Week of May 4th - 8th

TA’s Notes:

Thank you to all who brought in snacks throughout our SBAC/NECAP testing!!

The Eighth grade graduation ceremony is scheduled for June 11th 6:30-8:00 pm. As is the tradition here at Williston Central School, the sixth and seventh grade parents are asked to help set-up, staff and clean-up the reception that follows the ceremony; it typically runs from 8:00-8:30.  Weather-depending, the reception is either held in the Courtyard or in the Cafeteria. The reception food, drink and decoration plan will be sorted out and on site -- we simply need 8-10 parents willing to come help from 6:30-8:30 pm.

Information will be provided by the Reception Committee in advance of the evening so all volunteers will know what needs to be done. If you're interested, please send your name and cellphone via email to Susan Wickart - susanwickart@comcast.net by June 5th.

Thanks kindly for your support and help. When it’s your child's turn to graduate, you'll see how wonderful it is, first hand, to be able to attend the ceremony and reception and not have to worry about set up and clean up!

Leigh Samuels & Sarah Forbes

FAP Reps

Field Trips!!

• Thursday, May 14th: 5th & 6th graders to Lewis Creek for trout release and Lake Iroquois for fishing.  Permission slip is: Here
• Friday, May 15th: All of Voyager House to Spruce Peak Performing Arts to see, Lifeboat: WWII.  Permission slip is: Here
• Voyager 8th graders to DC May 26th - 29th

8th grade Graduation is June 11th

Last day of school is June 16th, half day!

The Week in Mr. Merrill’s Room (⅚ Humanities):

We had SBAC testing Monday and Tuesday, with some make up time on Wednesday. It was our first time using this test and there were a few rough spots, but overall, the kids did a great job and worked very hard. Thank you to all the parents that sent in food and drink to make the best of our testing time.

We had time for a quick reading and writing lesson on identifying key details that support a big idea. We used a really interesting article on Gorilla Doctors to do this activity. We also continued our study of the colonial era, focusing on the Articles of Confederation, the first attempt at organizing a national government for our country.

Next week is trout week. Monday - Wednesday, students will rotate through a variety of workshops. We have some guest instructors for fly fishing lessons, a trout art project, and a water study of Allen Brook. We are going to Lewis Creek to release the trout on Thursday, and will be going to Lake Iroquois after the release for a lake study, fishing and a bagged lunch picnic. On Friday , we are off to Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center for a play on WWll. Please be sure your student returns the permission slips on Monday.

The Week in Ms. Wesnak’s Room (⅞ Humanities):

This week in Humanities has been filled with commercial work in the morning and discussing the spending and saving habits of U.S. teens in the afternoon!

Most of our students have finished their creative, fun, funny, and persuasive commercials for their Business Convention projects! As the commercials started coming in it was really fun to see the finished product and see how proud the students were of their work. We will be having our “Wezzy Awards” on Monday, where all of the students will watch all of the commercials and will vote for their favorites in a variety of fun categories. Both the 7th and 8th grade classes have been working really hard on these, and we are really excited to send them off to our first group of investors...the students at Blockhouse Bay Intermediate School in Auckland, NZ!!

During our afternoon classes students took part in many class discussions around the spending and saving habits of the average U.S. teenager. We read an article from Jr. Scholastic and looked at statistics via BusinessInsider.com and StatisticBrain.com. Students were shocked by some of the numbers, and we were able to get into great conversations around how statistics impact decisions companies and businesses have to make in the real world. We also discussed how trends impact statistics and vice versa. Students also took part in completing a few journal writes. One of the journal writes was reflecting on their own spending habits, and the other was on bringing together all of the information we had been talking about into one final concluding statement. Students were asked how information on teen spending and saving, and what teens spend money on, will impact the future choices they will have to make for finding success in the Business Convention. This was a time for deep critical thinking and analysis, and a time for students to make great bridges between all that we have been working on. It’s been a fun (and hot) week! Next week we move towards the Stock Market!

The Week from Ms. Q’s Room (⅞ Math & Science):

CMP8

Math was usurped this week with Science NECAP testing, however, we managed to work diligently on the combination/elimination method of finding solutions for linear systems. Students are learning strategies to be more efficient when solving systems of linear equations. Next week we move onto solving inequalities.  The date for the final exam has been set for June 10th at 10:00 a.m. I plan to have a week or so for review before the exam.

CMP7

We had an abridged week with Science NECAP testing.  In math class we are reviewing volume and surface area of 3-D geometric figures.  We reviewed building nets of boxes and had a fun problem looking at composting worms and the amount of material that they compost each day. Students are exploring the relationship between scale, surface area and volume.

Science 7th/8th

This week was primarily focused on completing the Science NECAP. Kudos and congratulations to our 8th graders for staying focused, taking the science seriously, and working hard through the three test sessions.  I am very proud of their work!

Sandwiched at the beginning of the week and at the end of the week was our electrifying curriculum on electricity and magnetism.  Students read, reflected and talked about electricity and its connection with magnetism. We then began our hands-on lab experiments to build circuits, find what objects are electric conductors or insulators, map magnetic fields, find materials that can break through magnetic fields, increase and decrease the strength of electromagnets and figure out ways to form circuits with only 1 wire, a bulb and battery.

The Week in Ms. O’Brien’s Class

Math 5:  We wrapped up our work this week working on the area model of multiplication for fractions.  The modeling work was designed to give students a deeper sense of fraction multiplication and its value in solving problems involving area.  Students have built a tremendous amount of confidence in this area and are solid in presenting their ideas to others.  We are moving on to fraction division for a brief introduction and will finish the year with geometry.  SBAC testing went well for students in terms of holding to a testing protocol and maintaining a certain level of perseverance during the testing.  We will see!

Math 6:  We had one class this week, in the midst of testing and this was to grab another opportunity to work on equation writing.  We will pick up again next week.  SBAC testing went well for students in terms of holding to a testing protocol and maintaining a certain level of perseverance during the testing.  We will see!

Science ⅚:  Students are working on a Pixton Comic Strip project as part of wrapping up their work in the Properties of Matter unit.  Ask your child to see the comic. They are fun, informative, and supposed to be scientific!  There is a rubric attached to the program and you can see that too, when viewing the comic.  It’s a lot of fun.  You could have heard a pin drop in the classroom on work days!