Middle school mummies have been enjoying the Halloween festivities this week, dare I say that they were a thriller… okay bad joke…. I must say it truly feels nice to celebrate something altogether this year. This week, students had the opportunity to decorate their cohort’s pumpkin in preparation for the annual TCS pumpkin decorating competition. After gutting the pumpkin, Cohort “B” counted all of their pumpkin seeds and discovered that their pumpkin had a total of 337 seeds! Each mathematician then created their own multi-step word problem to apply this digit to real life. We did a halloween themed breakout room, watched a friendly Halloween movie and told our scary stories that we created. 

What’s happening in Science:

Scientists finished up their research and started their TedTalk scripts this week. Memes, jokes, and probing questions were explored as they began to consider how to grab the attention of their audience. Middle School scientists are not only working hard to bring awareness about their topic, but they are really thinking outside the box to make their message entertaining and thought-provoking.

In Writing:

We are discovering how text features add informational visuals to our writing. Writers have been enjoying picking out different types of images, diagrams, maps, charts, etc. to display their informational writing in a clear, concise, and interesting way! Writers are doing a great job elaborating and constructing their informational writing pieces. 

What is happening in Math:

6th grade: After sixth-grade mathematicians took their module 1 assessment, we discussed each of the questions on the test as a class. We talked about various ways to model the ratio for each problem. Mathematicians then had the opportunity to review their work, and make any corrections and further their own understanding. We also started Module 2 this week. Students have been doing a great job learning how to divide fractions. Click here for Module 2 Lessons 1-9 Parent Letter. 

5th grade mathematicians have been applying their understanding of area model multiplication and are able to fluently alternate between area model multiplication and standard algorithm multiplication in order to solve real-world multiplication problems. Click here for Module 2 Lessons 10-13 Parent Letter.

Important Dates:

November 6th- Distance Learning Day

November 9th & 10- Conferences 

November 13th- Y’allFest (Dress like a writer day!)