Fusion Team Communication: November 11

Hi all,

Wow - 11 weeks of school with one more to go.  Team is finishing up assessments by Thursday so a great time to check in with your child.  Please note - Friday, November 18, will be more of a “fun” day.

7th Grade Laptops home this weekend

Given the upcoming district assessments and assignments in science and social studies, 7th grade students are allowed to bring their laptops home for the weekend (if they already have a computer at home, students were encouraged to leave the laptop at school).  Please have your child use the laptop for school projects only.

Movember

For the fifth year in a row, Browns River Middle School staff are participating in the Movember competition. This year there are couple of new twists; instead of collecting money, participants will be collecting food items for the Jericho and Underhill Food Shelf, and the focus is going to be more on everyone's health during this busy time of the year. Mr. Keblin and Mr. Pless are both participating (but really Team Fusion is raising food items for Mr. Keblin). Please ask your child to talk a little bit more of what they know about Movember and the Traditions that Browns River has with this movement. A big influx of food occurred Friday morning - thank you!

High Interest Reading Material

Thank you - we have received multiple copies - please send more!

Calendar

November 17:

• Movember Parade - last day for food items to count towards Movember Contest
• Students submit laptops (no laptops over the break)

November 21-25 - Holiday Break (staff development Nov. 21-22)

December 2 - 7th Grade to Vermont International Festival (Tentative)

December 14 - Two Hour Delay

December 23-January 1, 2017 - Holiday Break

Academic Area Update

LA:

Students in both grades have now completed the process piece (done over time, in class) and on demand assessment (competed in 2 hours, at school) for writing. As I work my way through these assessments, I will be in touch if something glaring comes up. Specific comments on student work will be on the report card.

Students who have questions or seek clarification regarding their process pieces (Investigative Journalism for 8th, Realistic Fiction for 7th) should check in with me once they have received their scores.

This weekend is a great time to sit down with your student to look at schoology. I will be accepting late/ incomplete work until Friday 11/18.

8th

We began looking at themes in short stories this week. We did some work together with the short story “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury. This work will prepare students to analyze theme in longer texts when we begin the reading unit on Dystopian and Fantasy Literature to be launched after the break. Our analysis of themes in literature also dovetails nicely into our next writing unit: Literary Essays.

7th

Next week we will wrap up our work with the novel Tuck Everlasting. Students have been completing comprehension tasks along the way to support our discussions on symbolism and differing perspectives within the story. As a reward for their efforts, we will be watching Disney’s film adaptation of the book at the end of next week. Looking forward, students will be reading a variety of texts on the subject of competitive sports when we return from the break. This reading unit will allow students to sharpen their research skills in preparation for the next writing unit: Research Based Essays.

Math:

Algebra: This week we have been working on solving basic equations, starting with one-step equations and moving through two-step equations into multi-step equations. Next week we will be doing work with more complex multi-step equations and moving into literal equations.

8th CMP: We have wrapped up the major portion of the unit and will be having a unit test next week. We have begun reviewing and will continue to review through Tuesday.

7th: We are well into our unit on integers and have explored adding and subtracting negative and positive values developing rules for what expressions with addition and subtraction will result in a negative, positive, or 0 value.

Science

7th:  Early in the week, we reviewed the key similarities and differences between plant and animal cells.  Then, we investigated how water flows through plants by explaining the loss of water from vials filled with stalks of celery, and by examining how dye traveled up the celery stalks to the leaves through xylem and veins.  We began to study photosynthesis, and will continue with this next week.  

Students will be working on creating models of animal and plant cells over the next few days.  This is a homework assignment.  Your child may need assistance finding random materials around the house to represent cell organelles.  It is not necessary to purchase any materials for this project; we viewed several examples in class that are made from paper, cardboard, felt, etc.  I have a box of craft supplies I can offer to students who are needing support finding things.  Please be aware that the district assessment will take place next Thursday.  Please send me an email if your child plans to be absent toward the end of next week.

8th:  Students continued to review and analyze examples of potential and kinetic energy.  They also conducted an investigation relating the shape of a ski slope to skier speed, using pipe insulation and a marble. know so far about motion, speed, and energy.  We revisited the claims-evidence-reasoning format for writing about our learning during investigations.  Lastly, students completed a quiz reviewing vocabulary, formulas, and concepts related to motion, potential energy, and kinetic energy.

SS

Obviously, the election was a big focus this week.  All students had a lesson about the Electoral College (which came in handy) and took time to review the election results.

List of final assessments this coming week:

• Social Studies 7
• District assessment for “What is Culture?” - due November 17
• Social Studies 8
• Ongoing district assessment for “Causes of the American Revolution” - finished by November 17

Thanks and enjoy the weekend,

Team Fusion

Fusion Team Communication: November 4

Hi all,

Who thought it was a good idea to have Halloween on a Monday?  Team Fusion survived.  Obviously, there are some big things coming again for next week.  Check out below what else is happening for students on Fusion.

Progress Report Emails

Some families have/will be receiving progress updates from teachers.  This method is a new way to communicate “progress report” information; if your family does not receive one, the team is seeing your child meeting standard.

Many assessments right now…

Please check in with your child about what is happening… and also check out the curriculum updates below.

Movember

For the fifth year in a row, Browns River Middle School staff are participating in the Movember competition. This year there are couple of new twists; instead of collecting money, participants will be collecting food items for the Jericho and Underhill Food Shelf, and the focus is going to be more on everyone's health during this busy time of the year. Mr. Keblin and Mr. Pless are both participating (but really Team Fusion is raising food items for Mr. Keblin). Please ask your child to talk a little bit more of what they know about Movember and the Traditions that Browns River has with this movement.

High Interest Reading Material

Thank you - we have received multiple copies - please send more!

Calendar

November 6 - Daylight Savings ends; set clocks back one hour.

November 9 - Two Hour Delay

November 21-25 - Holiday Break (staff development Nov. 21-22)

December 2 - 7th Grade to Vermont International Festival (Tentative)

December 14 - Two Hour Delay

December 23-January 1, 2017 - Holiday Break

Academic Area Update

LA:

7th: We are still working our way through the novel, Tuck Everlasting. Students are completing response to text tasks in class. Reading logs will resume in December.

8th: Next week we will be moving into a reading unit. Students will read and analyse several dystopian short stories before we dig into books together. Reading logs will be put on hold until further notice as we examine and respond to texts together in class.

Math:

Algebra: We just wrapped up Unit 1A, Simplifying Expressions, with an end of unit assessment this week. We will beginning a unit on solving equations. This will involve solving linear equations, literal equations, and some simple exponential equations.

8th CMP: We are wrapping up the first portion of our unit, Thinking with Mathematical Models. We will being doing some review work this coming week in order to prepare for a unit assessment towards the end of the week. From here we will be moving on to the statistics portion of the unit, looking at correlation and bivariate data.

7th: We wrapped up the first section in this unit introducing two different models for working with integers. Students developed basic increase or decrease rules for addition and subtraction of integers and modeling this on number lines and using positive and negative chips.

Science

7th:  We finished observing our bacteria agar plate and bread mold cultures, and determined which areas of the classroom serve as the greatest, and least, sources of microorganisms!  We also learned about how humans benefit by using certain bacteria and fungi in making common foods, such as yoghurt and gorgonzola cheese.  Students completed a short quiz on cell organelle vocabulary, and will explore the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration next week.  The district assessment will take place right before the Thanksgiving break.  Please send me an email if your child plans to be absent toward the end of that week.

8th:  We started the week off with a comparison of potential and kinetic energy, then applied these concepts to labs using rubber band shooters and roller coaster simulators!  We’ll have a quiz next week, reviewing what we know so far about motion, speed, and energy.

SS

7th:  A focus for the week was on the upcoming election.  Students selected issues important to them and then developed lists of sources they could use to discuss this issues.  Towards the end of the week, the focus was on one issue - gun policy - and the students used class discussions and online programs to discuss the issues important to them.

In addition, Students have started the final assessment.  Please check in with your child about which project they are completing for the assessment:

My Culture

Humans of Vermont

*The assessment is due on November 17 - two weeks away. Let Mr. Pless know if your family is leaving early for the Thanksgiving Holiday break.

8th: Students spent time exploring the last issues important to them with the election. Also, they are starting the assessment with the causes of the American Revolution - it’s called Revolutionary Facebook.

Montreal Field Trip Information

The team is looking forward to an excellent day in Montreal next Wednesday, October 19. Weather looks good at this point.  The exchange is rate is the best it's ever been for this trip.  Below, families will find information to help prepare for the trip. PLEASE REMEMBER - this trip is a walking adventure of Montreal.  When students leave the bus in the morning, they will not get back on the bus for several hours and be out in the city.  Anything a student brings in their backpack, they must carry the entire time.

Weather and Clothing

Weather Forecast for Old Montreal:

https://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=pws:IQCMONTR272

Students should not wear shorts on this field trip - even if the weather looks warm, the team will be walking around the city in the morning and the winds will be blowing hard.  Plus, inside the museum will be cool. Students should plan to bring:

• a fleece like coat (no winter coats at this point)
• a winter hat or hood 
• gloves

Food and Money

*Please do plan on packing your child's foods in a large, insulated lunch box.  They will not want to carry it the entire day, and students will not have access to the bus after being dropped off.  Anything that can fit comfortably in their backpack would be acceptable. 

**DO NOT PACK FRESH FRUIT OR VEGETABLES - these items are prohibited from crossing the border.

***If your student needs a bag lunch, you or they need to contact the team before Tuesday to arrange for that lunch to be ready before the team leaves.

****Rumor has it New England Federal Credit Union in Williston will convert US dollars to Canadian for no additional fee - even non-members can access this opportunity. The Merchant's Bank in Jericho does not carry Canadian money on a regular basis.

Students are encouraged to bring lots of snacks, sandwiches - foods that do not require refrigeration. There will be many opportunities to eat throughout the day, and students don't need to spend money in Canada to eat.  That said, Montreal has many affordable food options that students would find appealing. At the current exchange rate, $20 American is the same as $26.50 Canadian - plenty of money for sandwich style lunch and dessert, plus coffee/hot chocolate.  Some student groups are planning to have lunch at a restaurant, which is great.  They (and you) should be able to see the restaurant's menu online and make a ballpark guess to how much lunch will be.  Chaperones reserve the right to say "nope" to student lunch plans if it conflicts with the overall team schedule and appears too expensive for every member of the group.  Again, all these plans should be worked out ahead of time by the group members; no surprises.

International Calling and Texting

*The team does not feel your child needs to have phone/text/data service for this field trip. There is a photo component to the trip but most students can use the camera without data.

**Contacting your children: unless you place an international calling plan on your child's phone, it will be VERY expensive for you to reach them, and for them to use their phones. If families need to get ahold of their children, please contact BRMS during school hours and the message will be passed on to Mr. Pless, who will pass it on to the child. After hours will not really matter as the team will be heading home.

All that said... there are options for using phones in Canada:

Verizon International Calling Plans (Travel Pass is probably the best option - $2/day; Mr. Pless has used this option multiple times - it is a great value because all data/calls/texts are the same as the US):

https://www.verizonwireless.com/solutions-and-services/international-travel/

AT&T International Calling Plans (apparently, a call to customer service can get you unlimited texting only for a small daily rate):

https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/international/roaming.html

Drop-off/Pick-up

Drop-off: A team member will be at the school by 6:15am, so if your child needs to be dropped off early, that can be accommodated.  The building should be open by that time.  Students should be to school no later than 6:45am; the team leaves no later than 7am.

Pick-up: We never know when we will return from Montreal - depends on the border and traffic.  In the past, the team has returned between 6:30-7:30pm.  After we get through the American border, your child should be contacting you about what time they should be picked up from BRMS.  Students are not allowed to leave until a team teacher has made visual contact with a parent or adult who is driving them home.  This procedure also allows teachers to give back the IDs! If your family is planning to have another one drive your child home, the team must have an email or written note confirming this arrangement.

Does your family need any other information?  Contact Mr. Pless directly!

Team Fusion Communication: October 14

Hi all,

Wow - the energy is palpable around Team Fusion.  Students are pumped for Montreal!  Please check in with your child about the following things:

• How is the tour guide presentation going? What is your topic?
• What is your group planning on doing for lunch?
• What do you need from us to be ready for this trip?

Otherwise, check out some other things of interest with Team Fusion.

High Interest Reading Material

The team has a couple of study halls on Friday afternoons - dominated by young males - who usually do not have a lot of schoolwork to complete.  We are asking for donations of past issues of high interest reading material - sports, outdoor, music - that these groups could use in a structured reading setting.  Materials would have to be donation only - they will not be returned.  Please send in ASAP.  

Laptops Over the Weekend and School Breaks

As a general rule, 7th graders should not have their laptops home over the weekend.  If a 7th grader brings a laptop home for the weekend, please check in with Mr. Pless as to why:) Team Fusion 8th graders are permitted to take laptops home, and they should be used for schoolwork.

Over the coming long weekend (October 21-23), no laptops should be home. The team will be conducting an “audit” for the tech department Thursday, October 20.

Montreal Field Trip

*Weather still looks fine - it will be blustery so dressing for fall is a must.

**New England Federal Credit Union in Williston DOES CHARGE a small fee to non-members for converting to Canadian $. A recent non-member reports they were able to get $25.50 Canadian for $20.50 American.

***Please, Please, Please - make sure your child has plenty to eat for the trip and has money for lunch - or is bringing a lunch.

Calendar

October 19 (date change!)- Montreal Day Trip ($45)

October 21 - Team Fusion Conference Day; no classes

October 21-23: Laptop-free Weekend!

November 9 - Two Hour Delay

December 2 - 7th Grade to Vermont International Festival (Tentative)

Academic Area Update

Back next week - have a great weekend!

Team Fusion Communication: October 7

Hi all,

We are in full swing on Team Fusion, and while the weather is still acting a little like summer, we are full on late fall... in terms of academics! Keep reading about all the goings on with Team Fusion.

High Interest Reading Material

The team has a couple of study halls on Friday afternoons - dominated by young males - who usually do not have a lot of schoolwork to complete.  We are asking for donations of past issues of high interest reading material - sports, outdoor, music - that these groups could use in a structured reading setting.  Materials would have to be donation only - they will not be returned.  Please send in ASAP.  

Laptops Over the Weekend and School Breaks

As a general rule, 7th graders should not have their laptops home over the weekend.  If a 7th grader brings a laptop home for the weekend, please check in with Mr. Pless as to why:) Team Fusion 8th graders are permitted to take laptops home, and they should be used for schoolwork.

Over the coming long weekend (October 21-23), no laptops should be home. The team will be conducting an “audit” for the tech department Thursday, October 20.

Parent Conferences

As was stated at Open House, the team will focus on 7th grade families; an email was sent last night with the links to sign up for conferences. That said, if 8th grade families wish to schedule a conference, they should contact Ms. Windhausen or Mr. Pless to check on availability.

Montreal Field Trip Date Change from Friday October 14 to Wednesday October 19

The team has made the decision to switch the date of the Montreal Trip; we understand this change will represent a scheduling challenge for some of you and the team did not make this decision lightly.  We are sorry to have to change the date at this point.

Calendar

October 12 - Two Hour Delay

October 19 (date change!)- Montreal Day Trip ($45)

October 21 - Team Fusion Conference Day; no classes

October 21-23: Laptop-free Weekend!

November 9 - Two Hour Delay

December 2 - 7th Grade to Vermont International Festival (Tentative)

Upcoming Field Trips

• October October 19 - Invade Montreal!
• Grade 7: Act as tour guides to the rich culture of the city
• Grade 8: Act as tour guides of the historical connections between Montreal and the United States
• Both Grades: Archeology Museum and over two hours free time with chaperones to investigate the city

Academic Area Update

LA:

Students were pleased to hear that we are now ready to begin the 1, 2, 3, skip incentive plan for reading logs. Going forward, students who complete three reading logs in a row can skip a week before continuing the cycle. ***A complete reading log = on time, chart filled in, 150 minutes read, 6-10 sentence response to one comprehension question using a quote from the text. ***

Students are responsible for keeping track of their own skips and still need to read during a skip week. Students are not allowed to ‘bank’ their skip time. One ‘skip’ every 4 weeks is the limit.

Also starting next week, in lieu of reading log comments I will be conducting rotating reading conferences. On the first graded reading log, students will receive written ‘baseline’ comments on schoology to work from. After that, one student in each class period will meet with me for 5 minutes during independent work time to talk about reading. I will post the schedule so students know when their individual reading conferences will be. Once we get going, students will receive a reading conference roughly once a month. Students are of course, welcome to ask clarifying questions about reading any time in person or via email.

• 7th: Students submitted drafts of their realistic fiction stories last week. This week we have worked on making revisions to these drafts. Students have added detail, tried out strategies for increasing tension within the plot and embedded transition words and phrases designed to guide the reader through time and place.

• 8th: We have moved away from print journalism and have been listening to a podcast about middle school life. With each segment, of the podcast there has been a different focus. First we paid close attention to the reporter’s methods for gathering information and interviewing credible sources. With later segments, we examined the issues themselves.Students had an opportunity to respond to the various stories and angles that were presented.

Math:

• 7th: This week we discovered rules to find the measures of the interior angles of regular and irregular polygons. We used these rules to discover how to find the exterior angles of polygons. We also created tessellations using regular polygons. Next week we will focus on rules for constructing triangles and quadrilaterals and well as understanding parallel lines and transversals.
• 8th CMP: We did some great work building our understanding of linear relationships and becoming fluid moving between graphs, stories, equations, and tables. We will have a quiz on this work on Tuesday of next week. After that, we will use linear relationships to make predictions about real world situations.
• 8th Algebra: This week, we introduced multiplying exponential expressions and discovering the different exponent rules. Next week we will focus dividing exponential expressions.

Science

7th - Students spent lots of time this week using microscopes to observe brine shrimp and elodea (plant) cells, with some students finding a surprise organism - a paramecium!  We will look more closely at these protists next week, as we dive into the details of the structure and function of cell organelles.

8th - We are nearing the end of our universe unit, with the focus on how differential heating of the earth surface results in seasons. We modeled Earth’s revolution around the sun to demonstrate how the axis tilt creates different temperatures and hours of daylight around the globe, and conducted an investigation to measure temperatures at different sun angles.  The last part of the district assessment will take place next Thursday.

Social Studies

7th - This grade continues to delve deeply into the Universals of Culture, discussing select stories from the Humans of New York website, investigating the Universals through the picture book Weslandia, and finishing the week with a project using the Universals to describe the culture of Burlington using a photo and the web application Thinglink!.

8th - Current events took center stage again, with the students preparing for a discussion by reading multiple articles from Newsela to answer the question: What should I expect an education to provide me? In addition, students continued to explore the American Colonies of 1763, using their research to refine a character they will “live” through for the American Revolution project.

**7th and 8th Grades will spend time next week preparing for the Montreal Tour Guide project.

Team Fusion

Team Fusion Communication: September 23

Hi all,

Happy harvest Market - it will be very busy in Underhill Flats this weekend.  It's also been quite busy (first, true five day week!) on Team Fusion - see below.

Open House

Starts at 7pm for Team Fusion.  The team will present brief curriculum overviews, team organization, field trip update and present a Schoology 101 session.  At 7:30 the team will conclude the presentation and allow for more time to meet the team teachers and answer questions with staff members.

*If you have a burning issue that pertains only to your child, or want to let the team know something that is usually confidential, Open House is not the best environment to do so.  A team member will contact your family after the Open House to discuss any of those types of topics.

Burlington Field Trip Friday, September 30

The trip is on for this coming Friday.  This trip is a great one to casually drop in on your child - just let Mr. pless know so he can tell you the best place to meet them.  Please remember the 7th graders have a project to do on Church Street, and 8th graders may be trying to catch a boat

Montreal Field Trip Date Change from Friday October 14 to Wednesday October 19

The team has made the decision to switch the date of the Montreal Trip; we understand this change will represent a scheduling challenge for some of you and the team did not make this decision lightly.  We are sorry to have to change the date at this point. So far, all chaperones have been able to switch to that date - thank you!

Calendar

September 27 - Open House (6:30pm start at EXPs and 7pm start at Team Fusion)

September 30 - Burlington Field Trip ($5)

October 12 - Two Hour Delay

October 19 (date change!)- Montreal Day Trip ($45)

October 21 - Team Fusion Conference Day

November 9 - Two Hour Delay

Upcoming Field Trips

Much more detailed explanations of the three field trips are in the attached documents, but a basic summary for each trip is listed below:

• September 30 - Burlington
• Grade 7: Seventh Generation visit, investigate Church Street from a cultural perspective, possibly interview the Mayor of Burlington
• Grade 8: Melosira research vessel, Career Unit exploration

• October October 19 - Invade Montreal!
• Grade 7: Act as tour guides to the rich culture of the city
• Grade 8: Act as tour guides of the historical connections between Montreal and the United States
• Both Grades: Archeology Museum and over two hours free time with chaperones to investigate the city

Academic Area Update

LA:

Most students have had a reading conference with me at this point. The hope is to wrap these up early next week. During reading conferences we:

• Looked at the first two reading logs
• Went over reading expectations/ genre requirements
• Double checked that students all have a copy of the completed books list in their LA folders
• Discussed the  weekly reading plan (intended to help students break up the reading log task into smaller chunks)

• 7th: Students have continued work on their realistic fiction stories throughout the week. Topic choices should were submitted on schoology and I will be checking in with students regarding the focus of their stories next week.

• 8th: We started to look at published news stories to get a better handle on the genre of journalism. I have been truly impressed by the maturity level displayed during our in-class conversations this week.

Math:

• 7th: This week we explored estimating using benchmark angles, measuring angles with angle rulers and protractors, and finished with drawing shapes with tools given different side length and angle parameters. Next week we will be focusing on angle sums for polygons as well as examining interior and exterior angles of polygons. Now that we have some material under our belt, homework will be becoming a more regular occurrence. Assignments should be written down in assignment books and can be found on schoology.
• 8th CMP: This week we focused on exploring real world linear and nonlinear relationships. We also examined linear and nonlinear patterns. Students have been working towards being able to explain the differences between linear and nonlinear patterns in tables and graphs. Now that we have some material under our belt, homework will be becoming a more regular occurrence. Assignments should be written down in assignment books and can be found on schoology.
• 8th Algebra: We have continued working on simplifying expressions getting as far as combining like terms with nonexponential variables using the distributive, commutative, and associative properties. We will continue with the next week adding in multiplication and division of expressions as well as exponents. We are already in full swing with homework assignments. Students should be writing these down in their planners. They can be found on schoology as well.

Science

7th - Students developed an operational definition of life this week by exploring 5 different unknown materials in 3 different types of aquatic environments and by looking for evidence of life. They enjoyed watching radish seeds sprout in the water environment, and brine shrimp (aka sea monkeys!) hatch in the salt water!  (These are now our class pets!)  Next week, we begin using microscopes to look at evidence of life at a smaller scale.

8th - The main focus this week was trying to gain perspective on the immense size of the universe!  Students created scale models of various objects, and then of the solar system. Using the same scale for size and distance, we paced the distance between the sun and mercury outside, and discovered that venus would be off the school grounds!  Part I of the district assessment will be given on Tuesday; the main topics are scale models of the universe and the organization of the universe (planets, stars, solar systems, galaxies).

SS

7th - Emphasis this week was on introduction of the Universals of Culture (categories to help define what culture is).  The class used the Latin American tradition of Quinceañera to practice evaluating one instance of culture through the lens of the Universals.  Then, students used pictures from home to define the different Universals and finally worked in groups to compare Vermont, United States and a few countries around the world through a few key statistics and the Universals.  Next week will be all about preparing for the Burlington Field trip.

8th - Again, the heaviest emphasis was on current events using the Newsela website to introduce and guide students through the topic of gender equality.  Current events culminated in a discussion of gender equality during Friday’s social studies class; both groups did very well with listening to each other, vocalizing their points on the topic.  Next week will see the start of the history portion of the curriculum.

Happy Fall (started at 4:02pm Thursday) and enjoy the Harvest Market… or all the other awesome things your families do on the weekend.

Team Fusion