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

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.

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.

• Tuesday, April 9th: Last day with computers before DC CAPE
• Monday, April 15th - Friday, April 19th: Spring Break
  
• Tuesday, April 30th - Friday, May 10th: DC CAPE Testing

This week in Geography we have dabbled in many geographic arenas. Students were introduced to our Unit 6 geographic region: Europe. They are busy practicing the locations of the countries and physical features of the continent. On Tuesday we worked on our SAAM drawings (to illustrate our amazing creative writing pieces from our museum visit). On Wednesday we had our NPG Post visit and continued our conversation surrounding global citizenship. Mr. Memminger visited all Geography classes this week and shared the importance of good mental health with us on Thursday.

Next week we will do our thematic maps for Europe on Monday. Tuesday we have a DC CAPE dress rehearsal where students will take their math test in their DC CAPE setting and have extended homeroom. Afterwards we will review for our map quiz (moved to Thursday!) and students will be introduced to their NPG assignment. On Wednesday the German Embassy will be visiting to discuss agriculture, bees, and the environment with our class as a part of our Embassy Adoption program. Thursday, after our map quiz, and on Friday, students will work on their NPG letter writing and portrait!

Congratulations to our five Team Chefchaouen GeoBee Participants in our annual 6th Grade GeoBee that was held on Tuesday! Participants from Team Chefchaouen were Gus Eckstrom-Montgomery, Tristan Evans, Carl Seidlin, Sathvik Duttagupta, and Coleman Walsh. All represented themselves and Team Chefchaouen so proudly! Special shout out to Coleman who came in 2nd, just behind Team Capetown winner, Elliott D. Keep being Geography Superstars!

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 and calculating the area of triangles and parallelograms. This coming week students will continue working on solving and graphing inequalities and related word problems as well as calculating the area of various shapes

Math 7

This week in Math 7 students completed a Summative Assessment on solving two step equations and two steps inequalities. This coming week students will work on calculating the area and volume of two and three dimensional shapes

Students have the opportunity to retake SOAR HW Assignments at request when scoring below an 80%. If scoring below an 80%, students are welcomed to seek help during designated times (iRecess, Advisory, after school). Students will have their electronic devices collected in preparation for DC CAPE and therefore will be receiving “SOAR on Paper.” Please encourage students to practice showing work in solving problems. Students should complete all assignments to the best of their ability and share any problems or possible issues occurring while testing with Mr. Brown.

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, and welcome to Term 4! This past week we deepened our understanding of wind, clouds, and pressure systems.

This week, our students will continue their journey through the Weather Patterns unit by delving into the concept of fronts and exploring how they impact weather. Additionally, they will engage in an activity focused on predicting the probability of hurricanes, fostering critical thinking and scientific inquiry.

As part of their ongoing academic progress, students are encouraged to study diligently for their upcoming Roots Quiz 4.2, scheduled for Friday, April 12th, during class time. In addition to these topics, students will also participate in a brief lesson on the upcoming eclipse, learning about safe practices for viewing an eclipse.

Gear up for Monday, scientists! We will be having a mini-lesson on solar eclipses in science classes on Monday to refresh the students' knowledge from Unit 2. Eclipse glasses will be provided for a safe viewing experience.

For the people at home - solar eclipses are an incredible natural phenomenon that occurs when the moon moves precisely in front of the sun. Your students can remind you that this happens occasionally during a new moon, but it does not happen every month since the moon's orbit is on a 5° tilt, so its shadow frequently misses the surface.

It is not safe to stare directly at a solar eclipse without proper protection. Students will be provided with eclipse glasses, but if you have your own at home PLEASE ensure that they are ISO certified, as counterfeits may not be strong enough to protect your eyes.

Fun roots fact: the moon's shadow is called an umbra, which means shadow in Latin. This is where we get words like umbrella or the phrase "to take umbrage."

This week's roots are:

Anthropo = human (think anthropology, anthropocentric)

Insula = island (think insulated, peninsula)

Auto = self (think autobiography, autotroph)

Toxic = poison (think toxicology, toxin)

Biblio = book (think bibliography, bibliophile)

Keepers: mono, dia, fract

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.

• Weather: The conditions such as clouds, rain, and wind at a specific time and place.
• Troposphere: The layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth, where weather happens.
• Weather Front: The boundary between two different air masses that usually results in precipitation.
• High Pressure Area: Cold air sinks; Dry conditions with no clouds; Bright and sunny weather
• Low Pressure Area: Warm air rises; As air expands, it cools and condenses into clouds; Wet and rainy weather

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

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

Check out the April edition of Mr. Reichlen's library newsletter! This month's highlights include:

• April monthly theme resources for Autism Awareness, Jazz Appreciation, Earth Day, and National Poetry Month! Resources include library and SORA book collections and web links.

• Resources for students and families to get extra help with homework, test preparation, and live tutoring from the public library.

• Mr. Reichlen's Must Reads book recommendations and more!

Find and subscribe to the newsletter at: https://www.smore.com/u/stephenreichlen4

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 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.

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.

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