bluecrew week in preview

Week In Preview, November 2^nd-6^th.

Magazine Drive: Thank You for your help and support. Last collection day is Monday.

Food Drive: Check the pantry or pick up an extra item at the store and send it to school with your child to help stock the Falmouth Food Pantry. Ends Nov. 8

Conferences: Please sign-up with your child’s homeroom teacher. Your child will lead the conference and will be preparing a reflection and goal setting form throughout this week to share with you. 

Mathematics 

After School Help: 

Monday –Ms. Jacobs 

Tuesday- Mr. Towle, Mrs. Bennett 

Wednesday- Mrs. Bennett, Ms. Jacobs 

Thursday – Mrs. Hodgkins 

Variables and Patterns: 

Next week, students will have a unit test starting on Tuesday with B and C Blocks.  D and E blocks will start on Wednesday.  It will be administered over two days.  Please note our after school availability if your student feels s/he needs additional practice. 

Students have their vocabulary notebook returned (it is in section 2 of their notebook).  Words are assigned over the course of an investigation –1 to 2 words at a time.   Students are required to: 

1)  List the vocabulary word and the page number on the index folder (the page number tells us what page it is on in the spiral notebook). 

2)  They must write a clear explanation of the word.  This is in their textbook (we give page numbers on the assignment sheets) 

and/or math on call. 

3)  They must have an example for the term that helps illustrate the explanation.  These examples can come from homework problems and/or the students’ own creation. 

These should be an easy “A” grade.  Since this was the first score on vocabulary notebooks, we are going to offer students who have improved their vocabulary notebooks to turn them in to us again for a maximum score of 10 out of 12 points.   These will be accepted on the first day of the Variables and Patterns test (the test is given over two days to allow students plenty of time to do their best work and to not be anxious)  next week (this is clearly posted for students and is either Tuesday or Wednesday.)  Best to turn in by Tuesday. 

These grades are in powerschool.  Students have a grade sheet with all terms that have been assigned to date.  Please ask to see it. 

Le Français    Mme Turner    after school Tues. & Thurs.

gturner@fps.k12.me.us

We will continue with a review of time and learn duration of time and how to say at what time something begins. We will bring back into regular circulation the -er verbs.  Students will be able to talk/write about a school day. We will also review animal vocabulary and have animals as students at school.

Sra. Campbell -Spanish 

marshacampbell@fps.k12.me.us 

Available after school on Tuesday and Thursday 

This week we will continue to study the definite and indefinite articles, the verbs ser and gustar, and combine that with adjectives. Agreement of nouns and adjectives and articles is the challenge of this unit and takes a lot of practice to be really understood.  That is our focus currently. I have collected the notebooks (except for class B which I’ll get to next week) and in general they looked good.  

We’ve had one vocabulary quiz and will do another soon, as well as a quiz on the articles and adjective agreement, perhaps this week or next. 

Happy Day of the Dead! Hasta luego. 

Science: Ms. Boudreau

After school Tuesday & Wednesday

This week we will be an assortment of activities. Students will plant their seeds for their “Grow a Bean” experiment, continue measuring mass and volume as needed, and start a research project. The next unit is Matter & Energy.

Students can still make-up quizzes after school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Not everyone had enough time to make corrections and take the quiz in the same session. Tests cannot be re-taken.

QUÉBEC-Completed applications with a copy of birth certificate or valid passport and non-refundable $100 deposit (payable to FMS) are due Monday, October 26th in the main office.  Completed scholarship requests are also due at this time to Rick Hogan.  A wait list will begin with applications received on or after the 27th.  An informational sheet and applications are available in the main office.  Please let me know if you have any questions. Wendy Fisher: wfisher@fps.k12.me.us

Jeremy Stein

Social Studies

jstein@fps.k12.me.us

After school: Tuesday

We will start off the week with a bang, by having a quiz covering the life of Muhammad, the rise of Islam and a little bit about the 5 Pillars of Islam. The quiz will take place the first class of the week. The remainder of the week will be spent looking at some of the issues that are on the ballot Nov. 3rd. We will read a couple of articles from the Portland Press Herald to determine what the issues are. We may also do the Middle East trading activity we did not get to last week.

Thanks and have a great week!

Sra. Campbell -Spanish 

marshacampbell@fps.k12.me.us 

Available after school on Tuesday and Thursday 

We are starting Lesson 2, which takes what we have been working on a big step forward with the use of SER to describe people and things. We will be focusing on the changes needed to match nouns and adjectives in number and gender. This is one of the challenges of learning a language that has grammatical gender, with words that are feminine or masculine and take different forms of adjectives and articles. It’s challenging, but the students are ready! There will be a vocabulary quiz sometime during the week and I will be collecting the cuadernos for a first check!

Le Français     Mme Turner      After Tues. & Thurs.

We will continue with vocabulary around a school day. We will compare the American and French school systems. Time will be reviewed and duration of time introduced. There will be 2 quizzes this week, a phrase of the day quiz and a quiz on school vocabulary.

Mathematics: 

After School Help 

Monday – Ms. Jacobs 

Tuesday- Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Towle 

Wednesday- Mrs. Bennett, Ms. Jacobs 

Thursday – Mrs. Hodgkins 

Variables and Patterns: 

Next week, students will continue to use patterns to help them learn more about writing equations.  They will compare the advantages and disadvantages of representing the relationship between two variables in a table, a graph, and an equation.  There will be a partner quiz in middle of the week.  Additionally, we will use the TI Graphing calculators (which were purchased with FEF and PTO grants) to explore the power of technology, once students have solidified their understanding of how to write an algebraic equation.

Science: Ms. Boudreau

cboudreau@fps.k12.me.us 

After school: Tuesday

At the end of the week, Thursday for B and Friday for all other classes, there will be a Space Unit Test. Students should study all their notes and hand-outs. Their will not be an additional study guide. The test will be a combination of fill in the blank, multiple choice and completing diagrams. The topics included are moon phases, seasons, space vocabulary, and light. 

Light Quiz make-up students will get the quiz back on Monday. To re-take it, they  must correct all that was wrong and write the correct answers in red, green or purple ink on the quiz.  After school on Tuesday or during the student’s guided practice session for science, he/she can hand in the corrected quiz and re-attempt the quiz. The new score will be recorded even if it is a lower score. I feel this process encourages students to re-study the material and better prepared themselves for the quiz.

Extra Credit Project: The requirements for the atom model are in the opening section of my Moodle site. Only the projects that meet those requirements will be considered for extra credit. I will extend the due date to Nov. 13^th,  since we have not begun our study of Matter and Energy.

I hope everyone got outside to enjoy Sunday’s unusually warm and sunny day

The Magazine Drive will Kick-Off Thursday, Oct. 22. 

QUÉBEC-Completed applications with a copy of birth certificate or valid passport and non-refundable $100 deposit (payable to FMS) are due Monday, October 26th in the main office.  Completed scholarship requests are also due at this time to Rick Hogan.  A wait list will begin with applications received on or after the 27th.  An informational sheet and applications are available in the main office.  Please let me know if you have any questions. Wendy Fisher: wfisher@fps.k12.me.us

Ellen Santora 

Blue Crew ELA 

esantora@fps.k12.me.us 

After school: Tuesday/Thursday 

Please note that my website (http://teacherweb.com/ME/FalmouthMiddleSchool/MsSantora-ELABlueCrew/table0.aspx) has a new look, but is the same website.  I’ve added some new elements in Links and Publishing.  Please peruse! This week’s usual rigor has been interrupted by the testing, though students have been working on writing and reading projects during class time.  In the coming week, we will be looking at some pretty traditional grammar rules (COMMAS!) and working on sentence structure.  Kids are in their third piece of writing and finishing the second book.  I have seen some excellent poetry, some crazy stories, and some pretty convincing persuasion… What a pleasure!  Portfolios will be coming home for sharing again soon.

Jeremy Stein

Social Studies

jstein@fps.k12.me.us 

Since we are done with the NECAPs and back to the regular schedule we can really dig into our investigation of the origins of Islam. We will be doing a couple of activities focused on the historical aspect of Muhammad’s life, as well as some of the fundamental basic tenants of Islamic beliefs. All of this will be done as a sociological study, not religious indoctrination. The week will end with another trading activity to show how trade impacted the spread of Islam.

Science: Ms. Boudreau

After School Tuesday & Wednesday

cboudreau@fps.k12.me.us 

Quiz Tuesday or Wednesday over “Star Light & Star Bright” webquest and light lab activites. Students should know how to measure waves, determine frequency and understand the relationship between energy, temperature, color, frequency and wavelength. They should also know the Electromagnetic Spectrum and know the term Photon. Students can use their light lab notes. Viewing the links in my light section of Moodle will help students further their understanding if they were not able to complete the light lab activities. Don’t forget to check light section on Moodle.

This weeks focus will be on measuring mass and volume. If anyone still has peanut butter jars or other wide mouth jars that hold about 36+ ounces, please send them in. We’ll be starting an investigation on matter that requires them.

Please make arrangements to pick-up models this week if you want the parts. The models are Super, but we need space for the next investigation and project. I’ve placed a few models in my display window. If you don’t need the parts, the models can be left in my room and I’ll disassemble models and recycle parts.

Le Français     Mme Turner    after school Tues. & Thurs. 

gturner@fps.k12.me.us 

At the beginning of the week we will apply the interrogative “Quand” (when) followed by review of the unit on interrogatives studied for the first part of the year. Students will have a written assessment on the material of this unit. Students should begin their review: 

-être- conjugation and usage 

-interrogatives 

-Qu’est-ce que c’est? Qu’est-ce que vous regardez à la télé? 

-Qui est-ce? Qui regarde la télé? 

-Comment est Pierre? 

-Combien de stylos sont sous le bureau? 

-Où est le telephone? 

-D’où êtes-vous? D’où est le Président? 

-Quand est votre anniversaire? 

-Quel est votre numéro de telephone? (make up a French # with 8 digits, no repeats, and write it out in words as the French would say it) 

Following the assessment, we will begin a unit on school life.

Sra. Campbell -Spanish 

marshacampbell@fps.k12.me.us 

Available after school on Tuesday and Thursday 

During the week of NECAP testing we did a bit of reviewing for the up coming Unit 1-Lección 1 test. 

I am a little concerned for some students who still seemed pretty confused about the verb ser and expression saying what other people like to do. I will see everyone one more time before the tests but some studying over the weekend is needed. I have advised the students to use the online Classzone.com web site to practice using the HomeTutor application. It is designed exactly for this purpose. There are activities for practicing the grammar and the vocabulary for this unit. We have done several of these in class so signing on should be easy. I hope to see good results on the tests next week. Buena suerte,   hasta luego. 

Mathematics 

After School Help: 

Monday – Ms. Jacobs 

Tuesday- Mr. Towle, Mrs. Bennett 

Wednesday- Mrs. Bennett, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Towle 

Thursday- Mrs. Hodgkins 

Variables and Patterns: 

Next week,  students will use patterns in tables to help them write equations for the relationship between two variables.  They will then use these equations to compute values for the dependent variable for specific values of the independent variable.  We will use the contexts of time, distance and speed as well as revenue, expenses and profits. 

QUÉBEC-Informational meeting for parents of 7th graders interested in going to Québec May 20-23, 2010 will be in the FMS Large Gym October 14th at 7pm.

NECAPS- Students begin testing on Tuesday. They should go to their A class On Tuesday morning instead of E. They will have classes A, B, and C. Students will take the tests in their Homeroom and teachers will give them the schedule for the following days on Tuesday. They will need to bring their own snack on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. Snack will be eaten in homeroom on those days. Homework will be light, so this is a great week for students to catch up where needed.

Mathematics

After School Help:

Monday – Columbus Day Holiday

Tuesday- Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Towle

Wednesday- Ms. Jacobs

Thursday- Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Hodgkins

Next week, students will be taking the NECAPs.  Please make sure that they come to school with a calculator, every day.  

During our two math classes next week, students will use picture patterns to help them determine equations for the relationships between two variables.  The goal is for students to learn the power of the equation as a form of representation.

Ellen Santora

esantora@fps.k12.me.us

ELA Blue Crew

After school: Tuesday and Wednesday

This week, we looked at the structure of Persuasive Writing, the formation of Protagonist and Antagonist characters, and the literary elements of plot.  Students are writing many pieces, all toward demonstrating their personal goals.  Some students have voiced concern over not having grades posted in Powerschool.  To address this concern, in the coming week I will post a number of grades accumulated thus far: Preparation/Workshop, Portfolio Organization, and HW grades.  If the time presents itself, I will be able to post grades for the first of ten goals.  Additionally, I have established my “Independent Reading Activities” page on my website. This page houses a number of projects for students to demonstrate comprehension of the novels they are reading for Independent Reading selections. On a separate note, I am always looking for feedback from students and parents on the Writing Workshop classroom model.  Feel free to share your insights with me: esantora@fps.k12.me.us  Have a great 3-day weekend.

Le Français    

Mme Turner    

After school Tues. & Thurs.

gturner@fps.k12.me.us

Students should be completing an assessment project “Les Contraires”. We will begin to learn and apply vocabulary about a school day….subjects, time, activities. It is a “short” week due to testing and the holiday weekend. Enjoy the weekend!

Jeremy Stein

Social Studies

jstein@fps.k12.me.us

After school: Tuesday

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day

This week will be a short week for classes due to the NECAPs. We will hold two classes, both about the rise and spread of Islam. We will look at how the Geography shaped this process, as well as the history behind the major historical figures. Most of this will come from our text book and we will be improving our Cornell Note taking skills.

Sra. Campbell -Spanish

marshacampbell@fps.k12.me.us

Available after school on Tuesday and Thursday

This coming week we have standardized testing so class time will be limited, however, I hope to wrap up Lección 1 (our current unit) and do the review  and integration activities next week. I also plan to have a look at the cuadernos (notebooks) to check that they are being kept up and are neat. This will be a notebook grade. You can help by asking to see them as well. In class lately there have been a number of students who didn’t have their cuadernos with them. T

The following week we will have our first TEST. The test will cover lesson one and have listening, reading and writing components, similar to what we have been doing in class so far.

Have a great long weekend! Hasta luego.

Science: Ms. Boudreau

Students have been doing a great job using their models to demonstrate their knowledge of how moon phases, day and night, and seasons occur. This week they will finish their investigation with light. There will not be any additional quizzes this week, but a quiz on the properties of light will be given next week.

If anyone has any more empty peanut butter jars, please send them in. We will need them for an experiment next week.

Thank you for transporting science projects and helping kids with supplies. The effort was well worth the work. Listening to the kids describe what happens while they are using the models they made is amazing. It’s much more valuable than reading responses on a test. Prior students have visited the class and asked why they didn’t have that opportunity. 

The next extra credit project is the atom model. The description for that project will be posted on my Moodle site and will be due Friday, Oct. 30^th.

Week in Preview Oct. 5- 9

I apologize for this not arriving until Sunday PM. I didn’t have internet access until now.

Hurray! The laptops are going home. Please make sure they are charging in a safe place and they are not being charged in the case.

Please use the teachers’  after school info below to help your child plan his/her week. Don’t forget to check the planners.

Ellen Santora

ELA Blue Crew

esantora@fps.k12.me.us

After School: Tuesday/Thursday

**Portfolios are coming home today!**  Kids have been working hard to organize their portfolios to bring them home to work with parents/guardians.  There is a PINK LETTER in the writing section designed to guide you through the “goal setting” process.  Each student will set TEN personalized writing goals (see Writing Strategies Worksheets for complete list) and will choose to “Aquire”, “Improve”, or “Sophisticate” that skill.  With instruction, conferencing, practice, and revision kids will write toward those goals.  First books are should be completed. In the coming week, we will address how students can choose a new novel in an informed way using goals and lexiles (from this year’s NWEAs!) and we will discuss Independent Reading Activities to demonstrate comprehension.  Most students have begun a second piece of writing and will be tweaking it to demonstrate a goal.  Enjoy looking over the writing from this year and years past! 

Jeremy Stein

Social Studies

Late Day: Tuesday

jstein@fps.k12.me.us

Students will have a Middle East Map Quiz on Wednesday or Thursday depending on the class rotation. This is the first map quiz of the year. All students have labeled the countries on a map, colored a map and taken a practice quiz on line.

On Monday we will begin our historical study of the Middle East by reading about the Byzantine Empire after the fall of Rome. Students will read Chapter 1 Sec 1 of the text and use the Cornell Note taking template to guide their reading. Throughout the week we will enhance the study by viewing a short video on the Byzantine Empire as well as reading two separate essays about Emperor Justinian.

Mathematics

After School Help

Monday – Ms. Jacobs

Tuesday-  Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Towle

Wednesday- Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Towle, Ms. Jacobs

Thursday – Mrs. Hodgkins

Variables and Patterns:

Students will finish their work in Investigation #2 with an exercise eliciting their interpretation of the data represented in several different shaped graphs.  There will be a quiz on this investigation at the end of the week.   The mathematical goals to be assessed are on the yellow assignment sheet in the math binder.  

During the next couple of weeks, we will be reviewing your child’s binder and collecting the vocabulary section for a “surprise” notebook check.  

Student Support

Mrs. Paul after school Tuesday and Thursday

Le Français   Mme Turner       after school Tues. & Thurs.

Students should be applying their French numbers whenever possible….doing Math, exercising, counting sheep at night etc. There will be a quiz on numbers their second class of the week.  We have started with the word “comment” (how)  followed by the verb être (to be) to start describing people….ie Comment est Sylivie? (How is Sylvie…meaning describe her). We will  work on the grammar piece of agreement of adjectives in number and gender in French. Students will do an assessment project at the end of the week titled “Les Contraires” (The opposites).

Sra. Campbell -Spanish

marshacampbell@fps.k12.me.us

Available after school on Tuesday and Thursday

This coming week we will continue expanding our use of gustar to talk about what other people like to do, using the verb ser to say where people are  from, moving in to talking about what people are like.We will continue to expand our practice into reading and writing activities.  We will also refocus on numbers above 10.  

We had a couple of quizzes this week on vocabulary and the results show that vocabulary in the cuardernos needs to be studied a bit more by many of the students. Here’s a tip on a way to study that might be helpful: there are flash-card programs on Classzone.com (the online site for the text we use) that would be helpful I think, now that the laptops are going home. These can be done on any computer and the students all know this site as we have used it in class.

Science: Ms. Boudreau            After school help Tuesday & Wednesday

Students created moon phase study pamphlets last week and finished study of season. Projects are due from B, D & E this week. There will be a moon phase and seasons quiz on Friday. Students should visit links, review notes in binders, read articles and ask lots of questions if they don’t understand how moon phases and seasons happen. This weeks focus is on the properties of light and next week we will be using the metric system to measure mass and volume.

Blue Crew Week In Preview Sept. 21st-25^th, 2009

WOW! Lots of exciting things happening this week.

*Peace One Day

*Autumn Equinox

*Laptop Meetings for Parents

* Picture Day

As many of you know, World Peace Day is this Monday, September 21^st!  Students are welcome to demonstrate their support in Peace Day by wearing symbols that represent peace.  Additionally, on Monday all students will be participating in a variety of workshops in their ELA classes, to celebrate Peace Day.  We will also be launching our school-wide “Pennies for Peace” campaign (please visit www.penniesforpeace.org or the Middle’s School’s website for further information), to bring awareness in promoting peace & education, one penny at a time.


Beginning on Tuesday, students will be taking the NWEAs for Reading in their Foreign Language block.

Please also note that picture day is this Wednesday, September 23^rd!

Ellen Santora

ELA Blue Crew

esantora@fps.k12.me.us

To recognize September 21st as the UN appointed International Peace Day: all students will be participating in a series of workshops designed to share the message of the importance of peace.  Beginning Tuesday, students will be setting up their Writing Portfolios, setting goals, and writing, writing, writing. They are free-writing their “anchor” piece for Seventh Grade.  We will be discussing Modes of Writing with a focus on Persuasion modeled by the question: Is world peace possible?  The discussion and resulting writing will be very interesting to all. Students are continuing to read independently: They never have “no homework”…reading/free-writing is a daily habit to form now!

Mathematics

After School Help

Monday –  Ms. Jacobs (portable #7)

Tuesday – Mrs. Bennett

Wednesday -Ms. Jacobs

Thursday – Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Hodgkins

**As we stated at open house, students may get additional help from either Mr. Towle, Mrs. Hodgkins, or Mrs. Bennett, as we plan our lessons jointly.  Students may also stay after school in order to have a quiet work place to do homework before sports.

This week, students learned more about making coordinate graphs.  Please take a moment to ask them about the titles for them.  Also, please make sure that when they have math homework, they bring their ENTIRE binder home.  The binder should include the math book, all current work, the vocabulary notebook, and all graded work.  This next week, the students will analyze graphs and tables to unlock the stories they tell.

Jeremy Stein: Social Studies

jstein@fps.k12.me.us

After school Tuesday

Students started their presentations of their island civilizations. The first round seemed fairly solid and we still have a few more to finish up on Monday. We will also be doing some Peace One Day activities on Monday to support the schools effort to involve as many students as possible in this great endeavor.

The remainder of the week will be spend looking into an activity involving trading with other societies and will end with a debate surrounding the necessity of societies interacting with outside groups. It should prove to be enlightening and fun. Have a good weekend.

Le Français    

Mme Turner      after school    Tues. & Thurs.

Students will do the NWEA test during one language class this week.

We will continue with the interrogative “où” so students will be able to say where they live. In conversation we will recycle new vocabulary so that they will be able to say their address but also describe location using prepositions and cardinal directions….We will apply their prior knowledge with the question word “qui”…example…Qui parle français? (Who speaks French?”

SCIENCE: Ms. Boudreau

After Tuesday & Wednesday

REDUCE-REUSE-RECYCLE: WE need

P-nut butter jars (plastic or glass)

Old eye glass lenses

cardboard tubes from wrapping paper, paper towels or toilet paper

SPACE VOCABUARY & 3D model

Students will take their first vocab quiz on Thursday if the Moodle and their passwords are working correctly. They have a space vocab diagram we created in class last week to study and we will do a couple more activities early in the week that involves those terms.

Some student received a Rubric for a 3D model (others will get it soon). It isn’t due until October 5^th and I encouraged them to use recycled materials. Please do not feel obligated to get Styrofoam ball for the project. I am grading accuracy not beauty.

MOON OBSERVATIONS

The moon logs are due on Monday (Tuesday for E class). If students followed clues given in class, they should have been able to get 10 observations without difficulty even it you have lots of trees. The moon was visible from school in the AM for at least 7 mornings. It was very high in the sky often with mostly clear skies. However; if they did not get the 10 they need they can continue to gather observations until the end of Sept., but each observation will only count 5 points instead of 10. The students who turn in all 10, will be eligible for more extra credit with each extra perfect observation counting 5 points.

*DON’T FORGET TO CHECK MY MOODLE SITE FOR LINKS TO CONTENT SPECIFIC SITES THAT WILL HELP YOUR CHILD DEEPEN HIS/HER UNDERSTANDING!

Blue Crew Week In Preview for the week of September 14^th-18^th.

It was a pleasure meeting you at Open House and we’re already looking forward to a great school year!  Please look for a permission slip regarding our annual 7^th grade field trip that we’ll be going on next Friday, September 18^th!  Permission slips need to be signed and returned to your child’s homeroom teacher by Tuesday, September 15^th (the cost is $5, checks made payable to Falmouth Middle School). Also, please note a typo on the permission slip – we’ll be returning by 2 PM on Friday, not 2 Am!

Donations of Bottled Water for the field trip are appretiated. 

Le Français     Mme Turner                      after school Tues. & Thurs.

gturner@fps.k12.me.us

Students have completed a mapping activity of the Francophone world. We will use this as we work with the interrogative “où” (where) to describe where the countries are located in relation to other countries. We will also review prepositions while describing where classroom items are located.

Mathematics

After school help available (2:30-3:30):

Monday:  Ms. Jacobs (Math Support Ed Tech – Portable #7)

Tuesday:  Mr. Towle-RM 7, Mrs. Bennett-RM 4

Wednesday: Mrs. Jacobs (Math Support Ed Tech – Portable #7)

Thursday:  Mrs. Hodgkins-RM 7, Mrs. Bennett-RM 4

It was nice to meet you at open house.

All classes will have their first quiz in the graded work section of their binder early next week.  We will ask students to correct their errors and keep this assessment in section 3 of their binder.

Next week, we will begin our first CMP unit, Variables and Patterns: Introducing Algebra.  Graph paper was on the 7th grade supply list to be used in this unit in particular.  Please be sure students have a good supply in their binder.

Sra. Campbell -Spanish

marshacampbell@fps.k12.me.us

Available after school on Tuesday and Thursday

This week will be another short week, as we have our fabulous field trip on Friday, Before that we will continue with the preliminary lessons, reviewing and expanding on vocabulary and phrases the students may have had in 5th and 6th grades. The weather review will be done by Tuesday. There will be a quiz on the Spanish speaking countries and their capitals after that, then we will start a lesson on “me gusta” and activities that we like to do. For example: ”A mí me gusta hablar en español”. I like to speak in Spanish.

Jeremy Stein

Social Studies

jstein@fps.k12.me.us

http://moodle.fps.k12.me.us/course/view.php?id=87

Late Day Tuesday

It was great to meet so many of you at Open House and I am looking forward to this year. This week students will be working on their “Create a Civilization” project. This combines the 5 Guiding Questions from Geography, History, Culture, Government and Economics. In groups of 3-4 students generate physical features for a mythical land which the student population of FMS arrives. They need to establish a government, and their reasons for a government, determine their economic needs (resources >>> finished products), define their culture (based on the “ABC’s of World Culture) and fabricate historical events that had a profound impact on their society. All of this will be completed and presented by Wednesday or Thursday. On Friday we go on a historical cruise around Casco Bay.

Ellen Santora

ELA Blue Crew

esantora@fps.k12.me.us

Next week, we will be fully engaged in two very meaningful pursuits.  Early in the week, we will be watching the documentary “The Day After Peace” regarding the work of Jeremy Gilley, founder and activist for world-wide peace.  His inspiring journey resonates with the message: change through action.  Please visit the website www.peaceoneday.org to learn more about the movement marked by the day September 21st, and Gilley’s quest to see his vision emerge a reality.  Students will have a number of written response options related to what they learn as a result of seeing the documentary and reading about Jeremy Gilley and other “Heroes of Action”, www.myhero.com.  The other pursuit is the official beginning of our workshop model! Students are already engaged in crafting an “anchor piece” of writing.  This first piece (The Inkblot) will be used to support the identification of writing strengths and goal setting.  I hear the creative wheels creaking already.  Additionally, kids are engaged in reading their first independent reading selection.  They should be actively reading and “gathering images”, or identifying any “chunk” of descriptive text…one or two words strung together to create a sensory image….This will be ongoing throughout the reading of this first novel.

Science: Ms. Boudreau

After school: Tuesday & Wednesday

Thank you for attending open house. I enjoyed seeing such full classrooms of people, and meeting many of you. I hope you saw how enthusiastic and passionate I am about teaching science. Your students are off to a great start.

Continue with the moon observations. The more observations the kids have, the easier it will be for them to recognize patterns in the creation of the phases.

We may have an Space Vocabulary Quiz on Thursday, if not, it will be Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Some classes started the Space Vocabulary Activity I demonstrated at Open House and others will do so on Monday. Now that you know how to access this from home, you could have them explore my space sites to gain a better understanding of the words on the activity sheet.

The Blue crew consists of the following teachers:

Ms. Boudreau – Science cboudreau@fps.k12.me.us
Mr. Stein – Social Studies jstein@fps.k12.me.us
Mrs. Campbell – Spanish marciacampbell@fps.k12.me.us
Mr. Towle – Math stowle@fps.k12.me.us

Mrs. Hodgkins-Math phodgkins@fps.k12.me.us

Mrs. Santora – English Language Arts esantora@fps.k12.me.us
Ms. Turner – French gturner@fps.k12.me.us

Blue Crew Week In Preview

September 8-11, 2009

We’re off to a great start. The first three days ran relatively smoothly for most. Everyone seems to be navigating the new schedule with a positive attitude and determination.

We hope to see you at Open House on Wednesday, September 9th. Please start the night in your child’s homeroom at 6:00 pm with your completed “A Closer Look” form found in the manila envelope sent home on Wednesday. After meeting with the Homeroom Teacher, you will have the opportunity to meet your child’s other teachers as you rotate through their rooms. At 7:30, please proceed to the cafeteria to meet administration and unified arts teachers.

Blue Crew Teachers

Ellen Santora Rm. 3

Shawn Towle           Rm. 7

Jeremy Stein             Rm. 8

   Carrie Boudreau     Rm. 16

            Marcia Campbell   Portable T1

Ellen Santora

ELA Blue Crew

esantora@fps.k12.me.us

We have had a great start to the new year. Students are already proving to be engaged readers and writers. I’m very excited to begin our Writing Workshop.  I have reviewed most of the expectations and policies with classes regarding independent reading selection and goals.  In the coming week, we will be establishing reading goals and begin writing in the workshop model.  For homework, the students are gathering meaningful text “bytes” to collage their Writer’s Notebooks. They are also selecting a new book for Independent Reading.  Have a great three-day weekend.

Mathematics

Blue Crew:  Mr. Towle, Mrs. Hodgkins

Gold Crew:  Mrs. Bennett

After school help available (2:30-3:30):

Tuesday:  Mr. Towle, Mrs. Bennett

Wednesday: Mrs. Jacobs (Math Support Ed Tech) 

Thursday:  Mrs. Hodgkins, Mrs. Bennett

We have enjoyed meeting the students and look forward to getting to know them in the months to come. 

In these first few days, students have set up their math binder with three sections and have been reviewing the order of operations.  Students will finish this short, introductory unit with their first quiz on Thursday or Friday.

We are looking forward to meeting you at open house on Wednesday, September 9th at 6:00PM.

——————————————

Ray Fox/ Jeremy Stein

7th grade Social Studies

Next week we will be introducing the “five guiding principles/questions” that we analyze and study throughout the year.  Each student will receive a copy of the questions to keep in their notebook.  After the introduction, students will be placed in small groups with the task of creating their own civilization.  Each civilization will contain aspects of all five guiding principles.  This assignment will last 3 to 4 class periods.  

Have a great long weekend.

Science: Carrie Boudreau

After school help Tuesday & Wednesday

cboudreau@fps.k12.me.us

http://moodle.fps.k12.me.us/course/view.php?id=30

Students WOWed me with their great ability to measure in cm, mm and convert between the two units. We launched our study of space on the first day of school with moon observations. The weather and sky are perfect this weekend for gazing at the moon with your child and helping them collect observations. Three complete observations are due Tuesday, but encouraged them to get as many as possible. Please review their directions with them to help them get the most out of this learning opportunity.

Upon returning to class, we will continue our space study with objects in the sky and Solar System model. This model will be a 2D model that demonstrates size relationships between the sun and planets. It will be a group project completed in class.

If you are inside and are searching the web, please follow the link (under my email) to my Moodle site. It still needs some fine tuning, but it contains lots of resources for our units of study. Often, students download activities or worksheets from this site and use the links as resources for completing the activities. I hope to speak more about this at open house.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND and ENJOY THE MOONLIGHT!

Spanish: Sra. Campbell

After the long weekend we will continue with the review/basic vocabulary and phrases practice. For some students this is well covered ground and a review, for others memory is faint and most of the words and expressions we are going over seems new, so for some students more attention to learning or relearning what they write in their notebooks ( cuadernos ) will be important. We will have our first vocabulary quiz this week and get ready for the first chapter in the text (only used in class at this point) on the use of “me gusta” to talk about activities we like to do.  Please ask your son or daughter to show you their cuaderno. It’s a good way to see what they are learning and to remind them to study the vocabulary. Gracias.

Le Français   Mme. Turner    after school  Wed./Thurs.

>   gturner@fps.k12.me.us

>  

>   It has been a pleasure to meet the students this week! I am impressed by

> their engagement and willingness to participate and apply their prior

> learning of French. This year we will continue to build on that prior

> knowledge and work on developing oral proficiency with many partner to whole

> group activities.

>   This week we will continue with review of alphabet, numbers, and

> greetings. We will look at the Francophone world.

>   Please take a look at my MOODLE site which is accessible through the

> Falmouth Middle School site.