10/2/20
TGIF…Twin Groves it’s Friday!
Upcoming dates:
There is an early release on Thursday, October 8th due to Family Educator Conferences. Dismissal will be at 1:30PM.
There is no school on Friday, October 9th due to Family Educator Conferences.
There is no school on Monday, October 12th due to Columbus Day.
There is no school on Tuesday, October 13th due to a State Approved Remote Learning Planning Day.
DISTRICT 96 CALENDAR CHANGE
Please note the following addition to the current school year calendar:
NO SCHOOL Tuesday, October 13th – State-Approved Remote Learning Planning Day
District 96 staff will use this day for professional development related to staff preparing for transition to a hybrid model.
Commitment to Partnership
As emphasized in Superintendent Schmidt's message sent on Tuesday, Sept. 29, implementing a hybrid in-person learning model is and must be a partnership.
We know that some surrounding districts or schools who began their in-person learning plan have had to revert to full remote for a period of time. In many situations, this has been due to positive cases about which families were not truthful with the school or with the health department regarding symptoms and the diagnosis or with those conducting the contact tracing process.
We are confident that the District 96 community will rise to the occasion and partner with us to ensure safety and success. Please think carefully about your commitment to our partnership before sending your kids to school.
What’s Happening at TG?
6th Grade
Language Arts and Language Arts Advanced: After working so hard on theme and mood in literature, we are excited that soon students will be starting Book Clubs in their Language Arts classes! We have sent an email home for parental permission for the list of books. Students will soon be making their top book selections and be placed in groups to read and discuss their novels. In the meantime, we will also be reading informational text and working to identify the central idea of a text.
Science: Students have started working on the Ecology unit. We are learning about factors that can affect a population and a community. We will be completing a number of lab activities to simulate animal interactions with other animals and how people can influence a population of animals as well.
SS: In social studies, the students have been learning about how geography impacts our lives. We will continue this study by seeing how and why people choose to migrate. We will focus on why people live in certain areas, how their actions impact the environment there, and how people have populated all corners of the earth throughout time. By the end of our migration unit, students should have a better understanding of our role in the world and how choices throughout time have brought us to this point in history.
Pre Algebra Survey: The students have been working really hard and transitioning well to middle school math. Pre-Algebra Survey students have just finished their unit on ratios, and are starting the new unit on rational numbers.
We previously talked about encouraging the students to persevere on their homework. Thank you so much for your support at home on this! This month we’d like to focus on another math practice standard: modeling with mathematics (showing work in different ways). Part of being a mathematician includes being able to approach a problem in several different ways. In class, we often teach several strategies that can be used to solve problems. It is very challenging to be able to understand and use different representations and models in math, and it is a skill we will continue to work on all year.
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.
IXL - 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.
Pre Algebra: The students have been working really hard and transitioning well to middle school math. Pre-Algebra students have just finished their unit on ratios, and are starting the new unit on rational numbers.
We previously talked about encouraging the students to persevere on their homework. Thank you so much for your support at home on this! This month we’d like to focus on another math practice standard: modeling with mathematics (showing work in different ways). Part of being a mathematician includes being able to approach a problem in several different ways. In class, we often teach several strategies that can be used to solve problems. It is very challenging to be able to understand and use different representations and models in math, and it is a skill we will continue to work on all year.
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.
IXL - 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.
7th Grade
Language Arts and Language Arts Advanced
In LA and LA ADV, we are working on narrative writing and central ideas and students are actively engaged in telling their stories with sensory details to make their characters and settings come alive. During the first half of the cycle, we looked closely at mood and tone and noticed how authors were causing us to feel strong emotions as we read their writing. Now it’s our turn to try our hand at it in our own writing! Students should be reading 100 minutes per week from independent reading novels. We will soon start Book Clubs, and this will require students to keep up with the reading outside of class in order to fully participate in the class discussions. They’re all going to love the books, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get them to read!
Science: In science, students will be learning about heredity. We will be working with Punnett Squares to predict possible inherited results. Students will also be learning about DNA transcription and how mutations occur. We will then investigate how these mutations can affect an organism in a harmful, beneficial or neutral way.
SS: 7th grade Social Studies has transitioned from Human Rights, Citizenship, and Immigration to the development of the British 13 colonies in North America which were classified into 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 economically and socially. Reasons for immigration don’t change too much whether we are talking about 1670 or 2020. As colonists explored and moved to the west, conflicts began to occur over land possession between Native Americans and other European nations. The French and Indian war will set the stage for the American Revolution. 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, argumentation, implementing questioning and questions, and source evaluation for reliability and credibility.
Bridge to Algebra 1
Students have been working hard in this first unit on learning how to solve equations. The second half of the unit is solving inequalities and learning how to graph them on a number line. We have been in this unit since the beginning of the school year and will be finishing up within the next couple weeks and beginning our unit on functions.
Algebra 1
We are just a week into our second unit of the school year and the students are beginning to learn about linear equations. We will learn how to graph and write linear functions in the different forms. We are also going to be learning how to graph linear inequalities within this unit.
8th Grade
Language Arts and Language Arts Advanced: Students have been working hard in Language Arts strengthening their written responses with strong text evidence and solid analyses. They have also practiced their narrative writing skills and continue to work on adding sensory details to stories. Students will continue to work on finding the central idea of a text and will also continue to discuss how authors develop themes.
Science: In Science we have been looking at the different wind patterns and how they affect the weather. We will be diving deep into looking at natural disasters. Students will be assigned one catastrophic event and will be asked to research that information. They will then present their findings to the class.
SS: In social studies, we have been learning about reform efforts made during the Progressive Era, including strategies used by “Muckrakers”. We also learned about several “Captains of Industry” and their efforts to maintain their wealth, power and influence over society. Students took part in our Progressive Era Dinner Party, where they took on the persona of someone during this time period and spoke with others on social reform issues that caused discourse at that time. Up next, we will debate the positive and negative impacts of imperialism and start exploring the causes of World War I.
Algebra 1: In Algebra 1, we are starting our second unit on Graphing and Writing Equations of Lines. We have reviewed what a function is, discussed domain and range, and we are starting to talk about function notation. We will be creating and graphing linear equations and inequalities soon.
Algebra 2: We are finishing/maybe just finished our Unit 1 on Transformations. This was probably one of the harder units for the students as a lot of information was applied from Algebra 1 to new topics they haven’t seen before. We will be moving onto Unit 2 Polynomial Functions. They will need to use prior knowledge from previous topics to apply in Unit 2.
Health Forms- PLEASE READ
Please know that students who do not have the necessary health forms on file will be excluded from school on October 15th even if the students are remote.
Please see the information below for specific details and health form deadlines.
Health form requirements vary by grade level and for new/returning students. New to District 96 (all grade levels)? See MORE INFO regarding grade-level specific health form requirements.
All students entering Grade 6 must have their CERTIFICATE OF CHILD HEALTH EXAMINATION/IMMUNIZATION FORM (signed by the physician) on file in the school office by October 15, 2020.
Language Arts Materials Pick Up (Please read carefully as this is NOT for students in 8th Grade Advanced Language Arts)
Between Wednesday, October 14th and Friday, October 16th, Twin Groves will be holding a materials pick up for all three grades.
These books are required for the Language Arts class.
All sixth grade students in Language Arts and Language Arts Advanced will be picking up a title for book clubs.
These classes include:
Mrs. Engel period 2
Mrs. Engel period 3
Mrs. Engel period 7
Mrs. Engel period 8
Mrs. Huberty period 2
Mrs. Huberty period 3
Mrs. Huberty period 7
Mrs. Huberty perio 8
Ms. Sabin period 2
All seventh grade students in Language Arts and Language Arts Advanced will be picking up a title for book clubs.
These classes include:
Mrs. Savich period 1
Mrs. Savich period 2
Mrs. Savich period 7
Mrs. Savich period 8
Mr. Siemsen period 1
Mr. Siemsen period 2
Mr. Siemsen period 7
Mr. Siemsen period 8
Mr. Kile period 7
All eighth grade students in Language Arts will be picking up The Giver.
These classes include:
Mrs. Bildstein period 2
Mrs. Bildstein period 4
Mr. Weiland period 1
Mr. Weiland period 5
Mrs. Tomer/Brucato period 2
PLEASE NOTE: Students in 8th Grade Advanced Language Arts will receive notice of a pick up at a later date.
Each book will be checked out to a specific student and will be labeled with a post it note with their name.
Times:
Wednesday 10/14 - 7:00am-4:00pm
Thursday 10/15 - 7:00am-7:00pm
Friday 10/16 - 7:00am-4:00pm
Details:
Please come to the MAIN ENTRANCE at Twin Groves for book pick up.
Tables will be set up near the front doors of the main entrance by the office.
Please wear a mask.
Students do not need to be present to pick up the books.
Virtual Calming Room
Please check out this website that Mr. Leven put together. There are wonderful stress relieving activities for anyone to try. HERE is a link to the website. Students will also have access to this site on their Flex Menu Option Link.
Family Educator Conferences (repeat)
Please note...The Meet the Teacher sign up link will close on 10/5 at 3PM. After 10/5 at 3PM, please call the office at Twin Groves for assistance.
Please click THIS LINK to sign up for fall family educator conferences with your child's educators. You will sign-in to Meet The Teacher with your name, an email address, your child’s name, and his or her date of birth.
At the middle school level, you will be able to sign up for a conference with your child’s homeroom teacher and other non-core instruction teachers your child works with on a regular basis.
Homeroom teachers are:
2nd period class for 6th Graders
1st period class for 7th Graders
1st period class for 8th Graders
As a reminder, if you are unable to attend these conferences on these dates, please email the educator you are interested in speaking with to set up a phone conference.
Please note that parents are always encouraged to reach out to the staff at any time with questions or concerns.
In addition to individual conferences with educators, parent education opportunities will be provided both days in our school. More information will be shared in the near future!
Conferences take place:
October 8th- 5pm-8:30pm
October 9th- 10:00-1:30pm
If you are having trouble signing up, please contact the front office at Twin Groves, 847-821-8946.
PTO
Online Book Fair
Please click THIS LINK to access the Online Scholastic Book Fair. The Book Fair opens on October 5th. The Book Fair will run through October 18th.
Daily Announcements
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.