Weekly Update: May 31st

Badger Team Update:

Students have been added to a *new* BADGER TEAM GOOGLE CLASSROOM for an  end-of-year reflection opportunity! This will be a fun way to capture the year in a nutshell. Beginning June 1st, students will see updates on this Classroom page instead of their individual class pages.  Students are required to check in each day with their first period teacher for attendance purposes. 

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: This week students heavily focused on the Black Death. There was an assessment on Friday. Students were asked to compare and contrast the Black Death and COVID-19. Check the gradebook as we enter the final weeks!

Literacy:  I'm so proud of our students, your beautiful, accomplished children.  They have worked hard, and continued to learn under conditions none of us could possibly have predicted.  I'm happy that we finished the Latin Root curriculum.  I'll be correcting the final part of their tests this week.  Please check with your kids, to be sure that they've completed all of their mastery assignments.   

Science:  Last week we finished a group paper using evidence to explain why the parrot population in Tasmania decreased. It was a little confusing but most students did well sharing their ideas and arguing their point.

English: It's hard to believe our year together will soon come to a close! This is certainly not the ending any of us could have predicted, but we are really proud of our kids for their tenacity and grit! Students should have submitted their final persuasive essays this past Friday. This assignment counts as the last mastery assessment of the year! Please check in with your student to ensure they are all set. 

Math: Students will have their final test Tuesday June 2nd.  The study guide went out last Friday.  If anyone has questions, I will be on Zoom at 11 a.m. daily for extra help!

Weekly Update: May 24th

Monday is Memorial Day - No School!

Google Classroom Guide For Parents

Mrs. Delaney, our technology integrator, created a short video clip explaining how to navigate Google Classroom and manage assignments. We thought our Badger parents may find it useful! Click here to view the video! 

Enrichment Work: We have put together a new Google Classroom for students who finish their class work early and are looking for additional ways to stay busy. Mrs. Simeone, Mrs. McGuire, and Mrs. Folini have come up with an interdisciplinary project that ties in all three subjects.  Each Monday we will post the week's mission.  Students are encouraged to work virtually together, or they can choose to work alone. This page is intended for students who are caught up with all their work in each class.  Moving forward, this will be an optional, UNGRADED assignment.  The code to join What's Cookin' Badgers? is: dl2hnrf  

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: This week students covered the Crusades and had an assessment on Friday. This upcoming week, we will begin a new topic that greatly relates to the global pandemic that is happening right now. Hopefully students will make a lot of connections and ask great questions!

Literacy:  We did it! We finished all twelve units of Latin and Greek roots!  The mastery test on Unit 11 was Friday and most kids remembered to take it.  I hope the rest remember to log in to Google Classroom over the next few days to take the test.  The very last test of the year will be given on Tuesday.  It's part two of the Latin 12 test, the writing comprehension part. Students will be given a slide show with directions, a word bank, and a selection of six writing prompts from which to choose.  They are encouraged to write a rough draft on Tuesday, and edit on Wednesday before they submit their final work.  

Science:  Last week students started a group project analyzing evidence about a parrot population in Tasmania. This week students will use the evidence to write a group CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) to determine why the parrots are decreasing. Students will finish the week with questions to review what they learned this year.

English: Students should have submitted their rough draft for the SIX PARAGRAPH persuasive essay this past week! I left specific comments and suggestions throughout the week and students took time Friday to revise and edit their work. Final drafts, which count as a mastery grade, will be submitted this upcoming week. 

Math: Students will be wrapping up their data unit this week.  We will be learning about populations and samples. Study guides will come out Friday week.  Our last test of the year will be scheduled June 2nd!  

Weekly Update: Week of May 18th

Google Classroom Guide For Parents

Mrs. Delaney, our technology integrator, created a short video clip explaining how to navigate Google Classroom and manage assignments. We thought our Badger parents may find it useful! Click here to view the video! 

Enrichment Work: We have put together a new Google Classroom for students who finish their class work early and are looking for additional ways to stay busy. Mrs. Simeone, Mrs. McGuire, and Mrs. Folini have come up with an interdisciplinary project that ties in all three subjects.  Each Monday we will post the week's mission.  Students are encouraged to work virtually together, or they can choose to work alone. This page is intended for students who are caught up with all their work in each class.  Moving forward, this will be an optional, UNGRADED assignment.  The code to join What's Cookin' Badgers? is: dl2hnrf  

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: This week students were introduced to the Crusades. Students were asked to research, read materials, and watch videos about this topic. There was an assessment on Friday covering the Crusades. Check the grade book to see how your child scored!

Literacy:  Students are working on Latin Root Unit 12, the last one!  At the conclusion of this unit, your children will have learned 158 roots - and if they truly "learned" them, they will be well armed to tackle new vocabulary in Science, Math, Social Studies and English in the years ahead of them.  They've done so well.  The two assessments - one a Google Form, and one a comprehension writing piece will be delivered next week, and the following week.  As I announced a couple of weeks ago, I will not require that students complete their Omnictionary slide projects.  However, several students have approached me and indicated their interest in finishing them.  I would LOVE for them to do so, and I will work very hard to find a way to share them with classmates in a controlled, safe setting.  If your children would like to finish and turn them in, please encourage them to do so.  

Science: Last week students wrote their CER (claim,evidence, reasoning) paper answering why the moon jellies in the Glacier Sea increased. Monday there will be a multiple choice test on the moon jelly populations and resources unit. Tuesday we will begin to apply everything we learned from studying moon jellies to a population of Orange -Bellied Parrots. I will be implementing some shared whole class discussions using Google Classroom Streaming and shared documents.

English: Last week students learned more about persuasive writing. This week, they are compiling their SIX PARAGRAPH persuasive essays! Students will work on these essays for the upcoming week, adding one new paragraph per day. Their persuasive essays will count as a mastery grade at the conclusion of the unit. Please check in daily to ensure they are submitting their paragraphs each day. 

Math: We are continuing our statistics unit this week.  Students will review measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode) Monday and Tuesday.  There will be a quiz on measures of central tendency and histograms on Wednesday May 20th.  Students will end the week learning about box and whisker plots. 

Weekly Update: May 3rd

Pennichuck Parade!

Parade Route

We are so excited to participate in the Pennichuck Parade this upcoming Monday, May 4th.  We can't wait to see our students, even it it's in a socially distant way!

Google Classroom Guide For Parents

Mrs. Delaney, our technology integrator, created a short video clip explaining how to navigate Google Classroom and manage assignments. We thought our Badger parents may find it useful! Click here to view the video! 

Enrichment Work: We have put together a new Google Classroom for students who finish their class work early and are looking for additional ways to stay busy. Mrs. Simeone, Mrs. McGuire, and Mrs. Folini have come up with an interdisciplinary project that ties in all three subjects.  Each Monday we will post the week's mission.  Students are encouraged to work virtually together, or they can choose to work alone. This page is intended for students who are caught up with all their work in each class.  Moving forward, this will be an optional, UNGRADED assignment.  The code to join What's Cookin' Badgers? is: dl2hnrf  

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: Students continued learning about the Magna Carta. There was an assessment on Friday. We will continue our Middle Ages unit on Monday!

Literacy:  We wrapped up Latin Unit 11 this week.  Students performed well on a Google Forms quiz, and they should have turned in their Comprehension portion, a narrative, on Friday.  Next week we will focus on our Informational Text standards.  I have several selections from Junior Scholastic all prepared to assign. In other news, I've decided to forego the Omnictionary project - the incredible slide show dictionary of vocabulary that showcases the roots students have learned.  It was a very difficult decision, because so many of our students have already invested a great deal of time. Students have the option to finish and submit their work, but it will not be graded.  

Science: Students will finish investigating what are indirect effects. We will then model indirect effects and evaluate evidence about indirect effects for our moon jelly population.

English: We began a new unit this week on persuasive writing. Students were asked to watch at least three commercials and explain how they used persuasion. I've loved reading the responses! Students also learned how to format an introduction and "hook" their readers in a persuasive essay.  Next week, we will focus on thesis statements, body paragraphs, counterarguments, and conclusions.

Math: Students have their probability test this Wednesday! Study guides went out last Friday.  If anyone needs help I will be running daily Zoom chats at 11 for anyone needed extra help.