hello Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers!
We are so proud of the sixth graders for leading their own conferences for the first time. They did a wonderful job reflecting on their experience at Watertown Middle School. The next round of conferences will be in March. Until then, please email teachers individually if you have any questions or concerns.
We are very fortunate to have Ms. Sherwood, an instructional assistant, as an integral part of cluster 2. Each day, she provides additional support to students in many of their classes.
Best,
Cluster 2 Team
English with Ms. Soares
Hello!
In October, we have been reading Inside Out and Back Again and learning about Ha’s journey from South Vietnam to America. Students have been practicing new vocabulary using the Frayer model and finding and interpreting signposts.
The expectation is that your student is reading for 20 minutes at least 4 days of the week. They can read books, graphic novels, comics, or listen to an audiobook. Some ways you can help your student is to remind them to read, bring them to the library, or even read with them.
If you would like to donate to our classroom library, please consider adding to our e-wallet during the book fair next week. These books will be housed in my library and are open to all cluster 2 students.
Social Studies with Mr. McDermott
This year, we have chosen to pilot instructional materials from Investigating History, a series of new curriculum units developed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in collaboration with Primary Source, a global education nonprofit based in Watertown. These units are aligned with the Massachusetts History and Social Science standards and are designed to develop students’ critical thinking skills through engaging, inquiry-driven, resource-rich activities. Each Investigating History unit has gone through a rigorous, three-year design and development process that included subject-matter experts, experts in social studies teaching, and practicing Massachusetts educators before being ready for use in your child’s classroom. Our teachers will also participate in ongoing professional development focused on the Investigating History materials throughout the year.
As part of the curriculum implementation process, some teachers may be participating in an independent, third-party evaluation conducted by Tufts University to better understand how the curriculum is working and how it can better serve all students and educators across Massachusetts. As a result, your child’s classroom may be observed and images of their work may be shared with researchers. Some students in grade 6 may also be asked to take a short, computer-based, non-evaluative assessment to measure student learning related to the curriculum. Rest assured that this assessment will not impact your students’ grades nor will students be photographed or their work identified except as being a part of the cohort of students in Watertown. Teachers will have access to the aggregated data at the conclusion of the school year as part of their work to refine the units for the coming school year.
Please direct any questions to the 8-12 Social Studies Coordinator, Kraig Gustafson (kraig.gustafson@watertown.k12.ma.us)
Unit 6.1 Human Origins
Essential Question
What were the most important turning points in early human history?
Enduring Understandings
Students will begin to understand that:
Modern human beings (Homo sapiens) developed from hominids, shaped by the forces of evolution and shifts in the climate. In turn, they shaped their environment through foraging and hunting, the use of fire, migration, plant and animal domestication, metallurgy, and the building of permanent settlements.
Humans experienced many transformations on the way to becoming Homo sapiens, not least physical changes to nearly every part of the body and an increase in the size and cognitive complexity of the brain. The latter led to a capacity for symbolic language and expression through music and art, and greater possibilities for learning and cooperation, distinguishing features of modern human minds.
Spread across many thousands of millennia, the turning points of the Paleolithic Era created modern human beings, while the innovations of the Neolithic Era, condensed into the past 12,000 years, created the conditions for complex societies to emerge.
Learning Targets:
I can practice creating timelines to illustrate how these tools are used to measure and represent the past.
I can apply knowledge about the work of different social scientists to a reading about prehistory.
I can apply knowledge about the work of different social scientists through an exercise in archaeological thinking.
I can argue a conclusion about how toolmaking was a turning point for hominins.
I can draw evidence from texts to describe and analyze the effects of changes to the human body and brain during the Paleolithic Era.
I can identify the effects of fire on human development
I can explain how cave art illustrates changes of the Paleolithic Cognitive Revolution.
I can form a conclusion about how Paleolithic artmaking represented a turning point in human activities.
I can accurately characterize elements of the Paleolithic lifestyle and argue which turning point of the era was most important.
Core Grade-Specific History/Social Science Practices for the Unit
Key Practice Standards (3) Organize information and data from multiple primary and secondary sources using timelines, categorization, and notes. (6) Argue or explain conclusions in the form of claims, cause-effect statements, and persuasive arguments, using valid reasoning and evidence.
Key Literacy Standards (R2) Determine the central ideas or information of a source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. (R7) Integrate visual with other information in print and digital texts. (W9) Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, interpretation, reflection, and research.
Math with Ms. Tammaro
Helpful Links: grading policies in Cluster 2 Math, an introduction to Desmos, family resource for Unit 2
In the last month, we’ve wrapped up our first unit on area and surface area. We also started looking at ratios. Students have been practicing saying and writing ratios from real life situations or pictures. We have also used ratio tables and double number lines to make and organize equivalent ratios. Since our first ratios quiz, we have been learning how to compare ratios, and will practice part-part-whole ratios before moving into Unit 3. Unit 3 will be a continuation of Unit 2 where we apply ratios to find things like unit rates and percentages.
Science with Ms. Ferguson
Last week, Sixth Grade Scientists scrambled to wrap up their Egg Drop Eggsperiments. Using the Engineering Design Process, they created unique packages to protect raw eggs from breaking from a great height. The twist was that the container and egg must have a mass under 150 grams. Therefore, the mass of each material used was weighed very carefully using the triple beam balance. With the eggcitement boiling over, they dropped their egg packages from the balcony in the main foyer of the school. Although the results were not always eggactly what they were expecting, fun was had by all.
What?!? Watermelons float and blueberries sink? How can that be possible? We are wrapping up our measuring unit by exploring density. Ask your student about it! Here are more density experiments you could try at home!
Topics for the unit:
Measuring Matter - mass, volume, and density
Learning Targets:
I can use a graduated cylinder, beaker, pipette, and ruler.
I can use a Triple Beam Balance.
Student Outcomes / Criteria for Success:
I can measure the volume of a liquid, irregular object, and a rectangular prism.
I can measure the mass of an object
I can calculate the density of an object
Standard
PS1. Matter and Its Interactions 6.MS-PS1-7(MA). Use a particulate model of matter to explain that density is the amount of matter (mass) in a given volume. Apply proportional reasoning to describe, calculate, and compare relative densities of different materials.
In case you missed it, here is more information about Science Class this year.
Best,
Ms. Ferguson
ELA with Ms. Martin
Hello Everyone! I am so excited to be part of the Cluster 2 Team. This school year has been off to a great start. Students have been busy learning new routines, schedules and expectations. I have been happy supporting all our 6th Grade Learners as they make this transition. As we move into new units, lessons and concepts I look forward to continuing to support our learners in various academic environments. Families and students with various accommodations will be hearing from myself or various staff members for meetings to help develop a plan to support your student best. Please reach out with any questions, concerns or comments as I am always happy to help! :)