Welcome to the 4th quarter! We are back into the full swing of things. This quarter brings excitement on many levels, especially the transition to high school. Students have been given information on how to sign up for their classes through their student connect login.

Every student needs to have access to a computer (of some sort) to bring to class with them every day. We will be continuing to teach via Canvas, so it is imperative that students bring charged devices with them to school each day!

We would really like to continue to encourage the use of the parent app for Canvas the rest of this year. This is a way for you to stay up to date with assignments and due dates, as well as help you and your student stay on the same page with regard to school.

If you run into problems doing this, let one of us know, and we can set up a zoom meeting to help. This is no way required, we just thought that we would pass along the information on how to stay caught up with student work through canvas .

Please email us if you have any questions or concerns throughout the year.

Chantal Davis, Lindsay Weingartner, Susan Cole, and Courtney Moonan

Language Arts: 4th quarter class information: We will be taking the MAP growth test, as well as the Alaska STAR tests, for spring data information. We just started Unit 3, The Challenge to Make a Difference, and will work on that until the end of the school year.

Science: This quarter is all about genetics. We’ll be learning about everything from how and why different dog breeds were created, why you might have different traits than your parents or siblings, what genetically modified foods are, and the genetics behind diseases like cancer. Students can also earn the opportunity to attend a field trip to the Alaska Zoo to study Alaskan animal adaptations. Cascade team students with C’s and above in their core classes (Science, Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies) at midterms and no suspensions will be invited. Look for permission slips to go out on April 18th!

Math: We are in the final book. In Math 8. We are currently working on exponents. We will be working on pythagorean theorem, rational and irrational numbers, and statistics before the quarter is up. We will be doing AK Star testing, Map testing, and iReady testing before the quarter is done. Algebra is currently working on Quadratics, and they have two more units left and a semester exam.

Social Studies: We are looking at the drafting of the Constitution, and taking an in-depth look at the Constitution and how it works.

Happy April Hanshew families! We hope you are enjoying the sunshine. This month, students will take the AKSTAR and MAP test. The AKSTAR test will occur from March 28 - April 8. This test will assess our students' learning in Math and ELA. During this time period, students will follow a different bell schedule, where students will test every other day from 8:15am - 9:30am. Students will then go to each class every day for 35 minutes. MAP Testing will occur April 18 - May 6.

In Mr. Dykstra’s Science classes we are building paper roller coasters and using them to demonstrate forces of physics. After this, we will move on to Electricity, Magnetism, and Waves. Happy Spring!

In Ms. Franklin’s Language Arts classes students are reviewing parts of speech and figurative language. We are reading a variety of narratives and poems, practicing annotating text to write a text-based analysis, and synthesizing information from the texts.

In Mrs. Wainwright’s Math classes we will begin calculating percent, percent change, and interest. In addition, this month students will take the AK Star state test in mathematics on Tuesday, April 5th, and Thursday, April 7th.

In Mrs. Whitesell’s social studies class, we are studying the history and culture of Europe. We have found some interesting places we would all like to visit. We have also had some interesting class discussions about the cuisine and ancient ruins of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece.

In Mrs. Chico’s Newcomers Academy:

In Social Studies, we are learning about The Declaration Of Independence and The US Constitution. In English Language Arts, we are reading The Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and selections focusing on making a difference. In Math, we are starting the Geography of the Number Line and in Science, we are learning the mass, volume, density, and state of the Matter.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Hi! As we continue into 4th Quarter, SpringBoard will be our guide. We will utilize the Writing Process for an argumentative piece and its main components: a claim, reasons and evidence, rhetorical appeals, a counterclaim, and a call to action. We will also analyze poetry, speeches, and tales. Time permitting, we will write some of our own. Please be sure to check Canvas Announcements if you are absent and know that Spring Board can be accessed online through Clever. Thank you!!

-Mrs. Noel Lake

SCIENCE

Happy springtime! For Olympus Team science, we continue or study of physics. We are learning about energy sources and energy transformations. Don't forget to check Q to see all grades.

-Mrs.O’Connor

SOCIAL STUDIES

In Social Studies, April will hopefully bring an end to the HUGE current event in the world. The Russian Invasion of Ukraine. We will continue covering all things EUROPE and then start with ASIA. In addition, students will be trying to improve their note-taking skills as we learn about the 12 climates of the world according to the Köppen climate classification system.

-Mr. Petrash

MATH

Mr. Priest's math 7 classes are finished a unit on circles and are now moving on to random/bias samples! Next up we are working on probability and odds! Pre-Algebra finished our hardest unit yet on functions and y=mx+b! They did great on the quiz on Friday.

-Mr. Priest

STRUCTURED LEARNING

In March, the Structured Learning Classroom will be working on making inferences from texts. We continue working on time & project management. Finally, we are working on creating positive boundaries and how they build healthy relationships. -Audrey Robinson

Mr. Dyer

7th Grade World Geography is studying the human and physical geography of Asia, focusing on the culture and history of China, Korea, and Japan. 8th Grade U.S. History is studying the early American presidents such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Ms. Knight

In Strategies for Success class, we are finishing up with our unit on time management. Next week we’re going to be moving our focus towards the topic of organization. In Drama classes, we’re getting ready to perform our one-minute monologues. We will be moving towards scenes with two or three people once we return from spring break. In Language Arts 8 class, we are working on our explanatory essays. We will be shifting our focus towards argumentative writing and techniques when we return from spring break.

Mr. McKenzie

In Geometry class we are starting a unit on surface area and volume. For 8th grade math, we are exploring properties of exponents and scientific notation. In 7th grade math, we are working on the study of percentages.

Mr. Denney

Adv. Language Arts 8: We are finishing compare and contrast essays and learning about sentence patterns for Grammar. We will be shifting our focus towards argumentative writing and techniques for the remainder of the quarter.

Language Arts 7: Students are finishing informational texts on the issue of marketing products to young people; and learning about sentence patterns for Grammar.

Drama: Students are writing and producing skits. Student group success will be supported with team-building activities, and we will continue to explore improvisation through a variety of games and activities.

Mr. Oliver

In 7th grade Science classes, we are working on engineering design as we build tractors for our Sphero robots to pull. Soon, we will be continuing this STEM curriculum with marble roller coasters. In 8th grade Science and Advanced Science 8, we are studying microscopy and proper lab techniques to launch our unit on genetics, DNA, and evolution (Mr. Oliver’s favorite subjects to teach).

Ms. Lurtsema

In 8th Grade Math Resource, the students are learning the concept of negative numbers. They will learn how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide negative numbers. They will continue to learn multiplication and division problems. We also spent a considerable amount of time on decimals, mainly adding, subtracting, and multiplying decimals. We also worked on word problems.

We started 4th quarter concentrating on multi-step word problems, using multiplication, addition, and subtraction. The students also practiced multiplication drills.

In Social Skills, students are discussing what empathy means and how to use more. They are also exploring how empathy affects others. In Affective Skills, students are examining relationships that are dependent, independent, and interdependent. They are also learning how to have effective disagreements with peers to resolve conflict. For Study Skills, students are learning the difference between dependent and independent clauses. They are also learning how to add quotation marks around an author’s exact words to avoid plagiarism.

In 7th Grade Math Resource, the students are learning about exponents. They will learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide with exponents. They will learn formulas for exponent problems. They will continue to learn multiplication and division problems.

Ms. Pirehpour

Students in Affective Skills learned appropriate boundaries with others, showing kindness, and considered the feelings of others. Students also focused on areas for improvement. In Social Skills, students practiced interacting appropriately with others using conversational cards. They also identified triggers and learned effective coping skills. For Study Skills, 7th and 8th graders worked on grammar and using coordinating conjunctions to write compound sentences. Students also completed grade checks to identify areas of need for more focus in the future.

Hello Hanshew Families,

PE Make Up Work

Believe it or not, we’re already nearing the end of the third quarter! With less than a week remaining before the end of the third quarter/start of the spring break, this means that students are running low on time to turn in their PE makeup work before the semester ends. To that end, we recommend that all PE students (and/or their guardians) log into Q to check for any absences related 0s and make sure to get them made up before grades become official at the end of the semester. Make up sheets can be picked up in class or found online on Canvas.

April Celebration: Semana Santa

In April there is a big celebration in Spanish speaking countries. It is called Semana Santa and it is a week-long celebration that takes place in cities all over Spain and every Spanish speaking country– particularly in Andalucia. During the festival, thousands of people take part in processions as massive floats carrying religious statues are brought to the church. They are also accompanied by marching bands playing religious music with crowds lining the streets to witness it all. The festival pays homage to Jesus Christ’s last days before he was crucified. Many floats feature an effigy of him either carrying a crucifix or already on it. The Virgin Mary is also a prominent effigy. There are several daily processions in the week running up to Easter Sunday. And they go on throughout the day and into the night. People taking part are members of a brotherhood, which usually means they belong to the same church. As with other Spanish festivals, there are months of preparation beforehand and people see it as an honor to take part.

In Mr. Bushey's Computer Technology course we are wrapping up our Cyber Security module and will soon be moving onto various multimedia projects along with looking at various careers that correspond with what we are currently learning.

In Mr. Bushey's PLTW: Innovators & Makers, we have finished looking at various Input devices, such as pressure sensors, flex sensors, temperature sensors, and accelerometers. We are beginning our exploration into output devices which includes simple motors and gears.

Students in Mr. Korniczky’s 8th grade Applied Technology (AT) classes have been working on their first STEM project called the Tower Challenge. The objective is to build a Tower out of coffee stir sticks following criteria and constraints. The final outcome of the tower is to support the most weight and it also must be the most efficiently built. After building the tower, students will calculate the efficiency (which means using the least amount of material while supporting the maximum weight possible). Then, the results will be charted utilizing data of the entire class.

In 7th grade AT class, the students' STEM project is creating Air Skimmers. The objective is to build a rubber band powered vehicle that is shot along the ground with the goal of the farthest distance. Mr. Korniczky said his students' all-time record is 103 feet 9 inches. Presently, students are accomplishing a distance of 57 feet on a tiled floor and that is very good! Students will experiment after understanding some science concepts related to Newton’s Laws of Motion and understanding of how inertia affects the skimmers. Students were also given the opportunity to show their artistic skills by designing their skimmers and later, classes voted on the best designs.

Link to photos: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x-bR_BwjyTOsjUcOpZm17cpzwbe7jEgffDm4gJ-e1wY/view