Team Berlin Update 8
October 11, 2024
Save the Date
10/14: No School: Indigenous Peoples Day
10/22: Natural History Museum Field Trip (I&S & Science Focus)
11/1: End of Term 1
11/4: No School: Records Day/Teacher PD Day
11/5: No School: Election Day
11/8: African American History Museum Field Trip (ELA Focus)
11/11: No School: Veterans Day
This week, your student will go home with 2 field trip permission slips for your signature. (If you were at conferences, you likely signed them then.) We are headed to the Natural History Museum for a Science and Geography-related trip and the National Museum of African American History & Culture for an ELA-related trip. These are exceptional opportunities for your student to think deeply about the content.
Trip 1, 10/22: National Museum of Natural History sponsored by the Science and Geography Departments
Geography: This visit will connect to the Sub Saharan African geographic unit of study and will have students learn about the diverse cultures, geography, and contributions of the region’s people.
Science: This visit will connect to our learning about plate boundaries and the movement of the surface of the earth. Students will learn and review these concepts as they examine the layers of the earth and the fossils that give us evidence of geological history.
Logistics:
All students are expected to be on time for school (in class by 8:45 AM).
Depart Deal at 9 am and return by 3 pm.
Take the metro train to and from the museum.
Trip 2, 11/8: National Museum of African American History & Culture sponsored by the ELA Department
This trip is focused on students investigating and documenting real-life acts of courage in connection with their exploration of courage themes in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Logistics:
All students are expected to be on time for school (in class by 8:45 AM).
Depart Deal at 9:30 am and return by 3:10 pm.
Take the metro bus or train to and from the museum.
For both trips:
There is no cost for the trips.
Cell phones will remain in Yondr pouches, locked in lockers, at school.
Students need to bring their Kids Ride Free card, if they have one, a bag lunch, and water bottle.
Please dress appropriately for school and the weather.
Please return both signed permission slips no later than Wednesday, October 16. The ELA permission slip to NMAAHC is turned in to Ms. Byrns and the NMNH trip form is turned in to Ms. Trenkle.
Earth Science with Ms. Ballantine
Hi Scientists!
Thank you so much for a great short week. I loved seeing you all have fun with Milky Way Bars as we learned about Plate Tectonics, and I’m proud of all of your roots studying.
Next week we will be taking our Advisory 1 Roots Summative on Tuesday, 10/15. Blookets have been posted on Canvas for studying, and students have study guides which they are filling out over the weekend and turning in on Tuesday. Please encourage your student to study for the summative in whatever way works best for them!
After the Roots Summative, students will be taking their Amplify Critical Juncture assessment on Wednesday to track their learning through the Plate Motion unit.
Lastly, students will be learning about how structural engineers build things in earthquake-prone zones, leading into a fun engineering lab – The Great Shakeout! We will be needing donations of toothpicks and mini marshmallows, as students will be building structures and seeing if they survive an “earthquake.” Look for an email with more information on donations soon.
Thank you for all of the Mily Way bars you sent in!
No new Root words next week, as students will be completing their summative test.
In their Nature of Science unit, students explored experiment design and the testable question “how does the type of liquid a plant is given affect its height and health?” Below are the results after a few weeks.
Math with Mr. Brown & Mr. Gawthrop
Math 6
This past week Math 6 students completed RCT/Summative Assessments and then began a new unit on Measurements. This week students will work on converting units of measurement. Included in our virtual classroom will be a link to a portion of Illustrative Mathematics dedicated to allowing parents to give support of current topics from home.
Math7
This past week Math 7 students worked on RCT Assessments and then began working on Scales without Units. This week students will complete and End of Unit/RCT Assessment on scale drawings and begin working on proportional relationships. Included in our virtual classroom will be a link to a portion of Illustrative Mathematics dedicated to allowing parents to give support of current topics from home.
Language Arts with Ms. Byrns & Mr. Gawthrop
This week students completed their first ELA Summative. You will soon be able to find scores & feedback on Canvas (where students submitted their work). The focus of this writing assessment was the incorporation of sensory details and figurative language. When we return from the long weekend, we will take a closer look at the events of chapters 5 & 6 of Roll of Thunder and revisit theme.
During conferences, you received an ELA data sheet on your student that contained CAPE (5th grade) and MAP (6th grade) scores. CAPE is the annual standardized test that all DC students take. MAP is the new assessment to DCPS that your student will take two additional times this school year. The score that I want to focus on at this time is the Lexile Score from the MAP test. Lexile is a score that helps me understand the reading needs for your student. While it is only one datapoint and one moment in time, I use it in conjunction with your student’s classroom experience to determine where your student might benefit from additional support. If you have any questions about any of this data, please reach out to me. Remember to check in with your student on their progress with the 40-book challenge because that is an excellent way to improve reading levels - and, more importantly, enjoy a great book.
Congrats to Atticus for being the first student in all of 6th grade to complete the 40 Book Challenge! This was certainly record time but if anyone was going to finish before October is even out, it was Atticus! Atticus has a hard time picking just one favorite book, but he definitely loves and recommends Trenton Stewart's Mysterious Benedict Society. Currently, Atticus is reading Stuart Gibbs's Moon Base Alpha series.
Katy Byrns
Geography with Ms. Trenkle
This past week in Geography students typed their Community Action Letter, addressed the envelope, and mailed it! Congratulations local activists! (see pics) Any student who did not mail their letter on Wednesday in class will do so on Tuesday. To wrap up the end of our first unit, students have a Unit 1 Reflection posted in Canvas, to complete by Tuesday.
We will begin our new unit on Tuesday: Sub Saharan Africa. We will start the week with a physical map and glossary and work on our political and thematic maps the rest of the week. We will use these maps to help us better understand the region, geographically. Students will have their map quiz on Wednesday, October 23 in class, using these maps and the vocabulary. Be sure to turn in your permission slip for our field trip on Tuesday, October 22. Our museum visit is directly related to our unit!!!
CEA #2 will be assigned in class on Tuesday, but will be posted by Sunday in Canvas for any student who wants to get a jump start on it. A Special shout out to students who used CEA #1 as evidence in their community action letters!!
We have finally finished our giant map! (see pic!) We will now begin post trivia, our postcards, and trail information on the map! Stay tuned for updates! The kids are very proud and excited to see everyone’s work together! Way to go Team Berlin Geographers!
Lastly, we are in desperate need of Kleenex for the classroom. If you’re able to send a box in, please do. All of our runny noses are thankful! :)
Library Corner
The latest library newsletter has arrived! Check it out at the link below:
https://secure.smore.com/n/9vs8z
Stephen Reichlen
Library Media Specialist
Deal MS – DC Public Schools
