Hi all,
Move-up Day, Vivasion-ville… it must be getting to the end of school. Team teachers are putting together the final assessments. Lots going on - check out below.
Vivasion-ville: June 13 from 12:40-2:20
Vivasionville, the economics and personal finance simulation, returns to BRMS on Wednesday, June 13 from 12:40-2:20. Fusion and Vivace students will create a town with activities, entertainment and food for the whole school to enjoy - for a price! More information is coming, but here are some advance details:
- Vivasionville will exist in the hallway stretching from the top of the stairs by the library to Robyn Bessette's room. Teams will enter Vivasionville at the top the stairs and exit down the stairwell by Robyn's room. Much like Foodarama, there is one way traffic.
- There will be a sign-up for teams to visit. Each team will have roughly 25 minutes to visit.
- There is a banking system, which uses Vivasion-ville Bucks (or now being called “V-bucks” by the students). All students start with $2,000 which can be used to offset business expenses.
- There is a elected town government and police force (use of force protocols are strictly limited:)
- Students will have the option to invest in companies (stocks) (that must be done BEFORE June 13)
- Students will also be able to "pre-order" some items from Vivasionville vendors (that must also be done BEFORE June 8)
7th Grade Families:
Grade 7 students will have a field trip on June 14 to Sandbar State park. Attached to the email is the permission form. Chaperones are requested, as well as portable games to take with us.
8th Grade Families Only - Option to purchase Chromebook
District is offering for families to purchase used Chromebooks. If interested, please see attached letter. Any questions should be referred to Cherie Fabiani, Tech Support at BRMS.
All Laptops are at school over the Weekend
There should be no school laptops / electronic devices at home over the break. If one does make its way home, please secure it in a spot where it will remain unused for the break.
Calendar
June 13 - Vivasionville returns, 12:40-2:20 pm in upstairs hallway (more information coming)
June 14 - 7th Grade Field Trip to Sandbar State Park ($10)
June 14 - 8th Grade Field Trip to the Great Escape ($65) - Field Trip Permission form attached
June 19 - Looking Good Right Now: last day for 8th graders (MMU Class of 2022) and Recognition Night
June 20 - Looking Good Right Now: last student day of school (grades 5-7)
Curriculum Updates
LA
*** Students who would like to raise their reading journal score should leave journals on my desk to be graded. I need to see evidence of jotting regularly 3x/week in order to raise scores. ***
7 Students in 7th grade completed their last on-demand writing assessment of the year today! Realistic Fiction short stories were due on Wednesday. Next week we will begin a Fractured Fairy Tales “mini unit” to wrap up the year with some fun, creative writing.
8 Yesterday, students had planning time to prepare for the last on demand writing assessment of the year! This argument writing assessment will be completed in class on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Students are able to use tools and checklists provided throughout the unit as well as their own notes. All writing must be completed in class next week. On Wednesday we will begin a Picture Book “mini unit” to wrap up the year.
Math
7: We wrapped up our proportional reasoning unit, Comparing and Scaling, last week with an end of unit assessment. We will be finishing up the year with a compact unit on probability. We launched the unit yesterday and today with two different probability experiments. We discussed the idea that the more trials we have, the more accurate our estimated probability seems to be. The culmination of this unit will be students creating a probability game of their own to share with their class.
8: We are continuing with our systems of equations unit. We did some small group instruction and work this week to practice skills needed for different portions of this unit. We also focused on graphing to find solutions for a system of equations. Next week we will be looking at the different algebraic methods for solving a system.
Science
7 - We continue to study ecosystems and practice scientific modeling skills. This week, students developed energy pyramid models, and used their models to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy within and through ecosystems. In other news, while the 8th grade students headed to the high school for Move-Up Day, the 7th grade headed to the river to release our baby brook trout! We released 55 healthy-looking fish!
8 - Although we are not requiring students to participate in the BRMS Science Fair, all 8th grade students are developing an investigation as part of science class! By Friday (today), they should have identified an investigative question, stated their hypothesis, and outlined their procedure. Next week, they will conduct the investigation and analyze the results. They will submit a final report for class by next Friday, although it’s only a few more steps to turn their project into a Science Fair Poster and compete for a prize on June 12th!!
SS
7 - Students are knee deep in writing resumes and business plans for Vivasion-ville. Please check in with them about what they might need - no “business” owner is allowed to spend more than $20 on supplies (keep receipts - they need them for their business plans). There are some fantastic ideas developing: VR experiences, powerstrip businesses (students are “charged” to use electrical outlets), car and bike dealerships, art and bakery combinations, casinos… it’s a wild, wild world of entrepreneurship.
8 - Students are finishing their final official assessment in social studies: Causes of the Civil War. Students have developed projects about three of the many causes for the Civil war and how many events (examples: Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court) could be viewed a multitude of ways by the major stakeholders: Northern factory owners, Abolitionists and Southern plantation owners. Most students have moved on to developing Vivasion-ville businesses or resumes. Move-up Day has dominated most discussions in social studies:)
Might be a good weekend to check in with the calendar to see if any conflicts with the school schedule exist.
Team Fusion
