Newsletters

May/June Newsletter

The end of the school year is fast approaching. There are so many things to do in a short period of time. I hope you find this newsletter informative and helpful. Always feel free to reach out to me at jbigonia@aos93.org, through Rooms, or at 644-8177. 

5th Grade Homeroom

When students arrive at school, they pass in homework and unpack for the day. They then either go to breakfast or stay in the classroom for a brainteaser puzzle and to connect with classmates. At 8:05, the whole school gathers to do the Pledge of Allegiance in the center. Our 1st academic class starts after the pledge. 

Our current read aloud is Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. The hyperbolic book is both fun and quite serious. It explores a segregated town in Pennsylvania in the 1950s through the eyes of a runaway white boy. He learns so much about the world and questions how things could be different. 

We have advisor time from 11:10-11:30 AM each day. During these times the 5th grade students are developing executive functioning skills, doing some read aloud, checking grades on Powerschool, playing community building games, checking in with one another.

6th Grade Math

We just finished lesson 19 in the book. The kids are working hard and learning a lot. Students can expect some homework each night that we have math. 

Current Unit:

- Unit 5: Algebraic Thinking (Lessons 19-22)

Skills:

- Write and identify equivalent expressions

- Understand solutions of equations

- Write and solve 1-variable equations

- Analyze 2-variable relationships

Next Unit:

- Unit 6: Absolute Value, Inequalities, and the Coordinate Plane (Lessons 23-28)

Skills:

- Understand positive and negative numbers

- Order positive and negative numbers

- Understand absolute value

- Write and graph 1-variable inequalities

- Solve problems in the coordinate plane

We also do math games and/or challenges once every two to three weeks. 

Students have 45 minutes (2 successful lessons) of self paced independent learning to do on the iReady Classroom website each week. This 45 minutes needs to be completed between Monday at 8AM one week to 8AM on Monday morning the next week. This helps students review concepts and allows them to try math topics we'll cover in the future. 

I am using PowerSchool to keep track of work completion in math and to keep track of assessment scores. My goal for each student is to score a 3 or better on each mathematics standard. This score indicates mastery of the standard. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work (engaged learner, responsible learner, and respectful learner).  You can login to Powerschool by going to https://aos93.powerschool.com/public/. You login using the username and password in your child's school binder. Please reach out if you need login information!

See the 'Syllabi' tab for the syllabus for this class. 

5th Social Studies

Colonial America is our current unit. We are primarily using the Discovery simulation from Interact. The students start by taking a General Attitude Survey to ascertain what they think the biggest challenges were for colonists. At the end of the simulation, the kids take the same survey to see what changed in their opinions. Each student will be their own colony, choose a reason for coming to the "New World", outfit 3 ships with supplies and colonists and settle the east coast of present day United States. They will trade with and perhaps do battle with neighboring colonies and with Native Americans. Each round of the simulation (about 1 year), students will choose how many people they want to farm, fish, hunt, or do battle/defend the colony.  Students draw cards each round to determine their fate- weather, hunting, farming, fishing, and General Welfare. The realities can be harsh and students learn how hard it could be to be a colonist. Many events that really happened in the 1600s come up in the simulation. During this unit, we also talk about the fate of Native Americans, identify the 13 original English colonies, and learn about the era through multiple sources. Students have a blast with this simulation and learn a lot. 

Most Tuesdays, I am sending students home with a copy of Scholastic News to read and a single sheet to fill out that reviews the reading. These assignments are due on Wednesdays. This is part of our current events study. This has been building good study habits and organization. I am very impressed with the students! We also watch CNN10, a 10 minute daily news show (we watch it once a week) to keep up with current news. 

See the 'Syllabi' tab for the syllabus for this class. 

5th Science

Our current unit is Earth systems. In this unit, the students will learn about rocks and the rock cycle, and determine the relative hardness of rocks and minerals. We'll study the water cycle. We'll talk briefly about the states of matter. The students will make a series of graphs that show water distribution on Earth. 

I am using PowerSchool to keep track of work completion and assessment scores in science. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work.  You can login to Powerschool by going to https://aos93la.powerschool.com/public/. You login using the username and password in your child's school binder. Please reach out if you need login information!

See the 'Syllabi' tab for the syllabus for this class.  

6th/7th Science

We are ending our year learning about biodiversity and ecosystems. The students are learning about classification, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, energy and matter transfer in ecosystems and organisms, food chains, food webs, types of consumers. 

The 6/7 class is also be continuing last year's work on our buoys/lobstermen of South Bristol project. We have finished about 50 buoys so far. We have more research to do to make sure we have the buoys of all current lobstermen and to get a brief biography of each that will be kept at the South Bristol Historical Society in perpetuity. We'll eventually make the display for these buoys and unveil it to the public. 

​I am using PowerSchool to keep track of work completion and assessment scores in science. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work. I will also be reporting traditional grades for 7th and 8th grade. The goal is to familiarize students with how they’ll be scored in high school. 60% of a student's grade will be determined by their test/quiz scores on summative assessments and 40% will be determined by classwork and lab scores. All assignments and assessments in middle school can be retaken for a higher score. You can login to Powerschool by going to classroom.powerschool.com. You login using the username and password in your child's school binder. Please reach out if you need login information!

​See the 'Syllabi' tab for the syllabus for this class. 

8th Science

The 8th grade students are in the middle of a unit called Waves and Energy. In this unit, we're discussing the types of energy, energy transfer, the law of conservation of energy, calculating potential and kinetic energy, determining insulative and conductive properties and use that info for engineering design, learning about different types of waves and their properties/behaviors, and learning about how Wifi, the internet, and radios work. There are many hands-on activities and designs for students in this unit. 

Honors science students continue to go above and beyond by doing an extra assignment every two weeks. I've told the students that a regular assignment (a topic of their choosing) should take somewhere around an hour to complete. The end-of-trimesters 1 and 3 projects should be more on the order of 3 hours work. 

The honors students have been exploring and doing a great job with their work. 

​I am using PowerSchool to keep track of work completion and assessment scores in science. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work. I will also be reporting traditional grades for 8th grade. The goal is to familiarize students with how they’ll be scored in high school. 60% of a student's grade will be determined by their test/quiz scores on summative assessments and 40% will be determined by classwork and lab scores. All assignments and assessments in middle school can be retaken for a higher score. You can login to Powerschool by going to classroom.powerschool.com. You login using the username and password in your child's school binder. Please reach out if you need login information!  ​

See the 'Syllabi' tab for the syllabus for this class.