It is amazing how fast the school year is going. Students are steadily completing the program here at Rockdale Youth Academy which allows us the opportunity to serve new students. Many students are going above and beyond their coursework and seizing the opportunity to earn additional high school credits with our credit recovery program. So far, we have been able to award 27 half-credits this school year. We are so proud of our students!

During the 2nd 6-weeks in science, we first discovered ways our bodies react to our environment to keep our organs working properly. This process is called homeostasis. We learned about how gasses and water move in our environment. Why do we smell food on one side of the house when the kitchen is so far away? This is because of diffusion. Gasses like to move to areas with a lesser amount. The same occurs with water and things that dissolve in water. Water being the solvent and things dissolving being the solute. Why do our drinks have the same taste every sip and not stronger or weaker for certain sips? These molecules like to be even. Students explored pH and why some chemicals are used for cleaning, eating, and coloring clothing. pH is a scale used to determine how acidic or basic a chemical is. Depending on where a chemical is on this scale, it tells us how dangerous it is to work with. After discussing pH, we moved on to cells and how we start off as one cell and become a single being with over 30 trillion cells working together. The cell cycle is a process cells go through every day to replace cells that die. This process is important for all of life to exist. To check our understanding, our students created a model of these steps using paper plates, macaroni noodles (representing chromosomes), and yarn.

In ELA we began Unit 2 by reading classic short stories. Students analyzed fictional pieces for literary elements. Students have learned how to answer short answer response questions using the R.A.C.E. method. R.A.C.E is a mnemonic:

R- Restate the question

A- Answer the question in your own words

C- Cite your evidence from the text

E - Explain and extend the evidence.

This tool helps students to remember to fully answer a question. These types of constructed response questions will be on the redesign of STAAR tests this spring in Reading, Science and Social Studies.

Next students discovered how poetry can come in many different forms. We read and analyzed many types of poems including song lyrics. The students took an interest in a game called Gimkit, which is an online learning game show. Students enjoyed playing the Go Fish game, where they had to answer vocabulary questions to earn "bait" to go fishing in the game. It is safe to say they had a great time learning poetry and figurative language.

This six weeks we learned about Linear Functions. The students were able to identify functions from tables, graphs, ordered pairs and mapping. They also learned how to calculate the slope from two points and when given a graph.

In addition, students diligently worked on our online tutoring program, Edgenuity MyPath. Students take an initial assessment and are provided lessons and activities tailored to their individual needs for math improvement. Students are demonstrating marked progress as a result of their hard work.

Students investigated the colonial geographic region of America. They charted the economy, religion, government, and society of the time period. All are the essential elements that shaped the growth and development of the United States as we know it.

We kept up with current events and practiced map skills using Scholastic Junior Magazine. Students have enjoyed this subscription and look forward to the next edition.

In recognition of the upcoming holiday, students researched and created a visual display about a Medal of Honor recipient. Check out the pictures of them in action.

STAAR Benchmark Testing - Nov 8, 11, 15, and 16

Early Out for Teacher Professional Development - Nov 11

Thanksgiving Holiday - Nov 21-25

STAAR EOC Retakes - Dec 6-9