Cluster 4 Bi-Weekly Update

Unit 3 continued with formulating comprehension questions based on text statements. This written activity assisted with deepening comprehension about the reading “Gemini:The Twins.” Students are continuing to understand the who, what, when, and where questions of an informational text and can refer to details and examples in the text. Citing explicit text evidence will prepare students to write a CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) response to the unit’s final writing.

Students completed an anticipation guide to activate prior knowledge and to get the class excited about reading a new novel. Students shared their insights and connections to being “street smart,” the need for good friends, and acceptance as each prepared to read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Published in 1967, this coming-of-age novel details the conflict between the Greasers and the Socs as they make their way through the pressures of society. If you would like to read along with our class, a copy of the novel will be available. We’d love to have you join us!

In ELA, we are launching our first novel studies unit. We will read “The Outsiders” as a mentor text, then follow with a book clubs with students reading different books with similar themes. “The Outsiders” is a classic - a novel read by many generations and an often-named favorite book by students. To provide a balance, our book club books will address similar themes with more current contexts, diverse characters and issues of our times. In this unit, we will focus on characterization, how the elements of a story influence each other, and them. We will practice citing evidence from the text in short essays to build writing through the unit.

Our daily homework for ELA is to read! By term 2, many students have established the habit of reading 20-30 minutes a day - bravo!. For term 2, we will be reading class novels. Many days, students will begin a chapter in class and will finish the chapter on their own. On days a student doesn’t have pages to read in our class novel, they will continue reading in their independent reading books. We will continue to track and celebrate independent reading, but it will not be assessed this term. Please support your student by helping them set aside time at home to read and talking with them about what they are reading.

Learning Targets:

RL1

RL2

RL3

RL4

RL5

W2

a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information in paragraphs and sections, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include text features (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension

.b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

c. Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

e. Establish and maintain a style appropriate to audience and purpose (e.g., formal for academic writing).

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

SL1

a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.

L1

a. Use phrases and clauses to communicate ideas precisely, with attention to skillful use of verb tenses to add clarity.

L2

a. Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives (e.g., a fascinating, enjoyable movie).

b. Spell correctly, recognizing that some words have commonly accepted variations (e.g., donut/doughnut).

Hello!

We finished our unit on proportional reasoning with an assessment prior to Thanksgiving. We have 4 weeks until winter break and our next unit is focused on circles. In this unit, students explore the relationships between the radius, diameter, circumference, and area of a circle. Students also practice writing and using equations to calculate missing measurements. The first 2 weeks we will focus on Circumference of a Circle (Lessons 1–4 + Practice Day + Quiz). The final 2 weeks we’ll be looking at Section 2: Area of a Circle (Lessons 5–9 + Practice Day)

Here is a link to our Family Resource Information Sheet!

We have begun our third unit of study in Social Studies class this year. We are building on 6th-grade learning about the Abrahamic religions and culture by concentrating first on Hinduism and Buddhism. then studying how the ancient mythologies of Greece and Rome continue to infiltrate our modern lives.. The unit question is, “How do beliefs shape the way people live?” We began with overall ideas about the importance of religious literacy to our democracy. Now students are doing a deeper dive into a case study on Hinduism.

Students are continuing to work on many important social studies skills: executive functioning, nonfiction reading, map-reading, using multiple sources, using a table of contents in a book, and extracting key information as it relates to the learning targets. Students are able to access the social studies content through complementary texts and videos on Google Classroom.

Learning Targets

1. I can participate in classroom discussions (spoken and written) about world religions in a thoughtful, curious, and respectful manner ☮️

2. I can identify the origins and central beliefs in Hinduism ☸️ and Buddhism 🕉️ and explain how these beliefs may affect believers.

3. I can recognize and explain connections from ancient Greek and Roman mythology to modern culture 🦉 ⚡️🔱

We are almost finished learning about the circulatory system as part of our human body study. Students understand what is in our blood and how it is transported around our bodies. They are also seeing how different body systems interact for the survival of the organism. We have been working on several student skills in this unit. Students have developed their note-taking skills, and we practice using our notes to help us find, recall, understand, and memorize information. They have also created their own data tables on which they record their observations. We engage in a lot of student-to-student dialogue to help us understand and learn the material and we are practicing expressing our scientific understanding in writing.

Life Science Learning Targets:

• Classify organisms into the currently recognized kingdoms according to characteristics that they share. Be familiar with organisms from each kingdom.

• Describe the hierarchical organization of multicellular organisms from cells to tissues to organs to systems to organisms.

• Identify the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, protection from disease, and movement, control, and coordination) and describe ways that these systems interact with each other.