Week of April 8

Math 7

This week in math, students created nets of different dimension boxes.  We explored volume and surface area of rectangular prisms.  Students created a vocabulary matrix with a plethora of geometric terms.  Next week we will investigate the relationship between box dimensions, surface area and volume. As several students have exclaimed, "It's cubetastic."

Math 8

The 8th graders continued their study of quadratic equations with visual models.  Students were introduced to factored, expanded form and the anatomy of a quadratic equation.  Binomials, polynomials and terms were defined.  Students also had a Check-up on the first few chapters of "Frogs and Fleas."

Science 7/8

Students took several assessments this week.  The CSSU common assessment is an inquiry task where students perform an experiment, collect data, graph the results, analyze it and synthesize the major concept. This task focuses in the Conservation of Mass. Students also participated in the Vermont Science Initiative assessment.  They were asked to interpret data from an experiment and answer questions related to the scientific meaning of the results.

"What does Sir Isaac Newton drink when he is thirsty? .....Gravity!"  We finished our week by returning to the concept of gravity.  The question was: "How can you change the rate of a falling marble using a note card."  Students engineered a variety of devices that slowed the fall of the marble. We discussed drag, wind resistance and lift as an oppositional force to gravity.

News from Ms. O

Math 5

Students are wrapping up a unit on Division and Fractions!  Our next stop on the math train will link fractions with decimals and percents.  We are also pressing hard on building computational fluency.  I have already seen great progress and the students have too.  Flashcards are old fashioned but are an excellent way to practice the facts they do not know.  Please feel free to get on that and encourage continued practice.

Math 6

Students took an assessment Thursday on the geometry concepts studied this year.  In the next few weeks we will get back to fractions and decimals so that students build proficiency in all four operations with these kinds of numbers.  Much of what they do will be to build conceptual understanding through problem solving situations, which will ultimately leave them with an algorithm.  The Bridges Program covers this concepts pretty well, so many students will be pre-assessing and then doing problem solving related to the operations.  We are also still insisting that all students work on fluency.  Get out the flashcards!

Science 5/6

Students are in the midst of learning about gravity and how all things with mass are influenced in some way by it.  We have been learning about gravity on Earth and trying to generalize this force so that we can understand gravity of all objects in our Solar System.  What’s to come...students have spent one month viewing the moon.  We will spend some time next week modeling how the moon ‘changes shape’ so that we can explain why this observable phenomenon is predictable, cyclical, and related to gravity.  

Coming May 1st!  We have a field trip planned for students on this day to learn more about river ecology!  We will have two destinations on this day, one to the mouth of the Winooski, Delta Park, and the other to a location off River Cove Rd. to a tree planting site.  Students participating in the investigation at Delta Park will be doing a variety of activities to get to know the ecology of this ecosystem, while the tree planters will be restoring riverbeds destroyed by flooding and other causes.  Delta Park is a half day program which includes on-site investigations and school- based data analysis.  The tree planting experience is a service project for the Friends of the Winooski River nonprofit and will be a full day experience.  We will need chaperones for both field days.  Special Note:  The field trip destinations do not have public restroom facilities. I spoke with students today about the protocol we will use for  taking care of business in the woods.  I realize that for many this is a tough topic of conversation Because the river bed restoration area is a walk from the main drag to the river’s edge and the bus will not be staying with us, this will leave emergency vehicles for emergencies only.  I will have a whole plan for how to help students maintain privacy and take care of themselves.  If you have concerns about this, please feel free to call.

Mr. Merrill’s Wrap Up

5/6 Language Arts

This week students worked on their informational writing papers.  The content and research portion of the paper is being completed in Science class, while students are working on writing strategies and organization in Language Arts.  Once students outlined the topic, subtopics, and facts, we reviewed a format for writing an introduction, starting with an attention-getter (anecdotes, facts, statistics, questions, and descriptions), then using background information, and a thesis statement.  We also broke down the conclusion into two parts: rephrasing the main idea, and closing thoughts.   Students also completed a spring writing on demand assessment that will be scored by faculty over the next two weeks to determine future writing instructional needs and current performance.

Now that we are back to a regular schedule, weekly assignments from Type to Learn and No Red Ink are being assigned.  Thursday is our spelling/vocabulary day; some students started a new program this week which focuses on spelling rules and strategies.   Also, students should be reading independently every night.  Next week, we will be starting our final literature group round, the genre is fantasy/science fiction.  Students will learn about the book choices on Monday.

5/6 Social Studies  

This week we caught up on current events and started to wrap up our study of the American Revolution.  We completed a read aloud about a family that spied for the American cause.  Students summarized the story, then read a play about it.

We also used some time to complete our final reflections on the play and wrap up the on demand writing assessment.  

The Week in Ms. Wesnak’s Room

7/8 Language Arts: This week during LA students were able to share out their PhotoStory memoirs with the class. Students rotated around the room to view and listen to each other’s stories. The stories looked great and sounded great too! We then moved on to our next unit which is on media literacy and advertising. We started our unit by viewing a series of Pixar short films and listening to music. By doing this we were able to discuss what color, music, light, and sound can change or enhance in a story, and we also discovered that figurative language can play a key role in not only storytelling but advertising. Students were put to the test by having to find examples of figurative language, specifically similes and metaphors, in music and create an advertising pitch for a one-man band instrument. We also created our own original similes and metaphors with matching artwork, which are now on display in our Kiva. Students really become Language Artists :)  It was a full and busy week!

7/8 Social Studies: This week in SS we wrapped up our studies on 20th Century History. Students were asked to write a LEAF paragraph on someone who they considered to be a hero of 20th Century History. Students were also put to the ultimate Timeline Challenge! They had to work as a team in order to succeed and succeed on time. I will let them fill you in on the details! Students said the challenge was “stressful”, “fun”, and “crazy”. The challenge was a great way to close-up a long unit, work with each other, and share knowledge! Everyone worked so hard and really embraced working as a team. They all deserve a great weekend!!