Hello Caregivers!

Welcome back from February Vacation. Some important dates to look forward to:

-End of Term 2 is Tuesday, March 18th.

-Caregiver conferences are Thursday, March 20th and Tuesday, March 25th- be on the lookout for the advisor sign-ups coming out soon.

-Kennedy Institute Cluster Five field trip- Friday, March 28th.

-Wednesday, April 9th- early release- 11:45am

-April Vacation begins, Friday, April 18th with an early release- no school the following week- April 21st to 25th.

-Here is a link for our YEARLONG SCHOOL CALENDAR

2025 MCAS Testing Dates:

ELA

• Tuesday, April 1st

• Wednesday, April 2nd

Math

• Wednesday, April 30th

• Thursday, May 1st

Science

• Tuesday, May 13th

• Thursday, May 15th

Civics -

• Tuesday, May 20th

• Wednesday, May 21st

We are starting to wrap up our study of evolution. This week students researched and created Wanted Posters about specific invasive species – ask your student about their project! Next week will bring the last new content for the unit: phylogenetic trees, which are tools used to show the evolutionary relationships between species. Then we will finish the week with the Evolution Unit Test on March 6 and March 7. Supplementary review materials (listed by topic) to help students prepare for the test can be found here: Review Materials for Evolution Unit. Our next unit of study will be physics.

5.2 Evidence for Evolution

• I can analyze different types of data to compare species and construct phylogenetic trees for many living and extinct organisms based on shared features.

• 5.3 Fossil Record, Geologic Timeline, and Extinction

  • I can evaluate the main causes of extinction in different places on earth.

  • I can illustrate how a specific invasive species has damaged an existing ecosystem.

-FEBRUARY-

In ELA class, students will begin their next unit- a Book Club reading group. Students will be required to read each evening so that they will come to their group with the ability to be an active part of the group work/discussion. Ask to check out their reading calendar/planning. Please help to ensure that your 8th grader is prepared for class each day.

Some helpful tips:

-Provide a space, free of noise and technology distractions (take the phone!), so that the student can focus on their reading. It's a battle at first, but will become a routine soon enough.

-Create a nightly expectation for reading- for example, from 6:30-7:15, we are dropping everything and reading.

-Ask questions about the book, the characters, the plot. Something as simple as, "What connections can you make with the main character?", will give your student a talking point.

For this unit, students will explore “Coming of Age” novels.

Students will be placed in groups based on novel preferences, reading level, and group members. They will begin by creating a calendar (graphic organizer) to plan out a successful pacing plan to map out their reading each evening (students SHOULD DEFINITELY be reading at home each evening- or catching up on the weekends!). Please ask your student about their interests in the novel.

The book groups will run for most of the month of March.

I wanted to take a moment to post the ELA policy regarding the method by which grades are tracked through the semester. All assignments are assigned through google classroom. Each student is a member of a specific (class color) ELA roster in the classroom. The assignments are all graded on a scale of 0-4 and the grades are represented as follows in GOOGLE CLASSROOM:

4.0= Mastery/Exceeds Expectations

3.0= Proficient/ Meets Expectations

2.0= Approaching Proficiency/Partially Meets Expectations

1.0= Developing/ Some Understanding (with support)

0 Not Meeting Expectation (often an assignment that hasn’t been completed).

-When the grades are transferred into the powerschool portal and calculated into an overall grade, the “Marzano” grade conversion is used to turn the 0- 4 into a percentage. This is not simply changing the fraction into a decimal (not ¾= .75), but rather assigning a percentage to each number. The conversions are as follows: 4.0= 100%, 3.5= 95%, 3.0= 90%, 2.5= 80%, 2.0= 70%, 1.5= 65%, 1.0=60%, 0= 50%.

***In this grading policy, a student will not receive a grade less than a 50% on any assignment- thus making the grade ranges more level in value.

-As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your 8th grader in ELA, please initiate a conversation by emailing me at daniel.skop@watertown.k12.ma.us

I wish you all wonderful start to 2025!

Take care.

Algebra 8: We are currently finishing chapter 4 and will be having our chapter 4 test on Friday. Students have learned about points being collinear, solving inequalities, graphing solutions to inequalities and solving systems of equations. All of these topics will be on the test on Friday. Next week we will be starting chapter 5, which has to do with functions. As a reminder students receive math homework every night except Friday so please make sure to check in with them to see how it is going.

• February 2025

  
  

  Civics students have been working very hard over the past week and a half to practice their Social Studies CER writing. We are answering the question, “How did the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) influence the U.S. Constitution?” by looking at three sources and drawing evidence from them. Students are filling out a graphic organizer, coming up with reasoning to explain their evidence, and working to write their five paragraph essay in class. Each student will receive specific written feedback on their work, and also individually conference with me. And all that is just for a small practice grade! In another week, we’ll work on a more heavily weighted CER that will be an assessment of the writing skills students have been practicing.

  
  

  We will also be continuing our study of the Founding Documents by taking a close look at the Bill of Rights, and how those rights and freedoms apply to real-life situations. We’ll look at how the Constitution was ratified, learn about the debate over ratification between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and do a small research project about Shays’ Rebellion, which took place right here in Massachusetts. We will also be having a midterm exam the last week of the trimester to review key content and help prepare students for the transition to high school level work!

  
  
  

  Current Learning Targets:

  • I can explain how the Iroquois Confederacy influenced the writing of the US Constitution and the creation of our American democracy.

  • I can understand each of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, and I can apply my knowledge to real-life scenarios.

Click this link for more information on the English Language Development classes.

Edward.Cafua@watertown.k12.ma.us - MATH

Karen.Kline@watertown.k12.ma.us - CIVICS

Sheila.Gilmartin@watertown.k12.ma.us - EL

Brian.Donato@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION / MATH

Megan.Griffin@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION/ELA

Daniel.Skop@watertown.k12.ma.us - ENGLISH

Christine.Sorenson@watertown.k12.ma.us - READING

Elissa.Willoughby@watertown.k12.ma.us - SCIENCE

Amanda.Skypeck@watertown.k12.ma.us - GUIDANCE COUNSELOR

Website: https://wms.watertown.k12.ma.us/