Math Placement for Middle School

This year there will be NO TESTING for placement in middle school math. ALL CASCADIA STUDENTS will be PLACED IN 8TH GRADE MATH. If you would like your student placed in ALGEBRA or 7th grade math PLEASE CONTACT Ms. Underdahl and she will provide you with more information. Middle schools will work with families to determine placement more accurately once school has started in September. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS—Tipton Blish (tblish@seattleschools.org) Hamilton and Paula Montgomery Montgomery (montgopl@gmail.com) Jane Adams

Weekly Update

Science,
We talked extensively about Sexual Exploitation this week and will wrap up that conversation early next week and move into Puberty. Students have continued to show respect for the subject and take it very seriously. It is a heavy subject and I hope that if any students have further questions or concerns they continue to voice them.

Friday is again a day to work on 5th grade Science Fair projects and there have been some really good scientific question brought up. The fair will be the same day as the Cascadia Science Fair (February 26th) but during the day and in classrooms. Parents will be invited to attend and more information will be out as we near the fair.

Math
This week students worked on reviewing their learning from this unit. They took a quiz and corrected it looking for common errors. They also worked on their project for this unit, a MATHLIB. They are creating individual story problems and solving them. Next week we will take the test. Look for the unit packet next Friday.

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Hamilton Open House

Hi Families of Mr. Hill's homeroom,

A quick reminder that the Hamilton Middle School Family Tour is this Thursday evening, 1/28, from 6:30-8:30 pm.  This is a FAMILY friendly event and your child's only opportunity for such an event at Hamilton.  Siblings are welcome, too.

Principal Tip Blish is scheduled to speak at the opening at 6:30 pm, teachers and other staff will be on hand.  Current students are leading tours.

I confirmed with the Hamilton office that there will be NO OTHER dates for an evening family tour.  Tours can be arranged at a later time for after school hours in the afternoon.  However, you are not guaranteed access to the teachers and counselors.  Regards, Thea Galante (Reed's mom).

Hamilton Middle School
1610 N. 41st
Seattle, WA 98103

Phone: (206) 252-5810
Fax (206) 252-5811
Attendance (206) 252-5814
Registrar (206) 252-5832
Principal: Tipton Blish

Small Groups offered by the School Councilor

One of the things we are able to offer this year to students is small groups that can help students who might be going through some difficulties. Mr. Park our school councilor has put together some groups of kids for lunch sessions who may have difficulties making friends, having a tough transition from other schools, who may be touched by a loss in the family or their parents are going through a divorce. He has been very available to lots of students and we wanted to make sure that parents know he is a resource for this kind of activities. If you think your child would benefit from his services please feel free to mention it to their homeroom teacher. All information will be kept strictly confidential and we hope that many students would benefit greatly from his interactions.

Weekly Update

Science
This week in science we continued F.L.A.S.H. with conversations revolving around Friendship and Decision-Making. We discussed what a good friend is and how good friends treat each other as well as the role they play in each others lives. We also talked about the different types of Decision-Making, Active and Passive. Focusing on Active Decision-Making we talked about taking the time to think about the choices we make and the consequences of or choices. Taking the time to make good decisions that are thoughtful and with a clear head.

We have also begun working on the 5th grade science project. This is inline with the Cascadia Science Fair but will be presented separately during the day inside the school. All 5th graders are required to participate and all the 5th grade science teachers are giving students, Fridays in class to work on the projects. The final presentations will happen in February and students should be well underway, working on their projects.

Math
This week students tackled inequalities. We looked at the how they are related to equations. With the exception of those pesky negative numbers they are very similar! Next week we will review our learning from this chapter and practice story problems before taking our assessment.

Social Studies
We finished this week our posters on the Native American regions and the explorers. We looked at some of the effects each group had on each other and will be moving into the first European settlers next week.

Writing
This week students continued working on their short stories. These stories are due on Monday. The students will be revising their stories with input from classmates next week.

CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2016!
Over the past decade, Children’s Film Festival Seattle has become the largest and most respected film festival on the West Coast dedicated to children and their families. Each year, Northwest Film Forum selects more than 165 international children’s films from 40 countries, reaching more than 10,000 people during festival screenings in Seattle and a subsequent festival tour of 15-20 U.S. cities. For Festival Passes, event tickets, and to register for kids' workshops, visitwww.childrensfilmfestivalseattle.org NOW! For the 2016 festival, a new partnership with the Carco Theatre in Renton will bring films from countries like India, Croatia, Colombia, Norway and Taiwan to kids and families in South King County. Beyond the festival, virtually none of these films will be viewable in regional theaters or online. We hope you'll join us for this year's incredible festival, kicking off next Thursday!

Weekly Update 12/14

Science,
This week in science we continued to work on F.L.A.S.H. with some very good conversation on Self-Esteem and Gender Roles. There have also been some good questions under in all the lesson categories and I encourage you to talk to your students about what they have been learning. There have also been a few questions that I have not answered because they don't fall under the F.L.A.S.H. curriculum but I have encourages students to talk to their families.

WRITING

This week in writing the students continued to work on short stories.  The deadline for turning in their stories is January 25^th.  All students will be participating in the short story contest “Write Out of this World” sponsored by EMP.  The word count range for the contest is 200-2,000 words.  The word count range for me is 1,500 words.  This is a RANGE.  I’ve told the kids that I will accept less (and just a little more). They should tell their stories using the number of words that makes sense to tell a good story, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.  The stories need to have rising action, a climax, and a conclusion.  They are doing the bulk of this work in class.  They’ve had access to laptops nearly every day and plenty of time to write.  Every day we focus on a different aspect of short story writing.  In the past few weeks we’ve covered character, building suspense by asking good questions, writing good dialogue, and plotting.

Social Studies
This week we learned about the lasting impact of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. We prepared presentations to share with the other classrooms and wrote birthday cards to send to the King Center in Atlanta. This Monday students are encouraged to have a Day On not a day off. There are many opportuni-ties for service around the Seattle area. https://www.uwkc.org/events/mlk-day-of-service/

Service can be formal, like helping out at a food bank or simple like picking up trash in your neighborhood.

Students are also working on posters that outline some of the effects of explorers on the world or some of the regions of Native Americans and how they were effect by exploration. The goal for this is to understand the effects each had on each other and make connections between the New World and the Old World.

Math
This week students moved on to solving 2 step equations. They learned the necessity of working backwards and using the property of equality. Story problems were a challenge but we will keep working on our decoding skills! Next week we will take a short mid chapter assessment.

P.E.
We will begin our bicycling unit January 19th through February 5th. Cascade Bicycling Club will bring us bikes and helmets to use for 3 weeks. We hope to have all students riding bikes at the end of our unit. Students do not need to bring their bikes, they are provided. If your child has a helmet they want to bring they can but need to leave in their locker because of confusion with the helmets provided from the bike club, and the hel-mets we use for unicycling, we don’t want any students losing their helmets. We are excited for the next 3 weeks to teach students how to ride a bike and teach them about safety when riding around their neighborhood.

MIDDLE SCHOOL - FAMILY, EVENING OPEN HOUSE/TOURS

Hamilton International MS
1610 N 41st St, Seattle, WA 98103
Thursday, January 28th
6:30-8:30pm, Meet in the Commons

Jane Addams
11051 34th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125Thursday, February 11th
6:30-9:00pm


Both are for students and parents.

Service Project

Hello Parents - 

The 5th Grade Activities Team is kicking off the new year by participating in a service project with Food Lifeline of Shoreline. 

We are looking for 84 energetic 5th Graders (siblings and friends) along with 16 adult chaperons to sort and pack food that will be redirected to more than 275 after-school programs, food banks and pantries, hot meal programs and shelters in King County. 

Your children will have a hands-on experience making this happen. 

The sort and pack takes place on Saturday January 30 at Food Lifeline [1702 NE 150th Street, Shoreline WA 98155-7226 Phone: 1-877-404-7543]. In order to accommodate as many schedules as possible, we've set up a morning session [9 - 12 PM] and an afternoon session [1 PM - 4 PM].

A link below will lead you to the sign up page. You must sign up in advance for this activity [deadline 1/22]. You must provide a parent consent form.

We need parent help for the following:

1) Classroom Ambassadors: Would your child like to help get other classmates involved in this event? We need motivated kids to work in the classroom generating some positive energy around this activity by reminding kids to sign up for the Sort & Pack (with a parents help).  Teachers have been told this activity will take place. We have a few Ambassadors already, so please email Jeannette Chen with your child's Name & Homeroom Teacher [chirishtribe@gmail.com]

2) Sign up your child, and yourself [if you wish to chaperon] for a slot in either the morning or afternoon session.

1. Create a volunteer profile [takes 5 minutes].
   
2.  Download and fill out the Parent Consent Form also located at the bottom of the link. PRINT CONSENT FORM FOR DAY OF EVENT. 
   
3. Include siblings OVER 6 YEARS to join.
   
4. DEADLINE FOR SIGN UP IS 1/22.  
   

To make this work smoothly, we are looking for 84 kids to participate in the Sort & Pack with 16 chaperons required [ 8 each session]. There are 182 5th Graders at Cascadia.

Finally, this is the first time we are running this type of activity, please let us know if you have questions or any trouble signing up!

 Thank You from the 5th Grade Activities Team -- Jeannette Chen, Mimi Mar, Allison Bianchi

======SIGN UP INFORMATION====READ CARFULLY=======

Dear Cascadia Elementary 5th Grade Class volunteers:

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR THE MORNING SESSION:

We hope you're ready to fight hunger on 01/30/2016 from 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM.

·  Adult volunteers must register at least one week before the session using this link to your group's reserved session -https://foodlifeline.civicore.com/index.php?section=indGpRegistrations&action=conditional&opportunities_shifts_id=3535&fwID=6799 .

·  Youth volunteers (ages 17 and under) must bring a signed Parent Consent Form. Youth do not need to register. Adults can add as multiple youth when you register. Tell your group leader the number of youth to include in their final headcount.

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR THE AFTERNOON SESSION:

We hope you're ready to fight hunger on 01/30/2016 from 01:00 PM - 04:00 PM.

·  Adult volunteers must register at least one week before the session using this link to your group's reserved session -https://foodlifeline.civicore.com/index.php?section=indGpRegistrations&action=conditional&opportunities_shifts_id=3536&fwID=6800 .

·  Youth volunteers (ages 17 and under) must bring a signed Parent Consent Form. Youth do not need to register. Adults can add multiple youth when you register. Tell your group leader the number of youth to include in their final headcount.


For more information contact Jeannette Chen at chirishtribe@gmail.com

First Week Back After Break UPDATE

Math

This week we learned how to solve one step equations! Students learned the properties of equality and continued to apply their skills with rational numbers. Next week we will start wrestling with 2 and 3 step equations.

You are also getting a packet home to review with your student from the last unit. Please send it back with a parent signature. I will include it with the next report card as a reminder of where the grades from that trimester came from! 

Science

We started FLASH this week and students have been very respectful of the subject. We have started with Family and talked about all the different types of families there are. We focused on the purpose of families and all three classes have been very thoughtful about the emotional and physical needs that families provide for each other. 

I have also told students that they need to participate in the Science Fair in February but have let them know that they will be given Fridays in class to work on them. There are very few parameters for the projects and students are free to come up with original ideas as long as they bring something to work on during class time.