February Newsletter

Math

In Ms. Vesper and Mrs. Varcadipane’s Math classes, we are learning about rate, unit rate, and proportions. The students learned how to find unit rates and how it is also referred to as better buy. The students are also learning how the unit rate is used in the world today and how it helps them be more mindful when shopping. The students also learned how to figure out ratio tables.  In class, we are also discussing comparing rates and the methods they can use to find the rates. 

In Ms. Serabian’s class, students just completed learning about rate, unit rate, and proportions. To apply their knowledge to real-life scenarios, students investigated better buys while shopping for groceries. Next, students are learning about percentages! To evaluate their understanding, students will be looking at all of their old assessments and finding their grades out of 100. After they master this skill, students will learn how to calculate discounts!

Earth Science

Mrs. Maul’s Science classes are finishing up their weather unit and getting ready to begin their climate unit. Students learned firsthand how difficult it is to predict the weather. Students chose a city of their choice and recorded the weather for eight days.  Students then used this data to do their best to predict the weather for the next three days. We had some great class discussions about why they had such a difficult time predicting the weather. Students also completed their “Procedures for Testing My Formed Hypothesis” and will begin working on their experiments as early as this week.

Students in Mrs. Presinzano’s Earth Science classes have been studying negative human activities, including burning fossil fuels, deforestation, agriculture, development, landfills, and mining, how these activities impact all four of Earth’s spheres, and analyzing data to develop solutions to these problems. We’ve also discussed positive human activities, including reusing/ reducing/recycling, composting, reforestation, reclamation, conservation, and creating green spaces. As we wrap up our unit, we will work to understand and describe the ways humans can minimize our impact on Earth, the need for greater resources as Earth’s population grows, and how to conserve the limited resources needed to sustain life.

Reading

Mrs. Del Piano’s classes are currently working on active listening and discussion skills using nonfiction articles. Students selected topics of interest and are now practicing having discussions and adding on to ideas or challenging them in a productive, respectful manner. Additionally, we are also practicing analyzing nonfiction and using strategies to help with comprehension questions. The students are also excited for the book fair running February 26th through March 1st. 

In Miss Hartmann’s 6/7 Reading class, students have been working on reading nonfiction texts, and strategies for better comprehension. Students recently learned how to identify an author’s purpose for writing a text, and are now working on the difference between fact and opinion, as well as how bias can affect nonfiction writing. Students are also in for a treat this week, as the book fair is running from February 26th-March 1st!

Language Arts

Mrs. Prager’s Language Arts class has been hard at work learning the structure of an essay. They turned their endangered animal presentation into a research essay highlighting why their animal is endangered. After they completed their essays, they were able to become a teacher and grade sample essays so they really could understand the process. The students will continue to hone their essay-writing skills throughout the year.

Ms. Sisco’s Language Arts class has been focusing all of February on refining skills in comparing and contrasting characters through Literary Analysis. We began with a familiar set of characters (Scar from The Lion King and Ursula from The Little Mermaid). Since then, we have written a comparing and contrasting essay where we analyzed two characters from two separate short stories. We are looking forward to finishing this Literary Analysis unit shortly and will be moving on to practice writing RST essays. We have also continued practicing our vocabulary skills and NoRedInk skills throughout the month.

Miss Hartmann’s Language Arts class recently worked hard to explore the internet for research. Students chose an endangered animal from the World Wildlife Fund’s species directory and compiled information about them from several sources, including Waldwick Media Center’s databases. From this research, students created slideshow presentations that they then shared with the class. Students then took things a step further and transformed their projects into essays that focused on the different reasons for their chosen species being endangered. The class will continue to practice their essay-writing skills via an informational essay analyzing cause and effect in “This is the End of Chicago!”

Enrichment

Students are studying the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. They are making connections between the major events of the movement and the necessity of First Amendment rights guaranteed in the Constitution. Students will be completing a Research Simulated Task examining how “ordinary” citizens exercised their constitutional rights to effect change in our country.

Global Studies

Students in Global Studies began the unit on West and Central Africa by studying the region’s geography. Each student created a Slides presentation which highlighted major landforms, bodies of water, biggest cities, tourist attractions, and animals.  Classes continued with an in-depth look at the region’s long and cultured history including the study of King Mansa Musa, who, according to sources, is the richest person in world history.  Currently, students are studying the effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade on West and Central Africa.

Spanish

Currently, students in Spanish class are learning how to tell time. Students will also learn the different time zones and the culture note of “La siesta.” After this, students are going to learn about the months of the year, seasons, and related vocabulary and expressions. We will close these topics with a short speaking presentation about themselves while they put into practice what they have learned.

Stage & Sound

Students will become music critics with their music critic project and be able to rate and give opinions on some modern songs of their choice. After that, we will hit the stage as we start to learn about theatre and what it takes to be an actor!

Full STEAM Ahead

Students have been introduced to the engineering design process through a rescue litter challenge. Students worked in groups to design and build a rescue litter to save someone who had fallen in the mountains. Currently, students are working on their genetic disorder project. After researching a genetic disorder, students are designing and building a prototype of an invention to aid a person with this disorder. Students will present their research and prototypes to the class.

Art Appreciation

In sixth-grade Art Appreciation, the students have been learning about the Elements of Art. While creating our Starry Night grid drawings we discussed color, line, space, and texture. Students created a foreground, middle-ground, and background in their Starry Night landscape, drawing the viewer’s eye into the two-dimensional space. Once the drawings were completed the students moved on to adding color with oil pastels.

Pre-Algebra Apps

Students were working on ratios and proportional relationships. They learned how to identify and use unit rates, while also identifying proportional relationships from tables, graphs, equations, and statements. They applied these skills to higher-level word problems across multiple days, in which they used problem-solving strategies and out-of-the-box thinking to solve the problems. They will take this skill set into their next unit in which they will study percentages. 

In Pr-Algebra Honors, students are working on angles, triangles, and quadrilaterals. They are classifying angles and finding the degrees in angles. They are also learning about the different degrees in triangles and what that looks like. Students learn how to apply all these to everyday life and how it helps them. 

Mr. Kelly’s Pre-Algebra class spent the first half of February wrapping up the unit on expressions and equations. The students were quite successful with solving one- and two-step equations. They are now able to interpret a word problem, create an equation to go with it, and then solve it. After completing the unit, the class moved on to examining Inequalities. They are now able to write an inequality from a graph and can create a graph from a simple inequality. They are working hard at solving and graphing one- and two-step inequalities.

Life Science

During the month of February, students in Ms. Runz’s Life Science classes wrapped up our unit on Cells and Life with exploring the muscular system, nervous system, and digestive system, as well as learning about how our body produces energy through cellular respiration.  For the muscular system, students engaged in a blinking lab where they investigated if blinking was voluntary or involuntary, in addition to exploring their reaction times in response to a stimulus when learning about the nervous system. Next, we will be moving into our unit on Genetics and DNA, where students will explore how traits are inherited.

Reading

As the students in Ms. Magner's and Mr. Kelly's Reading classes reach the conclusion of the mentor text A Long Walk to Water, they have continued to develop their close reading skills to help determine main ideas and themes, as well as tracking their development over the course of the text. Upon the conclusion of the novel, the students have learned more about Salva Dut’s life and how his experience as a “Lost Boy” inspired him to give back to his homeland of South Sudan. The students are participating in the Iron Giraffe Challenge, which is a fundraising campaign organized by Salva’s organization Water for South Sudan. Please consider making a donation. Not only is this a worthy cause, but our school could win a visit from Salva Dut himself! 

Language Arts

In Mrs. Edreos’ Language Arts classes, students have completed the RST/Research Unit. As a class, we reviewed the process of analyzing sources, sorting facts, and creating an outline on the topic of Abby Sunderland, a sixteen-year-old girl attempting to sail solo around the world. Students have recently chosen their own topics and have been given sources to independently research the information and organize their ideas to write an essay. Throughout this unit, students have learned how to properly use in-text citations, as well as how to create a Works Cited page.  Currently, students have moved on to the more creative project of producing an infographic, based on a research topic of their choice. We are excited to see the final products!

In Ms. Gallagher's Language Arts classes, the RST/Research Unit has been successfully completed by students. The class collectively revisited the process of analyzing sources, sorting facts, and creating an outline, focusing on the intriguing story of Abby Sunderland, a sixteen-year-old attempting a solo sail around the world as well as the incredible story of the Titanic. Recently, students were allowed to select their own topics and provided with sources to independently research and organize information into a creative visual infographic. The students continue to rise to each new topic and challenge! 

In Mrs. Krysa’s Language Arts classes, students worked on the research skills necessary to begin the RST Unit. Lessons focused on analyzing nonfiction sources with an emphasis on identifying the central idea of the nonfiction topics analyzed.  Students learned how to take notes and identify important information in nonfiction sources. Using these notes, students wrote effective summaries and paragraphs organized around clear topic sentences.  Additionally, students analyzed infographics and different types of graphic organizers used to convey information. They also learned how to organize their research and ideas into different types of graphic organizers. These important research and writing strategies will be helpful as we begin our Research Writing Unit, which will include writing an RST essay and creating an infographic on a research topic of their choice.  

Beginning of the US & Civics

Following the President’s Day holiday, students in Civics have been writing a review for a President chosen at random. They get to choose their ratings and justify them in a brief essay. As we return to the history part of the unit, we will be studying the early Industrial Revolution period in the United States and the many new inventions that followed. 

Spanish

In Señora Barrio’s classes, students have been practicing their writing skills. Students successfully wrote emails, responded to letters, and gave advice. The next step is differentiating the verb "to be" in Spanish which is "ser" and "estar." In this activity, students wrote a letter to Guadalupe giving her advice about how she can be a successful student and improve her math grade. Students collaborated in groups and had a great time. Another planning activity moving forward is using Flipgrid to help students acquire language proficiency.

French

Madame Ralston’s class is learning about their towns and the places in it. They know how to say where they are and where they are going! They also just learned how to ask questions, including the words: where, when, who, why, how, what time, etc. 

STEAM

In seventh-grade STEAM, students are working on their Dream Invention projects. Students will investigate a real-world problem of their choice. Then, students will invent a solution to the problem and build a prototype of their design using 3D printing pens.

Art Appreciation

In seventh-grade Art Appreciation, the students created clay monsters inspired by the contemporary ceramic artist James DeRosso. Students were asked to design and create a monster using various clay techniques. They are doing a fantastic job, and these monsters will only look better once they are completely finished and glazed!

Exploring Food and Nutrition

Chef Lafferty’s Exploring Food and Nutrition students have started the new marking period by learning about safety and sanitation.  Lessons include kitchen safety, safe food handling and storage, equipment identification, proper usage of the equipment, and the importance of communication and teamwork. The students have all practiced proper knife handling and cutting skills and did a great job.

Upcoming food labs will include making pasta, waffles, quesadillas, cookies, and biscuits. The students have also been assigned a US State to research including the indigenous crops, food traditions, famous chefs and restaurants, and the unique food history of that state. Other units will include nutrition and healthy eating, as well as cooking basics.

Algebra

Mrs. DeLorenzo’s classes completed their unit on systems of equations. During this unit, students compared relationships between quantities by writing and graphing equations. They learned and applied the strategies of graphing, substitution, and elimination to solve for the solutions. We are now beginning our next unit on functions and relations. During this unit, students will continue to work with linear equations in regards to functions, while also learning to identify non-linear functions. They will use their past knowledge of representing functions in the form of equations, graphs, and tables, and apply this to non-linear relationships. 

In Ms. Vesper’s Algebra Concepts class, we are learning the different ways to show linear equations. Students are learning what slope means and how that is shown in the linear equations. They are taking a test to wrap up their learning on linear equations this week. We are moving on to the next chapter on systems of equations.  

In Ms. Serabian’s class, students are exploring the different ways to show linear equations. Students learned the basic format of y=mx+b and demonstrated their understanding of slope by creating lines to form a stained glass window.  After mastering this skill, students moved on to finding solutions of linear equations by graphing and substitution. 

Algebra Honors

Mrs. DeLorenzo’s Honors Class has been working through powers and exponents, as well as radical expressions and equations. They will begin their next unit on polynomial expressions in which they will study identifying polynomials and completing operations with polynomials. This will lead us into our quadratics unit, which is a major content focus for the Algebra 1 Honors class. 

Physical Science

In Ms. Vacchiano’s eighth-grade Science class, students learned about the various types of waves and the electromagnetic spectrum. Students are currently learning about the relationship between light waves and photosynthesis. With the help of an online simulation, students were able to see how different colors of light affect plant growth and the rate of photosynthesis. 

Reading

Students in Ms. McCann’s Reading classes wrapped up the informational unit by researching how to be successful in a variety of topics. The students then used their informational research to design a Google Site in Language Arts to present the expository information on how to be successful to a wide audience. In the argument unit, students are currently practicing identifying claims and evidence. They will be preparing to synthesize their own arguments answering the complicated question “When do kids become adults?” using the articles and research from the unit.

Mrs. Del Vecchio’s Reading class wrapped up our informational text unit and is currently working on our argument unit. We have practiced identifying the author’s argument and are working on evaluating the strength of evidence.  We are in the beginning stages of our argument essay on a topic of their choice.

Miss Hartmann’s Reading class is wrapping up their Informational Unit by putting their article analysis skills to the test. Throughout the unit, students have learned all about nonfiction texts and how to read them for better comprehension. Now students are choosing their own articles to read based on History and Science topics that they find interesting. From there, they are filling out graphic organizers to show what they know.

Language Arts

Mr. Smith’s classes wrapped up the expository unit by conducting research on what makes someone a success. Students synthesized the information and created a Google Site to display their findings. Currently, students are in the Persuasive Unit. Students examined speeches and commercials to see how rhetorical appeals are used and what makes them effective. Students applied their knowledge of rhetorical appeals by creating a sales pitch for a random product. Students presented their pitches in front of the class to work on public speaking.

Mrs. Del Vecchio’s Language Arts class is currently in the argument writing unit. They are in the beginning stages of writing a formal written review of a topic of their choice. Students will also soon begin crafting a formal argument about a chosen topic relevant to teens. This project, however, will be in the form of a slideshow with graphics and captions to showcase their research supporting their position.

In Ms. Gallagher's classes, the expository unit recently wrapped up with students researching the key factors that contribute to success. They synthesized their findings, creating a Google Site to present their insights on specific topics of their choice. Now in the persuasive unit, students are analyzing speeches and commercials to understand the use and effectiveness of rhetorical appeals. Applying this knowledge, students wrote letters to Mr. Meyers as well as crafting persuasive sales pitches for random products and presented them in front of the class in Shark Tank style! The students learned not only how to persuade, but also how to present themselves and continue to develop their public speaking skills.

Early World History

In Mrs. Turnbull’s classes, students have been excited to learn about Ancient Rome. We started the unit off with a map of the Roman Empire and discussed legends about the beginning of Rome as well as how the geography impacted their civilization. We have studied the laws and the extent to which the Roman Republic would be considered a democracy. Students will also be finding out how the Roman Empire came about and grew so large, what religions were practiced, the accomplishments of the Romans, and eventually what caused the collapse of Roman civilization.

Spanish

In Mrs. Wohlberg’s class, students are currently working on their shopping skit and will soon be presenting to the class. They learned about the famous open-air market of Madrid, El Rastro, and Ecuador’s Otavalo, the most popular open-air market in South America. They also learned how to bargain for better deals when shopping at open-air markets. They practiced numerous speaking dialogs in class and read and recorded themselves at home to gain confidence in their speaking ability using the current unit grammar and vocabulary. Students are also using Jamboards for journal writing. They did a great job decorating the first frame as their cover, see some of the frames below. They just finished writing their third journal entry. Next, students will learn how to describe their daily routine and read their first Spanish novel!

French

Madame Ralston’s class just completed a unit about the stages of life! They just performed a dialogue about throwing a surprise birthday party. The class is about to start its first reader about a young girl who wants to travel to France.

Creative Coding

The third marking period Creative Coding classes have been learning JavaScript and fundamental programming concepts, such as random numbers, variables, and drawing sprites. The students have enjoyed using what they have learned to design creative programs where they customize characters and objects, locate them precisely on a coordinate system, control their scale, and rotate their orientation. In the latest creative assignment, students designed programs where characters are playing a sports match. The students are looking forward to learning how to incorporate text in their programs next.

Technology and Manufacturing

In Mr. Blatt’s classes, students are being introduced to the engineering design process and the impact of technology. They are looking at how technology and tools impact everyday lives. They recently completed a three-day card tower challenge testing the design process in action. The card tower project was where the students designed, documented, and built a tall tower using very limited supplies.

More projects will be explored in the next weeks learning documentation and drawing techniques. The final project will apply their new skills in a team project to design/build a roller coaster (complete with constraints and goals). They will study real roller coasters and theme parks along with physics and engineering. The project contains a theme of their choosing and will be built to the owner’s demands. Innovations in design to make the user experience dynamic will be highlighted in the project.

Art Appreciation

In eighth-grade Art Appreciation, we are having fun exploring Surrealist Art. Students are creating five different mini surrealist compositions using images and text they cut out of magazines. They combined the images they found to create a bizarre little world on each page of their books. Then they will add a high-contrast pattern background to each little work of art and finish it up with a strange jumble of words. Each picture will be glued into an accordion book the students made themselves. 

Chorus classes have all finished their units on musical theater. Students enjoyed learning about Into the Woods and Hairspray.  We are now moving forward and back to singing. Classes will be working on vocal technique and music theory, and will begin working on songs for the Spring Concert!

Recently, WMS Warrior Jazz Band auditions took place and students from all grades found successful placement into this ensemble! The Warrior Jazz Band rehearses together every Wednesday morning. So far, the jazz band has been swinging well and is working hard on music to perform at the upcoming WMS Spring Concert.

Ms. Royston’s sixth graders just finished up their health and wellness unit. Students learned about the health triangle and how balancing our three areas creates overall “wellness”. 

Students designed and implemented workouts by using one of the five fitness components we discussed in class (see pictures below). 

Students in Mr. Laccitiello’s classes started the marking period learning about mental and emotional health. They will be learning about the dangers of tobacco, alcohol, and  other drugs in the next few weeks.

Ms. Royston’s eighth grade Health students began the marking period by studying the body’s immune system and learning about communicable and non-communicable diseases. Students completed two projects on disease, as well as one unit assessment. The next area of study will be "relationships”, which will focus on group activities and discussions.

The ESP classes have just finished creating videos for the World of 8 Billion contest! This was a major project the students worked on for several weeks. They should be proud of the videos they have created that share solutions to global problems. The students demonstrated tenacity, creativity, and impressive teamwork. The students are excited to start work on the 2024 Fluor Challenge next, an annual engineering competition that they always look forward to. 

Mrs. Manning’s ESL students are working on a unit called “Star Power” about what the science of the stars can tell us. Students are describing using prepositions and pronouns, and writing a speech to make an argument using evidence from texts.

Mrs. Gutierrez’s writing class is working on writing creative stories. The students have both listened to and read various stories. They then began identifying story elements and using this knowledge to begin their writing process. As a group, we discussed the importance of adding details to draw the reader in. They have written a variety of stories and have enjoyed reading them aloud to the rest of the class. 

Computer Club

The Computer Club has been having a lot of fun designing creative, original programs. The students love using MIT’s Scratch block programming language to design games, stories, and more. The students have also been using Code.org’s learning environment to design programs that depict sports matches and characters engaging in the classic “Hello World!” The students are looking forward to our final meeting, where they will learn how scientists use computer simulations to make logical predictions and what resources they can use to continue expanding their knowledge of programming languages.

Art Club

In the Art Club, students are working on finishing up their clay tic-tac-toe boards. The students could choose to paint or glaze their clay pieces. Everyone did a great job.