4/11/25
Upcoming Dates:
4/17- Half Day- Students dismissed at 11:10 AM
4/18- No School
4/22- Early Release- Students dismissed at 1:30 PM
5/13- Early Release- Students dismissed at 1:30 PM
5/23- Half Day- Students dismissed at 11:10 AM
5/23- Last Day for 8th Graders
5/26- No School
5/27- 8th Grade Graduation 8 PM
5/29- Last Day for 6th and 7th Graders
5/29- Half Day- Students dismissed at 11:10 AM
Lunchroom Expectations
To ensure that our lunchroom remains a positive space for everyone, we would like to remind students and families of our lunchroom expectations and behavioral guidelines. These expectations are designed to promote safety, respect, and responsibility.
Be Respectful
-Use kind and appropriate language.
-Respect the lunchroom staff and fellow students.
-Wait your turn in line and speak at a reasonable volume.
Be Responsible
-Clean up after yourself—throw away trash and return trays.
-Use your own lunch account or bring your lunch from home.
-Stay in your seat during the lunch period.
Be Safe
-Walk at all times—running is not permitted.
-Keep hands, feet, and food to yourself.
-Report any issues or concerns to a staff member.
-When an adult is asking for the attention of the lunchroom, stop what you are doing, turn your voice off, and put your hand in the air.
We appreciate your partnership in helping us reinforce these expectations at home. When students follow these guidelines, it helps ensure that lunchtime is enjoyable and safe for everyone.
Thank you for your continued support.
What’s Happening at Twin Groves?
6th Grade
Core 6/7 Math: We are in the second half of our Equations unit. We are studying independent and dependent variables and solving inequalities. Last month, we talked about modeling with mathematics. This skill will continue to be important this month, because students will be modeling verbal models as Algebraic equations. This month, we’d like to focus on attending to precision. This might mean being careful to define your variables to make your work more understandable, labeling measurements, or making sure your answer is represented in the correct format.
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.
Core 7 Math: During our first geometry unit, we have been learning how to find surface area and volume of many different three-dimensional shapes. Last month, we talked about modeling with mathematics. This skill will continue to be important this month, because students will be modeling verbal models as Algebraic equations. This month, we’d like to focus on attending to precision. This might mean being careful to define your variables to make your work more understandable, labeling measurements, or making sure your answer is represented in the correct format.
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: Students are preparing to start a study on Greek Mythology, in which they will investigate what makes a hero, how characters change throughout a text, and how the various themes portrayed in Greek myths are relevant today.
Science: 6th-grade scientists are wrapping up Unit 5 on Natural Hazards and recently completed a mini research project on a Natural Hazard. Be sure to ask about the earthquake-proof buildings we made in class. Our last and final unit of the year is Unit 6: Cells & Systems. Our essential question is “How do living things heal?” We’ll start the unit with a look at how bones, muscles, and skin heal and end the unit by looking at cells under the microscope. It’s amazing how big our world is when we look at tiny things.
SS: In our culture unit for social studies, we will learn all about a wide variety of topics from a diverse range of perspectives. We will be spending time studying music, food, dance, art, games, and sports from throughout history, while also helping students connect these ideas to their own lives. Some of the cultures that we will be focusing on in this unit include indigenous groups such as the Pima, Aztecs, and the Maya while continuing to learn more about groups from Mesopotamia, Rome, and Greece.
7th Grade
Language Arts
Students have been working on reading and analyzing articles about the dangers of space: travel. We have been working on identifying the text structures, central ideas, and strategies used in each article. Then the students will compare and contrast the different techniques of each author and evaluate which was more effective. We will continue with a different set of articles next week and complete a CFA that will assess them on these skills.
Language Arts Advanced: Students have been working on analyzing the central ideas, text structures, and info text strategies used in various Super Bowl advertisements. We will then apply those analysis skills to two nonfiction texts. The students will build on those analysis skills by also comparing and contrasting the articles and evaluating their effectiveness. Next week, the students will complete a CFA that will assess them on these comparing and contrasting skills.
Science: We are wrapping up the 5th unit of the year, which focused on how using palm oil in everyday products negatively affects the wildlife in Indonesia. Students have learned about the economic, social, and scientific impacts of palm oil and now understand how small changes to ecosystems can have big effects! Looking ahead, students will be starting our sixth and final unit which covers the idea of how climate impacts ecosystems. Students will also be developing their coding skills for their robots to complete our engineering adventures this year.
Social Studies: 7th Grade SS continued with the growth and westward expansion of the United States (“Manifest Destiny”) coming out of the Revolutionary War. The War of 1812 (our “second struggle for Independence” against Great Britain) will emerge. Francis Scott Key penned the "Defence of Fort M’Henry" which was originally a poem, to eventually become our National Anthem. Our nation continues to be divided between the industrial North and agricultural/plantation South as the Industrial Revolution takes hold. While all of this is happening, Native Americans are being removed from their ancestral homelands to make room for the expansion of our nation from East to West. We continue to implement source evaluation skills for reliability and credibility.
Math Core 7: Students are currently working hard in our Shapes Unit! This unit is filled with new geometric language that the students are handling well. We just finished learning about how to find the Area and Circumference of Circles & Surface Area of Prisms and Cylinders. Now, we are beginning to explore the Volume of Prisms and Cylinders. As we near the end of the year, it is very important that students continue to complete their homework, as this really closes the gaps in understanding.
Math Core 8: We are nearing the end of our unit on Radicals, Irrational Numbers, and the Pythagorean Theorem. Students are doing very well with remembering their perfect squares up to 225 and perfect cubes up to 125. Students have learned the Pythagorean theorem and learned how it is useful to find the missing lengths of right triangles. They have also learned how to prove if a triangle is a right triangle by using the converse of the Pythagorean theorem. Students will also learn how the distance formula is derived by using the Pythagorean theorem.
Algebra 1: Students are at the end of our final unit of Quadratic Functions. In this unit, they learned how to find the key features of a parabola based on the form the function was written in. Students also learned how to graph a quadratic function from the three different forms. Students are also going to learn how to use technology to find the intersection of two nonlinear functions and also use technology to predict functions that are quadratic in nature.
8th Grade
Language Arts/Language Arts Advanced:
Students have begun to analyze how modern works of fiction draw on themes, patterns of events or character types of traditional stories and are describing how those aspects create a new meaning in the modern story. Students also continue to work on their narrative writing skills as well as strengthen their analytical writing techniques. We finished our novels in verse unit and are feeling ready to tackle Shakespeare!
Science: We are starting our last unit, Patterns within Earth and Space. This unit is asking the big question “How are we connected to the patterns we see in the sky?” Humans have always been driven by noticing, recording, and understanding patterns and by trying to figure out how we fit within much larger systems. Students draw on their own experiences and the stories of family or community members to brainstorm a list of patterns in the sky and space. We will listen to a series of podcasts highlighting indigenous astronomies from around the world that emphasize how patterns in the sky set the rhythms for their lives, their communities, and all life on Earth, and these are added to their growing list of related phenomena (other patterns in the sky people have observed). Students develop models for the Earth-Sun and Earth-Sun-Moon systems that explain some of the patterns in the sky that they have identified, including seasons, eclipses, and lunar phases. They will also investigate a series of related phenomena motivated by their questions and ideas for investigations.
Social Studies: Students have now written their third DBQ formative assessment, helping them continue to develop the analytical skills necessary for high school. We will have one more writing opportunity before the year ends! Since Spring Break, students have focused their learning on various groups of people who have been working for social justice throughout the years. Students worked in teams to create presentations intended to inform their peers on the struggles, successes, and current goals of the movement of their choosing. Up next, students will be investigating President Nixon-Obama to prove which one deserves the title Mr. President and which president deserves the title Mr. Disappointment. They will incorporate their analytical writing strategies as the presidents face off in our April Madness Elite Eight Competition.
Core 8: We are nearing the end of our unit on Radicals, Irrational Numbers, and the Pythagorean Theorem. Students are doing very well with remembering their perfect squares up to 225 and perfect cubes up to 125. Students have learned the Pythagorean theorem and learned how it is useful to find the missing lengths of right triangles. They have also learned how to prove if a triangle is a right triangle by using the converse of the Pythagorean theorem. Students will also learn how the distance formula is derived by using the Pythagorean theorem.
Algebra 1: In Algebra 1, we are in the midst of our Graphing and Writing Quadratic Functions unit! This unit is a very important unit of study for Algebra 1 and we have been very impressed with the hard work students are putting forth! The students have been exploring how to graph quadratic functions in factored form, standard form, and vertex form along with identifying key features of parabolas. Please continue to encourage your child to get help and ask questions if needed and utilize IXL/ Khan Academy!
Geometry: In Geometry, we just began our 2nd to last unit of the year—Area. We are learning about finding areas of quadrilaterals, regular polygons, circles, and sectors. We will be discovering all the different formulas that can be used for each given shape and applying these formulas to solve complex problems. After this unit, we will wrap up the year with our final unit on surface area and volume, where students will explore how to calculate the areas and volumes of 3D shapes.
Virtual Backpacks
District Virtual Backpack: https://www.kcsd96.org/about/virtual-backpack
Twin Groves Virtual Backpack: https://www.kcsd96.org/tg/virtual-backpack
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.
Twin Groves Athletics
Please click HERE to access the Twin Groves Athletics site.
This site will be updated frequently.