Hello, Westgate families and welcome back for quarter four! This quarter we are looking forward to a strong end of the school year with lots of fun learning happening in the 7/8 pod. This week students will have a regular class schedule on Monday and Friday. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday students will participate in the English Language Arts CMAS testing in the afternoon. In the morning students will have science, social studies, and advocacy. The schedule for those days is as follows:
8:00-8:15 Advocacy
8:15-9:15 Specials
9:15-10:15 Science/SS A
10:15-11:15 Science/SS B
11:15-11:45 Advocacy
11:45-12:15 Recess
12:15-12:45 Lunch
12:45 - 3:15 Afternoon Testing
3:15- 3:30 Advocacy
3:30 Dismissal
As always we encourage our families to make sure their kids are well rested, and well fed before testing and school days.
Hello Westgate Families!
Please sign-up for a start time in one of the slots available.
Parent/teacher conferences are going to work differently this time around. You are only signing up for a time slot and may request the teachers you'd like to meet with in this pod. Teachers will make the final decision about what teachers are in each conference and you may not be able to meet with all teachers for the entire time.
Sign-ups are on a first come, first serve basis.
You can also sign up for a 15 minute conference with the specials teachers separately from your other conference.
If you have any questions, please email me at amy.kaplan@westgateschool.org
7/8 Spring Dance
Where: Westgate
When: Friday, March 9th
Time: 6:30-9:30 (Doors close at 7:00)
Admission: $2.00 for Store-bought food to share
The event is run by the social committee and hosted by the 7/8 POD. All proceeds will go towards other parties/DancesActivities for the POD>
Advocacy
In January and early February, Westgate Advocacy classes are learning what Self-Regulation is and how to self-regulate our own Physical Systems, Emotional Systems, and Cognitive Systems. Students will learn how our bodies respond when we are agitated, nervous, angry, etc. They will also receive multiple strategies for coping with these physical responses. Similarly, they will learn how to name and identify their emotions as well as strategies to respond to their feelings.
This week, students will practice using what they've learned by coming up with scenarios that have strong emotions, identifying ways to name and deal with these emotions and creating skits around these scenarios. On Tuesday, students will complete this curriculum and receive their Declaration of Emotional Freedom Certificate.
Starting Wednesday, we will begin our 7 Days of Gratitude program. During these seven days, students will practice giving thanks and being grateful for themselves and people and things in their lives. They will each have a booklet to guide them through this process and will work with a partner to keep them on track. Each class in the 7/8 POD will have a gratitude jar that will allow students to fill it with things they are grateful for.
STEAM Meet Ups
Is your child interested in joining the WildBots robotics team or just interested in STEAM? If so, Miss Nieto will be going to some Denver robotics and STEAM events coming up and would love to see some Westgate families there. If you want more details or are interested in attending and meeting up with other Westgate families (and myself) please email me in advance of the event so we can coordinate a meet up Andrea.Nieto@westgateschool.org
Upcoming Meet-Ups:
Saturday, March 3rd
What: Girls & Science (visit: http://www.dmns.org/learn/families/family-events/girls-science/ for more info)
Where: Denver Museum of Nature and Science
When: 9:00 AM -5:00 PM
Sunday, March 4th
What: STEAM Fest Boulder (Visit: https://makerbolder.com/steam/)
Where: Boulder County Fair Grounds
When: 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Sunday, March 25th
What: 2017 Colorado Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. This is considered the “Super Bowl” of Robotics competitions for High School students. (visit:http://coloradofirst.org/COFIRST/event/2017-colorado-regional-first-robotics-competition/ for more info)
Where: Denver University Gymnasium
When: Start: March 22, 2017 @ 6:00 pm; End: March 25, 2017 @ 5:00PM
Join the WildBots for one or all of the above meet-ups! I look forward to seeing students and families in attendance for these awesome events full of STEAM learning, and building community.
7/8 Spring Dance
Where: Westgate
When: Friday, March 9th
Time: 6:30-9:30 (Doors close at 7:00)
Admission: $2.00 for Store-bought food to share
The event is run by the social committee and hosted by the 7/8 POD. All proceeds will go towards other parties/DancesActivities for the POD>
JA in a Day 2/23/2018
Junior Achievement (JA) is partnering with Westgate to provide vital enrichment programs to students. Our 7th and 8th graders will have an opportunity to participate in an enrichment sessions that work to change students' lives by helping them understand business and economics.
7th Grade-Start It Up
http://www.jacolorado.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-17-SIU-Volunteer-Guide.pdf
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©Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain, Inc., 2016 4 ©Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain, Inc., 2016 PROGRAM OVERVIEW The following overview provides a brief description of the program activities. |
JA Start It Up is designed to engage students in an immersive business development experience enabling them to experience the creativity, sense of accomplishment, and excitement that careers in entrepreneurship and business can offer. The JA Start It Up program is a project-based learning experience. In project-based learning, students are asked to solve a real-world challenge. Learning happens organically–students acquire knowledge, develop skills, and reach new understandings as they work together to solve a problem they may encounter in the real world.
In teams, students are asked to develop a new flavor of Oogie’s Gourmet Popcorn (Oogie’s). Each team’s new popcorn flavor must appeal to a specific target audience: their peers.
8th Grade-It's my Future
http://www.jacolorado.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JA-Its-My-Future_Smaller.pdf
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Foreword Junior Achievement USA Junior Achievement USA (JA; JA USA) is a nonprofit organization financed by businesses, foundations, government, and individuals. |
JA It's my Future provides practical information about preparing for the working world while still in middle school. The following key concepts will be discussed:
Following participation in the program students will be able to:
Advocacy
In January and early February, Westgate Advocacy classes are learning what Self-Regulation is and how to self-regulate our own Physical Systems, Emotional Systems, and Cognitive Systems. Students will learn how our bodies respond when we are agitated, nervous, angry, etc. They will also receive multiple strategies for coping with these physical responses. Similarly, they will learn how to name and identify their emotions as well as strategies to respond to their feelings.
Lastly, students will be introduced to the cognitive system - how can we change our daily thoughts and words from negative to positive? Ask your student what types of things they are learning and keep talking about Self-Regulation with your students at home!
When finished, Westgate Advocacy classes will start learning about Healthy Relationships. Since many people celebrate Valentine's Day in February, as well as Black History Month, we are going to explore healthy relationships on many levels. Our younger students will discuss healthy, happy friendships and how to respond during conflict. Older students will talk about relationships on many levels as well as basic respect for all. Ask your student what types of things they are learning and keep talking about Healthy Relationships with your students at home!
Good Morning and Welcome Back!
The 7/8 team is so excited to see all the new and returning students and we can't wait to get to know each other, build community, develop routines and start laying the foundation for a great year. Our Advocacy classes meet three times a day:
8:00 - 8:15: Circle Time and Introduce Theme
12:45 - 1:15: Advocacy Classwork Time
3:15 - 3:30: Final Thoughts, CNN Student News, Clean Room
We will start the first week focusing on our Advocacy class which take us through the social-emotional learning we find so valuable. This work will focus on Self-Management, Self-Awareness, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision Making. For the first month, we will focus on the following themes:
As we move into our normal schedule, we will use the following weekly schedule in our Advocacy classes:
As part of our ongoing work on bettering student, teacher and parent communication, we are going to be providing each student with a Planner and Blue Communication Folder. We expect that these two things go home each night, parents and students look at them together, the parent signs the planner and both the planner and blue folder come back to school the next day. The planner will contain what the student did in class and assignment due dates (it is their responsibility to write this in the planner) and the blue folder will contain graded assignments and/or work that needs to be completed at home. The blue folder will also contain permission slips, forms, etc. We hope that this daily exercise will help strengthen communication and give students the opportunity to take more responsibility for their education.
We hope that you are as excited as we are, and together we can make this a great year!
