CSCA MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2017
Colorado Springs Charter Academy
GRAMMAR AND WRITING In 7th grade, students will be learning about linking verbs, predicate nouns, and predicate adjectives for Shurley English. 7.2 students will begin learning sentence diagrams. Since this is a new concept to most of the students, some tutoring sessions will be focused on diagram practice. In 8th grade, we will begin our research projects this week by selecting topics, going over research practices, and detailing guidelines for the paper. We are doing sentence diagraming in grammar, which most students did last year. If there is a need for outside help, tutoring is available.
with Ms. Weber to work on Science Fair lab reports. This will include learning MLA documentation and using formal voice. Writing/Grammar tutoring will be offered on Tuesdays from 3:30- 4:00, unless otherwise notified. Please use my teacher page to help keep track of upcoming projects and homework assignments.
For writing in both 7th and 8th grade, we will be collaborating
SOCIAL STUDIES Happy New Year! We are staring off 2017 in the cold…War, that is. Eighth grade will begin the Cold War unit on January 4th. Despite this era’s reputation for being frigidmetaphorically-we will heat things up with some fun activities— including a 1950’s “Teen for a Day” in-class party (more info to come later).
Seventh grade is continuing its study of the Russian Revolution. Students will be working on an inclass read aloud skit over the next week, experiencing—from a safe distance—life during the Russian Revolution. The kids are looking forward to perfecting their roles! The 2017 Geography Bee will be held on
Thursday, January 5th at Important Dates 1:15pm in the CSCA 5th-8th Grade Awards Assembly Auditorium. We hope Date: 1/10/2017 you can be there to cheer your students on! Report Cards Sent Home (All Grades) Date: 1/13/2017
Martin Luther King Holiday - NO SCHOOL Date: 1/16/2017 Progress Reports Sent Home (1st8th grade) Date: 1/26/2017
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CSCA MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
MATH 8th Grade For the month of January we will be learning about surface area and lateral surface area of a prism, volume of a prism, and solving multi-step equations. Additionally, we will focus on Standard 3 content- Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability. This will include an in-depth look at how we can use sampling to represent a populations and make predictions, the differences between experimental and theoretical probability, and finding sample space for a compound event to answer questions about probabil-
ADVANCED MATH Coming soon!
ity. Math tutoring is held Wednesdays from 3:304:00. 7th Grade For the month of January we will be learning about unit multipliers and conversions, powers of 10 and exponent rules, and scientific notation for large and small numbers. Additionally, we will focus on Standard 3 content- Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability. This will include an in-depth look at how we can construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data, and construct and use scatter
plots to look for positive and negative linear associations. Math tutoring is held Wednesdays from 3:30- 4:00.
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LITERATURE Happy New Year! During the month of January, we will finish our reading of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 7th grade Literature, and we will be reading selections from autobiographies by Hellen Keller and Benjamin Franklin. Students will continue to study the elements of fiction, while focusing on character development and historical context. We will also continue with our week-
ly vocabulary expectations. In 8th grade literature, we will be finishing our reading of The Good Earth, and moving on to Animal Farm. The students will use their knowledge of Russian history obtained in Social Studies class to analyze George Orwell’s novel. Students will also further their understanding of character development, themes, and historical context. We will also contin-
SCIENCE 7th grade: We are finishing up our unit on Genetics. We have been learning about how genes on our chromosomes combine using Punnett Squares. We are learning how dominant alleles can mask recessive alleles in genes. For example in the gene that controls if a person has a widows peak (a hairline that comes to a point in the middle of the forehead) the allele for a widow’s peak is dominant. We will also be conducting a blood typing lab where we will find out if two babies were switched at the hospital. Once we have finished this unit we will be moving into our Earth Science Unit on Ge-
ology and the History of the Earth. 8th grade: We started the month learning about magnets and how Earth acts like a giant bar magnet with magnetic field lines that surround it called the Van Allen Belts. We are learning how magnetism and electricity affect one another. We built electromagnets and saw how they could pick up paperclips and attract a compass needle. We will also be learning about electric motors.
Science Fair Projects are underway. Student will be doing corrections on part 1 of the Science Fair Report. Everyone should be started on conducting their experiments and collecting data. The data analysis and conclusions will be due February 3rd.
ue our weekly vocabulary expectations.
COLORADO SPRINGS CHA RTER ACADEMY
2577 N. Chelton Road Colorado Springs, CO 80909 Teachers: Jeff Bloodworth Grammar/Writing
[email protected] 636-2722 ext. 305
Jill Weber Science
[email protected] 636-2722 ext. 310
Laura Flax Math
[email protected] 636-2722 ext. 304
Cindy Welsch Advanced Math
[email protected] 636-2722 ext. 309
Kristen Ross Social Studies
[email protected] 636-2722 ext. 303
Kyle Wilson Literature/Spelling
[email protected] 636-2722 ext. 302
Tutoring Schedule Monday: Science (Ms. Weber) Tuesday: Writing/Grammar (Mr. Bloodworth) Wednesday: Math (Ms. Flax) Thursday: Social Studies/Literature (Ms. Ross and Mr. Wilson) Please be prompt in picking your child up from tutoring sessions.
ABSENCES Parents and Guardians: Please make sure in the event of absences or arriving late that you notify the main office. We are not able to keep accurate attendance if only the homeroom teacher is notified.
At CSCA we believe in fostering an environment that maximizes our children’s ability to learn and grow. A very important part of this is our commitment to provide a uniform policy that promotes equality, modesty, unity, respect for self, and respect for others. Our guidelines not only fulfill these goals, but also minimize cost to parents by keeping the uniforms simple while offering versatility. Parents have the responsibility to ensure that their children arrive at school in the proper uniform. Within the school the dress code will be enforced by the classroom teachers, other staff members, and CSCA administrators, who will make final decisions regarding uniform issues. Cheerful, consistent compliance with the uniform policy by all is expected. Pants should be in the “chino” style only. No cargo, 5 pocket style, parachute pants etc. Please follow the link below for more information on pants.
