Week of November 5

Voyager Housekeeping -

ZUMBA Fitness

Come dance with us to celebrate fun & Fitness!!!  

All Are Welcome!

Sunday, November 18, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

WCS New Gym (up front)

Donation to support Voyager overnight field trip: $10 adults, $5 kids

Zumba Fitness® is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that accommodates all fitness levels.  This class will be directed by a licensed team of Zumba Fitness® instructors.

Voyager raised $1,146.00 at the Voyager Media/Book Sale at the Craft Fair on Saturday!
Many thanks to our Voyager FAP volunteers!

Voyager Family Night @ Old Brick Church - Save the date - Thursday, December 13th

Reminder - No school during Thanksgiving week


Literature Group Parent Tip of the Week:

Our latest literature group book theme is “What makes scary scary?” If you haven’t seen this book, short story, or chapter come home, don’t hesitate to ask you child, what makes your book scary!?


Ms. Q’s Corner
7th Grade Math
This week we became more familiar with the graphing capabilities of our calculators.  Comparing linear and nonlinear functions  was made easier  by observing calculator generated tables and graphs.  (Students were happy to put away their paper generated graphs and tables for a bit!) We discussed what changes happen for both x and y axes with a variety of different functions.    After playing a rousing game of jeopardy, we completed the Variables and Patterns Unit Test.  Our next unit “Moving Straight Ahead” will continue the exploration of linear relationships, rates of change and discerning equations from tables and graphs.

8th Grade Math
We left “Thinking with Mathematical Models” and plunged into “The Shapes of Algebra”.  We learned how to find coordinates of a circle on a Cartesian Coordinate plane by using the Pythagorean Theory.  Constructing right triangles using the radius as the hypotenuse was a fun challenge. We needed a little refresher on square roots, exponents, and how to utilize our graphing calculators to their fullest potential.  We also dabbled in inequalities in relation to points on the inside and outside of our circle.  

Science
We took a kindler gentler look at our ecosystem through water color.  We completed our succession drawings, discussed the scientific definition of succession and compared it with our own definitions.  It is truly amazing how nature can create order out of chaos, especially after a forest fire, or natural disaster.   Climate change and global warming are next up on our science agenda.  We visited the EPA website on climate change and viewed the BBC movie the "Hot Planet", a documentary that looks at the science behind climate change and solutions to global warming.  

The Week in Ms.Wesnak’s Room
Language Arts

This week in Language Arts we put a close to our unit on U.S. government and civics. We decorated the room with red, white, and blue on Tuesday in honor of Election Day. All students took part in the WCS mock election and also shared one paragraph from their final essay to the entire 7th and 8th grade group. It was a great way to get a small preview of each student’s essay and for each student to hear each others points of view. Both myself and Martha were impressed with the students writing, support, and behavior. Now that the election is over, we are moving into a mini unit around poetry. To help fuel this unit we have decided to take part in a project called Shells for the NJ Shore. This is a project that schools are participating in across the country to raise money for Hurricane Sandy Relief. Both 7th and 8th graders are taking part in this project. We are using time in class to combine our poetry work with our artistic, volunteer, and research skills. Talk to your 7th or 8th grader about the project and their work around it. Here is the link if you would like to check it out yourself! Shells for NJ Shores Project Link

Social Studies:  
In Social Studies this week, we helped close the unit on U.S. government and civics. We are now widening our learning lens and beginning to look at government systems around the world! On Wednesday students took the time to listen to Obama’s speech from election night and begin thinking about the impact our President has on the rest of the world. Do other countries care about who our head of government is? What kind of message does Obama send out to the world? On Thursday we then took a trip around the world looking at a variety of images from different continents and countries. We also tested our knowledge around world geography by taking notes, and trying to track the videographer’s travels! It was quite fun and frustrating. This fun introduction is just the start of our work in the Global Government Project, which students will be starting next week. Students will continue working on their note-taking skills while conducting research on a country of their choice. They will be reading all about that country’s government system, finding out who their government leader is, and also digging up some fun facts about that country.


News from Ms. O
Grade 5 Math
This week students completed Unit 1 in Bridges 5!  Whew!  We are excited to be moving on to a big conceptual unit on multiplication and division, which will allow students to deeply grasp the meaning of these operations and make connections between them. The WCS faculty discussed computational fluency in depth this week at our faculty meeting.  See the 0-12 multiplication and division math facts as a mountain that we must summit as soon as possible.  

Grade 6 Math
6th graders have moved into our new unit,  Bits and Pieces 1, to explore more deeply the relationship between fractions, decimals, and percents.  We began the unit looking at why “knowing what the whole is” is so essential when working to understand fractions.  

On a fluency note, I am aware that some students still are unable to do multi-digit multiplication and division.  Please feel free to teach your child again and again the process of multiplying and dividing.  We are asking students to know the good old-fashioned way (the way we are taught) at this point.  And repetition seems to be working for many of my students who are happily mastering this skill!  This is again about 0-12 multiplication and division fluency, which explains why FASTT math!

⅚ Science
We began exploration of density this week and students are working toward some focused inquiry on sinking and floating objects in water which we have learned has an easy density to remember 1g/1ml.  This helps us to understand why copper which has a density of about 8 g/ml sinks in water!  Upon completing these explorations we will then move in conservation of matter investigations for physical and chemical change.  

Mr. Merrill’s Wrap Up
There was plenty of excitement and thoughtful discussion about the election this week.  Students learned about the Electoral College system and completed maps to score the election.  They also voted in the Mock Election on Tuesday.  Graphic organizers were completed to support and organize an argument paper on “Who should be the next President of the United States?”  Students started typing this final paper for the Election unit which will wrap up next week.  
We also started a new online web based learning platform (No Red Ink) to help students improve their grammar and writing skills.  This program seems to be a hit with the kids and provides additional support and practice for our Writing Workshop lessons.
Finally, we will be making a slight adjustment to our weekly schedule.  We are going to move “Reading Cafe” back to Mondays, following the Thanksgiving break.  Spelling and vocabulary will be on Thursdays only.  The students have a good understanding of the spelling and vocabulary programs and a full class time committed to the program once a week will be a more efficient use of our time.  The lesson will be introduced in class with the expectation that students complete the lesson for homework and study independently for a spelling quiz and vocabulary test for the following week.  This change will also allow us to partner up with the ⅞ grade students for some fun reading activities during our Reading Cafe time.

Week of October 29

Voyager Housekeeping:
Google Email Issue - The school has just recently learned and informed us that teachers are limited to sending 100 emails a day beyond our district email network.  If a large group email contains or puts our numbers at more than 100 emails, Google has been randomly deleting emails from the contact group.  We now know why some of our emails have not reached some of you.  
As a result, we will be sending out Voyager Voice and other large group notices by a core contact list.   We hope that this will resolve this problem that has been eluding us and has ultimately  been beyond our control.

⅞ NYC Field Trip
Deposit/Commitment Forms were due today.  We will take a look at the numbers and make some decisions about transportation and accommodations very soon.  If you would like to help organize an evening activity (ex. Yankees game or Broadway show) please contact Mr. Merrill.

Ms. Q's Corner

7th Grade Math
  This week we  put down our pencils and graph paper and utilized graphing calculators.  We learned how to turn our calculators on and off, how to use some of the basic operation keys, and to graph linear functions. We changed settings on our window so we could see graphs with different dimensions and we changed our table settings to embody the range in data. We continued our exploration of the y intercepts, what it means for a line to pass through the origin. Comparing and contrasting  lines with positive and negative slope, observing at the relationship between equations, graphs and tables  were practiced using our new found graphing calculator skills.  Finally, we compared and contrasted a linear and a non-linear model.  Students will be finishing up the Variables and Patterns Unit with a test next week.  

8th Grade Math
   Students complete their Thinking with Mathematical Models Unit Test this week and will begin our new unit next week.  Many students have been coming in for extra help with math skills and students are beginning to master scientific notation and prime factorization.   Students need to take responsibility for asking for help when they are struggling with day-to-day work or haven't grasped a keystone skill from the skill sheets. Visiting Khan Academy, reviewing basic skills by working through the skill hand-out is a way a student can take responsibility for their math learning.

Science 7th/8th
 Students recieved their results from their quiz and we spent some time reviewing student test responses that showed understanding, accuracy and precision.  After reviewing the exemplar responses, students were given their own tests back and they began to correct. Corrections are due on Monday.   We discussed that having an index card is not the same as studying for the quiz; it is important to review the important scientific concepts.

What happens to an old field if left undisturbed? Students took notes, read a scientific journal, and  created water color diagrams of primary and secondary sucession.  We learned about pioneer species in an ecosystem and how they alter the environment for other species to come in.  This eventually leads to greater diversity and ecological equilibrium.

Mr. Merrill’s Wrap Up - (5/6 Social Studies and Language Arts)

This week students typed and printed drafts of their “Qualities and Characteristics of Elected Officials” and “Where I Stand” Constructed Responses.  This work will form the basis of an argument paper that we will start next week.  We also looked into Voting Rights in the US and how the Electoral College system works (something to watch on election night!!!).  
Writing instruction focused on sentence construction practice (simple and compound sentences) and a free write on “Halloween” or “My Scariest Moment.”

News from Ms. O

Math 5
Students in fifth grade math had an assessment this week on tile sequences (more algebra) and on Order of Operations.  This isn’t the last time students will see this material.  A final unit assessment is approaching!  I will be sure to support any students who did not get the big idea of these two concepts after scoring the quizzes.  We will spend a few more days discussing data and statistics and move on from Unit 1.  It always seems like it takes a while to get through Unit 1 because it crosses so many strands of math!  We will finish up and dive deeply into multiplication and division, one of the big ideas of 5th grade math.

Many parents have been wondering about the level and volume of homework students are receiving.  Now that I have a good grasp of where students are at, I will work toward differentiating this.  Please let me know if this causes anguish at home.  The goal is to meet each student at their current level as an independent learner.  Don’t be afraid to communicate with me!

All students will receive a report today re: FASTT MATH status.  It will be going into their portfolios.  Please pay close attention to this report, as it is an indicator of math competency.

Math 6
We have just finished our first unit on Properties of Numbers and are moving into a fractions unit next.  I will be teaching pre-algebra concepts throughout the rest of the year.  This approach will help prepare students for a full algebra unit in the spring, but also beef up this area of math given the new standards for Common Core.

All students will receive a report today re: FASTT MATH/Fraction Nation status.  It will be going into their portfolios.  Please pay close attention to this report, as it is an indicator of math competency.

5/6 Science
We began investigations on the property of Density this week.  Students are learning how to find mass and volume and exploring why these measures together might indicate what kind of substance they have!

To learn more about density, we will be floating and sinking things next week.  Feel free to send in any objects from home that might help us learn more about the properties of the substances the objects are made from!

We also met with UVM students to learn more about water.  Big ideas include:

We are all connected to our water systems.

• The quantity of water on Earth is limited and finite.
• Water here in Williston is connected to water in say, New York City, because the way water cycles around.
• We are responsible for ensuring water quality on Earth.

The Week in Ms. Wesnak’s Room

7/8 Language Arts and Social Studies:
This week students continued to work on their final essays around a political issue of their choice. They all got a lot of work done and were able to make some real progress in their writing. Stressing the fact that writing is a process, students were also given class time to peer edit and conference. This week we also took some time to catch up on some current events, read and analyze political cartoons, learn about quotation marks and punctuation, and also watch some great persuasive speakers! Students were also given the chance to read a famous historical speech and get some public speaking practice in during class on Friday. This week was full of great stuff and we are all really looking forward to November 6th! The classroom this week just seemed to be a buzz with great work and excitement around election day!!

Week of October 22

Voyager Housekeeping

⅞ New York City Spring Field Trip

• ⅞ New York City Voyager field trip letters went out to students with some important information and a “return page” that must be brought back by Friday, November 2.  An electronic copy of the letter will be sent home on Monday.

Voyager FAP Book and Media Sale

• Please be sure to bring in any books, dvd’s, or cd donations (drop off in our project room) for our sale at the Craft Fair next week.

Parent Conferences

• Please be sure to sign up for a parent conference.  See the wiki at the following address...

http://wcsvoyagerhouse.pbworks.com

Mr. Merrill’s Wrap Up
On Monday, students were introduced to the book titles for our second round of literature groups.  Our theme is “Mystery and Suspense.”  Ask your student what book they will be reading for our second round.  

The 5th and 6th graders also typed their “Where I Stand” constructed responses and created their first post on our Kidblog.  We discussed and agreed on our criteria for quality blog comments.  Students read and commented on posts at the end of the week.  We also compiled a list of our “Election 2012” vocabulary and started a Word Map activity.  The vocabulary, along with the two constructed responses (Qualities of Elected Officials and Where I Stand) will form the basis for an Argument Essay.

News from Ms. O
Math 5: We know now why mathematicians have rules about the order by which you solve a problem with multiple operations! Help you kiddo understand PEMDAS rules: Parentheses, exponents and square roots (not a big thing in 5th grade!), Multiplication or Division, whichever comes first left to right and lastly Addition or Subtraction, whichever comes first left to right!  When solving these problems students learned to solve one operation and rewrite the rest of the problem, watching the number of operations decrease with each rewrite!  We also got back to algebra working on generalizing growing tile patterns.  Students are using variables, specifically n to represent the arrangement number in the sequence, looking for characteristics that stay the same (we named them constants) and characteristics that change or vary (variable).  They are really getting it!  Quiz coming to check in on this learning and then a grand finale for Unit 1 on statistics!

Thanks for continuing to encourage FASTT Math!

Math 6:  We are finalizing our understanding of the Properties of a Number with a unit assessment on Monday.  Students have been reinforcing computational skills as well as working deeply on their conceptual understanding of the properties that make each number unique.  I had announced that we would head into a short algebra unit and then back into fractions!  This is traditionally a difficult unit for students because some of the rules and properties we use for whole numbers do not apply to fractions.  I will keep close eye on their understanding so that we can scoop up any misconceptions about these kinds of number and address them.  

⅚ Science
Students spent the majority of this week working on new understandings about water on Earth.  We did a few simulations on Earth’s water and spent our long block day at the Allen Brook!  It is fun to learn outside!  Students left this experience wanting to know more.  Each student will have the chance to self-select into a small research group that will return monthly to the Allen Brook to investigate a specialized topic.  This research will be active, including water sampling, tree identification, photographic essays on animal life, and even the possibility of making bat boxes to hang in this natural area. It will be self-guided and collaborative.  We hope to learn more about this important local freshwater ecosystem and contribute to some real science for the Williston Town Planner and other local river organizations.


Ms. Q’s Corner
Math 7
The 7th grade class is right in the thick of figuring out linear equations and and the “y” intercept. The synapses were firing on all cylinders as we defended our mathematical thinking and graphic representations.  The center of this mathematical controversy.....What happens to our graph when a situation calls for an upfront fee, like a phone plan or a group entrance fee and then you have to pay additional amounts for numbers or people or minutes on a phone?  Can we still start our graph at (0,0)? What does it mean when our line starts at (0, 49.99)?  Students had a “Pop Quiz” on scientific notation.  This week-end they will be correcting those quizzes and the Variables and Patterns Check-up 2.

Math 8
Shifting from equations to tables to graphs, students have been discerning the relationship between x and y.  In linear equations, we look to see if there is consistent pattern and if the data creates a straight line.  Now students are not only looking at the pattern, but they are looking for a proportional relationship or an inverse relationship between coordinates.  We explored how to see inverse and direct variations in a table, what they might look like when graphed and the equations they form.  Students will have the “Thinking with Mathematical Models” Unit Test on Tuesday.  Reviewing material on Khan Academy would be a great weekend activity.

Science 7th/8th
Students took two days to complete their Ecosystem Quiz. Results will be available sometime next week.  After the quiz, we explored biological classification through a textbook reading and we classified “hardware” using the different levels starting with Kingdom all the way down to species.  Ms. Cooper our UVM graduate intern, took us outside to do some tree identification. We utilized an online dichotomous key to find what the tree species were.  Next week we will look at what happens to an ecosystem when it is disturbed.

The Week in Ms. Wesnak’s Room  

First, let me just say how nice it is to be back in Voyager! It was very hard to be away, but my recovery has been speedy, and I thank everyone in Voyager for their support.

This week students took the time to finish up and present the projects they had been working on during my absence. Students were working on a project for Language Arts around advertising during the presidential elections and used a FANTASTIC website called The Living Room Candidate. This website was full of wonderful information, including commercials from election years dating back to 1952. Students put together some great presentations and really found the reasoning and persuasive techniques behind media advertising during election years. They were asked to analyze the commercials in a constructed response to help in understanding why a candidate won the presidential race, based on their commercials alone. In Social Studies students were asked to work in groups to put together information and fun facts on the Swing States for this election year. Voyager students once again put together fantastic projects. Their posters told the class not only some fun facts about these Swing States, but they told us some really powerful information such as: which way the state is leaning, how the state has voted in the past, how many electoral votes the state has, the unemployment rate, per capita income, and more.

This week 7th and 8th graders were given their final assignment for our unit on Government and Civics. All of our work around government, what it means to be a citizen, and our work around the political parties and candidates will be coming together in this final essay. Students are being asked to write a 5 paragraph persuasive/argument essay around a political issue of their choice. They will be using direct evidence from both presidential candidates to show both sides of the issue and develop their own view on the issue. This essay is proving to be of heavy interest to the students! They are engaging in serious discussion, looking up direct evidence to back up both candidates views, and are really getting at the heart of this election race. They are reading the candidate’s websites, news articles (online and in print), and are also using the presidential debates as examples of direct evidence. They are working very hard and are being given time in class to get work done, along with peer edit and conference. This essay will not only be handed in on November 6th, but every student will be reading 1 paragraph of their choice to their peers on election day. November 6th will be a big day for our 7th and 8th graders and for all of us! We’re all looking forward to the big day, for one reason or another!

Week of October 15

5/6 Families

A conference letter was placed in your child's mailbox. Please be sure that your child has brought this letter home to you! Thanks!

News from Ms. O

Math 5
Students in 5th grade math have been working their way through several topics of study this week including prime factorization and order of operations.  Focus questions included:  

• How does a prime factorization help us solve problems?
• Why do mathematicians have a set of rules for problems that have multiple operations?   

We hope that this work will lead to improved understanding of the properties of numbers and of basic fluency facts.  We will move back into algebra with deeper instruction on decoding cube sequences and do some work with data and statistics to end the unit.  A unit assessment will be administered within a two week period.  

Math 6
We had our first studio day this week in the 6th grade classroom.  Bill Feeley, a resident consultant who works for  district, taught class to the 6th graders to model best practices in mathematics.  The 15 adults in the room were impressed with the efforts made by the students to practice the math habits and interactions reinforced in Bill’s lesson.  This group will be the studio classroom for the year and will have another visit from faculty again in November.  I appreciate the opportunity your children are providing me as an educator.  This work is a privilege and your students will be better mathematicians because of it!  

We are finishing up our work investigating the properties of numbers and will move into an algebra unit when finished.  

⅚ Math Families

Thank you for your continued insistence to practice math facts at home.  Below is a letter from Caitlin Bianchi, the math coordinator, commenting on fluency.

Knowing math facts with automaticity  (without having to figure them out)  positively impacts a child’s ability to complete more complex mathematical processes. Gaining an understanding of the concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division also helps students access higher level math thinking.   The Bridges in Mathematics program includes instruction in computation.  The Connected Math Program does not make this instruction as explicit.

Students participate in activities that help them understand how operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) work and how they are related to each other.   There are also activities in the Bridges program designed to help students learn facts.   For some students, the amount of practice at school is enough.   For other middle school students, additional practice at home is a necessity (particularly since the school focus on fact practice in grades 6-8 becomes much less frequent).  Williston Schools use a CSSU wide fact fluency assessment program to help monitor fact fluency progress and determine the level of additional practice that students need.

As part of this program, children will be assessed on how well they know facts.  You will be provided with information about your child’s progress at conferences. Until your child has met the end-of-year grade level standards for fact fluency, she/he will need to practice facts at home in addition to the work being done at school.  Each teacher will provide families with resources outlining options for practice.  Once our assessments show that your child has met the grade level standards, he/she will not be expected to do additional work at home.

Based on the Vermont Grade Level Expectations for automaticity of facts, students in grades 3 and 4 are expected to be able to add and subtract numbers 0 to 10 with sums/minuends through 20.  4th graders are expected to multiply numbers 0 to 12. 5th and 6th graders are expected to be able to multiply and divide whole numbers through 12.

⅚ Science
This week we will take a pause from the Properties of Matter unit and change focus to introduce our yearlong field work learning about the Winooski River Watershed.  We will be taking a walk with the Williston Town Planner, to the Allen Brook, to begin this adventure!  Students will be able to answer the following questions:

• What is a watershed?  What is my watershed?
• What evidence can we collect that tells us about the health of the Allen Brook ecosystem?
• What are the natural and human impacts on this river system?
• What role do we play in ensuring an ecosystem’s health?

IMPORTANT Info!!!
Mr. Merrill’s core will take their field walk Wednesday.  Ms. O’s core will take their field walk Thursday.  Any parents are welcome to join!  Touch base with me via email so I can expect you!  We leave school at about 1:20 and will return for 2:50 dismissal.  Please encourage old clothes, warm clothes, potentially rain gear and rubber boots!  We may find ourselves in some wet and muddy areas!


Mr. Merrill’s Wrap Up
This week students wrapped up their first literature group book and project.  Students created character maps or organizers in their Reading Response Notebooks, using details like description, traits, actions, and changes.  In Social Studies, we practiced reading Informational Text.  We read it three times in three different activities, to identify the issues, problems, and the potential solutions to the issues in the upcoming election.  The students will be writing a LEAF paragraph that is due on Tuesday.  The LEAF will be the starter blog post for a blogging activity on the upcoming election with Sterling House.

Ms. Q's Corner
Math 7
The week began with looking at the story that graphs tell us.  We explored the relationship between independent and dependent variables, and began learning to write algebraic equations that represent the relationships between those variables.  We paused to watch a classic 1977 film,  “The Powers of Ten” in order to help us make sense of scientific notation.   We practiced writing very large numbers and very small numbers using this notation.

Math 8
This week delved into a variety of math concepts.  We revisited slope, line of best fit, solving multi-step algebraic expressions and explored inequalities.  We compared and contrasted equalities vs. inequalities, learned how to graph them on a line, and determined  the numbers that could be in the solution set.  We explored the use of words like  “at least”, “within” when placed in context of an inequality.  

Science 7/8th
This week students presented their scientific models of photosynthesis,cellular respiration, energy traveling through ecosystems, carbon cycle, food chains and symbiosis.  While their colleagues presented, we took notes and asked clarifying questions.  The quiz was postponed until Monday,due to an assembly.  Students may have an index card with them during the quiz.

Week of October 8

From the desk of Kim Russ
We still have 40 families that have not purchased binders and planners!  This contribution from you allows us to cover the cost of the binders and planners and most especially prevents us from drawing from other budgetary allowances.  

Don’t forget to make your planner and portfolio payment to Kim Russ. Returning students $7.00 AND new students $12.00.  Thanks! 

Voyager ART project
We have several students who are motivated to create a sculpture or painting outside Voyager House to represent our new image and motto.  We would love an artistic volunteer.  If anyone is good with sculpture, tile, etc. (we haven’t decided what it will be made of), we would love your volunteerism and help!  Any takers?
 
Fundraising
Reminder that Voyager is sponsoring the media sale at the WCS Craft Fair on Saturday, Nov. 3rd. Please send your books/CD's/DVD's/Videos/Records in with your child whenever you can...we are storing them in the Voyager Project Room.  There are also large collection boxes in the front offices of ABS and WCS.  If you are not signed up to collect in your neighborhood -- please collect from your home and tap into friends.  Another great tip:  your workplace!!!!  We sent a note out at my husband's place of business and we've been able to collect 3 boxes!!!  The sale will only be successful if we have merchandise, so please take a moment to collect!!!!
 
NECAP Testing:
Thank you to all the families that supplied Voyager with snacks...brain food. Students have all been working hard during this morning and afternoon sessions. Students have been respectful of their peers by keeping a quiet environment. Thank you Voyager students for doing such a great job this week!

If your son or daughter has missed any NECAP testing, there will be a make-up day on Monday (October 15th) starting at 8:30. Students should come to school on Monday at the regularly scheduled time, sign in with their core teacher, and then be prepared for NECAP testing by 8:30 in the Dining Room.

Literature Group Parent Tip:  
Thanks to a parent who asked, “What happens in lit group?”, we will now have an occasional tip for parents re: literature groups!  Our focus question for this Literature Group session is, “What does it mean to take a voyage?”  Ask your child about the “voyage” in his/her lit book.  They might speak about an actual geographical voyage, or the development of one of the characters in the book!  Our next literature group book will be a mystery.  Look forward to our focus question coming soon!

Spelling Tips By Ms. Sherman:

“When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking”

Using this phrase may help students to remember the order of vowels in a word when two vowels are placed side by side in a word. When this occurs, the vowel that comes first is heard, typically with a long sound, and the second vowel remains silent. This rule is applied when a long vowel sound is heard, but two vowels are place in a word to create that sound.

Examples:

boat (long o sound)
feat (long e sound)
bead (long e sound)

Ms. Q’s Corner

7th/8th Science
The NECAP week ended with the continuation of our Energy Pathway Model Project.  Students are finishing them off and will present them on Monday.  A quiz on our unit is planned for Thursday, October 18th.  Students have a review sheet with quiz topics and should review  vocabulary, reading handouts, class notes and lab experiments.  The big focus is the motion of energy and matter through an ecosystem.  During the NECAP testing, student’s science inquiry journals were assessed.  All-in-all they are off to a good start.  Organization, precision, use of scientific vocabulary and relating scientific claims to quantitative evidences are areas that students need to work on.  We are all looking forward to getting back to class!

Math 7th and 8th
Classes were not held, but I encourage students to visit Khan Academy to work on their math skill.

Mr. Merrill’s Wrap Up
⅚ Social Studies and Language Arts
We wrapped up our NECAP week with a reflection on the Candidate Forum and poster project.  Next week, students will be participating in activities to prepare for a persuasive writing assignment using information from the issues of the 2012 election.  We are also looking forward to blogging with students from other houses about the election.  
Students are reminded to keep up with reading for 20 minutes per night and to check their planners for vocabulary/spelling assignments that are due next week.

News from Ms. O
Math and Science All
Phew!  NECAP testing week is over!  This week learning in my classroom was limited to:

• a few FASTT math sessions if you were on house during core
• some reflective writing for math and science
• lots of reading (following NECAP testing)
• work on our Lit Group Quilt Square
• review of our science tests and some rewrites to earn additional points
• a review of science notebooks using a rubric and a goal for the next checkpoint assessment in three weeks
• Grade 6 On-demand writing task (to be double scored by November)

Please be reminded that FASTT math sessions will help computational fluency.  Many students have not been on since our first visit in September.  PLEASE encourage this!