Grade Cards
Cozy up by the fire with some hot cocoa and YES, with your Voyager student’s portfolio!
Report cards were distributed today. For those of you who are new to Voyager, the reports were generated from the list of assignments on Jupiter Grades. The reports include:
- A summary of the semester learning
- A list of learning standards addressed (VT grade level expectations and common core standards)
- A Proficiency Menu
- A final proficiency score in standards
The report cards should be inside the black portfolio binders that you purchased during the 5th grade year. Accompanying those reports are many of the evidences used to evaluate students. Dig deep into the binder sleeves, your Voyager student has done an immense amount of good work. You should be proud!
Voyager Family Night
6:30-8:30 at WCS Cafeteria then Auditorium
This is a change of venue! We want all who ‘voyage’ on this evening to celebrate to be sure to NOT go to the Old Brick Church. COME TO THE WCS CAFETERIA AND AUDITORIUM! That’s where we will be.
The following link is for families, who are able, to participate in the potluck event!
http://voyagerfap.wikispaces.com/
Heifer Project Change War
In the spirit of giving....Students will be competing in a change war to raise money to buy a heifer for a family in need this holiday season. Jars will be in designated areas and the competition is between the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. The grade that raises the most money will win an ice cream party after the holiday break! This project is made possible by efforts of one literature group on house but involves everyone! It won’t be possible without your change. Thanks for making a donation! Dollars are acceptable, too!
Voyager House FAP Meeting Update
- Great to see the parents that attended Thursday's FAP meeting. For those of you who did not have a chance to attend, here is a recap. We had a lively discussion on the current state of The Williston Wins Program. The program is coming to a close for this year and it has fallen short of meeting its goal. The program garnered $13,000 less donations than last year. Your input is important and will be shared with the council at the next school-wide FAP meeting taking place on Thursday, December 13th at 8:15 am in the WCS Dining/Meeting Room (this meeting is open to all if you'd like to attend.) Parents shared opinions and information regarding their support of the program. It is important to note that because the program did not meet its goal, it is likely that we will need to shift gears for increased school-wide fundraisers to support the funding for field trips and other needs. Another alternative is that next year, parents will be asked to pay individually for field trips (reverting to what was done in the past.) So, for example, this year's trip to Siskin Ecological Center was fully funded by the House FAP funds, next year, each family may be asked to pay for whatever team-building adventure that is scheduled. Your voice and opinion is important, thank you for sharing your thoughts on that issue. If you missed the meeting and would like to share your opinion, a formal survey is being created by the FAPAC that will be distributed in January.
- Our Type III field trip this year is a 7/8 trip to NYC. Type III field trips are overnight trips that are out of state. They are not funded by The Williston Wins Campaign. There will be a number of fundraisers held throughout the year to raise money to reduce the cost of the field trip for every family. No student will be denied access to the field trip due to a financial challenge. The goal of fundraising is to keep the cost of the trip somewhere between the $250 - $350 range for each student. Our number to reach to make this happen is $11,000. With the Craft Fair Book Sale and Zumba Dance, we have raised a total of $1,291.50. We have many fundraisers 'in the works' over the course of the school year, so please be supportive of these and I encourage all Voyager parents and families to help where they can. Here is a brief breakdown of the upcoming events scheduled:
- Voyager Family Night: Next Thursday, December 13th from 6:30 - 8:30. The event will be held in the WCS Cafeteria and the Auditorium. We needed to move it from the OBC to make sure it is accessible to all students. Please keep this event on your calendar! A wonderful way to gather and share time with our community and raise funds! There is a suggested donation of $10.00 per family at the door, but please note that this is an opportunity to donate ANY amount you feel comfortable in support of our overall Voyager fund. The money from this event can support all house field trips (not just the 7/8 one!)
- Dog Makeovers: January 26th. Stay tuned for this fun event where Voyager Students will help 'clean up' some canine friends at a local pet store.
- Voyager-sponsored Dance: Feb 1. We'll be in touch with some fun concession ideas to increase profits from the dance.
- Voyager Kids Cook/Tasting Event: An event slated for early March, we'll work with students to create a culinary tasting dinner/event in our cafeteria.
- Voyager Recycle Sale: Our Annual 'indoor yard sale' is our biggest money-maker. It will be held on April 6th this year. Please begin earmarking items you'd like to donate to that sale.
- We will also hold a 'Mexicali' night (date TBD) as well as another large fundraiser on May 6th (TBD.)
- Your support of this activity will have a dramatic impact on the success of the field trip for all Voyager families, so thank you very much in advance for your support and participation in these events. To help out, WIKIs will be created and you will get information on a on-going basis from our FAP reps Sue Scheer, Lori Mele and Ann Schmidt.
- The meeting was closed with an update on the current curriculum. The first semester has gone really well and the teacher team is very happy with the results of our new classroom set up and student configuration. Parents offered very positive support and feedback. If you did not have a chance to attend the meeting, please feel free to contact our FAP reps at any time.
Ms. Q's Corner’s
Math 7
What is an equality and how do you solve them? We continue to work through our investigations in “Moving Straight Ahead” with emphasis on using symbols and variables to solve equalities. We solved the mysterious “Money Purse of Monterk” where students used symbols to find the number of gold coins in each purse. Keeping things balanced on both sides of the equations and writing out our steps was emphasized. We also reviewed positive and negative integers.
Math 8
The Voyagers students wanted to sell hats and t-shirts with different profit margins for each with an outcome of a $600 profit. How can you solve a problem where there are there are three variables: profit, t-shirts and hats? We explored the difference between the slope intercept form (y= mx +b) and the standard form ax + by = c.
Science 7th/8th
What forms does thermal energy take and how does it travel. We investigated through our experiments this week different forms of heat transfer. The problem, how do you transfer the heat of hot water to the room temperature water without them touching using a baggy, index card, aluminum foil, paper clip and beakers. We collected temperature data, graphed our results and began investigating what materials allow heat to transfer.
News from Ms. O
Math 5: This week students finished the first part of Unit 2 on multi-digit multiplication. This followed nearly two weeks of modeling instruction. Students began with base ten pieces and have moved away from those into other, more efficient models for multiplication. Everyone has made the transition. The assessments show deep learning. Our next instructional area is on the relationship between multiplication and division.
Math 6: Students spent several days this week working with a hundredths grid in order to understand how to model decimals when given a fraction to rename. Some discoveries were made around repeating decimals like ⅓ and ⅙ and many have internalized the algorithm, numerator divide denominator. This discussion followed a rich experience last week in studio and uncovered some common misconceptions about decimals. We are moving toward a checkpoint assessment and then finishing up this book with percents. We will do positive and negative numbers before the holiday break.
⅚ Science: We have just begun investigation of how matter can change and began our first investigation yesterday dissolving salt or sugar in water. We have big misconceptions about physical and chemical change and will work to sort these out as we continue changing matter in class. The focus of our physical change work will be about phase change, or change of state, given the introduction of thermal energy and the reversible nature of them and differentiating this change from chemical changes which change the substance altogether and cannot be reversed.
We spent two days on a density assessment that was partially scored in Trimester 1. I revealed some gaps in understanding and will use the rest of the unscored assessment to discuss the answers. I also believed that the density write-ups deserved a peer assessment, so these will be included in Trimester 2 grades. My intention was to get this write-up in Trimester 1, but I want students to get the message that this is about the writing process, not the score! Thanks for your understanding.
The Week in Ms.Wesnak’s Room
7/8 Language Arts and Social Studies
This week students started work on their Poetry Book project. Students are revising or creating a variety of poems to put into their very own book of poetry. They are also creating their own original artwork to match their poetry pieces. I am really looking forward to seeing their final projects! In Social Studies we have been reading and learning about the United Nations. We have watched videos and done readings on the history and current goals of the United Nations. Students were involved in a really nice discussion around the 8 Millenium Goals that the UN hopes to reach by 2015! Talk to your child about what these goals are all about, and if they think it’s even possible to reach these goals. Don’t forget: 8th graders are doing a bottle drop off at Williston Central School to raise money for Hurricane Sandy Relief. They will also be doing a bottle drive in Williston neighborhoods on Sunday! 7th graders will be selling shell ornaments at Paquette Full of Posies on both Saturday and Sunday!!
Mr. Merrill’s Wrap Up
⅚ Language Arts and Social Studies
Following our reading cafe, we discussed reading goals for the second trimester. Students were to write a goal that will make them “better readers”. They also wrote a prediction for the independent book that they are reading in their reading response notebooks. We continued our prediction making later in the week by reading a true story “cliffhanger”. Students had to write a prediction based on the evidence in the story. We completed the story on the following day, identifying the evidence that would lead to a correct prediction. Be sure to ask your student about the story. We also started a new round of literature groups this week. Students are in small 5-8 groups, reading short stories with the common theme of “giving”.
In social studies, we continued our study of the Constitution, discussing the question, “How did the Framers limit the power of the government?” We are working towards building a better understanding of checks and balances and separation of powers, as we begin to study the 3 branches of government.
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