What's Happening in Cluster 5?
------MARCH 2024---- Monthly S'more
Cluster Announcements
-Term 2 Final Grade Reports are updated in Powerschool. Please reach out to teachers or advisors with any questions or concerns.
-High school guidance counselors will make their next visit to 8th grade on April 9th. Their focus will be on schedules for next year.
-There is a district-wide early release scheduled for Friday, March 29th. Dismissal is 11:45.
IMPORTANT UPCOMING MCAS TESTING DATES:
ELA April 23rd and 24th
Civics May 7th and 8th
Science May 21st and 22nd
MATH May 14th and 15th
Also, the spring I-Ready testing window will be May 28th- 31st. 8th grade students will take their last reading and math assessment for i-Ready.
-With all standardized tests (and especially with the 10 testing days in 5 weeks), the best way to support your student(s) is by making sure they are well-rested and fueled- breakfast is provided free of cost each morning from 7:30 to 7:45 in the Cafe. Encourage your child(ren) to SHOW WHAT THEY KNOW and REPRESENT THEIR "TRUE ACADEMIC SELF" on these tests!
-Here is a link for our YEARLONG SCHOOL CALENDAR
-Cluster 5 and 6 WISHLIST for classroom supplies
How to support your child in 8th grade...
-Work on ways to get organized- created routines and expectations for the day.
-Make sure the chromebook is charging each evening.
-Email teachers with any concerns (you can find email addresses at bottom of this S'More).
SCIENCE with Ms. Elissa Willoughby
March 22, 2024
Our study of life science is coming to an end! The Evolution Unit Test took place on Thursday, March 21, and Friday, March 22. Supplementary review materials (listed by topic) to help students prepare for the test can be found here: Review Materials for Evolution Unit.
After the test is completed, we will begin the final unit of the year: Physics! Students will be learning the content and skills necessary to perform well in physics at the start of 9th grade in addition to the standards assigned to middle school and assessed on the STE MCAS coming up in late May. During this unit, students will practice their problem-solving skills, collect data in multiple labs, and interpret graphs that show speed as a slope. The first learning objectives are listed 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.
English/Language Arts with Mr. Daniel Skop
MARCH-
Students are nearing the end of our first Book Club of the year. The genre of our first rotation was “Coming of Age”. Students chose from a variety of novels and worked with their peers to discuss characters, settings, conflicts, and themes. They focused on reading skills as well as academic writing and group collaboration.
Students were placed in groups based on novel preferences, reading level, and group members. They began by creating a calendar (graphic organizer) to plan out a successful pacing plan to map out their reading each evening (students SHOULD DEFINITELY be reading at home each evening- or catching up on the weekends!). Please ask your student about their interests in the novel.
Some helpful tips:
-Provide a space, free of noise and technology distractions (take the phone!), so that the student can focus on their reading. It's a battle at first, but will become a routine soon enough.
-Create a nightly expectation for reading- for example, from 6:30-7:15, we are dropping everything and reading.
-Ask questions about the book, the characters, the plot. Something as simple as, "What connections can you make with the main character?", will give your student a talking point.
Once we hit April, students will spend a few weeks preparing for the ELA MCAS testing.
Just a reminder about the ELA policy regarding the method by which grades are tracked through the semester. All assignments are assigned through google classroom. Each student is a member of a specific (class color) ELA roster in the classroom. The assignments are all graded on a scale of 0-4 and the grades are represented as follows in GOOGLE CLASSROOM:
4.0= Mastery/Exceeds Expectations
3.0= Proficient/ Meets Expectations
2.0= Approaching Proficiency/Partially Meets Expectations
1.0= Developing/ Some Understanding (with support)
0 Not Meeting Expectation (often an assignment that hasn’t been completed).
-When the grades are transferred into the powerschool portal and calculated into an overall grade, the “Marzano” grade conversion is used to turn the 0- 4 into a percentage. This is not simply changing the fraction into a decimal (not ¾= .75), but rather assigning a percentage to each number. The conversions are as follows: 4.0= 100%, 3.5= 95%, 3.0= 90%, 2.5= 80%, 2.0= 70%, 1.5= 65%, 1.0=60%, 0= 50%.
***In this grading policy, a student will not receive a grade less than a 50% on any assignment- thus making the grade ranges more level in value.
-As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your 8th grader in ELA, please initiate a conversation by emailing me at daniel.skop@watertown.k12.ma.us
Take care.
Math with Mr. Eddie Cafua
MARCH
Algebra: In class we have been discussing functions. Students at this point should know the definition of a function, how to tell if something is a function and how to write using function notation. Students have learned about the vertical line test and how it is used to help them determine if a graph is a function. Additionally, students have learned how to write function equations from tables. As we move forward in chapter 5 the students will learn about recursive rules and the notation that is associated with that.
Math 8: Students have been learning about exponents and scientific notation. Students at this point should know all of the rules of exponents. In addition, students took a quiz on this topic (3/15) and the grades are posted in PowerSchool. Our next unit is scientific notation, which was introduced on 3/18. Students will be learning about how to write in scientific notation and all operations associated with solving problems in scientific notation. After our scientific notation unit we will be working on bivariate data tables and scatterplots.
Civics with Ms. Karen Kline (and Ms. Ascrizzi)
March 22, 2024
Congratulations on finishing up second term! We showed our proficiency in 8th grade academic writing skills this past term with two big essays. Check out your child’s second term CER grades (CER stands for Claim-Evidence-Reasoning, the way we learn about informative and persuasive writing). We started off 3rd term with a mid-year exam to review the structure and history of our democracy.
Now it’s time for Civics Action Projects! This is our favorite project of the year (and many students from past year report it’s their favorite, too)! In April students will take everything they have learned about civics, government, law-making and policy, and use it to make the change they want to see in our communities. In this project, we strive to answer two essential questions: “How do we use our rights and responsibilities as members of a democratic society to take action?” and “How can we inform and empower our community to make change?” This is the capstone project of the entire 8th grade year, and really, a culmination of everything students have learned in middle school about research, inquiry, and presentation.
In the past, students have tackled a wide variety of issues including climate change, the WMS dress code, invasive plant species, reducing the stigma around mental illness, locker rooms at Victory Field, and making the language of the WMS handbook more inclusive. We can’t wait to see what kind of changemakers your students will be! Check out our CAP website for more information.
To help launch our Civics Action Project, we're excited to welcome a panel of community leaders to WMS on Tuesday the 26th, who will be talking to our students about the importance of public service and civic engagement. Ask your students about what they heard about ways to get involved in Watertown!
Current learning targets:
I can connect my personal identity to the change I want to make in the world
I can brainstorm strengths and weaknesses of the communities I am a part of
I can choose a change I a want to make in a community I am part of
I can choose a group of people who want to make the same change as me, and who will help me to achieve my goal
Meg G- Special Education Liaison and Language-Based English
Hello WMS families,
My name is Megan Griffin, and I am the Special Education Liaison and Language-Based English Teacher for Cluster 5 this school year. I have been working in the district for twelve years. I have a love for teaching 8th grade, as I find joy in witnessing the significant growth of the students throughout the year and helping them foster independence before they transition to high school. Beyond the classroom, I enjoy spending my free time with my 11-year-old shepherd, retriever, and hound mix named Chance. My other passions are cooking, travel, and my love-hate relationship with the game of golf. Falmouth, Massachusetts, particularly during the summers, holds a special place in my heart where I’ve shared many cherished family memories at the beach.
I look forward to coaching my fifth outdoor track season this spring and spending the second week of June with some of the 8th graders in Washington, D.C.
Go Eagles!
English Language Development (ELD) S'more page
Click this link for more information on the English Language Development classes.
Reading Specialist S'more page
Special classes S'more page
World Language Dept. S'more page
Contact staff directly
Edward.Cafua@watertown.k12.ma.us - MATH
Karen.Kline@watertown.k12.ma.us - CIVICS
Sheila.Gilmartin@watertown.k12.ma.us - EL
Brian.Donato@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION / MATH
Megan.Griffin@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION/ELA
Daniel.Skop@watertown.k12.ma.us - ENGLISH
Christine.Sorenson@watertown.k12.ma.us - READING
Elissa.Willoughby@watertown.k12.ma.us - SCIENCE
Amanda.Skypeck@watertown.k12.ma.us - GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
Website: https://wms.watertown.k12.ma.us/