2/11/22
TGIF…Twin Groves it’s Friday!
What’s Happening at Twin?
6th Grade
Pre-Algebra Survey: Pre-Algebra Survey will continue their unit on expressions this month. We will be working extensively with the properties of mathematics to combine like terms and simplify expressions. It is exciting to see the students at every level apply themselves to learning difficult targets. Last month we asked you to encourage modeling with mathematics at home. We have seen such impressive modeling in all three levels! This month, we’d like to focus on constructing arguments and being able to understand others. It is always important in math to be able to explain why something makes sense, why a strategy is valid, how an answer was obtained, or why one choice is better than another. It is equally important to be able to understand others’ viewpoints in order to critique or expand upon them. The ability to have this type of mathematical discussion is a great indicator of true understanding. Feel free to ask your children how they solved a problem or why their answer makes sense. We ask the students these questions all the time and it’s very impressive to hear their answers!
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: Pre-Algebra will continue the current unit on equations. The unit will end with a study of inequalities and the unit benchmark. It is exciting to see the students at every level apply themselves to learning difficult targets. Last month we asked you to encourage modeling with mathematics at home. We have seen such impressive modeling in all three levels! This month, we’d like to focus on constructing arguments and being able to understand others. It is always important in math to be able to explain why something makes sense, why a strategy is valid, how an answer was obtained, or why one choice is better than another. It is equally important to be able to understand others’ viewpoints in order to critique or expand upon them. The ability to have this type of mathematical discussion is a great indicator of true understanding. Feel free to ask your children how they solved a problem or why their answer makes sense. We ask the students these questions all of the time and it’s very impressive to hear their answers!
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.
Language Arts: Coming up in the next couple of weeks will be another round of Book Clubs! This time our theme is Adventure and we are sure the students will love these books. Students will also continue to work on analyzing author’s craft in nonfiction writing as they discover why authors choose to structure their texts in different ways in order to develop their central ideas.
Science: 6th grade scientists are finishing up their last target of chemistry! We are learning about endothermic and exothermic reactions. A few of the favorite labs include creating and testing a package system for our drones and a STEM activity designing a straw boat! Science labs are literally heating up!
SS: In social studies, we will be learning about the foundations of our government through the study of Greece and Rome. By examining the democracy of Athens and the formation of the Roman Republic, the students will be able to make connections to how we came to develop our own government here in the United States. Along with this, we will be studying other influential leaders such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Julius Caesar, and Augustus to see how they shaped both the past and present!
7th Grade
Bridge to Algebra 1: We are right in the middle of Unit 5: Congruence and Similarity, where kids are learning about transformations of figures, how to determine if figures are similar, and dilating figures by a scale factor. In our next half of the unit, we will focus on finding angle measures using parallel lines and even find missing interior and exterior angles of triangles.
Algebra 1: We are at the tail end of our unit on Quadratic Functions and Polynomial Expressions. The students learned how to add, subtract, and multiply polynomial expressions. This has helped guide the learning for students to factor quadratic functions. In our unit, we also learned how to graph and write equations of quadratic functions. We practiced using our graphing calculator to find the “zeros” of quadratic functions in real world problems and generate quadratic regression equations to make predictions. Our next unit, Quadratic Equations, strengthens our concepts from the previous unit. This unit will dive more into how to solve quadratic equations using different methods, like graphing, factoring, taking the square root, and the quadratic formula. At the end of the unit, we will use our previous knowledge to solve systems of nonlinear equations as well.
Language Arts:We’re in the middle of our novel studies in both levels of Language Arts and the students seem to really enjoy arguing about what they think is going to happen in the novel. They’re using great critical thinking skills in our discussions, and they’re showing that they can apply the skills we’ve been trying to teach them about how to read more actively. Watching for literature signposts and asking questions as they read have helped the kids dig a little deeper and stay more focused as they read. We’re writing more complex essays now in LA and LA ADV than we have previously; in both levels, students are asked to find connections between informational texts and literature and to discuss how a fictional portrayal of a historical event affects a reader’s understanding of that historical event. It’s a challenging, but an important skill to know. Please keep encouraging your kids to read at home nightly -- the more reading they do, the better students they become.
Science :We are continuing to investigate sound and light waves. Students completed mini labs to test wave properties. We used a laser to investigate how light is transmitted and reflected. For sound, students built and tested a device to amplify a song from their iPad. They worked together to test different designs to see who could build a successful device. During the next target, students will be introduced to cycles and patterns involving the sun, earth, and moon.
SS: We continue to explore, investigate, and analyze civics and our American government. Our government systems extend to the national, state, and local levels. We have researched elected officials and their responsibilities at all three levels to bring the concept of “federalism” to life. We compare, contrast, and analyze government Constitutions, systems and structures, rights, and protections in the United States and in other nations around the world. Not only is having a knowledge of foundations of government critical to adulthood, it’s vital to know our responsibilities as citizens (known as Civics) and taking informed action. We’ll analyze three general types of citizens and possible actions to make a difference. Soon, we will be investigating the growth and development of our new nation coming out of the Revolutionary War and Constitutional Convention… key issues pertaining to our first Presidents: Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Student curiosity and interest remains high during this time of study. Once again, the inquiry model of teaching and learning proves itself very well.
8th Grade
Algebra 1: In Algebra 1, we have just finished our Quadratic Functions and Polynomial Expressions unit! This unit is a very important unit of study for Algebra 1 and we were very impressed with the hard work students put forth! The next unit continues to be critical for Algebra 1, which is Quadratic Equations. Students will be learning how to simplify radicals and solve quadratic equations using all methods. Please continue to encourage your child to get help and ask questions if needed and utilize IXL/ Khan Academy!
Algebra 2: We are about halfway through our Sequences and Series unit! Students are doing a great job making connections to linear and exponential equations. We still have to learn about recursive rules for both arithmetic and geometric sequences/series. Following this unit will be our Statistics unit. Please continue to encourage your child to get help and ask questions, if needed, and to utilize IXL/Khan Academy!
Language Arts: In Language Arts, we are coming off of some great class novels. Advanced read Great Expectations and AT level read Flowers for Algernon. Coming up in February and March, we will be picking up some more short stories and articles. Our focus with these texts will be to study the author’s craft and details in each story in order to learn what makes them unique and classic. Our second focus will be on writing our own fictional narratives. Throughout the next couple of months, we will practice writing detailed stories through journal entries and narrative prompts. Our target is to help students write descriptions “showing” detail through sensory language and figurative language.
Science: In February, the 8th grade science students will be studying genetic engineering and technologies. Students will research gene therapies and genetically modified crops and participate in a debate to argue their stand for or against the technologies for that particular use. Students are also learning about recombinant DNA and will be able to work on a bacterial transformation lab where they are creating glowing E.coli bacteria.
SS: We are halfway through our Vietnam War unit. Students are learning about the struggles the United States faced during this time- both with the soldiers in Vietnam and the protests/discontent that surfaced here at home. Students have been working up to their final benchmark assessment of the trimester. They will analyze a series of documents, create a claim, and write a full argumentative essay. Next, we further delve into this time period within America as we focus our learning on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s.
ILC
We are currently learning about rocks and fossils in Science. The students have created their own molds and cast fossils, while practicing many literacy skills as we read about how fossils are formed. This unit is heavy in new vocabulary, so please email Mrs. Pio if you'd like a picture of our vocabulary board. Your child can practice these words and their definitions at home, too!
In math, students continue to work on skills individualized to his/her unique needs. This may include money skills, learning personal information, exploring currency and financial vocabulary, solving word problems, and a variety of computation skills.
After reading new fiction and informational literacy, we have been using thinking maps to frame our thoughts. We have learned that when a story is told in sequential order, it makes sense to think of the story’s events by organizing them in flow maps. When we are comparing and contrasting two elements of a text (for example: two characters), we have learned to create a double bubble map! We use our maps to talk about the stories. For a preview of how your child uses a map to discuss the text, please email Mrs. Pio for a video!
In writing, some students are learning to draft an email with the necessary elements. Others are learning to report on a picture. We have learned that to write a good paragraph that reports on a picture, you must first create a topic sentence by naming the group and telling the MAIN thing that group did. After that, we should report on what each person did in the picture. When we have these elements, our paragraph tells a complete story of what the picture shows.
5Essentials Survey for Students Coming Up
Parents and guardians: Over the next few weeks, your child will be participating in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, which asks students about their experiences, attitudes and activities in school ~ with the goal of helping schools to improve. This is the 10th year of the survey, which also solicits input from teachers and parents on how their schools may be improved.
The survey is for students in 4th grade and higher. District 96 middle school students take the 25-minute survey the week of February 14. Elementary school students will take the survey the week of February 28.
This online survey is administered by UChicago Impact on behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education. This survey is based on the Five Essentials for School Success, an evidence-based framework developed by the University of Chicago. This framework identifies how school performance on five factors or “essentials” can lead to important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains.
Twenty years of research at the University of Chicago in more than 400 schools has shown that schools that were strong on at least three of the 5Essentials were 10 times more likely to make substantial gains in improving student reading and math than schools that were weak on three or more of the Essentials.
Those 5Essentials are:
Effective Leaders
Collaborative Teachers
Involved Families
Supportive Environment
Ambitious Instruction
For more information or to view previous years’ Reports, visit https://www.5-essentials.org/illinois (choose “Select a Public Survey” dropdown menu). If you have questions about the survey, contact 5Essentials Customer Support at 1-866-440-1874 or [email protected].
NEW *Covid Metrics*
To stay up-to-date this school year on local metrics, please visit the COVID DASHBOARD for District 96. Our priority remains to keep our students safe and follow guidance from the CDC. If your student is identified as a "close contact", you will be notified individually through the contact tracing process.
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.