Weekly Update

Cluster 5

Cluster Announcements

School Pictures are Monday, September 19th
Back to School Night is in person on Thursday, September 22nd
Wednesday, September 28th is an Early Release day

English/Language Arts

September 6-16

Awesome start for our returning 8th graders. There was lots of energy and excitement filling the classroom to an excellent beginning of the year.

After the first few days of technology set-ups, team building, and getting to know our community members, we began our first writing assignment. The About the Author assignment gives students an opportunity to share with others a bit about themselves. It's also a chance for us to get a quick writing sample (focusing on point of view, verb tenses, and organization.) We’re hoping the students will have fun with the writing and cannot wait to see the results.

Next week we will be completing the iReady reading diagnostic in class. This is a great tool to use as a “piece of the puzzle” to see where students are at for reading- and help for placement in WIN groupings.

Have a great weekend- looking like it is going to be a beautiful one. Go Pats!

Science

September 9, 2022

We have gotten off to a great start in 8th-grade science using lessons to bond us together as a class and create a culture of trust and respect that will prepare us to be a strong learning community this year. Ask your child about the Construction Challenge Assignment they did with their partners!

We are beginning our science learning over the next few weeks with our Earth Science unit and our objectives are listed below. Students will need the following supplies for science class starting on Monday (9/12):

a one-subject notebook (spiral or composition)
a small binder, or a section of a larger binder, or a folder
pencils

Learning Objectives for Unit 1: Earth Science

1.0 I can explain why we use models in science and analyze models for accuracy

I can explain why models are useful tools for scientific phenomena that are too big, too small, or too complex to study in actual form.
I can give examples of scientific models.
I can identify the strengths and weaknesses of scientific models.

1.1 I can identify and describe the layers of the Earth

I can identify the layers of the Earth.
I can describe the characteristics unique to each layer of the Earth.
I can understand how the layers of the Earth formed based on their differing densities.

Civics

September 9, 2022

This year in Social Studies, your child will be taking Civics, which is the study of how citizens and residents of the United States use their rights and responsibilities to solve problems in our communities. We learn about American government and US history, and we focus on helping students become informed and empowered to make the change they want to see in the world!

Right now, we are learning the routines and expectations of class, and are beginning to think about our own individual identities and our identity as a country. Next week, we will be working together as a class to create a huge U.S. Identity Map.

Current Learning Targets:

define our individual identity and name some things that influence it
research aspects of our country’s identity and take notes about it
define some of the values of American political and civil life
creatively and visually represent our country’s identity

Math

During this week we have been working on collaborating in groups. We have completed several different activities in class where the students had to work together to achieve a common goal.

Next week, we will be starting our first unit, which is titled "Transformations". In this unit students will learn how to slide, turn, flip and dilate shapes. This unit will take approximately 3-4 weeks and students will have 2 assessments during this unit. If you are curious what our curriculum looks like I encourage you have your student login to DESMOS so you can see it for yourself!

I know some people have reached out in regards to homework and I wanted to make it clear that the majority of my homework will not be graded. There might be a few assignments that are but that will be clarified with the students ahead of time so they know.

English Language Development classes

Entering (ELD 1)

Welcome to WMS!

I am Ms. Rix and I am happy to be teaching you this year.

This week we have learned to introduce ourselves, say what we need, and what we like. Ask your students how to greet people in English, answer “How are you?”, or ask some common school questions.

Next week, we will continue to build our skills in explaining who we are, what we like, what we need in school, and how to explain our school schedule.

Emerging (ELD 2)

Welcome! I am so excited to be teaching you this year! This week we did a lot of community building and activities to get to know each other better. We practiced asking and answering questions about ourselves in complete sentences. Next week, we will start with taking i-Ready ELA, a school wide assessment. Then we will review pronouns and practice modals vs. ‘have to’ and ‘need to’. We will talk about community members and their careers, as well as time. If you have any clocks at home, have your child practice saying the time in English!

Developing (ELD 3)

Welcome to Developing ELD! I’m so happy to be here this year!

This week has been a great time to get to know each other and work on introductions and learning each other’s names. We discussed class guidelines and talked about our school values. We also began talking about our personal values as an introduction to our unit on values, where we will learn all about fiction. Next week we will begin working on vocabulary building as we will begin to focus on reading.

Expanding (ELD 4)

Welcome or welcome back middle school students! Expanding ELD is the last level we offer before students move on to general English classes. This week, ELD 4 students brainstormed classroom norms, introduced themselves to me and to each other, and reviewed class schedules and school norms. Next week, students will take the first of three i-Ready reading diagnostic tests they will take this year, and they will do a short writing assessment for me.

Phonics

Welcome to Phonics! This class is for students who are in the beginning of their English learning journey and working their way up to reading in English. This week, we did lots of community building and activities to get to know each other. We briefly reviewed concepts of print and then practiced differentiating between uppercase and lowercase letters. Next week we will get to know consonants and identify CVC patterns of words. Have your child show you their Make Your Name activity on our Phonics google classroom.