Literacy 2/18/13

Most literature groups will be finishing the reading of their books this week. Teachers will be collecting talking points to assess students' participation. Now would be a great time to check in with your child about this process.

Humanities 2/18/13

Research project #2 culminates on Tuesday with the group presentations of their findings. Later this week, students will take a look at push and pull factors that have drawn immigrants to the United States (and forced them from their homeland) throughout history.

Grade Six Math Homework

Students are continuing to explore area and perimeter of rectangles, triangles and parallelograms.  We are also continuing to review computation with mixed numbers.

Homework this week is to complete a problem solving packet on area and perimeter.  It is due Thursday February 21, 2013.  Students will have an assessment on these concepts on Thursday as well. 

Grade 6 Math Week of February 11, 2013

Homework this week is a fraction skills review packet.  Students are working on subtracting mixed numbers, multiplying fractions, dividing fractions and whole numbers.  Because of our snow day on Friday homework is due Friday and not Thursday of this week.

In class this week we are continuing our exploration of area and perimeter as it relates to parallelograms.  Students have also made their first investments in the Stock Market Game.  Please ask them about it.

There will be a formal assessment on these geometry concepts next week.

Literacy 2/12/13

As mentioned in the humanities post, you can now find homework assignments for these two classes listed in the calendar scroll.

Literature groups are steaming along. Students are practicing speaking and listening skills (collaborating in group discussions) while being exposed to some excellent novels. A key piece to this is writing down talking points for each reading day. Feel free to ask to see their writing to get a sense of how this process is going.

Humanities 2/12/13

Going forward, you will now find homework assignments for humanities and literacy listed in the calendar scroll to the right (in addition to school events).

We are about to launch our second of three research projects. This unit, Settlement and Land Use, has allowed students to explore the reasons why people end up where they do and how they use the land to meet their needs. There has been a heavy focus on instructing and practicing research skills that will continue to be vital throughout their lives. This second project will happen in small groups and will take a look at four major U.S. cities and how they have developed over time. Please check in with your child for more details.

7 Maths 2-11

This week, students are reviewing and practicing their proportional reasoning and problem-solving skills. Students will take the Unit Test on the Comparing and Scaling unit this week. The test will assess students' ability to:

• Describe and compare quantities using fractions, ratos, percents and difference.
• Solve problems involving proportional relationships.
• Solve problems involving unit rates.

As always, I am available for extra help after school on Monday and Tuesday until 3:00, and on Thursday until 3:30.

8 Maths 2-11

This week, students are reviewing and practicing their skills with square roots and the Pythagorean Theorem. Students will take the Unit Test this week. The test will assess students' ability to:

• Use the PT to solve problems involving side lengths of right triangles.
• Use the PT to find the distance between two points on a coordinate grid.
• Use the PT to prove whether three lengths can form a right triangle.
• Operate with and estimate square roots.

As always, I am available for extra help after school on Monday and Tuesday until 3:00, and on Thursday until 3:30.

Boston Accounts

Hi folks,

8th graders will be given a letter today from Mr. Smith detailing how much money has been contributed toward their total of $325 to cover the cost of the Boston trip. If your student receives a letter yet does not plan on attending, we need a parent note indicating that he or she will not be going on the trip.

Thank you!

News and Events

Let me be the first to apologize for the sporadic nature of updates lately. We all agree that home-school communication is vital, and admittedly, we have some improvements to make to our end of that structure. That being said, here are some important school-wide announcements to share with you all:

• There will be a Course Fair for all 8th graders and their families this Thursday night (2/7) from 6:30-8:00pm in the high school library. Shortly thereafter, 8th graders will begin registering for their 9th grade courses.

• By this point, all House C students have been given trimester two progress reports for humanities, math, and science. Please check in with your child if you have not yet seen these reports.

• Sign-ups for spring sports have begun. If your child will be playing baseball, softball, or track and field, there is a mandatory meeting on April 1st at 6:00pm in the MS gym.

• Please note a change to the calendar. Your handbook/calendar shows Tuesday 3/5 has been set aside for conferences. House C will not be holding them on that day, but will instead be offering them over a couple of evenings in March. We will follow up as soon as those dates have been determined.
  
• There will be a concert this Friday night - Blackberry Jam - at 7:30pm in the high school auditorium. $5 suggested donation. This event has been rescheduled to March 8, due to the expected storm on Friday.

• There will be a middle school dance on Friday 2/15 from 7:00-9:00pm. $4 admission.

• While we are a couple of weeks past the field trip we took to Cairns, we wanted to let you all know that our students represented us so well. From students pushing themselves to try something new, to helping each other out, to leaving the space better than we found it, we saw examples of citizenship and perseverance that made us proud.

As always, should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to be in touch with any one of us.

Have a great week!

House C

Attention 8th Grade

MHS COURSE FAIR Feb. 7, 2013  6:30 - 8:00 pm

• 8th grade parents are invited to the HS library from 6:30 – 7:00 pm for parent orientation.
• All parents and students of grades 8-11 are encouraged to attend to meet with departments from 6:30 – 8:00 pm in the cafeteria
• On Feb 6th a copy of the Program of Studies will be available on the school website mtsd-vt.org

Calendar Raffle Winners

Congratulations to our early winners in the calendar raffle!

February 1 – Cassie Bombard - Ice Drill

February 2 - Paula Fenton - Milton Diner and Autoshine Carwash

February 3 - Doris McQuinn - Bev’s Florist

February 4 - Randy Tinker - Mary Kay Gift Basket

Grade 6 Math

Sixth grade continues to work on finding the area and perimeter of quadrilaterals and triangles.  They are working toward discovering the formula on their own for both. 

Students are starting the Stock Market Game this week.  Students are participating in a simulation where they are given an amount of $100,000 that they must try to figure out how best to invest their money.  Students are working in groups of three students.  Each team is charged with researching different companies and making suggestions for purchasing stocks, bonds and mutual funds.  Students will make their first investments this Friday after reviewing their research as a group.  All teams have group log in.
The website if you are interested in exploring it is: http://www.stockmarketgame.org/

Homework this week:  Students received a packet that reviews addition of mixed numbers, problem solving and graphing coordinate pairs.  Students should complete all odd numbered problems except on the last page of coordinate pairs.  On this page students will do the odd numbers 1-10, but complete all problems 11-14.