Team Berlin Update 22
January 24, 2024
Earth Science with Ms. Ballantine
Hi Scientists,
This week students explored Earth’s place in our universe by investigating constellations. 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 and gravity and distance and gravity. They will finish up next week applying their knowledge by doing a jump lab by calculating how much they weigh on other celestial bodies.
Next week we will begin our Term 3 roots and will end the week with our first Roots quiz of the new year on Friday! Our roots for next week are:
*angle = corner, point of view (Think: triangle, quadrangle)
mega=large, million, (think: megasaurus, megabyte)
*deci =1/10 or .1 (think: deciliter, decimal)
*semi=half (think: semicolon, semicircle)
Dodeca=twelve (think: dodecagon, dodecahedron)
Math with Mr. Brown & Mr. Gawthrop
Math 6
This week students worked on evaluating exponents with whole number and fractional bases and took the MOY (Middle of the Year Assessment) Wednesday-Friday. This coming week students will begin working on applying rules of order of operations to numerical expressions and combining like terms. Included in our virtual classroom is a link to a portion of Illustrative Mathematics website curriculum dedicated to allowing parents to give support of current topics from home.
Math 7
This week students worked on applying addition and subtraction of signed numbers to solve problems in an unfamiliar context and explain (orally and in writing) the solution method. Students also took the MOY (Middle of the Year Assessment) Wednesday-Friday. This week students will continue working on the addition and subtracting of signed numbers while also learning how to multiply and divide signed numbers as well. Included in our virtual classroom is a link to a portion of Illustrative Mathematics website curriculum dedicated to allowing parents to give support of current topics from home.
ATTENTION
Interested in math tutoring from advanced 8th graders? Please fill out this form if you are interested. This form will gauge interest but is not binding or a guaranteed spot. There will be 18 kids allowed in tutoring in room C205 every Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:30 starting January 7. (This program is open to students who are not participating in AMP).
Deal will continue to offer an in-person, Summer Math Acceleration Camp (SMAC) and an Online Asynchronous Math Course (Zearn) for our current 6th and 7th graders during July of 2025 (July 7 - July 31; 8:45 am - 12:00 noon).
SMAC Math 7
This intensive course is for 6th graders currently taking Math 6 who become eligible based on the iReady MOY and EOY Assessment. Students who successfully complete this in-person course and the final assessment will be placed in Math 8 in the Fall of the 2025 - 2026 school year.
Zearn 7
This online asynchronous course is for 6th graders currently taking Math 6. Only students who qualify based on their MOY i-Ready score will become eligible. Students who successfully complete the course and the final assessment will be placed in Math 8 in the Fall of the 2025 - 2026 school year
SMAC Math 8
This intensive course is for 6th & 7th graders currently taking Math 7 who become eligible based on the MOY and EOY iReady Assessment. Students who successfully complete this in-person course and the final assessment will be placed in Algebra I in the Fall of the 2025 - 2026 school year.
Zearn 8
This online asynchronous course is for 6th or 7th graders currently taking Math 7. Only students who qualify based on their MOY i-Ready score are eligible. Students who successfully complete the course and the final assessment will be placed in Algebra I in the Fall of the 2025 - 2026 school year.
We will host a Virtual SMAC & Zearn information Meeting for families on Teams at 6:30 pm on Thursday, January 9 - bit.ly/DEALJAN9
Language Arts with Ms. Byrns & Mr. Gawthrop
We finally watched the Tuck Everlasting movie! Students took notes on key similarities and differences. Next week, we will work on composing essays that compare and contrast these two version. If you are curious what this type of essay looks like, you can see this example I made for students.
Thank you to Roza’s family for the book contributions. Two great titles that are in demand! If you are curious what types of books we are looking to add to our classroom library, see either of the two classroom wishlists we have below. Thank you!
Battle of the Books:
Several members of Team Berlin are participating in the Battle of the Books this year. All who signed up now have a copy of one of the 10 books. They need to read the book by our next meeting on February 11th. Students have an option of meeting during lunch on that day in my classroom (W105) or meeting after school in Mr. Kirschenbaum’s room (N101). I will be at both meetings but students should only attend one. It is not too late if your student is still interested. Just tell them to come talk to me! :)
Katy Byrns
Geography with Ms. Trenkle
This week in Geography we continued our study of barriers to education. We did this through case studies and data tables. Students also learned a little about the UN so they could understand the framing for our upcoming summative: a mini UN simulation around the issues of access/barriers to education. On Thursday students learned who their partner and their county assignment was. From there they received a packet and a placard with information about their country’s GDP, literacy rates, child labor rates, and related education information. Students ranked their country’s choices for education programs and defended these ideas with data and facts. On Friday students wrote their speech for our mini sim which will be held in class on Tuesday and Wednesday. Students who didn’t finish their speech in class, or want more time with it, may finish it over the long weekend. The mini UN simulation, a summative, will be one of the first grades of Term 3. After our mini sim, we will conclude our unit with a viewing of “On the Way to School” where students will see other examples of how children around the world overcome barriers to education.
Lastly, last year I was asked by a parent for a list of books that her daughter might read if interested in other parts of the world. This summer I started, and over break I finished, a list of books. Students are welcome to use the list, but it isn’t required. Students who would like to can participate in our Geography Passport Reader Assignment and collect stamps for reach of the continents they read a book about. I’ve attached the list here, as well as the passport (which I will give a print out of if a student is interested). Happy reading! :) Geography and Young Adult Books.pdf
Please find Team Berlin photos of our students in action here: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1g5IRuBxGAvG9 It will be updated as we go along!
Team Berlin’s Playlist can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6XGJMmooyuna2fwFQ9pj9A?si=416e41ad228f4c11
International Night
International Night 2025 Is Coming!
January 25th 6pm – 8pm
Families of Deal –
You are invited to join International Night 2025, it is an evening of travelling around the world as you taste incredible savory and sweet samplings of foods made by our own Deal Families! Buy your tickets here: Deal International Night 2025
This event is a great community event, but more importantly – this event raises critical funds to support our Foreign Language Trip Scholar Fund. All money raised during International Night is turned into scholarships for our 8th grade students. Please help us reach our goal of $30,000. We can do this together! If you cannot join the event, please consider a donation here: Deal International Night 2025_Donation
We look forward to seeing you on January 25th and appreciate your support!
