As this week went by, there were many moments that made us thrilled by the students’ initiative. There was a spark of an idea for a newspaper that would be made by the students and for the students. A group of 7th graders made it come to life, they put in the work and even interviewed students for certain segments. The 5th graders have had so much determination to do well on their midterm assessment, that they have had many group study sessions whenever they can find the time. Their actions are inspiring! 

Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:

What’s happening in Social Studies?

Students finished up their Industrialization unit this week by learning about migration patterns! Students began their first DBQ (document based questioning) assessment. Students were challenged to look at primary and secondary sources to answer the overall prompt: How were the Industrial Revolutions in Britain and India similar and different? 

Students will be using the findings from the documents to write a paper next week. In social studies we will be focused on the content portion of the paper, and in ELA they will be focused on the MLA portion of the paper. 

What’s happening in ELA?

This week, your eighth graders delved into writing literary essays. They read a short story titled “All Summer in a Day” and were able to discuss what they thought the main theme of the story was. Students are using “All Summer in a Day” to practice writing a literary essay using the “box and bullets” method of outlining. Your eighth graders also worked on Grammar Week 11, learning four new vocabulary words and reviewing  clauses. They  also started back on their reading logs. I will be checking reading logs daily, so please make sure they are completing a reading log activity. Reading log activities are used to assess comprehension, grammar skills, and citations. They will be collected on Fridays and returned on Mondays along with rubrics. Please don’t forget to sign their rubrics. 

What’s happening in Science?

Eighth graders continued to think about the waves around us! They considered what is carried through radio waves, and how digital pictures are created with pixels. They made their own “hand created” pixelated pictures. Eighth graders also learned about why straws look so weird in a cup, due to the light waves refraction. They also thought about the color of light and explored rainbows from prisms. Next week, we will finish up waves and start our science fair projects. I can’t wait!

What’s happening in Math?

This week, 8th graders have continued to explore functions. Today, they took a mid-unit assessment in which they analyzed graphs and function notations and how they related to the context of the problem. Students have enjoyed the functions unit and were looking forward to the assessment today! We will continue to work with functions for the next several weeks, exploring linear and quadratic functions. 

Important Dates:

• January 16th: MLK Day-no school
• February 20-21 – February Break (No School)