TA’s Notes:
DC Trip: Today your eighth grader should be coming home with grade summary for this trimester. Please read the document carefully as it outlines the academic expectations for the trip and your child’s current status according to those standards. It does require a signature and should be returned to Mrs. Fieldsend when signed. Thanks for being timely with the return of this document.
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It's preparation time for our Annual Voyager Recycle Sale.
Mark your calendars for March 20th 6-8 pm and March 21st from 9-2.
This is our biggest, most fun event of the year -- it's a giant indoor yard sale!!!! If you are new to Voyager (parents of 5th graders, or new students) please make an effort to join us, this is a wonderful, community-building event and everyone has a blast. It draws a shopping crowd and has become a Williston tradition.
Plus, it is a great way to clean out and recycle your unwanted items and find new treasures!!!
Please start to gather anything you'd like to unload...household items, old artwork/posters, furniture, rugs, sporting equipment, books, toys, gently used jeans, dresses, jackets (any clothes must be clean, properly folded and ready to 'sell') costume jewelry, tools, working electronics.
We'll be accepting items for the sale in the WCS cafeteria on Friday March 20th from 6-8 pm.
Here's the sign up link.
All shifts are two-hours and we need help with Friday night setup and collection and with the sale and concessions/baked goods on Saturday. If you're willing to post on Facebook, hang posters, put an announcement in Front porch forum and help us publicize for donations and shoppers, we would welcome your help.
Thank you!!
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Big Basket Raffle and Silent Auction are now collection donations!
Collecting items until March 20th for the 15th
- Mr. Merrill’s Core- Chocolate Lover (truffles, candy, fudge, hot chocolate, m&m’s, fondue...)
- Ms. O’s Core- Live Right (weights, i-pod arm strap, water bottles, yoga mat, health magazines...)
- Ms. Q’s Core- Safety First (flashlight, jumper cables, smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, 1st aid)
- Ms. Wesnak’s Core- By the Campfire (cooler, folding chairs, s’mores items, campfire stories…)
After school with Ms. Sherman:
The after school reading support has concluded. The session of support will most likely be on the topic of writing. The schedule of these supports will not start for a few weeks and I will post the schedule in next week’s Voyager Voice.
The Week in Mr. Merrill’s Room (⅚ Humanities):
Students worked on a few assignments and projects that we didn’t have time to finish during theme week. We were finally able post our reflections of the book Rules on our Kidblog site. After posting their reflections, students commented and started online converstations about the book and their reflections.
We also worked on our Money Plan posters, which will be sent out to the State Treasurer next week. The posters show things students can do to create a plan for their money.
This was also a big week for the Stock Market Game. Teams had to have purchased at least 5 different stocks and spent $50,000 (of the $100,000 they have to invest) by closing time on Friday. Many teams had to put in extra time this week to make the cut.
Students also had a lot of fun viewing their classmates Instructional Survival Videos and voting for the best script, actor, performance, picture etc. for our Voscars Awards.
Finally, we completed a lesson on the French and Indian War in preparation for our next unit on the Road to Revolution. We focused on the conflict for territory in North America between the French and English, and how the Native Americans were caught in between. The eventual winner of the war, England, gained control over North America which set the stage for the Revolution that followed.
The Week in Ms. O’s Room (⅚ Math & Science):
Math 5: We got back to the task of learning how to use number sense to multiply whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. This instruction has come in the form of problem strings, series of problems that are purposefully ordered to reveal a pattern. This week, we related problems like 25 x 32, .25 x 32, and ¼ of 32, among other examples. We have also continued rigorous practice on ratio tables. This concept factors into 6 and 7th grade proportional reasoning standards so it is good foundational work for the future.
We had a technology presentation by our Tech Integration Specialist, Bonnie Birdsall and we have hopefully reset the button on our commitments to SMART technology use. Independent Moby Max expectations resume next Monday. 60 minutes per week (Monday-Sunday)
Math 6: We are closing in on wrapping up our brief decimal operations unit. Our focus this week has been on multiplication and division of decimals and trying to move everyone to the traditional algorithm for both operations. Today we will work on Khan Academy to review the recipe for solving these problems and then assess next week.
We had a technology presentation by our Tech Integration Specialist, Bonnie Birdsall and we have hopefully reset the button on our commitments to SMART technology use. Independent Moby Max expectations resume next Monday with additional in class use of Khan Academy. 60 minutes per week (Monday-Sunday)
Science ⅚: The Engineering Design Process has begun! Students have been assigned an engineering group whose job it is to ask, imagine, plan, create and improve a design solution for one of four tasks: a parachute, a rubberband car, a chairlift system, or a catapult. Each challenge comes with a certain set of parameters for success. We spent our week starting the design process and have begun, today, building prototypes that can then be tested early next week. The Challenge is on Thursday. I will have more details for you on specific times after this weekend. However, RETN will be broadcasting the challenge, so you may be able to see it from afar, if your schedule does not allow you to come in for the actual challenge.
Trout Update: Appears that we are losing a few, well, maybe a lot of fish, who are not feeding. So sad! We do have some very healthy ones, so we are hoping for their continued growth and success in our aquatic system in Voyager.
The Week from Ms. Q’s Room (⅞ Math & Science):
CMP8
This week we introduced SBAC standardized test information. We explored the tools and format of this test and reviewed a training test as a class. Students worked with their table partners to discuss strategies for answering questions and we explored how to use the equation response editor and calculator. We returned to “Function Junction” and reviewed function notation and began exploring vertical translation of different functions.
CMP7
This week we introduced SBAC standardized test information. We explored the tools and format of this test and reviewed a training test as a class. Students worked with their table partners to discuss strategies for answering questions and we explored how to use the equation response editor and calculator. At the end of the week, we continued on our unit “Moving Straight Ahead” with exploring linear and nonlinear models.
Science 7th/8th
We are well on our way with the school wide engineering challenge. Students are making balloon cars, air cannons, robotic arms and watercraft. We began with researching the background science concepts and created lists of vocabulary that we will incorporate into our lab reports. Students collaborated on design ideas, created a detailed drawing and then began building their prototypes. Testing commenced on Friday and next week we will begin the redesign phase with additional data collection. Our competition is on Friday, March 13th. Go Voyager!
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