Weekly Update
Cluster 5
Cluster Announcements
ELA MCAS April 11th and April 13th
Report Cards mailed home April 15th
Civics Action Project Update for Caregivers
March 29, 2022
Dear 8th-grade Parents/Caregivers,
As you may have already heard from your child, this spring all 8th-graders will complete a Civic Action Project, where they reach out (through email) to people in our government and society who can help them make our country a better place.
In Watertown Public Schools, our High School students have open accounts, but students in grades K-8 are limited to writing and receiving emails only in the school district. We believe this project is the perfect time to make the transition from having a limited account to full access account, just as they are preparing to transition from grade 8 to grade 9.
We are notifying you that on Thursday of this week, we will be giving all of our 8th-grade students additional access to their Google accounts which will allow them to use their emails to correspond with those outside of our district. We believe our students, as they begin getting ready to leave WMS, are ready for this increased responsibility, and we have discussed with them how to stay safe on the internet as they are corresponding with those they have not met in person.
We encourage you to ask your child about the project and discuss with them how it is progressing. This is a larger, multi-step project, and we will be helping students to stay current with the assignments and to always be doing their best work. If they have any questions about the project, they should reach out to their teachers right away so as not to fall behind. Thank you for your support at home. As always, we are looking forward to the amazing projects from our 8th-graders - they are always excellent!
Sincerely,
Donna Martin, Principal
Karen Kline, Cluster 5 Civics teacher
Laura Shock, Cluster 6 Civics teacher
English/Language Arts
April 11th- April 29th
Students have completed their work within their book club groups and have shown growth in their teamwork skills, independent reading and accountability, and executive functioning (planning out the reading chunks and calendar planning). They were mostly successful in collaborating with each other and completing the expected tasks.
On Monday and Wednesday of next week (April 11th and April 13th), students will be taking the 8th grade ELA MCAS. Over the course of the two days of testing, students will be answering reading comprehension questions (multiple choice), as well as writing longer narrative and open response pieces. We have been stressing to the students that it is critically important that they do their absolute best on these MCAS. We need to see their “true academic self” in their scores- no matter the results. This is the last time that the students take the MCAS (there are no MCAS in 9th grade) before the MCAS are taken “for real” and count towards graduation in 10th grade. A true score will identify what skills need to be worked on in 9th grade to best produce successful scores as a 10th grader. They have been working hard leading up to these tests and we are incredibly proud of their skill improvements.
We encourage students to show up ready to CRUSH the MCAS next week by:
Being well-rested. Get a GREAT night of sleep and log off technology at a reasonable time.
Have a delicious and nutritious breakfast- fuel their brains!
Come in with a positive attitude- ALL students have shown growth this year- prove it!
Bring gum if it helps you concentrate.
Take frequent breaks- it's a long two days of testing- use the bathroom, the water fountain… it's good to get up during testing to re-energize
The students have ALL day to complete the test if needed. Use the time necessary to score your best!
SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW- we want to see- YOUR TRUE ACADEMIC SELF.
Following April Vacation, students will begin their next unit of writing- argumentative writing. We all know teenagers are skilled with argument. We’re excited to see what they can do with this writing unit. hahaha
Please have a well-deserved, safe and restful break from school. We’re less than 50 days from graduation. Be well.
Science
Before April break, we will finish up our unit of Seasons, Weather, and Climate by studying the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect.
After April break, we will begin our final unit: Physics. This unit will prepare students for the work they will do next year in 9th grade and will include mathematical calculations and graphing. See the learning objectives for this unit below.
1.1 Measuring Motion
Differentiate between distance and displacement.
Differentiate between scalar and vector.
Describe the motion of an object based on its relative position to a reference point.
Calculate the speed of an object by dividing distance by time.
Use and interpret graphs of speed.
Compare and contrast speed and velocity.
Calculate the acceleration of an object by dividing speed by time.
1.2 What is a force?
Use forces to change the acceleration of an object.
Combine forces to determine the net force.
Create models of balanced and unbalanced forces.
1.3 Friction
Compare different sources of friction and how they affect moving objects.
1.4 Gravity
Explain how mass and distance affect the force of gravity.
Use mass to calculate the weight of an object.
2.1 Gravity and Motion
Explain how gravity and air resistance affect falling objects.
Understand how free-fall and centripetal force affect objects in orbit.
Describe how gravity affects the motion of projectiles.
2.2 Newton’s Laws of Motion
Newton’s First Law: Explain how objects at rest and those in motion are affected by inertia and mass.
Newton’s Second Law: Explain the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration.
Newton’s Third Law: Describe how pairs of forces act on objects.
2.3 Momentum
Use mass and velocity to calculate momentum.
Explain the law of conservation of momentum.
Civics
Apr 8, 2022
We are finishing up our Structure of Government unit, where we learned about the three branches of government, the legislative, executive and judicial branches. We learned about the duties and powers of each branch and how they work together in our system of checks and balances. We will finish up the unit with a short research and presentation assignment where students will tell their peers about a member of our government. We also enjoyed our speech from State Representative Steven Owens, giving us a real life look at the legislative branch.
Students picked their topics, the “change they want to see in the world,” for our Civics Action Project. The CAP is a long term project where students apply their knowledge of our democracy to inform and empower their classmates to solve real world problems. Check out our Civics Action Project website for more information.
Math - 4/8
For the upcoming week we will be working simplifying radicals and determining whether a number is rational or irrational. We just finished the Pythagorean Theorem and the students should know how to use it and they should know when the Pythagorean Theorem is used. The students will be having several homework assignments on simplifying radicals and determining whether a number is rational or irrational. As a reminder homework is given in math class just about everyday except Friday!
Students in my algebra class will be continuing to work on chapter 6. Students have learned exponent rules so far in chapter 6 and will next be learning about Scientific Notation. The students will learn why we use scientific notation and when it is used in real life. Students will be having homework assignments on these two topics throughout the week. As a reminder I typically give homework everyday except Friday!
English Language Development classes
Entering ELD
Our class keeps growing! The students are becoming excellent at welcoming each other and new guests and forging a warm environment in the classroom.
This week, part of our class finished their oral presentations, where they compared and contrasted two characters in a movie of their choice. The other group compared members of their families and will present next week.
Emerging ELD
This week we learned started learning about conjugating verbs in the regular past tense. We have been sharing some stories about our lives that have happened in the past and are enjoying learning more about each other. This week we will learn about conjugating irregular verbs in the past which will require lots of practice. We also prepared last week and will prepare this week for the ELA MCAS by practicing using bilingual dictionaries.
Developing ELD
We have been talking about human rights this week. We also have been preparing to take the MCAS next week. Students have been practicing to use guide words in dictionaries to find translations of unknown words.
Expanding ELD
Students worked on skills and strategies to prepare for the ELA MCAS. For example, they worked on dictionary skills, writing claims and finding evidence, making outlines and webs for writing drafts, and strategies for eliminating incorrect answers on multiple choice questions. All Expanding ELD students will take the ELA MCAS on MOnday April 11 and Wednesday, April 13.
Transitioning ELD
Next week, we have the state test in English Language Arts, where students answer questions about Reading and get to show off their Writing skills. This week, our students have been practicing their skills while simultaneously reading our new novel, The Stars Beneath Their Feet.
Phonics 6th grade
We have been reading passages to practice for fluency. Students have been recording their reading so that they can hear the difference practice makes.
Phonics 7th & 8th Grade
This week we have been practicing differentiating between long and short vowel sounds. Lots of this is practice and is a reminder that long vowel sounds say the names of the letters, for example, long i would sound like the letter name i, and short vowels have different sounds. We will continue with this through next week, with our focus on decoding words in text with long and short vowels.
Sheltered Social Studies (Grade 8 only)
The past couple of weeks we welcomed a few new students to the class! Students returned to the Driving Question: How can students make a difference? They learned about 9 young American “changemakers” in the Guiding Book No Voice Too Small, from which they will choose one person and “cause” to research. Their research will end in a culminating project similar to one that all WMS 8th graders must do.
Influencers of American Democracy
Hideo Tanaka
Past Smores
Contact staff directly
Edward.cafua@watertown.k12.ma.us - MATH
Karen.kline@watertown.k12.ma.us - CIVICS
Zara.Rix@watertown.k12.ma.us - EL
Brian.Donato@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION / MATH
Daniel.Skop@watertown.k12.ma.us - ENGLISH
Christine.Sorenson@watertown.k12.ma.us - READING
Elissa.Willoughby@watertown.k12.ma.us - SCIENCE
Sarah.Juusola@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION / ENGLISH
Ashley.cohen@watertown.k12.ma.us - GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
Website: https://wms.watertown.k12.ma.us/