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TALENT
DEVELOPMENT
NEWSLETTER Volume 19, Issue #1
IN THIS ISSUE
6th Grade Language Arts
6th Grade Math
7th Grade Language Arts
7th Grade Math
8th Grade Language Arts
8th Grade Math
Extras!
Compacting and Innovating by Lisa Gurthie
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
6th Grade Language Arts Happy fall, Piedmont families! MYP Year 1 Language and Literature classes have been
hard at work this year on sharpening skills in foundational elements of literature.
We started by bolstering our students with academic vocabulary and teaching them
a strategy for writing that will help them answer a question accurately. We then
dove right in to our growth mindset unit. Classes completed a research project in
which they were asked to study an influential figure and show evidence as to how
they demonstrate a positive attitude despite adversity.
Our IB Statement of Inquiry this month asks students to explore how an author
connects character, plot, setting, and theme to create stories that analyze human
nature. Our NCCOS standard asks
students to cite specific evidence
from a text to support those
analyses.
We have just finished exploring identity
through fiction and answered questions about how life imitates art. We
studied plot structure, characterization, conflict, and theme, and
discussed a story’s obligation to reflect a deeper message about
humanity. We studied Sharon G. Flake’s The Skin I’m
In and our corresponding vocabulary in context
before starting our Identity Map project.
In our next unit, we will be exploring Greek mythology through the lens of Rick Riordan’s The
Lightning Thief. Students will be assessed on their ability to synthesize their knowledge of the book
and the values and lore associated with mythology in order to revise a scene from the text and make
it their own.
Talent Development
Newsletter 2019-2020
Volume 19, Issue #1
Quarter 1
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
6th Grade Math Greetings from Ms. Swift, Ms. Berry, and Ms. Wolfe, aka the 6th grade math
team! This year is off to a great start, and we are very impressed with our
students so far. Already this year, we have covered the concepts of area,
surface area, GCF, LCM, prime factorization as it relates to GCF and LCM,
and all decimal operations (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing).
Our scholars have completed an area project where they were allowed to
use their creativity to create a museum on any topic they wanted, then use
the concept of area to develop a floor plan of their museum. As a team
building exercise, many of our scholars also participated in the “Spaghetti
Tower Challenge”, which was a lot of fun. We are working hard to
differentiate for our scholars through the use of pre-tests, MAP data, and
classroom data, in the hopes that all of our kids remain challenged
throughout the year. At some point in the second quarter, we will be
doing our “Culture Menu” project, which will culminate in our 8th annual
“Culture Meal”, which is always a favorite for students and staff alike. Stay
tuned, we are looking forward to a great year!
7th Grade Language Arts
In 7th grade language arts, the students reviewed many of the skills and topics they learned in the 6th grade. We started by exploring text types such as stories, poetry, drama and nonfiction. They used graphic organizers to help understand the active reading strategies. We also identified key academic vocabulary terms that they will use in all of their core classes. In preparation for the Unit 1 Test, the students used Kahoot, Quizlet, Decktoys and flashcards as resources for review.
After completing the introductory review unit, students began their unit on Identity and Culture. This unit included interest/choice project-based learning in the form of the Culture Cluster. For the Culture Cluster project, students explored elements of their own cultures and identities and expressed their cultures through poetry and art. Upon completion of the Culture
Cluster, students participated in a Gallery Walk which allowed them to explain elements of their culture and answer questions, as well as make connections to the cultures of other students. The final step of the Culture Cluster was the negotiation conference, where students meet with their teachers one on one and discuss what grade they earned based on the rubric. This was an opportunity for students to advocate for themselves and self-assess their performance.
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
As part of their Identity and Culture Unit, students will also write a personal narrative essay called, “This I Believe.” This essay is a special part of NPR where writers explore their values and a time in their life when this value established who they are. Students will be part of the authentic writer’s workshop experience where they draft, edit and revise their narrative in order to create a concise and creative essay. We will begin by discussing values to start the brainstorming process of what each student
believes in. From there, students will delve into their own memories to explore moments in their life when the value of their choice was established and helped create the person they are today. By scaffolding the writing process, students will be able to focus on elements on their writing. The objectives of this unit are to allow students to explore who they are, what they believe in and strengthen their writing along the way.
7th Grade Math
"Yes, you will use this in real life!" Our first unit this year takes us into real-world mathematics involving unit rates and rational numbers. From finding the price per ounce of a grocery item to calculating MPH, students are learning how to use their previous knowledge in math and bridging it with things they have already come across in real life.
Students have had the opportunity to work collaboratively as well on multiple assignments.
Check out the photo of students working on their Constant of Proportionality activity! We are so excited to continue to learn and grow with our next lessons on functions and scale models. These next two lessons ramp up on the excitement and rigor!
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
8th Grade Language Arts
In 8th Grade Language Arts the students began the year examining the structure of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, The Hero’s Journey. In order to analyze how this monomyth appears in text, students completed a novel study of, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. Throughout the novel study, students had opportunities to complete
choice projects, work in literature groups, complete independent tasks, and develop personalized vocabulary list. Students were also provided an alternative novel choice based on their current understanding of The Outsiders. They culminated this novel study with a written task. This task provided choice options for them to develop a report about the novel from the perspective of a reporter. They were asked to analyze elements of the story and draw comparisons to the stages of The Hero’s Journey. Students then critically analyzed the film adaptation of the book. Students explored how the concepts in the book were developed through film as well as identified elements of the hero’s journey.
8th Grade Math
8th Grade Math
We learn to do by modeling! Students will mimic what they see. Therefore,
modeling first starts with the teachers. During first quarter, the 8th grade TD
math students first hit the road running with their summer math project.
Students were expected to start the year off knowing their squares (1-12)
and cubes (1-10) and their roots. This prepared our students for problems
based upon area and volume. It also allowed students to appropriately
represent non-perfect squares and cubes on a number line. We then started
rigid transformations and did a transformation project that involved rotations, translations, dilations, and
reflections. Students could earn extra credit if they drew King Tut’s Pyramid. From there, we then used what
we learned about similarity to introduce slope/rate of change and y-intercept/initial value.
Year-long Math 1
Students extended their ability to solve equations and inequalities to
include special cases and complex equations with variables on both sides.
They then explored what it means to be a function, how function notation
is used, and how to represent real-life scenarios with function rules. To
wrap up this unit students were presented a choice project that involved
differentiated levels of understanding. Levels ranged from one to four, with
level one being the easiest and four being the hardest. Students were given
a set of dots and within the dots, they were asked ten questions. The
most important question was, “What is the function rule (the
equation) that makes the dots and how can they see the function rule
with the ‘layout’ of the dots?” Students were stretched in their
understanding of the math and how that translated to their peers who
they presented the project in front of. It was astounding to see the
creativity that came from their reasoning.
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School Math 1/2
Students, taking both Math 1 and Math 2 this year, took an integrated approach to the Math 1 curriculum and
spent significant time comparing and contrasting linear and exponential functions in context. Students
analyzed data to determine whether the data demonstrated linear or exponential behavior and wrote the
equation that best modeled the behavior. Students also integrated their algebra and geometry knowledge by
using the principles of slope and distance to prove geometric theorems. Throughout all of our math courses,
we are encouraging students to be able to explain the “why” of their math. Many times students want to get
to the final answer without a full understanding of “how” to get there and “why” we are going. When students
can explain why, they have a better sense of ownership and perform better overall.
Compacting and Innovating 10/18/2019
By Lisa Gurthie, Piedmont’s Professional Development Facilitator
Curriculum compacting has already begun in some classes, including Orchestra, and the Innovation Lab is open during healthy kids. Students who wish can check it out as part of their media center pass. 7th grade healthy kids time is a quiet lab, as the lab is also hosting a North Carolina Virtual Public School, NCVPS, class at that time. Projects students are working on so far this year include: sharing stories and making friends, pin board, sand and
water play, video making, rubber band geometry and art, wobble board and balance contests, embroidery, electronics, take-aparts, pretend games, and putting together a k'Nex kit generously donated by a parent. If you have consumable craft or science toys supplies that you don't need, I can put them to use in the lab. Please email me at [email protected]. Thank you in advance!
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
The Piedmont Talent Development Team
Academic Facilitator Karen Gorman [email protected]
Math Support Aaron Kollar [email protected] 6th Grade Language Arts
Damien Becton [email protected]
Caitlin Hash [email protected]
Ann Tapia [email protected]
7th Grade Language Arts
Alysia Watson [email protected]
David Milligan [email protected]
Kerrigan Potter [email protected]
8th Grade Language Arts
Cynthia Alexander-Brown [email protected]
Patrice Frilot [email protected]
Cherie Page [email protected] 6th Grade Mathematics
Julie Berry [email protected]
Kelsey Wolfe [email protected]
Emily Swift [email protected]
7th Grade Mathematics
Emily Burrell [email protected]
Liduvina Chavez [email protected]
Susie Palgut [email protected]
8th Grade Mathematics
Lauren Henderson [email protected]
James O’Neal [email protected]
Cecelia Sizoo-Roberson [email protected]
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