Hi all,
With the weather being all squirrelly, it will be important for students to get enough rest. There are two weeks left and the team is looking forward to finishing strong for the trimester.
Career Panel: looking for Volunteers - Thursday, February 21, 8-9am
Team Fusion is looking for 6-8 parents/community members willing to spend an hour discussing their career choices with our 8th grade students as part of the Career Unit/PLP kick-off week. We will provide you with questions to prepare answers for, and also keep the panel to one hour so you can meet your other commitments for the day. Team Fusion is looking for a wide range of career options, pathways and education backgrounds; the panel is a much richer experience with a greater diversity of professions and life experiences.
Please contact Mr. Pless if interested: bryant.pless@cesuvt.org
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 was due Friday, Feb 8th.
Congratulations Penguin PlungersThe following students from Team Fusion participated in the Penguin Plunge this year - kudos to them!
Riya Sawyer
Allie Fullem
Kaia Sleeper-Spady
Celia Polli
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.
All laptops should remain at school over the weekend.
Calendar:
Week of February 11: Kick-off for the 8th Grade Career Unit/7th Grade PLP Process
February 13: Delayed Start
February 15: The annual bowling and Chinese/Pizza buffett - Confirmed date
8th grade recommendation forms are due BACK to BRMS. If not turned in to BRMS
by this time, families will need to deliver the forms to the high school.
February 21: 8-9am Career Panel (looking for six adult volunteers to speak with students about their
February 21: 8-9am Career Panel (looking for six adult volunteers to speak with students about their
careers)
February 22: Student-Faculty (Read and White) Basketball Game (1:20ish to 2:20ish)
*Only 8th Grade basketball players can play*
February 22: Student-Faculty (Read and White) 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! We will be asking families to donate food items to sell
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. ***
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 - This week we finished the remainder of the investigations in our current unit, Comparing and Scaling. Next week will be doing some review work to prepare for a unit assessment towards the end of the week.
8 - This week we wrapped up the Looking for Pythagoras unit with a unit assessment and have started our next unit, Growing, Growing, Growing. This is unit investigates exponential growth and decay as well as exponent rules.
Science
7 - Students completed their investigation of the effects of salt and genetics on plant germination and growth. They summarized their findings using a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning structure, which we use often for science writing. Students also examined the structures of flowers, learned about the diversity of plant structures that match specific pollinators, and reviewed the variety of animal behaviors that increase their chances for successful reproduction. We watched several entertaining videos of bird courtship displays!
8 - Students are designing their own investigations and engineering projects related to thermal energy transfer this week! They are in the midst of the final engineering challenge, working in design teams, to maximize thermal energy transfer from either a heat lamp or electric burner to a model of a cookie or a hot tub. They are in the process of selecting materials which will aid in the transfer of energy to their model. Next week, they will build, test, evaluate and present their devices, all before Friday’s field trip!
February 23-March 5: Winter Break (no school)
March 29: 7/8 Dance - Fusion Field Trip Fundraiser! We will be asking families to donate food items to sell
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. ***
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 - This week we finished the remainder of the investigations in our current unit, Comparing and Scaling. Next week will be doing some review work to prepare for a unit assessment towards the end of the week.
8 - This week we wrapped up the Looking for Pythagoras unit with a unit assessment and have started our next unit, Growing, Growing, Growing. This is unit investigates exponential growth and decay as well as exponent rules.
Science
7 - Students completed their investigation of the effects of salt and genetics on plant germination and growth. They summarized their findings using a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning structure, which we use often for science writing. Students also examined the structures of flowers, learned about the diversity of plant structures that match specific pollinators, and reviewed the variety of animal behaviors that increase their chances for successful reproduction. We watched several entertaining videos of bird courtship displays!
8 - Students are designing their own investigations and engineering projects related to thermal energy transfer this week! They are in the midst of the final engineering challenge, working in design teams, to maximize thermal energy transfer from either a heat lamp or electric burner to a model of a cookie or a hot tub. They are in the process of selecting materials which will aid in the transfer of energy to their model. Next week, they will build, test, evaluate and present their devices, all before Friday’s field trip!
SS
7 - Students continued to develop a flow chart of their representative government. There was a deeper look at US representative democracy by watching Ted-ed videos of important concepts in American democracy:
Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances
What gives the dollar its value?
Fight for the Right to Vote
Equality, Sports and Title IX (9)
Students will be finishing their Flowcharts next week and working to create propaganda for their Sovereign State countries.
8 - Students have been working to research standards related to the Constitution - a video project about these standards is due early next week. A deeper dive into US court system was started in the middle of the week, with a mock trial of Marcus Brutus used to introduce the basic procedures, and now the students are engaged in another mock trial involving a student caught with vaping items. Some of the research Mr. Pless used to produce the trial was obtained from the Vaping Workshop held at BRMS last week - if interested, there is a link to a video of that workshop below. The video is appropriate for adult audiences, and should be used as an informational source to open discussion with your child about the growing use of vaping devices in all Vermont schools.
Link to Vaping Workshop Video
Hope everyone has a good weekend.
The Fusion Team
