Jonas Clarke Middle
News and Notes December 2016
From the Principal
"We, the people of the Jonas Clarke Middle School Community, in order to create and sustain a peaceful school, seek to establish a climate where all of us feel safe and wanted. We agree to treat each other with respect regardless of our differences. We understand that each have different qualities that make us unique and we deserve to be treated with dignity. We agree not to bully, tease, harass or ridicule anyone. We will not spread rumors or purposefully hurt another person mentally or physically. We will stand up for anyone who is being mistreated. We will reach out to help someone if we see them in need. We agree to be caring and thoughtful. We will encourage others to do the same. We understand that we are not perfect. We will try our very best to make our school a humane and respectful place to be. We share responsibility for a kind and safe Clarke Middle School. We all have the ability to make this happen!"
Recently, we gave students the opportunity to send kindness cards and pencils to a friend, classmate or even someone new at Clarke. A few days later in Homeroom, students received their pencils and notes. Who wouldn't want to start the day off like that? Another great success was our can drive. Thanks to all of you, we donated over 2,000 canned good and other non perishable items to the food pantry in Lexington. We had a great push from homeroom representatives and staff to get those cans in and had winners in each of the grade levels receive the coveted can drive trophy. We hope to continue this theme and events like it throughout the school year. Thanks to the Student Government Association and their great ideas! Way to go Clarke!
Kindness Cards and Pencils
Constitution of Caring
Can Drive 2016!
Construction Corner
We have made progress with the interior designs as well, meeting with staff, program leaders, designers and interior planners. We have begun to plan out and test different kinds of furniture for students and staff such as stools, desks, tables and much more. There is so much that goes into this process but it will all be worth it in the end.
8th Grade in Washington DC - April 2017
1. Visit capitaltours.net to register online
2. Visit our website to download the information packet with a registration card that can be mailed in to Capital Tours.
3. Pick up an informational packet in the main office with the registration card attached that can then be mailed in.
Please contact me with any questions or concerns. If you are need of scholarship funds for this trip, please send me an email! It is our goal to get as many students on this trip as possible and we do not want financial concerns to get in the way of this experience.
iPads in the Middle Schools
If you are a parent of a 7th or 8th grader, you already know that we have a 1:1 iPad program for all 7th and 8th graders this year. After beginning with just 8th grade last year, we learned a lot about how to incorporate this tool into our classrooms and daily instruction. This has been a great learning process and we greatly appreciate your feedback, questions and concerns about how best to manage these tools both in and out of school.
Similar to last year, we will be seeking feedback from parents, teachers and students on how iPads have affected their teaching and learning as well as what have been the positive outcomes as well as challenges associated with this program. Stay tuned for more information including focus groups, parent talks, and surveys.
Below is a sample of some of the FAQ's that we have posted on our website under 1:1 iPad Program for your information. There are other resources here as well. Feel free to explore.
What is the 1:1 iPad Program?
The 1:1 iPad Program will see every Lexington 7th and 8th grader using an iPad during the 2016-2017 school year. The program will issue an iPad to every 7th and 8th-grade student at William Diamond Middle School and Jonas Clarke Middle School and they will be able to use that iPad both at home and in school to improve their learning and engagement with the content. These iPads will be issued to every student in a similar way to the issuing of textbooks to every student, and students will be expected to bring their charged iPads to school every day.
How did we fund the iPad Program?
Money was allocated in the district's capital budget to fund the purchase of the iPads and related apps. Specific amounts can be found in district-presented budgets.
Why iPads?
As more and more classwork is done online and as we hope to see more and more students collaborating in and out of the classroom to further their 21st-century skills, there is a need for more devices to allow all of our students access to these opportunities all of the time. By giving every student an iPad, there is no longer a concern about sharing devices at home or in school; and it allows students to expand their knowledge, create positive connections to the curriculum, and enhance their creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills.
Why iPads instead of __________ (Chromebooks, Laptops, etc.)?
Throughout Lexington Public Schools, we are an Apple-based district which certainly influenced the decision to move to iPads. In addition, iPads have several other features that have benefits over other devices.
First of all, iPads can be used without WiFi so if there are connectivity issues at home or school, students will still be able to focus on their learning. Secondly, iPads have been to be more durable and reliable in terms of lasting throughout the day (both in regards to dealing with wear and tear and in regards to battery life). Thirdly, the iPad operating system has a full set of accessibility features so it can be used effectively by individuals with disabilities. Finally, the suite of apps available, plus the rear-facing camera of the iPad encourage creativity, innovation, and new ways of learning that are not equally encouraged with other devices.
What is the evidence to support iPads as educational rather than distraction/entertainment?
Over the course of the 2015-2016 school year, we have examined how iPads were used in the 8th grade throughout the district. After surveying students, teachers, and parents, we have learned that while there are issues with distractibility on the iPads, we are seeing a great deal more creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking with these devices. More than 80% of students agree or strongly agree that the iPad makes it easier to work with other students. 75% of students report using their iPads often or very often to create presentations, videos, pictures, and other visual products. 72% of teachers report that the iPads have enhanced the classroom learning experience.
Clubs at Clarke!
Picking up your child after hours?
Upcoming Dates
Early Release Day | December 2
Parent Conferences. School dismissed at 11:45
Book Fair | December 2 - December 9
Come check out the Book Fair during conferences or after school. Students will have an opportunity to go during the day.
8th Grade Washington D.C. Trip Registration Deadline | December 6
Click Here to Register online now
Clarke PTO Meeting | December 8
8:45AM Clarke Cafeteria
Early Release Day | December 9
Parent Conferences. School dismissed at 11:45
Last Day before Winter Break | December 23
Vacation December 26 - January 2. School resumes January 3, 2017
News From the 8th Grade
Apollo Team
As we approach December break, it is amazing to think we are already well into the second term of the 2016-17 school year! In what feels like a short amount of time, we have settled into the routine of life as 8th graders and as leaders of the school. Our 8th grade experience goes beyond academic classes and homework - we’ve managed to throw some fun in, too, with experiences like our early fall field trip to Lowell National Park and our annual Outsiders Greaser/Soc Dress-Up Day.
In History, Apollo students have recently completed extensive research of the electrifying American Revolutionary War and created Annotated Bibliographies for their chosen subjects. Now that we have researched historians’ works on the revolutionary war, students are currently analyzing other sources, which include Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton: An American Musical” and the HBO mini-series “John Adams”, to further their understanding as well as determining historical accuracies presented in different forms of entertainment. Next up – Apollo students will study challenges associated with our nation’s attempt in uniting the original thirteen states and forming a perfect union. We will begin with the impact of the United States’s first written “constitution” - the Articles of Confederation.
In math, Apollo students are studying a variety of topics. Math 1 students have covered Solving Equations and Inequalities as well as the Pythagorean Theorem and will be moving on to Functions soon. Grade 8 math students have completed a unit on introducing linear functions and are into the Pytagorean Theorem now. Students are using the ipads very successfully to get, do, and submit their homework. Parents who are looking for a way to find the math homework assignments nightly can check the calendar for their child's class on the school website under Teacher Websites in the "Academics" tab.
In English, the Thanksgiving week started off with Mrs. Gagnon’s pregnancy announcement! Since, the students have been excitedly brainstorming baby names, many inspired by the literature we have read :) Academically, we are halfway through our theme development unit, using our self-selected book club novels to continue to understand how an author constructs his/her overall message about life. Our book club and theme analysis will take us to break, and come January, we will move our focus to argumentative non-fiction. This unit will focus on journalistic strategies in newspapers, magazines, and in the news. We will use our analysis of articles and news clips to then create our own!
Lastly, in Apollo science, students are just completing our third unit of study - Heat. To culminate this unit, we apply our learning about heat transfer to our “Penguin Project,” in which students combine inquiry skills and the engineering process to design the best hut that prevents melting of a penguin-shaped ice cube using materials that are least harmful to the environment. On to States of Matter next - a topic we have encountered frequently as we discussed the interaction of heat energy and matter. We will further build our capacity to consider materials at both the macroscopic and microscopic scales.
As a team, we wish you a peaceful holiday season and a relaxing break.
~Mr. Romulus, Mr. Frost, Mrs. Gagnon & Mrs. Berbeco
Challenge Team
In Ms. Hundley’s American History Class, students worked in small groups to create a “mind map” timeline of the events leading up to the American Revolution. A mind map is a way to create an outline using a variety of colors to categorize information about a topic. In addition, Students use an iBook created by Instructional Technology Specialist, Mr. Davey to learn about the Declaration of Independence and reactions to it from a variety of perspectives. Feel free to explore the iBook with your student!
In Mr. Grimes’ U.S History class, we have begun our study of the American Revolution, examining the events around Massachusetts including those of Lexington and Concord. As part of our study, students researched important revolutionary leaders, and also created “mind map” posters displaying their information. We will continue to look at the leaders and how decisions they made impacted the events of the war and beyond. This week we will be examining the ideas central to the Declaration of independence.
In Mrs. Kaw’s Science Classes, students have been studying heat transfer and ways to reduce heat transfer. Through experiments, students have explored behavior of various materials such as conductors, insulators and their respective thermal conductivities. We have also discussed several real life applications regarding heat transfer. Students are now applying these concepts in creating a penguin hut to prevent an ice cube shaped penguin from melting. All the students are given the same materials and each group will strive to make the best penguin hut. We had our competition on Thursday, Dec. 1st. Students will be assessed on their analysis and explanation of their hut design.
In Ms. Denham’s Math 1 classes have tackled equations and inequalities while playing some competitive games of Equation Battleship. Moving forwards, they are jumping into functions and using motion sensors to create graphs of distance and velocity compared to time and exploring various kinds of graphing stories. They have done some exploration of Venn diagrams and the honors class also worked with set theory.
Ms. Denham’s Grade 8 Math class has been using a geoboard app to explore the relationship between the area of squares and square roots, leading to a discovery of the Pythagorean Theorem. They also created their own survey questions to create two-way tables and explore bivariate data, surveying Discovery and Apollo students to gather their data.
Discovery Team
The Discovery Team is ready for winter with all the hot, hot learning happening in the classroom each day!
Mr. Michael Robinson is serving as a long-term substitute for Ms. Connard, who will be on maternity leave until February. Mr. Robinson brings a wealth of real-world experience to the classroom as he spent more than 20 years as an environmental scientist prior to teaching.
The 8th Grade Science classes have just completed a unit on heat and thermal energy culminating in the Penguin Hut Project. For this project, the students applied their knowledge of heat transfer to design and build a hut with the goal of preventing a penguin-shaped ice cube from melting. Lab time was devoted to testing various materials for their ability to reduce heat transfer. Students were also allowed to design one controlled experiment to test a design hypothesis prior to constructing their hut. In addition to reducing heat transfer, the students also were required to consider the environmental consequences of their design as they were evaluated on their choice and quantity of building materials. The project was a success as all students were able to design huts that prevented the ice cubes from melting completely!
U.S. History classes have been immersed in the American Revolutionary era. They recently completed a poster project that involved researching various people and events from the time period, creating detailed maps, and displaying the events accurately on a timeline. They have also been developing their “historians’ skills” by reading and interpreting a wealth of primary sources, creating thesis statements, and defending their arguments with valid, accurate information. In the coming weeks, students will begin learning about the foundations of American government, which will include reading the U.S. Constitution, exploring the ins and outs of politics, and seeing exactly what responsible citizenship entails.
In English class during November and December, we are in our Theme Development unit and are reading “Coming of Age” novels. The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton’s engaging novel, has been our mentor text and now students are choosing another novel to read in December. They are engaging in small group “book club” discussions to further their understanding of this genre and how themes are developed across a text.
In the 8th Grade Math class so far this year we have covered the "Thinking With Mathematical Models" Unit which focused on the topics of Linear Equations and Statistics and the "Looking for Pythagoras" Unit which focused on the topics of estimating Roots and the Pythagorean Theorem. The next unit will be "Growing, Growing, Growing" which will focus on the topics of Exponents, Scientific Notation, and Exponential Functions.
In the Math 1 and Math 1 Honors classes so far this year we have covered units on the Foundations of Algebra, Exponents, the Pythagorean Theorem, Solving Equations, and Inequalities. The next unit will be Functions which will include the topics of Distance-Time and Speed-Time Graphs, Graphing Functions, Identifying Functions, Using and Interpreting Function Notation, and Domain and Range of a Function.
Throughout the year in all Math classes we will be using the TI-83 or TI-84 Graphing Calculators as a tool to understand the graphs of different types of functions as well as to do a wide variety of statistical analysis. We will also be using several iPad apps such as Geogebra, Desmos, Khan Academy, and Euclidea as math mathematical tools to help with conceptual understanding.