Team Woolloomooloo Newsletter
Weeks 2 - 3 (9/2 - 9/13)
I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend, our scholars were well rested and ready to learn this week. We’re finally into the swing of things here at Deal with our regular bell schedule kicking in and advisory starting up soon in the next few weeks!
Technology was also distributed with few to no problems on our team. Make sure your scholars take care of these throughout the year and ensure that they are charged during lunch. This will help with any future issues that may arise. Yondr pouches are also required for all students to use for their cell phones, smart watches and headphones. Please make sure your scholars take care of this as well!
As the year progresses, please be on the lookout for fun activities with our team (celebrations, trips, etc.)
I am looking forward to seeing families next weekend at our annual 8th Grade BBQ. Be sure to say hello and enjoy some fun games and delicious food. Other than that, feel free to reach out for any questions.
Have a great weekend!
Math 8: This week in math 8 students learned how to apply translations, reflections and rotations to points and polygons in a coordinate plane. We also set up their math notebooks that will be kept in the classroom. Next week in math 8 students will complete the beginning of year I-Ready diagnostic. They will receive their first paper homework assignment on Monday and it will be collected on Friday at the start of class.
Unit 1 family resources:
Rigid Transformations and Congruence (English)
UNIDAD 1 MATERIALES PARA LA FAMILIA: Transformaciones rígidas y congruencia
Algebra 1: This week in algebra 1 students wrote equations to represent a variety of real world scenarios. They were also introduced to using the graphing calculator to graph equations in slope intercept form and find specific values using the calculator. Next week in algebra 1 students will complete the beginning of year MAP diagnostic for 3 days. This replaces I-Ready as our diagnostic tool for high school level courses. Thursday and Friday will be spent solving one variable equations and taking their first quiz on Friday. They will receive their first paper homework assignment on Monday and it will be collected on Friday at the start of class.
Unit 1 family resources:
This week in history was all about beginning our dive into the complexities that make history unique and special. We began the week with a “Bags from the Past” challenge where students were tasked with using a limited set of items to predict who in general or specifically would have used these items. Students used items like Muhammad Ali’s gold medal, Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” George Washington’s teeth and dentures and Helen Keller’s quotes promoting worker’s rights and socialism to think about what history is: the study of the past based on AVAILABLE EVIDENCE to form NARRATIVES and ARGUMENTS. We then launched Unit 1 with an in-depth discussion of what it means to be a successful society and whether the U.S. is one based on our criteria. We considered angles like the size of the military, our global economic influence with the dollar, the state of public schools and racism in America to form our pod arguments. We then discussed Unit 1 content ahead and predicted who would find success or hurt in colonial North America between the Native Americans, Africans and Europeans. We closed the week with our traditional “History Bag” activity where students bring in 5 items that they would want someone from the future to have to tell their story. They created narratives for themselves and one other person based on the items they brought in. This was a great week of learning what history is and continuing our journey to get to know each other, with next week focused on starting our story with the arrival of Native Americans and the first tribes to form prior to European exploration and colonization!
IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENTS FROM THIS WEEK
HISTORY BAG ACTIVITY – Parts 1 and 2 to be turned in Monday, 9/9 at the latest using items brought in or desired to be brought in by themselves and other people (PAPER – use History Bags resources in Canvas Modules Unit 0 to help with Part 2 if ideas needed!)
UNIT 1 LAUNCH ACTIVITY – Discussion of if U.S. is successful society or not, definitions of conflict and cooperation and back-side activities (examples of each, wrap-up, etc.) due Monday 9/9 at the latest (PAPER – use Unit 1 Launch PPT in Canvas Modules, Unit 1 for help and directions!)
Hello all.
This week in science, we completed experimental variables and students can identify the control, independent and dependent variables in an experiment. Also, students were introduced to basic experimental calculations like calculating the best value and uncertainty of an experiment. Finally, we completed the first formative assessment for the academic year.
Next week, we will practice and review best value and uncertainty and complete the formative assessment. Students will practice these skills by performing a penny drop experiment. At the end of the week, we will have unit 0 summative assessment.
Once again, a big thank you for all the supplies.
Hello everyone!
This week, students completed our unit 1 narrative diagnostic. Then students did an activity that started to get them thinking about what is the American dream. We did a gallery walk of photos that captured various aspects of it. Students were asked to write why they thought the picture showed the American dream. On the activity, students were graded on their responses and also writing fully complete sentences (capitalization, punctuation, complete thought). Then students worked on annotating an article that was about the American dream.
Next week, we will begin diving into some of the background for our focal novel, A Raisin in the Sun. We will also be starting to look the writing technique of sensory details in narrative writing but reading the opening scene in the play.
Assignments:
6-Word Memoirs will be due Monday 9/9.
Have a great weekend!
This week 6th grade students will be visiting the library with their ELA classes for the first time this year. They will be choosing one book to use for personal reading and for their ELA 40 book challenge. I will be asking all students to be responsible with their books this year and return them in a timely manner. We do not charge fines for lost books, but I do ask students to donate a replacement book if one is lost and if they are able. Students should always come to me to let me know when a book is lost or damaged so that I can update the system and remove it from their record. If a student leaves Deal with overdue books on their account, they will be asked to pay for them before they graduate high school so it is always a good idea to let me know so that we can prevent additional expenses to families.
I will be sending overdue notices out once a month. These notices do not include the titles of the books as we want to protect the students' privacy. Students and families can login to their account in Follett Destiny (Can be found in Clever) to see more specific information about the books that they have out. Families can also reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Our library book orders are going to be sent out at the end of October. I am asking students to send me any book recommendations that they would like to see in our library. Students and families can make book recommendations at the link below:
https://bit.ly/DealMSLibraryRecommend
In addition, families can refer to our library's website (aka LibGuide) for more information and links related to the library, reading, newsletters, research, and more at the link below:
Deal Info
📍 - 3815 Fort Dr NW, Washington, DC 20016
☎️ - 202-939-2010
📸 - Deal Vikings
✖️ (Twitter) - Deal Vikings
