March 2017 Issue 3
SOUTHWEST MIDDLE
Third Quarter Talent Development Newsletter
Academic Conversations & Writing
Southwest Middle School’s Instructional
Leadership Team has been diving deeper into
instructional best practices. Scholars have been
focusing on pre-writing in all content areas. This
includes incorporating use of graphic organizers,
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thinking maps, brainstorming, listing, annotating and
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more! Using the aforementioned strategies support
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comprehension of the text, scholar-to-scholar
discussion, helps organize thinking and sets the stage
Principal: Barry Blair
Academic Facilitator: Tiffany Taylor
for future writing. This focus is crucial in scholars
demonstrating college and career readiness.
Spotlight: NC Math II
Eighth grade scholars have been studying
probability - both simple and conditional,
but focusing on the latter. Many scholars
had learned basic probability in the sixth
grade, but they agree that their knowledge,
confidence and expertise in this area have
grown greatly as they've delved into more
complex scenarios.
As a culminating activity to this unit,
they worked in groups to show details of
how they would solve probability problems
dealing with real life situations. They
displayed the sample spaces, explained the
formulas they've learned to use and
concluded with their answers. They then
presented these charted problems to their
7th Grade Math
Eighth Grade
Marilyn Bollinger
Nicole Cayea
Grant Joreid
Martha Little
Anna Marcello
Olivia Robinson
Seventh Grade
Ray Adams
Barnetta Boston
Alecia Bryant
Tonya Harris
Lisa Johnson-Ritchey
Charlotte Pohlig
Geometry has been the focus this quarter. Many hands-on activities are being utilized to develop students’ conceptual understanding of the various geometric topics and
formulas. For example, students used indirect measurement strategies to discover the
origin of pi. Students then used their discovery that ratio of the circumference of any circle
to its diameter is always a little more than 3 to
derive the formula for calculating circumference. We also looked at the relationship between the radius and area of a circle.
Sixth Grade
Cato Burgess
Patricia English
Tiffany Reavis
Geoffrey Reckerd
Kimberly Richardson
Mary Solan
TEACHERS
HONORS
peers.
6th Grade Math
During the 3rd quarter scholars focused
on the study of ratio's/proportions and geometry. The ratios unit include use of percents which provided for many real world
application including sales tax, tip, and discounts.
The geometry unit consisted of 2-D Area
Project-based learning is also evident
throughout the curriculum as students apply
this new knowledge to students solve realworld problems. This quarter students created
a misleading advertisement involving the math
concepts learned, as well as utilizing literacy
strategies for a pizza company.
and 3-D surface area and volume of shapes
and complex figures. Included in this unit
was a study of circles and cylinders.
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English Language Arts
Spotlight: 6th Grade
Prior to and during the first days of reading Roald Dahl’s memoir BOY,
scholars used research and writing skills to create foldables sharing
“Something About the Author.” Scholars incorporated skills outlined in common core writing standards as they “gathered, quoted, and restated information from different sources while assessing the strength of each source
and providing information to construct a bibliography.” Students were engaged in the practice of “writing for varied audiences, purposes, and periods
of time.” Related activities included creating visual images of events during
“The Great Mouse Plot,” “Norway,” and “St Peter’s,” sorting the images sequentially, and using those images as prewriting, as well as using Dahl’s words
as a mentor text. Please visit our classrooms and ask your scholars to share
their handiwork!
7th Grade
Many gifted scholars will either already know the concepts to be taught
or will demonstrate an understanding of them very quickly. We, as educators, are constantly looking for ways to extend their knowledge of the concept by providing enrichment activities within each lesson.
One way, we extend lessons for all scholars is through academic conversations. We have learned that if scholars can express their opinion with
facts or claims that are supported by the concept that is being taught, then
they will have a deeper understanding of the subject and the concept. We work in partner groups, blog, and have Socratic discussions in
class.
Parents can practice these same strategies at home by asking their scholar about his or her opinion of things that are happening in the world
through news, social media as well as local social events.
8th Grade
Eighth grade language arts is
working on Project-Based Learning.
Scholars have completed reading A
Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and are now creating their
projects.
The projects include movie posters (which must show leading actors
and actresses and a scene from the
book), a trailer script to go along
with the poster, and a soundtrack
incorporating songs and lyrics. The
songs must explain why they
are appropriate for a specific scene
in the book.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Harlem
By
Does it stink like rotten meat?
LANGSTON
Or crust and sugar over—
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
HUGHES
Southwest Middle School
Needs Volunteer
End of Year
Testing Proctors
More information:
https://goo.gl/ dg1poj
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Science: 8th Grade
Scholars in eighth grade science classes created group posters and presentations on the different energy resources. Also, they participated in a lab using
gummy bears to show osmosis.
Social Studies: 7th Grade
In social studies this quarter, we are completing various activities in which
scholars are required to use their critical thinking skills as well as their creativity skills. Some activities consist of analyzing the different trade routes
used by Age of Exploration sailors and reenacting their movement in the
classroom, reading primary source text to determine if the Declaration of
Independence is plagiarized, and thoroughly understanding the American,
French, and Latin American revolutions in order to be able to create an original song that describes in detail one of those revolutions.
For our World War I unit scholars will be re-creating trench warfare.
They read six primary resource documents with their group, analyze the
readings, and then based off of what they learned they create a representation of what a trench would have looked like during WWI.
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