Team Chefchaouen

Ms. Stacey Gathers, 6th Grade Assistant Principal: Stacey.Gathers@k12.dc.gov

Mr. Marcus Brown, Math 6 and 7: marcus.brown@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Katlyn Clark, Multi Language Learning Specialist: katlyn.clark@k12.dc.gov

Mrs. Alease Medlock, Special Education: alease.medlock@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Ellie Sagan, Science: Ellie.Sagan@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Trenkle, World Geography and Cultures: Amy.Trenkle@k12.dc.gov

Please send notes to the attendance office when a child is absent. Emails should be sent to dealattendance@k12.dc.gov . Thank you for your support!!

Hello all, and welcome to 6th grade and Team Chefchaouen! We’re thrilled to have your child on our team, and we look forward to spending a fantastic year of learning together. This newsletter will be your guide to upcoming activities, important dates and assignments, special announcements, and more.

Team Chefchaouen students and teachers are shouting each other out! Read all about these peer and team inspired shout outs! This newsletter will be updated weekly and the latest edition can always be found in this newsletter! :)

https://www.smore.com/g3rez

Congratulations to Team Chefchaouen’s IB Learner Profile Students of the month: Antonio Harrison and Eldana Getahun. This month we are featuring Balanced learners. Balanced learners understand the importance of intellectual, physical, and emotional balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others. They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in order to support their learning and personal development.

All Deal students are expected to be in class and ready to learn promptly at 8:45 AM daily. To help build strong, healthy habits and ensure that students do not miss instructional time, the 6th grade team is assigning tardy hall to students who arrive to school after 9 AM without an excuse or who have established a pattern of late arrivals that are resulting in lost learning time. Students who are assigned tardy hall will stay after school with Ms. Watson, 6th grade dean, until 4:15 PM.

Students must bring pencils to each of their classes EVERY SINGLE DAY. Please check in with your students to see if they have enough pencils in their locker to be successful.

Parents and guardians, please check with your student to review the contents of the red folder and their agenda. We use both in 6th grade to keep track of assignments, study materials, and due dates. Please set aside dedicated time once or twice a week, with your student, to review this folder and clean it out as necessary. It is a great way to hear what your student is learning about and to plan for daily and upcoming activities and assignments. We are actively working to build strong routines now that will help your student be set for success in middle school and in life.

• Friday, April 5th - End of Quarter 3
  

What a fantastic week! Chefchaouen Geography students rock! Students had two arenas that we were working in: SDGs and our Field Trip (prep, the trip and writing!). Students spent part of the week exploring their selected Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and created a 6 slide PowerPoint Presentation. The other part of the week was spent in preparing for our field trip with our SAAM pre lesson, the field trip, and writing our creative writing.

I want to congratulate students on their participation in the field trip on Thursday! And I have been so impressed by the creative writing I’ve read from our SAAM visit! SAAM writing was started when we returned from our trip and should have been shared with me already. SAAM writing must be finished by Monday at the latest. I will print it and then we will complete our drawings in class on Tuesday. The assignment and a learning lab with each of the images and information about each is in Canvas. Next week we will work on our NPG assignment in class: A letter to a global citizen.

On Monday we will start our Unit 6 maps: Europe! We will have our map quiz on Monday, April 8. We will begin the content of our unit, economic systems, when we return from spring break.

Keep up the great work Chaouens! I’m very proud of your work and energy!!!

PS:! A shout out to the students who have been coming to tutoring on Thursdays! I love your community vibe and thoughtful responses! You are a joy to work with! As a reminder, tutoring is open to all Chaouens on Thursdays from 3:30-4:20 pm in either Ms. Trenkle’s or Ms. Sagan’s room and with Ms. Trenkle, Ms. Clark, or Ms. Sagan. The schedule is posted in our team hallway.

I’ve created an Amazon wishlist of supplies for our classroom. Any donations support all students on Team Chefchaouen in our daily activities. Thank you in advance for your continued support! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/FKRNR7Q6JU6?ref_=wl_share Thank you for kind and generous gifts that have been sent—they are already being put to use!!!

Math 6

This week in Math 6 students worked on solving one and two step equations. This coming week students will work on solving and graphing inequalities and identifying the solution set.

Math 7

This week in Math 7 students worked on solving two step equations and two steps inequalities. Students also completed a Summative Assessment. This coming week students will work on solving and graphing two step inequality word problems and will be provided the opportunity to retake current and past assessments and assignments

Students have the opportunity to retake SOAR HW Assignments and previously taken unsatisfactory assessments by checking Canvas for an announcement sharing the links and instructions for completing these retake tasks. Students should complete all assignments to the best of your ability and share with Mr. Brown any problems or possible issues occurring while testing

We are offering the iReady Spring Sprint on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Tuesday, March 19th to Thursday, April 11th. This program will be held after school from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Students will be taught lessons by Deal teachers on Tuesdays and are expected to pass the iReady lesson aligned to that content on the Thursday of each week. This will strategically push them to be on or above grade level by the End of Year iReady Assessment in June and a Level 4 or 5 on the DC CAPE assessment in April/May.

Starting on 2/12 classes will begin competing against other in class teams in a “CFU (Daily) Challenge” where students will receive and complete a “Check For Understanding Question” based on the current day’s lesson. Teams with the highest average will receive an Incentive Day reward. This 1-3 question assignment will be graded to demonstrate daily mastery.

• If provided a retake opportunity.. 100-Correct/80-Correct After Re-TEACH/ 65-Incorrect After Reteach
• If not provided retake opportunity... 100-Correct/75-Incorrect

In an attempt to provide extended help outside of the classroom I am making the Virtual Classroom available after school from Monday – Wednesday 6pm to 8pm for students to take additional notes and get extra help from the teacher with the following scheduled days: Mondays –Math 6, Tuesdays –Math 7, Wednesdays –Both. Students will be supervised while in the Virtual Classroom during these sessions and the Virtual Spaces will remain closed during all other hours unless announced otherwise, as students are not permitted to be in the virtual spaces during school hours nor unsupervised.

Students are required to pass one iready assignment by Monday morning each week. Students when given an option are encouraged to complete teacher assigned lessons before my-path lessons however either are acceptable to reach the minimum weekly requirement. Students having zero’s in their gradebook for not having previously passed the minimum weekly requirement have the opportunity to replace them if they have exceeded the minimum weekly amount for that week. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays can attend irecess where students may work on iready assignments in Mr. Brown’s classroom during their recess period. This is HIGHLY encouraged for those needing to make up iready lessons.

REMINDER - When Mr. Brown is not present, i-Recess is cancelled.

Hello scientists!

This past week we dove right into the water cycle and how it moves through different systems on Earth. This flowed into our lessons on wind, where students learned more about how equilibrium affects the world around us.

Next week we will be deepening our understanding of wind, clouds, pressure systems, and other weather events. This will culminate in our Critical Juncture Assessment, which will be given on Amplify on Wednesday. This will assess the midpoint of student learning from the beginning of the unit.

As the new quarter approaches, we are diving back into our roots! This week's roots are:

Mono = 1 in Greek (think monocle, monotonous, monogram)

Hepta = 7 (think heptagon, heptahedron)

Centric = center (think heliocentric, geocentric)

Dia = across, through (think diagonal, diameter)

Fract = broken, crushed (think fraction, fracture)

Blooket is a fantastic tool that helps students learn the materials in a series of flashcards mini games. I highly recommend that students make an account - they are free and are a fantastic study resource. Once students make an account, they can click on the links in Canvas . Once they click on the assignment, a gray box will pop up, since Canvas cannot host Blooket games. Please tell your children to click the name of the Blooket (above the gray box) to be redirected to the website. Happy Studying!

My wishlist link should hopefully be working again! Thank you to everyone who has donated - I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness ❤️

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/dl/invite/0R5ZjVv?ref_=wl_share

Please ensure that your students are working on their systems of organization!

This week in science we had several vocabulary words that you can review with your student to build up their academic vocabulary.

1. Thermal Equilibrium: Achieved when both objects reach the same temperature
2. Air Mass: a large body of air with relatively the same temperature, pressure, and humidity
3. Air Parcel: the amount of air that tends to move together
4. Condensation: when water vapor in the air turns to liquid water

Even taking a few minutes over the weekend to review these words with students can make a big difference!

Want to support my classroom? My amazon wishlist is below!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/6RAHMLS3MUIO?ref_=wl_share

Each month our school community celebrates one of our IB Learner Traits. The team teachers discuss who to nominate and chooses two students from our Team Chefchaouen students who have demonstrated this characteristic in all of our classes. Stay tuned as we continue to celebrate all year!

Each month our school community celebrates one of our IB Learner Traits. The team teachers discuss who to nominate and chooses two students from our Team Chefchaouen students who have demonstrated this characteristic in all of our classes. Stay tuned as we continue to celebrate all year, and make sure to shout out our past learners!

Congratulations to Orla Ventresca and Pedro Braga who are recognized as Team Chefchaouen's Thinkers for the month of February IB Learner Profiles. Thinkers are people who exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively. They recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions.

For the month of January, we celebrate the IB Learning trait of Reflective and recognize Jack Maciocha and Sarem Dawit. Students who are REFLECTIVE know what they are good at and what they’re not. They try to think about these things, and they make changes where they can. They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and consider their personal strengths and weaknesses in a constructive manner.

For the month of December, we celebrate the IB Learning trait of Knowledgeable and recognize Sathvik Dutta-Gupta and Violet Anello. Knowledgeable learners explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global significance. In doing so, they acquire in-depth knowledge and develop understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines.

Congratulations to Kayla Perez-Sandoval and Jesse Poehlman for being selected as Team Chefchaouen's Caring students for the month of November! Students who are CARING want people around them to be happy and are sensitive to their needs. They think about the world and work to take care of their community and the environment. They remember to treat others how they themselves would like to be treated.

Congratulations to Tristan Evans and Iris Campbell for being selected as Team Chefchaouen's Inquirer students for the Month of October! Inquirers nurture curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. They know how to learn independently and with others. They learn with enthusiasm and sustain their love of learning throughout life.

Congratulations to Wyatt Hartig and Samayah Stephens for being selected as Team Chefchaouen's Risk Taker students for the Month of September! This means students exhibit the IB learner profile of a student who approaches uncertainty with forethoughts and determination; Risk-takers work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies. Risk-Takers are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change.

Don't miss out on information and resources from the Deal MS Library! Read the library newsletter! The latest edition features reading recommendations for the holidays, Mr. Reichlen's Must Reads list for December, Information about the Washington Wizards' Winter Reading Challenge, and more! Click the link to read the newsletter:

https://www.smore.com/vzaqf2

Monday, 3/4/24 is Read Across America Day. In support, Mr. Reichlen has created two Flipgrid video challenges. One for staff and one for students. The idea is two record a short video using the link below. Parents and families can also record a video using the teacher and staff link

Students will use the app Flipgrid to make a 90-second video to promote a book that they have enjoyed or read a passage from either a book or poem. Students can also read a creative work that they have authored. Flipgrid is a Microsoft app so it can be accessed through the student's 365 portal. When a student clicks on the link below, they should login using the "Microsoft Login" option.

https://flip.com/66f3df9b - Student challenge

https://flip.com/f21ed523 - Teacher and staff challenge (Also available to parents and families).

Please reach out to Mr. Reichlen with any questions about the process at: stephen.reichlen@k12.dc.gov. The window for submissions is open until March 15th.

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