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TRANSCRIPT
TALENT
DEVELOPMENT
NEWSLETTER Volume 19, Issue #3
IN THIS ISSUE
6th Grade Language Arts
6th Grade Math
7th Grade Language Arts
7th Grade Math
8th Grade Language Arts
8th Grade Math
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
6th Grade Language Arts After finishing our poetry unit with a successful poetry slam, we leapt in earnest into analyzing nonfiction
skills. While working on our second module of the LearnZillion curriculum, we posited the question of how
design thinking could be used to solve critical problems, referring back to our school wide read, The Boy Who
Harnessed the Wind, to use William Kamkwamba as a reference for critical thinking.
Students implemented many of the research skills we’ve talked about throughout the
year, such as analyzing central ideas and supporting details into a
research project. We then studied an innovator from a list of
choices and used judgment to find credible sources and write
objective summaries supporting the answer to the focus
question, where we also circled back to the Design Cycle process
students learned about through their Individuals and Societies
classes.
After the Solution Symposium, we entered our mini-unit on myths, legends, and tales.
Students were asked to complete a monologue from the perspective of a Greek god,
goddess, demigod, or even mythical creature and had the option of presenting on Greek
Mythology Day, a collaborative project with their Individuals and Societies class.
While circumstances are up in the air currently, we plan to begin our unit on American Indian Boarding Schools the week
of March 30th. Students will explore the marginalized topic of Native American boarding schools by reading the novel
Two Roads and other relevant readings. We will cover
strategies to write
argumentatively,
analyzing character point
of view, and developing
claims and counterclaims.
All lessons and resources
will be available online.
Talent Development
Newsletter 2019-2020
Volume 19, Issue #3
Quarter 3
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
6th Grade Math We began the quarter finishing expressions, equations and inequalities.
However, statistics has been our students' focus this quarter.
Throughout this unit, students worked on a choice project, which
allowed them to create a statistical question, survey their peers, and
illustrate their data using dot plots, box plots, and histograms.
Students had the task of using this skill in the real world. They worked
together as a team to analyze bacteria in water samples found in a
remote African village. Their goal was to prepare a statement, using
data, to convince the local officials to prevent the use of the unsafe
water sources and encourage the use of the new water wells.
Thank you Caroline for a great ending paragraph!
7th Grade Language Arts
This quarter we have all read different novels based on the needs of our classes. In all units, we are practicing
active reading strategies to analyze characters’ thoughts and actions.
In Ms. Potter’s class, students are examining historical events that have infringed on human rights through the
novel, Refugee. Students are currently learning about Syria, Cuba and Nazi Germany. Student driven
discussions, connections and an analysis of how the plot and setting drive the characters are important
aspects of this novel unit. Students are also comparing
historical events from the past and present to compare refugee
crises.
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School This quarter, Mr. Milligan transitioned out of the classroom and Ms. Tapia transitioned in. As Mr. Milligan left,
students finished mock trials based on Paul Zindel’s The Pigman. This activity focused on academic standards
such as citing evidence, making inferences, and explaining the exploring characterization, but it also
incorporated significant non-academic lessons, such as self-advocating for trial roles and collaboration
towards a common goal. The winning class from each mock trial will be going on a field trip to the
Mecklenburg County Courthouse. As Ms. Tapia takes over, students will begin analyzing theme through
historical fiction and informational texts on lesser-known figures through history. They are also writing stories
together as a group with different elements as the focus of their stories to display their understanding of how
different story elements add value to a story. Towards the end of the quarter, students will begin analyzing
how theme develops differently in poetry than in prose in preparation for a full unit of poetry.
As Quarter 3 comes to a close, Mrs. Watson’s students are finishing up our "Water is Life" unit. Students
participated in a culminating project that compared our class text “A Long Walk to Water” with the Flint Water
Crisis. In teams of two to three, scholars created Water is Life collages that
illustrated the juxtaposing yet global connection between the two text. Next on
the curriculum calendar is a YA novel, "Dear Martin", followed by our poetry unit
with excerpts from the critically acclaimed YA novel, "The Poet X" which follows
the life a Latina teen Xiomara and how she finds her voice through poetry. We
will finish the year with the Pigman Mock Trials.
As we wrap up this quarter, we will be examining non-fiction and poetry in
depth. These units will focus on text structure, using tiered lessons, project based
learning, critical thinking, and using the text as evidence. While we do all of
these things, we will all be re-looping to help prepare students for the EOG at the
end of the year. We look forward to educating your child and meeting his or her
needs as a gifted learner.
7th Grade Math
“You understand something if you have the ability to view it from different perspectives. Changing your perspective makes your mind more flexible, it makes you open to new things, and it makes you able to understand things.” —Roger Antonsen This quote is quite appropriate as Quarter 3 ends and we find ourselves learning and working from home these days. Parents, students and teachers have had to be more flexible and open to a new way of conducting school and work do to the Coronavirus pandemic. Our 7th graders started Quarter 3 translating and simplifying expressions. Students quickly moved on to mastering solving and writing two-step and multi-step linear equations and inequalities. A very fun activity students used to review and practice solving equations is “Placemat Math”. Students work in groups of three or four and solve four equations on the placemat. After the group agree on their solutions, they add the answers together to find a “sum” and check their sum with the teacher. Groups get quite competitive during this review activity. Students took their knowledge of equations and applied this concept to solving for missing angles in supplemental, complementary and vertical angles.
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
One of the last things we did in some our math classes was watch a video on the Coronavirus and discussed social distancing and what “exponential growth” really means. We discussed how exponential growth is extremely powerful and this is what is happening with the Coronavirus and how shockingly fast is spreading. Until next quarter, please continue to be safe and practice social distancing.
8th Grade Language Arts
How will you improve your community? At Piedmont, we are always asking our TD students (and ourselves) this
question. Brainstorming together leads us to creative and innovative answers that then inspire action.
In our Third Quarter ELA classes, we studied local, national, and global social justice issues and pathways toward
resolution. We celebrated student and community accomplishments through our IB project showcase, our annual Black
History Celebration, and our whole school Walk for Education-- the culminating experience for our whole school read:
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
We read texts that demanded deeper thinking about current issues of equitable
education, racial and gender discrimination, rising gun violence, and juvenile
incarceration. Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds,
readings about Harriet Tubman and from Frederick Douglass--along with a variety of
novels of choice-- inspired students to analyze root causes of systemic injustice. We then
discussed and wrote personal arguments and plans, took action, and proceeded to work
for justice within our school environment and our communities in ways both large and
small.
Our study of persuasive argumentation and rhetorical strategies helped students to find
their voices and speak out about social justice issues that matter to them. Throughout
the third quarter, students learned that they already wield political power. Middle school
students have a noticeable impact when they stand up for a cause.
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
Allowing students time for meaningful study and work serves gifted
students through offering purpose, choice, inherent differentiation,
relevance, and real world problem solving. Accelerated, compacted,
concept based lessons supported the acquisition of textual analysis
skills including identifying relationships between rhetorical elements
within a text, evaluating arguments, spotting opinions presented as
facts, and enhancing thinking and communication skills through
study of a variety of media including various creative non-fiction
texts, poetry, novels and film.
8th Grade Math
Students in Math 8 explored solving systems of equations by graphing and building word problems. Throughout this unit, the focus was on solving real-world situations involving break-even points and other business-related scenarios. We concluded the quarter with bivariate data, which included scatterplots and frequency tables. Students in Math 1 finished the unit on exponential functions. Students next year will have something to talk about when we get to this unit because the entire coronavirus outbreak is really an exponential function. Students also have also completed investigative lessons involving factoring and polynomials.
Math 2 students studied transformations using centers of rotation other than the origin and lines of reflection other than the 𝑥- and 𝑦-axis. They manually created their own transformations using “old school” tools such as compasses, rulers, and protractors. In our quadratics unit, students learned how to use imaginary numbers, 𝑖, to
solve quadratic equations involving negative square roots as
well as new techniques such as completing the square. They now have a toolbox full of at least 5 strategies to use when faced with the challenge of solving a quadratic equation. Students have been out for the past two weeks due to COVID-19. However, this has not stopped teachers from reaching out and loving on them from a distance.
Piedmont Middle School, An IB World School
The Piedmont Talent Development Team Academic Facilitators Karen Gorman
David Milligan [email protected] [email protected]
Math Support Aaron Kollar [email protected]
6th Grade Language Arts
Damien Becton [email protected]
Caitlin Hash [email protected]
Ann Tapia [email protected]
7th Grade Language Arts
Alysia Watson [email protected]
Rachel Tapia [email protected]
Kerrigan Potter [email protected] 8th Grade Language Arts
Cynthia Alexander-Brown [email protected]
Patrice Frilot [email protected]
Cherie Page [email protected]
6th Grade Mathematics
Julie Berry [email protected]
Kelsey Wolfe [email protected]
Emily Swift [email protected]
7th Grade Mathematics
Emily Burrell [email protected]
Liduvina Chavez [email protected]
Susie Palgut [email protected]
8th Grade Mathematics
Lauren Henderson [email protected]
James O’Neal [email protected]
Cecelia Sizoo-Roberson [email protected]
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