March 20, 2026 NEWSLETTER

Track and Field:

Practice: Begins Monday, March 16 3:10-4:30 PM

Google classroom code: gio3c5sf

Track T-Shirts: Due by April 2.     Jump code: COGU

MEETS:

Saturday Meet Start times:  8:00AM-High Jump, 8:30AM-Long Jump & Shot Put, 9:30AM–Running Events ***Please arrive at least 30 minutes before the event  start time for warm-ups.***

• April 11  (Saturday)-At UBT Stadium/Northwest High School

• April 18 (Saturday)-At UBT Stadium/Northwest High School

Wednesday and Thursday evening meets: Warm ups 3:45-4:00, 4:15 Field Events start, 5:15 Running Events start

• April 23  (Thursday)-At Lincoln Southeast  High School Track

• April 29  (Wednesday)-At Lincoln Northeast Track

• Order of Events: Field events first followed by running events, 1600m, Hurdles, 100m (including unified heat), 400m, 200m, 800m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay

ALL CITY LPS CHAMPIONSHIP MEET:  

• MAY 6, Wednesday-Field Events (High Jump, Long Jump & Shot Put) Start time/Place TBD

• MAY 7, Thursday-Running events-Start Time: 4:15  @ UBT Stadium/Northwest High School

As we begin the 4th quarter, it’s hard to believe we are in the final stretch of the school year! This is an important time for students to stay focused, keep up with assignments, and continue putting forth their best effort. Finishing strong can make a big difference — both academically and personally.

I encourage students to set small goals, stay organized, and ask for help when needed. Parents, your support and encouragement at home play a key role in helping students stay motivated during this busy time.

Please remember, I am here as a resource for both students and families. If you have any questions, concerns, or need support, don’t hesitate to reach out. Let’s work together to make this last quarter a successful one for everyone!

Mr. G

For the last few weeks we’ve been learning about the Mongols. We spent a lot of time talking about the type of lifestyle they lived and how the environment played a role in how they functioned as a society. On paper it would seem like the Mongols should be disadvantaged when it comes to building a powerful empire, yet they successfully built the largest empire the world had ever known up to that point in history. During the last week we have been digging into historical texts that give us insight into the tactics that played a role in the success of the Mongolian empire. Our next unit will be shifting to the Maya, Inca, and Aztec societies.

InformationPoetry Lab Newsletter: Weekly Recap & The Road Ahead

Phase 1 Recap: The Inquiry & Discovery This week, our students stepped into the role of "Forensic Investigators" to uncover the structural DNA of poetry. We kicked off the unit with a Forensic Lab Report, where students hunted for visual and auditory clues in unlabeled poems to hypothesize their "Golden Rules".

Highlights of our "Lab" activities included:

• Word Economy: Mastering the strict 5-7-5 syllable constraints of the Haiku and the 2-4-6-8-2 pattern of the Cinquain.

• Visual Meaning: Exploring how white space and physical shape create meaning through Blackout and Concrete poetry, inspired by the creative processes of Austin Kleon and David Bowie.

• The Music of Language: Analyzing the "bouncing" AABBA rhythm of Limericks and the performative "flow" of Slam Poetry, featuring Nick Offerman’s rhythmic ode to bacon.

Current Expectation: Digital Notebooks At this time, students should have their digital poetry notebooks completed with all Phase 1 entries, including their forensic observations and original “messy” drafts. These notebooks serve as the essential “sandbox” for the next stage of our project.

Next Week: NSCAS Testing Please note that next week is dedicated to NSCAS standardized testing. We will pause our primary instruction to ensure students can focus their energy on these assessments.

Coming Soon: Phase 2 — The Deep Dive The week following NSCAS, we will officially shift into Phase 2: The Deep Dive & Drafting. This phase is all about student agency and production:

• The “Claim”: Students will select one poetic form to master for their final project.

• The Pitch: They will submit a "Research Pitch" identifying the specific 3 Golden Rules they plan to follow.

• The Silent Studio: Students will begin drafting polished, original works in their chosen style to feature on their upcoming Teaching Posters.

Math 7: Next week we will wrap up Chapter 8 Part 1 & Chapter 9. We’re continuing to explore complementary, supplementary and vertical angles. With the use of radius and diameter, students are calculating the circumference and area of a circle. We will begin the test on Monday, March 30th. Please encourage your student(s) to turn in missing homework!

Math 7D: In Chapter 7, we’re continuing to focus on circle graphs, representing and interpreting bivariate data and drawing an informal line of best fit based on the closeness of the data points to a line. We’re also taking time to review slope-intercept along with solving one-and two-step equations involving rational numbers. We will begin the test on Wednesday, March 25th. Please encourage your student(s) to turn in missing homework!

 As we explore how matter and energy is used by living things, we spent this last week learning about the processes of Photosynthesis (where food molecules come from) and Cellular Respiration (where they go next).

Upcoming Assessment CHANGE:  Unit DCA will be on  Wednesday March 25th, instead of Tuesday March 24th.

If you are interested in learning about our final unit, click on this LINK.

We have spent the last 2 weeks learning about what goes into and out of plants and what parts of the plant are involved in this process. We learned how to use microscopes so we could see the different plant parts that are involved in making food molecules (our current hypothesis).  When we return from spring break, we will dive into the process of photosynthesis and respiration and how these processes allow plants to make their own food.

Upcoming Assessment:  Unit DCA will be on  Tuesday, March 24th.

Hello!  I’ve been working with your student for about a week now since this is a new quarter class for them, and they are doing great both academically and behaviorally.   The Essential Question for Unit 1 is How does confidence in yourself and your community encourage risk taking? So far, we have created a “Treatment Agreement” to help us build norms for how we will treat each other in class. We discussed WHY greeting people is beneficial and reviewed the steps to emphasize: pausing, looking at the person, and speaking loudly and clearly to be heard.   Students learned how to introduce people and practiced the skill with role play.   

Next week, we will begin our first big project where students will be interviewing a classmate using open ended questions to gather information so they can write a paragraph to share with the class to introduce them and help us all know each other better.   While we are working on this project, we will practice 1. writing open ended questions and using probing questions while interviewing to get more detailed information.  2.  writing strong paragraphs with topic and closing sentences and many supporting details about just two topics instead of a list. 3.  practicing the introduction speeches multiple times in different ways to ensure confidence.   Finally, when we listen to the introduction speeches, students will practice listening and taking notes skills.  

Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.  Ms. Kroenke skroenk@lps.org

World Language students are now in their second unit of the quarter.  In the Spanish unit, we focused on the alphabet, animals, calendar, colors and numbers.  In the French unit, we are focusing on fashion, numbers, the calendar and clothing.  Students will be able to write a sentence about a piece of clothing that they are wearing and include the color.

Current Unit: We are currently working on our Radial Symmetry Unit where students looked at art around the world to find examples of radial symmetry. We also looked at contemporary artists Kristen Farr, Gabriel Schama and Shona Wilson who create modern radial designs in their work. Students then focused on shape and line to create their own radial designs which will be painted in acrylic paint this month. 

Looking Ahead:  

Up next, students will start their clay unit focusing on Pop Art! Stay tuned. :)

Students finished their unit on Google Docs earlier this week and are currently working on assignments for the Google Slides unit, where they have been doing a mini research project on a state and putting their information into a google slides presentation. Next week, they will be doing research on famous person and presenting their information to the class in a Google Slides presentation. 

Rewards Plus: We started Unit 10 this week where we are using a variety of reading and writing strategies and skills along with a story and information about Rachel Carson, the author of “Silent Spring.”  We are also reviewing the many reading strategies and skills that we have been focusing on to prepare for the NSCAS March 24-26. 

Rewards Secondary: We just started a unit about scientific models incorporating many reading and writing strategies and skills.  We are also reviewing the many reading strategies and skills that we have been focusing on to prepare for the NSCAS March 24-26.

****Please encourage your child to read at home, practice fluency and practice spelling.