Preparing for Remote Learning

Good Afternoon Parents/Guardians,

The Badger team has been in contact with district administrators and coaches to see what remote learning will look like for the next couple weeks.  At this time we are working on making this transition.  Please be patient with us as we navigate what our classes will look like in this new format.  Remote teaching is new to each of us. 

What we know:

• We will be using Google Classroom as our platform to teach.  Please make sure your child is enrolled in all their classes online.  We already utilize Google Classroom on our team, so students should feel familiar with this resource.
• Trimester 2 has been extended through April 3rd at this time.  If we get notified of a change, we will let you know. 
• Students will be required to check in daily for attendance purposes. 
• We will have office hours to offer support and will inform students of our hours on Google Classroom. 
• We are going to get through this together!

We're sorry we cannot answer all of your questions at this moment.  As we receive more information, we will publish updates.  The blog will be our team's primary form of communication.  We are wishing everyone a safe couple of weeks and are awaiting the days until we can resume class as normal.  Stay healthy!

Regards, 

Badger Teachers 

Weekly Update: March 8th

NOTICE: 

We only have a couple of weeks left in the trimester!  Any missing or make up work needs to get completed as soon as possible!  We have many missing assignments from February.

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: Prior to vacation, students were assessed on the Roman Empire. This was the final assessment for Rome. When we returned from break, students spent the first two days reviewing our Classical Civilizations unit (Ancient Greece, Alexander the Great, and Ancient Rome). On Wednesday, students started a three-day task; their Performance Task on this unit. This assessment was due Friday. Please check the grade book. 

Science: We had a quiz on Friday. Next week we will have a class seminar/debate about why Jackie is an elite distance runner and then write a Claim Evidence Reasoning/CER paper about Jackie. This will be followed by the unit test consisting of multiple choice and one short answer question. 

Literacy:  We are in the middle of Latin Unit 9!  The mastery test will be given on Friday, March 13th!  Monday we will watch another fantastic movie that celebrates the power of children - the secret weapons - in bringing about change during the Civil Rights Movement.  It will be followed by a written assessment, similar to the one given following The Children's March movie.  Homework on the Badger team is practice work.  For each of us, it is an integral part of the learning process. Please help us help your children, by checking that their homework is completed daily.  

English: Next week we will continue reading The Giver and focus on symbolism and mood/tone.  Earlier this week, students received their March IRP guidelines.  They are being asked to create a "book in a bag" and gather items that would be symbolic to their chosen books. The written component is due on March 31st and in-class presentations will begin the following day.  

Math: We finished up surface area and volume last week!  Students will start a unit on percents this week.  We will discuss percent increase and decrease and how we use percents in our daily lives.  

Weekly Update: March 2nd

WELCOME BACK!  We hope you had a relaxing break!

NOTICE: 

We only have a few weeks left in the trimester!  Any missing or make up work needs to get completed as soon as possible!  We have many missing assignments from February.

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: We wrapped up the Roman Empire the week before vacation. Students were assessed on the Roman Empire on Friday 2/21. When students return in March, we will have a massive review on Monday and Tuesday on Ancient Greece, Alexander the Great, and Ancient Rome. Starting Wednesday, students will begin to work on their Performance Task on Classical Civilizations. They will have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to complete it. It is an in-class, open-note writing assignment. 

Science: Students will use the spider simulation in a few more activities to review traits and reproduction in Darwin's Bark Spider. Students will then apply what they learned from spiders to running ability in humans. Students will write a final argument about running ability using the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning format.

Literacy:  Unit 8 is complete, so we'll dive right into the next unit of Latin roots on Monday, with the test to follow on Friday, the 13th!  We will also continue with our unit on the Art of Civil Disobedience, with another Teaching Tolerance movie and follow up writing assignment.  

English: Prior to break, students worked on the following skills within The Giver: simile, metaphor, personification, hook, cliffhanger, point of view, and allusion. Students will have a skills test on Friday, March 6th.  They have study guides as well as notes and extra practice from class to review.  Instructions for the March IRP will be going home this week. This month, students will be creating a "book in a bag" -- be sure to check in this week and ask what book they chose! 

Math: Before vacation we spent the week learning about finding surface area of rectangular prisms and triangular prisms through nets.  This week we will continue to work on surface area of triangular prisms and pyramids before ending with the week with volume.  Students will have a test Friday March 6th, the study guide will go home Wednesday March 4th.

Weekly Update: February 17th

Reminder: We have NO SCHOOL on Monday, February 17th due to Presidents' Day!

Many of our Badger students are still battling colds. We could use your help to replenish our classroom tissue supplies and Clorox wipes.  Thank you for the donations that have come in thus far.  If your child has missed school, they have missed work in all classes, and should plan to stay after school.

Another reminder about absenteeism:  Students are responsible for any and all work that was assigned and assessed in every class.  We are spending a great deal of time reminding kids to complete work.

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: Students spent the week working on an in-class research project. They were instructed to pick any topic relevant to Ancient Rome and research it. The end results should have been a slideshow displaying their research. Check the gradebook to see how your child did!

Science: In science we have finished through page 57 in the binder. This week we are moving onto chapter 3 of Traits and Reproduction. We will be reading articles about twins and the corpse flower as well as using the spider simulation to study sexual reproductions affect on genes.

Literacy:  We have begun Latin Unit 8, and the Mastery test is scheduled for Friday, February 21st.  Several students have spoken to me about taking the test early, as they will be out on Friday.  This is perfectly fine, as long as they cans stay on Thursday.  If not, they should be prepared to stay and  to take it on Monday, March 2. In honor of Presidents' Day, we will discuss the power of rhetoric this week, and learn to recognize the techniques used in some very famous speeches! 

English: Students are in the middle of reading The Giver right now and recently learned about literary hooks, cliffhangers, and allusions.  We also discussed point of view and how it impacts a text.  Next week we will continue reading and review similes, metaphors, and personification.  Ask your student what he or she enjoys most about the book!

Math: Students finished their test on Circles last Thursday!  We are moving onto surface area and volume of right rectangular prisms.  First we will begin discussing and creating nets of different 3-D shapes then move on to surface area.  Students will review rectangular prisms before moving onto triangular prisms and pyramids. 

Weekly Update: February 9th

Reminder: Progress reports went home Wednesday, February 5th!  Please review your child's progress report and return the signed envelope.

Many of our Badger students are still battling colds . We could use your help to replenish our classroom tissue supplies and Clorox wipes.  Thank you for the donations that have come in thus far.  If your child has missed school, they have missed work in all classes, and should plan to stay after school.

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: We spent the majority of the week learning about Ancient Roman culture. Next week, we will begin an in-class research project. Students will be able to pick any topic about Ancient Rome and investigate it further and ultimately create a slideshow showing what they have learned. 

Science: We have been using the spider simulation in Amplify and K-nex to study and model how proteins create structure and genes provide instructions for building proteins. We have completed through page 43 in our binder and have read/annotated articles A and B in the back of the binder about spider silk and hemophilia.  Instead of collecting binders I will collect some binder pages each week to check class work progress. Students should be sure to complete all binder pages each week as assigned. 

Literacy:  These last two weeks have been jam packed in Literacy! We completed Latin Unit 7 and began our unit on the power children have had to change history. Our students watched an educational documentary The Children’s March this week and saw how brave the children of Birmingham, Alabama were in 1963! We read Alice Walker‘s short story called The Flowers, and kids did a fabulous job with Rapid Research of important terms! Ask your children what they learned! On to Latin 8, and more close reading about children in history! 

English: Students did a wonderful job creating and submitting their character change cartoon projects a couple weeks ago.  Their designs were creative and well executed!  We've switched gears a bit in English the last two weeks - moving from our classic literature unit to our science fiction unit, which focuses on The Giver. We are currently five chapters in and the suspense is starting to build!  

Math: We are finishing up our circles unit.  Students spent the past week learning about radius, diameter, circumference and area of a circle. This week we will continue on with learning about complex shapes.We have a test this Thursday, study guides will go home Monday.  

One of our team teachers celebrates their birthday on Monday, we lost track of the how old they are so we are celebrating age advancement instead!  Happy Birthday ….. 

Weekly Update

A message from the Badger Team!

Wow, it's been a tough week!  So many of our Badger students have been battling colds and the flu, and have just been feeling poorly. Hopefully everyone is feeling better! We could use your help to replenish our classroom tissue supplies.  If your child has missed school, they have missed work in all classes, and should plan to stay after school this week.

iReady Testing

All Badger students will take the winter iReady tests in Reading and Math beginning tomorrow.  To be well prepared, kids should get a good night's sleep and be sure to have breakfast.  Although we hope to complete testing during Monday and Tuesday, we have reserved Wednesday as well.  Kids will work on chrome books for this test, and there are many audio elements, so we recommend that kids bring their own ear buds.

Progress Reports

In other big news, grades close this week for Progress Reports.  Progress Reports go home Wednesday, February 5th.


Book orders are due back to Mrs. McGuire by Friday, January 31st!

Class Updates:

Literacy:  We began Latin unit 7 this past week.  All fourteen flash cards should be completed for Monday.  The mastery test has been scheduled for February 4th.

English: January IRPs are due Friday! Encourage your student to look at the example posted on Google Classroom.  Book orders are also due Friday! Flyers are being sent home Monday, January 27th.

Math:  We have a test Thursday on inequalities and expressions!  Study guides go home Tuesday. 

Science: Monday we are finishing a short traits lab and then we will be moving on to the spider simulation to see how traits are passed on to offspring.

Social Studies:

Weekly Update: January 19th

Reminder: There is NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 20th in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: Since returning to school in January, we have been working through our unit on the Roman Republic. On Friday students were introduced to Julius Caesar and were able to investigate his legacy. We will continue learning about Caesar but ultimately how the Roman Republic morphed into the Roman Empire.

Science: We have completed the Metabolism Unit and all grades have been posted. Students can retake the written part of the test Wednesday after school if needed. This week we will start the new unit, Traits and Reproduction which focuses on the variation in flexibility of spider silk.

Literacy:  Teaching kids to reflect upon their own work is incredibly rewarding.  Asking them to examine their effort as well as their end products is what their most recent Google Classroom assignment did. Their Atlas Obscura Reflections were due this week.  Latin Unit 6 test grades will be posted tomorrow.  This week we'll tiptoe into a longterm adventure of learning about social injustice, and how children have brought about enormous change.  Have a wonderful long weekend!

English: This week we were in the library working on character change projects by using an online resource called "Make Belief Comix."  Students were able to plan and design a comic strip, illustrating Scrooge's character change from A Christmas Carol.  In addition to their comic, students wrote captions for each scene they created.  Next week students will shift focus a bit and start researching for their historical fiction projects, which are due at the end of the month.

Math: We are continuing this week on our inequality and expressions unit.  Students spent last week expanding and factoring the distributive property and will start combining like terms this week. Our second test of the semester will be next week, so make sure not to forget about inequalities.