Team Abuja Newsletter

As we begin the 2nd Semester, please check in with your student on school supplies, pencils in particular. It is also a great time to check in on your student’s tote bag – many are falling apart or have fallen apart and are in need of replacement. Also, if you have an extra tissue box, please send it in with your student.

This week, we start a new advisory and nightly independent reading increases to 30 minutes a night. Students should be ready for this challenge. Also this week students will finish their Book Club books, and write a thesis statement and body paragraphs comparing the two formats of Tuck Everlasting. We are also going to review the use of in, on, and at when writing sentences. If your student was absent this past week and is able to watch the first hour of Tuck Everlasting on Disney+ this weekend that would be awesome. We will finish the movie on Tuesday.

Many students struggled with the use of an apostrophe. Your student can practice this skill on Quill (on Clever).

** All late or missing work (from after December 6th), or retakes for Term 2 is due by Tuesday, January 28, at 3:30 PM**

This week students have worked diligently on their iReady MOY Diagnostic. Students may only complete the diagnostic during school with me and not at home. If your student has been absent, they should plan to stay after school on Wednesday or Thursday to complete their iReady. They may also come chat with me about alternative times that could work to complete their exam.

In math 6, we will be exploring Expressions and Equations in this upcoming Unit. For a refresher on what an Exponent is, I recommend students complete Zearn 13 that I pushed students to.

In Math 7, we will be continuing our Unit on Rational numbers. I encourage students to complete Zearn 6 & 7 as a refresher for when we pick the Unit back up on Tuesday.

We spent the week investigating case studies for four barriers to education. Students were introduced to the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Next week, we will get started on the United Nations Simulation. We will analyze data to help us understand what barriers different countries face. Students will then be paired and assigned to a country. As a pair, they will analyze their country data and. added information to decide on how they propose to spend the education committee budget.

Hi Scientists,

Congrats on a wonderful end to the second quarter!! This week students explored Earth’s place in our universe by investigating constellations, and we wrapped up the week completing our middle of year MAP testing.

Next week, we will be diving into gravity! Students will practice their graphing techniques to understand the relationship between mass, distance, and gravity. They will finish up next week applying their knowledge by doing a jump lab where they will calculate how far they would jump on other celestial bodies.

Roots Are Back!! Our roots for next week are:

*angle = corner, point of view (think: triangle, quadrangle)

mega = large, million (think: megalodon, megabyte)

*deci = 1/10 or .1 (think: deciliter, decimal)

*semi = half (think: semicolon, semicircle)

dodeca = twelve (think: dodecagon, dodecahedron)

Q3 Supplies

As we approach the 3rd quarter, the science classroom is looking forward to more fun labs, including one of our messiest yet – the Oreo Moon Phases Lab! Before we can have fun getting messy, we need some cleaning supplies as the room is almost out. If they are able, science students are asked to bring 2 of the following:

• A roll of paper towels OR a container of cleaning wipes

• A box of tissues

• A box of pencils (PLEASE!!)

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

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 .