Weekly Team News 12/4

Good Morning Team Independence Families!

Announcements:

Report cards can be expected in the mail any day now!

12/5/17-MMS Concert 6:30-8:00

12/7/17-PTO meeting immediately after school; all are invited to join

There is a middle school dance on Friday, December 8, from 7-9pm with a glow in the dark/black light theme.  Students can wear neoen, white or glow in the dark clothing.

Social Studies:  Last week was great to see all of the presentations.  Students presented a minimum of 3 times to small groups and it was easy to see the improvements made each time.  I opened it up to students to present in front of the whole class.  I was amazed to see all of the volunteers step up to present.  We are beginning the final phase of our exploration unit.  Students will focus on modern day exploration.  Ms Endres and I put together a list of explorers from the modern age for students to choose from.  By Tuesday, all students should have chosen an explorer to research.  Research will only be done through our MMS online library resources (students all have a packet entitled "Exploration: Research Paper and Project" with the instructions).  By Friday, all of the research should be complete.  They will have a graphic organizer to complete during the week for their notes.  Please check in with your son/daughter on their progress.  Thanks.

Language Arts: As noted above, students will be researching beginning in their social studies class and continuing in LA class.  An informational essay requirement will follow the research with a deadline set for December 15. On December 18, the STAR Reading assessment will occur.

Math students should be gearing up for the STAR Math assessment by reviewing their math facts.  The assessment will be held on December 11.

For Literacy class, students should continue to read a minimum of 20 minutes per night

Science students will continue their study of ecosystems and prep for the Science Fair.

We hope you have a great week!

Team Independence

Weekly Update 11/15

Happy week before Thanksgiving break!

Announcements:

The end of the trimester is Friday.  This means teachers will no longer be accepting assignments after Friday, so that grading can be finished and report cards created.  

Student led Conferences will continue this evening (Wednesday) for grade 6. If you have not signed up, you can write to sendres@mymtsd-vt.org to make arrangements for the available time slots.

Social Studies:  This week students are continuing to work on their "google slides" presentations on an explorer from the European "Age of Exploration".  We are hoping that they will have them ready to present to you at the student led conferences this week.  By the end of the week, students will practice their presentation skills by going through "round robin" presentations.  This will allow each student to present a minimum of three times to small groups.  They will receive peer feedback after each presentation allowing them to make improvements.

Literacy: Students should be reading a minimum of 20 minutes.  Their literacy storyboard final draft is due.  

Language Arts students have their final assessment of the trimester, a writing piece on Columbus that will be assigned Tuesday and is due by Friday.  This is an in-class only assignment.  

Have a great week!

Team Independence

This Week, 11/6-11/10

Hello, Families!

Announcements:

• Thanksgiving Pie Sale forms were given to students on Friday 11/3, which can be found in their Language Arts binders or in backpacks.  This is a fundraiser for students to begin to accumulate money in their student accounts to be financially ready for their trip to Boston in grade 8.

• Please make sure to return your time preferences for the upcoming Student Led Conferences which will be held on November 14 and 15.  This is done on a first come, first serve sign up.....so please get them in ASAP.  

• The book fair is in the Elementary Library this week.

Social Studies:  Students are researching about the motivations and accomplishments of many different explorers during Europe's "Age of Exploration".  We will work on skills of how to extract information from text in our research.  By the end of the week students will have completed a chart with this information.  We will begin to focus on the positive and negative aspects of this period of exploration.  Students will also choose an explorer to create a Google Slides presentation to "introduce" the explorer.  Grades from last week's quiz will be in PowerSchool by Tuesday.

Language Arts students will be using the topic of exploration to evaluate primary and secondary sources.  This was the plan for last week, however the unexpected day off moved plans to this week. By Friday, we should be reviewing introductions and conclusions so that students can write about the explorers introduced in Social studies classes. Today, the new summer reading book cover and summary is due, these can be accepted late as the summary is part of the overall writing grade.  

In Languages, students will continue their studies of Spanish speaking countries of central America.  Spanish names for classroom objects will be reviewed and preparations for conferences are on the list to be done this week.  

In Math, students are working on rates and ratios.  Any conversation at home that involves these would be great.  Students are working on Lessons 15, 16 and 17 this week, ask your student about completion of these tasks.

Have a great first full week of November!

Team Independence

Student-led Conference Forms Coming Home!

Student-led conference forms will be coming home with your student today, Thursday, November 2. These forms will ask you to select your first and second choice of meeting times, November 14 or 15, then return the form to your child's advisory teacher.

Language Arts Summary Book Summary Due Friday

This Friday, November 3, Students are expected to turn in their new book cover design as well as the summary and recommendation portions of the project, all based on their summer reading book. 

Weekly Update- Homework Included!

Hello, Families!

Reminders:  

• This is a short week, the student last day is Wednesday.  

• Curriculum and dessert night:  Wed.10/18, 5-6 pm, rm 234-235.

• Progress reports going home Wed. 10/18.  Sign and return "half sheet" to advisory teacher.

Social Studies:  We finished our unit on Geography Skills last week. We are now moving into our next unit on "Exploration".  Students will be looking at early explorers and people who settled in North America before the era of Columbus.  They will then look at some of the changes that took place in Europe in the 1400s-1700s that would lead to the modern era of exploration.  Students will have two worksheets this week that will need to be completed.  If they are not finished in class, then students will need to complete them for homework.

Language Arts: Students have been given a study guide as homework to complete and use as practice/ studying for an assessment scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of next week.  As in social studies, we will also be studying explorers to understand the difference between primary and secondary sources, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Languages: Students will continue to  research  South  American, Spanish speaking countries as they work  to complete  a  country  project .  In addition, we will review animals and learn the names  of family members.  

Math:  Students are working toward their fist assessment, which can be expected within the next week or two… stay tuned!  This is a module (Unit) assessment of the skills presented and practice in this first trimester.

Have a nice week!

Team Independence

Curriculum Night Invitation!

Team Independence is holding our first grade 6 curriculum and dessert night on Wednesday, October 18th from 5:00- 6:00.  On this night, we will provide a brief description of skills coverage in each core class, expectations for student learning, and helpful tips and tools for parents.  We look forward to seeing you there!