TOPS 8th grade newsletter
Hieger, Shannon
Dear Parents and Guardians,
As part of our efforts to foster a school climate of respect for one’s self and others, and as an important piece of SPS’s grade 8 curriculum, we will begin our sexual health education unit June 9. During remote learning, students will receive sexual health education through independent lessons they will complete on their own. More information can be found on SPS’s Sexual Health Education Webpage. This comprehensive curriculum is age and developmentally aligned, culturally responsive, and medically accurate. It encourages parent/child communication and promotes students’ health and safety. Your student may have questions, and we encourage you to discuss these topics further at home. This is a private communication for the family. Your student will never be asked to share these conversations. The objective is to affirm that parents and guardians are the primary teachers for these important topics. If you have any questions about the curriculum, you can contact the District Health Education Office: Lisa Davidson, 206-252-0859. If you have any other questions or concerns, or to preview the materials, please contact Shannon Hieger.
Congratulations to Pera Graff Cullins and Mathilde McFadden whose writing submissions have been selected as winners of the Writers in the Schools, Elaine Wetterauer contest! We are so proud of you and all our writers this year. Pera and Mathilde’s work will be published on the Seattle Arts and Lectures blog later this summer.
The Seattle Fire Department will be again hosting a vaccination clinic at TOPS on June 11. Any middle school student or adult can get their first or second vaccination shot on this day.
Humanities:
Our reading of Stamped in ELA next week will take us through the Civil Rights era. Collaborative groups continue to work on their antiracist timelines, the last entry of which, upon completion of the book, will be themselves. In Social Studies we will study the ‘Shifting Tides’ of the war; important battles and events that lead to the end of the war and a Union victory. Due dates:
- Tuesday, June 1: review all Civil War notes in preparation for final (last week of school)
- Wednesday: Gettysburg Schoology discussion contribution
- Thursday: Independent reading of Stamped and Reader’s notebook entry
- Friday: Civil War notes review and final prep.
Math:
This week in math:
- We are wrapping up our unit on statistics this week. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday reviewing and took a quiz on Friday.
- We have been having conversations in class about what math class to take in 9th grade. I think most students have a good feel for whether they should repeat Algebra 1 or take the next level of math (geometry at most schools). As always, email me if you have any additional questions.
Coming up:
- We will spend the remainder of the school year (only 6 full math days left!) reviewing the important key concepts from Algebra 1.
Due Sunday (5/30)
- The unit 6 quiz – if they didn’t not finish in class
Science:
This week: We studied the phylum Nematoda and took a Quizlet on it. We also began our study of Phylum Annelida
Next week: Short week due to Memorial Day. We will finish our study of Annelids and begin our study of Phylum Arthropoda
We hope you enjoy this Memorial Day weekend,
Shannon Hieger shhi...@seattleschools.org
Bo Cao by...@seattleschools.org
Dan Bloedel dmbl...@seattleschools.org