Weekly Update #2
Cluster 5
Cluster Announcements
- Wednesday, September 28th is an Early Release day
English/Language Arts
September 23rd- Oct 7th-
Happy first weekend of fall. It was very nice to meet the large crowd of 8th-grade caregivers at the back-to-school night. We really appreciate your dedication and support in helping to make this such an impactful year for our students.
Students have recently completed their About the Author assignments and it has been wonderful to learn so much about their lives. The students showed great promise in following directions, using a graphic organizer and exemplar to support their planning, and writing in different verb tenses. This first writing assignment gave us an opportunity to learn a bit about their personal lives, as well as, get a glimpse into their writing strengths.
Over the next few weeks, students are working on a Short Story and Narrative Writing Unit to further assess, practice, and (somewhat)master their skills in reading comprehension and writing. Our first short story, Being Mean by Gary Soto, was read in class this week and the students really seemed to enjoy the story. Following the story, students were given a prompt to write their own personal narrative. The story and the prompt can be found in the google classroom for ELA.
Next week we will continue our work around narrative writing. The classes will be taking their drafts, sharing out in small groups and focusing on specific development skills to help enhance their stories. Hopefully, they have some fun with this writing!
Please reach out with any questions, clarification, or concerns at any point in the year. Have a wonderful weekend. Go Pats!
Science
September 23, 2022
We have been working to establish routines in science class as we delve into our first topic in the Earth Science unit, the layers of the Earth. We begin each class period with a 3-minute writing in response to a prompt related to the day’s content. This routine allows students the time to shift into science class mode, recall information from earlier lessons, and get primed for the upcoming lesson. We also started our practice work/assessment schedule that will be maintained throughout the year. Practice work (reading, vocabulary, and a means of demonstrating content comprehension) is assigned on Mondays and is due on Thursdays. Fridays are assessment days, which will most often be short quizzes on the week’s content.
Grading Policy for 8th-grade Science 22-23
Why are we changing the way we assign grades? To move toward being more:
Accurate: Grades should be an accurate measure of whether students have met standards and not include other irrelevant information.
Bias-resistant: Grading should eliminate all conscious and unconscious biases.
Motivational: Grades should encourage learning through risk-taking and perseverance, not point collecting.
How will the grades work?
Assessments (quizzes, tests, projects, etc.) that show mastery of content and/or skills
100% of the grade. Isn’t that a lot? → Yes. But it accurately measures whether or not students know the content and have the skills we are trying to teach.
Retakes and revisions required for students who have not mastered content and/or skills.
Our goal is to get EVERYONE meeting the standards by the end of the unit. It won’t take the same amount of time for each person.
New grade replaces old grade (not averaged together)
Practice and Learning Opportunities (homework, classwork)
0% of the grade. Isn’t that too little? → No. It changes our perception of the point of this work. Practice is for learning, we prove ourselves in the assessments.
Divided into three types of tasks.
MUST DO: Basics
SHOULD DO: collaboration and application of basics
ASPIRE TO DO: enrichment and extension
These are necessary for LEARNING, not for earning average points directly.
Encourages academic honesty
What happens to LATE work?
It counts the same until the set deadline at the end of the term.
No points deducted.
Learn at your own pace, but know that getting behind makes retakes and revisions more likely.
Is there EXTRA CREDIT?
No. That interferes with the grade representing mastery of content and skills.
Utilize retakes and revisions to improve the grade instead.
Upcoming Learning Objectives:
1.2 I can describe how convection currents in the mantle are the driving force of
plate tectonics.
I can describe how objects or materials of different densities can interact with each other.
I can use models to explain how convection currents cause plate tectonics.
I can describe how heat can be transferred through convection, conduction, and radiation.
1.3 I can use models to show that the continents have moved and continue to move over time.
I can explain who Alfred Wegener was and what evidence he used to support his theory.
I can provide evidence and reasoning to support the theory of continental drift.
I can refer to climate, landform, and fossil evidence to explain how continents moved.
Civics
September 23, 2022
In Civics, we have been asking ourselves the questions, “Who are we as Americans? What is our national identity?” Students illustrated their answers on a large class map of the United States of America and they had to work together to create a unified design for their map. All year long, we will come back to this theme of American identity.
Students also got a preview of the Constitution of the United States of America since September 17 is Constitution Day, the anniversary of the signing of the document that created our whole government. We focused on the Preamble (introduction) to the Constitution and the 6 purposes of government listed in it. We watched the classic Schoolhouse Rock song “We the People” (check it out online!). Ask your student if they can name (or sing) the purposes of government according to the writers of the Constitution.
Next up, our rights and responsibilities as Americans, citizenship, and the Legislative Branch. Thank you to everyone who was able to come to Back to School Night on 9/22 and we look forward to meeting all Cluster 5 families at parent conferences in October and November.
Current Learning Targets:
I can define government and explain what its purpose is.
I can define democracy and reflect on its meaning.
I can explain how democracy and community are related.
I can explain the two ways people can become citizens of the United States.
I can name the duties and responsibilities of citizens.
I can name the levels and branches of government, and identify people who work in them.
Math - 9/23
Next week, we will be discussing how to rotate a point and figure on a graph. This will involve graphing on Desmos, as well as, the students making their own graphs on paper to help them understand how to rotate points and shapes.
During the week of 9/26 we will be adding dilations into the mix and during this week students will have a test on all of the transformations that we have learned about.
English Language Development classes
Entering (ELD 1)
This week, our students worked to present skits where they greeted people and held a conversation about what they liked or what they needed. They did a great job speaking clearly and confidently in English and we had a good time as students made us laugh together.
Ask your student questions like “How are you?” “Where are you from?” and “What do you like?” and see what they answer!
Next week, we will begin working on numbers in English and how to read and say mathematical vocabulary.
Emerging (ELD 2)
This week we worked on modals: have to, need to, may, might, and could with learning about careers and jobs of community members. We also have learned possessive pronouns and adjectives, and are shifting into subject and object pronouns next week. We are also talking about time, and introducing the concept of cause and effect through readings about life cycles.
Developing (ELD 3)
This week we continued our values unit and began working on fiction by discussing why people tell stories and reading fables. Our goal was to understand the author’s purpose by finding the moral of the story. We began to learn about how to tackle new vocabulary using context clues and practiced using a dictionary. Next week we will talk about the elements of fiction: character, plot, setting theme and conflict.
Expanding (ELD 4)
This week, students read, discussed, and wrote descriptions of why the US celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month, which began on September 15th in order to commemorate the Independence Days of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and, a couple of days later, the Independence Days of Mexico and Child.
Ask your student what they learned about the history of Spanish-speaking people in the United States!
Phonics
This week in phonics we learned when to use capital letters and have mastered naming the letters in the alphabet. We are working towards mastery of the sounds of the letters, and identifying them in nonsense words. I’ve been assessing each student’s current phonics knowledge so that the students and I can identify why they already know and what vowel patterns or digraphs they need to work on. Next week we will begin the short a sound and a new set of High Frequency Words.
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
Daniel.Skop@watertown.k12.ma.us - ENGLISH
Christine.Sorenson@watertown.k12.ma.us - READING
Elissa.Willoughby@watertown.k12.ma.us - SCIENCE
Thomas.Cloherty@watertown.k12.ma.us - GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
Website: https://wms.watertown.k12.ma.us/