Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatu Allahi wa BarakatuHu,
In sha Allah this message reaches you in a state of high eman and health. We have been progressing successfully through the course of this school year. To keep your in the loop, we have the following updates.
As you may have heard through communication with our administration, insha'Allah the Powerschool Parent Portal will be opening soon. As such, we wanted to give you a brief description of what you can expect in terms of your students' grades. As part of our school culture, each area of study has two types of grades: formative and summative. Formative grades are taken throughout the learning process and indicate the progress a student is making in learning specific concepts or skills. Examples of these would be classwork, homework, pop quizzes, and so on. Formative grades account for 60% of a student's final grade. Summative grades are taken as a final snapshot of what a student has been learning over time. Examples of these would be exams, portfolios, projects and so on. Summative grades account for 40% of a student's final grade. This is a general overview of the types of grades you can find in your child's gradebook. If you would like more information on how teachers of certain subject areas grade specific assignments, their late policy, or any other grades related questions, please check their specific Weebly site to find more information. (For information about Social Studies grading, please check under the "United States History" tab above. )
More generally, progress in our eighth grade class has been going well alhamduliLah. We have begun working on our legacy wall and creating the backdrop upon which to map out the different experiences students have already had and will have throughout the year. Furthermore, in Language Arts, Our students are focused on gaining Useful Knowledge during this unit. We are examining knowledge in the light of Perspective and Order by discussing the effects knowledge has on ourselves, and the effects knowledge has on others. We are also analyzing a "world without knowledge" as in Fahrenheit 451. Themes that central to our understanding of this unit include Censorship, Conformity, Individuality, Governmental Control/Propaganda and Action versus Inaction. We will be crafting a fire plan, discussing the importance of emergency preparedness, as well as discussing how useful knowledge builds Islamic Identity whereas Extraneous Information may lead to disrupting our natural fitra.
In other classes we have also been connecting many different concepts. In Social Studies, we have been wrapping up our study of the tensions that led to the Civil War and the differing perspectives the North and South brought with them to conflict. We have been thinking about what we can learn from the conflicts of others and what are ways to better deal with conflict. In the coming weeks we will explore the battles of the War in more detail and understand the processes of Reconstruction that came after the bloody and damaging Civil War. Meanwhile, in Science, we have wrapped up our study of Meteorology and Weather. Students presented excellent projects that really highlighted their understanding of how we measure and learn about the weather and the Power of Allah in Managing the world around us. Next we will be starting our work on STEM projects and exploring ideas scientific concepts we want to learn more about.
As you can see, we have a lot we have been doing and are really learning so much this year alhamduliLah. In the future, please check this Weebly site for the class newsletter and for any updates regarding the 8th grade class. Updates can be found on the homepage. Please feel free to contact myself, or any of the other 8th grade teachers. We value any input we receive from you.
Jazakum Allahu Khairan
Ms.El-Alami and the 8th grade team
(Mr.Singbiel, Ms.Abedrabbo, Ms.Malzone, and Ms.Tasnim)
In sha Allah this message reaches you in a state of high eman and health. We have been progressing successfully through the course of this school year. To keep your in the loop, we have the following updates.
As you may have heard through communication with our administration, insha'Allah the Powerschool Parent Portal will be opening soon. As such, we wanted to give you a brief description of what you can expect in terms of your students' grades. As part of our school culture, each area of study has two types of grades: formative and summative. Formative grades are taken throughout the learning process and indicate the progress a student is making in learning specific concepts or skills. Examples of these would be classwork, homework, pop quizzes, and so on. Formative grades account for 60% of a student's final grade. Summative grades are taken as a final snapshot of what a student has been learning over time. Examples of these would be exams, portfolios, projects and so on. Summative grades account for 40% of a student's final grade. This is a general overview of the types of grades you can find in your child's gradebook. If you would like more information on how teachers of certain subject areas grade specific assignments, their late policy, or any other grades related questions, please check their specific Weebly site to find more information. (For information about Social Studies grading, please check under the "United States History" tab above. )
More generally, progress in our eighth grade class has been going well alhamduliLah. We have begun working on our legacy wall and creating the backdrop upon which to map out the different experiences students have already had and will have throughout the year. Furthermore, in Language Arts, Our students are focused on gaining Useful Knowledge during this unit. We are examining knowledge in the light of Perspective and Order by discussing the effects knowledge has on ourselves, and the effects knowledge has on others. We are also analyzing a "world without knowledge" as in Fahrenheit 451. Themes that central to our understanding of this unit include Censorship, Conformity, Individuality, Governmental Control/Propaganda and Action versus Inaction. We will be crafting a fire plan, discussing the importance of emergency preparedness, as well as discussing how useful knowledge builds Islamic Identity whereas Extraneous Information may lead to disrupting our natural fitra.
In other classes we have also been connecting many different concepts. In Social Studies, we have been wrapping up our study of the tensions that led to the Civil War and the differing perspectives the North and South brought with them to conflict. We have been thinking about what we can learn from the conflicts of others and what are ways to better deal with conflict. In the coming weeks we will explore the battles of the War in more detail and understand the processes of Reconstruction that came after the bloody and damaging Civil War. Meanwhile, in Science, we have wrapped up our study of Meteorology and Weather. Students presented excellent projects that really highlighted their understanding of how we measure and learn about the weather and the Power of Allah in Managing the world around us. Next we will be starting our work on STEM projects and exploring ideas scientific concepts we want to learn more about.
As you can see, we have a lot we have been doing and are really learning so much this year alhamduliLah. In the future, please check this Weebly site for the class newsletter and for any updates regarding the 8th grade class. Updates can be found on the homepage. Please feel free to contact myself, or any of the other 8th grade teachers. We value any input we receive from you.
Jazakum Allahu Khairan
Ms.El-Alami and the 8th grade team
(Mr.Singbiel, Ms.Abedrabbo, Ms.Malzone, and Ms.Tasnim)