Field Trip
We are excited to announce that we will be traveling to the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium as part of our Science curriculum on Monday, March 11th. While at the museum, we will be visiting the planetarium and students will be learning more about the upcoming total solar eclipse happening right here in Waterbury on April 8th. In addition, students will do a second program, “Living in a Greenhouse: An Introduction to Climate and Atmosphere.” Both programs align with our 6th-grade science curriculum. A letter went home requesting a $10 donation to offset the costs of this opportunity. Please look for a bright orange letter from your student.
MATH
We finished up our work on percentages. Students should have a solid understanding of using benchmark percents like 10%, 25% and 1 % to find any percent. One of the fun activities students were tasked with was to create a sales flyer. The second part was when students were able to "shop" and calculate the sale price of items they purchased. These types of activities are great for a variety of learners in that students picked their own numbers and so could fit their challenge level. Currently, in math class, we are well into our 4th unit where students will build on their understanding of both division and fractions.
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| Students shopping |
Language Arts
We recently finished reading March: Book One which is John Lewis's memoir. Students learned about various significant events and activists within the Civil Rights Movement. For their final projects, they could choose various ways to demonstrate their understanding of the significance of the events as long as they met the required learning expectations. We had everything from research projects about women of the movement to maps showing the locations of major events, and even a beautiful poem about Emmet Till. I'll be hanging on to their projects so they can share them at our spring conferences.
Right now students are reading Ghost Boys and making connections between the historical treatment of black folks in America to issues they still face today. Each day after reading they are completing journal reflections about the book. We've also been practicing having a classroom discussion without the use of a talking piece and instead just adding on and responding to what has been said. I am very proud of their ability to "step up," "step back," and make meaning together. They have made SO MUCH PROGRESS since walking through my door as 5th graders.
Science
We are a few weeks into our second science unit of the year which is the study of matter and its interactions. We began the unit with a phenomenon that air can be used to lift a person. Students were challenged to use produce bags to lift a student. Throughout the unit, students will gain an understanding of matter to model to explain how air can lift something heavy like a person.
Social Studies
Both groups have now finished our Human Origins unit. You should be able to ask your student what some of the major turning points in human evolution were and they should be able to explain them to you.
Our second Social Studies unit of the year is Ancient Greece: Why is it even relevant? Students will be learning about the many contributions the ancient Greeks made to modern society. They have been assigned to a city-state and are competing with the other city-states trying to win favor with Tisiphone, goddess of kindness and compassion AKA Ms. Michael. ;) Each day they have research tasks to complete with their groups to earn points. Each day they get feedback on the leader board about what their group did well together or where they could improve. We shall see which polis is victorious in their learning...
Peer Leaders
Over the past 4 Fridays, student leaders from 7th and 8th grade have presented lessons to our Wizards. Lessons have included topics such as identity and how we can care for our school and each other among other topics. It has been fun to see some of our middle school students take on leadership positions.
Sugarbush
We have had 4 very successful days on the mountain. The program continues on Tuesday, March 12. Thanks for all of your support from home to make this program successful. The kids have been prepared each Tuesday with the gear they need which allows them to have a lot of fun on the mountain.
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