Week of May 27-31

UPCOMING EVENTS, NEWS, and REMINDERS



8th Grade Challenge Presentations- Voyager House - Tuesday, June 4th 10 a.m.- 12 p.m.

Here is the link to presentation times and locations: 8th Grade Challenge Presentations 2019


⅞ Field Trip to Burlington - Spirit of Ethan Allen

The 7th and 8th grade teams are heading to Burlington for an Education on the Lake cruise on the Spirit of Ethan Allen and a scavenger hunt through downtown Burlington on Monday, June 3rd. Please have your student bring a raincoat in case of inclement weather. Lunch will be provided during the cruise.


Camp Hochelaga - June 5 - 7, 2019

A reminder that all of Voyager will be at Camp Hochelaga on June 5th, 6th and 7th. Information was previously sent to you regarding what your child should pack, emergency contact information etc. The documents are linked below, as well:


Camp Hochelaga Packing List

Camp Hochelaga - Emergency Contact & Program Goals

Camp Hochelaga Activity Summary


Fishing at Camp Hochelaga

Students who would like to fish at Camp Hochelaga can bring a fishing rod. There should be no hooks on the line. All hooks should be in a latched tackle box or container. No knives are allowed.


Voyager Book Swap

On Wednesday, June 12, we will have a book swap in our Kiva. Please send in any gently used middle grades books with your student. With the opportunity to sign out 3 books from the library and take books from the swap, students should have a nice collection of books for summer reading. We will also have a visit from Jill of the Dorothy Alling library who will share some great books to read over the summer.


⅚ Personal Interest Project Presentations and Reading Cafe Open House

Thursday, June 13 - 8:15 - 9:00 am

Parents are invited to come in and listen to PIP presentations and provide feedback to students. Each student present to a small group of 3 or 4 students. Parents will listen to 3-5 short presentations. Historical Fiction Narratives will be available for reading and feedback from parents.


2018-2019 Parent Satisfaction Survey


Dear Williston Parent/Guardian,


Please take a few minutes to provide us with feedback on ways you feel we can enhance the education of your children by filling out the 2018-2019 Parent Satisfaction Survey. You can access the survey by clicking on the following link or on our web site:


https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/1819ParentSatisfactionSurvey


If you are having trouble accessing the link please contact Liz Neeld at lneeld@cvsdvt.org.



To Parents of 7th Grade Students:


The families of 8th graders need you! Each year parents of 7th graders help with the graduation reception at WCS. We need help setting up food, serving and cleaning up. Providing this help allows families of 8th graders to focus on celebrating their children and this milestone. Graduation is on June 13 and the reception is held in either the WCS Courtyard or the Cafeteria, depending on the weather. We are seeking help between 6:30pm and 9:00pm.


Please use the sign up below or email Shelley at shellcore@comcast.net with questions.


https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0544AFA72EAA8-help


Cell-Phone Use

Please refrain from texting your child during the day. If you need to communicate a message to your child, please contact Ted Milks (tmilks@cvddvt.org; 871-6148) and the Core Teacher. If your child does receive a text from you, please do not expect a response until the end of the school day. - Thank You!



Please visit the Voyager Web Site to keep in touch with what’s happening in Voyager this year.


Absent Student? Appointment? Change in Bus ride home? Please email tmilks@cvsdvt.org and your core teacher if your student will be absent, needs to be picked up during the day for an appointment, or will ride a different bus home. Core teacher emails are:

cobrien@cvsdvt.org

amerrill@cvsdvt.org

jroof@cvsdvt.org

mquatt@cvsdvt.org



Please do not bring in food to share. We have many food restrictions on house. Thanks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPORTANT LINKS

Student Assistant Professional (SAP) - https://spark.adobe.com/page/ssMYvqB70CDFQ/

WCS Athletics - Click this link to the website to view all information regarding the WCS Athletics program.


Voyager House Learning Tools

for teachers, students, and parents


Google Site - an important site for regular communication coming from Voyager. This site will be modified weekly and should be bookmarked on your desktop or laptop. This site contains a link to weekly academic summaries as well as important upcoming events. https://sites.google.com/cvsdvt.org/voyagerhouse/home


Google Classroom - an online planner platform where students can check on daily assignments. This is in lieu of a paper planner. Just ask your child to log in using his/her email. It is important to know that this is not an assessment database. We do not check completion of the assignment on this platform. However, we do ask that YOUR CHILD press the button MARK AS DONE when an assignment is completed. This will make it easy for you and your child to discuss completion of work.


Google Mail - an email system used by Williston Central School. All students have an email account and students use it regularly to communicate with peers around collaborative work and project-based learning. This is a great way for teachers to communicate with students and a great way for students to get reminders about assignments from Google Classroom.


Jumprope - an online platform for assessment of the targets. Students can view weekly or biweekly his/her achievement on the targets by logging in using his/her email and a password. This password was emailed to each student in a letter last week. *Habits of Learning, like homework completion and collaborative learning skills will be posted on a biweekly schedule. This is where you CAN SEE whether your child is in good standing on daily assignments.https://nyc.jumpro.pe/login/


Protean - an online Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) platform used primarily at this point by 7th and 8th graders. ⅚ students may post executive function skills reflections, personal interest projects, and other measures of growth and reflection after 1st trimester. https://app.protean.me/index.html


IXL - a program that supports students on math and language arts skills. https://www.ixl.com/signin


Moby Max - a math program used by ⅚ math students to build computational fluency and fill gaps in understanding on major concepts. Students have a username and password for this program.


Typing Club - a program used by the ⅚ humanities students to build typing skills.



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ACADEMIC UPDATES



Ms. Quatt- Math/Science

This week was very abridged. 8th graders had to take the Vermont Science Test and then they were off to Ridin-Hy. The 7th graders took data on the relationship between a rubber band stretch and the distance it travels, and the drop height and bounce height of different balls to see if there was a linear relationship. We graphed our data and created the “line of best fit.” We also looked at a variety of cells and tissue, and considered their structure and function.




Mr. Roof - 7&8 Humanities:


Due to chaperoning the 8th grade class trip, we had a short humanities week. Nonetheless, we have begun our final major assignment of the year, which is an essay about turning point battles of WWII. In our study of WWII, we looked at four battles that were "turning points." These battles proved significant in the outcome of WWII. Students are completing information about all four battles and then writing about one of the battles of their choice in a three paragraph essay using the LEAF format. This is due June 12, but students will most likely have it completed before then.



Mr. Merrill - 5/6 Humanities:

Historical Fiction Narrative Writing: Students are wrapping up their narratives with a conclusion that resolves the problem, reconnects the reader to the hook, and includes a satisfying concluding sentence.

PIP Writing and Presentations: Students are preparing their PIP projects for our upcoming open house on June 13.

Field Trip to Lake Champlain Maritime Museum: Students learned about the importance of the Battle at Valcour Island during the Revolutionary War, what it was like to build a ship along the shores of Lake Champlain in the 18th century, and boarded the Philadelphia II, the replica of the original revolutionary war boat that was found on the bottom of the lake.




Ms. O’Brien

All Classes! We have paused from the math curriculum for the year following the last unit assessment earlier this week. We are in full engineering mode as students build their Rube Goldberg mechanisms.


Please check in with your child about the project. Many projects lack interesting transfers and transformations, so if you have any great ideas, please insert them into your child’s imagination! It is a competition of sorts, so students must earn points for transfers and transformations. Another one or two ideas from you will only make it better and more point worthy. Thanks for your help and the effort to at least have the conversation!

Week of May 20 - 24

UPCOMING EVENTS, NEWS, and REMINDERS

Please visit the Voyager Web Site to keep in touch with what’s happening in Voyager this year.  

5/6 Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Field Trip

Thursday, May 30. We will be studying Revolutionary War events that occurred on Lake Champlain. Please dress for the weather and bring a bagged lunch, snack, and a water bottle. We will return by the end of the school day.

• Chaperones Needed! - Please contact Ted Milks (tmilks@cvsdvt.org) or Aron Merrill (amerrill@cvsdvt.org) as soon as possible if you can be a parent chaperone for the trip.

2018-2019 Parent Satisfaction Survey

Dear Williston Parent/Guardian,

Please take a few minutes to provide us with feedback on ways you feel we can enhance the education of your children by filling out the 2018-2019 Parent Satisfaction Survey. You can access the survey by clicking on the following link or on our web site:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/1819ParentSatisfactionSurvey

If you are having trouble accessing the link please contact Liz Neeld at lneeld@cvsdvt.org.

To Parents of 7th Grade Students 

The families of 8th graders need you!  Each year parents of 7th graders help with the graduation reception at WCS.  We need help setting up food, serving and cleaning up.  Providing this help allows families of 8th graders to focus on celebrating their children and this milestone.  Graduation is on June 13 and the reception is held in either the WCS Courtyard or the Cafeteria, depending on the weather.  We are seeking help between 6:30pm and 9:00pm. 

Please use the sign up below or email Shelley at shellcore@comcast.net with questions. 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0544AFA72EAA8-help

Cell Phone Use

Please refrain from texting your child during the day. If you need to communicate a message to your child, please contact Ted Milks (tmilks@cvsdvt.org; 871-6148) and the Core Teacher. If your child does receive a text from you, please do not expect a response until the end of the school day. - Thank You!

Absent Student? Appointment? Change in Bus ride home?

• Please email tmilks@cvsdvt.org and your core teacher if your student will be absent, needs to be picked up during the day for an appointment, or will ride a different bus home. Core teacher emails are:

                     cobrien@cvsdvt.org

                     amerrill@cvsdvt.org

                          jroof@cvsdvt.org

                      mquatt@cvsdvt.org

Please do not bring in food to share.  We have many food restrictions on house.  Thanks!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPORTANT LINKS

• Student Assistant Professional (SAP) - https://spark.adobe.com/page/ssMYvqB70CDFQ/
• WCS Athletics - Click this link to the website to view all information regarding the WCS Athletics program.

 Voyager House Learning Tools for teachers, students, and parents

• Google Site - an important site for regular communication coming from Voyager.  This site will be modified weekly and should be bookmarked on your desktop or laptop.  This site contains a link to weekly academic summaries as well as important upcoming events.  https://sites.google.com/cvsdvt.org/voyagerhouse/home
• Google Classroom - an online planner platform where students can check on daily assignments.  This is in lieu of a paper planner.   Just ask your child to log in using his/her email.  It is important to know that this is not an assessment database.  We do not check completion of the assignment on this platform.  However, we do ask that YOUR CHILD press the button MARK AS DONE when an assignment is completed. This will make it easy for you and your child to discuss completion of work.
• Google Mail - an email system used by Williston Central School.  All students have an email account and students use it regularly to communicate with peers around collaborative work and project-based learning.  This is a great way for teachers to communicate with students and a great way for students to get reminders about assignments from Google Classroom.  
• Jumprope - an online platform for assessment of the targets.  Students can view weekly or biweekly his/her achievement on the targets by logging in using his/her email and a password.  This password was emailed to each student in a letter last week.   *Habits of Learning, like homework completion and collaborative learning skills will be posted on a biweekly schedule.  This is where you CAN SEE whether your child is in good standing on daily assignments. https://nyc.jumpro.pe/login/
• Protean - an online Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) platform used primarily at this point by 7th and 8th graders. ⅚ students may post executive function skills reflections, personal interest projects, and other measures of growth and reflection after 1st trimester.  https://app.protean.me/index.html  
• IXL - a program that supports students on math and language arts skills. https://www.ixl.com/signin
• Moby Max - a math program used by ⅚ math students to build computational fluency and fill gaps in understanding on major concepts.  Students have a username and password for this program.
• Typing Club - a program used by the ⅚ humanities students to build typing skills.

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ACADEMIC UPDATES

A Note from Ms. Sherman 

7/8 Field Trip: Our 7/8 field trip excursion in Burlington and boat ride on The Spirit of Ethan Allen has been rescheduled for Monday, June 3rd! We are looking for 3-4 parent chaperones to help us make this trip a great adventure! If interested, please let Ted Milks know by email at tmilks@cvsdvt.org.

HOMEWORK CLUB: We will continue to have HW club for the next few weeks. Our last day of HW club will be on May 30th as long as kids are still attending. If we have sessions without attendance will cancel the remainder of HW club sessions. 

Ms. Quatt- Math/Science

CMP8
This week the 8th graders continued to explore quadratic functions.  We discovered the landmarks found in factored and expanded forms, we developed a method for finding the line of symmetry and the vertex of a parabola.  We also learned a methodology for finding the quadratic equation from any table.  Students are showing some grit as we work through some of these challenging math concepts.

CMP7

The 7th graders are beginning to understand the basics of linear functions, how to graph them, create equations from tables and create tables from equations.  We are learning to solve one and two-step algebra problems and how you can tell if a table represents a proportional relationship. We investigated linear equations, y = mx and y=mx + b. We ended the week with a snappy investigation with rubber band shooting.



Science

The big question we were investigating this week was: How does the structure or form of an object give us a understanding of its function?  We returned to our microscopes to look at mosquito mouth parts,  feathers, animal fur and many other specimens to make observations about their structure up close. Students then conjectured on their function.  We ended the week with looking a cheek cells and comparing them with plant cells.

Cheek cell Onion cell

Mr. Merrill - 5/6 Humanities:

Narrative Writing: Students continued to work on their historical fiction narratives. We worked on using dialogue and building tension in our stories using descriptive writing techniques.

History: We focused on the Champlain Valley and the battle to control the lake from the mid 1600’s to the French and Indian War. Students used a blank map of the lake to locate where forts were built during that time frame. Students learned that the lake was an important highway for moving armies, and would determine who would control the region. We then mapped North America, color coding the territory the British controlled after defeating the French. Next week we will pick up where Ms. Drasler left off on the Revolutionary War.

Mr. Roof - 7&8 Humanities:

This week, we continued our study of "turning point" battles of World War II. The Battle of Midway and D-Day were the focus. Students worked to complete graphic organizers using primary sources from the battle of Midway, including photographs, memos, radio broadcasts, and letters. Next, we looked at D-Day. Students used video, articles, and class discussion. We also set up a simulation of a typical Normandy beach in the classroom and then discussed strategies used and actions taken on D-Day. 



As a class, we read about Operation Overlord, which D-Day was a part of, and then completed short answer questions in response. Mostly in PM classes, students wrote final drafts of argument essays. The topic was recent tension between Iran and the United States. Students chose claims/thesis statements and then wrote five paragraph essays, including reasons, evidence, and counter-claims. Additionally, students continued making progress with their holocaust literature as their independent silent reading. Finally, 8th graders took the spring DRP on Tuesday.

Ms. O’Brien

Math 5 Highlights

We reviewed and prepared for our unit assessment on fraction operations, but were unable to complete the test. We stole from math on Friday to complete the Science SBAC test.  Students will complete their math assessment on Tuesday.

Math 6 Highlights

Students have done a really nice job with the last of the algebra concepts we learned, understanding, writing, and graphing inequalities.  Students also spent Thursday’s class taking the final assessment of the year. I did not see students Friday, due to SBAC testing for Grade 5.  

Science 5/6

Students received a new project packet this week, called Rube Goldberg and Energy Transfer.  This packet outlines a project that will take us through the end of the year and the goal is to build a Rube Goldberg mechanism, a model of energy transfer, to demonstrate understanding of engineering principles, energy concepts, and an ability to collaborate!  The students would love to pick your brain for innovative ways to transfer energy.  We have discussed energy transfers and energy transformations so that they can consider the criteria when building the mechanism.  We studied Rube Goldberg cartoons, ones written by the actual Reuben Goldberg in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, to learn about the mechanisms he portrayed (which later were named after him). We have also watched several videos, from the Goonies, to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, to Back to the Future, as well as a couple of really wild videos online, that show the sophisticated nature of Rube Goldbergs, mechanisms designed to complete a simple task in the most wild of ways!

Week of May 13 - 17

UPCOMING EVENTS, NEWS, and REMINDERS

Please visit the Voyager Web Site to keep in touch with what’s happening in Voyager this year.  

Chaperones and Snacks Needed... for the Voyager Team Overnight Trip to Camp Hochelaga in South Hero!

We are still looking for chaperones to help with our multi-day and night trip to Camp Hochelaga in South Hero, Vermont from June 5th to June 7th.  If you can help for any day(s) and/or overnights, please add your name to our volunteer list. We are also looking for some donated snacks to help keep all the hungry bellies happily full. Ads always, we are immensely grateful for all your support! 

5/6 Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Field Trip

Thursday, May 30. We will be studying Revolutionary War events that occurred on Lake Champlain. Please dress for the weather and bring a bagged lunch, snack, and a water bottle. We will return by the end of the school day.

To Parents of 7th Grade Students 

The families of 8th graders need you!  Each year parents of 7th graders help with the graduation reception at WCS.  We need help setting up food, serving and cleaning up.  Providing this help allows families of 8th graders to focus on celebrating their children and this milestone.  Graduation is on June 13 and the reception is held in either the WCS Courtyard or the Cafeteria, depending on the weather.  We are seeking help between 6:30pm and 9:00pm. 

Please use the sign up below or email Shelley at shellcore@comcast.net with questions. 


https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0544AFA72EAA8-help

Cell Phone Use

Please refrain from texting your child during the day. If you need to communicate a message to your child, please contact Ted Milks (tmilks@cvsdvt.org; 871-6148) and the Core Teacher. If your child does receive a text from you, please do not expect a response until the end of the school day. - Thank You!

FAP’s Annual Fund Needs Your Help

Please consider making a contribution to the FAP Annual Fund. The Fund is used to support school field trips and awarding FAP grants to various student activities and projects. It is a vital funding resource to support your student’s educational experiences.

Click here to learn more.

Absent Student? Appointment? Change in Bus ride home?

• Please email tmilks@cvsdvt.org and your core teacher if your student will be absent, needs to be picked up during the day for an appointment, or will ride a different bus home. Core teacher emails are:

                     cobrien@cvsdvt.org

                     amerrill@cvsdvt.org

                          jroof@cvsdvt.org

                      mquatt@cvsdvt.org

Please do not bring in food to share.  We have many food restrictions on house.  Thanks!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPORTANT LINKS

• Student Assistant Professional (SAP) - https://spark.adobe.com/page/ssMYvqB70CDFQ/
• WCS Athletics - Click this link to the website to view all information regarding the WCS Athletics program.

 Voyager House Learning Tools for teachers, students, and parents

• Google Site - an important site for regular communication coming from Voyager.  This site will be modified weekly and should be bookmarked on your desktop or laptop.  This site contains a link to weekly academic summaries as well as important upcoming events.  https://sites.google.com/cvsdvt.org/voyagerhouse/home
• Google Classroom - an online planner platform where students can check on daily assignments.  This is in lieu of a paper planner.   Just ask your child to log in using his/her email.  It is important to know that this is not an assessment database.  We do not check completion of the assignment on this platform.  However, we do ask that YOUR CHILD press the button MARK AS DONE when an assignment is completed. This will make it easy for you and your child to discuss completion of work.
• Google Mail - an email system used by Williston Central School.  All students have an email account and students use it regularly to communicate with peers around collaborative work and project-based learning.  This is a great way for teachers to communicate with students and a great way for students to get reminders about assignments from Google Classroom.  
• Jumprope - an online platform for assessment of the targets.  Students can view weekly or biweekly his/her achievement on the targets by logging in using his/her email and a password.  This password was emailed to each student in a letter last week.   *Habits of Learning, like homework completion and collaborative learning skills will be posted on a biweekly schedule.  This is where you CAN SEE whether your child is in good standing on daily assignments. https://nyc.jumpro.pe/login/
• Protean - an online Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) platform used primarily at this point by 7th and 8th graders. ⅚ students may post executive function skills reflections, personal interest projects, and other measures of growth and reflection after 1st trimester.  https://app.protean.me/index.html  
• IXL - a program that supports students on math and language arts skills. https://www.ixl.com/signin
• Moby Max - a math program used by ⅚ math students to build computational fluency and fill gaps in understanding on major concepts.  Students have a username and password for this program.
• Typing Club - a program used by the ⅚ humanities students to build typing skills.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACADEMIC UPDATES

A Note from Ms. Sherman 

7/8 Field Trip: We are excited to announce that we will be able to offer a 7/8 field trip on May 24th; an excursion in Burlington! We are looking for 3-4 parent chaperones to help us make this trip a great adventure! Forms for the trip will go out soon, but if interested please let Ted Milks know by email at tmilks@cvsdvt.org.

HOMEWORK CLUB: We will continue to have HW club for the next few weeks. Our last day of HW club will be on May 30th as long as kids are still attending. If we have sessions without attendance will cancel the remainder of HW club sessions. 

Ms. Quatt- Math/Science

CMP8

It was so wonderful having a regular work week without any interruptions!  The 8th graders are currently investigating the area model for showing factored and expanded forms of quadratic equations.  We utilized algebra tiles and worked through problems going back and forth from both forms.



Students also explored what happens to parabolas when you change the coefficients and constants in the ax2+ bx + c equation.  


CMP7



This week we looked at how many calories it takes to burn off a burger and french fries.  We gathered data about our walking rate, extrapolated it to see how many miles per hour we walk and how many calories our walking burns.  We looked at the different rates that people walk, how you can graph them and interpreted how to compare the slope or steepness of the lines to our equations and tables.  We have also been working hard on solving one-step and two-step algebraic equations.

Science

This week we continued to investigate the microorganisms that we had observed last week.(amoeba, paramecium, euglena, tardigrade, stentor, hydra)  Students researched how they move, what they eat, how they reproduce, grow, and react to the environment.  We then looked at samples of creatures from our local ecosystem.  We found a diverse collection of ciliates, rotifers, and algae.  Students were invested and excited in our work.  We finished the week by discussing how these small creatures play a major role in our ecosystem.  Next week we are going to shift our attention to plant and animal cells.  

Mr. Roof - 7&8 Humanities

Busy week here in Humanities!  We are moving quickly through some important World War II battles, including the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the battle of Stalingrad, and the battle of Midway. Students have been awesome in asking great questions and participating in class discussions. We used a lot of primary sources, including video, photographs, telegrams, journal entries, and radio communications. The stories of decision making, whether intelligent, intuitive, or stubborn, are fascinating, along with countless acts of bravery under horrific circumstances. We examined how brutal war really is and how and why nations decide to take such drastic steps. 

In our pm classes, students were amazing in their research and participation in some lively debates. Our classes debated topics such as the wage gap between women and men, the validity of the electoral college, the legal age for smoking tobacco, gun laws, and pollution laws. Some students had to argue for sides that they did not believe in, which was very difficult. Nevertheless, they did an excellent job in making convincing arguments. 

For homework, students should be working on IXL Z.6 8th grade for both sections. They also have Holocaust literature novels that they should be reading independently. Ask them about their books, as these are great historical fiction novels.

Mr. Merrill - 5/6 Humanities

Wordly Wise - students played “mile a minute” to talk about and introduce the words in the lesson to each other. We had a test on the lesson on Friday.

PIP Informational Writing - Students continued to research and write their 5 paragraph essays. We focused on writing a thesis statement, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Students reviewed and have access to a citation google slideshow to create a bibliography.

Historical Role Plays - We have been focusing on what was going on in North America prior to the Revolutionary War. We mapped the 13 English Colonies and then shifted our focus to Lake Champlain. We role played the arrival of French explorers to the Champlain Valley and their first encounter with the Algonquins. We later reenacted a scene from Champlain’s journal in 1609, detailing the battle between the French and Algonquin explorers and the Iroquois. This set the stage for the next 150 years as the French and English battled for control of North America. 

⅚ Lake Champlain Martime Museum Field Trip -Thursday, May 30. We will be studying Revolutionary War events that occurred on Lake Champlain. Please dress for the weather and bring a bagged lunch, snack, and a water bottle.



Ms. O’Brien





Math 5: We tackled two really big topics in fraction operations: multiplication and division of fractions. It was really great to lean on the visual area model for this, so students could understand the connection between multiplication and area of something. The challenge is to take a 1 x 1 square and subdivide the dimensions into the fractional pieces necessary to model a problem.





We also tackled fraction division by considering problems of sharing or splitting into equal size groups. Problems like “ a recipe calls for 7 cups of flour but you only have a ½ cup measure. How many times will you need to use the ½ measure to get the full 7 cups?”


I will be providing ample summarizing and review time next week to complete the fraction computation standards work for 5th grade. Assessment will happen some time at the end of next week.

The rest of the year will be project based learning.


Math 6: The experiences in math this week are a culmination of work with variables, terms, and coefficients. We have been playing around with equations for weeks, but this week we tightened things up by working on relating one thing to another. For example if Cate is 4 years older than Josef, we might show the relationship with two variables, c for Cate and j for Joseph. But our new learning this week gives Josef the variable j and Cate becomes j+4. Then we are working with one variable instead of 2. We can actually determine both kiddos ages, if we know one person’s age. We also took another look at percentages of a number and determining values in inequalities that would make the inequality true. More work with inequalities next week and then the final big assessment of the year, at the end of the next week.

The rest of the year will be project based learning.


Science ⅚: We had a fun week tackling our new unit on energy. Students began the week exploring rollercoasters to determine which rollercoasters have the right kind of energy for a marble to complete its run and which do not. I heard phrases like “it doesn’t have enough momentum”, “it can never work”; “it’s impossible”,” it works one way but not the other”, and” the start is high, so it works!” Students were working on building ideas about energy by having fun too! Our long block provided students with some background knowledge for energy. Potential and kinetic energy were key learning ideas, and we then consider those, as they related to the rollercoasters. Students then had a challenge to create a marble roller coaster, using 4 tubes of pipe insulation and two vertical loops, for the rest of the day! See the great ideas in photos below. Friday was our domino challenge, to introduce the idea of energy transfer. Super fun and challenge engineering task for sure!

Week of May 6 - 10

UPCOMING EVENTS, NEWS, and REMINDERS

Please visit the Voyager Web Site to keep in touch with what’s happening in Voyager this year.  

Voyager Team Overnight Trip to Camp Hochelaga in South Hero!

Voyager House is very excited about our upcoming field trip to Camp Hochelaga in South Hero, Vermont. Camp Hochelaga is a YWCA camp that is celebrating its 100 years of operation this year!  Our trip will be a three-day, two-night adventure from June 5th to June 7th.  All students of Voyager House are welcome in this educational and fun opportunity.  We also welcome parent chaperones to participate in this camp experience!

Due to successful fundraising throughout the year through your donations to the FAP Annual Fund and Voyager Team events, there is no cost to you associated with this trip!  

ACTION NEEDED ASAP: Please complete and return the following two forms to Ted Milks as soon as possible, and no later than May 17th:

Student Information Form

Behavior Expectation Form

Also for your review are the following linked documents:

A packing list with suggested items to be packed

A schedule which outlines the program goals and daily activities

Emergency contacts, and Drop off and Pick up information.

Lastly, please note the following:
 - We are asking students to leave cell phones and other electronic equipment at home. Students will have the opportunity to use teachers’ phones if needed to call home.


 - Lunch on Wednesday, June 5th will not be provided by Camp Hochelaga, so we are asking everyone to pack their lunches.  Refrigeration will be available.  If your child gets school lunch, you will have the option to get a bag lunch from the cafeteria

Two Special Guests from CVU - Socks Needed

This Friday, May 17th, we have two special guests from CVU coming to talk to us about the problems of homeless immigrants. They are holding a sock drive and would love if students could bring new socks into school on Friday for them. There will be a prize for everyone who brings in a pair of socks. The socks can be kids, women, or men's socks.

Raffle to benefit the Ronald McDonald House

Hello Everyone, my name is Addi Hunter and I am an eighth grader. During the week of May 6th, I will be having a raffle to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. Some of the raffle prizes are coupons for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and homework passes. Raffles tickets are 1 for $1, 3 for $2, and 8 for $5.  You can also get a raffle ticket by donating an item on the wish list. All the money from the raffle will  go toward buying supplies on their wish list. Please remind your kids to bring in some money to help or an item on the wish list.
Here is the wish list: 

• Mr. Clean Magic Erasers
• Toilet Bowl Cleaner
• Liquid Dishwasher Soap  (no pods)
• To Go Coffee Cups with Lids
• HE Laundry Detergent
• Juice Boxes
• Ind. Packets of Sugar
• Regular Coffee pods

Thank you for helping the Ronald McDonald House.

Cell Phone Use

Please refrain from texting your child during the day. If you need to communicate a message to your child, please contact Ted Milks (tmilks@cvsdvt.org; 871-6148) and the Core Teacher. If your child does receive a text from you, please do not expect a response until the end of the school day. - Thank You!

2019 CVU Spring Social Dance for 8th Graders

With cooperation from all the CVSD middle schools, CVU is proud to announce the 4th Annual “Spring Social,” an event meant to bring together the CVU Class of 2023 before the end of eighth grade. Click here for more information.

FAP’s Annual Fund Needs Your Help

Please consider making a contribution to the FAP Annual Fund. The Fund is used to support school field trips and awarding FAP grants to various student activities and projects. It is a vital funding resource to support your student’s educational experiences.

Click here to learn more.

Absent Student? Appointment? Change in Bus ride home?

• Please email tmilks@cvsdvt.org and your core teacher if your student will be absent, needs to be picked up during the day for an appointment, or will ride a different bus home. Core teacher emails are:

                     cobrien@cvsdvt.org

                     amerrill@cvsdvt.org

                          jroof@cvsdvt.org

                      mquatt@cvsdvt.org

Please do not bring in food to share.  We have many food restrictions on house.  Thanks!

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IMPORTANT LINKS

• Student Assistant Professional (SAP) - https://spark.adobe.com/page/ssMYvqB70CDFQ/
• WCS Athletics - Click this link to the website to view all information regarding the WCS Athletics program.

 Voyager House Learning Tools for teachers, students, and parents

• Google Site - an important site for regular communication coming from Voyager.  This site will be modified weekly and should be bookmarked on your desktop or laptop.  This site contains a link to weekly academic summaries as well as important upcoming events.  https://sites.google.com/cvsdvt.org/voyagerhouse/home
• Google Classroom - an online planner platform where students can check on daily assignments.  This is in lieu of a paper planner.   Just ask your child to log in using his/her email.  It is important to know that this is not an assessment database.  We do not check completion of the assignment on this platform.  However, we do ask that YOUR CHILD press the button MARK AS DONE when an assignment is completed. This will make it easy for you and your child to discuss completion of work.
• Google Mail - an email system used by Williston Central School.  All students have an email account and students use it regularly to communicate with peers around collaborative work and project-based learning.  This is a great way for teachers to communicate with students and a great way for students to get reminders about assignments from Google Classroom.  
• Jumprope - an online platform for assessment of the targets.  Students can view weekly or biweekly his/her achievement on the targets by logging in using his/her email and a password.  This password was emailed to each student in a letter last week.   *Habits of Learning, like homework completion and collaborative learning skills will be posted on a biweekly schedule.  This is where you CAN SEE whether your child is in good standing on daily assignments. https://nyc.jumpro.pe/login/
• Protean - an online Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) platform used primarily at this point by 7th and 8th graders. ⅚ students may post executive function skills reflections, personal interest projects, and other measures of growth and reflection after 1st trimester.  https://app.protean.me/index.html  
• IXL - a program that supports students on math and language arts skills. https://www.ixl.com/signin
• Moby Max - a math program used by ⅚ math students to build computational fluency and fill gaps in understanding on major concepts.  Students have a username and password for this program.
• Typing Club - a program used by the ⅚ humanities students to build typing skills.

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ACADEMIC UPDATES

A Note from Ms. Sherman: 

7/8 Field Trip: We are excited to announce that we will be able to offer a 7/8 field trip on May 24th; an excursion in Burlington! We are looking for 3-4 parent chaperones to help us make this trip a great adventure! Forms for the trip will go out soon, but if interested please let Ted Milks know by email at tmilks@cvsdvt.org.
HOMEWORK CLUB: We will continue to have HW club for the next few weeks. Our last day of HW club will be on May 30th as long as kids are still attending. If we have sessions without attendance will cancel the remainder of HW club sessions. 

Ms. Quatt- Math/Science

CMP8
We began the week exploring polynomials, monomials, binomials and understanding their order.  Learning how to manipulate these terms will lay the groundwork for working with quadratic functions.  We also learned the F.O.I.L. method for multiplying binomials.  We began a new book called "Frogs, Fleas and Painted Cubes," which investigates quadratic equations, their tables, graphs, and equations.   Quadratic functions form parabolas. 




CMP7
This week we finished up with Comparing and Scaling with a review, creating class records, and finally taking the unit test.  We began our new book called "Moving Straight Ahead," a unit on linear functions. 

Science 7th/8th

This week we began our Microscopic Creature Safari.  The underlying mission was to explore single-celled and small multi-cellular creatures and what role they play in the ecosystem.  We looked at paramecium, euglena, stentor, spirostonum, water bears and others and observed how they moved and interacted with their environment.  We will continue to explore these creatures and others as we investigate how energy flows through the ecosystem.

Paramecium Stentor Spirostonum

Euglena Tardigrade

Mr. Merrill - 5&6 Humanities:

Trout week classroom activities:

• Fishing short story read alouds
• Researching and presenting on information found in the Vermont Angler’s Pocket Guide
• Knot tying
• Casting practice and competition
• Vermont Fishing Guide and Regulations Scavenger Hunt

Mr. Roof - 7&8 Humanities:

This week, we began our independent reading of Holocaust literature. Students are reading The Book Thief, Survivor's Club, The Devil's Arithmetic, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, or Milkweed. As we finish up WWII, we will look at major events from the Holocaust and use our books to help us understand and expand our learning. For WWII, we examined the major factors that led to the Nazi state. These included the use of propaganda, radio broadcasts, creation of the the Hitler Youth, formation of the Gestapo, the scapegoating of Jews, and the implementation of Fascism. We read and researched each of these and then responded to prompts. In grammar this week, we continued our study and practice of using commas to separate clauses and phrases. Additionally, in our afternoon classes we worked hard to research and create arguments for and against three student generated topics. These argument outlines will next be used in debates.

Ms. O’Brien

Math 6:  What a great week!  My favorite math of the year is here, when students who struggle with computational math can relax and just focus on relationships!  Our math this week included more investigations with numbers and letters, with a primary focus on writing equations that represent real world situations.  Students looked at problems like:

Write an expression that would allow you to find the perimeter of a rectangle if the length is 5 units longer than the width.  

In this example students need to understand a number of things.  They need to know how to find the perimeter of a rectangle.  They also need to understand how to assign variables to unknown.  And we have a constant, 5 units, that must be considered.  The great thing about this kind of problem is that there is more than one correct expression to describe the relationships and so students enter at a level that makes sense to them.  They can use two letters, l and w, to represent length and width.  They can also use one letter, say w, and create that expression based on the relationship with the other dimension.  So width becomes w and the length becomes w+5.  They can also use multiplication or repeated addition, both of which can be used when interpreting this expression.

We also began looking at mobiles, called hangers in the curriculum. So when we look at hangers like the ones below, we can begin to relate the left side to the right.  Good understanding when we get to balancing equations, finding values for variables and graphing equalities and inequalities.  

When we look at the mobiles above, the can make statements like:
The lefthand mobile has a triangle that weighs more (or has a greater value) then the square.
Or
For the righthand mobile, one triangle is equal to 3 squares and a circle.  

Seems easy until we begin to search for the value of the triangles and other shapes, and how to solve for unknown values.  

It may all seem confusing in the way I describe it, but perhaps you just learned a thing or two!

Math 5:  We graduated from finding a fraction of a whole number to seeing these kinds of problems as fraction multiplication.  So a problem like ⅔ x 4, can be interpreted as ⅔ of 4 or ⅔ + ⅔ + ⅔ + ⅔ .  We used this sense-making to then solve problems in context.  Students are starting to explore the algorithm for multiplying fractions, numerator x numerator, then denominator x denominator.  We also dipped back into whole number multiplication and division for practice and addition and subtraction of fractions.  

Science 5/6: It was trout week!  We began out week with some review of fish anatomy and did a Japanese Fish Print of a brook trout (using a mold).  We also made stained glass trout and dragonfly nymphs.  Mr. Merrill spent time making lures and learning how to cast!  We then spent long block science in the stream searching for the macroinvertebrates.  It was a great day!

Today we went to the Lewis Creek in Starksboro and released our fish.  Unfortunately, we missed our fishing trip to Lake Iroquois due to weather. We will have a chance to fish at Camp Hochelega.