Week of May 30th - June 2nd

TA’s Notes:

***Please do not send in any food to be shared among Voyager students***

June 7th : ⅚ 10 - 11:15 am Learning Exhibition Open House (parents welcome!)

June 8th - 9th : Voyager House overnight to Camp Abnaki

June 15th- 8th grade Graduation 6:30pm (8th grade dance follows pick-up at 9:45pm)

June 16th: Last Day of School! (11:55am dismissal)

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

• We studied the early history of Vermont. We used the Vermont Historical Society’s website that details European contact, New Hampshire Grants, New York Patents, The Green Mountain Boys, Attack on Ft. Ticonderoga, and Vermont becoming a state. Students made a story map to learn this history.
• Our trip to Ft. Ticonderoga included a scavenger hunt and the “Act as One Body program.” Details of the program are below.
• In this program, your students are immersed in the daily routine of the Continental soldiers garrisoning Fort Ticonderoga in the weeks after the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold in 1775. Students form a platoon of soldiers, learning teamwork and discipline as they undergo a typical day in the life of soldiers. They learn about the training used to prepare soldiers to meet a powerful enemy, what soldiers ate, where they slept, and experience the confusion of battle.During their participation in this program, students observe a musket demonstration and practice formation tactics. The soldiers’ experience comes to life as students learn about key aspects of the American Revolution. This program is a strong cooperative activity and lasts about one hour.
• We reflected on our experience as Green Mountain Boys at Ft. Ticonderoga and made concept maps and wrote journal entries.

The Week in Ms. O’s Room (⅚ Math & Science):

Math 5:  Students have wrapped up their last book of the year, Prime Time.  Assessment will be completed and scored after this weekend.  Our next two weeks will incorporate some cumulative review, where we go back to the math of the year and test our success with the concepts AND fun math logic puzzles that challenge the brain!  We began our week with the Monty Hall Problem.  The puzzle is based on the old Let’s Make a Deal game show in which contestants can win a goat or a car!  Students used experimental data collection to answer the question: If you choose Door #1 and Monty reveals that there is a goat behind Door #2, should you stay with Door #1 or switch to Door #3?  We collected data and made the decision that the odds are in favor of...well, I’m not going to tell you.  Ask your kiddo!  We ended the week with the Bridge Riddle. There are more challenging puzzles to come.  Please know that the kids are struggling through them, but it is good think time for all!

Math 6:  Students wrapped up the last unit of the year, Variables and Patterns, with a unit assessment.  I was so impressed with the level achieved in this very algebra and proportional reasoning heavy unit.  Results will be posted soon.  We ended the week with a mathematical logic puzzle called the Monty Hall Problem.   The puzzle is based on the old Let’s Make a Deal game show in which contestants can win a goat or a car!  Students used experimental data collection to answer the question: If you choose Door #1 and Monty reveals that there is a goat behind Door #2, should you stay with Door #1 or switch to Door #3?  We collected data and made the decision that the odds are in favor of...well, I’m not going to tell you.   Ask your kiddo!

⅚ Science:  Oh my, if you could see the mess!  I decided to just let it happen!  We are building our Rube Goldberg mechanisms and are happy to be successfully improving these mechanisms to fulfill a simple task.  Please remember our Open House next Wednesday’s Learning Exhibition from 10-11:15!  Enjoy watching your child try to pull off the impossible...a mechanism that models energy transfer!  Also, we will have a reading room for written work from the year that you can sit and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee!

The Disaster!

The Week in Mr. G’s Room (⅞ Humanities):

While the 8th graders were away at Riding High, the 7th graders took the opportunity to present a “Caine’s Arcade” style game room for the younger students. Students were challenged to build a game out of cardboard boxes and other materials found in their homes. We invited Ms. Haas’ class and Ms. Ward’s class to come and try out the games.

In both 7th and 8th grade we worked on close reading. We practiced by close reading the lyrics of songs that students are familiar with, like “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, and “Beat it” by Michael Jackson.

In the afternoons, students are learning about the geography of North America by planning a road trip. Students have a budget of $10,000 with which their team must buy a car, food, hotels, and gas for a trip at least half way across the country, seeing sights and meeting people along the way.

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

CMP8

8th graders have been tasked with many things this week, including taking language exams.  We flexed a bit with our routine in order to give returning test takers an opportunity to regroup after  completing a two hour exam. On Thursday and Friday, students rode off into the sunset to the Ridin-Hy resort for their 8th grade trip. Our final mission for 8th grade math students is to complete their “It’s in the System” Unit Test. Students will be asked to write a system of linear equations from a word problem and find the common solution.  They will also be tasked with using different methods for solving a variety of systems.  They have been given a unit test review that is due on Monday and the unit assessment will be on Tuesday.  Time left in our year will be devoted to inequalities and overall review.

CMP7

This week the 7th graders have been working hard on understanding linear equations using graphs and tables.  We have worked to understand the context of these real world problems and have begun to manipulate variables from one side of the equation to another.  We played linear expression Bingo and tried our hand at one-step algebraic equations.

Science 7th/8th

We had  a very abridged week of science. (Two class periods)  We are trying feverishly to get our solar cookers completed, so we can have a bake-off.  I am hoping that there will be sunshine next week for testing!  Keep your fingers crossed.