Electives/SSP/Newcomer February Newsletter |
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| The students in Visual Art have been hard at work this semester, honing their technical skills and exploring new creative concepts.
In 6th grade, we’ve just wrapped up a fun unit focused on fictional artwork, where students created their own imaginary animals, robots, or inventions. They practiced using line, shape, and form while also exploring more advanced techniques like color, texture, and composition to bring their creations to life.
For 7th and 8th grade, our "Value of Valuable Things" unit has come to a close. Students practiced controlling light, dark, and contrast to create depth in their artwork while responding conceptually to the idea of 'value' and 'valuable.' It was impressive to see how they interpreted these words and used their artistic skills to express personal ideas.
We are now diving into a new unit that continues to build on the theme of visual storytelling. In 8th grade, students are focusing on character design, setting, and composition, developing their own characters and narratives. Students will take their character design further by incorporating personal traits and exaggeration (hyperbole) into their creations. Meanwhile, 6th and 7th grade students will focus more on traditional yet complicated character design connected to original story elements.
Soon, we’ll be shifting into our 3D unit, where students will use found items and cardboard to create sculptures and structures. They will also practice concepts of proportion and scale, designing a shared society using shared measurements.
Lastly, we are excited to introduce our new student teacher, Mr. Kai Masuchika! Mr. Kai is passionate, energetic, and brings a wealth of knowledge about digital art. He’s already made a great connection with the students and is off to a fantastic start in his field experience. We’re thrilled to have him on board as he prepares for his future in education. |
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| Mr. Fairbairn’s ELD -
We are in the middle of ACCESS testing with 8th-grade having finished testing last week and 7th grade starting this week. Over the next couple of weeks we will be diving into a collaborative project in which students select, research and record an interview about a topic of interest. This project will require students to apply and improve their reading, writing and speaking abilities.
As always, please ensure students are completing 4 i-Ready lessons each week as homework. Ms. Richards’ ELD -
We are in the middle of ACCESS testing with 8th-grade having finished testing last week and 7th grade starting this week with 6th grade the following week. Over the next couple of weeks we will be working on our oral and written communication as well as reading strategies. As always, please ensure students are completing at least 4 i-Ready lessons each week as homework |
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6th Grade- Congratulations on finishing your first miniature Oxford style debate! You did it. Please anticipate about 1 week where we will not work on vocab and phonics but then jumping back into highly competitive debates about touchy subjects. Last week we debated prayer in public school and this year we are talking about the 2nd amendment and its place in society.
7the Grade- 7th Graders are finishing their projects on terrorism and sports and will now be moving into another sensitive topic, Race and Racism in America in the 20th century. We will link this theme to a sporting or sports related event, conduct research and then have another inside/outside fishbowl to discuss the theme as well as the event.
8th Grade- 8th graders have finished their graphic novel unit and are now working in the realm of science fiction. Ask your advanced reader what they are working on and you should either hear about today’s bleeding edge SF YA or check out a classic from almost 50 years ago!! Great array of choices and great students enjoying their books.
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Students in PE have been working to understand and apply the following topics: Inclusive and Responsible Behavior in the Physical Environment; Sending and Receiving Different Types of Objects; Spatial Awareness via Creating Space using Fakes; and Etiquette in the Physical Environment. Upcoming, students will progress towards learning and applying more complex movement skills and techniques in gameplay, like striking a ball with a racquet or kicking a ball with accuracy in various ways. Additionally, students will learn about movement and fitness concepts, as well as continuing to develop their social skills.
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| For this months happenings in Adaptive PE please reach out to Mr. Guillen-david_guillen1@dpsk12.net at |
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We’ve had a strong start to health class. Students are eager to learn and are already showing growth as decision‑makers. Right now we’re studying how to make healthy choices about drugs and alcohol. Next, we’ll move into a unit on stress — a topic especially relevant for 7th graders — where I’ll teach practical strategies and coping skills to help manage overwhelming stress. |
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| 6th Grade
We continue engaging in independent reading. Many students have already finished their first book and are writing a short summary of what they read at least once every two weeks. We continue learning vocabulary: le ayuda, puede hacer, busca, mira, tiene miedo, sabe, encuentra. Upcoming focus: teaching how to integrate transition words into students’ free writing to improve flow and coherence. 7th Grade: We continue practicing past tense usage while learning new vocabulary: se duerme, se despierta, oye, déjame, tiene miedo, sopla, termina, construye. We will review and learn new transition words to strengthen writing skills.
Independent reading continues—some students are already on book four. It's amazing to see how much they enjoy reading in Spanish. 8th Grade: We are continuing to study the differences between simple past and past participles, and the various ways Spanish expresses activities people used to do.
We will begin reading Me perdí en Medellín and continue working on the PBL project. In Mrs. Rozo’s classroom, students are working on expressing ideas using the vocabulary they know, focusing on communicating meaning rather than literal word-for-word translation. |
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Literacy Intervention with Whitehurst: |
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Students 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.
This quarter, we are focusing on comprehending informational text. Students are working on identifying the central idea, supporting details, citing evidence, summarizing nonfiction text, citing textual evidence and making inferences based on the text. |
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| 6th grade officially completed their stop frame animation projects! They will next be working on an engineering design challenge where communication and collaboration will be the main focus. 7th grade and 8th grade elective two just wrapped up with a graphic design unit. They focused on learning basic design principles and created 4 different types of logos to show their understanding and mastery of those elements. 7th grade will be moving on to a 3D modeling unit.
8th grade elective one is half way through their prosthetics unit where after researching a species of animal, they are designing a prosthetic for a similar assigned animal as their research. They will next be moving on to the graphic design unit that was done by the other elective class. |
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Our winter concert is fast approaching. All students have been preparing large ensemble pieces to present at the concert, as well as small ensembles such as duets and groups of 4-6 musicians. Students will present their hard work on February 11th. Remember that concert attire is all black, dress clothes such as slacks, dresses/skirts, and button down or polo shirts.
After the concert students will have the opportunity to pick our May concert pieces, as well as begin our next projects learning about music from various world cultures. |
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| We will be working on Hip hop and Jazz funk while also starting our end of semester choreography. Students will also take some time to learn about other peers' cultures within dance. |
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| For this months happenings in MTV please reach out to Mr. Niebauer at-joel_niebauer@dpsk12.net |
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6th grade students will continue building their skills through the tutorial process. The tutorial process helps students work together to solve challenging problems with the support of their peers and tutors, fostering both critical thinking and collaboration. This month, they will also participate in a recycling community service. Additionally, students will focus on building relational capacity, strengthening their connections with classmates and growing as a cohesive, supportive team.
For 7th and 8th graders, February marks the final stages of their project of choice. They will be creating a final presentation to showcase their hard work, applying the knowledge and skills they’ve gained throughout their project. Afterward, students will choose another project to explore, with options in finance, college/career readiness, or life skills. As always, they will continue with the tutorial process in math and language arts, reinforcing key concepts and supporting their success in these subjects.
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Newcomer Math and Conversation |
| Math:
A big shout-out to our newcomers for their outstanding performance during the Access season! They displayed remarkable respect, cooperation, and, most importantly, gave their best effort in all the tests. We're so proud of their dedication and growth! Next month, our Level 1 students will be strengthening their skills in multiplication and division, tackling word problems. We're excited for the progress they'll continue to make! Level 2 will be diving into line plots with fractions, as well as adding and subtracting fractions. We can't wait to see them apply these skills in real-world contexts!
Conversation:
Students did great on the ACCESS test and thank you to our families for making sure students were successful. We will start working again on Vista Higher Learning for February. While our Level 1 class will start Unit 4, our Level 2 class will start on Unit 5. Our focus continues to be on developing in grammar, speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Please continue to remind your students to work on iReady at home to support their reading in English. And ask your student to tell you about the English they have been practicing in school!
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Student Supports Providers (SSP) |
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We wanted to re-share some Immigration and Family Preparedness Resources Available Through Community Organizations that were shared in July by the district. Some of these resources are ongoing, some are events that may have already passed.
Dreams to Degrees: Feb. 18 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. A session for middle and high school families exploring how students can turn their passions into future college and career pathways.
Parents of sixth- through 12th-grade students: Did you know that Colorado has a new diploma endorsement called the Seal of Climate Literacy? Students who are passionate about the environment can apply to have the seal on their transcripts upon graduation. Requirements include 20 credits of approved coursework (high school) and a project that addresses climate change in Colorado (middle and high school). Encourage your child to pursue this special distinction! Learn more about the Seal of Climate Literacy.
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