Voyager Housekeeping ...
Tuesday, September 18th - Picture Day (please send forms in
with your student)
Thursday, September 20th - Curriculum Night, 6:30-8:30
Please see the Voyager website for our posted Homework
Policy and Expectations
http://www.wsdvt.org/Page/2970
Special Thanks! We would like to thank a generous Voyager
family for their efforts to find a painter and pay for the paint to make our
KIVA one color! It looks fantastic!
Thanks to Joe, Caleb's stepdad, for painting the KIVA during
our field trip days!
Shout out to Phil Swett, Phil Martin, Laura McClure, Matt
Clear, Tom Moody, Nancy Gagne, Michelle Pierce, Mike Albertelli, Theresa
Schroeder, Sahve V-C, and Dave Schmidt. A special thanks to all of our
field trip chaperones! We are thankful to have such energetic and
committed parents!
Field Trip Photos!
Dave Schmidt has provided a link to photos from the trip.
We are all still working dump photos there. Take a look!
I've set it so people can "right click" and
"save as" to download them for their personal use. They can
also print off the site and any proceeds will go back to the class.
Gallery Password = Voyager
You can also ADD photos to this gallery via the link below:
What's happening in Ms. Wesnak's Room:
7/8 Language Arts and Social Studies: This week started up
our first unit on government and civics. Students will be focusing on trying to
answer the question: How can I make my voice heard and seen clearly? This
essential question or guiding question will be our "compass" for the
coming weeks. Leading us through learning about our government, the upcoming
local and national elections, and where we stand on the big issues! Our week
kicked off with our weekly independent reading, happening every Monday, and our
Current Events Catch-up! In LA students will read a book of their choice for 30
minutes. They will finish each class by having a book chat with a friend.
Students will talk about their likes/dislikes, connections, and more. Students
will also be making predictions about what will happen next in their books. In
Social Studies, our classes will take the time to try and catch-up on the
latest news and big story headlines! Looking at local, global, entertainment,
food, and sports news. As the week progressed we dove into a couple of our
country's important documents: The Constitution, more specifically the Bill of
Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. We asked ourselves what does it
mean to be a citizen? Students participated in heated debates about our rights
as citizens of the United States and also spoke about the everlasting impact of
these documents. Along with journal writes, building of vocabulary maps, and a
compare/contrast activity with the United States Constitution vs. the Vermont
Constitution, our week was pretty packed. Students were also given book choices
for our first Literature Groups, which will start on Monday. Our first Lit
Group theme across house is voyage and adventure!
Ms. Q’s Corner:
Math 7: We began with setting up class norms that
will help us to be engaged math learners. We plunged into geometry
by defining, drawing and exploring geometric terms. Students
explored four different types of plane symmetry: rotation, reflection,
translation and glide reflection. We used pattern blocks to create
patterns that illustrated these forms of symmetry. We examined several M.C.
Escher prints to look for additional examples of symmetry. Finally
we created our own tessellations. Additionally, we set up our math
binders, practiced math facts and performed several entrance tasks. It
was a busy week.
Math 8: This week we began using Edmodo as
a venue for our math communication, reflection and information. We
explored different types of numbers: natural, whole, integers, real, rational
and irrational. We practiced using Order of Operation, (PEMDAS)
while solving math problems. Through the week, discussed class
norms/habits of being that will allow us to be active, productive and engaged
math learners. We created a dedicated math notebook, took a math
fluency test and completed an entrance task. Students will have two math
classes on Thursday, Algebra seminar/math seminar and our regular math class. A
quiz on numbers will take place next week. (Tuesday)
Science 7th/8th: What are the characteristics of living
things? We began by taking a close look at a small living creature-
yeast! Our focus questions was: What are the optimum conditions for
yeast growth? We read articles, created testable questions, an experiment
plan, and then carried out our experiments. We collect data, created claim and
evidence statements, conclusions and then had a scientists meeting to review
our results and plot out more questions. There were a lot of surprises, interesting
discussion and reflection.
Mr. Merrill's Wrap Up:
⅚ Language Arts and Social Studies
This week, we had our first “Reader’s Cafe”, a 30 minute independent reading period, followed by discussion and reflection in our Reading Response Notebooks. We are planning to have a “Reader’s Cafe” every Monday. Please sign up on the pbworks site (link below) if you would like to provide a healthy snack for our weekly cafe.
Students were introduced to the book choices for Literature Groups on Wednesday morning and will start on Monday. Ask your student which 3 book titles he/she selected.
We also spent some time writing and reflecting on our trip to Siskin. Students completed a rough draft constructed response today, based on what they learned about themselves on the trip. Final drafts will be completed next week.
In Social Studies we started our unit on “Election 2012.” We are focusing on the candidates, offices, political parties and issues. We completed some brainstorming activities and used a “scanning” strategy for reading informational text. The text was an article on the presidential candidates and the issues. Students will start a candidate poster project next week and will also be blogging with students from other houses about the upcoming election.
This week, we had our first “Reader’s Cafe”, a 30 minute independent reading period, followed by discussion and reflection in our Reading Response Notebooks. We are planning to have a “Reader’s Cafe” every Monday. Please sign up on the pbworks site (link below) if you would like to provide a healthy snack for our weekly cafe.
Students were introduced to the book choices for Literature Groups on Wednesday morning and will start on Monday. Ask your student which 3 book titles he/she selected.
We also spent some time writing and reflecting on our trip to Siskin. Students completed a rough draft constructed response today, based on what they learned about themselves on the trip. Final drafts will be completed next week.
In Social Studies we started our unit on “Election 2012.” We are focusing on the candidates, offices, political parties and issues. We completed some brainstorming activities and used a “scanning” strategy for reading informational text. The text was an article on the presidential candidates and the issues. Students will start a candidate poster project next week and will also be blogging with students from other houses about the upcoming election.
News from Ms. O
5th and 6th Grade Math
Both fifth and sixth graders have been building norms in the classroom that promote private reasoning time, discourse (talking to others about the math), writing opportunities to share current understanding, and modeling. The practices we use have been informal to start, but as soon as we dive into more problem solving, the more deeply we will explore the different ways that students can share ideas, listen for understanding and justify their thinking with evidence. All of these behaviors are researched based, proven to be helpful in deepening math understanding.
5th Grade is using the last year of the spiraling program, Bridges. I have provided a link below for parent help and parent information. http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/resources/materials/parents/parents5
6th Grade is using Connected Math 2 6th Grade. Please see the hot link for more information for parents. http://connectedmath.msu.edu/parents/welcome.shtml
Grade 5 Math
Fifth graders have been working hard to internalize the new culture of Voyager House and have been doing a great job in math! We began our math learning by practicing how to make a good math observation. We played mystery object, where students could describe what they were looking at in the classroom, without naming it and I was psyched about the rich math language students are already using! Wow! We have also been working on representing height data for our classroom, allowing us to create a list of the elements of a good graphic in math. This has allowed us to ultimately tell the story “hidden” in the numbers. I am certain this first look at data and statistics will build a firm foundation for the concepts at the end of Unit 1.
5th graders have an additional math class on Mondays and Wednesdays. This is a time to practice and grow our computational fluency (80 minutes/week). Soon, students will also be connected online, to FASTT math, filling in the gaps of homework time that Bridges has (the program does not have homework every night). FASTT math works on building proficiency in the areas of multiplication and division. We have been competing for space in the lab. Hopefully we can get set up soon.
Grade 6 Math
Students in 6th grade math began their math investigations this week working to answer the question, “How tall was the statue of Hercules in the city of Amman, from head to toe, if we only know the length of the pointer finger from second knuckle to fingertip?” Students walked through some interesting problem solving strategies, taking both his/her own initial ideas, and the ideas of others and crafting best guesses of his height. We had some awesome conversations while practicing the work of real mathematics! On to Prime Time, our first Connected Math Unit, where we will learn about the properties of numbers that allow us see each number as unique!
5/6 Science: Our ultimate learning goal for the first part of the Properties of Matter Unit is to answer the question, What is matter and what makes one substance unique and different from other substances? Our investigation of matter began this week with some exciting inquiries with plain ole’ water! You would never believe how exciting liquid water can be until you hear a student shout, “This is cool!” Student use droppers and wax paper and described the properties or characteristics of water as well as exploring the way that dye behaves when dropped into hot and cold water!
Some comments from students included:
Both fifth and sixth graders have been building norms in the classroom that promote private reasoning time, discourse (talking to others about the math), writing opportunities to share current understanding, and modeling. The practices we use have been informal to start, but as soon as we dive into more problem solving, the more deeply we will explore the different ways that students can share ideas, listen for understanding and justify their thinking with evidence. All of these behaviors are researched based, proven to be helpful in deepening math understanding.
5th Grade is using the last year of the spiraling program, Bridges. I have provided a link below for parent help and parent information. http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/resources/materials/parents/parents5
6th Grade is using Connected Math 2 6th Grade. Please see the hot link for more information for parents. http://connectedmath.msu.edu/parents/welcome.shtml
Grade 5 Math
Fifth graders have been working hard to internalize the new culture of Voyager House and have been doing a great job in math! We began our math learning by practicing how to make a good math observation. We played mystery object, where students could describe what they were looking at in the classroom, without naming it and I was psyched about the rich math language students are already using! Wow! We have also been working on representing height data for our classroom, allowing us to create a list of the elements of a good graphic in math. This has allowed us to ultimately tell the story “hidden” in the numbers. I am certain this first look at data and statistics will build a firm foundation for the concepts at the end of Unit 1.
5th graders have an additional math class on Mondays and Wednesdays. This is a time to practice and grow our computational fluency (80 minutes/week). Soon, students will also be connected online, to FASTT math, filling in the gaps of homework time that Bridges has (the program does not have homework every night). FASTT math works on building proficiency in the areas of multiplication and division. We have been competing for space in the lab. Hopefully we can get set up soon.
Grade 6 Math
Students in 6th grade math began their math investigations this week working to answer the question, “How tall was the statue of Hercules in the city of Amman, from head to toe, if we only know the length of the pointer finger from second knuckle to fingertip?” Students walked through some interesting problem solving strategies, taking both his/her own initial ideas, and the ideas of others and crafting best guesses of his height. We had some awesome conversations while practicing the work of real mathematics! On to Prime Time, our first Connected Math Unit, where we will learn about the properties of numbers that allow us see each number as unique!
5/6 Science: Our ultimate learning goal for the first part of the Properties of Matter Unit is to answer the question, What is matter and what makes one substance unique and different from other substances? Our investigation of matter began this week with some exciting inquiries with plain ole’ water! You would never believe how exciting liquid water can be until you hear a student shout, “This is cool!” Student use droppers and wax paper and described the properties or characteristics of water as well as exploring the way that dye behaves when dropped into hot and cold water!
Some comments from students included:
“You can’t change the shape of the water. It
eventually returns to a blob!” (triggering a conversation about why drops of
water on wax paper, bubbles, and even the earth are all spherical).
“Over the time the dye spread out evenly.” (encouraging
students to ask themselves, how can the dye equally distribute without
stirring).
“The water is moving! It’s the molecules!” (allowing
us to all think about how water can move, if we cannot see it).
In addition to these explorations, we are also practicing how to be good scientists using science notebooks, open inquiry explorations, and planning practices that allow data/observations to be reliable and valid. Scientists are also readers and writers and we are working on building guidelines for how scientists learn and communicate with and from others!
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