Weekly Update
Cluster 5 - Last S'More of the SCHOOL YEAR!
Cluster Announcements
English/Language Arts
June 13th- END OF YEAR-
For the remainder of the year, 8th graders only have 4 more things to do:
Have fun and enjoy the waning moments of middle school. Hopefully, the 8th-grade end is better than their 6th-grade beginning.
Put together their portfolio of all of their writing- we will be working for the next week on editing, formatting, organizing, and binding ALL of their work into a book to take home at the end of the year. This book will have many different writing pieces and I am hopeful that caregivers will celebrate the successes of their writing. Please ask your student about it.
Write a poem about their middle school days. Its been a tradition for several students to read original poetry at the 8th-grade graduation. It's a proud moment- and I can't wait to hear the chosen poets on graduation day!
Finally, during the last week of school, students will write, “A Letter to their Future Self.” This letter will be addressed and sealed in an envelope- and I will mail it back to each student during their “Senior Week” of high school.
Only nine days left and it feels bittersweet. See y’all at graduation!
Science
Students will be completing a final project for their last assessment and will be creating a physics unit review book to take to 9th grade.
Weekly Learning Targets for June 13th- End of Year
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
June 10, 2022
Students blew me away last week with their incredible Civics Action Project presentations! What a joy it was to see the culmination of not just several months of work in Civics, but three years of research, writing, speaking, and listening skills learned in middle school. Students were confident, prepared, professional, and persuasive. I was so proud!
We’ll end the year by circling back to the idea of American identity, and checking in on how our understanding of who we are as Americans has grown since September. I can’t wait to celebrate all of our students at graduation in two short weeks!
Math
Students will be having their second math assessment on Monday next week. They were given a practice packet on Friday in class to use to help them study for their assessment on Monday.
We have been preparing for this assessment during the week this week. Students have learned about congruent shapes and what characteristics are needed in order for shapes to be congruent.
In addition to having the assessment on Monday students will be learning about angle relationships, angle measurements and tessellations.
English Language Development classes
Entering ELD
This week, we learned about the planets in our solar system and how the days and years are different on each planet. We also got to think about how our solar system is just one in the Milky Way galaxy, and about how much more might be in space.
Next week, we will do cumulative projects, review and reflect on everything we have learned during the year, and celebrate all of this year’s good work!
Developing ELD
We are more than halfway through the book “A Long Walk To Water”. Ask your students about it, it is a very gripping story based on real events.
Emerging ELD
This week we have been reading, reading, reading! We have had some wonderful discussions and have done multiple journal entries focusing on providing reasoning to our opinions. Next week we will work on modals for grammar and continue reading and discussing.
Expanding ELD
We finished the film Hidden Figures and the accompanying unit. For the remainder of the year students will design a Graphic Map/Timeline and start with interviewing some of you (family members) about memorable events (like the ones shown in Hidden Figures such as the first American in space, etc.)!
Phonics 6th grade
We have have been reviewing vowel teams and have practiced reading short texts with vowel teams to build fluency.
Phonics 7th & 8th Grade
This week we introduced the new concept of consonant digraphs, and our focus this week was on th. This can be super challenging for English learners to get correct, so we are taking our time and doing lots of practice! When the 8th grade returns from DC, we will be starting to differentiate between the ch and tch sound and spelling.
Transitioning ELD
(Grade 8 only)
8th graders: I am so proud of your behavior on the DC trip and on Watertown Week. I am hearing nothing but good news about all of you.
Next week, we will finish our last unit of the year: arguments. Students will polish hooks, arguments, counterarguments, and conclusions before the last week of school, when we celebrate their time in middle school.
Sheltered Social Studies (Grade 8 only)
We started the film Hidden Figures and the accompanying unit. We were interrupted by the Washington, D.C. trip/Watertown Week, but will continue next week before the final week of school, when we celebrate their time in middle school. Congratulations to the 8th graders!!
Pizza personified
US Identity Maps
Past Smores
Contact staff directly
Edward.cafua@watertown.k12.ma.us - MATH
Karen.kline@watertown.k12.ma.us - CIVICS
Zara.Rix@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
Sarah.Juusola@watertown.k12.ma.us - SPECIAL EDUCATION / ENGLISH
Ashley.cohen@watertown.k12.ma.us - GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
Website: https://wms.watertown.k12.ma.us/