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
