Hi all,
Who thought it was a good idea to have Halloween on a Monday? Team Fusion survived. Obviously, there are some big things coming again for next week. Check out below what else is happening for students on Fusion.
Progress Report Emails
Some families have/will be receiving progress updates from teachers. This method is a new way to communicate “progress report” information; if your family does not receive one, the team is seeing your child meeting standard.
Many assessments right now…
Please check in with your child about what is happening… and also check out the curriculum updates below.
Movember
For the fifth year in a row, Browns River Middle School staff are participating in the Movember competition. This year there are couple of new twists; instead of collecting money, participants will be collecting food items for the Jericho and Underhill Food Shelf, and the focus is going to be more on everyone's health during this busy time of the year. Mr. Keblin and Mr. Pless are both participating (but really Team Fusion is raising food items for Mr. Keblin). Please ask your child to talk a little bit more of what they know about Movember and the Traditions that Browns River has with this movement.
High Interest Reading Material
Thank you - we have received multiple copies - please send more!
Calendar
November 6 - Daylight Savings ends; set clocks back one hour.
November 9 - Two Hour Delay
November 21-25 - Holiday Break (staff development Nov. 21-22)
December 2 - 7th Grade to Vermont International Festival (Tentative)
December 14 - Two Hour Delay
December 23-January 1, 2017 - Holiday Break
Academic Area Update
LA:
7th: We are still working our way through the novel, Tuck Everlasting. Students are completing response to text tasks in class. Reading logs will resume in December.
8th: Next week we will be moving into a reading unit. Students will read and analyse several dystopian short stories before we dig into books together. Reading logs will be put on hold until further notice as we examine and respond to texts together in class.
Math:
Algebra: We just wrapped up Unit 1A, Simplifying Expressions, with an end of unit assessment this week. We will beginning a unit on solving equations. This will involve solving linear equations, literal equations, and some simple exponential equations.
8th CMP: We are wrapping up the first portion of our unit, Thinking with Mathematical Models. We will being doing some review work this coming week in order to prepare for a unit assessment towards the end of the week. From here we will be moving on to the statistics portion of the unit, looking at correlation and bivariate data.
7th: We wrapped up the first section in this unit introducing two different models for working with integers. Students developed basic increase or decrease rules for addition and subtraction of integers and modeling this on number lines and using positive and negative chips.
Science
7th: We finished observing our bacteria agar plate and bread mold cultures, and determined which areas of the classroom serve as the greatest, and least, sources of microorganisms! We also learned about how humans benefit by using certain bacteria and fungi in making common foods, such as yoghurt and gorgonzola cheese. Students completed a short quiz on cell organelle vocabulary, and will explore the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration next week. The district assessment will take place right before the Thanksgiving break. Please send me an email if your child plans to be absent toward the end of that week.
8th: We started the week off with a comparison of potential and kinetic energy, then applied these concepts to labs using rubber band shooters and roller coaster simulators! We’ll have a quiz next week, reviewing what we know so far about motion, speed, and energy.
SS
7th: A focus for the week was on the upcoming election. Students selected issues important to them and then developed lists of sources they could use to discuss this issues. Towards the end of the week, the focus was on one issue - gun policy - and the students used class discussions and online programs to discuss the issues important to them.
In addition, Students have started the final assessment. Please check in with your child about which project they are completing for the assessment:
*The assessment is due on November 17 - two weeks away. Let Mr. Pless know if your family is leaving early for the Thanksgiving Holiday break.
8th: Students spent time exploring the last issues important to them with the election. Also, they are starting the assessment with the causes of the American Revolution - it’s called Revolutionary Facebook.
