The Eaglet
Volume 5, Issue 2
Note from the Principal
The students have had a great first six weeks of school! Midterms were online on Monday for 6th though 8th grade students and fifth grade teachers contacted home if they had concerns about students making progress.
The first Eagles of the Month were awarded last week! These students were nominated for their Growth mindset by teachers and then selected by our Social Emotional Committee. Great job to our recipients for September!
I want to give the school community a huge thank you for all the support during our food drive last week! The backpack program closet is full!
Policy Reminder
Please help remind your student of dress code. Clothing shall be of an appropriate length at all times and torsos and backs must be adequately covered, and shoulder straps must be a minimum of two inches wide. Hats and hoods should be removed when entering the building.
In addition, we have had an increase of students chewing gum and then leaving it under tables or on the floor. Please do not send your child to school with gum unless they are provided this accommodation.
Music Department
Beginning Band: The 5th Grade Band students have all learned how to put their instrument together, how to hold it properly, and how to play their first note. We have begun working through the exercises and songs in their “Standard of Excellence” books. Students should be sure to bring their instruments to and from school each day that they have band (Tues/Thurs) and on their small group lesson day. Percussionists are able to use the instruments here at school and do not need to bring their percussion kit back to school.
Symphonic Band: The Symphonic Band has been working on using solid warm-up techniques, rhythm reading, and playing notes for their full value in band rehearsals. This week, students will be receiving a new piece of music to play together! It is important that students attend all band rehearsals and sectionals (small group lessons), as these are required and important for developing skills on their instruments.
Choir: The choir students have had a great time learning how to warm-up their bodies and voices! We start every rehearsal with some fun warm-ups and began learning the popular song, “A Million Dreams” from the Greatest Showman. Another focus of ours has been learning how to read music and sing using solfege. Ask your singer to show you the solfege hand signs!
Music Department: All Band and Choir students in our program will be walking in the Cary Grove High School Homecoming Parade in Fox River Grove on Saturday, October 7th at 9am. Come enjoy the parade, get some candy, and support the FRG Music Department!
5th Grade
Lit: We are continuing our Front Desk novel study and focusing on reading skills including comprehension, identifying cause and effect, sequencing, characterization, and summarizing.
GW: We will be completing a grammar unit on Sentence Fragments & Run-on sentences. This will be followed by an opinion piece.
Math: We are starting to work with decimals. Adding and subtracting decimals will be introduced this week. After our decimal unit we will move into Multiplication of whole numbers
Science: We will be learning to support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth.
SS: We will be completing our Native American Regions unit that encompasses 5 regions with an all-encompassing project at the end.
Art: We recently finished a shading and value unit culminating in a final 3d abstract black and white drawing. Kids did a great job with this and learned a lot. During the last week of September, we moved into a color theory unit. Students are using their knowledge of the color wheel to help them create a chalk pastel landscape inspired by the northern lights.
Music: In 5th grade music, we are continuing our unit on world drumming! While we began by learning how to hold a drumstick and play the bucket drums, this week we are introducing African drumming. By listening to music from Kenya, Ghana, and Guinea, we will learn what makes African drumming unique. Soon, we will learn about the different African instruments, create our own djembe drum art, and finally, create a drum circle composition!
6th Grade
Lit: In 6th grade literature, we are currently reading Bud, Not Buddy. We have spent a lot of time working with and reviewing different types of figurative language along with different elements of the plot.
GW: 6th graders have just completed working through the descriptive writing unit. The unit culminated with a final descriptive essay highlighting a unique pet. Vocab.com continues to reinforce definitions and spelling of our novel unit vocabulary. Nouns will be the focus for the upcoming grammar unit.
Math: In 6th grade math, we are in the middle of our unit on fractions & decimals. This includes adding, multiplying, and dividing fractions and decimals. After this chapter, we will move into ratios & rates.
In 6th grade accelerated, we are completing our unit of rational numbers. We will be moving into expressions and equations this month.
Science: Students will be learning to analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
SS: In 6th grade social studies, students are delving into the history of our ancient past. Starting with the agricultural revolution, we are investigating how civilization started. Our next units will take us to Mesopotamia and then to the sands of Egypt and a rendezvous with a pharaoh.
Art: We recently finished a shading and value unit culminating in a final 3d abstract black and white drawing. Kids did a great job with this and learned a lot. During the last week of September, we moved into a color theory unit. Students are using their knowledge of the color wheel to help them create a chalk pastel landscape inspired by the northern lights.
Music: In 6th grade music, we finished our unit on drumming and bucket drumming. To learn more about the expressive and artistic qualities of music, we began our study of music in pop culture! We learned about album cover art, symbolism, and musical genres. We will also learn about how music and emotion are connected, and we will create personal playlists of songs that match the many emotions we experience everyday!
7th Grade
Lit: In 7th grade literature we are reading Flush. This unit will have students learning about point of view, characterization, figurative language, imagery, inferences, and irony. The vocabulary is taught in gw through vocab.com.
GW: The students are wrapping up the biography research paper. The final paper will be due on Friday, October 13. We continue working through vocab.com lists that correlate with our novel unit. Our next grammar unit will be sentence structure: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.
Math: In 7th grade math, we are completing our unit on multiplying and dividing rational numbers. After this, we will move into expressions and equations.
In 7th grade accelerated we are beginning our study of equations and inequalities.
Resource math- we are working on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions.
In Algebra we are finishing up our unit of inequalities. Once we have finished inequalities, we will begin graphing linear functions.
Science: We are continuing our unit on Cells! Over the next few weeks, students will learn about systems and functions of certain organs/organelles, as well as organ systems and their importance for a living organism.
SS: Students will be learning about the Revolutionary War and the beginning of the United States.
STEM: Students will be learning about CAD programs such as TinkerCad to help them get an understanding of 3D printing.
Spanish: We are learning letter names, letter sounds, and syllabication rules in Spanish. This month we will celebrate El dia de los muertos, or The Day of the Dead.
8th Grade
Lit: In 8th grade Literature, our first unit is a look at dystopian fiction. Students have been exploring the worlds of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Giver by Lois Lowry. Lowry has constructed what seems to be a utopian society, but when you look a little closer, the perfection falls apart. The novel brings up many fantastic discussions including just how much are you willing to give up to gain safety and security. Our next novel unit will center around The American Dream and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
Resource Lit we are reading Stargirl. his unit will have students learning about point of view, characterization, figurative language, imagery, and inferences. They will also have vocabulary.
GW: In grammar and writing, students have finished writing their Demonstration Essays and have begun presenting their How To Speeches in class. On any given day you can find tents, golf bags, chess boards, and a myriad of other props populating the classroom. We have also started our review of the parts of speech and continue to build our vocabulary using terms pulled from the literature novels.
Resource GW - We have finished our How to Paper and are moving on to the different types of nouns.
Math: In 8th Grade Math, students will be working with linear equations and graphing.
Resource math we will be working in adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions.
In Algebra we are finishing up our unit of inequalities. Once we have finished inequalities, we will begin graphing linear functions.
In Geometry, students will be working on transformations and then moving into proofs.
Science: Students are currently learning about the Solar System, with content moving towards the formation of galaxies. This includes learning about our Milky Way galaxy, nebulas, and the beginnings of our universe.
SS: Students will be learning about immigration and the growth of modern cities. The progressive era and how the USA became a world power.
Health: Students are learning about injury prevention and emotional health.
Spanish: We are learning letter names, letter sounds, and syllabication rules in Spanish. This month we will celebrate El dia de los muertos, or The Day of the Dead.
STEM: Students will learn about sensors and using them on their robots.
