Friday, February 24, 2017

Career Unit Overview

Link to document


Fusion Communication: February 24


Hi all,
So much for the snow. Maybe onward to spring?

Parent Conferences in March
The team has filled conference times - if your family needs to reschedule, please contact the team as soon as you can. For families that need a time outside of the times already offered, contact Mr. Pless directly.

8th Grade Only: Career Unit
The career unit was introduced during the last PLP meeting (Monday, 2/20).  Please read through the attached letter; please note - there is a job shadow expectation for this unit.  February Break is a great time to get those completed.

Career Panel February 22
Thank you to all our panel members: Shaun King, Leslie Dee, Ryan Mercer, Jason Ritter, Deputy Sheriff Brian Welch, and Kristen Barker.

Trout Feeding over Break
Most of the trout are happily feeding when given the opportunity.  A few families have reached out to me inquiring about feeding them over this vacation.  If you would like to help out, please email me at lisa.windhausen@cesuvt.org with a day and time that works for you and I’ll add you to a feeding schedule.  I will leave instructions on the tank.  You can expect that it will take ~20-30 minutes, as they should be acclimated to the light for about 15 minutes before feeding, then covered up again after they feed.  Thank you!

Calendar
February 24 - close of Trimester 2 report card
February 25 - March 6: Winter Break
March 17 - ½ student day/Parent Conference Day
April 12 - Delayed Start
May 16 - Delayed Start

Trout Update

Reminder from Nurse’s Office:
Please know that if your child texts, emails or calls you from school due to illness or injury,  it should be from the Health Office. The protocol is that if a child is not feeling well or is injured, he/she is sent to the Health Office. We, with your student,  will decide  if a call home to a parent/guardian is warranted. Please ask your student  if she/he has been to see the nurse first if there is a request to be picked up. Thank-you for your help on this important matter.

Spectrum Sleepout
Message below is from Greg Martin:
Dear BRMS Student and Parent(s),
Sleeping Outside overnight on March 23rd is hard and uncomfortable! Imagine having to do it EVERY NIGHT? The perspective and experience gained in participating with us in the Student Sleep Out will be a powerful and meaningful one. Please consider joining us by;
  1. Joining our team, raising $ (raise $25 and you get a hat), sleeping out, having fun, SUPPORTING SPECTRUM PROGRAMS AND HELPING LOCAL HOMELESS TEENS.
Click here;

  1. Signing up, all of the above, but just come for the PRESENTATION from 7:00-8:00pm on 3/23 and eat pizza. Go home and know you’ve helped and make a difference! *Best for students participating in the play on Friday 3/24.

  1. Sponsor our TEAM or one of our PARTICIPANTS by giving $ to Spectrum here;
http://give.spectrumvt.org/site/TR/Events/TeamRaiserWorkshop?team_id=1232&pg=team&fr_id=1070 Click “DONATE NOW.” Know you’ve helped provide meals, shelter and services for a local, homeless teen!

Thank you for supporting the Spectrum's Sleep Out! You just made sure a struggling teen or young adult will be able to get help when they need it most.Each year, Spectrum provides 2,000 youth with basic needs like food and shelter, coaching and mentoring on life skills, and substance abuse and mental health counseling. If you'd like to find out more about their innovative programs, visit www.spectrumvt.org. Thank you again for making sure Spectrum's doors are open for the next youth who needs help!

*This is my 4th year organizing this event here at BRMS in honor of my younger brother who was homeless and struggling with drug addiction. I'm pleased to say that he is now over one year clean and sober and doing well. Agencies, like Spectrum, have been a lifeline for people in need, like my brother. This is means A LOT to me, so thank you sincerely for your generous donation of time and/or money!

Gregory Martin
5th & 6th Grade School Counselor - BRMS

Friday, February 17, 2017

Team Fusion Communication: February 17

Hi all,
Wow - lots of snow to play in (or move) this weekend! Students have been enjoying the snow at recess, and seem happy to have a real winter.  Team Fusion will be wrapping up the trimester with a bowling trip on Thursday of next week; then their will be a whole school activity on Friday.  Please let the team know if your child will not be attending school on next Friday.

Parent Conferences in March
The team will release the conference sign-up schedule over the next few days.  The priority will be for 8th grade parents, as they will be transitioning to MMU next fall.  An email will go out to 8th grade parents first, then to 7th grade families. As always, the team will do its best to accommodate families whose schedules conflict with the scheduled conference times.

8th Grade Only: Career Unit
The career unit will be introduced during the next PLP meeting (Monday, 2/20).  Please read through the letter; please note - there is a job shadow expectation for this unit.  February Break is a great time to get those completed.

Career Panel February 22, 8-9am
The 8th graders will be starting the annual career unit this coming Monday.  The team would like to provide a panel of Fusion parents willing to discuss their career choices, the pathways they took to their present career, and the challenges/rewards of that career with these 8th graders. Right now the team has five confirmations for the career panel - we would love for a couple more people to join.

Field Trip Permission Form
Please check in with your child regarding the field trip permission form to Spare Time on Thursday, Feb. 23rd.  We are still missing a few.  Thank you.

Calendar
February 20 - Introduce Career Unit to 8th Graders
February 22 - 8th grade Career Unit Panel, 8-9am
February 23 - Field Trip to Bowling/Lunch of Pizza and Chinese
February 24 - Day before break: All school activity in afternoon (please notify team if your child is not attending school that day)
February 24 - close of Trimester 2 report card
March 17 - ½ student day/Parent Conference Day
April 12 - Delayed Start
April 13 - Career Unit Fair - 8th Grade only (7th graders are welcome to attend)
May 16 - Delayed Start


Curriculum Update
LA -  
Because both grades are currently in a reading unit, NO reading logs will be assigned until after the February break! Students will be completing daily and weekly tasks to demonstrate comprehension of events and details in these texts.

7th -- In preparation for our next writing unit, we have begun reading the novel Holes by Louis Sachar together as a class. Once we have completed the book, students will begin working on their next writing piece -- Companion Books. This writing piece will combine argument, narrative and information writing skills.
For this piece, students will be able to choose from the following options:
  1. Write a companion book about our class novel, Holes
  2. Re-read a favorite book and write a companion book about it.
  3. Challenge Option: Read a NEW book independently and write about that.

8th -- We will likely wrap up reading our class novel, Chains a week or two after the February break. Students will complete a short assignment demonstrating their understanding of the book. Next, we will move into our final writing unit for the year. During this information writing unit, students will examine social issues that exist in the world. We will look at one issue together as a class, to model the writing process. The structure of the essay will be problem/solution Students will then duplicate this process with a topic of their choice for the on demand assessment at the end of the unit.


Science

7th -  Students completed the final assessment within the cells and heredity unit today!  We will carry several topics into next week, and will begin a unit on body systems after the break.

8th - Students used prisms to refract visible light into different colored wavelengths this week, and are putting visible light into the context of the electromagnetic spectrum.  Mike Longevin, the Resource Officer at MMU will join our class on Monday bringing with him tools of his profession that make use of different forms of radiation.   After the break, we begin to explore properties of matter.

SS
7th - The Sovereign State Challenge got off the ground this week - ask your children about the first challenge: the country of Genosha’s lack of respect for other nations’ sovereignty.  Students also began working on the district assessment, which is a project.  Students were allowed to bring home their laptops to complete the district assessment over the weekend.  Please ask your child about their progress.

8th - Students finished their investigation of the Bill of Rights and are starting the district assessment.  Please see the notice above about the career unit.

Math

7th: We continued with Comparing & Scaling this week developing strategies for comparing ratios. Today we purchased our first stocks in the Stock Market Game.  Students have a login and password and should be able to share with you their purchases so far.

8th Grade CMP: We are in the processing of reviewing for a unit assessment for next Wednesday. Yesterday we purchased our first stocks in the Stock Market Game.  Students have a login and password and should be able to share with you their purchases so far.


8th Algebra: We are in the processing of reviewing for a unit assessment for next Wednesday. Yesterday we purchased our first stocks in the Stock Market Game.  Students have a login and password and should be able to share with you their purchases so far.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Fusion Team Communication: February 10

Hi all,
Things are starting to bubble a bit on Team Fusion - two weeks until break.  Some students just need a quick reminder from families about their two jobs at school: taking care of each other and doing their best as we finish the trimester.

8th Grade Families Only: MMU Recommendation Forms
Please review and then sign the form.  Questions about specific courses should be referred to the content teacher or Ms. Wisniowski. Forms are due back to Ms. Wisniowski no later than today - Friday, February 10.

Career Panel February 22, 8-9am
The 8th graders will be starting the annual career unit this coming Monday.  The team would like to provide a panel of Fusion parents willing to discuss their career choices, the pathways they took to their present career, and the challenges/rewards of that career with these 8th graders.

Please note - the team wants all parents comfortable participating on this panel to volunteer, but teachers may need to pick from this pool to provide a broad spectrum of careers.  Thank you for understanding.

Field Trip Permission Form
Please check in with your child regarding the field trip permission form to Spare Time on Thursday, Feb. 23rd.  We are still missing a few.  Thank you.

Calendar
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 (8th Grade only - Afternoon)
February 17 - YRBS questionnaire (7th and 8th grades only - morning)
February 22 - 8th grade Career Unit Panel, 8-9am
February 23 - Field Trip to Bowling/Lunch of Pizza and Chinese
February 24 - Day before break: All school activity in afternoon (please notify team if your child is not attending school that day)
February 24 - close of Trimester 2 report card


Curriculum Update
LA -  
Process Pieces (Competitive Sports Essay -7th and Literary Essay - 8th) were due last Friday. Both grades will be taking a break from writing and focusing reading units this week. This means no reading logs for both groups until break! Students will be completing in-class reading tasks related to each grade’s respective reading units. Both 7th and 8th grade students will be taking on demand writing assessments next week. See below for specific details:

7th - Students have already begun research to prepare for the Argument Writing Assessment that will take place in class on Monday February 13th.

8th - Students will begin preparing for  in class on Monday for their Argument Writing Assessment taking place on Wednesday, February 15th.

Science
Trout Update!  Students are having a great time tracking the development of our brook trout!  The trout are currently at the “swim-up” stage, learning how to swim to the water surface and to consume food.  Apparently, if the trout are not offered food at the right time, they may miss the opportunity and never learn how to feed!  We will be planning to feed them several times per day, hoping that most of the 101 alevin become regular feeders before the vacation. IMG_3333.JPG

7th -  Besides tracking the trout, students dissected flowers this week, identified male and female structures, and studied the processes of pollination and fertilization.  Next week, we look at the advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual reproduction.  We’ll have a quiz before moving on to a quick study of the Madagascar hissing cockroach!

8th - We finished our background work understanding the properties and interactions of waves last week, and learned more this week about how engineers design and plan for the energy that different types of waves apply to human structures, such as building and bridges.  Next week, we will focus on light waves and other types of electromagnetic radiation.

SS
7th - 7th graders spent a lot of time preparing for the Sovereign State Challenge.  In preparation, students spent time reviewing propaganda techniques, the role of the United Nations, gross domestic product, and creating a world map - see the picture. Next week, the students will start SSC in earnest, with the district assessment portion assigned early in the week.File_000.jpeg

8th - The focused continued to be on the Bill of Rights, especially focused on the 3rd and 2nd amendments.  There is a quiz Monday over the Bill of Rights and the district assessment project will be assigned on Tuesday.

Math
7th: We finished the first investigation of Comparing and Scaling this week. We investigated setting up and solving proportions using “between” and “within” relationships. We have also begun to launch the stock market game. In teams, student with simulate having $100,000 to invest in the stock market. This simulation helps teach real-world mathematical and economic concepts. More information is available at www.smgww.org.

8th Grade CMP: We continued our work with exponents this week with working with Scientific Notation and Exponential Decay. We have also begun to launch the stock market game. In teams, student with simulate having $100,000 to invest in the stock market. This simulation helps teach real-world mathematical and economic concepts. More information is available at www.smgww.org.


8th Algebra: We have explored 3 methods for solving a system of equations: Graphing, Substitution, & Elimination. We will be having another unit test before break. We have also begun to launch the stock market game. In teams, student with simulate having $100,000 to invest in the stock market. This simulation helps teach real-world mathematical and economic concepts. More information is available at www.smgww.org.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Team Fusion Communication: February 3


Hi all,

Shorter communication this week.  It’s been busy:) Make sure to take a look at the calendar - lots coming up.

8th Grade Families Only: MMU Recommendation Forms
8th graders are bringing home a recommendation form for MMU classes.  Please review and then sign the form.  Questions about specific courses should be referred to the content teacher or Ms. Wisniowski. Forms are due back to Ms. Wisniowski no later than Friday, February 3.

Dance Donations
A message was sent earlier in the week about the dance on February 10.  Team Fusion is using the dance as the annual fundraiser for the end of the year field trips.  Please use the link below to sign up for a baked good or water donation:

Penguin Plunge 2017
The Plunge takes place this weekend - Saturday, February 4, 11am 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. Plungers should meet Mr. Warren and Mr. Pless in Burlington City Hall Park by 9:30am.

There are 76 students, staff and community members signed up and over $16,000 raised to date!

Calendar
February 3 - 8th Grade High School Course Recommendation Forms went 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