February 4 Newsletter

One of our fantastic Ancient Egypt dioramas!  Now it's off to Ancient Greece and Astronomy!

Hello Questers!

The following is a newsletter for the week.


Ancient Greece Quiz

There will be a quiz on Thursday about the learning thus far in our new ESB unit.  Students will have to label different city-states on a map (Athens, Megara, Corinth, Sparta, Ithaca, and Troy).  They will also have to answer questions about some of the quiz cards they have been studying in class.

Map to study
Quiz Cards to study

Geometry Quiz

There will be a quiz on triangles and quadrilaterals on Friday.  Students will be responsible for understanding the following vocabulary words:  isosceles, scalene, equilateral, rhombus, parallelogram, rectangle, square, acute, obtuse, right.

Valentine's Day

Due to popular request, we will be having a Valentine's Day party next Friday!  This may look a bit different from elementary parties in that it is optional for students to bring in Valentines.  Many students want to bring them in!  We will not have "mailboxes" for these, but students are welcome to pass them out individually while we play some games and watch a movie.  If your student would like to bring them in, I recommend they do not write individual names on them, as it is easier to pass them out without the names.  If they would like to put names on them, that is very nice, and we can help to make sure they are distributed.

We would love some snacks!  If you are able to send in a drink, a snack, or a Valentine treat, please email us and we will put Mrs. LaRock on the coordination.  We won't need something from everyone, just enough to keep it festive.  Although the students insisted on all sugar, all candy! we could do with a cheese and cracker plate somewhere in the mix.  Thanks for your help with this!

Drama Unit

We have begun our Ancient Greece drama unit!  Students have been reading scripts, and choosing roles for two plays:  The Odyssey (kid's version) and The Greek Heroes (I wrote this one based on a book they are reading in class).  Many students would like some of the lead roles!  There will be auditions early next week.  For the auditions, students will need to read some of the lines from their role from the stage.  I will have a couple of people help me determine who should have the part.  If your student is interested in one of the leads, encourage him / her to project, project, project, as that is the most challenging part with a play for fifth and sixth grade students!

I will announce parts by the end of next week.  Students will have a couple of weeks to practice their lines before we begin rehearsals.  Rehearsals will happen during our LA block.  During the time students are practicing their lines, and throughout the unit itself, we will also be reading from our Greek mythology books.

Questers Without Borders

A poster regarding the languages of your student's continent is due this Thursday.  Many are coming along very nicely!

Questions to ask your student:

• What part are you interested in for the Greek play unit?
• What is one foreign word from a country in your continent?
• What Greek polis are you in for the Greek unit?
• What are the Quiz cards for the quiz on Thursday?

Let us know if you have any questions for us!!

January 24 Newsletter

Hello Questers!

Here is the latest news!

Ferry Beach

We had a good turn out for our parent informational meeting for the Ferry Beach trip.  In conjunction with this meeting, we talked with our students about the trip, and their questions, ranging from "What video can we bring for the bus?" to "Are the meals good?"  In order to give us time to plan for this, the deadline for informing us that your child will not be able to attend the Ferry Beach trip is Friday, February 7th, and you can let us know by e-mailing Tom Drake at tdrake@wwsu.org.

Questers Without Borders
We are officially on our third session of our "Questers Without Boarders" project.  Above is a link for the official QWB website and helpful links to all related assignments.  Students presented "Resources" Google Presentations of their continents on Thursday in their Geography groups.  This week we will focus on the languages of our continents.  Here are the guidelines for the week.

ESB
This week will mark the end of our Ancient Egypt in Motion unit and the beginning of our study of Ancient Greece and Astronomy.  Students will be be working in small groups throughout this unit, which will include an exploration of the history and culture of Ancient Greece as well as the interactions of the earth, moon, and sun.

Math

Students ended the week with a quiz on multiplying fractions.  Our focus will stay on fractional reasoning, as this is one of the most important math topics for 5th graders.  We have built an understanding of the multiplication of fractions.  Here is a series of videos that may be helpful when working with your student at home.

Mr. Weekly help videos are now linked to the Quest website.  There will be NO Mr. Weekly this week.  Instead, students will be working on a fractions poster at home.  The guidelines can be found on the Quest webpage.  


Geo-Bee

Congratulations to Sarah Bartolomei and Ashley Proteau for representing the Quest Team at the School Wide Bee last week!   Good work Questers!

Language Arts

We have concluded our Ancient Egypt reports and dioramas.  Students used Google Research and learned how to cite sources using this tool.  We will continue to work with citing sources in the upcoming months.  Our POW for the week is to edit these reports.

 Students also participated in a diorama project for their Ancient Egypt topics. The dioramas look fabulous!  Now, we are moving into Ancient Greece, and our mythology / drama unit.

Questions to ask your student:

• What did you put in your diorama?
• What did you need to edit for your report?
• What polis are you in for the Greek studies?
• What are some of the languages spoken on your continent?
• What will the theme be for your fraction poster?

Let us know if you have any questions!

January 6 Newsletter

Hello Questers!
Happy New Year!

 We are diving into our Ancient Egypt in motion unit!  This is a completely interdisciplinary unit, and we are excited about the lessons and learning to come!

During the ESB time, students will be doing various experiments regarding motion and ancient Egypt.  We completed one regarding moving "pyramid stones" up ramps, and on Wednesday, we will be giving our "Chariots" a try.  (Please help your student to remember his/ her snow gear that day). We will also be creating physical maps of Ancient Egypt. 

 During LA block, students will be completing a Project Based Learning assignment in which they will be researching a particular topic with a small group, writing an individual paper, and completing a small group diorama to fit in the glass case at the end of the hallway. 

Research skills:  Students will all be reading Everything Ancient Egypt, a National Geographic book about our study. 
Students will also be learning keyword searches on selected search engines, and how to find a rich source for research.  We will begin citations with this paper as well.  The work for this unit will be done in class, but I will add photos of the completed dioramas to a newsletter!






Math:  Students will continue to explore fraction operations through number line activities and math games.  By next week, we will be jumping into fraction multiplication with an emphasis on understanding the mathematics through modeling.  Mr. Weekly #4 will be passed out on Tuesday and is due on 1/14.

Questers Without Borders
For the second half of this year,  students will be taking part in a geography project entitled “Questers Without Borders.”  Questers Without Borders will challenge your student to understand one continent in depth, and several continents in overview.  The students have chosen their continent, and have been put in groups with other students who are studying other continents.  

Students will be given a new geography ‘theme’ every other week to help focus their presentations.  They will begin their work each in class.  The presentation will take place the following week, with the intention that the project is finished at home.  It is incredibly important that students are prepared each week for their presentations as they are accountable to their group members.  At this point, the presentations are in a blue book, called their "passport."  Eventually, we will include other methods of presentation including  powerpoint/google presentation, summary/word document, poster/visual, drawings, and other artistic representations. 

The first assignment, due this Thursday, is completing a map that shows physical features of the continent they chose.  Students should select 5 - 10 of the following to label on their continent's map in their passports.

 

countries
rivers
mountains
cities
oceans / seas
lakes
plateaus
lands
basins
deserts
highest point

This will be presented to the small groups on Thursday, January 9th. 

Other items:  There will be an evening meeting about the Ferry Beach Field Trip on Thursday, January 23rd at 6:30.

Questions to ask your student:
What continent will you be focusing on for your Questers Without Borders?
Have you looked at the comments on your narrative?  What will you edit first?
What is your small group going to work on for the LA Ancient Egypt Diorama assignment?
How did your group sort the fraction cards?

Have a good week!

 

Newsletter #12 (12/13/13)

Hello Quest Families,

Feast
Our feast is fast approaching!  If you have not responded, we could use more beverages and main dishes.  Usually, I make a double meal the night before the feast, so this might help :)  Let us know what you can bring.  It does not need to be for more than 5-7 people.

Team Building

One of our focuses on Team Quest this year is to improve our small group work skills.  Friday afternoons have been spent working in small groups to complete a task or a challenge.  Each afternoon has time built in to reflect and discuss how the group functioned as well as what students can do to improve as individuals.  Here are the new "Small Group Norms" that our students agreed were important for groups to follow:

Include everyone
Focused on the goal/objective
Listen to, ask for, and consider the ideas of others
Be willing to compromise

Respect other groups by using indoor voices
Good sportsmanship
Be kind
Have a positive attitude



ESB
We have started our new ESB unit, titled Ancient Egypt in Motion.  This integrated unit will cover the Social Studies standards around Ancient Egypt and the Science standards around Forces and Motion.  Students will participate in a few inquiry based learning

Steel Drum Residency

We will have an artist in residence next week.  The artist is Scott Paulsen, a steel drummer who features music from Trinidad.  We will begin the week with an all school assembly in the cafeteria. This will be a presentation by Scott about the culture of Trinidad and the history of the steel drum and will run approximately 45 minutes.   During the week, drumming will happen!  Each child will get one small group lesson on the pans (steel drums) during their AA.  We will end the week with an all school assembly/music share in the cafeteria for approximately 45 minutes.

Sleds

We have been sledding at recess, which has been a lot of fun!  The only downside, is our sleds keep breaking.  If you know of anyone with a connection to sleds, who might discount some to us, please let us know :)  Thanks!

Questions to ask your student:
How can you use Quest's small group norms in a family, community, job, or as a citizen of a country?
What does it mean for two fractions to be equivalent?
What are you writing for your narrative?
Why were the ancient pyramids built?

Newsletter #11 (11/22/13)

Eva, Ashley, and Izzy excited for their first CBMS concert!

Hello Quest Families,

Thank-you for attending your student's student led conferences!  We hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!  Here are a few notes  to read over vacation:

ESB Project
Students continued to work on their individual research projects in ESB this week.  They chose from a selection of topics, including early human clothing, tools/weapons, food, language, art, and the archaeological discoveries of "Lucy" and "Otzi".  Student's research on these topics is focused around the question 'What has archaeological evidence told us about Homo sapiens?'  In class, students will write a report on the findings from their research.  

**At home, students should be working on an artifact for their project.  This may range from creating their own prehistoric tools or art to making an early human restaurant menu or cartoon.**  This is due Wednesday, December 4th.

Project Guidlines


Winter Recess
The cold weather is here!  These are a few reminders for what students need for winter recess:  gloves or mittens, winter hat, boots, snow pants (if they plan to play in the snow), winter jacket.

Holiday Feast 

ANNUAL QUEST TEAM HOLIDAY FEAST! We are planning to have our Annual Holiday Feast on Thursday, December ^19th at 11:20 (11:00 set up) - 12:30.  We ask each student on the Quest Team to bring in a sample (4-6 servings) of a dish that their family enjoys eating – perhaps something traditional – and we have a big potluck lunch. Families and other teachers from around the building are invited to attend. We will have live music, from our students!  We’ll need some adults to help us set up and monitor the feast. So, mark your calendar… we’ll send home official invitations soon! 

Newsletter #10 (11/8/13)

Students working together to create a skit using primitive language.

Student Led Conferences
This week, the portal for the student led conferences will open.  This is an online way for you to sign up for conferences.  If you do not have computer access, please write a note to indicate which time slot you would like to sign up for, and we will sign you up.

The conferences may look different than what you have seen in the past.  Throughout the trimester, we have been gathering evidence towards particular goals. This continual reflection is intended to help students understand why they are learning what they are learning, and how it can contribute to their development as a middle schooler.  When students share this information, in a room where other students are also sharing their work, it builds validation for their work, and ownership of their progress.  There is time for goal setting with both teachers and parents during these conferences.

The times for conferences are 30 - 45 minutes in length, and during that time, your student will lead you through his / her work from this first trimester.  As these are completely student led, there will be 4 - 7 conferences going on at the same time.  We reserve the library, which enables us to have space so families can sit together and focus on only their student.

This is a photo of student led conferences from last year.

The teachers are available during these conferences.  Curtis Taylor, Melissa Williams, and Melanie Zima will be in the library, stopping in at the different conferences.  If you want to speak to a particular teacher during the conference, you will put up a small "flag" that will signal that teacher to go to that particular table.  If, after the student led conference, you would like to sign up for an individual conference with one of the teachers, there will be a sign up sheet for Tuesday night's conferences. Note:  There is no sign up for Tuesday night until after the student led conference on Monday night.

If you are unable to attend the conference on Monday night, you might opt to have your student review his / her portfolio at home with you.  Most of the information is on their e-portfolios, and in a paper portfolio at school.  These will be available on Monday, the 25th for you to see.  If you need to see it sooner than the 25th, you may contact us, and we can help your student have it available for Friday the 22nd.

We hope you find this format empowering for your student.  Let us know if you have any questions regarding conferences.  The times on Monday are: 3:00, 3:45, 4:30, 5:45, 6:30, and 7:15. 

ESB
In our Bones and Stones unit, students were busy this week exploring the development of language and early human cave art.  Activities included creating our own early human language, performing skits, using nature to make paint brushes, and painting our classroom with early human cave art.  Next week, students will be starting a project of their choice on a topic from our Early Humans unit.  Information about this project will be available on our website.

Mick painting, using a brush she created from the woods!

Math
This week we will wrap up our work with division strategies and begin a new unit on 3D Geometry and Measurement.  You can find the parent letter linked to the Quest website.

Questers have been working on Multiplication Fast Fact Goals for the past few months and have met their first goal!  As a reward, students will have next week OFF from homework in Math class.  Their Math's Mate Sheet 6 is due Tuesday, but they will not have homework on Thursday or a Math's Mate for next week.  Keep up the fast fact studying so we can reach our next goal!

Language Arts 

This week we used Google Calendars to map out our reading for our most recent book group books.  We also began reading, and looking for details about characters and figurative language.  We continue with writing with details, both to our epals, and in our POWs.  Next week, we will have book group meetings, and will learn about the narrator's point of view.

Questions:
What was your early human skit about?
What is an example of figurative writing?
What has your ePal written to you about?
What did you paint on the "cave wall?"
How does a 'menu' help you solve long division problems?
What did you do with your AG on Early Release Day?

Newsletter #9 (11/1/13)

Hello Quest Families!

ESB
The study of Early Human Survival continued this week with a exploration the advancements in weaponry and fire.  Students learned about how the early humans made fire with the little tools they had and then tried this difficult task out for themselves. Students also learned about early weapons, trying their throwing skills with "spears" and atlatls!  Students will have an opportunity to make some of these tools on their own with a project that will be coming up in a week and a half.

Service Learning
On Wednesday, students worked with community partners on two different projects.  Some of our students met with James Moore, Co-President of SunCommon, to learn about the new solar array at CBMS.  These students are in the process of making a brochure that will educate the CBMS community about solar energy in our area.  The rest of team Quest met with Alan Quackenbush of the Vermont Land Trust to plant seven maple trees around the school's outdoor classroom.  This work will secure the land's riparian zone by providing stability as well as provide shade for our outdoor classroom.

Math
Multiplication and the order of operations were our big focus points this week.  Students worked on tasks such as determining how much solar energy can be produced by our new solar array.  There is so much multiplication in our every day lives.  See if you and your student can find some examples!  If you see your student using an area model to solve multiplication problems, this is a fine place for them to be.  By the end of this year, we will move away from the model, but it is a great tool to support the decomposition of numbers.  Have them explain how it works!

We will be exploring division strategies this upcoming week with an emphasis on the relationship between multiplication and division.   Again, have students explain their strategies to you before you jump in.  We are building an understanding of division before we learn the traditional long division strategy.

LA
We are beginning our fiction unit!  We worked on our first roles that will be a part of book groups starting next week.  Students will be writing about a descriptive event for their next POW.  This could be Halloween, or any other event that has had an impact.  This writing is a part of our fiction writing unit. Students are also writing to their epals.  Sometime soon, we may even go old fashion and send postcards!

Book Orders
Book orders are due Monday, November 4th.


Wreath and Poinsettia Sale We passed out information for our new fundraiser today.  The fundraiser is a wreath and poinsettia sale.  Students have a green paper to bring home today, which has more detailed information.  Please help support this fundraiser!  It helps with field trips and other opportunities for each of the teams in the school.

Questions:
What is an atlatl?
What is your independent reading book?
What are the two "banned" words in your writing?
How does a bow drill work?
How many solar panels does the school have in their new solar array?



Enjoy your weekend!

Due Monday, November 4th

Wreath and Poinsettia Sale