Math & Science Curriculum Updates

As the end of trimester 1 quickly approaches, I wanted to provide you with an update on what student's have been working on in Math and Science.

Our second unit in Math is well underway, and we have completed the first 10 lessons in this unit.  Students are learning how to use ratios to solve real world problems.  Some of these problems involve cooking, shopping, shades of paint, and speed.  As we work through this unit, students are learning to navigate double number lines and tables as tools to help us organize our work involving ratios.  By the end of this unit, students should be able to use double number lines and tables to help them solve problems involving ratios.  They should be able to identify when two ratios are equivalent, create equivalent ratios, and reason about things happening at the same rate.

As a way to help your child master these skills in our second unit, you may help guide your child to do additional practice on the Khan Academy website which is tailored to our math program, Illustrative math.  The link for the second unit is here. 

A quick reminder that students are expected to complete 30 minutes of IXL weekly.  Each week I select one or two skills that students should work on and they can find those skills posted on their math google classroom page.  This weekly routine and assignment is graded as a classwork grade which accounts for 20% of their grade in math.  Please check in with your child each week to be sure they are completing this assignment.

Our third unit in science is also well underway.  During this unit, students will be discovering how Earth's land masses change over time.  We have been studying evidence presented by Alfred Wegener which he used to support his theory of continental drift.  Students recently started writing an argument paper to convince scientists of the early 1900s to support Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift.  After students study continental drift, they will discover how the continents are able to move through studying seafloor spreading and plate tectonics.  As we learn about seafloor spreading we will have a mini-unit on density in order to connect the ideas that the denser ocean plates submerge under continental plates.  Finally, we'll wrap up the unit by studying the rock cycle and learning how to analyze rock layers.

Team Taylor News

November is upon us and students are well into their routines and curriculum!  They are breezing through their

schedules and understand the demands and expectations of a 6th grader. November notoriously speeds by

like a flash.  It is a shorter month, due to the Thanksgiving holiday break. This year we also have

a Professional Development Day on November 6th, which means no school for the students.  Also, we

celebrate Veteran's Day on November 12th, which means no school on that Monday.

November also brings with it a heavier workload for the students. Expectations have increased and the work

is getting harder.  It is imperative that students stay organized and focused. The term is coming to a close

in December.

We continue to encourage you at home to take a look at your student's agenda book and compare it to our

website homework.  We also encourage you to check your child's grades via the Aspen portal. If you have

any questions regarding access to this, ask your child, they have login information and a password.  Students

are realizing how important it is to complete their homework assignments with great effort. This has a direct

impact on their grades.

Middle school is all about teamwork.   We will continue to work on building positive relationships and form

long lasting bonds. We will also continue to foster this philosophy during our Team Time blocks in our schedules.

As a part of our Admirable Attribute program, Team Taylor recognizes one boy and one girl from our team

who exemplifies the attribute from the authors we read in 6th grade. September’s attribute was Optimistic and

two students were nominated, their names are listed below.  October's attribute was Curious.  We had  

nominations soon and the students who stand out as most curious will be chosen and announced.  The

November attribute is Respectful.

We value the home/school relationships, please feel free to contact us if you have any concerns or questions

about your child's progress.  We have times built into our schedule for parent/teacher conferences. We meet

as a team and discuss your child's progress. Email is the best method to reach us.  Our email addresses

are listed below.

Warm regards,

Team Taylor Teachers

Laura Welshoff, English & Social Studies

welshoff@franklinps.net

Danny Kelley, Math & Science

kelleyd@franklinps.net

Important Dates This Month:

November 6 - Professional Development Day off

November 12 - Veteran’s  Day No School

November 21-23 Thanksgiving Break

Team Taylor Admirable Attribute Recipients:

September - Optimistic - Seth O. & Lily D.

October - Curious -  

November - Respectful -

December - Perseverance -

January - Generous -

February - Creative -.

March - Compassionate -

April - Independent -

May- Flexible -

June - Responsible -