Newsletters

May/June Newsletter

Welcome to my latest newsletter. 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. After breakfast, we have a 15 minute homeroom time. We do some reading, check Powerschool, play community building games, share about what's happening in our lives, etc. We have also been working on our typing skills on Wednesday and Thursday mornings on typing.com. Students can login in from anywhere if they want to practice typing outside of school. At 8:15, the whole school gathers to do the Pledge of Allegiance in the center. Our 1st academic class starts after the pledge. 

We regularly participate in read aloud in the 5/6 classroom. We are currently reading a book by Louis Sachar (author of Holes) called Fuzzy Mud. This is an adventure story that also dives into cells, mutations, and genetic engineering. These are all topics we'll study next year in science. There is also a strong message about friendship and how we treat each other. 

6th Grade Math

The 6th graders have just completed volume 1 of their math books. We have just finished Unit 4 (lesson 18) and will soon move on to Unit 5 in the second volume of our book. We have homework most nights that we have math. 

Current Unit:

- Unit 4: Ratio Reasoning (Lessons 15-18)

Skills:

- Understand Rate Concepts

- Use Unit Rates to Solve Problems

- Understand Percents

- Use Percents to Solve Problems

Current Unit:

- Unit 5: (Lessons 19-22)

Skills:

- Write and Identify Equivalent Expressions

- Understand Solutions of Equations

- Write and Solve One-Variable Equations

- Analyze Two-Variable Relationships

We also do math games and/or challenges once every two to three weeks. Some games we play are Multiplication Baseball, Coordinate Battleship, Hit, Miss, Bullseye, Estimation Clipboard, Esti-mysteries, Commit and Capture, etc. 

Students have 45 minutes (2 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 Unified Classroom/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 planner.

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

5th Social Studies

We are studying colonial America right now. We are usi multiple resources to study this time in our country's history. We'll spend quite a bit of time using a simulation called Discovery. Students act as colonists: from packing for the trip across the Atlantic, to choosing a place to land to setting up their communities and completing daily tasks for survival. Students are trying to set up a successful, long-lasting colony. 

If time permits, we'll briefly dive into the American Revolution before the year ends. 

Most Tuesdays, I send 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 and I hope this builds good study habits and organization. The students have been amazingly consistent getting these assignments done each week! We also watch CNN 10 to learn about the news of the day in a kid-friendly way. 

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

5th Science

We are in the midst of a unit about Matter. The students will start with some review of things they learned in previous years and previous units. They are learning about atomic structure, the periodic table, mass vs. weight, the law of conservation of mass, electrical and thermal conductivity, circuits, and chemical and physical changes.

If time permits, we'll do a mini unit called Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems. This has to do with how both matter and energy flow through food webs. Where do different organisms get their food? Where do plants get the matter they need to grow?

I am using Unified Classroom/PowerSchool to keep track of work completion and assessment scores in science. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work: Engaged, Respectful and Responsible.  You can login to Powerschool by going to https://aos93la.powerschool.com/public/. You login using the username and password in your child's planner. 

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

6th/7th Science

This class is partway through the final unit of the year: Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems. This has to do with how both matter and energy flow through food webs. Where do different organisms get their food? Where do plants get the matter they need to grow?

On some Fridays, we are watching a series called Brain Games and having great discussions about each episode. 

The 6/7 class is also continuing last year's work on our buoys/lobstermen of South Bristol project. We have been getting a slow trickle of photos and information about the lobstermen but it has been hard to work as a class on this project, lately. 

I am using Unified Classroom/PowerSchool to keep track of work completion and assessment scores in science. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work: Engaged, Respectful and Responsible. You can login to Unified Classroom by going to classroom.powerschool.com. You login using your child's gmail account. He/she can show you how to do this and how to navigate around the site.

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

8th Science

We are currently delving into a study of 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. 

We'll spend a little time reviewing concepts in preparation for the upcoming May Science MEA test. 

​I am using Unified Classroom/PowerSchool to keep track of work completion and assessment scores in science. Students will also be scored on the Habits of Work: Engaged, Respectful and Responsible. I will also be reporting conventional grades for 8th grade. The goal is to familiarize students with how they’ll be scored in high school. You can login to Unified Classroom by going to classroom.powerschool.com. You login using your child's gmail account. He/she can show you how to do this and how to navigate around the site.  ​

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