Monday, February 4, 2019

Fusion Communication: February 4



Hi all,

While it might not have been THE polar vortex, it sure was cold this week; frequent indoor recesses for everyone. It will be nice to see the temps rise for a few days so students can get outside during the day. The team is in the throes of planning February 15ths Bowling/Pizza/Chinese day - please get those permission forms in! Also, 8th grade transition continues with the recommendation forms due February 15th.



Annual Bowling, Chinese, Pizza Day!
Team will take February 15 to celebrate us with a field trip to Spare Time Bowling, then return to school for the annual Chinese/Pizza Buffet. $20 and permission form required - see attached form. Form is due Friday, Feb 8th.

Congratulations Penguin Plungers
The following students from Team Fusion participated in the Penguin Plunge this year - kudos to them!

Riya Sawyer

Allie Fullem

Kaia Sleeper-Spady

Erin Robillard - Staff

Kevin Hamilton - Administrator

Nicole Thompson - Staff

Bryant Pless - Staff

Power Cords should NOT be coming home with students
It has come to our attention that students are taking power cords out of the computer carts and bringing them home; sometimes these cords are not assigned to that student. We ask families to keep an eye out for Chromebook cords at home and return any that your family did not purchase for themselves - no questions will be asked, we just need the cords back. Thanks.

Calendar:
Week of February 11: Kick-off for the 8th Grade Career Unit/PLP Process for 7th Grade

February 13: Delayed Start

February 15: The annual bowling and Chinese/Pizza buffett - Confirmed date (see attached     permission slip)

8th grade recommendation forms are due BACK to BRMS

February 22: Student-Faculty Basketball Game (1:20ish to 2:20ish)

*Only 8th Grade basketball players can play*

Last Day before Break

February 23-March 5: Winter Break (no school)

March 29: 7/8 Dance - Fusion Field Trip Fundraiser!

April 10: Delayed Start

April 20-28: Spring Break (no school)

May 8: Last Delayed Start

June 3: Tentative Move-up Day - 8th Graders to MMU


Curriculum Updates
LA

*** All students should still be reading 30 minutes each day, outside of class. ***

7 Students started work on the graphic organizer for their information writing piece: companion books. Mini lessons will focus on ways to use multiple text structures to convey meaning to the reader and highlight important ideas.

8 Students have been working on some shared writing around theme in our mentor text. Next week we will dig into author's craft, followed by the start of our process piece — a comparative essay in which students will write about two short stories of their choice. The graphic organizer for this writing piece will be on schoology soon.

Math: Due to changes in my personal schedule, Math extra help sessions will be changing from Thursday afternoons, to Monday afternoons. They will continue to be from 2:45 - 3:25. If your student is planning to attend, please just let me know by noon on that Monday.

7 - We completed Investigation 2 in Comparing & Scaling. This investigation explored comparison strategies, scaling rates, and unit rates. Next week we will be investigating proportions with percents, measurement conversions, and making connections between ratios, rates, percents, and proportions.

8 - Course placement forms will be going home this coming Monday. I have had the chance to meet with students this week and discuss their placement with them. If there are any questions about this process or my recommendations, please do not hesitate to contact me.

We finished up this week by doing some review and extension work in preparation for the Looking for Pythagoras end of unit assessment. We will be having the assessment on Tuesday of next week. Our next unit of study will be Growing, Growing, Growing which focuses on exponential growth and exponent rules. 

Science

7 - We finished the unit on body systems last week, and are now busy exploring life cycles - how do organisms grow, develop, and reproduce in their suitable environments? We will introduce the idea that both genetics and the environment influence survival and reproduction or organisms. This mini-unit will lead nicely into our heredity unit after the break. Meanwhile, the trout are looking fantastic! All have hatched and are now in the “sac-fry” stage of life!



8 - As we near the end of the Properties of Matter unit, students are busy designing and conducting experiments to discover how different materials transmit, reflect, and absorb thermal energy. They will use these discoveries to design a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer next week! They completed an assessment this week focused on the skill of designing investigations.

SS

7 - Students have been designing a representative democracy for their Sovereign State countries, and continue to explore what it means to be “representative” and “democratic”.

8 - Students began their Constitution Videos this week, using a checklist from the Constitution pre-assessment given at the beginning of the week.


We are at the ½ way point of the trimester(and the academic year) - good time to check in with your child about their school supplies.


The Fusion Team