10/25/19
TGIF…Twin Groves it’s Friday!
In an effort to spread positivity, Twin Groves uses our 5 Traits to recognize exemplars of the following qualities: Responsible, Accountable, Respectful, Safe, and a Community. In addition to the 5 Traits, we are also recognizing students for being an Upstander.
As part of this focus, the Twin Groves Staff would like to recognize and reward students who consistently demonstrate these qualities each month. For this month’s recognitions, we are pleased to announce that the following students have been selected for displaying these characteristics.
Chinmay Bandapalli
Hayden Hoang
Aaron Itskowitz
Jasmine Marchant
Collin McLelland
Lucas Raykhlin-Levando
Rajan Sukhatme
Sam Tewari
Niranjan Uday
Joseph Wang
What’s Happening in the classrooms at TG?
6th Grade
Language Arts: In 6th grade Language Arts, we finished up our Book Clubs. Kids seemed to really enjoy reading books together. Now we are working on narrative writing, specifically writing spooky stories! Students are learning about writing effective beginnings to hook the reading, writing relevant dialogue using correct punctuation, and including imagery and sensory details to make the writing come alive.
Pre Algebra Survey: Pre-Algebra Survey classes are in the middle of their unit on rational numbers. The students are working with adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing positive and negative integers, fractions, and decimals, which can be a lot to take in! We are doing a lot of practice in class and the students are working hard to master these fundamentals. Last month we talked about modeling with mathematics and being able to show work in different ways. The students were very successful in this! This month, please encourage your child to look for structure and use this to help them solve new problems. For example, can the numbers in this problem be manipulated to look more like something we’ve seen before? For this, great note-taking skills are a must, which includes lining up work in students’ notebooks and iPads carefully.
The students have access to these apps that they should be using regularly:
Math Facts Ninja - For students who need extra practice with their math facts.
Knowre - This app covers topics in line with the Common Core Curriculum which the students are covering this year. This program is designed to develop critical thinking skills. Each class has expectations for completing lessons in Knowre each week, and students are welcome to work ahead and extend their learning.
Pre Algebra: Pre-Algebra classes are in the middle of their unit on rational numbers. The students are working with adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing positive and negative integers, fractions, and decimals, which can be a lot to take in! We are doing a lot of practice in class and the students are working hard to master these fundamentals. Last month we talked about modeling with mathematics and being able to show work in different ways. The students were very successful in this! This month, please encourage your child to look for structure and use this to help them solve new problems. For example, can the numbers in this problem be manipulated to look more like something we’ve seen before? For this, great note-taking skills are a must, which includes lining up work in students’ notebooks and iPads carefully.
The students have access to these apps that they should be using regularly:
Math Facts Ninja - For students who need extra practice with their math facts.
Knowre - This app covers topics in line with the Common Core Curriculum which the students are covering this year. This program is designed to develop critical thinking skills. Each class has expectations for completing lessons in Knowre each week, and students are welcome to work ahead and extend their learning.
SS: In Social Studies this month, we will be finishing up our unit on migration and start focusing on the beginning of civilization. Students will be learning about the start of agriculture and the importance of rivers when developing a city. This will directly lead into our study of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, where students will see how the language, technology, and culture developed there have influenced the entire world!
Science: In Science, our new unit is geoscience! We have dove deep into our learning with lessons on continential drift, Pangaea, fossil fuels and volcanoes! Students will partake in many hands-on activities including creating a seafloor spreading model and solving some “puzzling” evidence!
7th Grade
Language Arts AND Language Arts Advanced: Book clubs are starting soon! You’ll be receiving a permission slip with titles our students will be choosing from in a few weeks. This permission slip needs to be signed and returned to school, so please take a little time to look at it and get it back to us promptly. We’re excited about the novel choices, and we’re sure the kids will find something they will really enjoy. Students have been working hard on identifying and examining authors’ strategies in both informational and literary texts. Moving forward we will be comparing different authors’ perspectives on a similar topic. Please remember, as report cards are coming out soon, that students are still developing their skills on these year-long targets.
Bridge to Algebra 1: We have just started our unit on Linear Functions. Students will be exposed to three different forms of equations that are used to represent linear functions. They will also be learning how to write them from words and graphs as well as graph them by hand. After we master this, we will begin to compare linear functions using key features (slope and y-intercept), using many real world situations.
Algebra 1: Our class just finished their unit on graphing and writing equations of lines. Our next unit, Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities, will expose students to three different ways in which they can solve a system. They will also be challenged to interpret key features of these solutions within the given context. Success in this unit will require a lot of prior knowledge from past units.
SS: 7th grade Social Studies has transitioned from Human Rights and Citizenship to the development of the British 13 colonies in North America and the three separate and distinct regions: New England, Middle, and Southern. Each region featured specific economic, geographical, and weather/climate characteristics that enabled each region to grow and prosper via trade and commerce. As colonists explored and moved to the west, conflicts began to occur over land possession. The French and Indian war will set the stage for the American Revolution. These actions will anger “Mother Britain” and she will come down hard on the colonists with numerous “acts and taxes” driving a wedge between the Patriots and the Loyalists. We continue to examine a variety of primary and secondary sources using inquiry, questioning, and source evaluation for reliability and credibility.
Science: Students are currently learning about DNA and the protein synthesis process. Through this knowledge they will discover that mistakes often occur in the process. We will talk about how these mistakes in the DNA replication process may affect an organism in a harmful, beneficial, or neutral way. The STEM robots we will be working on throughout the year are also underway with some great progress over the last couple of weeks!
8th Grade
Language Arts and 8th Grade Advanced: In Language Art we have been enjoying our identity book club books and discussions. Each book is centered looks into what factors influence an individual’s identity as well as how does an individual’s identity affect society? Through these discussions we are having rich discussion around what makes up our own identity. Outside of bookclubs, we are also digging into more informational text structures, central ideas, and the techniques authors use to be persuasive. We will transfer these techniques in our own writing.
Algebra 1: In Algebra 1, we are in the middle of our third unit, Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities. Students have really stepped it up this unit and we have seen an improvement! The year will continue to get progressively more difficult, so encourage students to continue to ask questions and get help when needed! Please make sure that students have a TI-84 Plus graphing calculator they are bringing with them to class daily. TeacherEase is a great place to monitor your child’s progress in math!
Algebra 2: In Algebra 2, we are onto our third unit: Rational Functions. We will be working on operations with rational numbers, graphing rational functions, and how to solve rational equations. The students will be discovering their understanding of some of the learning targets by using their TI-84+ graphing calculators. Please make sure that students have a TI-84 Plus graphing calculator they are bringing with them to class daily. TeacherEase is a great place to monitor your child’s progress in math!
SS: In social studies, students have just finished debating the positive and negative impacts of imperialism and started exploring the causes of World War I. In the upcoming weeks, students will look at the immediate and long-term consequences of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. After victory in Europe, the United States experienced the Roaring 20’s. Students will discover how the decade that started with a boom with end in a horrific bust.
Science: In Science, 8th graders will be looking at patterns in the fossil record and examining rock layers to compare modern and ancient organisms. Through a blood agglutination lab, students will classify organisms based on similarity in blood proteins.
ILC
Parents often ask me to assist them with their child’s behavior at home. Why will a student complete his/her work in the classroom, but refuse to do certain things at home? A structured visual schedule is the #1 most effective tool that I use with students throughout the day. If a child knows what to expect, it is much less likely that child will communicate his/her frustrations through unexpected behaviors. The students are so successful with visual schedules at school, that they should be able to use them fairly independently at home right away! Try printing out and handing one of these visual schedules to your child at home at the specified time, and see what happens! If you need help to create a more personalized visual schedule to structure your child’s time at home, please email me. We can work together to be sure all of the things your child is supposed to do during a given time are represented on the schedule. I would be happy to help!
Pumpkin Voting for Charity
Halloween is almost here and Twin Grove's got pumpkin fever! Staff members have carved or decorated pumpkins to support St. Jude's Research Hospital! Use your extra change to vote on your favorite pumpkin. Pumpkins will be on display in the cafeteria next week. All proceeds go directly to St. Jude's, so bring your change! *Note: Please do not touch the pumpkins!
Spirit Week at TG
Next week is Spiriti Week! Show your school spirit by dressing up for each day!
Monday: PJ/Comfy Day - Extend your weekend!
Tuesday: HS/College/Pro Sports Day - Show off your favorite athlete or team!
Wednesday: Twin Day - Dress like a friend(s)!
Thursday: Halloween - Wear your costume or black and orange! Remember, no full face masks or full face paint is allowed! All costumes must adhere to the District's Dress Code Policy.
Friday: Spirit Day - Wear your blue and gold!
Assembly on Monday, October 28th
We are excited to bring Brad Hurtig to Twin Groves on Monday, October 28th!
Brad Hurtig was a student-athlete in a small town in Northwest Ohio. Only days after finishing his sophomore year of high school, a devastating accident resulted in the amputation of both of Brad’s hands.
Through hard work and determination Brad soon rejoined his high school football team. In his senior year, Brad led his team defense, recording 111 tackles and received all-state honors all while playing with no hands. Brad’s inspirational story of triumph quickly captured national headlines.
Now Brad is taking his life-changing message to students across the nation.
(bradhurtig.com)
Please click HERE to read more about Brad.
Thank you to the TG PTO for helping Twin bring this experience to the students! We are very appreciative!
Daily Announcements
The Daily Announcements will be posted each weekday morning. Please see Twin Groves website for up to date school announcements. The announcements let you know what exciting activities and clubs are going on at Twin Groves. Please click HERE to access the Daily Announcements.
PTO
Upcoming Events:
10/30- Special Lunch
11/13- Dessert Day
11/20- Special Lunch
11/25- Book Fair
11/26- Book Fair
12/11- Dessert Day
12/18- Special Lunch
Please click HERE to access the Membership Toolkit. All items for sale from the PTO will be available on this website.