Books students can choose from for the empathy unit

Book Choices for Empathy Unit

Here is the list of books students can choose from for the first three weeks of school.  Students will be required to read one of these titles.  Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the titles.  As your student will just pick one of the books, you can ask your student which book they have chosen.  They will know their book title by the end of the week.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm
The Watsons go to Birmingham 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
The Jacket by Andrew Clements
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
Daphne's Book by Mary Downing Hahn
See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Patterson
Crash by Jerry Spinelli
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

August 29th, 2017

Welcome back Questers and Quest Families!

We hope you have all had a good summer.  We are excited to start the 2016-2017 school year!

What's new on Quest?

Language Arts

Spelling / Vocabulary and Quizlet

Each week, students will have vocabulary and spelling to study for Language Arts.  Students will have the first fifteen minutes of class to complete activities regarding spelling and vocabulary, or they will be able to silent read.  The lists will be published on Fridays each week.  We will all be studying the same rule for spelling each week, but within that rule, students will have an option of different spelling lists.  Students will also be given five vocabulary words to study.

To help your child study, I have enrolled us in Quizlet.  Quizlet is an online program where students can access their sets of words to study.  I will be inputting our words each week.  Students will be able to use online flashcards and games to study outside of school.  

There are extra safety restrictions on accounts for users under 13.  Students under 13 will need to have a parent's email address, and the confirmation email will be sent to parents to verify the account.   When you sign this newsletter, please include an email address that students can use to sign up for Quizlet.  Then, please look for that confirmation email.  If you have questions about the program, you can visit https://quizlet.com or email Melissa Williams at mwilliams@wwsu.org.  

Empathy Unit

Aside from spelling / vocabulary, we will start our year with a fiction unit.  This fiction unit's theme is empathy.  Students will be reading about 20 pages a day from these books, so they might be bringing them home to read in the evenings.  

Drama Unit

After this introductory unit, we will dive into our drama unit!  Students will have the choice of being a part of a traditional play such as The Phantom Tollbooth, or a part of an international Shakespeare competition.  Students involved in this competition will be creating 10 minute (or less) videos based on scenes of the works of Shakespeare.  I have the scenes selected.  We will be studying these scenes, and then either acting them from the original play, or adapting them to students' lives.  Students will then be sharing videos of these plays with a middle school class in Texas.  We will evaluate each other's plays and decide on which to submit to the competition. Information about the competition can be found at: http://www.pragueshakespeare.com/shakemeup.html.   The Phantom Tollbooth is based on the book by Norton Juster.  This will be a more traditional drama unit, following a set script and stage directions. You might talk with your student about which play they would like to be a part of, and I will accommodate their interests as best as possible.  Students will be able to vote on which they would like to be a part of during the third week of school.

Math

Number Theory Unit (Prime Time)
6th-8th grade Math students at CBMS use a curriculum called Connected Mathematics Program.  At the 6th grade level, we begin with an extension of our understanding of number theory (factors, multiples, products, divisors).  Students will be learning through problem solving, projects, playing games, and computer simulations.  Throughout the year, students will also be working with online learning programs such as Tenmarks and Khan Academy to increase fluency.  All homework assignments will be posted in Schoology.  Please contact us if you need information regarding how to check your student's Schoology account.

IS

IS will continue to have lessons in both science and social studies.  We will begin the year with a unit on geology, plate tectonics, natural disasters, and using models.  Watch for a project that will be coming home, with the option of making a model of the Earth's layers out of whatever you'd like. In the past, most of the students have chosen edible models :) 

Schedule for the year

Our schedule for the year has changed.  This is the new schedule:

	5th and 6th
7:45-8:00	Den
8:00-8:50	IS (Science and S.S.)
8:50-9:40	AA/PE
9:40-10:30	AA/PE
10:30-11:00	iBlock
11:00-11:30	Lunch (11-11:30) Music (11-11:40)
11:40-12:10	Study Hall (11:30-12:10) Music Lunch (11:40-12:10)
12:10-12:30	Team Recess
12:30-1:30	Math / LA
1:30-2:30	Math / LA

iBlock

For those of you with older students in the building, iBlock may sound familiar.  The basic structure of it will be similar, although students will be working with teachers across the first floor.  Our primary purpose of this block is intervention, keeping all students in mind of what they might need.  Here is the definition from two years ago:

iBlock Defined: The "i" in iBlock stands for "individual".  iBlock is a 30-minute block that happens each day on each core team, and is focused on the specific needs of individual students as determined by a combination of local assessments, teacher observation and opinion, and student voice. Each iBlock session will last either 3 weeks or 6 weeks, depending on the area of focus.  During iBlock, we aim to bring in additional school-wide staff members to partner with core staff and keep iBlock groups small and focused. The goal of iBlock is simply to put a daily focus on the needs of individual students in order to bring timely improvement to those specific areas.  Examples of areas of focus for this block can include, but are not limited to:

• math reasoning and strategies,
• reading comprehension and fluency,
• geography and spelling skills,
• technology skills such as keyboarding and website design,
• individual areas of focus such as foreign language acquisition
• organizational and social skills.

Please sign this newsletter and return it with your student.  

__________________________________________________ (your name)

___________________________________________________ email address

May 12

Hello Quest Families!

Quest Students Competing in the Quest Olympics (Marathon)

SBAC testing
We will be conducting SBAC testing next week.  Students will be testing from 8:45-10:45 Monday through Thursday.  Students will also have a short test on Monday from 12:30 - 1:00.  Please help your student to get enough sleep and have enough to eat so they are physically prepared for the tests.  Students are recommended to bring in earbuds / earphones for the listening part of the testing.  Students will be tested in English Language Arts on Monday and Tuesday, and for Math on Wednesday and Thursday.

Reservoir Field Trip
We will be taking a trip to the Waterbury Reservoir on Friday, June 3rd from 9:45-2:00.  This is during the regularly scheduled Step Up Day.  As we will stay with our same students for next year, we will instead celebrate our year together and go over what will look different for next year.  Prior to this we will have our end of the year talent show!  Students received a hard copy of the permission slip today.  Here is the link to the permission slip.

Reading Blog
We are in the process of creating a reading blog for Quest students.  Students recommend books on this blog, and can also look to it for recommendations.  We are using Blogger for this.  Encourage your student to check out the Questreads blog if they are stuck on what to read next!

LA
We are wrapping up the year with debatable issues.  Students are reading and writing about subjects such as best season to visit Vermont, should killer whales be allowed to perform in shows, should plastic bags be banned? and several other topics.

Math
We are in the middle of our unit on place value and decimal numbers.  Student have been learning how compare, add, and subtract decimal numbers.  We have started to explore multiplicative relationships between place values and after SBAC testing we will explore multiplication and division with decimal numbers.  Our final unit of the year will be looking at growth patterns and writing expressions.

Book Orders
Book order forms are available in our classrooms and are due Wednesday, May 18th.  This will be the last book order of this school year.

Ecology Week and SBAC Testing

Olivia, Charlie, and Abby representing their polis in the Ancient Greece chariot races.

Hello Quest Families!

Ecology Week:
We met with students on Friday regarding Ecology Week.  Some changes and additions:
We will leave CBMS on Tuesday, April 12th at 6:30.  Please arrive 10-15 minutes early, but not before 6:00.  We will return to CBMS on Friday, April 15th at 4:30, not 6:00 as we first mentioned.

In addition to the packing list, students should bring a book.  Students can also bring card / board games in case of rain during free time at the center.  The weather in Maine looks varied for the upcoming week, so students should be prepared for rain, sun, warm and cold.  This should include extra socks, two pairs of shoes/sneakers, and a jacket.

Students who are NOT going to Ferry Beach will be taking day trips to Audubon Center in Huntington.  Students will be outdoors most of the day so should dress accordingly (jacket, waterproof boots/shoes or mud boots, water bottle).  The bus will depart CBMS each day at 8:15 and return by 2:15.

SBAC Testing:
Quest students will be taking the 5th Grade SBAC test the week of May 16th.  This is a computer-based test that students will take on their Chromebooks.  During this week, it is important to have students at school on time.  Please try to schedule any appointments for the afternoon or for a different week.

March 17

Mackenzie, Abby, Olivia and Mareya cooking marshmallows over their own fire during our winter unit.  

Student led conferences

Thank-you to all who were able to make it to student-led conferences this past Wednesday and Thursday.  If you were unable to attend, please remember that your student can lead a conference with you at home using their plp online.  If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at anytime during the trimester.  The best way of contacting us is through email.

Ferry Beach / Ecology Week

Ferry Beach / Ecology Week is soon approaching.  Students will begin this week on April 12th.  Students traveling to Ferry Beach will leave at 6:00 the morning of the 12th, and will return to school Friday evening, April 15.   Students who are attending the ecology week here at CBMS will come to school at the regular time.  We are looking forward to this week!

Teachers will be asking students for input about who to share a room with later in March.  We will announce the groups the Friday before we leave for Ferry Beach.

Pink medical sheets went home with your student with the report card.  These forms are due Friday, March 25th.



Chromebooks for fifth and sixth grade

Within the next three weeks, fifth and sixth graders will be receiving Chromebooks for school use.  Students will transport them back and forth to classes in a cloth case, and will charge them at school at the end of the day.  They will not be coming home.  Students will be responsible for using them appropriately, and taking care of them.  We will help them to learn how to do this.  It is a very exciting time for us, as students will have reliable technology to assist their learning.

Website for parents :  1:1 Technology  This can be found on the CBMS webpage under the parent tab.  It is a link titled 1:1 Technology.  There is a good Frequently Asked Questions tab there (FAQ).  Please click on this and scroll down to answer some of the questions.

The first day we will roll out expectations, and paperwork.  This will be on Thursday, March 24th.  Students will receive papers to sign and will receive paperwork for you to sign as well.  Please be sure to return this as quickly as possible.  If students have their paperwork in, they will receive their Chromebooks on March 31st.  Students will learn to sign in to Chrome, will learn the different apps on the Chromebook, and will personalize their settings.


Integrated Studies
Students have been working on an integrated unit.  This unit encompasses science, math, reading, and social studies through the eyes of the Ancient Greeks.  It is point based, and the assignments can be found in Schoology.  Each day students choose which assignment they will work on, knowing that all assignments must be completed before Ferry Beach.  While much of the content is focused around Ancient Greece, students are exploring how to be self-directed learners.  As students complete assignments, they earn points for their polis (group).  The unit will conclude with an Olympic competition.


Language Arts
For Language Arts, we are reading Greek myths.  Students are learning to find the reason why these myths were written (theme of the myth) and are working on ABC paragraphs in response to questions about the myths they read.  An ABC paragraph is a paragraph where students Answer the question (in a complete sentence) Back it up with details from the story and then write a Concluding sentence.  Students will use this approach for answering questions in their POWs as well.  The POW for next week is to read the myth of King Midas and to write an ABC paragraph about the theme of the piece.

     Spelling and Vocabulary
Students will be working in small groups for spelling and vocabulary practice during this last trimester.  Each day students either work with me or on their own studying spelling words, studying word roots, editing photocopied paragraphs, and editing their own work.  They will have a spelling test or a vocabulary test each week.  Spelling words and vocabulary words can be found in Schoology.  Spelling words are assigned individually, vocabulary words will be assigned for the whole class.  Spelling words are assigned based on a pretest and on spelling patterns.  Please set aside time to study these words at home.

Math
Students have been exploring 2-D Geometry by looking at the characteristics of triangles and quadrilaterals.  This week we will revisit multiplication and division with a focus on becoming more efficient as well as flexible.  There will also be time this week for students to work towards individual goals set at the end of last trimester.  Students will be writing to their MathPals this week about whether or not 5th graders should be allowed to use calculators in Math class.

January 2, 2016

Adam, teaching us how to stay warm Cro-Magnon style

Happy New Year!

2015:
Holiday Feast:  Thanks to all of the help on Quest, the holiday feast was again a huge success.  Thank-you for your contributions, your enthusiasm for our young performers, and for your time.  We all look forward to it each year.

The play Annie! was wonderful.  It was excellent to see so many Quest students up on stage.  If we need some FBI agent / detectives, we know who to ask.

We wound down our study of Early Humans both in Language Arts and in IS.  Thank-you for your help in any of the LA projects. They were fantastic!

2016

Language Arts:

During the month of January, students will be engaging in an inquiry project based on their own interests.  Most students chose topics in December.  Those students who have not chosen topics received an email asking them to send me an email with a topic.  The main goals for the project are for students to pursue a topic which interests them, engage in research (observation, interviews, primary sources, text), critically read text, find multiple points of view, craft introductions and conclusions, and conduct a "seminar" to teach others.

Please ask your student what topic they chose.  If they respond "I don't know," please have them check their email.  I will be purchasing books this weekend based on their interests.  If they are having a difficult time deciding, have them look through the ideas I sent in that email.  Thank-you!

Their POW this week will be short, regarding their topic.  I will explain this to students on Monday.

IS:

We will be delving into an Astronomy unit for the month of January.  We will be talking about how the early humans became more aware of their natural world, and how the stars and planets became more important to their daily lives.  We will be creating "astrolabes" with compasses and washers, and we will begin our moon journals.  Students will be expected to go out 5 out of 7 nights a week to write observations of the sky.  This will only take 5 - 15 minutes a night, but most students need help with the discipline of these observations.  Please help your student to remember!  These moon journals will begin Friday, January 8th, and will continue through to Friday, February 5th.  Information will be coming out this Friday.

Recess:

We have snow!!  We still have team recess every day for 1/2 hour, except on Thursdays.  This recess is at 9:45.  Both Curtis and I love winter outdoor recess!!

All students will be expected to go outdoors for recess every day unless there are dangerous temperatures / wind chill.  Rules for outdoor recess gear:

• All students are required to wear a jacket.  A hat / hood is always suggested, and required when it is particularly cold.
• Students need boots to play on the soccer fields or on the recess equipment.
• Students need snow pants, gloves (or mittens), and a hat to play on the hill / go sledding.
• Other recess rules apply such as no snowballs thrown, and other safety rules.\

Please help your student remember this gear.  Some students choose to keep their snow pants in their locker for the week, which is fine.  They usually take them home on the weekend.

Winter Unit / Ski and Ride
On Wednesdays, students will either be participating in the ski and ride program in Stowe, or in an outdoor / winter education / science program provided by Mr. Taylor and myself :)  On each Wednesday, all students need coats, hats, mittens, boots, and during most classes, snowpants.  Students who stay at school will be spending from 1 - 1 1/2 hours outdoors during these days.

Questions to ask:

• What is your research topic for Language Arts?
• Do your boots fit? :)  The Bargain Boutique usually has a decent supply of boots!

December 2, 2015

Parker and Xavier sorting and ordering fractions.

Holiday Feast
ANNUAL QUEST TEAM HOLIDAY FEAST!  Each year, the Quest team has a holiday feast to celebrate our community, and the winter holidays.  We ask each student on the Quest Team to bring in a sample (4-6 servings) dish that their family enjoys eating – perhaps something traditional – and we have a big potluck lunch.  Students sign up for entertaining with singing, instrumental pieces, or other forms of appropriate entertainment.  The feast is held in the Quest team classrooms, and in the project room on our wing.  Family members are welcome!  Each student is expected to bring a dish, a drink such as cider or juice, a dessert, or paper products like plates, forks and knives (and napkins).  Please email Melissa Williams with what you can bring.  We ask everyone to bring something to contribute to our community.  

We are planning to have our Holiday Feast on Friday, December 18th at 11:00 (10:30 set up) - 12:00 / 12:15.   We will have live music, from our students!  We’ll need some adults to help us set up, so please let us know if you are available. Mark your calendar… we’ll send home official invitations soon! 

Scholastic Books  As the holiday season approaches, books are a great gift to give.  Scholastic book orders are due Wednesday, December 9, 2015.  You may order in two ways, through the flyer, or online at scholastic.com/reading club.  The online activation code is DX7NF.  Thanks!

Math We have started our journey into fraction land by exploring the size of fractions as well as equivalence.  Before the holiday break, we will also cover the addition, subtraction, and multiplication of fractions.  A lot of the work we do with fractions is built on the understanding of fraction models.  These models help students understand why procedures work.  It is the expectation that by the end of the unit students will not rely on these models for problem solving.  

Weekly Review- Be on the lookout for a weekly review worksheet that students will bring home for homework.  These problems will be practice of previously covered topics.

Language Arts - We are in the middle of our non-fiction unit.  During reader's workshop, students are reading independent non-fiction books based on interest and reading level.  Students are learning to find main ideas, and how to take notes using a "box and bullet" format.  We are working with new vocabulary as well.  During writer's workshop, students are writing a non-fiction piece about the information we are learning in Integrated Studies.  Most of these reports center on early humans and their characteristics.  We are writing "flash drafts," and then cutting and pasting these into main ideas where we then research more facts.  The skills we are learning in reading and writing will be used in independent inquiry projects in January.

Integrated Studies- We are in the middle of our Bones and Stones unit, which covers fossils and early humans.  Students are working in 'bands' to explore these topics and share their learning with the class through group presentations.

Winter Recess
As the winter weather approaches, we will continue to go outside for recess.  It is expected that students bring appropriate clothing (hats, gloves, and coats) out to recess.  Once the snow comes, sledding will be an optional activity and students will need snow pants to participate.  

Questions to ask at home:
What was the activity in AWOD this week?
What is your Bones and Stones name?
Which human species is your group presenting about?
Which fraction is greater 5/6 or 8/9?  How do you know?
Who was your favorite character in the "Percy Jackson" play?