Team Abuja Newsletter

ELA - This week, students will take the Middle of Year MAP test on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This will provide students with an opportunity to reflect on their growth so far this year. We will also meet for our 2nd Book Club meeting on Thursday. Please make sure that your student is prepared for that meeting.

Battle of the Book Interest Meeting. Are you into adventure and mystery? Do you like graphic novels? Do you want a chance to talk about books with friends? OR are you looking to meet some new friends in 2025? Join us for the Battle of the Books interest meeting on Tuesday, January 21st in W105 from 3:30-4:00. Battle of the Books is a competition with other DC schools about newly-released books. Students of all grade levels are welcome! I hope to see you there. If you have any questions or are unable to attend the meeting, please see Mr. Kirschenbaum..

Math 6: Students will spend Monday and Tuesday doing final reviews for RCT #5. They will have a formative on Tuesday followed by their RCT on Wednesday and Thursday. The Zearn lesson is to assist students with their understanding of decimals and place value. The review’s answer keys will be posted on Canvas. Students must show all of their work to receive credit when their review is turned in.

Math 7: Students just completed their RCT #4 over Proportional relationships and Percentages. They are beginning Unit 5 over Rational Number Arithmetic where they will build on their knowledge of positive and negative numbers. The Zearn lesson is to assist students' foundation of the Unit. Students may plan to retake RCT #4 if they didn’t do well for next Thursday, January 16, after school. There is a Percent Error and Percent Change activity to assist students with being prepared for their RCT retake if they plan to retake it.

I will be out for a few days, and I will be grading and reviewing all work from when I’m out on Thursday to provide students with feedback. I strongly encourage Math 6 students to study over the weekend for their RCT next week. Tutoring will be moved to Thursday this upcoming week to accommodate for me not being here on our normal tutoring day.

We spent this week learning about South and Southeast Asia. Over the weekend students should study for their quiz on Monday. They should have brought home worksheets and be using Nearpod (PA7R9) to review. After the quiz, we will begin the theme of the unit: Access to Education. We will investigate barriers that prevent children from getting an education around the world.

Hello scientists!

I hope you enjoyed the extra long weekend and got the chance to romp in the snow! This past week students took their Term 2 Roots summative and then began our Earth’s Place in the Universe unit. MAP testing has been postponed until later in January due to the snow day schedule disruptions.

Next week students will continue their journey through the universe as they examine the properties of stars. This will culminate in our Distance vs. Dimness formative, where students will explore the connection between how far a star is and how bright it looks to us on Earth.

Thank you to everyone who has donated to my amazon wishlist so far! My amazon wishlist link is here https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/dl/invite/gkYQSIk?ref_=wl_share if you would like to contribute to our classroom. Thank you for your generosity!!

Link to World Languages Newsletter https://secure.smore.com/u/patricia.balestra4

International Night 2025 Is Coming!

January 25th 6pm – 8pm

Families of Deal –

You are invited to join International Night 2025, it is an evening of travelling around the world as you taste incredible savory and sweet samplings of foods made by our own Deal Families! Buy your tickets here: Deal International Night 2025

This event is a great community event, but more importantly – this event raises critical funds to support our Foreign Language Trip Scholar Fund. All money raised during International Night is turned into scholarships for our 8th grade students. Please help us reach our goal of $30,000. We can do this together! If you cannot join the event, please consider a donation here: Deal International Night 2025_Donation

We look forward to seeing you on January 25th and appreciate your support!

Questions: shannonharrisbehm@hotmail.com

As the year goes on, we want to ensure that students are able to access help when they need it! Team Abuja teachers are available by appointment, and there is a dedicated Tutoring Time in either Mx. Gomez's room or Ms. Sagan's room on Wednesdays from 3:30 - 4:20. Here We Grow!

Happy New Year! Let's make 2025 a great year for reading and inquiry! Check out these great resources that the library is offering in January. Check out this month's Library Newsletter below:

https://secure.smore.com/n/veq7k

Library overdue emails were sent out in December and I have heard from several families about books overdue that are owed to different schools. Please disregard titles owed to other sites. At the end of the year, I will send another notice email. Notices will only include Deal items moving forward. Sorry about any confusion!

Stay up to date with the complete list of clubs and activities by going to the Deal website: https://www.alicedealmiddleschool.org

Adam Kirschenbaum, ELA adam.kirschenbaum@k12.dc.gov

Lauren-Ashley Gomez, Math lauren-ashley.gomez@k12.dc.gov

Naeemah Wesselhoft, Geography naeemah.wesselhoft@k12.dc.gov

Ellie Sagan, Science ellie.sagan@k12.dc.gov

Connie Patsalos, MLL Geography - constance.patsalos@k12.dc.gov

Ameera Daboh, MLL ELA - ameera.daboh@k12.dc.gov

Devin Watson, ISS Coordinator devin.watson@k12.dc.gov

Ellen Barr, Social Worker ellen.barr@k12.dc.gov

Tysha Morris, School Counselor tysha.morris@k12.dc.gov

If your child will not be in school, please email DealAttendance@k12.dc.gov .