Electives/SSP/Newcomer January Newsletter |
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In Visual Art, our first few weeks will be a combination of relationship building, skill-building, confidence-building while creating and practicing routines and procedures in the art studio. We will be working to eventually run a student-centered, student-choice, partial TAB art experience in which students will be invited to produce, and create in order to demonstrate conceptual and technical skills.
The students will be introduced to the elements of art (line, shape, form, value, color, space, and texture) through actual art practice and skill building. We learn to combine lines and shapes to create complicated, intricate expressions. From there we continuously add more techniques to keep the student in a state of consistent learning through practice while explaining their individual process.
Once we have developed and practiced some techniques and developed some base skills we will be exploring components of drawing, painting, building (3D), and eventually the abilities to combine in mixed media work. The overall goal is for each learner to discover and promote their creative thinking skills, expressive skills and technical skills while having some fun with invention, experimentation and production.
Please send your student to Visual Art with regular (#2) pencils and erasers every day. Students are invited to bring their own sketchbooks, colored pencils, rulers, etc., but only the pencils are required. All needed art materials will be supplied to every student. |
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| Mr. Fairbairn’s ELD -
Welcome to Semester 2!!! We will be jumping back into preparing for the ACCESS test, which will be starting the second week of January. The ACCESS test evaluates multilingual learners' English abilities in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. To ensure your student is able to do their best on the test please discuss the importance of doing their best on this evaluation and ensure they are getting enough sleep. It is also very important that they attend school everyday over the next couple weeks.
As always, we will continue to study and hone our skills in Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking in class. To support this please ensure your student is completing i-Ready lessons at home. Thanks for all your support!!
Ms. Richards’ ELD – Welcome Back, Families! ACCESS testing for our multilingual students will begin the second week of January. This test measures your child’s reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in English.
It is very important that students do their best. The results help us understand your child’s English progress and determine if they may be ready to exit ELD services for the 2026–2027 school year. To help your child succeed, please make sure they: Attend school every day
Get enough sleep and eat well
Understand the importance of this test
Complete 30 minutes of i-Ready each night
Practice using the ACCESS practice tests
Stay caught up on assignments
Thank you for your continued support and partnership. Please feel free to reach out with any questions! |
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6th Grade- Welcome back sixth graders!!! We are starting the semester at a flat run by picking up Philosophy and Debate this first quarter back. Your students will challenge their perceptions of reality by learning about the foremost philosophical schools of thought across history and the world. In addition students will engage in oxford mini debates about contemporary real life crises and moral quandaries. Get ready for some ruined dinners, but ruined in the best most philosophical way!!
7th Grade- How can we better understand the world around us? Maybe we should examine our society’s relationship with sports! 7th graders will engage in a class called “Sociology Through Sports” wherein we will look at specific inflection points where sports stories shine a light on broader and bigger issues while also taking the time to do careful research presentations about our contemporary world as well. Units finish with an inside/outside fishbowl discussion removed from their teacher where students drive the questions and the answers as well as revelations through robust discourse.
8th Grade- Readers unite!! 8th graders are going in for one last round of advanced reading, the class at Merrill where we really try to socialize the reading and push students into challenging and interesting reading directions! Graphic Novels, Sci-Fi Dystopian, Diverse Point of View and Non-Fiction Narrative are the awesome categories to guide students through their reading adventure! Each unit starts with a survey with up to 20-45 different book options and then students join small groups to digest the book. Twice a week we will physically leave the classroom and just focus on the books. Ask your kids what they are reading and get ready to join a book club as well!
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Students in physical education class will begin the semester with some ice-breaker and team-oriented activities. Additionally, students will thoughtfully and collaboratively form class norms and expectations to uphold in our unique, physical environment. Following this introductory period, students will delve right away into the 11 components of fitness, investigating the importance and relevance that they have.
I am looking forward to a semester of effective collaboration, achieving personal bests, and a whole lot of fun! As you may know, PE is a changing and dynamic environment- it is important that proper attire is worn for this class! |
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Students in this class will begin the year participating in various group games, practicing peer-to-peer collaboration, and engaging in meaningful discussions about inclusivity. Students will be challenged to think critically and creatively, while developing their leadership and advocacy skills. |
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Welcome to the Health Education Program. This is the first year that the State of Colorado has required health education to be part of the middle school curriculum. I am very excited to be teaching this curriculum. I have been a teacher for 25 years and have experience teaching physical education, health education, and special education.
This program for middle school students provides the opportunity to develop and demonstrate health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Physical, mental, and social dimensions of wellness are integrated throughout the curriculum. The course of study will enable students to thrive, preserve, and maintain a positive attitude through pre-adolescent and adolescent development. Topics to be covered: Intro to Goal Setting: Dimensions of Health, SMART Goals Decision Making/Refusal Skills: Drug Prevention Analyzing Influences: Nutrition, Body Image, & Eating Disorders
Self-Management: Stress Management Advocacy: Sleep
Interpersonal Communication: Healthy Relationships Accessing Information: Sexual Health The approved curriculum by the district is Advocates for Youth: Rights, Respect, and Responsibility. 3rs.org *All of these lessons are specifically made to fit Colorado standards For Questions in Health please reach out to Ms. Graves-
Stephanie_graves@dpsk12.net |
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| 6th Grade: Dear Families, We’re excited to share what your students will be doing in Spanish class over the next week 6TH Grade — Independent Reading & Vocabulary Builders Free‑reading twice a week: Each student will choose four classroom books to read during independent reading. This builds fluency, confidence, and a love of reading in Spanish.
Vocabulary focus: We’ll continue growing vocabulary from Units 6–9 in the Somos program, with short in‑class activities to reinforce new words. How you can help: Encourage students to talk about what they’re reading at home and ask one new Spanish word they learned each week. 7th Grade: Dear Families, We’re excited to share what your students will be doing in Spanish class over the next week Grammar in action: Students will practice past tenses through targeted activities from Somos Units 18, 21, 22, and 24. Engaging practice: Lessons include short writing prompts and partner conversations so students apply grammar in meaningful ways. 8th Grade: Dear Families, We’re excited to share what your students will be doing in Spanish class over the next week 8th Grade — Formal Writing, Novel Study & Cultural Tastes Formal writing: We’ll focus on developing formal writing skills using Somos Units 2.5 and 2.7, emphasizing structure, vocabulary, and revision. Whole‑class novel: Students will read Me perdí en Medellín by Adriana Ramírez. This novel supports language growth and cultural understanding.
Colombian food tasting: Selected lessons include small tastings of Colombian fruits and foods to connect language with culture. Cross‑curricular project: In collaboration with Social Studies, students in Mrs. Rozo’s class will continue developing Spanish versions of social‑issue projects |
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Literacy Intervention with Whitehurst: |
| Welcome back from winter break!
All Classes: All classes have continued strengthening morphology and vocabulary skills, which directly support both comprehension and spelling. Students should continue completing their iReady lessons each week to stay on track with their required practice.
7th and 8th Grade: 7th and 8th grade classes will be focused on developing their comprehension skills for fiction and nonfiction texts. The texts used in class will be connected to the content being covered in core classes.
6th Grade: 6th grade continues to build phonics knowledge for reading and spelling, as well as fluency and comprehension skills. We will keep working on syllable division and reading multisyllabic words with accuracy and confidence.
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The first priority of each class is to learn the rituals and routines expected of each student as they begin this new semester in STEM. The first week of school will be filled with activities that will set students up for success this semester.
6th grade: Our first big project of the semester is Stop Frame Animation. Through team work and collaboration they will be creating a short video clip that represents a life cycle. Each Friday we work on typing to increase words per minute and accuracy. This will help them become more efficient typers (very important moving forward in their academic career!). Please reach out if you have any questions.
7th grade: This is a unique class in which students will have the opportunity to collaborate in STEM with peers whose first language is not English. This has been such a fun and rewarding class to teach as I witness the growth in social skills and empathy students develop over the semester. STEM skills such as engineering, collaboration and problem solving are the focus as we navigate the semester learning how to communicate with each other to get the best results possible. Our first project will include learning how to 3D design using the CAD program, Tinkercad. Once they learn the program, they’ll be given a project to design independently that’ll be 3D printed. Their focus will be on following the provided criteria & constraints for their design. Half the projects in this class are with a partner and the other half are individual. We will also be choosing our coding language that students will be working on throughout the semester. They can choose from HTML/CSS or SWIFT. Please reach out if you have any questions.
8th grade: This semester we’re revisiting (for those who took STEM in 6th grade) the prosthetics unit. This will be a good introduction to students who have yet to take stem and are curious about the engineer design process. Our first project will include learning how to 3D design using the CAD program, Tinkercad. Their focus will be on designing the best possible solution while following required criteria & constraints. We will also be choosing our coding language that students will be working on throughout the semester. They can choose from HTML/CSS, SWIFT or Python.
elvia_guillen@dpsk12.net |
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In Band and Orchestra, students are working on a grade appropriate small ensemble- either a duet or a quartet. We are also working on a whole class piece that is challenging us in learning new notes and rhythms, and will develop our tone, style, and phrasing abilities. They will develop skills of communication, goal tracking, and self-monitoring as they learn their duet independently. |
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Happy New Year and welcome to MTV. After some of the most creative and successful classes to date in MTV we start all over again. This month students will learn all things production. We will learn how to be positive professional members of the media, how to use production equipment and how to organize and begin the project management process to make video stories come to life. This month a big focus will be how to conduct ourselves professionally outside of the classroom. In MTV the students are "gifted" the opportunity to leave the classroom to produce news stories and it is imperative that students understand this responsibility so they have the ability to create unique and entertaining content for the news.
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Welcome back from break! We’re excited to start the new quarter and build on the great work students completed last quarter. During the previous quarter, students explored a project of their choice, with topics ranging from career interest surveys and career analysis to researching in-state and out-of-state colleges, banking and finance, sleep tracking, money management, and organization skills. Others applied the engineering design process to develop solutions for community service projects.
This quarter, students will continue developing these projects by creating presentations and reflections that highlight what they’ve learned and how their skills have grown. Students will also continue participating in the tutorial process, bringing questions and challenges from math and language arts to work through collaboratively during AVID. We’re looking forward to a productive and engaging quarter ahead! |
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Newcomer Math and Conversation |
| Welcome back students and families! January is a busy month for Merrill, especially for the Newcomer program. We have an upcoming field trip to the National Western Stock Show and ACCESS testing. The ACCESS test is the yearly state standardized exam for Multilingual Learners used to help determine English development. The test is divided up into four domains: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Please help to support your child with sleep and continue working in iReady (reading) and IXL (math) at home. Please see the important dates below. Friday, January 9: field trip permission slip due Tuesday, January 13: field trip to National Western Stock Show Thursday, January 22: ACCESS Listening test Tuesday, January 27: ACCESS Reading test Wednesday, January 28: ACCESS Writing test January 30- February 13: ACCESS Speaking test window |
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Student Supports Providers (SSP) |
| Hello and welcome back. We are excited to start our second semester and are looking forward to finding new ways to best support our students.
8th Grade Families! Please fill out SchoolChoice for where you intend to have your student attend next year. Some families have found that their addresses are not up to date in Infinite Campus, and this could drastically affect where your student is able to attend next year. The first window closes on January 20th at 4pm. Even if you know that your student is attending your neighborhood school, it could be incredibly beneficial to double-check your student’s projected enrollment. It also helps High Schools prepare for next year when confirming your neighborhood school in the SchoolChoice application.
Healthy Choices, Bright Choices: Families are invited to attend free virtual Healthy Choices, Bright Futures workshops, designed to support student safety and well-being. These sessions will provide valuable information on fentanyl awareness, vaping prevention, and social media safety — important topics for families of students of all ages. The next session is Sunday, Jan. 26 at 12:00 PM – Registration
Navigating Safe vs. Problematic Youth Social Media and What You Can do About It is a FREE webinar which aims to educate parents, caregivers, and mental health professionals about the psychological effects of social media on children and adolescents. Learning Objectives: Gain knowledge about how children and adolescents are using various Social Media currently. Understand the most recent research regarding the impact of social media on developing minds, and the overall health, wellbeing of our youth.
Learn evidence-based recommendations to reduce the potentially negative effects of Social Media on children and adolescents. Identify public policy updates regarding access and types of Social Media content available to minors. Other resources for social media and mental health:
How Social Media Can Impact Mental Health Social Media and Body Image: How to Manage the Negative Impact
Am I a Cyberbully? Examples of Cyberbullying and How to Stop |
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