CMS 8th Grade Husky Howler
October 2017
Thweatt's Husky Pause
8th grade Family,
It's hard to believe the first nine-week grading period is quickly coming to a close. First quarter ends on Thursday, October 12th and Interim Progress Reports will be sent home on Wednesday, October 18th. If you have questions regarding your child's progress, please don't hesitate to reach out to your child's teachers. Your child's success is top priority. We invite the opportunity to work together with you to help your child reach his/her full potential.
News about PBIS
Crabapple Middle School Teachers and Staff are committed to continually helping students succeed through positive behavior. CMS has three main behavioral expectations, known as the “3 Bs”:
Be Prepared (on time & with all materials) , Be Engaged (on-task & using technology appropriately), & Be Respectful
Students can earn up to 5 Husky Paw Points per class period for exemplifying the 3 Bs. Students use these points to participate in different reward activities.
This Month’s Focus: Be Prepared- Have Materials
The Positive Behavior System relies heavily on support from parents. Please encourage your child to bring a charged iPad, headphones/earbuds, completed homework, and a pencil to each class.
This Month’s Rewards: October 5th- Shopping for FREE items at the Husky Hut
October 20th- Flannel/Fleece Pants Day
Language Arts
8th grade Language Arts continued to work in our reader’s and writer’s workshops this month. Students applied our standards to their independent novels. We analyzed symbolism, theme, dialogue, and events in our stories. We also practiced our constructed response paragraphs using the Schaffer Method. Our first test is taking place on October 11th.
Science
8th Grade Curriculum: Students are learning about elements, compounds, and mixtures as well as the differences between them. This is also taught in relation with physical and chemical changes. We have begun transitioning into learning about the periodic table's structure and organization. To demonstrate their knowledge on the periodic table's structure and organization, students will create their own periodic table.
Honors Curriculum: Students have been learning about nuclear decay and reactions. They are now able to explain the changes in nuclear structure as a result of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay. We have just introduced the Periodic Table Project and students will soon be exploring the periodic table to learn about the patterns of atomic structure, including: determining the number of valence electrons, types of ions formed by representative elements and the location and properties of metals, non-metals, and metalloids. This is all to get us ready for learning how atoms bond to form stable compounds.
Social Studies
September was an active month in Georgia Studies! We have already completed our 3rd unit of study about the American Revolution and are ready to begin Westward Expansion. We have been introducing DBQ (document based questioning); we are fully up and running with USATestPrep; and even though this is in the future, we were able to secure reservations for a visit downtown at the Georgia State Capitol in February when we will be studying government!
USATestPrep is an online platform for Georgia Studies where our students can review, test (with immediate feedback), and even play games to master the standards! All students will be given log in information so they can access this platform anywhere they have Internet, which is a great way for them to review the content that they have been learning in class. If you have any questions about the program, please contact Ms. Hain, Ms. Hayes, Ms. McCaulley or Ms. Nelms.
Math
In Math 8 we are currently working on Unit 2. The first part of the Unit covers exponents and scientific notation. After working on those topics we will be moving on to Rational vs. irrational numbers, estimating square root and we will finish the unit off by solving mufti-step equations.
Advanced Math 8: The unit 2 test will be administered on Thursday, October 5th. It will assess your student's understanding of the following concepts: solving multi-step equations, writing & solving multi-step equations from word problems, identifying irrational & rational numbers, solving equations with cube and square roots, solving literal equations, estimating square roots of irrational numbers, and locating real numbers on a number line. We will begin unit 3 on Tuesday, October 10th. Within this unit, students will extend their work with irrational numbers by applying the Pythagorean Theorem to situations involving right triangles, including finding distance, and will investigate proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse. Students will solve real-world problems involving volume of cylinders, cones, and spheres. Looking for a resource to assist your student in their mathematical understandings? Please check out Red Bird for a personalized learning approach (fcs.redbirdschools.com). Your student can access the site by logging in with his/her lunch number and birthdate.
In Algebra I we are currently working in Unit 2. The first part of the unit covers properties of algebraic equations and then moves into solving both systems of equations and systems of inequalities. After that we will cover arithmetic sequences and finish the unit off by covering characteristics of functions.
World Language
Spanish Level 2 and 2H: We have been working on lesson 6. Students have been practicing the preterit tense and they have been learning about Cuba. Students recently took a quiz on the preterit tense and they completed a puppet pal activity that utilized the preterit tense throughout the presentation. At this time, students are working on writing a book that summarizes a well known children's book. They are to use the preterit. The rubric is posted on the website. This project will be completed in class and students should be bringing poster board or recycled cereal boxes to help reinforce the pages. Students may have the opportunity to share the stories with a 6th grade Spanish class. Next week we will be focusing on demonstrative pronouns and adjectives. In Level 2, we have been reading the book "I Lived on Butterfly Hill" By Marjorie Agosin. 2H will begin reading this book soon! This book discusses the dictatorship times in Chile through the eyes of a middle schooler.
Upcoming Dates: Oct. 18th is our Lesson 6 Test and Oct. 10th is our written PBA.
Please have students utilize VHLCentral.com for activities and review.
Spanish Level 1: We are wrapping up lesson 1. Students have learned the verb "ser" and its conjugations, greetings, certain question words, numbers and time. Students recently took a quiz on numbers and one on time. Students also wrote bubble buddies talking about themselves in paragraph form. We have learned a lot of vocabulary that students should keeping up with at home. Students will be working on creating puppet pals asking each other questions about one another. Students will be having a written PBA coming up in the next week.
We have also been reading the book "I Lived on Butterfly Hill" By Marjorie Agosin. This book discusses the dictatorship times in Chile through the eyes of a middle schooler.
Upcoming Dates: Oct 11th will be our lesson 1 Test and Oct. 4th will be our written PBA
Please have students utilize VHLCENTRAL.com for activities an review.
French 2/2H: Students have discussed “Professions” vocab and have written about a member of their family and occupation, used Padlet to share cultural information, played practice games like Pictionary, continued review, practiced intonation, discussed the leisure activities of young French people, created and recorded an interview between a journalist and a famous athlete, made original “Madlibs” for Lesson 5A practice, practiced using whiteboards, and created Quizlets and Kahoots for review. French 2 will have a recorded PBA next week as well as a test on October 5, covering Lesson 5A. They are receiving a review packet to be completed by Wednesday.
Counseling Corner
Attendance:
Regular attendance is essential for success in school. All learning builds upon previous lessons. Missing even one period of any subject can result in loss of important information needed to master that content area. Therefore, we would like to ensure that our students are only absent when no other options are available. Due to the fact that teaching continues throughout the entire school day, we strongly encourage you to make every attempt to schedule doctor’s appointments, dental appointments, etc, before or after school hours. Please be mindful of the scheduling of activities during school hours.
Georgia Heritage Day and Roswell Walking Tour
Interested in Jr. Beta Club?
If your child is interested in joining Jr. Beta, please access Mrs. Noto's website at
https://sites.google.com/site/espanolconsenoranoto/
under the Jr. Beta Tab. Applications and information can be found there. Complete applications are due Monday Oct. 16th. The next Jr. Beta meetings are Oct. 18th and 30th. Meetings are mandatory.