For the week of: February 2, 2015 Reminders: • th Guidance Counselors from the Coffman and Jerome will be here visiting 8 grade th students on Wednesday, February 4 . • Please plan to attend one of the Parent Curriculum Nights being offered on Thursday, February 5, at 7:00PM in the Center for Performing Arts at both Jerome and Coffman High Schools. There will be department representatives presenting and available after the program for any questions you might have. If you have any questions, please call the Jerome office at 873-7377 or Coffman's office at 764-5900. • Parents, please look over the Ohio PARCC testing dates at the end of this newsletter. Students will take only one test on each day, as the schedule indicates. All testing will take place in the morning after home base attendance from 8:36 until approximately 10:25 AM. Students taking classes at the high school in the AM will test in their corresponding high school classes. We will then be running adjusted schedules each day after this time frame so that students will get to attend all their academic classes on each day. We wanted to get this information out to you now so that you could avoid these days and times if you need to schedule out-of-school appointments and or doctors visits for your child. Thank you. Art 8 th Mr. Schafer: Building on last week’s efforts, the 8 grade art students will continue creating theatrical backdrops for Karrer’s school musical production of The Wizard of Oz. This week will see the final stages of the Land of Oz set and the beginning of the Emerald City scene. Language Arts Mrs. Jerger, Mrs. Kurtz, and Ms. Rothermund: Students will analyze and critique arguments paying special attention to identifying specific argument techniques or logical fallacies. Students will also participate in our first in class debate in order to practice Speaking and Listening standards. Geometry Mr. Pulsinelli: Mr. Pulsinelli's Geometry classes continue to explore similarity and transformations. Math 8 Mrs. Albert and Mrs. Keating: Students will begin Geometry, with a focus on congruence. Math CY2 Mrs. Keating: Students will complete a mini-unit on Exponents and begin operations with Polynomials. Mr. Pulsinelli: CY2 Algebra classes are beginning a unit on polynomial expressions. For the week of: February 2, 2015 Physical Science Mrs. Sparks: Our chemistry unit will continue with a study of the states of matter with lab investigations and inquiry about phase changes and the impact of variables such as temperature. We will be analyzing heating and cooling curves to understand the properties of various substances as they are heated a cooled. We will be applying our understanding of kinetic and potential energy (from our study of physics) to describe how molecular kinetic energy relates to states of matter. Science 8 Mrs. Carpenter and Mrs. Sparks: Students are working on a self-paced lesson in science that addresses ways (other than plate tectonics) Earth's surface changes. We are working to understand how streams/rivers, floodplains, glaciers, coastlines, flooding and deserts all can build up (construct) and wear away (destroy) Earth's crust. For more information about our science class, please visit the class wiki: https://kms8thscience.wiki.dublinschools.net Social Studies Mrs. Albert, Mrs. Heath, and Mr. O’Neal: Students just finished their unit on the Bill of Rights. We will be starting a new unit looking at the New Nation and the early government of the United States focusing on the Presidents and key members of their Cabinets. Spanish Mrs. Buss: Students will continue using the new vocabulary from CH 4 (talking about plans and inviting someone to do something). They will also use the common expression "Ir +a+ infinitive" to express what someone is going to do, as well as finally learning how to conjugate -er and -ir verbs (with some irregular yo forms). There will be a quiz on Thursday (2/5). Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar through listening, reading and writing. STEM/Tech Solutions Mrs. Williams: GTT-STEM - Students will be presenting their Energy for our Future Projects on Monday and review for the Energy & Environment Post Assessment on Tuesday. Review information is posted in the classroom. Wednesday we will begin the third and final unit, Automation & Robotics. Mrs. Williams: Technology Solutions - Students will working on various lessons about Video Game Design using GameMaker Lite 8.1. For the week of: February 2, 2015 Ohio PARCC Testing Information for 2015 Dublin City School District 2014-‐15 New State Assessments ***All Middle School Assessments will be paper/pencil for the 2014-‐15 school year*** Grade 8 PARCC -‐ English Language Arts • Performance Based Assessment o 3 Sessions – 225 Minutes Total § Unit 1 – 75 Minutes: February 23rd § Unit 2 – 90 Minutes: February 24th § Unit 3 – 60 Minutes: February 25th • End of Course Assessment o 2 Sessions – 120 Minutes Total § Unit 1 – 60 Minutes: April 21st § Unit 2 – 60 Minutes: April 22nd PARCC -‐ Mathematics • Scientific Calculators Permitted • Performance Based Assessment o 2 Sessions – 150 minutes Total § Unit 1 – 80 Minutes: March 2nd § Unit 2 – 70 Minutes: March 3rd • End of Course Assessment o 2 Sessions – 155 minutes Total § Unit 1 – 80 Minutes: April 28th § Unit 2 – 75 Minutes: April 29th For the week of: February 2, 2015 PARCC -‐ Algebra I -‐ (CY2) • Graphing Calculators (with functionalities consistent with TI-‐84 or similar models) Permitted • Performance Based Assessment: o 2 Sessions – 165 minutes Total § Unit 1 – 90 Minutes: March 2nd § Unit 2 – 75 Minutes: March 3rd • End of Course Assessment o 2 Sessions – 155 minutes Total § Unit 1 – 80 Minutes: April 28th § Unit 2 – 75 Minutes: April 29th PARCC -‐ Geometry • Graphing Calculators (with functionalities consistent with TI-‐84 or similar models) Permitted • Performance Based Assessment: o 2 Sessions – 165 minutes Total § Unit 1 – 90 Minutes: March 2nd § Unit 2 – 75 Minutes: March 3rd • End of Course Assessment o 2 Sessions – 155 minutes Total § Unit 1 – 80 Minutes: April 28th § Unit 2 – 75 Minutes: April 29th Ohio Department of Education -‐ Science • Performance Based Assessment: o 1 Session – 75 Minutes Total: March 4th • End of Course Assessment o 1 Session – 75 Minutes Total: May 5th