Hi all,
We are in full swing on Team Fusion. Lots of things are coming up in the next few weeks - see the calendar.
Penguin Plunge 2017
The Plunge takes place next weekend - Saturday, February 4 at the Burlington Waterfront (by the Coast Guard station). It is a great event and the 13th year for BRMS to participate as a school.
BRMS is doing great with Penguin Plunge fundraising! There are 67 students, staff and community members signed up and $9,457 raised to date. If you, your child are interested, please go online to the link below and register.
Calendar
January 30 - Fusion Algebra Mid-Term (Rescheduled from this past Thursday)
February 3 - 8th Grade High School Course Recommendation Forms go home.
February 8 - Two Hour Delay
February 10 - 8th Grade High School Course Recommendation Forms due back.
February 10 - ⅞ Dance (Fundraiser for Team Fusion - donations of food to the dance)
February 16 - NAEP testing (Afternoon)
February 23 - Field Trip to Bowling/Lunch of Pizza and Chinese
Academic Area Update
LA
**** Both grades have essays due on Friday, February 3rd. Some students may need to spend some time working on these at home in order to have them completed by the due date. To help with this, I have taken questions off the weekly reading log to allow students more time to devote to writing. If you are supporting your student with writing at home, the Writer’s Toolkit folder on Schoology is a great place to look for resources. I have posted checklists and writing tools that we use regularly in class. ***
7th: Students have been working hard drafting process pieces for our argument writing unit. Everyone has selected a claim (either for or against kids participating in competitive sports). Students have drafted body paragraphs, added leads and endings and are in the process of revising these writing pieces into “Best Drafts.” Completed essays are due on Friday, February 3rd. After we have finished this assignment, our focus shifts back to reading. Students will be exploring interest-based topics and fine-tuning their research skills before the next on demand writing assessment.
8th: Students have spent the past two weeks planning and drafting literary essays to demonstrate their analysis of Dystopian Literature. Final drafts of these process pieces are due next Friday, February 3rd. Once this writing unit is finished we will shift our focus back to reading. As a class we will be reading Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. This novel ties in nicely with the 8th grade social studies unit on the American Revolution. There is an audio version available through the library. We will be using this in class often. Student will complete weekly and daily tasks connected to the book. Our focus will be on author’s craft (figurative language, etc.)
Science
7th Grade: Students wrote their final explanation for how and why twins can look different from each other using their knowledge of heredity. They also conducted a mini-research project and presented their understanding of one genetic disorder to the class. Next week will will look closely at seeds and flowers, as we begin discussing different reproductive strategies among organisms.
8th Grade: Students completed their district assessment on force and motion last week, and began a new mini-unit on the properties and types of waves. They completed several independent exploration stations this week, while I met with each student individually to discuss their recent assessment and their high school recommendation for science.
Math:
7th: We have come to the end of another unit, Stretching and Shrinking. Students have learned to apply scale factor in analyzing mathematically similar shapes. This unit also lays the groundwork with proportional reasoning for the next unit, Comparing and Scaling. We will have our unit assessment on Tuesday of next week and will begin Comparing and Scaling next week as well.
8th CMP: We have been exploring exponential relationships and developing rules for exponential functions as well as comparing these to linear functions. We will be investigating the properties of exponents next week and developing rules for simplifying exponential expressions. Also, I will be conferencing with students next week about math course recommendations for next year. These forms will go home with students on Friday.
8th Algebra: We have been preparing for the mid-term this week. We decided to postpone the test from this past Thursday to this coming Monday due to the snow day this week. Also, I will be conferencing with students next week about math course recommendations for next year. These forms will go home with students on Friday.
SS
7th: Students investigated the government of North Korea through the lens of an investigative video - Inside North Korea. Make sure to ask your child about their thoughts about this experience. Students finished the week with a Propaganda Technique Challenge. Next week will focus on another survey of different government types and then students will start the Sovereign State Challenge activity - that will be a multi-week project.
8th: Students continued to investigate the structure of government used by the United States. This week’s focus was on the judicial branch and student rights’ cases decided by the Supreme Court. Next week’s focus will continue on rights and the Bill of Rights.
