Vol. 1, Issue 2 - February, 2015

Maple Heights City Schools

A Message from the Director

of Instruction & Gifted

Education, Susan Jaroscak

In our classrooms in the Maple Heights City

Schools, we are focusing on 21st Century

Learning, often referred to as ‘The Four Cs’. In

a nutshell, the Four Cs are: Communication,

Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Collaboration.

Mastery in these four areas will help to ensure

future successes not only in college but in future

career settings. We believe that moving

towards increased integration of these areas in

our daily instruction and assessment is the next

logical step in our process of designing

engaging, challenging, and meaningful work for

students. We believe that the integration of the

four areas is vital in every classroom; however,

the process has been accelerated in our Gifted

and Academic Honors program. We are

moving towards more project-based learning

and assessment in these classrooms. You will

see evidence of this as you read about some of

the highlights in each of our buildings.

I would like to elaborate on each of these areas

separately in the next few newsletters and I will

start with critical thinking. You will know that

your child’s critical thinking skills are being

challenged and developed if he or she comes

home with work that asks them to do any of the

following: analyze, justify, compare and

contrast, redesign, evaluate, argue, defend, and

create. Projects should tap into students’

problem-solving skills rather than memorization

of facts in isolation. Measurement of

achievement may take the form of a rubric,

progress check, application of feedback, self-

reflection, or performance-based assessment.

You will see many opportunities for critical

thinking in your child’s classes and in the types

of work and assessment that are implemented

daily. You may wonder how these skills can be

developed outside of school. One suggestion is

to provide your child with opportunities to solve

a real world problem in your home. For

example, have your child decide which

containers should be used for leftovers in order

to take up the least amount of space in the

refrigerator, or have your child justify a plan for

organizing his room, or ask your child to

assemble an item that you have just purchased.

One of the best parts about developing critical

thinking skills is that one often learns more by

solutions that do not work. We are excited

about the many opportunities that we are

providing for critical thinking and look forward

to highlighting a few examples in this issue.

Friday, March 13, 2015

High School book club will be

visiting the City Club to watch the

High School Debate Championships

Exhibition.

6th grade honors class will visit the

Maltz Museum. Students will

culminate a collaborative learning

unit between social studies and lan-

guage arts in which they explored the

Jewish Holocaust. Students will

research one aspect of this event in

detail and will complete a multi-genre

project including three different

pieces of writing that showcases their

in-depth knowledge of the event

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Some of the 6th grade honors students

will be participating in Destination

Imagination at Beachwood High

School. Students are working to

create an engaging and creative show-

ing of their original fairytale.

Students must perform the story along

with original artwork, an illusion and

a showcase of individual talents.

Students will be scored on their

presentation. Students will also com-

pete for “instant challenges” in which

they must work together to create a

project with only a few minutes

preparation.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

3rd graders will be visiting Microsoft

to see the latest technologies and

digital skills. They will be involved in

a digital scavenger hunt, modern note

taking & media presentation.

25 senior AP & gifted students will be

taking a field trip to the Cleveland

Play House to see the play “The

Pianist of Willesden Lane.”

Thursday, March 19, 2015

8th grade students will be visiting the

Museum of Contemporary Art which

will align with their Language Arts

Career Unit as well as a series of

lessons/activities within their Social

Studies financial literacy unit.

MILKOVICH MIDDLE SCHOOL

STUDENT CREATED TEXTBOOKS

Mr. Dietrich’s 6th and 7th grade honors

students have been very active this year in

creating their own textbooks for social

studies class. Students are expected to show mastery

in their studies by creating their own pages in their

textbook based on topics studied in class. Chrisean

Merritt said, “Creating the textbook helps me

learn important ideas about different topics in world

history because I have to take that information and

create my book.” Kayla Smith said, “The textbooks

make you understand the topic more than just reading out of

the textbook.” Students feel empowered when they are in

charge of taking information and figuring out what is im-

portant to put in their own book. There is also a creative

side to creating the textbooks. Adding graphics and pictures

is also an important part of the process. Raven Golliday

said, “I like the artistic side of creating the textbook because

it makes it fun and not boring.” Creating the textbooks has

been a challenge that meets the needs of many types of

learners and challenges students to be creative.

7th Grader, Lauren Smith’s Textbook

4th period, 6th grade class

with their textbooks

SCIENCE OLYMPIAD TEAM

The Science Olympiad team from Milkovich competed at

the Northeast Ohio Regional Science Olympiad

Tournament Saturday, February 21, 2015. The event was

held at Case Western Reserve University. Students

participated in 23 team events that are like academic track

meets. Events require students to demonstrate knowledge

of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics,

geology, mechanical engineering, and technology. Amari

Sledge and Joshua Carr placed 9th out of 26 in the

Dynamic Planet event against past regional and national

winners. Team members: Devin Brumfield, Arthur

Burdette, Joshua Carr, Alana Colvin, Tamia Dark,

Shelby Eggleston, Kenya Gilbert, Tim Goodner, Aaron

Harrison, Amari Sledge, Derrick Walker &

Jacob Yeckley.

LINCOLN ELEMENTARY

KINDERGARTEN EXPLORING HABITATS

The kindergarten students have been exploring a unit on

habitats in class. The students are writing and

illustrating pictures about their home and the different

habitats of animals. They have also designed and

constructed 3-dimensional habitats out of different

building materials found in the classroom such as blocks,

K'Nex, popcicle sticks, play-doh, & kinetic sand.

PROBLEM SOLVING IN FIRST GRADE

The first grade students are always up to the challenge when

it comes to solving a problem embedded in a story. A

favorite activity recently involved finding out how many

crocodiles were in the Sillabobble Sea. The students applied

several mathematical practices. One of the most important

practices was to "make sense of problems and persevere in

solving them." The students worked in groups and decided

which tools they would use to total up the crocodiles. They

were also responsible for representing and explaining their

thinking. The students had to go beyond the basic facts to

find the total of 55. Using Rekenreks to solve the

problem are from left to

right: Samaira Williams,

Morgan Irby and Tristan

Coles

THE GREAT MAPLE READING CHALLENGE

Honors students in third through eighth grade have been challenged by their language arts

teachers to read award-winning fiction and non-fiction books from the

following categories:

Newbery Medal -- for excellence in children’s literature

Sibert Medal -- for excellence informational books

Coretta Scott King Award -- for distinguished African American

authors/illustrators

Michael L. Printz Award -- for excellence in young adult literature

These award-winning books run the gamut from fiction to non-fiction,

from picture books to quite challenging stories. They are excellent

books that avid readers will enjoy. Students are reading these

challenge books during independent reading time at school and at

home.

The challenge for students is to read 15 points worth of books by the

end May. They earn points for books – 3 points for award winners in each category and 1

point for honor books. A special event will be held to celebrate students who reach that

goal. Mid-year book bistros were held recently at Kennedy/Obama and Milkovich for

students who earned five or more points during the first semester. Students enjoyed a

special breakfast and shared information about their favorite books. Award winning

books were given as prizes.

A complete list of challenge books is available in your child’s language arts classroom.

You might want to select a book to read with your child. Students are able to borrow

many of the books at school and the rest can be found at the public library.

Happy Reading!

Illustration by

Eighth grader,

Derek Walker

SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLENCE

Aiyana Ware-Rembert was the winner in our naming contest for this newsletter.

When asked how she thought of the name, she stated “Mrs. Schostek told us to come up with something really good, so I wrote ‘Stretch your Magnificent Mind’.”

FIFTH GRADE ONLINE POETRY BOOKS

The fifth grade honors classes are working diligently trying to finish their

online poetry books to prepare them for publication. The Story Jumper

website is a great opportunity to create hardbound published books. We are

all excited to see our wonderful poetry in book format.

Also, we have begun literature circles utilizing 9 different books (between the

two classes) of all genres. The children are working cooperatively

accomplishing their assigned jobs and gaining great knowledge while reading.

There is a very exciting project in the works for these literature circles. Our

children will hopefully be paired with some of our high school students to

create and advertise products to promote and sell their books to other readers.

We are all very excited for this process and look forward to great things to

come!

Some of our literature book titles are:

- Out of the Dust - Trouble Don't Last

- The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - The One and Only Ivan

- Where the Red Fern Grows - Baby

- When Zackery Beaver Came to Town - The Cay

KENNEDY ELEMENTARY

STEM PROBLEM SOLVING

Second graders are involved this week in critical thinking using subtraction and STEM

problem solving. Students have been collaborating on a weekly STEM challenge, creating the tall-

est tower that can hold a Beanie Baby. After reading the math subtraction story “Elevator Math” by

Stuart J. Murphy students discussed height and numbers of floors in their houses and apartment

buildings. Students then began to engage in their weekly STEM project, attempting to build the

tallest tower. Lillian Kristoff noted prior to beginning that “our tower needs to have a strong

foundation. A strong foundation will help it stand and hold our team animal”. Students began the

project by creating a hypothesis of how tall their tower will be, describing their team Beanie Baby,

and creating a plan. After engaging in the asking, imagining, and the planning process, students

began to create their towers. While adding note cards to their towers, students were engaged in

three-digit and two-digit subtraction with regrouping, by subtracting the cards they add to their

tower to the amount of note cards they began with (100). Students also are required to use their

measurement skills to measure the height of their towers throughout the creating process. Students

will continue throughout the week creating, improving, and presenting their tallest tower while

using their critical thinking, problem solving, and subtraction skills.

Caitlin Podolski, Lillian Kristoff,

Markita Hill, Gervon Stewart, and

Sean Mines - In the planning stage of

the design process. Students are

planning how to best create the tall-

est tower with the best "foundation"

according to Lillian Kristoff

MILKOVICH MIDDLE SCHOOL

SEVENTH GRADE BIOMES PROJECTS

7th Grade Honors Science just finished a menu project on

Biomes. Menus allow the students to showcase their different

talents (artistic, video media, writing, etc.) to complete a project of their choice. Pic-

tured projects are from Nyree Nevels, Mykaela Jones, Ty'Asia Goodman,

Destiny Huff, Robert Lucas, William Johnson, Lauren Smith, Amirah Pugh,

Nijah Jackson, Kaylah Hill, and Kayla Smith.

MAPLE HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL

STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN A MOCK TRIAL

The Mock Trial team competed in district compe��on on January 30th at the Medina County Court of Common Pleas. Mock Trial is the largest

inter-school compe��on in the state a�er athle�cs. It is a very demanding contest! Students take the roles of lawyers and witnesses, write

opening and closing statements, and perform direct and cross examina�ons. The students compete against other schools and are scored by

actual judges and lawyers. The compe��on aspect requires an incredible amount of thinking on one's feet. Sophomore Alaiyna Boyd explained

that for her the most challenging part of being a witness was “being cross examined by the other team.”

The Mock Trial students did an INCREDIBLE job at compe��on. The students faced teams from

Cloverleaf High School and Shaker Heights High School. Summer Jordan won an outstanding

witness award and Cyan Blackwell and Arianna Pugh were both complimented on their

performance by the presiding judge. The Maple Heights Mock Trial team consists of students

Cyan Blackwell, Sharilyn Clark, Taviana Carr, Te'Aira Harris, Arianna Pugh, Alaiyna Boyd,

Summer Jordan, Hope Mckenzie, Olandra Burns, Eric Moon, Diamond Howard, Mariah Dixson,

and Kendall McCoy. Team advisors are Jordan Kolarik and Mary McDermo'. Ohio Mock Trial

requires that each team have a legal advisor. Maple Heights students were very lucky to work

with Tera Coleman, A'orney at Law at Calfee, Halter & Griswold. The students benefited greatly

through collabora�on with an experienced lawyer.

Unfortunately, the Maple Heights Mock Trial team did not advance to the regional compe��ons.

However, the scores were very close. Sophomore Summer Jordan was excited that “our hard work and dedica�on paid off in the end.”

Sophomore Te’Aira Harris related that “mock trial was a fun experience and I look forward to doing it again.” All in all, it was a great inaugural

year for the Maple Heights Mock Trial team. All of the students involved made Maple Heights proud with their effort and performance.

EVERYDAY GEOMETRY BY STUDENT ALEX POSTLETHWAITE

Every student, including myself asks “How does this connect to our everyday lives?” and that is exactly

what Ms. Rovelli’s Honors Geometry class set out to answer in a recent project. For this project, we

worked individually or with a partner to find out where the basic tools of Geometry fit into our lives. Each

group searched the internet for pictures that showed the geometrical terms we’ve learned in the real world.

The tricky part of this was that each group had to choose a theme and all their pictures had to align with

their theme. The theme I chose was Geometry in video games. Some of my classmates also had some

interesting themes, like flags, famous landmarks, the Olympics, emoji's and many others. Once we had all

of our pictures, each group created a Prezi presentation explaining the geometry term and how it can be

seen in our daily lives and interests. This project taught the majority of us that geometry is used in every-

day life and I think we all learned a lot from this project. A few of my classmates said “It was nice getting

away from the normal paper and pencil work” and “I liked it a lot because it helped me understand the

terms

Above is one of the many

slides on my Prezi, which

discusses how one of our ge-

ometry terms (Perpendicular

Lines) can be seen in the eve-

ryday life of someone playing

video games.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT CALCULUS CLASS

The Advanced Placement Calculus class is working on applications of mathematics, and specifically

calculus concepts, to the real world. Students have the opportunity to earn college credit based on their

scores on the Placement test. In preparation for the AP Placement exam in May, students need to be fluent

in procedures related to Calculus, but also need to have a deep conceptual understanding of the material

and the ability to apply the ideas to new situations. To help students to this end, we have been working on

problems involving rates of change and accumulation across time. For example, students were given a

graph of kilowatt per hour usage and asked to determine instantaneous usage at key points in time and to

determine an average payment based on an integral. Students have also been relating acceleration and

velocity graphs back to a position function and graph.

BOOK REVIEW

BY: DESTINY GREN

Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death

Camps, by Andrea Warren is about a boy

named Jack who gets separated from his

family and goes into a concentration camp

run by the Nazis.

Jack lived in Gdynia, Poland on the shores

of the Baltic Sea. That is until the Nazis, a

group who hated Jews, came to take over

Poland. Jack didn’t really know what was

going on, but he realized the situation when

he got moved to a concentration camp far

from home.

While in camp Jack didn’t, well, couldn’t

eat much and was basically a slave. He

went through tough times. He found friends

that either died or got moved to a different

camp. What Jack went through was worse

than what you would believe.

To see if Jack survives, read Surviving

Hitler by Andrea Warren.

OBAMA ELEMENARY