PTS OV News Page 1 Language Arts & Creative Writing

Language Arts

Page 7 PTS OV News Social Studies & Spanish

6th Grade Social Studies & CJSF Honor Society-Ms. Fells

Ancient History

This semester in 6th grade, social studies has been busy and productive. The

students have done skits, plays, clay –mation, food projects, art projects,

models and dioramas to demonstrate their knowledge of the Stone Age,

Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt & Kush, Hebrews, Greeks and India. Each stu-

dent got a copy of a DVD with all the presentations, so they could watch

them to help study for their finals.

Spanish & Spanish Club

This semester in 8th Grade Spanish, students have learned how to speak,

understand, read and write in Spanish and about Hispanic Culture. They

have studied the calendar, numbers, how to spell in Spanish, seasons,

weather, climate, school vocabulary, shapes, food, colors, and basic

greetings. They have also learned the names of all the Spanish speaking

countries, and about the Day of the Dead and Posada customs. They

made DVD’s of their food skits and singing winter songs so they could

hear themselves in Spanish. They have also experimented with traditional Hispanic cooking, arts and crafts

and went on a field trip to visit La Raza Galleria for Day of the Dead. Spanish Club has also been busy learn-

ing to cook Hispanic food, sing Spanish songs, make piñatas, and play Spanish games.

California Junior Scholarship Federation

CJSF has been busy with fundraisers, service projects, field trips

and learning about how to get scholarships for college. They have

sold Boo-grams, had a bake sale, collected Toys for Tots, and or-

ganized a snow day for the whole school.

Welcome to a new chapter of our

2010/2011 school year here at PTS Orangevale.

The language arts department is pleased to have

the honor of working with such a wonderful group

of students this year at Pacific Technology Charter

School. As we end the first semester students in

7th grade English will be finishing up The Giver by

Lois Lowry, while students in the 6th grade will be finishing up chapters on understanding

literary devices and their usage in prose. Our 8th grade students will just be finishing up

“Diary of Anne Frank” the play and working on understanding plot and character in

preparation for starting The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle at the beginning of the

new semester.

In addition to working on these concepts, students continue to work on their spelling.

Reviewing the spelling rules associated with each spelling lesson at the beginning of the

week will both help your student to do well on Friday’s spelling test and also to improve

their overall spelling skills.

We appreciate your support in the classroom and look forward to a great year.

Creative Writing Club Creative Writing is considered to be any writing: fiction, po-

etry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal

forms of literature. We will explore writing which includes short

stories and poems. Students will use their imagination and crea-

tivity to explore their ideas through writing.

Yearbook: Students are working hard on taking pictures,

doing layout and finalizing picks for favorites in this year’s

yearbook. Students are putting all of their creativity and hard work directly into an online

format for the book and we are looking forward to a great book this year.

Inside this issue:

Language Arts 1

Social Studies 3

Foreign Language 4

Computer Science & PE 5

Mathematics 6

Science 8

2011 Principal’s Address

PTS Ov News

Pacific Technology School OV 6550 Filbert Ave. Orangevale CA 95662

ov.ptscharter.org

Mr. Taymaz: Life Science and Physical Science

Science Page 8

Upcoming Events

January

1/28 PTS Science Fair

1/29 Math Matters Competition

1/31 Finals Week-Minimum Days

February

2/1-2/4 Finals Week –Min. Days

2/1 Physical Fitness Test Opens

2/4 End of 1st Semester,1st Report

Card

2/14-2/18 Map Testing 2

2/21-2/25 President’s Week-No

School

March

3/1-3/2 STAR Writing Assessment

Grade 7

3/15 3rd Progress Report

3/18 Yearbook Pictures

3/23-3/25 Parent Teacher Confer-

ences 2:45-4:30 (no after school

activities)

Dear Parents,

We are almost finished with first semester. We are now studying evolution in seventh grade, and we just

started working on fundamental concepts in chemistry with eight graders.

We are really excited about the PTS Second Annual Science Fair, which will be

held on Friday, January 28. Our students started to work on their projects about

two months ago. Some students work in groups

and others will attend the fair with individual

projects. Judges from UC Davis, UC Berkeley

and Intel will evaluate students’ projects. Some

of our parents with a strong science and math

background will help us with the projects as well.

Lego Robotics Club students attended the FLL Sacramento Tournament

and got 5th place. Congratulations to all the Lego Robotics students for their

persistent efforts. We just had a field trip to Los Angeles with some of the

Lego Robotics students. We visited the Natural History Museum and went to

Legoland. It was a great experience to see

those wonderful places and spend a

weekend together at a hotel with an ocean view.

We look forward to an exciting and fun-filled second semester.

Thank you,

6550 Filbert Ave.

Orangevale, CA 95662

January 28, 2011

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Email: htaymaz@ptscharter.org

Pacific Technology School in Orangevale is a Math, Science and Technology focused

college-prep middle school. Pacific Technology was established in 2009 by its parent

organization, Magnolia Foundation. Magnolia Foundation established its first charter

school, Magnolia Science Academy 1, in Reseda, CA in 2002. In its first year, Pacific

Technology School reported an impressive API score of 825 for the 2009-2010 school

year.

In its main curriculum, Pacific Technology School provides its students with rigorous education in core

subjects, such as Math, Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts. Physical Education and

Computer classes are also offered daily as part of the curriculum. Character Education and electives, such

as Foreign Language and Art are enrichments to Pacific Technology main program, as well as after

school clubs and tutoring, at no charge.

Another distinguishing feature of Pacific Technology School is promoting Math, Science and Technol-

ogy competitions. Our staff and volunteers from local universities are engaged to prepare our students for

competitions such as Math Olympiads, Computer Olympiads, and Science Fairs.

Pacific Technology School offers an extensive after school program which runs until 4 PM four days a

week. This program keeps the students off the streets and engages them in a variety of activities such as

tutoring, computer, sports, and the arts. Our rich club programs enable students to expose themselves to

different experiences

At Pacific Technology School we believe in the benefit of strong parent involvement in students' educa-

tion. We do home visits and our web based school information system gives parents the opportunity to

track student performance including grades, discipline records, attendance, homework, upcoming exams

and projects, etc. as well as upcoming school events.

Pacific Technology School holds Open Houses throughout the year to provide information to parents

who are interested in learning more about our school. Attend an upcoming Open House or visit our web

site at www.ov.ptscharter.org

Mr. Altun, Principal

Pacific Technology School Orangevale

Emphasis on Science, Math & Technology

Advanced Math & Science Program (AMSP) for Advanced Learners

Rigorous Academic Program, College Prep, Advanced Courses

Small Class Sizes (25 max) Extracurricular Activities & Trips

Free After School Programs & Tutoring

Call to make a reservation for open house.

Saturday, February 12th 11 AM

Saturday, March 12th 11 AM

Saturday, March 26th 11 AM

Saturday, April 2nd 11 AM

Angie Kendall, School Secretary/Office Manager

(916) 293-8611

Jan/Feb

PTS OV News Page 6 Mathematics

PTS OV News Page 3

Social Studies

Mrs. Bowen, 6th Grade Math , 8th Grade Geometry, and Earth Science

Dear All,

The next couple of weeks are very busy for all of us: students,

staff, and parents. The Science Fair is right around the corner,

and we are all hopeful that it will be a successful one. Unlike

other schools, where participating in a science fair is an option, all

our students are involved. There will be a few students awarded

for their projects, but to me, all participants are winners!

The final exams will be taken the week of January 31- Feb

4th. All teachers will spend class time reviewing the material,

but the kids must spend quality time in the comfort of their

homes and review the concepts one more time. If I were a

parent, I would put away the video games for a while…

Mid-February our students will take the spring MAP test. Math

and English teachers had two training sessions on the MAP test.

Mr. Ersoz, 6th-7th Grade Pre-Algebra , 7th-8th Grade Algebra-1

Dear Students and Parents, we are approaching the end of the first

semester. Students were given a Final Study Packet before the Winter

Break. In class, we will be reviewing the most important topics but stu-

dents need to make a conscious effort to get ready for finals.

AMSP Winter Camp was lots of fun and hard work!

Mr. Ersoz

(ersoz@ptscharter.org)

Pacific Technology Students

Honor Civil Rights and MLK! PTs - Expec t ex ce l l en ce !

O n January 13, 2011 Pacific

Technology students in all

grades spent the day re-

searching and discussing the

civil rights movement in America for the

upcoming Martin Luther king Jr. holiday,

the following Monday. Students had the

opportunity to read primary resources,

watch videos, and participate in discus-

sions about what civil rights meant to

them. They learned about different civil

rights leaders over the course of time

and several Supreme Court rulings that

helped or hurt the civil rights movement

over the course of the nineteenth and

twentieth centuries.

PTS students were then given an op-

portunity to construct an essay about

the history of the civil rights movement

and what civil rights means to them in

their continuing growth as young Ameri-

cans.

Washing DC 2011!

Any 8th grader inter-

ested in going on the

D.C. trip should see

Mr. Boyd ASAP!

7th graders are studying

the ancient Maya, Az-

tecs, and Inca empires in

America!

Pacific technology School gets tour of the Capitol!

Teachers, students, parents, and admin-

istrators were asked to be the guests of

State Senator Alan Lowenthal during

the first meeting of the 2011 year. PTS

participants were taken on a private

tour of the capital building and were

acknowledged during the opening re-

marks of the Senate. Thanks Senator

Lowenthal for the wonderful tour!

PTS OV News Page 4 Foreign Language PTS OV News Page 5 Computer Science & Phys. Education

Computer Science & AMSP CS

Hello everybody,

So far, the Computer Science department’s focus is on Microsoft

Office Word, Power Point and Excel with all grades; and Picasa,

Microsoft Movie Maker and Google Sketchup with 8th graders.

They learned how to sketch, rough and design 3D models. They’ll

take a final exam this week and design their 3D chair.

As AMSP Computer Science Club, we’re done with Scratch and our students

make super games and animations with Scratch. After Scratch we started

C++ which is a real programming language. They have learned basic

codes on C++ so far and they’ll start to learn loops, variables, etc. soon.

Thank you again.

Have a great month.

Pacific Technology School Computer Science Department

Physical Education & Clubs

The Pacific Technology School Physical Education Department would like to wel-

come the new students for the 2010-2011 school year. At Pacific Technology

School, we feel that Physical Education is an essential part of the total educational

process. Through various physical activities, students are provided opportunities to

develop their physical, mental, and social skills. We will also have our Basketball,

Soccer and Rec. and Fitness clubs starting the week of 9/20.

With the start of 2011, we have begun a variety of new things in and around Physical Education.

The first is the performance of our Line dance and square dance routines that will be held on Janu-

ary 21st. The routines are worked on in groups for 3 months and are truly enjoyable

to evaluate. We also started our badminton units, which provide all the students with

the basic fundamentals of the game. The big announcement comes with our partici-

pation in the first annual Baytech basketball tournament to be held on February 21st.

Baytech is a Magnolia/Accord school in Oakland, CA that will provide us with the

facilities. The tournament is from 9AM-4PM on February 21. All parents, students

and faculty are welcome to come and support our team. Admission will be $1 for all

non-players. There will also be snacks and lunch for sale at the games. Directions will be available

at the front office.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES UPDATE

LET’S LEARN RUSSIAN!!!

Students from 6c,7b, and 7c classes try

to do their best to learn grammatical

genders in the Russian language.

They are doing well at writing a totally different alphabet.

Nowadays students are learning new words: domestic and wild ani-

mals. This is a good chance for students to discover words that are

both very similar and very different from English.

The annual language and performing arts contest is just around the corner.

Students are working hard on their Folk dance and songs.

They have sleepovers and also learn how to cook Turkish dishes!!!

PTS Orangevale is organizing a trip to Turkey trip this coming spring break.

Students and their parents have the opportunity to visit Turkey, see live history, and taste a different cuisine.