Cluster 6 Newsletter (10/24)

Student-Family-Teacher conferences will be held on Thursday, October 27 and Tuesday, November 1.

• To sign up use this link: Cluster 6 Conference Sign-Up
• For online conferences, use this Zoom link: Cluster 6 Online Conference Link
• Additional information can be found here: Student-Family-Teacher Conferences Info
  
  

Here is the link to the specialist S'more (Music, Tech Ed, Health, Art, Library)

Here is the link to the Reading S'more (for students in Reading classes)

Here is the link to the Wilson S'more (for students in Wilson classes)

Fall is coming at us in full force and there’s nothing I love more than Fall in New England!

For the next few weeks in ELA class, students will be reading their first whole-class novel, Warcross by Marie Lu. Students will be expected to read some of the novel independently (at home). Please try to engage in conversations about the book with your 8th grader- and encourage reading some of the novel at home.

In class, students are engaging in mini-lessons on targeted reading skills, and using sticky notes to show their understanding as they read. We are having such a great time in class with engaging discussions and working on our speaking and listening skills.

-Click Here for a quick summary of Warcross on goodreads.

-🔊Audiobook available for all students on SORA

- 💻📖 DIGITAL copy of the book available for all students on SORA (no more, “I forgot my book at school!” comments lol)

Take care and please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Last week we learned about plate tectonics, a theory that ties together concepts from our previous weeks studying earth science. Next week we will learn about volcanoes and then begin reviewing all the content from the Earth Science unit (Unit 1 Learning Objectives), in preparation for a cumulative unit test and a project. The Earth Science Unit Test is scheduled for Monday, October 31st for all classes. Find additional tools to prepare for the unit test here: Additional Earth Science Study Materials

After the Unit Test, students will start the final activity in the earth science unit: the life story of a landform. Students will select a landform to research and then create a presentation to tell their landform's creation story and history. They will create a model to represent their landform.

Learning Objectives for next week (10/24-10/28):

• Review content from the unit to prepare for Unit Test

Learning Objectives for after the Unit Test (11/1-11/4):

• I can explain and create models to show how the Earth is a dynamic system.

• I can explain how movement of tectonic plates created a specific landform.

Level 1 8th Grade Math classes have begun Unit 2 of our curriculum, which covers dilations, scale factor, and slope/rates of change. Understanding slope is a major stepping stone towards understanding all sorts of equations and relationships, eventually leading to quadratic and exponential relationships. We will soon be predicting values by using rates of change, and eventually decide whether a relationship is linear or otherwise.

The Algebra class is now deep into our Algebra curriculum. We are solving multistep equations and proving true solutions, and will soon be solving very complicated equations. This part of the curriculum can prove very valuable for not only high school math, but also physics!

Our Civics classes are well on their way to understanding the structure of government! We’ve learned about the big picture of government having three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) and three levels (federal, state, and local). Now, we’re diving in more deeply to each branch, learning about their unique powers and responsibilities.

Next week, we’ll apply our new knowledge of government to a non-partisan unit on the 2022 Elections. Students will learn election vocabulary, study what’s on the Massachusetts ballot (both candidates and issues), and research the candidates in the race for governor of Massachusetts.

Current Learning Targets:

• I can name the powers of the legislative branch.

• I can explain how a bill becomes a law.

• I can understand the responsibilities and powers of the President.

• I can understand the size of the executive branch and name some of the work it does.

Entering (ELD 1)

This week, we learned how to give orders using the imperative tense: “Sit! Cut! Wash! Walk!” and connected this to explain how to make meals and snacks. We also used mathematical vocabulary such as circular, triangular, and rectangular to describe food.

Next week, students will use their knowledge of explanation and description to create a video. In the video, students will speak, show, and write up the steps to creating a recipe.

Emerging (ELD 2)

This week we finished our unit on cause and effect and are learning about writing a friendly email. Our passage of the week was called Dog Detectives, and it was about how dogs help emergency workers. Next week we will begin learning about irregular present tense verbs.

Phonics

This week we worked on short o and our new high frequency words. Next week we will work with the short i sound, start new high frequency words, and work with Ms. Spillert to do a project on Bookcreator.