PIEDMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL
an IB World School
Talent Development News
Volume 1, Issue 35 March 18, 2016
6th Grade Math
Once again, the 6th grade math department would like to thank you for sharing your amazing children with us! This quarter, we have been studying a multitude of math skills, including Area, Surface Area, Volume, Coordinate Geometry, and Dividing Fractions. Our students will use Play-Doh and Pizza to help learn how to divide fractions, and we will be doing a “Graph It” project to teach our students about the importance of surveys and properly displaying their results. Our students did an AMAZING job on their “Christo and Jeanne-Claude” project, which involved calculating everything needed to cover an object in fabric. This project is based on the works of the artists Christ and Jeanne-Claude (look them up, their art is really cool!). As we approach our end of year testing, we will begin to review the skills that we have already learned, as well as continue to introduce new material. Some of the topics that remain to be covered are inequalities, statistics, and measures of center. We are also excited about creating an interactive notebook for EOG Review. In addition, now that we have covered most of the “basic” skills, we will focus our attention on critical thinking and problem solving, which isn’t to say that we haven’t been including critical thinking and problem solving all year long. If, as a parent, you are looking for some EXTRA ways that your child can start reviewing for EOG’s outside of their math class, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s math teacher. We are having a great year, and we are so happy that we get to teach the BEST students in Charlotte!
6th Grade Language Arts
6th grade Language Arts has just finished our novel study unit and we are jumping head first into mythology. Students are researching the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece. We have been reading a variety of myths including "Apollo’s Tree," "Narcissus and Echo," and actually performing a reader’s theatre adaptation of "Cupid and Psyche." On March 23rd and 24th we will be working on an interdisciplinary unit with our Social Studies department, where each student will choose a god or goddess and prepare a monologue that they will perform on those days. Students are encouraged to dress up as the god or goddess of their choosing and truly get into character for the presentation. We are still working on stems and will be celebrating our 100 stem party, the week prior to spring break for the students who receive a 100% on the test. After our mythology unit we will start our poetry unit which will include the reading and analysis of various poems, learning literary devices and practicing poetry structure.
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PIEDMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL, an IB world School
Talent Development News
Seventh Grade Math
7th grade math is in full swing. Over the past months, students learned to write and solve one- step, two - step, and multi- step equations that represent situations. We have also used this time to connect proportional reasoning to the expressions and equations they write. We have even connected writing and solving equations to Geometry. Students have been working on finding angles and side lengths using their algebra skills.
As we continue in our Geometry unit, students will complete an IB project where they will be creating scale models of objects and comparing their dimensions, surface areas, and volumes in relation to the scale factor that they used. The final product will be a model with calculations shown and written explanations of their work. This is always a project that does not just impress others visually, but emphasizing ability to create in relationship to math. Our goal is to make this an inter-disciplinary assignment so the students will get to look at it multiple ways. Teachers will be looking for math content and grammar, mechanics, fluency, etc. We believe it is important to use interdisciplinary approaches on our assignments.
Coming soon, students will take their last MAP test. We will use this data to measure their growth since the fall and winter. Our students have done a wonderful job overall and we are proud of their grade level achievements. Their scores will also help determine their placement for 8th grade math. However, we are not through learning just yet…
The 7th grade math teachers are continuing to prepare our students for next year. Currently, students are working on Geometry. The unit is all about angles, perimeter, area, volume, surface area, and more! How do you find the volume of a house? How do you know how much paint to buy if you want to change the color of your house? By the end of this unit, any 7th grader can tell you!
In April, 7th graders will attend a field trip to Washington D.C. and use their math skills throughout the trip. They will view and discuss various scale models and monuments around the city and compare them to the actual sizes of the real objects. Budgeting their money and time are important skills that all teachers will emphasize as well.
We look forward to ending the school year on a high note. There are many fun and academic activities for students to be involved in the coming months.
Seventh Grade Language Arts
In 7th grade language arts the students explored informational text by reading the articles, “What Do You Know About Sharks?” by Sharon Guynup and “Great White Sharks” by Peter Benchley. The students focused on citing textual evidence to support analysis of what that the text says. They also analyzed the structure that the authors used to organize the text. After reading the articles, the students wrote essays entitled Battle of the Sharks. The students were required to research a shark and write two informative paragraphs about it. Then they had to write a third paragraph to persuade readers to believe that their shark was the best. The students had to demonstrate a command of the conventions, of grammar usage and punctuation of Standard English. In addition, the students continued to work on their weekly stems.
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PIEDMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL, an IB World School
Talent Development News
Eighth Grade Language Arts
This has been a very challenging and rewarding quarter academically. We started the quarter with an inquiry into the Elizabethan Era. We learned strategies to decode Shakespearean language, and then, we began reading Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While reading, students completed several close readings of key excerpts and annotated all five acts of the classic play.
Students became literary device experts this quarter. We paid close attention to sound devices, figurative language, allusions and different types of irony as we read the comedy. Students not only identified the devices in the text, but they also analyzed how they enhanced the writing and impacted the audience--that is some high level thinking! As a culminating project, students created literary device scrapbooks; they identified important quotations with the devices, made illustrations to complement them, and expounded on the quotation’s significance. Finally, they wrote an analysis that explored the following prompt: Why did Shakespeare use literary devices, and how did they enhance the play? We were impressed with the level of thinking and know students will be ready to engage effectively with Shakespearean texts in high school and beyond.
After we finished our Shakespeare unit, we completed a short, intensive poetry study. Students read poetry that explored topics such as cultural awareness and appreciation, self-expression, social justice, and perseverance. They used knowledge gained in the Shakespeare unit to closely read the poems. They also learned a new strategy--TPCASTT. Students can use this strategy, in years to come, as they continue to engage with complex pieces of poetry.
As a culminating activity, students read the famous Kipling poem, “If,” and participated in a Socratic seminar. During the seminar, students could exhibit all of their newly developed skills: close reading, analyzing complex text, identifying literary devices and their effects on the text. The Socratic seminar was a success and resulted in a celebration of a job well done!
Next quarter we will participate in a World War II inquiry and read several informational texts to explore the time period from various perspectives.
Eighth Grade Math
Students in Math 8 learned about systems of equations. They thought this was the hardest concept they had learned all year. Systems of equations switched to geometry, and things seemed a bit easier. We have studied angle relationships and learned about vertical, alternate interior, alternate exterior and corresponding. We even learning a new theorem, The Pythagorean Theorem. Students also learned the formulas for a cylinder, cone and sphere. For our trip to the Outer Banks, students watched a video on the lighthouses of OBX and drew them.
During third quarter, Math II students started the new curriculum. The class started off with probability. They learned the difference between a permutation and a combination. The math became difficult as they solved rational equations and learned about extraneous answers. Our final unit was functions and students used Desmos to transform functions and create a piece of artwork. Projects were amazing!
TD students in Math I full year ¾ of the way done. They studied exponent rules, how to FOIL and how to factor. Students are working on the quadratic function. They are learning how to graph and find the axis of symmetry and the vertex. They also learned the quadratic equation.
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PIEDMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL, an IB world School
Talent Development News
PIEDMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL
an IB World School
Talent Development News
1241 East 10th Street
Charlotte, NC 28204
Phone: 980-343-5435
Fax: 980-343-5557
E-mail:
Website: http://pages.cms.k12.nc.us/piedmont/
Piedmont … You Know … We Care!
TALENT DEVELOPMENT TEAM
· Academic Facilitator
Dawn Johnston
· 6th Grade Team
Language Arts Math
Ann Tapia Emily Burrell
Molly McCarthy Aaron Kolla r
Shelley Lyttle Emily Swift
· 7th Grade Team
Language Arts Math
Patrice Frilot Karen Gorman
David Milligan Teresa Peterson
Cynthia Alexander-Brown Susie Palgut
· 8th Grade Team
Language Arts Math
Elizabeth Immel Cheryl Lamb
Caleb Chandler Janet Delery
Kelly Hanson Stacey Callahan
TALENT DEVELOPMENT NEWSLETTER
Piedmont Middle School
March 2016
Happy spring to you all!! It’s the middle of March, but already time to think about summer camp! There are many opportunities created especially for gifted students –great ways for students to “keep on learning” all year long! The following list offers just a sample of what is available for summer 2016:
WHAT: Discovery Place WHERE: 301 N. Tryon Street
CONTACT: Phone: 704-372-6261 x 300 Charlotte, NC 28202
Discovery Place camps: http://www.discoveryplace.org/education/summer_camps/
Nature Museum camps: http://www.charlottenaturemuseum.org/education/summer_camps/
INFO: Camps outlined by Discovery Place are focused on nature, science and/or math with specific topics in each category. Camps are being held at 4 different locations this year so check it out!
WHAT: UNC-Charlotte Camps on Campus WHERE: 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte 28223
CONTACT: http://summercamps.uncc.edu/camps
http://www.discoveryplace.org/education/summer_camps/
INFO: UNC-Charlotte Camps on Campus strives to offer a safe, fun, hands-on, and educational summer enrichment experience for campers in rising grades 1-12. Middle school-age offerings include: Business, Law, Engineering, Robotics, and more.
WHAT: Providence Day School Summer Programs WHERE: 5800 Sardis Rd, Charlotte, 28270
CONTACT: http://www.providenceday.org/summerprograms, or call for catalog 704.887.7006
INFO: Providence Day summer programs offer something for everyone –sports, arts, drama, cooking, service, science, technology and many more! Browse through program offerings and sign up early using the registration form on-line.
WHAT: Summer Programs at Charlotte Latin School WHERE: 9502 Providence Rd, Charlotte 28277
CONTACT: http://www.charlottelatin.org/page.cfm?p=1651
INFO: “…promotes a joy for learning and where campers can develop cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically through growth-promoting experiences. Our coeducational day programs foster a passion for lifelong learning...” Offerings include: sports, cooking, video games, chess, robots and theatre.
WHAT: Summer Programs at The Green River Preserve WHERE: 301 Green River Rd
CONTACT: Phone: 828-698-8828 Cedar Mountain, NC 28718
Fax: 828-698-9201 http://www.greenriverpreserve.org/summer-camp/
INFO: Focused on environmental education and located in western NC near Hendersonville and Brevard. “Green River Preserveis a non-competitive, coed summer camp connecting children with nature. Located on a 3,400 acre private wildlife preserve in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, this extraordinary natural setting inspires campers to have a greater understanding of themselves, their environment, and their fellow man. Designed for bright, curious, and creative children, our program nurtures character development and fosters skills like perseverance, curiosity, communication, optimism, creativity, andGRIT.”
WHAT: Kids for Conservation Summer Day Camp WHERE: Carolina Raptor Center
CONTACT: http://www.carolinaraptorcenter.org/learn/summer-camp Huntersville, NC
INFO: Camps include:
Raptors of the Silver Screen, Young Veterinarians Camp and Birds and Beasties Camp
WHAT: All-Arts, Sciences & Technology Camp
WHERE: 1-week residential experience at either participating college campuses- NC State or UNC-Greensboro
CONTACT: http://allarts.uncg.edu/index.php or email , or call (336) 315-7044 or (866) 334-2255
INFO: Designed to give in-depth, hands-on instruction in the arts, sciences, and technology, the camp also includes recreation, citizenship, and multi-cultural entertainment. During camp, each camper attends a morning class and an afternoon class, chosen from a wide variety of course offerings that suit individual tastes and preference. Our class size is small, and the curriculum encourages problem solving and critical thinking, all while spending time on a college campus.