Weekly Update: November 19th

Report Cards: The end of the trimester is quickly approaching.  Grades close November 30th.  Students, please check the grade book and ensure your work is submitted. You only have a few weeks left!

Team Donations: Our team supply of tissues and hand sanitizer seems to be dwindling, especially as we approach flu season.  If you would like to donate these items, please send them to school with your child.  Thank you to the families who have donated supplies thus far!  We are most appreciative!

Field Trip: Information went home this week with students regarding our upcoming field trip.  On Wednesday, December 12th, our team will be traveling to The Palace Theatre in Manchester to see a live performance of A Christmas Carol.  Permission slips and payment are due to Mrs. McGuire by Tuesday, November 20th!   Thank you to all students who have brought in their paperwork already!  We also appreciate the extra donations that have been made!  

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: Students did a great job this week researching the Persian Wars. Students discovered the main themes behind the wars and ultimately why the Persian invasion of Greece failed. We will be starting a new topic on Monday! 

Science:  We'll have our quiz on Tuesday.  Study the Levels of Life.  There are links to the Quizlet from the google classroom to study or you can study from your notes. 

Literacy: Students had a great week in the library with our amazing librarian, Mrs. Sand. They began the Atlas Obscura project from Google Classroom, went shopping in the Chrome Store for an extension for building bibliographic citations, and learned lots of new tech tricks.  Because of our unexpected snow day, we missed our day in the computer lab with Mrs. Kauffman to learn the narration tool for the projects, so schedules have been adjusted.  The Latin 5 test will be pushed to Tuesday, so that students will have time in The Mansion to work on projects with Chrome Books.  Students should check Google Classroom for announcements about a new due date for the project.  It's been pushed into Trimester Two!

English:  We continued working on grammar this week, focusing mostly on subjects, predicates, fragments, and different types of sentences.  The quiz originally scheduled for Tuesday, November 20th will be pushed back due to the snow day.  Please be aware that the November independent reading project deadline is quickly approaching.  Students should be nearly finished reading their books and moving onto the interview component.  An example has been posted on Google Classroom.

Math: Due to the snow day on Friday, our test on Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers will be on Monday, November 19th.  Be sure to look over the study guides!  We will be starting our Expressions and Equations unit when we get back from Thanksgiving break.

Weekly Update: November 12th

Reminder: There is no school on Monday, November 12th in observance of Veteran's Day. View our Pennichuck Band as they march in the parade downtown!

Report Cards: The end of the trimester is quickly approaching.  Grades close November 30th.  Students, please check the grade book and ensure your work is submitted. You only have a few weeks left!

Team Donations: Our team supply of tissues and hand sanitizer seems to be dwindling, especially as we approach flu season.  If you would like to donate these items, please send them to school with your child.  Thank you to the families who have donated supplies thus far!  We are most appreciative!

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: This week we took a break from researching and discussing Persia and the Ancient Greeks and learned a little bit about Greek Mythology. Students spent the majority of the week writing their own Greek myth. This was due on Friday. Ask your child about it! Next week we will begin to answer the question: How did the Greeks successfully prevent a Persian invasion?

Science:  We finished our unit and answered our question..... Why are bones hard?  Ask your students to explain it to you.  Next week we will introduce our new phenomenon.  

Literacy: It will be a very busy, short week ahead!  Students will finish Latin Root 5 independently,  and prepare for the test on Monday, November 19th, while spending the week in the Library with Mrs. Sand and me, and in the computer lab with Mrs. Kauffman, learning some wonderful tech tools!  Students will begin their Atlas Obscura projects, using all the cool, new tools they learned!  

Meanwhile, to build upon our Growth Mindset Passport theme, ask your students about the Famous Failure stories on the Badger Board!  

English:  We shifted gears a bit this week and reviewed grammar exercises, specifically those relating to subjects, predicates, and fragments.  Next week we will continue practicing and expanding upon these skills.  Additionally, students should be reading 30 minutes per night for their November independent reading projects.  Ask them what they have to do this month on their projects! 

Math:  Last week we learned how to convert a fraction into a decimal. Students learned that decimals either terminate or repeat.  This week we will be reviewing multiplying and dividing fractions and decimals with negative numbers. The unit test will be Friday, November 16th, study guides will go home early this week.  Check the Google Class for extra help.

Weekly Update: November 5th

Parent/Teacher Conferences: Our second and final round of conferences will be taking place this week on Thursday, November 8th from 4-7:30 PM.  Please use the link below to sign up for a conference if you haven't already done so.

Parent Conference Sign Up Link

Team Donations: Our team supply of tissues and hand sanitizer seems to be dwindling, especially as we approach flu season.  If you would like to donate these items, please send them to school with your child.  Thank you to the families who have donated supplies thus far!  We are most appreciative!

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: Students learned a lot about Ancient Greece's major rival: The Persian Empire. We did a lot of investigation and researching in class this week and capped it off by graphing the populations of Persia, Athens, and Sparta. Next week we will take a step back and focus on Greek Mythology. Students will spend a few days in class reading Greek myths and ultimately will create their own myth!

Science:  Check out students learning about cell membranes on our science blog.  Ask your student why we used bubble membranes to figure out what cell membranes are like.  Students will have a quick quiz on Monday on the 6 organelles that we've learned.  Quizlet will help them study.  We will put all of our investigations together next week and be able to answer our question, "Why are bones hard?"  This means we'll have our final test at the end of the week.

Literacy: Latin root Unit 4 is a wrap!  I'm quite pleased that students are finding that when they study the material, they do well on the tests!  We are continuing to read The Omnivore's Dilemma, and are discovering that we are all eating a great deal of corn and we don't even know it!  

English:  Students submitted their first independent reading project this week!!  There are still a few missing; please check to see whether your student turned it in!  Students visited the library on Friday and chose a new book for their next IRP, which is due on November 30th.  Be sure to ask what book they chose!  All project requirements can be found on their orange handout.  Lastly, students will have a quiz on Call of the Klondike and The Cremation of Sam McGee on Monday, November 5th.  Vocabulary words can be found on my Quizlet page!

Thank you for all the book orders that came in this week!  Orders were placed and should arrive within 7-10 days.  

Math:  Fri

Weekly Update: October 29th

Team Donations: Our team supply of tissues and hand sanitizer seems to be dwindling, especially as we approach flu season.  If you would like to donate these items, please send them to school with your child.  Thank you to the families who have donated supplies thus far!  We are most appreciative!

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: We continued our research and discussions about the two major Greek city-states Athens and Sparta. On Friday, students mapped Ancient Greece and described how geography impacted the way that Ancient Greeks lived. When students return on Monday, they will take an assessment on early Greek Civilizations with a focus on Athens and Sparta.

Science:  Check out student bone models on our science blog.  Students have come far since their initial models but still need to figure out why the bone cell has the shape that it does.  We'll jump right into the cell this week to figure out what is going on in there.

Literacy: Collaboration at its best!  We spent three days discussing the vocabulary associated with the roots from Unit 4. One word was prospect - as in pan for gold, and another was hyperbole, and another vacuole, a cell part! Perfect timing for English and Science! It was a fantastic week for Literacy, as my room got a huge make-over thanks to a donation from Brady & Sullivan here in Nashua. I have wonderful, gently used tables!  This means that all the tables in my room match, they're clean, and sturdy.  Thanks to Brady & Sullivan for the donation, and even more to our custodian for hauling out all the old tables, and assembling and moving the new furniture in to The Mansion!  Next week?  Latin Unit 4 test on Friday!  

English:  This week, students read an informational text called "Call of the Klondike" and a narrative poem entitled, "The Cremation of Sam McGee."  We discussed primary sources, text structure, personification, and hyperbole.  Next week students will continue working with these texts and their new contextual vocabulary words.  Just a friendly reminder, IRP projects are due on Wednesday, October 31st.  Book orders are also due that day!!  A Christmas Carol is on sale for only $1!  This is our next class text, so students may want to take advantage and buy their own copy!

Math:  Friday we tested on adding and subtracting rational numbers, overall the students did very well!  Grades are in X2.  This week we will be starting our new unit, multiplying and dividing rational numbers.  There will be a quiz on Friday for multiplying and dividing integers.

Weekly Update: October 22nd

Red Ribbon Week is this upcoming week!  This year's theme is "Life is your journey; travel drug free."  Students, please remember to wear RED on Wednesday.

Progress Reports will be sent home on Monday, October 22nd.  Please look out next week!

The Great Spaghetti Race: The race is on!  Our school is having a friendly competition to see who can donate the most spaghetti for our Spaghetti Supper, which will be held on Thursday, November 1st.  Students are encouraged to donate boxes of spaghetti and give them to their advisor during the month of October.  We appreciate your donations!

Conferences:  The first round of parent/teacher conferences will take place on Thursday, October 25th from 4 - 7:30 p.m.  If you have not yet scheduled a conference using SignUp Genius, please contact the main office.

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: Students spent this week learning about the first major Ancient Greek civilizations and how they ended. Starting next week, we will begin researching and investigating various topics about the Ancient Greek city-states Athens and Sparta.

Science:  Students will continue their investigations of bones this week.  They have figured out that bones are made of cells and they have three different layers.  Check out one of this week's investigations on our science blog.  Their next questions involve trying to figure out what bone cells are like and how they are different from other types of cells.  Students will have a quiz mid week so their homework is to study their notes.

Literacy: This week, using school Chrome Books, students used Newsela, an online informational text resource, to read about Groundbreaking Women.  Their writing response is due to Google Classroom by Monday evening.  Our team watched Akeelah and the Bee, a wonderful film about a 7th grade student who prepares to compete in the Scripps Spelling Bee.  She learns the importance of learning Latin and Greek roots! The Latin Unit 3 test was Friday, and grades will be posted by Sunday.  

English:  This week we discussed main idea, supporting details, and how to locate the main idea of a text.  Students practiced this skill with the last text we read, entitled "Barrio Boy."  This upcoming week, students will have a quiz on this text.  Using Quizlet as a resource is a great way to study the vocabulary words!

As a side note, students should be nearly finished reading their IRP books.  Although the project is not due until October 31st, students will need to finish the book this week in order to have enough time to finish the plot diagram and book review!  All requirements are listed on the purple handout.

Math:  Students quizzed on adding and subtracting integers on Friday.  Some classes are already in the grade book, the rest will be in on Monday.  Overall the team did a fantastic job, I'm very impressed.  Next week we will be learning how to add and subtract positive and negative fractions and decimals.  If your student is struggling encourage them to use the fractions help on the Google Classroom.  This is another one of those challenging topics!

Weekly Update: Week of October 15th

Badger Team Day:  We kept with tradition, and viewed the documentary film BULLIED, about a  teen who was bullied in school. After watching the film, students collaborated to investigate how kids feel if they are bullied.  In the afternoon, we continued working in Passports, writing academic goals.  Students did a fantastic job!

The Great Spaghetti Race: The race is on!  Our school is having a friendly competition to see who can donate the most spaghetti for our Spaghetti Supper, which will be held on November 1st.  Students are encouraged to donate boxes of spaghetti and give them to their advisor during the month of October.  We appreciate your donations!

Progress Reports will be sent home on Monday, October 22nd.  Please be on the lookout next week!

Class Updates:

Social Studies: Students began our major unit on Classical Civilizations by learning about early Greece and it's geography. We will continue this research throughout this upcoming week as we will learn about two early civilizations and what a "dark age" is.

Science:  This week in science the students are being introduced to a new phenomenon to figure out.  WHY ARE BONES HARD?  Students will begin their investigating by modeling their ideas and looking inside real bones.

Literacy: Students accomplished a great deal in such a short week!  We started the third Latin root unit, and students should be ready to study their flash cards, vocabulary match and be preparing for the test scheduled for Friday!  In the week ahead, we'll use Chrome Books to practice reading nonfiction, informational text online using NEWSELA!  There will be some reading and a little bit of writing!

English:  Students began a new text this week entitled "Barrio Boy," which chronicles a young boy  immigrating to the United States and starting school for the first time.  Students made connections as we read, and some even shared what it was like to move to a new country and begin school for the first time, without knowing anyone.  This upcoming week, students will continue discussing the story, interpret the main idea and supporting details, and define new contextual vocabulary words.  There will be a quiz on "Barrio Boy" on Monday, October 22nd.

As a side note, students should be nearly finished reading their IRP books.  Although the project is not due until October 31st, students will need to finish the book next week in order to have enough time to finish the plot diagram and book review!  All requirements are listed on the purple handout.

Math:  Students spent last week working on becoming faster with integer addition, trying to break away from using the number line, and doing more mental math. Next week we are moving onto integer subtraction.  There will be a quiz on adding and subtracting integers on Thursday, October 18th.  Check the Google Class for videos, extra practice, and Quizlet sets to help study.

Team Update: October 8th

The Great Spaghetti Race: The race is on!  Our school is having a friendly competition to see who can donate the most spaghetti for our Spaghetti Supper, which will be held on November 1st.  Students are encouraged to donate boxes of spaghetti and give them to their advisor during the month of October.  We appreciate your donations!

Columbus Day: There is no school on Monday, October 8th, in observance of Columbus Day.

Class Updates:

Social Studies: After completing our unit on World Religions, this past week we spent reviewing the three types of government and American government. Students will be assessed on this information Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, we will begin our major unit on Classical Civilizations by starting in Ancient Greece!

Science:  This week in science we have been very busy.  Students have completed their investigations and have figured out if the Mystery Matter is alive or not.  Ask them to tell you about it.  Next week we will wrap up our discussions and take an assessment on the science concepts that we have been learning about:  The Characteristics of Living Things.

Literacy: Your students were really challenged this week, with two mastery assessments!  We had some very active discussions surrounding the concepts of sustainable farming and industrial farming.  As important as the information presented, were collaborative note taking , the discussions and the review of notes in class as a study skill.  Next week will be a short week, with Friday dedicated to some team activities focused on Growth Mindset.  Enjoy the long weekend!

English:  This week students began using StudySync on the Chrome Books, focusing mostly on annotating and making inferences.  Students have access to StudySync at home (click here), and they also have the ability to download the StudySync app if they have a smartphone.  I encourage them to log in over the long weekend and work on some of the questions.  On Tuesday, we will complete the last section together, which is the essay.  

Students also visited the library this week and chose their independent reading books for their project, which was assigned Monday and will be due on October 31st.  Students are aware that these projects are meant to be completed at home.  Just a reminder: they should be actively reading each night for 20-30 minutes.

Last but not least, October book orders are now available in class and will be due on Friday, October 12th. As always, thank you for your support!

Math:  It's official!  We have wrapped up our first topic of study. Students should have received their graded tests.  If any student is interested in a retake they need to make an appointment to stay after school for extra help. Last week we learned how to play the Integer Game to kick off our Rational Numbers unit.  Although it looks like a bunch of fun, students are using the game as a tool to aid in developing an understanding of adding positive and negative numbers. Below are some pictures to see how we are learning integers.