TA’s Notes:
***Please do not send in any food to be shared among Voyager students***
Dates to Remember:
Wednesday, October 26th - 9:30 - 10:30 Picture Retake Day! (Original photos went out Friday)
Friday, October 28th - ⅚ Field Trip to State House, Supreme Court and VT Historical Museum
Friday, Nov. 4th - Voyager’s Book & Media Sale Set-up
Saturday, Nov. 5th - Voyager’s Book & Media Sale
Wednesday, Dec. 7th- Voyager Family Night in WCS Auditorium
Sunday, Dec. 11th - 11:30am - 4:00pm Polar Express Elves
Ms. Sherman:
⅞ have been working hard with their new PBIS plan. Make sure you touch base with your son or daughter about the positive incentive plan that is taking place on Voyager house. In addition, the 8th grade is working towards a special night to connect as a “family” so encourage them to hand in their contracts and do their best to stay eligible for this fun night. (Hosted by Courtney Sherman and Katie Fieldsend)
Homework club is up and running on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So far we have only seen a very few students attend and we encourage more to show as we have several students on house that could benefit from extra support and time for work completion.
The Week in Mr. Merrill’s Room (⅚ Humanities):
We started the week with book talks. Students presented on books that they read independently over the past three weeks. There was a nice variety of genres and a lot of enthusiasm for their choices.
We also read the preamble of the constitution this week. Small groups took a phrase, defined it, and shared why they thought the phrase is important. We decided that the preamble lays out the purpose of our government. We then discussed what the framers did to limit the power of government, which led us to the 3 branches of government. Students used a BrainPop video and a textbook titled “We the People” to research the three branches and learn what makes up each branch and their powers. We played 3 branches of government jeopardy to practice our new learning.
After learning about how a bill becomes a law, we held a mock public hearing. A representative and his staff went back to their congressional district to seek feedback on a bill that would prevent smoking in public areas. Students were placed in groups (health advocates and supporters of the tobacco industry) and had to convince the representative and her staff to take their position. We reflected on the idea of the common good and discussed how that played into the representative’s decision.
Reminder - Montpelier Field Trip permission slips were sent home this week, please be sure to sign and return with your student. We go on Friday, October 28th. Details are on the form.
The Week in Ms. O’s Room (⅚ Math & Science):
Math 5: This week was filled with work related to finding fractions of a whole number. We used this understanding to solve addition and subtraction of fraction problems. What is ½ + ⅔ ? Students used the Mr. Miles trail problem to figure out the length of a trail that would allow them to solve this problem easily. Students were able to see that a trail that is 6 miles long would allow them to find halves and thirds easily. Therefore, ½ of 6 is 3, so that distance is 3/6 of the trail and ⅔ of 6 is 4 or 4/6 of the trail, so 3/6 + 4/6 = 7/6 or 1 ⅙ of the trail or 7 kilometers. This method was formalized as the common denominator strategy for adding and subtracting. We also did some work with ratios in problems called “Better Buy.” Which is the better buy 4 cans of beans for $5 or 6 cans of beans for $7? Now you can take them shopping and know that they will save you $$!
Math 6: 6th Graders spent the weak renaming fractions and decimals as percents. This was a good connection to all of the ratio work we have done, because it allowed us to see ratios represented as fractions, decimals, and percents. We used visual models, like percent bars and the strategy of 10% and 1% to find percents of a number. We began a review process Friday for Comparing Bits and will take our assessment next Wednesday.
Science ⅚: This week we dove into our eating relationships tag game by looking at producers and how they make food for themselves. Although the concept of Photosynthesis is left to middle and high school standards, we did talk about it and how plants use this process as a recipe for making sugars, so that it can go about its daily functions. Students learned that ‘photo’ means light and ‘synthe’ means to put together making the translation to put together light or use light to make food. We went on to further develop the role producers play in the food chain and how energy is transferred from one organism to the next based on eating relationships. We played a food chain game online and created a food web with a ball of yard. All of this modeling is in service to explaining our anchoring phenomenon, the albatross with plastics in its belly. How does the death of this organism help us understand food chains and the importance of monitoring the health of food chains in all ecosystems.
The Week from Ms. Q’s Room (⅞ Math & Science):
CMP8
This week we explored inverse variation word problems. Students needed to write an equation about the situation, populate a table, create a labeled graph and explain the relationship between the independent and dependent variable. We also took a stroll down memory lane to practice our PEMDAS skills and worked through multi-step algebraic equations. We took notes on Commutative, Associative, Distributive and Identity properties and helped “Aunt Sally” out with her PEMDAS errors. Next week will conclude our “Thinking With Mathematical Models” unit, so students should plan on an assessment near the end of the week.
CMP7
What side lengths allow you to construct a quadrilateral? Are there some dimensions that don’t allow you to build a four sided figure? These questions and our trusty polystrips, allowed us to experiment with constructing all sorts of 4 sided figures. Some were possible and some were not. Just like our triangle exploration, you can’t always build what you want! For example we found that any two sides of a triangle has to be larger than the third side. It is the same thing with quadrilaterals. If you add up any three sides it has to be greater than the fourth side in order to form a a closed figure. Next week we will be finishing up our “Shapes and Designs” unit, so students should plan on an assessment near the end of the week.
Science 7th/8th
Mousetrap cars are finally being tested and refined. Next week we will compete, complete our lab report, and pull together what we’ve learned from our exploration of potential and kinetic energy, motion and forces and the engineering process.
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