March 12

Newsletter for March 12

Hello Questers!

We hope you are all well and if you had to travel, that your travels were safe.

Ferry Beach:  Yesterday, March 18th, two green papers should have come home with all Quest students.  One of the papers was information about the PTO plant sale fundraiser.  The other paper was a health form to be filled out for our Ferry Beach trip.  Please make sure this form is filled out and returned to us at school. 

Genius Hour:  During the last block of each day, students have certain choices.  If a student is not involved in the music opportunities at CBMS, they are asked to read, and do homework.  There is one other choice, and that is Genius Hour.  Students are able to choose a topic they feel passionately about.  They are then given time to research this topic, and to create a presentation for others.  If your student has Guided Study, you might ask them what they might want to work on for Genius Hour!

Coding and Programming:   One of these Genius Hours is taking off.  Beck is beginning to lead classes at the end of the day in coding and programming. (either Mrs. Williams or Mr. Taylor is also in the room) These classes will be offered on Tuesdays and Fridays during Music Block.  Students can choose to be in one or the other, or both if they are available and have their work up to date.  Many students have already signed up for these times to learn about coding and programming, and Beck has shown some excellent teaching skills!  If you have any questions about this, don't hesitate to email.

Drama Unit:  The drama unit is up and running!  A reminder to all students (except for the narrators) that lines need to be memorized by March 20th.  Many students have been working on their lines, and some students are "off script."  We are working on developing personal responsibility with this unit.  If a student with a lead role does not memorize the majority of his/ her lines by this time, a replacement may be found for that student's role.

Students have been assigned a production team as well as a speaking role.  Production teams include props, set, costumes, and publicity.  Students are working in these groups to problem solve and devise lists of items we will need to create.  We will begin to create the props, set, costumes, and publicity at the end of this week.  Students may be scrounging around for props such as fake food, or some old sheets, but we do not need anything too fancy for the play!  If you have any interest in helping with any of these teams, let me know! 

Bake Sale: 

Our bake sale was a success!  We earned approximately $150 towards costumes and props for our play.  Thank you to all who sent in goodies!  Thank you to Amelia, Sarah, Ellie, and Eva, and our other student leaders who organized the sale!

Student-led Conferences:  Our conferences will take place on Wednesday, March 19th.  Please make sure to sign up online to hold your spot for the conference.  You can do this on the CBMS homepage.  The sign up deadline is Friday, March 14th.  Don't forget to bring your student to these student-led conferences.

ESB Festival Project:  Students have been developing the beginnings of their Ancient Greek Festival Projects in school.  The remainder of the project should be completed at home.  These projects and their presentations are due on Wednesday, March 19th.  Guidelines for the project can be found on the Quest-Ancient Greece webpage.

Math:  We are in the midst of our unit on decimals.  Students have been exploring the meaning of decimal numbers through ordering and comparing these types of numbers.  Decimals are everywhere, and I encourage you to find examples in your daily lives.  Here are links to different websites that can help students practice at home (Comparing Decimals, Rounding Decimals).

Mr. Weekly is back and #8 is due on Tuesday, March 18.  There will be quiz retakes on Friday, March 14th for students wanting to improve on their first attempt.  Here is a copy of the old quiz for students wanting to review some of the question types. 

Homework Board:
Our Homework Board is improved!  We are now using a Google calendar to map out assignments.  We hope this is helpful with the increase in long term assignment.  Click on any of the assignments to see a description.  Moon journals!  POWs!  Festival projects!  Mr. Weekly!  It's all there.

Questions to ask your student:
What is your Festival Project?
What is one of your lines for the play?
Who won the staff vs. students basketball game?  :)
What is a moon journal?  What do you do if you can't see the moon?
What causes a solar eclipse?
Where are decimals used in our day-to-day lives?
Are you retaking the decimals quiz on Friday?

Happy Snow Day!