March 23, 2012

Welcome to Spring Break week!

Please visit the P.T.O. Newsletter at the top of this page!

Now that break has officially started, I am staring out of my office window and the rain is falling.  Let's stay positive...for those of us who are staying here, the weather will continue to be nice.

Upon returning from break, Woodlawn will be hosting the D96 School Board meeting on Tuesday, April 3rd at 7p.m. in our Learning Center.  Parents are invited to this meeting and see some of the amazing things our students are doing with technology.  I hope many of you can attend.

Here is a look at the schedule when we return from break...

Monday, April 2nd          Regular school day

Tuesday, April 3rd           Regular school day

Wednesday, April 4th      Early release  1:30p.m.
                                         Parent/Teacher Conferences 5-7p.m.

Thursday, April 5th         No School
                                        Parent/Teacher Conferences 2-7p.m.

Friday, April 6th             No School

I will send out another blog on April 2nd to remind everyone of our conference week.

If you are traveling this week, I wish you a safe trip and an enjoyable break.  As always, I appreciate the support that all of our families give to the school and consider myself very fortunate to be a part of Woodlawn.

Greg Grana

SCIENCE FAIR ANNOUNCEMENT 2012

Congratulations from to all our science fair participants who attended the regional science fair this past Saturday March 17th.  The students recognized here belong to a special group of dedicated individuals who not only represent themselves as stars, but also represent our school.  Their high performance and dedication at the regional science fair brings special recognition to our school as a whole.  Please take the time to thank them for representing us all in this way.

Woodlawn students won high scores as well as special awards in their project category.  Mira Sethi, Ashley Mathews, Lauren Cuasay, Cindy Yao, Jessica Yao, Daniel Rong and Jeff Zheng ALL won GOLD awards in Saturdays project session. Daniel Rong, Jeff Zheng, Lauren Cuasay, Mira Sethi and Ashley Mathews were all nominated to compete further in the Broadcom Masters competition for outstanding performance.  Jahnavi Kishore won A SILVER award this weekend as well as GOLD in paper session which was held Wednesday of last week.  Mira Sethi, Lauren Cuasay and Ashley Mathews were also GOLD winners at paper session. Akshay Chaubal was also a winner at project session this weekend winning a BRONZE award.  Daniel Rong and Jessica Yao and were highly recognized this weekend as their projects won a special award plaque and a cash prize for BEST IN PROJECT CATEGORY

Our STATE SCIENCE FAIR qualifiers this year are Jahnavi Kishore, Mira Sethi, Ashley Mathews, Lauren Cuasay, Jessica Yao, Cindy Yao, Daniel Rong and Jeffry Zheng.

Thank you to all who worked so hard in both the Woodlawn and regional science fairs.  Your dedication to science and excellence truly demonstrates PACK PRIDE!

March 16, 2012

I cannot believe that it is March and the weather has been this warm!!  I hope that this weather trend continues through our Spring Break.   


Please visit the Woodlawn PTO WEBSITE LINK AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!


The incoming 6th grade parent night has been moved to Monday, April 23rd at 7:00p.m. in the Woodlawn Gym.  All current parents of 5th grade students are welcome to watch, listen and participate in the presentation by Mr. Murphy and myself.  If you know of a current 5th grade parent who would like to attend, please pass this message along.


A standards based report card is going to look a little different...
Last week, we shared that a standards-based report card reports student learning by specific curriculum targets. Currently, our end of term reports share only the overall grade and a brief comment. A standards-based report card will give you much greater details.


This is what the current District 96 report card looks like:

Comments follow the percentage on the right hand side and usually give you a one sentence description of how your child is progressing.


The new standards-based report card will give this much information for each content area for each quarter. This example shows what could appear for 7th grade Advanced Math for Trimester 1:

As a parent myself, this type of reporting will give me a much more detailed picture of how my child is performing. The overall course grade is still there, and there is a spot to report on student learning related to each target within each content area. This provides parents with detailed information, much greater than our current report card.


The Middle School Standards-Based Report Card Parent Information Night will be coming up on April 18 @ 7:00 pm in the Woodlawn Gym. We will present information on that evening that will clarify questions surrounding Standards Based Report cards.

Champions!

Congratulations to the 7th grade Woodlawn Silver Volleyball Team on their big win last night over Twin Groves.  Coach Martin and the team dealt with great adversity throughout the season and earned the championship as the 8th seed in the conference tournament.

Mr. Grana and I are very proud of you and proud to be Wolves.  Way to go!

No Power, No Problem

Fortunately our loss of power this morning affected only parts of certain classrooms, and we were back to full power before lunches began.  There's just nothing like a little extra excitement on a Friday, an ISAT Friday, that is!

Speaking of ISATs, as we wanted to ensure the best possible working environment for kids, we postponed our tests until Monday.  So, all students will will finish up their reading and math exams on Monday, and 7th grade students will now take the science portion on Tuesday.  

Let's all wish 8th grader, Fabian Garcia, good luck this weekend as he represents Woodlawn Middle School as our first state qualifier in wrestling.  He's competing at Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb, IL this weekend.  Congratulations and good luck to Fabian, Coach Berry and Coach Curtis.

Looking ahead, there are a few important events coming up...

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING PARENT NIGHT

Mark your calendar! Plan to join us on Tuesday, March 13 at 7:00 at Ivy Hall for a great presentation about social-emotional learning and how we as a district are working to meet students' academic and emotional needs. 

Monday, April 23 is incoming 6th grade parent information night, so please pass the word to our Kildeer and Country Meadows parents.

LOOKING AHEAD AT STANDARDS-BASED REPORTING

As we come closer to the 2013-2014 launch of standards-based reporting at the middle schools, I'd like to use the weekly blog to answer some frequently asked questions about standards-based reporting. This week's question:

What is a standards-based report card? How will it compare to what we have now?

A standards-based report card is one that depicts student learning by specific curriculum targets. Rather than only reporting a single overall course grade (our current practice), every target on which the student has worked during the trimester is listed, with student proficiency for each target clearly stated. Those of you with younger children attending Ivy Hall or Prairie already have experience with a standards-based report card, since the elementary schools implemented this tool across all grades and buildings beginning this school  year. 

While the targets will all be listed individually, it is still the intent that, at the middle schools, an overall course letter grade will still be reported. This course grade will reflect student learning across all of the learning targets for the trimester. 

To learn more about the middle school standards-based report card, please plan to attend the Middle School Standards-Based Report Card Parent Info Session coming up on April 18 @ 7:00 pm in the Woodlawn Gym. Twin Groves and Woodlawn parents are welcome to attend! As always, if you have specific questions, please feel free to contact Mr. Grana or Mr. Murphy directly.

Finally, don't forget to set your clocks ahead this weekend, and check out the Woodlawn PTO newsletter, as well. 

Enjoy yourselves.

Partial Power Outage

Woodlawn and Country Meadows are experiencing a partial power outage this morning.  We have postponed out ISAT testing that was scheduled for today and will resume our testing on Monday.  We made this decision because we want optimal testing conditions for our students.  Woodlawn is running a normal schedule for today and everything is going smoothly.

Greg Grana

March 2, 2012

Welcome to the first week of March!  There are a couple of announcements for the blog today, followed by our classroom/team updates. 

Don't forget to check out the PTO Newsletter (see the link at the top of this page) to learn more about the open board and chair positions for the 2012-13 school year.  Our PTO has provided some wonderful programs and worthwhile fund-raising events.  Being a part of the P.T.O. is a great way to connect with the school, other parents and our staff members.  Don't miss the March, 21^st deadline to sign up for these positions. 

Mr. Wright Chase (D96 Foundation President) visited Woodlawn yesterday, presenting our soon to be formed robotics club members with a certificate and balloons, congratulating them on having their wish granted for materials for this club.  The District 96 Foundation awarded a number of items throughout the district. Thank you to the foundation for this opportunity, I know our students are thrilled! 

Here is the classroom/subject update for the month of March:

Wellness- Students are staying active in P.E. class with the elective unit, where they get to choose their activity.  They have been busy with activities such as volleyball, mat ball, scooter hockey, floor hockey and even playing in the snow!  The students are also continuing to improve their fitness during fitness days and are encouraged to keep up the hard work at home.  In a couple of weeks, we will begin one of the students favorite units, “The Tournament of Champions”.  During “TOC” students will work cooperatively in teams competing in many challenges such as tug of war, relay races, the burpee challenge and many more.  Each class period will have a fitness “TOC” champ and a regular “TOC” champ.  The students enjoy the competitive spirit by wearing their team color and counting on every member of their team throughout the challenges!

Group 2 is halfway through their second unit.  The 6th graders have learned about body organization.  We have been discussing the changes and challenges of adolescence.  The 7th graders will be starting their substance abuse posters using the Glogster website.  The 8th graders are learning about disease and illness and how to adopt a healthy lifestyle that will reduce their risk of future illness.  They will begin working on their website projects next week.  All classes will take their benchmark on March 16.

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Encore -

Art

In 6th Grade we have completed painting exercises and are finalizing designs for the Value Study Paintings that we will be working on for the next  few days.  Our clay animals are drying out during this time so they will be able to survive their firing in the kiln.  I must say these are some of the cutest critters yet!

7th Grade  students are finalizing construction of their wooden animal sculptures, and many have already painted them and are starting to add the detailed patterns that give them their fun and unique character.  This is a long process so we will be working on this for the next couple of weeks as well. These seem to get bigger and bigger every time we do them and we  even have a couple students that are engineering movable parts.  It is amazing what they create.

8th Grade has recently completed the clay masks  which need to dry out for the firing process. In the meantime, we have started the painting unit where the end goal is to recreate a small section of a color photograph on canvas with acrylics. In order to be able to do this we have done several exercises where we transition paint from one color into another gradually. This painting can be challenging but it look like this group is up to the challenge and I look forward to seeing their results.

All grades have Free Drawing 2 in their sketchbooks due March 12.  This is primarily a homework assignment at this point as we will have very little free time left in class during the quarter.  Just a reminder that Wednesday is Open Art Studio after school and all students are welcome to come in and work on their art projects or drawings.

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MUSIC:

 Mrs. Rosen’s 7th and 8th grade classes are doing a fabulous job as they learn basic chords and read tablature.  8th graders are utilizing our tech lab as we have composed a melody or riff and they will be putting their composition into Garage Band and then adding other instruments.  They will be posting their compositions on My VRSpot so that they can share them at home!  6th graders are finishing their unit on music theory and copyright.  They will begin their original cereal commercials that will be filmed using green screen technology.  We will also post them to MyVRSpot so that they can be viewed at home.  

The cast and crew of our spring musical, “Getting to Know...Cinderella” is hard at work painting sets, planning costuming, learning lines and music.  Vocally, this is the strongest show we have ever cast!  Please mark your calendars for May 2 and May 3 for this beautiful fairy tale.  

Communications: All three grade levels just finished iMovie projects and shared them with their classes this week. Sixth graders did a silent movie to go along with their unit on non-verbal communications. As part of their unit on advertising, seventh graders created a product to sell, and wrote and starred in their own commercials. Eighth graders wrote a public service announcement based on a topic of interest that they researched, and they acted in their own videos. All three grade levels learned how to story board, video record in the green room, and then use the green screen technology in order to create some excellent, very creative videos! This is a really fun project that the kids really enjoy.

Band: All three of our bands put on a terrific concert last week, and are beginning to learn new music for our final concerts of the year.  Congratulations to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp scholarship winners Hannah Rose Berman-Schneider (6th) and Kevin Acuna (7th)!  

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Social Studies:  We have just finished our Unit on Mesopotamia.  Our next project is going to wrap it all together by having the children create a song that tells what they have learned about Mesopotamia.  The project will be called Mesopotamia Idol.  After we finish this activity, we will begin our Unit on Egypt.  We will not finish the Unit before the end of March, but the project that we will be doing at the end of the Unit will be either to create a podcast on a famous Pharaoh or create their own Egyptian tomb.  

Math: March 14th is my favorite day of the year. It’s PI day for all math students. We will be doing lots of different circle activities while eating pie. It’s a delicious way to spend the day!! Thanks to all that are going to donate.

Options: We will be working on student-led conferences.  

Science:  The students finished their Chemistry Unit this week and are taking the Benchmark Friday, March 2.  Following the Benchmark, the students will be starting their Geology Unit.  They will be identifying the properties of rocks and minerals.  The students will also begin studying the rock cycle.  

Language Arts: The students are currently working on a project which applies their knowledge of text structures. We are wrapping up the Non-fiction Unit along with working on composing extended responses.  

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Science : Students recently took the Chemistry benchmark. They have just begun their study of minerals and rocks. They will be learning about the rock cycle as well as earthquakes and volcanoes!

Options: Students are preparing for student-led conferences.

Language arts/English:  Students just finished applying their understanding of text structures and main ideas by creating a fun project that was all about them!  Each class is now preparing for a nonfiction research project that will incorporate nonfiction comprehension and writing skills.  The exciting final nonfiction project will be done by the middle of the month.

Math:  

At Level:  We are still working on Fractions.  We will be moving on from adding and subtracting to multiplying and dividing!!!

Advanced:  We are still working on our Geometry Unit.  3 Dimensional Figures are headed the kids way and we have MUCH to learn about them.

Honors:  Geometry Geometry Geometry!    It seems like we have been working on it for so long, but we have a ways to go!  We just took the mid Unit Test and I think all of the kids are really catching on well.     We will be moving on to measurements of 2 and 3 dimensional figures over the next couple weeks.

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In E/LA, students are currently working on summarizing and analyzing nonfiction articles.  Students are also beginning to write expository pieces which will culminate in an exciting activity at the end of March.  

In Spanish, students are continuing to learn ir + a + place  and ir + a + infinitive - the near future tense!  We are also expanding our vocabulary and our ability to write by learning new -er/-ir activites and how to conjugate -er/-ir verbs.  Look for your student to be writing a new paragraph later on in March.

In at-level and accelerated math, students are studying geometry and will move to units on fractions (at-level) and percents (accelerated) after the ISAT tests.  Honors students are in the midst of a unit on systems of equations.  Upon completion of this unit, they will begin an examination of  nonlinear equations, starting with an analysis of exponential equations.  

In social studies we are studying Jacksonian America, including the settlement of the West.  This will include a simulation of the relocation of Native American tribes to reservations.  We will also be doing an activity called “Heros of the West,” in which we will role-play the people and personalities that made the “wild west” such an exciting part of American history.

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Russell/Reading & Language Arts: 8th graders have been writing practice persuasive essays.  We will begin the actual benchmarking process on Wednesday, February 29, 2012.  From the preliminary research stage through to submission of final, revised and edited drafts, this process will be completed entirely in class.  Following these activities, students will embark on another novel study; together, we will be reading The Call of the Wild by Jack London.

Russell/Reading & Language Arts: 7th graders have continued their study of the parts of speech and are learning about prepositions/prepositional phrases. They have also spent time analyzing sentences to distinguish between prepositions and adverbs. Having completed a lengthy unit of expository writing as a foundational learning activity, students will begin a research-based persuasive essay after spring break.  All research, writing, revising, and editing will be done in-class.  To complement our nonfiction writing this quarter, we have also shared many nonfiction readings while learning about various elements of literary and informative nonfiction texts.

Mrs. Hain’s English/LA

Mrs. Hain’s 8th graders in English/LA are getting ready to read the literary classic Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  We will start with an overview of Charles Dickens’s life and the time period prior to reading.  While reading, we will be working on answering inferential and literal questions using text examples and explanations to support our answers.  We will also be analyzing the point of view of the novel.  Please feel free to pick up a copy to read along with your child.

Mrs. Hain’s 7th graders in English/LA are working on reading nonfiction.  We are reading nonfiction pieces that fit into each organizational pattern (descriptive, cause/effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast).  We will continue to practice summarizing a nonfiction passage including the main idea and key points.  Ask your child the process of writing a successful nonfiction summary.  We will also be working on identifying the difference between fact and opinion.  All of the nonfiction targets that we are learning we are using to successfully write our expository piece.   

All students will be taking the ISAT test the week of March 5.  I would like to wish all of my students the best of  luck!  

Social Studies

In Mrs. Miller’s 7th grade Social Studies classes, we will continue our exploration of early American history with a focus on manifest destiny and the settlement of the West.  Students will participate in a pageant in which they will work to prepare their contestant to claim the title of True Hero of the Old West.  Who will win?... The Covered Wagon Pioneer?  The Gun-slinging Lawman?  The Town Merchant? The Native American?  The Mountain Man?  The Prospecting Miner?  The Homesteading Farmer?  Stay tuned for this exciting look at all of the people who made America this prosperous nation!

In Mrs. Miller’s 8th grade Social Studies classes, we will begin our study of the Vietnam Era.  Initially we will examine how the conflict in Vietnam fits into the broader Cold War struggle between communism and democracy.  In addition to examining the war through a political lens, we will be exploring the cultural transformation of American society.   Students will experience the changes in music and will be creating their own musical interpretation of the war and its affects on American culture.  Lastly, we will continue to work on the Document-Based Question (DBQ) process of analyzing primary source documents and using the evidence found in the documents to support a thesis.

Math

All of my Math classes will be doing online practice tests for the ISAT tests on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 28th and 29th, to get them familiar with the format and to help them feel less anxious and more comfortable for the upcoming math testing.  They will see that many of the items being tested are concepts that they presently know or have covered in class.  It will also give them a chance to ask me any questions about problems that they may be unfamiliar with or cause confusion.

7th At Level and 7th Accelerated Levels of Math-

We will be reviewing for the ISAT tests the week of the February 27th until March 6th.  Geometry concepts and algebra concepts will be the main focus of the review.  We will explore probability, statistics, fractions, decimals, percents, ratios, proportions, similar polygons, squares, square roots, Pythagorean Theorem, solving and graphing linear equations and inequalities, angles and angle relationships, perimeter and area of simple polygons, surface area, and volume.

The actual tests will be administered on the mornings of March 7th through 9th. During this week, we will work on answering short and extended response questions during our regular math class periods.

After the ISATs, we will return to to our normal math curriculum.

7th At Level-

In the 7th at level math curriculum, we will prepare for a test on Chapter 5.  The students will also be having a 3rd Quarter Benchmark on Chapters 4 and 5, sometime near the end of the month before Spring Break.

7th Accelerated-

The students will return to Chapter 7 - Fractions, Decimals, and Percents,  and be given a quiz and a test on the chapter. They will also take a 3rd Quarter Benchmark which will include Chapters 6 and 7 before the end of March and Spring Break.

7th Honors-

The students will also be receiving a packet of review material on Geometry concepts to supplement their algebra work covering the concepts previously listed above.  After completing ISAT testing, we will then continue on with Chapter 7 on solving and graphing systems of linear equations and inequalities.  They will also have a test on Chapter 7 and a 3rd Quarter Benchmark covering Chapters 6 and 7 later in March, before Spring Break.

8th Accelerated-

The students will be doing review on the same concepts listed above, and then continue on with Chapter 8 on Exponents and Exponential Functions. A quiz and a test will be administered after completion of the chapter.  They will also have a 3rd Quarter Benchmark on Chapters 6.4-6.7, 7, and 8 near the end of March, before Spring Break.  We will then proceed on to Chapter 9 - Polynomials including addition, subtraction, multiplication and all types of factoring.

As this will be an extremely hectic and challenging time for my students, please encourage them to eat well, get plenty of rest, and to do their best on the tests.  

Thanks,

Ms. Linda Maggiore

Science

In 7th grade science, we finally made it to the roller coaster competition.  This is the last activity before the Benchmark test and is used as a review of many of the concepts studied throughout the unit.  7th grade will be taking the  Science ISAT test Monday, March 12.  Practice tests can be found on the school website.

Weather is the next topic to be studied, beginning with an exploration of Earth’s atmosphere.  We’ll spend time studying global wind patterns, which will lead to discussions about the variations in weather we currently are experiencing.

In 8th grade we wrap up the cells unit with the Benchmark coming before Spring Break.  We are currently reviewing the stages of mitosis and meiosis and exploring DNA and heredity.  The next area of study, beginning after Spring Break will be astronomy.

Spanish

8th grade Spanish created restaurant movie projects and used their restaurant vocabulary to order food.  We began unit 5, which takes place in Spain, so the students are learning the differences of pronunciation in Spain and Latin America and also the cultural differences. They are also learning the pretirite or past tense and reflexive verbs. The chapter we are on is all about daily routines and chores.  

7th grade Spanish is working on -ir and -er ending verbs, talking about after school activities and future events with ir a + inf.  The kids saw the Ir a Plus Man movie and can earn extra credit by dressing up as Ir a Plus Man--the superhero of Spanish class.

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In Mrs. Shannon’s Social Studies classes, we will begin our study of the Vietnam Era.  Initially we will examine how the conflict in Vietnam fits into the broader Cold War struggle between communism and democracy.  In addition to examining the war through a political lens, we will be exploring the cultural transformation of American society.   Students will experience the changes in music and will be creating their own musical interpretation of the war and its affects on American culture.  Lastly, we will continue to work on the Document-Based Question (DBQ) process of analyzing primary source documents and using the evidence found in the documents to support a thesis.

This month in Mrs. Dennis’ Spanish class will be learning about reflexive verbs, irregular commands, negative commands and regular preterite (past tense).  Towards the end of March we will also learn some irregular preterites (car/gar/zar).  Vocabulary will include daily routines, household chores, body parts and parts of the house.  We will have a negative commands project as well.

In Mrs. Khan’s English class, we have been preparing to take our Persuasive Writing 3rd Quarter Benchmark. Then, the at-level classes will start  reading Call of the Wild and the honor's class will begin reading Great Expectations. We are also starting ISAT testing next week (so expect disruptions).

Mr. Keenon:

Honors: This month we will be reading our second novel, Great Expectations. We will also be working on a literary analysis paper.

At-Level: This month we will finish up with persuasive/argumentative writing. We will begin reading our second novel, Call of the Wild, which can be challenging for the students. We will also be writing a literary analysis paper.

Science in Mr. Polidoro’s class continues with the unit on cell processes and basic genetics.  Our focus is now on the cell cycle including asexual and sexual reproduction to be followed by and conclude the unit with a study of the basic form and function of DNA. Our unit benchmark will occur the week of 3/19 just before spring break.  As we return from spring break, our focus will shift from biology to astronomy for the month of April.

Tech Lab- Students have been busy creating their green screen videos in Spanish and Communications. Mrs. Rosen’s music classes will be coming in this week to create original compositions with various musical instruments using Garageband.  Mrs. Flaskamp’s 6th grade students just completed their MLK digital story are will be presenting to an audience this week.

Math:  We will be doing some review in all Math levels for the ISAT