March/April 2021
5/6 Homeroom
When students arrive to school, they pass in homework and unpack for the day. They then either go to breakfast or stay in the classroom for a brainteaser puzzle and to connect with classmates. After breakfast, we do the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom. Following that, we do morning meeting. This is a chance to check in with one another, share stories, connect, and we frequently enjoy a fun game together. Cam Miller, an educator in residence from Camp Kieve, has been joining us again this year and has been helping with most of our morning meetings on Fridays until March 26.
On Fridays, briefly on Thursdays, and during other small windows of time, we do read aloud in the 5/6 classroom. We are in the midst of reading Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. It takes place in Pennsylvania in the 1960s. Two Mills is a segregated town and our homeless main character, Jeffrey Magee, finds himself coming to see both sides of the town and grappling with the reasons the town is so divided. This is part childhood fantasy, part comedy, and part serious.
On Fridays, briefly on Thursdays, and during other small windows of time, we do read aloud in the 5/6 classroom. We are in the midst of reading Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. It takes place in Pennsylvania in the 1960s. Two Mills is a segregated town and our homeless main character, Jeffrey Magee, finds himself coming to see both sides of the town and grappling with the reasons the town is so divided. This is part childhood fantasy, part comedy, and part serious.
7th Grade on Fridays
The 7th graders meet for math/science for 30 minutes before lunch and for another hour in the afternoon each Friday that the 8th graders are at the boat shop in Bath. We are currently working on designing, constructing, and testing marble roller coasters. We spend our time working on math/science/engineering related activities.
5/6 Math |
7/8 Math |
The 5th grade math group is currently working with patterns, order of operations, and graphing on the coordinate plane. After this, we'll learning what fractions are and their relationship to division. Then we'll begin adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions. Fractions will take up much of the remainder of the year.
The 6th grade math group just finished a chapter about writing and simplifying expressions. We are now studying how to write and solve equations. This is algebra and it can be challenging to think in this way. After equations, we'll get into functions (patterns and rules) and inequalities in chapter 8. The 7th grade math group recently finished learning about writing, solving, and graphing equations and inequalities. We are now in chapter 7. We'll be working with angles, triangles, scale drawings and cross sections of geometric shapes. In chapter 8, we'll be finding areas, volumes, surface areas, and drawing nets of 3D figures. All three math groups do math games once every two to three weeks. Students have 45 minutes of aleks.com to do each week. This 45 minutes needs to be completed between Monday at 8AM one week to 8AM on Monday morning the next week. The students get to choose which topics to try to master each week, which helps them review concepts and allows them to try math topics we'll cover in the future. I am using Unified Classroom/PowerSchool to keep track of work completion in math and to keep track of assessment scores. My goal for each student is to score a 3 or better on each mathematics standard. This score indicates mastery of the standard. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work (engaged learner, responsible learner, and respectful learner). You can login to Unified Classroom by going to classroom.powerschool.com. You login using your child's gmail account. He/she can show you how to do this and how to navigate around the site. |
The 7th grade math group is writing and solving both equations and inequalities at this time. Next, we'll delve into geometry. We'll start with angles, triangles, scale drawings and cross sections of geometric shapes. Then in chapter 8, we'll be finding areas, volumes, surface areas, and drawing nets of 3D figures.
The 8th grade math we did a study transformations: translations, reflections, rotations, and dilations. Now we are using those transformations to prove or disprove that two figures are congruent and/or similar. In chapter 8, we'll be calculating the volume and surface area of 3D shapes. The Algebra I group just finished the chapter about exponents and exponential functions. Now, we are studying quadratic expressions and equations in chapters 8 and 9. This is the heart of the Algebra I course. Each week, the 7/8 students have work to complete on aleks.com. Those who have mastered fewer than 50% of the topics are required to master a minimum of 8 topics/week. Because the material gets harder as you increase the percent of topics mastered, those students who have mastered 50% or more of the topics are required to master 5 topics per week. The students get to choose which topics to try to master each week, which helps them review concepts and allows them to try math topics we'll cover in the future. Both math groups do math games once every two to three weeks. I am using Unified Classroom/PowerSchool to keep track of work completion in math and to keep track of assessment scores. My goal for each student is to score a 3 or better on each mathematics standard. This score indicates mastery of the standard. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work (engaged learner, responsible learner, and respectful learner). You can login to Unified Classroom by going to classroom.powerschool.com. You login using your child's gmail account. He/she can show you how to do this and to navigate around the site. |
5/6 Science |
7/8 Science |
Our current unit is Earth Systems. In this unit, we will study many things. These include the phases of matter, volume, density, the water cycle, where water is naturally distributed on Earth, proving that invisible things do exist, rock types, the rock cycle, erosion and weathering, fossils, the Earth's structure, and we'll be using Moh's hardness scale. This will take much of our next two months to complete.
I am using Unified Classroom/PowerSchool to keep track of work completion in science. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work. You can login to Unified Classroom by going to classroom.powerschool.com. You login using your child's gmail account. He/she can show you how to do this and how to navigate around the site. |
The 7/8 students are studying force and motion. We've been studying Newton's laws and how gravity works. We'll play with collisions and with pulleys. The students will design and construct/print a CO2 car to race against their classmates in a friendly competition.
Our next unit is about waves and energy. We'll learn the forms that energy takes and focus a lot on gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy. We will spend some time doing experiments with thermal conductors and insulators. By the end of the unit, students will have a more thorough understanding of what temperature is. We'll also study waves: their parts, where they occur, and how they are transmitted. We will finish our year with a unit on chemistry. I am using Unified Classroom/PowerSchool to keep track of work completion in science. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work. You can login to Unified Classroom by going to classroom.powerschool.com. You login using your child's gmail account. He/she can show you how to do this and how to navigate around the site. |