Soaring Eagles
Mata Intermediate School
Mark Your Calendar
4 Book Fair (April 4-8)
8 Dual Language Showcase --5th Grade
13 Family Center - Breakfast w/Principal
13 Parent Orientation Night - 6th Graders to Middle School
14 Progress Reports Go Home
14 Dual Language Showcase -- 6th Grade
15 No School
18 No School
27 Family Spring Fest @ 6:00
28 Honor Roll Students Breakfast
May
10 STAAR Math - 5th Grade
11 STAAR Reading - 5th Grade
12 STAAR Science - 5th Grade
17 STAAR Math - 6th Grade
18 STAAR Reading - 6th Grade
26 Last Day of School
Reading Language Arts
We are in the “home stretch” Mata Eagles! Before leaving for Spring break, we took the second Interim Assessment. We soared higher than we did on the first Interim Assessment, and both fifth and sixth grade students had great gains. All reading teachers are proud of our Mata readers, and we know you guys will continue to grow to meet our goals.
For the next few weeks, fifth and sixth grade students will have the opportunity to complete our Curriculum Review. The Curriculum Review will be focused on reviewing key objectives across all genres (Fiction, Informational, Drama, Poetry, Traditional Literature (folktales, fables, tall tales, etc.), Persuasive, and Literary Nonfiction (biography, autobiography, and/or memoirs), of reading. Teachers will focus on modeling how to think aloud, use context clues, and text evidence to improve comprehension. Students will also work on how to take notes and use scratch paper when testing on a computer. Finally, we will use the goals student set as well as reading strategies to help all students reach their reading goals for the upcoming STAAR test in May.
Barbara Wicks, RLA/SS Content Specialist
Technology
Adobe Creative Cloud Express
Students will explore Adobe Creative Cloud Express Logo Maker. Students will design their brand identity by creating a logo and then explaining the design process. They can add a slogan and will select a style for their logo – Bold, Elegant, Modern or Decorative.
Students will view the video: https://express.adobe.com/page/gU3txNX5cqMGS/
and then use the application to create logo https://express.adobe.com/express-apps/logomaker/
Standards in this project include the 21st Century Skills Framework and ISTE Students: Creative Communicator.
Mary Bell, Technology Specialist
Mathematics
Believe it or not, we are in the home stretch of the school year! The school year will be over before we realize it. To get the students ready for the state assessment, we will begin STAAR focus lessons. These lessons will allow the students to review the most asked STAAR-type questions to ensure their understanding. Thank you for working with your child. Please continue to encourage them to complete their daily assignments and homework.
Our students are in the following units for April:
- 5th: Data Analysis and Personal/Financial Literacy along with STAAR focus
- 6th: Measurements and Data, Personal and Financial Literacy along with STAAR focus
Students will have the opportunity to work on the areas that need refinement before the STAAR assessment. The STAAR focus lessons will help students continue to grow in their mathematical skills. All students continue to receive accelerated instruction on the math items covered as a review during the last 45 minutes of class two days a week.
By asking your child questions on how math relates to everyday life, you will be helping him/her understand that math is all round us.
Mata’s Math Department Motto: Math Achievement Through Action
Crystal Edwards, Mathematics Content Specialist
Social Studies
We are recapping/reteaching for our second Social Studies Interim test for both fifth and sixth grade. Please ask your students about what they are learning or reviewing about the following topics for their upcoming test for the week of April 21.
5th Grade will review the following:
- The Constitution and the Bill of Rights
- Manifest Destiny (Westward Expansion)
- Moving West
- Civil War and Reconstruction
6th Grade will review the following:
- Europe (Nationalism, World War 1, World War II, and the Cold War)
- Sub-Saharan Africa (geography, early states, slave trade, colonization, independences, cultures, and public health)
- Southwest Asia and North Africa (Ottoman Empire, Ancient Egypt, Culture, government, and economics)
Barbara Wicks, RLA/SS Content Specialist