Cluster 6 Newsletter
March 22, 2024
Hello Cluster 6 families and caregivers!
We've started Term 3 -- your student's final term in middle school! Please help them finish strong and solidify good habits that they can take with them to high school. One important habit that students will need to succeed next year and beyond is to complete homework nightly. Please help them figure out how to make that part of their daily routine.
There's a partial solar eclipse happening on Monday, April 8. Students are invited to stay after school for a viewing party. See the flyer for more information.
English
Happy Spring! In English class, students are rocking their book clubs. The genre is coming of age, and students have read a variety of novels featuring protagonists grappling with issues of family, friends, identity, and just being an adolescent. Students wrote two collaborative CERs on character development and conflict, and are now finishing an independent CER on theme. That marks three five paragraph essays in three weeks - quite a feat! Next week we will do a choice board project, followed by some MCAS prep.
Civics
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
Math
The 8th Grade Math classes are in the midst of our unit covering exponents. Students are discovering the structure of exponential arithmetic and growth. For example, exponential relationships describe growth such as investments based on percentage, APR for loans and credit, etc. Next up, students will learn about scientific notation, which allows us to describe and use very great and very low numbers, such as the distance to the Sun in feet, or the size of a molecule in inches.
Algebra classes are learning about functions, which seem similar to equations, but involve situations where for every single input, there must be no more than one output. For example, if an input (x) is time, and and output (y) is distance, can you be in two different places at one time? That would describe a relationship that is NOT a function. Algebra students will then take their turn at learning about exponents and scientific notation.
**Please continue to strongly encourage that your 8th-grader is doing their homework each night. It is given 3-5 times each week for all math classes, and it will be so important for their high school readiness.**
Science
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.
Links to other Smores
Specialist Smore
Use this link to see updates from your students' specialist teachers on their classes!
Reading Smore
Use this link to see updates from the reading teachers on their classes!
Wilson Reading Smore
Here is the link for the Wilson Reading Smore with Ms. Sorenson
Multilingual Learners Smore
Check here for updates from our English Language Development teachers Ms. Rix, Ms. Gilmartin, Ms. Campos, and Ms. Schoenbeck.
Contact Info
Ms Kiernan, Special Education: kathleen.kiernan@watertown.k12.ma.us
Mr Manoukian, Math: aram.manoukian@watertown.k12.ma.us
Ms P-K, Science: katherine.poulinkerstien@watertown.k12.ma.us
Ms Rix, English Language Development: zara.rix@watertown.k12.ma.us
Ms Shock, Civics: laura.shock@watertown.k12.ma.us
Ms Skypeck, Guidance: amanda.skypeck@watertown.k12.ma.us