Friday, September 28, 2018

Fusion Communication: September 28

Hi all,
The closing of the first month - always difficult to believe it’s October (and then November, December…). October promises to be busy for Team Fusion: Parent Conferences, Montreal field trip, a (small) break on October 19. The learning is in full swing at this point - be sure to sit with your child, from time to time, to check in about work completion and academics through Schoology.  Otherwise, much to consider in the weekly communication.

Team blog link:

Parent Conference
We are providing the link below to sign up for fall conferences.  As we have done in past years, we are prioritizing fall conferences for meeting with 7th grade families in order to support their students' transition to our team.  However, we want to make sure that we make time for all the families, both 7th and 8th, that feel the need to meet. We will also be emailing some 8th grade families directly to request a conference if we feel it would be best to meet at this time.  When deciding whether to sign up for a conference, please keep in mind whether you have met with us recently or have a meeting scheduled with us in the near future in order to be fair to other families. Also, if you do not feel the need for a conference, but would like an email update about your student please feel free to email us and we would be happy to accommodate this.  

Montreal Field Trip Update - Date Change and Permission
The team is planning to take the students to Montreal for a long day on Friday, October 26.  This date is confirmed with the museum and bus company. A permission form and information letter should go home on Monday.  Please locate the birth certificate, enhanced ID or passport.
**The permission and medical forms are attached - please try and get that information to Mr. Pless as soon as possible.

Laptops should NOT be home over the weekend
If a laptop makes its way home, please store it in a secure, undisclosed location until Monday morning. In the past, a great deal of damage is inadvertently done to the laptops over the weekend - and the team does not give homework on the weekends:)

Calendar:
October 10: Delayed Start
October 15: Montreal Permission form and Fee due ($47) **IDs due no later than the week of 10/22-25
October 19: Non-student day
October 26: Montreal Field Trip (NEW DATE!)
November 19-23: School Break
November 30: First ⅞ Dance of the year! Woot!

Curriculum Updates
LA Students in both grades should be submitting their notebook work on schoology today. Time was given in class to scan / take photos of notebook pages and submit this work. Students in both grades participated in a gallery walk to get ideas from each other. We talked about accountability as well as taking pride in this work.

7 -- We are going to be wrapping up our unit, “A Deep Study of Character” in a week or so. This week, students have been examining how some character traits are more important than others because they impact the story.

8 -- You will be able to see a daily score for “use of class time.” Students have shown that they need this extra check in / layer of accountability for the time being. Off-task behavior has been impacting students’ ability to achieve a reasonable level of productivity recently.

We are going to be wrapping up our unit A Deep Study of Character in a week or so. Students have been examining how the setting impacts the characters and how authors make deliberate word choices.

Math
7- We are close to wrapping up our first unit, Shapes and Designs.  We have one more investigation to do early next week and then we will begin reviewing and preparing for the end of unit assessment at the end of the week.  This week we looked at rules for side length combinations for triangles as well as constructing triangles using tools. Next week we will explore transversals and the rules for angles created by transversals before we begin reviewing for the unit assessment.  

8- This week we introduced slope-intercept form for linear equations and began laying the groundwork for formally defining slope by examining the rise and run of different staircases.  Next week we will continue to work with slope intercept form and becoming fluid moving between tables, graphs, equations, and stories. We will also begin reviewing for a partial unit assessment early the following week.  

Science
7- Students continue to make close observations of tiny organisms using microscopes, while learning to identify cells and some of the organelles within cells.  They are beginning to make comparisons among protist, plant, and animal cells. They will have an assessment next week to gauge their ability to gather sufficient evidence to determine which mystery materials are living.

8- We progressed from sun-earth relationships, to the solar system and beyond.  Students had many experiences creating scale models and visualizing the vast distances and sizes of various celestial bodies.  Next week, they will complete a mini-research project on one celestial body, while gaining an understanding of how the universe is organized.

SS
7 - Other than Montreal field trip information, students continued to explore the geography of the world, Universals (categories) of Culture through videos (Culture Shock: Ho Chi Minh City) and 36 Hours: Burlington (a NY Times travel series). The focus for culture this week was social norms: acceptable vs unacceptable behaviors from around the world.
8 - Other than Montreal field trip information, students continued to develop and an “American” colonist from 1763, with an emphasis on occupation and the effect of trade. Students started the week with a deeper dive into the role and meaning of tariffs through an article, writing prompt and quiz in Newsela. Ask your child what their colonist name is and what is their occupation.

Thanks - enjoy this beautiful, Harvest Market Weekend,
The Fusion Team

Friday, September 21, 2018

Special Fusion Communication: Need Chaperones for Montreal

Hi all,

Team Fusion needs at least four more chaperones for the October 26 field trip to Montreal; these chaperones would need to be fingerprinted.  The process for doing so is explained in the September 21 and 14 blog posts.

Please consider joining us for the trip - we could really use the help.  Contact Mr. Pless if you can join us.

Fusion Communication: September 21

Hi all,
First full, five-day week - we are in the thick of it now! Please note there has been a change of date for the Montreal field trip to October 26 - more on that trip below.  Otherwise, the students are in to the routine - this is the best teaching time of the year!

Team blog link:

Important Message about Volunteer/Chaperone Fingerprinting
The fingerprinting process takes time and money - below is the basic process:
  • A visit to Central Office in Richmond to fill out three forms, pay a fee of $12, then take a form...
  • To the Chittenden County Sheriff’s office (must be done here), which requires a reservation, $25 CASH fee.  After fingerprinting, sheriff’s office will give a receipt which must be …
  • Dropped back off at Central office. At this point, a parent will be considered cleared to take students out of direct school staff supervision on a field trip and sponsored school activity.

Montreal Field Trip Update - Date Change
The team is planning to take the students to Montreal for a long day on Friday, October 26.  This date is confirmed with the museum and bus company. A permission form and information letter should go home on Monday.  Please locate the birth certificate, enhanced ID or passport.

Laptops should NOT be home over the weekend
If a laptop makes its way home, please store it in a secure, undisclosed location until Monday morning. In the past, a great deal of damage is inadvertently done to the laptops over the weekend - and the team does not give homework on the weekends:)

Students Leaving Early for Medical Reason
If your child calls to ask you to pick them up, please make sure they are calling from the nurse’s office.  Students may not request for a pick-up without first checking in the the nurse. Please contact the nurse’s office with questions.

Calendar:
September 25: BRMS Open House
6:30-7 - ⅞ families visit EXPs/PE/Foreign Language rooms
7-7:30 - ⅞ families visit Team Fusion rooms
September 27: ⅞ Picture Day
October 10: Delayed Start
October 19: Non-student day
October 26: Montreal Field Trip (NEW DATE!)
November 19-23: School Break

Reading
All students were asked to get a book this week (from the library or brought in from home). Books should be brought to all study halls and LA class each day.

Curriculum Updates return next week!

Thanks - starting to feel more like fall out there,
The Fusion Team

Friday, September 14, 2018

Fusion Communication: September 14

Waterbury Center State Park Field Trip
Hi all,
A lot of fun was had by all on the field trip - thank you to our parent volunteers, bus drivers and lifeguards.  See the above picture for a view of the beautiful day. As for academics, the team is now in full swing - expect to see a bit more homework next week.  Laptops should be coming home soon - this weekend might be a good time to establish those ground rules for their use in your environments. Lastly, this communication is long - many apologies but some things have changed with volunteering and these changes affect the team’s future field trips.

Important Message about Volunteer/Chaperone Fingerprinting
The team now has clear guidelines around volunteer background checks and fingerprinting.  There is a letter linked here that better explains these distinctions.

Basically, there are two “levels” to volunteering within the district:
  • Non-fingerprinting (can volunteer for field trips and are directly supervised by school staff; cannot be alone with students)
  • Fingerprinting (can volunteer for field trips and can take student groups without direct staff supervision)

Traditionally, the Montreal field trip has included significant time periods where small student groups with volunteers  have explored the city without direct staff supervision. The team would like to keep this format but now those volunteers are required to be fingerprinted.  The fingerprinting process takes time and money - below is the basic process:
  • A visit to Central Office in Richmond to fill out three forms, pay a fee of $12, then take a form...
  • To the Chittenden County Sheriff’s office (must be done here), which requires a reservation, $25 CASH fee.  After fingerprinting, sheriff’s office will give a receipt which must be …
  • Dropped back off at Central office. At this point, a parent will be considered cleared to take students out of direct school staff supervision on a field trip and sponsored school activity.
The team would like to know how many parents are willing to go through the fingerprinting for the Montreal field trip.  If parent works for a Vermont school, their background check will be accepted; other fingerprinting background checks run by companies and government institutions are not acceptable, and those parents will have to get the fingerprinting through the district process. Please contact Mr. Pless if you are planning to participate in this new fingerprinting procedure.

Montreal Field Trip Update
The team is planning to take the students to Montreal for a long day on Thursday, October 25.  This date is tentative until confirmations from the bus company and archeology museum are finished.  A permission form and information letter should go home next week. In the mean time, might be a good weekend to locate the birth certificate and/or passport.

Computer Contracts
Almost all the computer contracts have been submitted  Mr. Pless will be contacting families this weekend about the last few.

Students Leaving Early for Medical Reason
If your child calls to ask you to pick them up, please make sure they are calling from the nurse’s office.  Students may not request for a pick-up without first checking in the the nurse. Please contact the nurse’s office with questions.

Calendar:
September 25: BRMS Open House
6:30-7 - ⅞ families visit EXPs/PE/Foreign Language rooms
7-7:30 - ⅞ families visit Team Fusion rooms
September 27: ⅞ Picture Day (picture forms were sent home this week)
October 10: Delayed Start
October 19: Non-student day
October 25: Montreal Field Trip (tentative)
November 19-23: School Break

Reading
All students were asked to get a book this week (from the library or brought in from home). Books should be brought to all study halls and LA class each day.

Language Arts
We took a little more time this week to do a reading survey, wrap up pre assessment and practice reading and jotting. Next week we will officially launch our first readers workshop unit: A Deep Study of Character. 7th grade will focus on character traits and setting, while 8th graders will dig into themes.

Homework is to read 30 minutes each night and jot in notebooks (90% reading 10% jotting). Notebook expectations can be found on schoology in the reading toolkit and are linked here as well: Notebook Expectations.

Math:  
7: We started our first unit this week, Shapes and Designs.  We explored common properties of polygons, properties that we use to group and define different types of polygons, and benchmark angles used for estimating angle measures.  Next week we will begin using measuring tools to draw polygons given specific measures.
8: We explored proportional and nonproportional linear relationships this week and how the pieces of a linear relationship show up in a table, graph, and an equation.  Next week we will continue this work while also looking a the basic of a system of equations.

Science
7 - The results of our investigation of 5 different materials in 3 liquid environments determined that each living organism needs different “suitable environments” to thrive.  Brine shrimp need salt water, yeast need sugar water, and radish seeds need fresh water. Currently, students are learning how to use the compound microscope to make close observations of materials.  We will use microscopes several times over the next few weeks to examine tiny organisms and to gather more evidence of life!

8 - Students are regularly discussing, creating, and critiquing models showing the spatial relationships between the moon, earth, and sun, while building explanations for how and why different locations on earth experience different temperatures and seasons.  They also practiced their data analysis skills by graphing temperature and the number of day light hours for several locations on earth. We have our first assessment next Thursday asking students to explain the reasons for seasons on earth.

Social Studies
7 - Students spent the week exploring the effects of geography on one country, and then trying out a multiple-step assignment that tested their ability to manage information, tech skills and executive functioning skills.  Students continue to learn procedures and expectations in a 1-to-1 laptop classroom.
8 - The major focus was on developing an argument defending whether a painting was fair and accurate to the time in which it was created.  Students finished the unit with a Thinglink! representation of their argument-to-date”, expressing how the painting is or isn’t accurate, and how they would change it to amend history.

Thanks and enjoy the blast of extra summer this weekend,
The Fusion Team