Newsletters

September/October Newsletter

Welcome to our new 2024-25 school year! I hope you find this newsletter informative and helpful. Always feel free to reach out to me at jbigonia@aos93.org or through Rooms, or at 644-8177. 

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. 

We regularly participate in read aloud in the 5th grade classroom. Our first read aloud of the year is The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick. This book could easily take place in South Bristol, ME and feature students from our school. It is the story of a boy determined to make his and his father's life better in a coastal Maine fishing town that has year round residents and summer residents from different economic classes. The book is an adventure and a reflection on lessons taught and lessons learned in life. We will also be reading short stories from Paul Jennings. 

New this year, middle schoolers will have a 20 minute advisory time from 11:10-11:30 AM each day. During these times the 5th grade students will develop executive functioning skills, do some read aloud, check grades on Powerschool, play community building games, etc. 

6th Grade Math

AOS93 is using iReady Classroom (aka Ready Math). This will be the fourth year I've used this program. The biggest difference between this program and our last program is the focus on mathematical discussion and discourse between students. Students can expect some homework each night that we have math. 

The 6th graders take the diagnostic test early in the school year to see where they are at. From there, they can grow their math skills in the classroom and on their online individualized paths.  

Current Unit:

- Unit 1: Expressions and Equations (Lessons 1-6)

Skills:

- Find the area of parallelograms

- Find the area of triangles and other polygons

- Use nets to find surface area

- Work with algebraic expressions

- Write and evaluate expressions with exponents

- Find the greatest common factor and least common multiple of 2 numbers

Next Unit:

- Unit 2: Decimals and Fractions (Lessons 7-11)

Skills:

- Add, subtract, and multiply multi-digit decimals

- Divide whole numbers and multi-digit decimals

- Understand division with fractions

- Divide fractions

- Solve volume problems with fractions

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

Students have 45 minutes 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 planner.

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

5th Social Studies

We are beginning the year with a study of Earth's geography. First will be Earth's oceans and continents. Mrs. Domina has assured me this should be very brief if they remember what they learned in 4th grade. We'll move on to identifying major mountain ranges and rivers. Then we'll learn all about longitude and latitude, along with the major dividing lines of our globe. The students will make a world map with the above features labeled. Each student will also make a 2nd world map that depicts the major civilizations of the world in 500 BCE, 1 CE, 500 CE, 1000 CE, 1500 CE, and 2023 CE (one time period map per student). 

Our 2nd unit of the year will be Native Americans, with a special emphasis on our local Wabanaki. 

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 and I hope this builds good study habits and organization. 

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

5th Science

We are beginning the year with a study of space. The students will be studying earth's seasons, a planet in our solar system, day/night and changes in shadows during a day and throughout a year, stars, constellations, and galaxies. We'll also be keeping a moon journal for one month, learning about the phases of the moon and making a scale model of the solar system in front of the school. If all goes according to plan, we'll have a star gazing evening at Wawenock Golf Club in November or December. 

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 planner. 

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

6th/7th Science

The 6/7 class will be learning the 7th grade curriculum for science this year. This will be a series of brand new units for me. We'll start the year with Chemical Reactions & Matter. Later, we will study Chemical Reactions & Energy, Metabolic Reactions, Matter Cycling and Photosynthesis, Ecosystem Dynamics, and Earth's Resources & Human Impact. 

Our first unit will explore bath bombs as an entry point. We'll be learning about how reactions happen at the atomic and molecular level. The students will have a first grasp of modeling molecules, how to tell if a chemical reaction has occurred, and will use their knowledge of chemical reactions to show matter in conserved when atoms are rearranged. 

The 6/7 class will 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. Later in the year, we'll make the display for these buoys and hopefully 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. You can login to Powerschool 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

The 8th graders will start the year learning about the scientific process. Then they'll apply that process to their own science experiment. I would like to have 7 unique experiments that reflect student interests and curiosities. This can be as fun and interesting as students make it. I love seeing what they come up with! Students will present their findings orally with a slideshow and in a written formal lab report. 

Before we embark on our own investigations, we'll talk a lot about variables in an experiment and how scientists make their investigations reliable, accurate, and useful. 

​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 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.