Timberwolf Connection

Dear Tilden Community,

As winter approaches, we celebrate our Timberwolves' remarkable first-quarter achievements! Our students' dedication to academic excellence shines through in their impressive results. In eighth grade, 123 students achieved straight A's, with 272 students (69% of the class) earning Honor Roll distinction. Our seventh graders demonstrated similar excellence, with 112 students achieving straight A's and 257 students (73%) making Honor Roll. Our sixth graders have also set a strong foundation, with 84 students earning straight A's and 254 students (66%) achieving Honor Roll status. Your commitment to excellence makes us immensely proud!

Looking ahead, we're preparing for several important events. Our 2025-26 course selection process begins with virtual Information Nights at 7 PM: December 16 for incoming 6th grade families and December 17 for current 6th and 7th grade families. Detailed information and Zoom links will be shared after the Thanksgiving break.

For our 6th grade families, an exciting milestone approaches with the January 2025 Outdoor Education experience. Please join Ms. Giganti and Mr. Poje for an essential virtual information session on November 20 at 7 PM, with Zoom details provided in the recent flyer (see below).

• Zoom: https://mcpsmd.zoom.us/j/81033359463pwd=P9lWTsdrPfFl5sywCf7we6vc1XbDmX.1
• Meeting ID: 810 3335 9463
• Passcode: TILDEN

Next week brings a special cultural journey as students explore winter celebrations during Homeroom. Through our passport activity, they'll discover traditions from the United States, Israel, India, China, Japan, South Africa, and Mexico, while sharing their own cherished customs with classmates. These experiences, combined with our academic achievements, truly reflect what makes our Tilden community unique and vibrant.

With pride,

Sapna Hopkins

• November 18 - 22: Scholastic Book Fair in Media Center
• November 18: Student Voice Forums Grade 6
• November 19: Student Voice Forums Grades 7/8
• November 20: Outdoor Education Trip Information Night for 6th Grade Caregivers (at 7pm)
• November 25: Early Release for Students (Dismissal at 12:30pm)
• November 25: Parent/Caregiver-Teacher Conferences starting at 1:00 pm
• November 26: Early Release for Students (Dismissal at 12:30pm)
• November 27 - 29: No School for Students

The 2024 Caregiver Conferences will be an in-person event that will be held at Tilden Middle School (TMS) on Monday, November 25th. This is a valuable opportunity for you to meet your student’s teachers and to collaborate with them in coordination for your student’s success. Conferences will happen at the following times:

• 4:40-5:30 PM: Dinner for staff. No conferences will be held during the time. The building will be closed to visitors.

• 5:30 - 6:55 PM: Individual Conferences (by appointment only via Synergy) and Team Conferences (pre-scheduled). Individual Conferences are 10 minutes in length. Individual conferences by teacher went live on Synergy on Thursday, November 14th at 3pm and will be available until November 22nd at 3pm. Please use these resources to access directions for signing up. Step by Step Support Guide and Video Tutorial

Team Conference invitations have been communicated already by your student’s team leader or counselor. If you have not heard from a Team Leader or Counselor, please plan on signing up for individual conferences or coming in during walk-in conferences.

Language Services

• Translators for Spanish will be available from 1-3pm and 4-7pm.
• We have a limited amount of translators available, so this in-person service will be available as a First Come First Serve option.
• If you would like a translator for your scheduled conference from 1-2:25 or 5:30-7:00 pm, please request this from the teacher you are visiting. They will arrange translation services either in-person or using our MCPS Language Line.

Parking

• Caregivers may park in the spaces available in the staff parking lot in the front of the school, the visitor parking spots in the staff lot and the bus drop-off lot to the left of the school.

If you are unavailable to attend conferences on this date, please feel free to reach out to your child’s counselor to collaborate for your student’s success. If you have any questions about Caregiver Conferences, please contact Candace Levy at candace_a_levy@mcpsmd.org

See the MCPS Guide for how to prepare for Caregiver Conferences linked HERE.

• ELD3 Grade 6: Students have begun Unit 2: You and Me, which emphasizes the study of poetry and encourages students to consider the essential question: How do relationships shape us?

• ELD 1, 2 and 3 Grade 7/8: Unit 2 emphasizes the study of poetry and encourages students to consider the essential question: What do we learn from love and loss? Students will explore other writing forms, such as short stories. Students will critically analyze readings in this unit and apply their thinking to write a literary analysis

• ELD 1,2 Grade 6: Students have begun their second unit of study: You and Me. In this unit, students will read fiction, non-fiction, and poetry to understand how relationships help us understand the world. Students are focusing on writing multi-sentence responses using the past tense.

• Spanish 1AB: Unit 2 will end in november and we start unit 3 in which we learn vocabulary related to homes and family

• Spanish 3: Students will continue to practice the simple future in order to prepare for the end of the unit project in which they will make a video addressing an issue and explain what will happen if not addressed. On the second half of november, we will start Unit 3, in which the textbook showcases some of the food from Colombia and we start learning about subjunctive conjugations.

• FACS: Students have been learning about all things pizza! We began with the history of pizza, different pizza styles in America and different cooking techniques. Students are now researching what pizza looks like in different countries and creating infographics about the pizza they selected.

• Math 6+: Students are about to begin Unit 3: Fractions and Decimals. In this unit, students explore the impact of numerator and denominator sizes on fraction division, compute with fractions and multi-digit numbers, solve real-world problems involving fractional lengths, areas, and volumes, and use efficient algorithms for arithmetic operations with whole numbers and decimals.

• Math 7+ (6th grade): Students are working on Unit 7 from the Accelerated 6 curriculum focusing on Rational Numbers. Students interpret and perform operations with signed numbers in real-world contexts (such as temperature, elevation, and velocity), understand key concepts like absolute value and opposites, plot signed numbers on the number line and coordinate plane, and use equations to represent and solve problems involving changes in quantities and proportional relationships.

• Math 7: Students are now working on Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages. In this unit, students use ratios, scale factors, unit rates, and proportional relationships to solve multi-step problems involving fractions and percentages, convert fractions to decimals, and apply concepts like percent increase, percent error, and sales tax in real-world contexts, using equations, tables, and double number line diagrams.

• Math 7+: Students are working on Unit 3: Writing and Solving Equations. In this unit, students solve linear equations of the form (px + q = r) and (p(x + q) = r), use tape diagrams and hanger diagrams to represent and interpret equations, and apply algebraic methods to solve equations involving one unknown.
• Math 8: Students are continuing Unit 3:Linear Relationships. In this unit, students explore rate of change, linear relationships, and vertical intercepts, deepen their understanding of slope, recognize connections between slope and proportionality, and use tables, equations, and graphs to represent and solve linear equations, including those with negative slopes and vertical intercepts.
• Algebra: Students are currently working on Unit 4: Functions. In this unit, students deepen their understanding of functions by using function notation, domain and range, and average rates of change, while learning to interpret and represent functions through graphs, equations, and real-world contexts, and distinguishing between linear, piecewise-defined, and inverse functions.

• Geometry: Students are continuing their on Unit 2: Congruence. The current focus is on proving triangle congruence theorems (Side-Angle-Side, Angle-Side-Angle, Side-Side-Side), and applying these theorems to explore congruence and properties of quadrilaterals and other shapes.

All three grades will learn about the purposes of government: Rule of Law, Economic Systems, Common Defense, Pubic Services, and Protecting Rights.

• 6th Grade- Students will focus on economics. Students will define resources, price, profit, goods, budget, services, scarcity, and many other terms. They will use these terms to create their own Shark Tank project. Students will create a business plan for their product to present to their class.

• 7th Grade - Students will be learning about Feudal Europe and how Kings had power over their fiefs.

• 8th Grade - Students will discuss the differences of values and culture and how both affect people living in the US in the 1700s -1800s. Students will focus on government and the creation of the Articles of Confederation and Constitution after the Revolutionary War ended in the Declaration of Independence.

We Need Your Help!!

Sign up to volunteer for the 7th grade field trip to Finance Park Feb. 12-14. Mr. Hutchison's classes will attend on Feb. 12, Mr. Polley's classes will attend on Feb. 13, and Mrs. Neumann (Taplar)'s classes will attend on Feb. 14. We need 17 volunteers per day. Volunteers do not need to be parents of students in the class - all adults are invited to attend. Please sign up at http://www.myja.org/caregivers/montgomery

The goal of this event is to bring together our membership with an intersection of our Asian American community in MoCo (AALEAD families, MCPS teachers, MoCo community organizations) to build momentum toward addressing educational equity in the county. We want to promote our efforts regarding Asian American studies and teacher professional development, and also build more awareness and support for the Black and Brown Coalition's agenda and involvement opportunities.

Registration Link.

• Looking for Volunteers for PTA's Scholastic Book Fair: Please support our school and students by volunteering at the Scholastic Book Fair! Sign up here. Shifts are only 2-3 hours of your day – we can’t do the Book Fair without your support! Parents can set-up eWallets for students on the Scholastic Book Fair page. If a previously created eWallet has unspent funds, the eWallet will need to be transferred to this Fair by logging into the Scholastic account, creating a new eWallet and transferring the balance into the new account. For questions or more information, please contact Sandhya Kidd at skattakuzhy@yahoo.com.

• Tilden welcomes students to participate in this year's National PTA Reflections Arts Program! Students are invited to reflect on a common theme, "Accepting Imperfection," and use their imagination to create original works of art in any of the following categories: dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts. To learn more about the program and enter the contest please click here. If any caregivers are interested in serving as a judge, please contact TildenReflections@gmail.com. The deadline to submit student work is December 1, 2024.

• With the advent of the holiday season, we understand these special days are particularly challenging for grieving families. Caring Matters, a local resource for grieving families, hosts free, virtual Family Nights to support as the holidays approach and through the winter months. This is an opportunity, using art as a tool, for families to talk about their special person who has died. They will be able to share memories and feelings and think about how to plan for the winter holidays. This event is suitable for grieving families with children ages 5-18. For more information, and to register for upcoming events, please visit https://www.caringmatters.org/children-s-grief-support. As always, please reach out to your child's grade level counselor for any questions or support. Our team is here to help.

• The Montgomery County Commission for Women and Montgomery Women will host a free virtual career guidance session titled “A Virtual Career Exploration for Her" for middle school, high school, and college students. This event will offer an opportunity for female students to begin exploring careers of their interest that are non-traditional for women. It will give students the opportunity to hear from professional women who will share their experiences, knowledge, and education and relate factors important to entering their line of work. The panel will include women in careers ranging from fire services, STEM careers, the law, and entrepreneurship. MCPS students who complete and return a small survey at the end of the event can receive Student Service Learning Hours (SSL Hours)—a maximum of two—for their participation. MCPS students will need to register with a non-MCPS email address.
  Pre-registration for the Zoom meeting is required. To register, click here.

• Attention ALL Boys and Girls Basketball Players - There will be a mandatory meeting on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, in room 1126, from 3:00PM to 4:20PM. I will be addressing academic and behavior expectations for participation in basketball. Also, all potential players will be required to complete a Progress Report on December 3 and December 10 as the final step of approval for tryouts on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Failure to complete the progress reports will result in denial to tryouts and making the team.