It’s that time of year where we teacher’s are pouring our hearts into report card narratives – though it is labor intensive, it is a labor of love. For those who are new to our school – our report cards go well beyond a grade and a percentage for each subject. Core teachers take the time to highlight your student’s personal achievements and “narrate” their areas of growth. This unique facet of how TCS approaches “progress reporting” speaks to my writer’s heart. It acknowledges the idea that we are all living out a story of our own with plenty of twists, turns, and an overwhelming amount of character development. This practice aims to bring a more “complete” picture to your child’s trimester with us. These reports are a direct demonstration of how our life stories are often written in collaboration with the “village” that raised us – parents, teachers, mentors, friends, and more.
When you receive these narratives in March, our hope is that you read them as yet another chapter in your kid’s life. Celebrate it and discuss it and use it as a chapter that simply progresses us to the next exciting level of your student’s story.
Of course, nothing beats telling your own story – all students are working very hard on their self-assessment presentations for student conferences on March 3rd & 4th. Student self-assessments are an intimate opportunity to gather round as student, teacher, and family to hear your kid reflect on their “school story” for themselves.
Lastly, one of my favorite chapters of every TCS student’s story is tonight … memories are waiting to be made on the dance floor at our Old Hollywood Dance! We look forward to cutting a rug soon!
-MK
Math:
This week in Algebra 1, we began graphing the standard and factored forms of quadratic functions. Next week, we’ll learn about the vertex form of quadratic functions and how to find the vertex of a parabola, and we’ll begin wrapping up our intro to quadratics unit. Their assessment will be the first week of March!
ELA:
8th grade finished their literary nonfiction novels and the synthesis posters based on their readings this week! They have really shown off their rapidly maturing reading skills. 8th grade tested their vocabulary words today – so be sure to look out for those grades next week.
Next week, 8th grade and the rest of the middle school will begin their Shakespeare and Sonnets study! Our class will be studying Hamlet this year as we develop our sonnets for Spread the Word in April (mark your calendar for a 3/21 sonnet due date!). We will also transition to two weeks of grammar study with a test planned for 3/6.
Social Studies:
The eighth graders did a wonderful job on their Black History Month posters. They worked hard and the information and presentations were excellent. Starting next week we will begin Imperialism of the 1800’s, focusing on England and France. This will lead us into the beginning of World War One.
Science:
Eighth graders concluded their science fair experiments this week! They learned about providing results with evidence, potential errors, possible applications, and how to write a scientific conclusion to a specific audience. Be prepared to have materials coming back home. Next week, they will begin to work on their boards. They will be out in the library during self-assessment conferences for you to enjoy!
Important Dates:
February 21st – Middle School Dance 6:30pm-9:00pm
March 3rd & 4th- Student Led Conferences (11:30 Dismissal)
Upcoming Assessments and Deadlines:
Science Data complete 2/21
Science Report due 2/25
Final Boards & Science Fair Report due 2/28
Algebra 1 Test 3/4
Grammar Test 3/6
Sonnet due date 3/21
