In the midst of projects, end-of-trimester assessments, and all of the other things life throws at us, our wonderful TCS middle schoolers hosted the spookiest and most creative Halloween Carnival in our backyard on Tuesday. From haunted houses, poke-the-ghost darts, and a nurses station to spooky musical chairs, bowling, and t-shirt sales to fundraise for the Maui fires (+ so much more), the middle school students poured their hearts and souls into making this carnival a core memory for the elementary school students. After seeing so many smiles on faces, hearing giggles and spooky shrieks, I’d say they blew all of the expectations out of the water! Growing up in Indiana, Halloween wasn’t widely celebrated like it is here in Charleston, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my first Halloween here! Proud is an understatement.
AG
What’s happening in Social Studies?
Eighth graders finished their industrialization unit by learning about the deindustrialization of India. Students were then introduced to their DBQ. A DBQ is a document-based questioning activity that centers around the students analyzing primary and secondary sources to form an answer to the prompt of, “Analyze how the Industrial Revolution impacted Britain and India similarly and differently.”
Next week, the students will be working through the primary and secondary sources to form an answer to the prompt. Students will then turn their answers into a research paper.
What’s happening in ELA?
This week in 8th grade, argumentative writers worked tirelessly to complete their argumentative papers on issues in tech and present their arguments as speeches to their peers. We kept a tight structure in our arguments, looked closely at MLA citations, and made sure our conclusions were emotionally and intellectually compelling. 8th grade demonstrated nuanced debating and research skills.
Next week, 8th graders will move into a nonfiction unit, studying and writing about long form nonfiction books and eventually documentaries. As usual, we will make the switch from grammar studies to vocabulary work for the next four weeks.
What’s happening in Science?
Eighth graders finished their Rube Goldberg projects this week! They were investigating how the energy is transferred throughout the chain reaction and creating a presentation about the physics. They had to collaborate with their lab group to figure out how to consistently make the machine work effectively. They will be presenting their work next Thursday!
What’s happening in Math?
This week, 8th graders explored the relationships between both numerical and categorical data before creating linear models to represent a set of data. Next week, they’ll analyze the closeness of data to a linear model and interpret the correlations and relationships of a set of data. On Friday, they’ll begin reviewing for their test on this shorter unit of study!
Important Dates:
November 6th – Parent Teacher Conferences (Half Day- 11:30 Dismissal)
November 7th – Parent Teacher Conferences (Half Day- 11:30 Dismissal)
November 9th – Rube Goldberg Presentation 2pm
November 17th – Harvest Feast (Half Day- 11:30 Dismissal)
November 20th-24th – Thanksgiving Break
