Principal's Newsletter Upcoming Dates School Leadership Team meeting —10/25, 2:45 PM

Distribution of Fall Honor Society invita-tions—10/26

Breast Cancer Awareness Day *wear pink* —10-29

Fifth Grade Family Student Panel—11/1

Coffee with the Principal—11/2, 7:45-8:20 AM

General PA meeting—11/6, 7:00 PM

Election Day (no classes)—11/6

Middle School Dance—11/8, 5:00-8:00 PM

Veteran’s Day (schools closed)—11/12

Senior Dinner—11/13

School Leadership Team meeting —11/15, 2:45 PM

You Make a Difference Breakfast —11/16, 7:15 AM

RCC Teen Theater—11/16 & 11/17, 7:30 PM

RKA Color Run—11/17, 10:00 AM

High School Open House —11/19 & 11/20, 9:00 AM

Thanksgiving (schools closed) —11/22 & 11/23

Parent/Teacher Conferences (half day of school) —1:00-3:00 & 5:30-8:00 PM

Fall Honor Society applications due —11/30

Dear RKA Families,

I can hardly believe the first marking period has already come and gone. I hope the first weeks of school have been as fruitful and enjoyable for you and your children as it has been for us. As you know, we have a lot of new things going on. We have new counselors and advisers in the building. We’ve launched “Restorative Circles,” a program to help our sixth graders with the social/emotional transition to middle school. We have new “teacher leaders” who will act as mentors to and collaborate actively with, the faculty of the school. We are now a part of “College Access for All,” both in our middle school and high school; you can read more about that on the next page!

We are connecting with our school communities more than ever. Please see below about joing the Remind App, Twitter, and Instagram. And stay on your email as well, for your weekly RKA Notes, as well as the full-color issues of EYE of the Tiger. All can also bee seen on the school website: RKA141.org.

We were voted (thanks to you!) the Most Spirited public school in the Bronx! Perhaps you saw us on News 12?

Our hard-working Parents’ Association, with Vicki Auerbach and Amy Carr again at the helm, are in full action, as well. They’ve already hosted a successful “New Parents’ Night,” and their annual; Car Wash. They meet the first Monday night of every month—please come out and join them!

Lori O’Mara

Thursday, November 29th

1:00-3:00

5:30-8:00

Sign up online on the PTC Scheduler link on the school

website, RKA141.org

If you miss out...don’t fear!

Teachers are available during “Parent Engagement

hours” (by appointment) every Tuesday from 3:20-

4:00

Don’t forget! Download the app and find your cohort at RKA141.org

RKAmshs141

@OMaraRKA141

ANTI-BULLYING WEEK

October 22nd—26th

Read more in the next RKA Notes!

Principal's Newsletter...continued!

RKA’s High School Guidance Department--

the ever-busy Ms. Kausinger and Ms. Eisenberg, hosted the

annual RKA College Fair on October 17th. Over

50 colleges and institu-tions of post-secondary

opportunity were in attendance, and our

enthusiastic students and their families gained

much information and insight! As we do every year during the school

day to celebrate, students and staff wore their college gear! RKA has kicked it into even

higher-gear this year with its involvement in

the program “College Access for All,” which

will begin to instill a college mindset in our

seventh graders! Through the year there will be college trips and

college-related activities for many of our grades.

THE

RKA COLLEGE FAIR

The Spotlight’s On...

Suremi Lockhart

Ms. Lockhart comes to us this year through NYU’s College Advising Corps. She is a most welcome addition to our High School Guidance Department, supporting their efforts with our college-bound students. She is here to help them in all aspects of the college application process right here in room 303. A New York native, Ms. Lockhart attended Manhattan College herself, majoring in Psychology. She loves working with students of all ages, from elementary to high school. She will return to school soon for her graduate degree, pursuing a career in counseling and guidance. Welcome, Ms. Lockhart!

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sixth grade family newsletter

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ELA

Students have been reading texts about Bullying. They are working on their writing using the RACE-C method, and developing strong group work skills that will carry them through the rest of the year. We look forward to continued great work!

Literature

Students started the school year discussing growth mindset and the habits of good readers. Some will soon be reading Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan. This is a fictional story about s girl who immi-grated from Mexico to America during the Great Depression. Esperanza’s life is turned upside down as she faces many new challenges. Other students will be reading When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. This story is set on the Upper West Side of New York City, and follows eleven-year-old Miranda, whose life changes after she receives a mysterious note. All students will be analyzing a number of literary elements and writing short responses.

Science

The school year has gotten off to a good start. It started with a study of the charac-teristics and classification of living things, and the functions of cells and their parts. Students will be working on projects where they will apply their knowledge of the func-tions of cell organelles. Then they will transi-tion into a unit on the Scientific Method and learn problem-solving techniques to answer questions about the natural and the physical world.

Restorative Circles is a brand-new class here at RKA! The overall idea of the course is to help children understand how their actions impact others, essentially giving them the foundations to become well-rounded adults. This is achieved by teach-ing students the power of empathetic listening and strategies that encourage healthy ways of responding to conflict. We will foster healthy relationships and promote and build a positive community. Restorative Circles give all students an equal opportunity to speak, and, moreover, be listened to.

Restorative Circles

Social Studies

Using the NYC Department of Education’s Passport curriculum, students are learning about our world through the lens of geography. They are studying how humans helped shape our world as they interacted with their environment over time. The next unit will focus on Paleolithic Man, where they will learn about the amazing ways early humans adapted to their environment in order to survive.

Math

Students have finished unit 1, where they learned about finding the area of two-dimensional figures, and the surface area and volume of polyhedral. They have been working on the Illustrative mathematics curriculum, which you can follow at Openupresources.org. Students will receive a packet for each unit, which contains the classwork and homework practice problems, which can be found on the last two pages of each lesson. When finished, keep packets at home for review. Google Class-room is another tool you can use to check homework and make revisions. Next up: ratios and unit rates.

Math Through Technology

Math Thru Tech reinforces your child’s math education with the use of technology. In the lab, we type for 15 minutes per week. RKA wants your child to have the typing skills that will serve him/her in higher grades and college. We use online sites like Desmos, and Khan Academy. In the classroom they solve problems working in groups of two to four. The goal is to teach students the math concepts of interpreting, deciding, and de-fending their strategies in order to think and work like a mathematician.

Stay Connected...with RKA!

www.RKA141.org

Openupresources.org

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seventh grade family newsletter

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Mathematics

Students recently wrapped up their unit on scale drawings. This unit laid an excellent foundation for the current unit on proportional relationships. Students began by analyzing proportions in tabular format. From there, they started writing equations to express those relationships between to variables in an algebraic way. Finally, they will look at the ways proportional relationships appear on the coordinate plane. This will culminate when students compare situations across all three representations (tables, equations, and graphs). Lost more exciting work to come!

Math Through Technology

Math Thru Tech reinforces your child’s math education with the use of technology. In the lab, we type for 15 minutes per week. RKA wants your child to have the typing skills that will serve him/her in higher grades and college. We use online sites like Desmos, and Khan Academy. In the classroom

they solve problems working in groups of two to four. The goal is to teach stu-dents the math concepts of interpreting, deciding, and defending their strate-gies in order to think and work like a mathematician.

Social Studies

As we wrap up the marking period, students continue their work on the first unit: The Earliest Americans. They have completed their first formal essays for their portfolios and taken their first test. Project work has supported continuing skills, including listen-ing and speaking. Students will build on these skills in the second marking period in the context of the next unit: The Colonial Era.

Spanish

Students are working on the first unit in the Avancemos 1 program. They are learning to: greet people, introduce themselves, ask how to spell names, say where they’re from, exchange phone numbers, say the days of the week, de-scribe the weather, and respond to classroom instructions. They will practice reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The topics for this unit are favorite activities and descriptions. Through completing activities, students will employ critical thinking skills as they compare the Spanish lan-guage and culture with that of their own community. At home, please review vocabulary frequently, and use Spanish whenever possible. Try watching some Spanish TV or even ordering in a restaurant! People won’t laugh; they will appreciate it!

Science

Students have been learning how particles like atoms and molecules move and interact through hands-on experimental investigations. Using water as a model particle for studying Chemistry, they have explored the properties of solids, liquids, and gasses, and the processes of conduction, evaporation, condensation, freezing, and melting. They will use their understanding of states of matter and phase changes to construct a water obstacle course, wherein liquid H2O will need to move through a series of chambers, changing phases into ice and water vapor along the way. This demonstration of their founda-tional knowledge of basic chemistry will set them up to make sense of our next chapter on density.

ELA

It’s hard to believe that the first marking period is already coming to a close! We be-gan the year with our baseline assessments, where students were given a writing task which demonstrated their current writing level. Students will return to this task throughout the school year, which will guide

the teachers’ instruction, and help them help the students grow to their maximum potential. We are currently concluding the first unit of the Code X curriculum, and have started our first writing task assignment. The focus is for students to assess how writers are influenced by major decisions in their lives. We are analyzing the poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, and an excerpt from the novel, Call Me Maria, by Judith Ortiz Cofer. Students will create their own personal narratives in which they will write about a time in life that they—or an imaginary character—had to make a important decision. Don’t forget to keep up with your child’s progress on Pupil Path!

Literature

Students have begun the year with a study of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The book being used has the original text opposite a modern version to make it more accessible. Its themes of love of country, betrayal, and friendship, and the use of demagoguery and the moving of people by speech-es seem particularly appropriate for our times. We’ve had a test on Shakespeare’s life and theater, class discussion along with short answer questions. After we complete the text, we will have a final exam. Dates for the book report are: for the first marking period—10/16 even days and 10/17 odd days. Second marking period— for the first re-port,11/15 for even and 11/16 for odd; for the second re-port 12/5 for even and 12/6 for odd.

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eighth grade family newsletter

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Social Studies

As the first marking period draws to a close, classes have completed the first units: Reconstruction and The Industrial Revolution. Students have successfully finished their first formal essay for their portfolios, and taken their first test. In addition, “inventive” project work has supported continuing skills including speaking and listening. We look forward to the second marking period, where students will build on these skills in the context of Immigration.

Science

We are currently working on our first performance task—building a bottle rocket. Students will use the concepts they are exploring in class—the laws of energy, force and motion—to demonstrate how they interpret the laws in the construction and design of their rockets. Following this unit, we will discover Earth's place in the universe. We are looking forward to exploring these and more science concepts through inquiry using hands-on techniques that will lead to life-long learning.

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Math

In the beginning of this school year, students have been studying rigid geomet-ric transformations. Soon they will be using another transformation—dilations—to begin exploring slope. Slope is a major eighth grade pre-algebra topic. For a closer look into what the students will be learning: https://im.openupresources.org/8/families/index.html

Math Through Technology

Math Thru Tech reinforces your child’s math education with the use of technolo-gy. In the lab, we type for 15 minutes per week. RKA wants your child to have the typing skills that will serve him/her in higher grades and college. We use online sites like Desmos, and Khan Academy. In the classroom they solve problems working in groups of two to four. The goal is to teach students the math concepts of interpreting, deciding, and defending their strategies in order to think and work like a mathematician.

Khanacademy.org

Living Environment

Students have been engaged in deep discussions! Are viruses living? How do organelles depend on each other? If something is “dead,” is it non-living? Do organisms need to reproduce in order to be consid-ered “living?” How do plant cells and animal cells differ microscopically? How is the cell membrane like the lungs? Students have engaged in topics surrounding the characteristics of life, and the importance of the cell. Throughout the school year, students will bring to the surface their prior knowledge and misconceptions, as the teacher will address this within the lesson.

Students will use various materials (readings, discus-sions, labs, videos) to arrive at required thinking/correct answers., justifying their responses using evi-dence. This process will help them succeed with their Living Environment/Biology content. We have gone over test-taking tips to help with Regents multiple-choice questions., and all classroom quizzes and tests are fashioned after the Regents. Please buy the Barron’s Review book! Students can begin preparing for it as early as January 2019. In Unit Two, we will study Biochemistry, Cellular Respiration, and Photo-synthesis. Students will go to the lab and experiment with oxygen deprivation in yeast cells. Email NMorales12@schools.nyc.gov for a textbook that can be kept at home and is to be returned at the end of the school year. Don’t forget to check Pupil Path and Google Classroom!

Spanish

Students are work-ing on the first unit in the Avancemos 1 program. They are learning to: greet people, introduce themselves, ask how to spell names, say where they’re from, exchange phone numbers, say the days of the week, describe the

weather, and respond to classroom instructions. They will practice reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The topics for this unit are favorite activities and descriptions. Through completing activities, students will employ critical thinking skills as they compare the Spanish language and culture with that of their own community. At home, please review vocabulary frequently, and use Spanish whenever possible. Try watching some Spanish TV or even ordering in a restaurant! People won’t laugh; they will appreciate it!

ELA

Students are up to the writing task in the first unit of the Code X curriculum. The elements that will be covered include: point of view, voice, cre-ating and supporting an argument, and the structure and writing of an essay. The individual parts of the essay—Title, Hook, Thesis, Topic Sentences, Arguments, Rebuttal, and Conclusion—will all be studies and written in incremental steps. Dates for the book report are: for the first marking period—10/16 even days and 10/17 odd days. Second marking period— for the first report,11/15 for even and 11/16 for odd; for the second report 12/5 for even and 12/6 for odd.

Literature

Students have begun their study of Shake-speare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The book being used has the original text opposite a modern version to make it more accessible. We will compare the Shakespearian idea of comedy to that of tragedy to understand the distinctions, and to see how easily one can be transformed into the other. We will study two of Shakespeare’s most popular characters, Benedick and Beatrice.. People often make the mistake of concentrating on Shake-speare’s tragic characters and forgetting how really fine his comedic characters are drawn. We’ve had a test on Shakespeare’s life and theater, class discussion along with short answer questions. After we complete the text, we will have a final exam. Dates for the book report are: for the first marking period—10/16 even days and 10/17 odd days. Second marking period— for the first report,11/15 for even and 11/16 for odd; for the second report 12/5 for even and 12/6 for odd.

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eighth grade family newsletter

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Algebra The year has gotten off to a great start! The students have been working on writing expressions and equa-tions using real world situations. The students are now making connections between situations, rules, graphs and tables. They have also been using their graphing calculators to help them with the rules ta-bles and graphs. We will be working on solving equa-tions next, which will complete our Overland Trail Unit.

High School

ELA

Family Newsletter

AP Literature & Composition

All students have written their college essays, through multiple drafts with feedback, stimulated by a wonderful writing guide by John Trimble. As we focus on college academic shills this marking period, students have also read and analyzed a series of essays on current topics, such as disability, homelessness, and racial profiling. They have written their own essays on these topics and will soon participate in period-long Socratic Seminar discussions. Our next unit will usher in a study of poetry.

AP English Composition

Along with all other RKA high school students, AP students are also taking part in the skill-based unit. With their skills in order, the class will soon move on to higher-level exploits. Stay tuned!

Grade 9

Students started the year with a mini-unit exploring the effects and advantages of adopting “Growth Mindset,” then using this framework to develop new academic and personal SMART goals. Then we moved on to a skills-based unit where we covered annotation techniques, determining the main idea of a text, and the fundamentals of creating an evidence-based paragraph. We are getting ready to begin our first novel, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

Grade 10

Students have been reviewing and practicing their close-reading skills on poetry, prose, and nonfiction texts. We have focused on the importance of annotating the text to ensure comprehension, retain facts, and clarify confusing material. The intention is to make students more confident and independent readers. Writing assignments this semester will focus on the analysis of texts and argumentative writing to prepare for the Regents exam in eleventh grade.

Grade 12

The seniors have spent most of the first marking period improv-ing on the craft of their writing. They have been using model texts, such as James Thurber’s University Days, Anne Upperco Dolman’s Learning to Drive, and exemplary college essays. They have learned many techniques they can apply to their own writing, as well as the four qual-ities that make for great writing. We will finish the unit by writing narrative essays that can be sent to schools. Feed-back is an important part of this process; students are teaching and learning from one another. In the next marking period, we will delve into the world of Shakespeare by reading one of his greatest plays, Hamlet.

Grade 11

All high school ELA students have begun the year with a skills-based unit. The juniors’ focus is particularly intense as they prepare for the Regents exams and the SAT this year. We are practicing higher-level close reading, evidence-based writing, and public speaking skills. Students have “flipped the classroom” to teach lessons on McCarthy-ism through the use of primary documents. They have read popular and academic articles on the Salem Witch Trials, and will use those materials to write drafted persuasive research essays, which will help prepare them for the work they will ultimately be doing in college. It will also help prepare them for our next text, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Film

Students are learning the language of film critique and participating shooting challenges that put much of this language into practice. The first film we saw was Black Panther. Students applied the language of critique to our discus-sions of the film, culminating with a final essay in which they critiqued the technical aspects of the film and how those aspects informed the story. The next film we see will be Akira Kurasowa’s Seven Samurai.

High School

Mathematics

Family Newsletter

Algebra II/Trigonometry

Students are finishing up an in-depth exploration of the multiple representations of functions (graphs, tables, and equations) and the importance of being able to move seamlessly between them. Through collaborative work, they have learned to identify important features of functions and how to use them to analyze math-ematical models of real-world scenerios. This unit culminates with a project in which students—working as detectives—use the clues given in a single graph to piece together the information needed to create new graphs that accurately mod-el different aspects of the scenario. Next, students will apply their new knowledge and skills to polynomial functions.

Algebra I

Students are studying a unit call The Overland Trail. It follows the pioneers who traveled west from Missouri to California in the mid 1800s. The students, acting as the

families each of them created, are learning graphing and linear functions using the situations that arose during their journey. The activities began with students inter-preting graphs and looking at their

shape and specific points in context. They will then inter-pret these graphs quantitatively. Then finally, they will con-nect the graphs to tables, algebraic symbols, and situa-tions.

AP Calculus AB

Students have com-pleted the first two units of the course, covering limits and basic derivatives. They had a project where they had to demonstrate how to estimate derivatives from real-life data. IN the next unit we will cover the rest of the more advanced deriva-tive formulas.

PreCalculus

Students began the school year refreshing their knowledge of mathematical functions and how to transform them both graphically and algebraically. They are now com- pleting a unit on repre-senting a rela-tionship and calcu- lating its value by find-ing the area under a curve. This has encompassed piece-wise functions, summation notation, and using intervals to further refine a given area.

Geometry

Students recently completed part of the Shadows unit, covering angle relation-ships. Students took an exam covering this concept. In addition, students submitted their first Problem of the Week, relating to finding patterns in cutting a piece of pie in order to determine the maximum number of pieces that can be created from a given number of cuts. This work will eventually go into students’ portfoli-os. Now students are learning about similar triangles and other polygons, ex-ploring the relationships between proportions and corresponding sides of similar polygons. Then, we will cover the concept of Trigonometry.

Statistics

Students are learning about various ways to represent and analyze data. They are also determining the best ways to represent data. There will be an exam on this topic. After this, students will learn about association and correlation with two-variable quantitative data.

High School Social Studies

Family Newsletter

Global Studies 10

Students recently completed a unit on the Scientific Revolu-tion and the Enlighten-ment in Europe. Class-work and homework assignments focused on the following topics: the changes in thinking that took place during these time periods, the contributions of specific writers and scientists, and the impact these changes had on Europe. Students worked with a variety of primary and secondary source material. For one assignment, they wrote mock editori-als comparing the ideas of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. They completed two assessments for this unit—one multiple choice test and one “enduring issues” essay. Now we’ve moved on to our second unit: Political Revolutions. Classwork and homework assignments will focus on: the causes, events, and impacts of the American and French Revolutions; the reign of Napoleon; and the Latin American Revolutions of the 19th century. Students will be working with a variety of primary and secondary historical sources. Please remember that students will be taking the New York State Regents Exam (Global History and Geography II) in early June 2019.

Global Studies 9

Students have been learning about the increase in trade in Eurasia that resulted from the control of trade routes by the Mongol Empire. This resulted in a number of effects, including the resurgence of Europe, but also the spread of the Bubonic Plague. We will continue to explore changes in Europe, including the Renaissance and the

Protestant Reformation. Students will be required to write a DBQ essay and will also write a paper on the Inca Empire. Students must come class on time every day, keep an organized notebook, and keep up with all homework and classwork assignments.

AP US History

Students are currently studying the American Revolution after completing a unit on the British American colonies. They completed an in-class short answer question comparing Spanish and British colonization of the Americas, and a DBQ essay on the development of slavery from 1607-1750. The first test covered material up to 1763, the end of the French and Indian War. Criminal Law

Over the next two months, students will be discussing the types of crimes and the elements that prosecution needs to prove to convict someone of a crime. The class will be discussing crimes against persons such as murder, manslaughter, assault, battery, stalking, and rape. They will also be discussing crimes against property like burglary, robbery, vandalism, and the different types of larceny.

Last month, students discussed why we have laws, how a crime is defined, and preliminary crimes such as solicitation, attempt, and conspiracy. These previous lessons helped to give the students

the knowledge needed to discuss crimes against persons and property. For more information on the course, check out Cuomosite.com/law.html. The website has the course outline and all projects, homework assignments, and assigned test reviews. You can also check progress on Pupil Path.

Economics

In the past marking period, we completed our study of basic economic principles, such as wants and needs, supply and demand, macro and microeconomics, cost/benefit analysis, and production possibility. Students have studied economic systems and written and debated a paper on the pros and cons of nationalizing and privatizing industries. In the second marking period, students will be studying the cost of student loans and how to interpret financial aid packages. They will then complete sample tax returns and balance checking accounts. We will learn about the stock market and investments, and write research papers about Wall Street. There will be quizzes and exams throughout the marking period to assess understanding of the concepts.

US History (Grade 11)

Students finished their first unit—on the British North American col-onies—and are now studying the American Revolution. We have examined the roots of conflict between European settles and Native Americans, as well as the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade. We’ve paid particular attention to the role of religion in shaping po-litical and social life in the various colonial regions. This served as the topic of the first DBQ essay. After the study of the Revolutionary War is completed, we will learn about the Articles of Confederation. and the transition to the US Constitution.

High School Science

Family Newsletter

Living Environment

Students have been engaged in deep discussions! Are viruses living? How do organelles depend on each other? If something is “dead,” is it non-living? Do organisms need to reproduce in order to be considered “living?” How do plant cells and animal cells differ microscopically? How is the cell membrane like the lungs? Students have engaged in topics surrounding the characteristics of life, and the importance of the cell. Throughout the school year, students will bring to the surface their prior knowledge and misconceptions, as the teacher will ad-dress this within the lesson. Students will use various ma-terials (readings, discussions, labs, videos) to arrive at required thinking/correct answers, justifying their re-sponses using evidence. This process will help them succeed with their Living Environment/Biology content. Moving forward, we will be covering such topics as: Biochemistry, cellular respiration, and photosynthesis. Don’t forget to check Pupil Path and Google Classroom!

Earth Science

In their opening Astronomy unit, students have been observing and manipulating com-puter simulations to better understand the unfathomable complexity of our universe. We began by examining evidence of how the uni-verse was formed through the Big Bang, and how it continues to expand at an accelerating rate. We then narrowed our scope to analyze the life cycle of individual stars, which includes the process of nuclear fusion. Going forward, students will take a closer look at our own solar system, while being introduced to concepts like orbital motion. The culmination of this large-to-small unit will be students creating proposals for how we might, one day, colonize another Earth-type planet. What might that planet

be like??

Research

This is a hands-on course de-signed to teach students basic engineering principles through science competition. We have just finished an introduction to mechanical drawing. Now stu-dents are using computer-aided drawing (CAD) to design, print (using a 3D printer) and then to pitch products on our own ver-sion of “Shark Tank.”

Physics

For the first time in a long time, RKA is fielding TWO Physics classes among its juniors and seniors. Both classes are excited to start learning the laws of motion and force, and they’re looking forward to their first project: the annual RKA Egg Drop! They will be working at constructing a small vehicle to keep an egg safe as it’s dropped from an extreme height. This will require them to work out the momentum, impulse, and kinetic energies of the vehicle to best tackle this challenge.

Chemistry

The Chemistry classes at RKA are welcom-ing freshman chemists for the first time! With the addition of ninth graders—who accelerated their studies and took Living Environment in eighth grade—our Chemistry classes are more diverse in age than ever before. They are currently learning about the subtle intricacies of the atom, and the structure of the Periodic Table of Elements. There’s a lot to learn, but our students are up to the challenge!

AP Biology

This is a high school course that is designed to be the equivalent of an introductory college course for Biology majors. In class, students recently completed their first unit on Biochem-istry. They reviewed basic chemistry, explored the properties of water, and learned about the basic building blocks of life. Now, we are investigating the structure and function of cells,

and will move on to cellular energetics in the coming weeks.

Human Biology

This is a Dual-Enrollment Biology course offered in conjunction with the College of Mount St. Vincent for non-science majors. The course is an exploration of the central concepts of Human Biology, starting at the cellular level and advancing to physio-logical systems of the human body.

Students just finished a rapid review of basic biological themes and have begun look-ing at the various tissues that comprise the human body.

Psychology

Students have been focusing on research methods. We have discussed both experimental and non-experimental methods, such as correlational studies, case studies, surveys, and psychological tests. We have discussed different careers in the field of Psychology, the educational backgrounds required for these careers. We are now ex-ploring ethics in research by studying the experiments of Zimbardo, Milgram, and Bandura.

High School Spanish Language Family Newsletter

For more information about the

AP Exam AND test practice, go to:

https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/

ap-spanish-language/exam-practice

Spanish 1

Students have begun Unidad 1 of the level 1 Avancemos program. It focuses on authentic culture and real-life com-munication using Spanish in Miami, Florida, and San Antonio, Texas. They are practicing reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and the unit introduces students to the cultures typical of Miami and San Antonio. As they compete their activi-ties, students will employ critical thinking skills as they compare the Spanish language and culture of these cities with that of their own community. They

will connect to other academic subjects, using their knowledge of Spanish to access new information. They are learning to discuss food, art, family traditions, favorite activities, and descriptions. They are also learning about grammar—the verb ser (to be), gustar (to like), definite and indefinite articles, and noun-adjective agreement.

Spanish 1

Students have begun Unidad 1 of the level 2 Avance-mos program. It focuses on authentic culture and real-life communication using Spanish in Costa Rica. They are practicing reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and the unit introduces students to the cultures typical of Miami and San Antonio. As they compete their activities, students will employ critical thinking skills as they compare the Spanish language

and culture of Costa Rica with that of their own community. They will connect to other academic subjects, using their knowledge of Spanish to access new information. They are learning to discuss travel preparations, things you do at an airport, how to get around town, where they’ve gone, and what they’ve done on vacation. They are also learning about gram-mar—personal a, direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, interrogatives, the preterite of –ar verbs, and the preterite of ir, ser, hacer, ver, and dar.

Spanish Regents

This semester, students will be covering the following topics: daily routine, family life, and chores. We will be learning new vocabulary related to these topics, stem-changing verbs, reflexive verbs, the impersonal use of se, the subjunctive, and the irregular subjunctive. Students will be required to write two 120-word essays. They will also have to prepare and present dialogues related to the topics learned. These topics are important, since they are al-ways well-represented on the Regents exam.

AP Spanish Language

This semester, the AP class is covering health and the environment. We will learn new material related to the topics, as well as the imperfect, the present perfect, reflexive verbs, and direct and indirect object pronouns. Students will be required to write two 250-word essays, and two 5-minute oral presenta-tions. They are encouraged to read related articles in order to increase their comprehension of the target language. Please encourage your child to speak Spanish at home as much as possible.

It’s the Arts... ...at RKA!

Mr. Salinas’ Music

In the Middle and High School Choruses, students have been developing their listening skills through ear training exercises. They have been learning repertoire for the Winter Arts Festival on December 18th...save the date! It’s always an extremely entertaining show!

Mr. Klein’s Art

Hi, I’m Andrew Klein, a new art teacher here at RKA. Students are learn-ing the important foundations of illus-tration: perspective, depth, color mixing, proportion, composition, and light source. With these essential skills, they will be able to venture off into a more abstract and “outside the box” creative path of their choice for their personal works and artistic decision-making. Middle school students have completed a project in which they ap-plied their portraits into an “animal, mineral, or vegetable” of choice after learning the plains of the face and proper proportion of the features. Another project yielding great results was the creation of a landscape using light source, horizon line, and vanishing point to create dimension. Value and light source will be utilized through most of the projects, as value and shadow are the cornerstones of capturing the viewer and creating believable art on the page.

Ms. Emsworth’s Art

Sixth graders have been working on a depth and perspective draw-ing unit, learning different tech-niques, such as foreshadowing and vanishing points. Soon they will begin to learn techniques like value (shading) and grid drawing. In the seventh grade, students have been working on the “All About Me” unit. They’ve been creating differ-ent projects geared to their own personalities and hobbies. They’ve created illustrated drawings of their names using pictures, and are now creating collages. Next up for the seventh grade—self portraits. Eighth grade stu-dents are working on one- and two-point perspective drawings, currently creating cityscapes. They will then move on to value drawings.

It’s never too early

to Save the Date!

December 11th

—Vocal

December 13th

—Instrumental

The RKA

Winter Arts Festival

High school visual art students are also drawing! They have created room interiors and op art works using two-point perspective. Soon, they will begin a study of color theory and start painting!

Ms. Kaminski’s Art

AP Studio Art students are getting into the groove– stretch-ing their minds and materials. They are almost halfway

through the first section of their portfolio re-quirements, which is the part where they demonstrate the full range of their abilities to approach sculpture-making. Ask them what they are working on! In Intro to Ceramics, we fired up the

kiln for the first time! That means students are ready for part two of the clay-making process. First, we learned basic hand building techniques, now, we will address the surface and become familiar with a variety of approaches to the glazing process. Painting Through History has taken us outside to think about how we want to compose a composition before we even take a look at how artists—past and present—have approached landscapes. After an intro/review of basic color theory, most

students are well on their way into their first paintings. The goal is to use color on a two-dimensional surface to find the way to self-expression. Next, students will explore clichés by embracing emojis to make an “Emojiscape.” Not a lot of

history books in that genre; students will have to rely strictly on their imagi-nations for this one!

Ms. Castiner’s Music

Sixth and seventh grade students have selected their I nstruments! We are excited to be making our first sound, and learning to read rhythm and pitch from our Accent on Achievement method books. Please remember the $20 music fee. Students are expected to log their practice time—one hour a week is expected. Parents, please initial. Beginners will perform at the Spring Arts Festival in May. Students with past experience are urged to join the Morning Honors Band which meets Tues, Wed, and Thurs

at 7:30. This group is pre-paring for the Winter Arts Festival on December 13th. Eighth graders are at a higher level now, so home-work is even

more important as we prepare for the Winter Festival. Students must steadily improve their skills—finger speed, playing range, etc. It’s necessary! Please remember the $10 music fee. Little Kids Rock guitar class students have learned ten new chords, and are now playing a variety of songs and strum patterns. They will perform two or three songs at the Winter Festival. We have ten guitars students can take home to practice on a rotating basis.

ROARING READERS SERIES!

HS Book Club October Featured Book

Jumped

by Rita Williams-Garcia

MS Short Story Club October Featured Book

The Jacket

by Gary Soto

Faculty Book Club Oct/Nov Featured Book

The Rose that Grew from Concrete

by Tupac Shakur

GSA Club

meets every Tuesday at 2:40

Africana Understandings Club

meets every Wednesday at 2:24

Hispanic Heritage Essay Competition

(Middle School) Students will interview a

Latinx/Hispanic person about their life,

upbringing, etc

See Ms. Loving

for more information!

In the Library...

High School Physical Education/Health Family Newsletter

RKA

RKA T-shirt

Athletic bottoms

Sneakers

BE PREPARED FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION!

Greetings!

Our Physical Education classes are involved in a variety of units…

Middle School Health

All classes are working on first writing, then orally presenting essay on Health topics of their choice. They’re doing very well so far, and we’re all looking forward to the presentations.

Cooperinstitute.org/fitnessgram

Football

Soccer

Wiffleball

Handball-Watermelon

Fitnessgram-Pacer testing

**Welcome to our new colleague, Ms. Colon**

High School Health

Students have deepened their understanding of the effects of cigarette smoking and vaping both long-term and short-term, and of the effects of secondhand smoke on children. They even creat-ed a public service announcement to promote smoking cessation! They have analyzed case stud-ies and identified stages of addiction. Moving forward, students will study the various classes of drugs, forms, modes of entry and their effects on the brain and various body systems. The next project will entail students choosing a favorite celebrity who has displayed a history of drug abuse, drug addiction, and/or drug overdose and present it to classmates.