Team Berlin Update 35
May 2, 2025
Snack Request
Thank you, so, so , so much from the teachers and students of Team Berlin for the AMAZING support from home during CAPE for our students! They have been on time, with a great attitude, well rested, and well snacked!!!! You have been amazing with providing the snacks—so much gratitude for the quick response and for those who have sent in snacks. THANK YOU! We are all set with snacks for the rest of testing. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Trackers for CAPE
During CAPE we will offer daily incentives for students who are able to do the following:
—arrive on time to school and are in their testing room by 8:45 am
—have two pencils each day for their test
—Have a book that they will read after they are finished testing (not an e-book) that they will keep under their desk (Ms. Byrns is happy to help them find one!)
—Have no violations or disruptions during the test.
Students will earn one ticket each testing day and at the end of the week there will be drawings for prizes. Please encourage, and help, your student to test with success!
Earth Science with Ms. Ballantine
Hi Scientists!
Congratulations on making it through 2/3 of CAPE testing! This past week students learned about the conditions necessary to create a hurricane and got an introduction to how meteorologists use probability to determine weather forecasts. Next week we will pause our hurricane exploration to take an Amplify assessment about Earth’s changing climate. Students will practice their weather forecasting skills and learn about the effects of natural disasters and how to best prepare for them.
There was no Roots quiz last week, but students were given their words early so they would have plenty of time to practice. The next Roots quiz will be this coming Friday, May 9th. The words are:
cephalo = head (think: cephalometer, cephalopod)
*gastro = stomach (think: gastrologist, gastric)
*audi = hear (think: auditory, audible)
*hetero = different (think: heterogenous, heterosexual)
duct = to lead (think: conduction, aqueduct)
Cold and flu season has done a number on our students, and my classroom has just run out of tissues. If you are able to donate a box or two that would be greatly appreciated, thank you!
Math with Mr. Brown & Mr. Gawthrop
Math 6
This week, students worked on DCCAPE standardized testing and received instructions and began working on their “Statistics Project.”. This week students will submit and present their projects. While assigned as a group project students should remember that grades are individual, and students should be prepared to present independently in the event of an absent or unavailable partner. Students will continue to be provided the opportunity to work on and retake recently taken assignments/projects during iRecess at their request. Included in our virtual classroom is a link to a portion of Illustrative Mathematics website curriculum dedicated to allowing parents to give support of current topics from home.
Math 7
This week, students worked on DCCAPE standardized testing and received instructions and began working on their “Statistics Project.”. This week students will submit and present their projects. While assigned as a group project students should remember that grades are individual, and students should be prepared to present independently in the event of an absent or unavailable partner. Students will continue to be provided the opportunity to work on and retake recently taken assignments/projects during iRecess at their request. Included in our virtual classroom is a link to a portion of Illustrative Mathematics website curriculum dedicated to allowing parents to give support of current topics from home.
Please encourage students to utilize the “Parking Lot” in class to leave questions or requests (ie. retake requests) Notes and videos on current/previous/upcoming concepts as well as supportive platforms can be found in the virtual classroom (www.framevr.io/brownmath).
Any questions or concerning SMAC Program invitations should be sent (and will be forwarded) to DealSummerMath@k12.dc.gov
Thank you,
Language Arts with Ms. Byrns & Mr. Gawthrop
This week students completed the first day (of three) of the ELA CAPE test. Unlike the Math tests, ELA testing sessions are 90 minutes long and require students to answer questions and compose a written essay or narrative. This is a lot of hard work! Please encourage your students to take their time. Now is the time to show off all the hard work they put in throughout the year.
Below you can find pictures of an "escape room" challenge students worked on last Friday.
In the afternoons, students are working on creating graphic novel pages for 3 of the poems from Inside Out & Back Again. They will continue this work next week.
After testing, we will begin our final unit. In this unit we will focus on the Hero's Journey and read Beowulf: A New Telling. We have plenty of class copies, but if students wish to bring in their own for annotation we are using this edition.
Congratulations to Evie for completing the 40 Book Challenge. Evie is a fan of historical fiction and murder mystery.
Katy Byrns
Geography with Ms. Trenkle
This week in Geography we have been talking about culture! We learned about the Roots of the Americas (Indigenous, European, and African Descendants), and read an article about the Nacirema (If you don’t know them, ask you child about them! ;) ). We also discussed a cultural iceberg to further study visible and hidden aspects of culture. We also had a visit by Ms. Eva on Wednesday and shared our DC Site slides with her—she’s been teaching us about German sites, so we reciprocated and all had so much fun!
Next week, students will start their week with their quiz of the US States. Links for studying are in Canvas, and each student has a map that they can also fold in half and practice with at home! The rest of the week we will work our portraits of Americans and their letter to their chosen global citizen. This will all be done in class with resources, but students may take them home if they want to do further research and/or work on it home.
If students are interested in a Team Berlin T-shirt—please see the group order form here: https://www.customink.com/g/mxy0-00cw-wf3w If we do not receive the minimum order, then the order will not be placed and no cards will be charged. This is optional for those that are interested!
Please find Team Berlin photos of our students in action here: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1g5IRuBxGAvG9 It will be updated as we go along!
Team Berlin’s Playlist can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6XGJMmooyuna2fwFQ9pj9A?si=416e41ad228f4c11
Deal Gala Returns!
Ta-da! The Alice Deal Community Association is happy to announce the return of Deal Gala: an evening of community, celebration and support!
- When: Saturday, May 17, 2025
- Time: 6:00 p.m.
- Attire: Creative Black Tie: a jacket or dress of your personal style, and comfortable shoes for dancing!
- For more details: https://e.givesmart.com/events/I9q/
German Club @ Deal
Would you like to learn German and find out more about German-speaking countries? The German Club meets every Thursday from 3:30 -4:30 pm in W103. Please contact igenzel123@gmail.com if your student is interested.
Library Corner
Learn about the great things happening this month at Deal's library. Check out great books and media, read about events at Deal and around the city, and stay connected with Deal's Library:
