Upcoming Picture Days

PreK, PCS and DCS – Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. Flyers coming home week before.

TK

This week in TK we learned all about ourselves and how to treat others.

We began our week by learning about our feelings and how to react to them. We worked on a feelings book that stated when we felt a certain way. Students learned all about using their manners, especially please and thank you. The teachers and friends learned all about each with our All About Me posters we created in class.

Our friends created family trees and had a lot of fun with adding lots of apples. During our centers we focused on fine motor skills, such as cutting, tracing, pencil and glue holding. Look for the awesome work in their green folders today!

We are all excited to start focusing on our letters, numbers and sight words next week!

Initial Phase

What does it mean when a student has to cross out a smiley face? Crossing out a smiley face means that a student needed a reminder of a rule that they already know. Crossing out a smiley face doesn’t mean that the student had a bad day. However, if a student crosses out three smiley faces in a day that will result in a yellow day. Crossing out smiley faces is a way for students to learn how to regulate and control their own behavior. While crossing out a smiley face here and there isn’t a big deal, crossing out one to two smiley faces each day in a week is not good. Look over your student’s behavior log and have a conversation with them about their behavior each week.

Phase One:

Do you ever wonder how you can help your child more at home with what they are learning in class? In Phase One we offer Reading Eggs, Spelling City and IXL Math and all of these programs can be done at home! Most of our Phase One students are familiar with Reading Eggs from using it in Initial Phase. Spelling City is a new program to Phase One this year. It is specific to your child’s spelling words for that week and a fun way to help your child study! IXL is a fun way to practice the skills and concepts being taught in class with their teacher. All of these programs are a great way for students to continue practicing concepts taught in class and to become stronger students. These programs also have apps, check them out!

This week we started our Map Skills unit in Social Studies. The students learned about the compass rose, cardinal directions and started discussing the 7 continents. Ask your student to show you the fun song and dance they learned to remember the 7 continents.

Phase Two:

This week our 3rd/4th graders got to work with clay in art with Mrs. Harvey. This project involves ancient Egyptian history too! Ask your child what they’ve learned about ancient Egypt. We are also learning about plant and animal life cycles in science.

Don’t forget that PCS picture day is on Tuesday! Enjoy your 3 day weekend!

Discovery Middle School 5-6

Upcoming ⅚ Dates:

September 3rd: Picture Day

September 25th: Homecoming Parade – Early Release Day @ 1pm

October 8th: Picture Day Retakes

Our Top 5 Nest Point Earners for the week! Way to go Falcons!!!

Mrs. Zuniga/Mrs. Bengson’s Math:

Varsity: Our class is reviewed addition and subtraction of whole numbers this week and took a quiz on Wednesday.

Scholastic: Our class has finished Unit 1 and now begun Unit 2. Unit 2 is focusing on multiplying and dividing whole numbers and decimals. Math facts are very important in this unit and will help students become fluent in multiplying multi-digit numbers as well as dividing all numbers. I would recommend constant practice at home to master math facts and multiplication/division skills.

Honors: Our class has finished exponents, squares and cubes, and scientific notation. We moved on to comparing rational numbers and will study for our next quiz that will be Wednesday, September 4. Students will receive a study guide Friday to take home and study over the weekend. This will help prepare them for their second quiz.

Mrs. Nijjar’s class

Varsity:

This week started with Interim testing. For two consecutive days, the students put great efforts to take the test and do their best. The rest of the week students will be learning about adding and subtracting decimals. They will also be doing a group activity of choosing items from Starbuck’s menu and calculating the cost of their order.

Scholastic:

In the beginning of the week students put great efforts to take the Interim test and do their best. In this week, students will be learning about estimating the sum and differences of the whole numbers and the decimals. They will practice mental math to estimate the cost of the total purchase done by choosing items from a given menu.

Honors:

Students did Interim testing for two days. For the rest of the week, students will be learning more about solving algebraic expressions by using the properties of real numbers which they learned in the first week of school.

Ms. Rodieck’s Language Arts and Humanities

You know what they say about the best laid plans? This week, we were unable to do the State Interim / Practice Test as the website decided to do some maintenance. So, we will be doing it next week. Students will still need to bring in headphones or earbuds to use during the test. Because of everything going on next week, we will not be doing spelling/vocabulary words. The students will be receiving the directions for the Book Club Book Report – a One-Pager – as many of the students are already done reading their first book!! Below is an example:

Also, D1 is in need of hand sanitizer and Clorox (or Lysol) wipes. Students that donate will get nest points for their nest.

Social Studies with Mr. Bird and Mr. McCarthy

This week in social studies, students played review games on Monday before taking their first quiz on Tuesday. Students did a great job and grades have been updated in Aeries. This quiz was on map skills, continents, and vocabulary.

Students are now learning about hunter-gatherer societies in the Paleolithic Age and the development of farming in the Neolithic Age. They are studying their new vocabulary words and will be playing various games to continue reviewing these power words throughout the lesson.

Science with Ms. Diaz:

Greetings scientists! Wednesday was an epic day as DCS had its very first Rube Goldberg competition. Every single group did marvelously, showing ingenuity, creativity and a good grasp of the concepts of forces and motion. Projects featured ramps, pulley systems, levers, changes of direction and energy transfer (http://bit.ly/DCSrubegoldberg). The guest judges came from MHS (Ms. Holmes, Ms. Pelaez, Mr. Copass, Mr. Kay), DCS (Ms. Ferguson, Ms. Losen) and PCS (Mrs. Estes). A big thank you to them! Next week’s Charter Chatter will list the students in the winning teams.

Next week we will review for our first science test and students received a study guide today (Friday). The test is on September 5th. The TLC Discovery Channel science blog site will also be up and running soon, with our first articles being posted after next Friday. So keep a keen eye out!

Pentathlon Friday’s: So far we have gone over cells as the basic unit of life and multi- vs unicellular organisms.

Awesomely, interesting announcements:

Stay curious & keep exploring!!!

Art with Ms. Losen:

This week in Art… 7th & 8th worked to create photo-realistic drawings while 5th & 6th blended realism with fantasy. All students practiced their technique and received approval before moving on to poster-sized projects on a subject of their choosing.

⅚ PE:

Discovery Middle School 7-8

Upcoming Dates:

Top Nest Earners for Week 3!

Math with Mr. Dhillon

varsity :- doing unit 1 ,finished with lesson 1 place value , lesson 2 place value in decimals and lesson 3 power of 10 , lesson 4 compare and order lesson 5 rounding whole number and decimals and doing addition and subtraction of whole numbers and decimals

scholastic :- doing unit 1, review for algebra basics finished doing combining like terms, distribution property and translating expression . doing review for quiz 3

honors :- finished unit 1 geometry basics and also completed constructions and test for unit 1 and now starting unit 2

Math with Mrs. Rapp

Picture of my proud home room with all their certificates on Tuesday

Language Arts with Mrs. Cerezo

This week students in all classes completed their first Interim test of the year for Language Arts. We spent Monday and Tuesday working on these tests and discussed them at length on Wednesday to review what type of content the tests consisted of. We will have a total of three interim tests throughout the year so that we can track the progress of each student and ensure that all are properly on track for state testing at the end of the year.

We also continued to read our in class novel and are continuing our work with plot and characterization.

Finally, students conferenced with me to discuss their second introduction paragraph.

Students will have their 4th test of the year this Friday, it will contain a lot of review from weeks 1-3.

Language Arts with Ms. Greene:

We are one month in! In week 4 we started the week with Interim testing on Monday and Tuesday. In all classes we are continuing reading Fever 1793. In Honors we are talking about the irony in the book focused on the Yellow Fever. In Varsity, we are reading and focussing on the plot and the foreshadowing and the main characters. In Scholastic, we have been overviewing irony and the plot of the story as well.

Along with Fever we are also reviewing what we have learned and the test this week will fully be review of this school year thus far.

Reminder: Study all vocab!!

Social Studies with Ms. Zaca:

Scholastic and Honors took their Map of Rome quiz this past Monday. They were asked to locate different locations and to explain why the location of Rome gave it many advantages to thrive and succeed as an empire! Students were also introduced to their new vocabulary and created posters about 1-2 of their words. They were asked to write the definition, use the vocabulary word in a sentence, and to draw a picture that reflected the sentence.

Varsity students took their section 1, Part 1 quiz this week also. They too created posters for their vocabulary words.

A Note from Mrs. King (Math Supervisor)

Welcome to the 2019 – 2020 school year. My name is Leslie King and I am the Math Supervisor for DCS and MHS.

This is an exciting year for math in both schools. We are rolling out all-new math curriculums. It is our goal to have a consistent curriculum in all classes with the same titles. The geometry taught at DCS is the same geometry taught at MHS. Our goal is to be guaranteed that any student who completes and passes a class with 78% will be ready to take on the challenges of the next level.

In the past, classes have not completed curriculum because there was too much time spent remediating what should have been learned the year before. This was true not just for Millennium, but Discovery as well. If a student does not have the foundations needed to build a solid math career, then they will fail. We are hoping to correct that starting this year.

At DCS we have the multi-age classroom. This allows a student to see an entire year’s worth of a course and maybe not master everything. No worries, they always have the second year. Parents should not expect every child to move to the next level of math every year. They will move when they have mastered what they need to be successful at the next level.

At both DCS and MHS, we are requiring all students to have a math binder. This holds both the teachers and the students accountable for work before and after it is graded and returned. At DCS we have a grade graph as the first page of the binder. All scored work for a unit will be placed on the graph. This is an up to date visual of how the student is doing. The “grade” lines and the passing line are drawn on the graph to illustrate to students and parents how the student is doing. There will be periodic binder checks to make sure students are keeping their notes and work as required.

At the end of each unit, the teacher will be collecting the students’ grade graphs, notes, and unit test. These will be kept in a folder for each student. When the time comes for the Final, the notes and tests will be returned to the students to use as study guides for the final exam. All this in hopes to make them more successful!

I am looking forward to a very productive year. I feel we have the staff to accomplish this task. If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at lking@tracylc.net. I am not on campus full time, but I will get back to you as soon as possible if I receive and correspondence.

Thank you. Have a wonderful year!

Music Exploration with Mr. Dougherty

7/8 music exploration is busy composing background music for their news headlines. We are having fun learning a lot by working with GarageBand as a composition tool.

Art with Ms. Losen

This week in Art… 7th & 8th worked to create photo-realistic drawings while 5th & 6th blended realism with fantasy. All students practiced their technique and received approval before moving on to poster-sized projects on a subject of their choosing.

Millennium High School

Economics:

The start to the year in economics has been great. We have begun with an introductory unit on economy terms, learning to graph the production possibilities frontier, economic systems that exist across the world and the concept of scarcity of resources. The students have done well on their first few quizzes on this material. We will soon be ready for our first unit test of the year which will be a challenge as it encompasses all of the topics previously listed and more. Students are learning to relate and apply these concepts to the “real world” and each week they are writing a synopsis of a current news article that pertains to these issues we are learning in class. The pictures included depict some of the work that has been done in class over the first week. Students had to visually represent the concept of scarcity in a drawing, they also had to create a diagram that would outline how the households and firms are linked by product and resource markets. Another photo shows the students working on an assignment on google classroom using the chrome books in class. I am excited to see the results of the first assessment!

-Mr. Saldate

Government:

Students work in partnerships to peer edit their partners’ paper on James Madison’s Federalist #10. As well, students read current events in the United States today, in order to connect it the needs of the Framers of the US Constitution. Discussions in the classroom revolve around the need for separation of powers, and how Montesquieu’s influence can be seen in our framework of our government today.

-Mr. Hunt

United States History:

We have han an incredible start to this years US History class. We have spent the first 4 weeks learning about the various systems that we will be using for the rest of the year. For example, every student has created a Quizlet account and have learned how to create their own study sets. The students have found this tool to be extremely successful and that was reflective on the first unit test. We have just finished up the first 5 presidents of our country and are starting a project on that topic which will be due next week. This is the first major project of the classroom. Overall, I am very pleased with the participation and the effort of the students.

-Mr. Singh

World History:

Students work in small groups to trace the influence of the Greeks and the Persians to modern America and Western Europe. Students studied the development of philosophy in Athens, from Socrates to Aristotle. Using Academic Content Vocabulary Graphic Organizers, students created sentences about Greek Civilization using words like constitute, contemporary, and emerging.

-Mr. Hunt

Geography:

Over the last few weeks we have been exploring the basics of World Geography and laying the

foundation for learning Geography in our classroom. We just finished our unit one test. This week we are exploring climate change and looking at the effects of human actions on the world’s climate. Next week will be starting our unit one project of creating a detailed world map. The students will work in groups in each classroom to create one section of the world map. The students will compete against other periods to have the best section of the map that will then be constructed and hung in our classroom.

-Mr. Hall

STUDENT STORE! GET YOUR MHS SPIRIT WEAR!

Thursday, 9/5 and Friday, 9/6, Activities and Athletics will be holding our first Spirit Store. Come get geared up for the Fall sports season, just in time for our first home game! The store will be inside the Gym. We will open at 7:15, closing firmly at 7:55 so students can go to Unity. Gear will also be sold at our athletic games throughout the year.

Junior Kaelyn Cook models our rainbow tie-dye long-sleeved shirt and our white bucket hat.

Peregrine Hannah Verhoek shows her Falcon spirit with our black bucket hat.

Anton Souza, Junior, displays our Millennium Falcons classic kangaroo pocket hoodie with liquid gold ink lettering.

Peregrine Margaret Fagbolu and Kestrel Shika Acolatse model our embroidered beanie, embroidered bucket hat, and short-sleeved tie-dyed old-school “Flying M” logo shirts.

Kailey Galli, Junior, shines with Falcon pride in our new long sleeved chest/back combo logo shirt, just in time for Fall weather!

The back of our chest/back logo combo shirt.

Shika Acolatse, Saker, sports our super-soft white crewneck chest/back-logo sweatshirt and fanny pack (can be worn cross-body or kangaroo style!) with black bucket hat.

This year we have a lot of new styles and designs to choose from — some pictured — and many more! Bucket hats, fanny packs, lanyards, hydro-flask style water bottles, long and short sleeve t-shirts, crew sweatshirts, hoodies, and more in myriad colors and sizes… you don’t want to miss the first major spirit wear order in seven years, so come check out our must-have Falcon spirit wear at our Student Store next week!

Prices – Athletic Gear

Cotton Tees – $10

Dri-Fit – $15

Socks – $15

Blankets – $20

Hats – $25

Hoodies – $30

Prices – Spirit Wear

Lanyards – $10

S/s tees – $15

Fanny Packs – $15

Water bottle – $20

Bucket Hats – $20

Beanies – $20

S/s tie-dye – $20

L/s tees – $20

L/s tie-dye – $25

Crew swtshrt – $30

Hoodies – $35

Leadership has also designed limited-edition “MHS INFLUENCER” shirts that will be available for pre-order with payment of $25!

FREE TAILGATE AND POSTER-MAKING PARTY!

Ahead of our first football game on Friday, September 6th, MHS Leadership will host a free tailgate for all MHS students. We will have pizza, snacks, and water, paint our faces with Black and Gold spirit designs, and make posters to wave in the stands for our Falcons’ first home game! The tailgate will start at 6pm on the MHS blacktop/lunch area and end at 6:45 to give everyone time to head over to the game. The game starts at 7pm at Tracy High. See you there!

COUNSELING NEWS!

Our 1st field trip of the year is next month! We’re headed to:

15th Annual Construction Trades Career Fair and Delta College Campus Tour

Friday, September 13, 2019

The San Joaquin Area Apprenticeship Coordinators Association is made up of over 18 construction trade apprenticeship programs serving the greater San Joaquin area. The Construction Trades Career Fair Apprenticeship Pathway is designed to promote construction apprenticeships to high school students. The primary goal is to educate students about construction careers and pathways to successful employment after high school. The Career Fair includes a presentation on the apprenticeship model for entering a career, career information for 18 construction trades, sample skill sets for each specific trade, and recommendations for course preparation while attending high school.

After the event, we are headed to the San Joaquin Delta College – Main Campus for a tour of the campus and various Career Technical Education programs.

The cost of the field trip is $20 which includes lunch at the trade fair. Space is limited – sign up in the counseling office. Academic grades and attendance will be checked before the bus list is posted. This field trip is open to all 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students. The bus will depart at 9am and return approximately 4:15pm

Pictures from our Sept 2018 field trip

PSAT (Preliminary SAT) is scheduled for Wed October 30th – We are now taking registrations – The cost is $18 per student (Cash or Check – no refunds available) and will be from 7:30am – 11:45am in the Gym. The PSAT is a great practice tool for the actual test. All students can sign up in the counseling office. A practice booklet will be given upon registering. Space is limited.

FREE SAT/ACT Practice Test: If you want to practice for the SAT, the Tracy Library is offering: SAT/ACT Practice Test, Saturday, September 14, 2019, 10:00am. Registration required (in person, by phone 866-805-7323, or online)

Tutors for all subjects needed!!!

We are looking for high school students that are interested in tutoring various subjects including math, history, science, and spanish. Paid opportunities are also available. If interested, students can visit the Millennium High School counseling office to pick up a tutor application.

Athletics