HomeroomThis week in homeroom we worked on giving and receiving complements. Kat ran an activity called "hot seat". A student volunteered to sit on a stool in front of the class. While they sat the class came out and wrote nice things about them on the white board behind their back. Once everyone had a chance to write something the student would turn around and read all of the nice things about themselves other people wrote. It was a really great moment that created a lot of smiles. We also had a discussion on Thursday about the news about Walter moving. We talked about all the different ways people handle change and transitions. Focusing on all of different emotions someone might feel in this situation. As well as how that might be different based on your age. What's Coming Up in OWLWe just finished our first unit and are about to start the second unit on "Images in Popular Culture". This unit focuses on media literacy and being able to judge whether what you see in media is real or not and how that might impact your body image. Over the weekend please take some time to complete HomeLink #2. MathMonday: Book Work Time Tuesday: Word Problem #10 Wednesday: Number Talk #3 (Note: the second math class didn't do this because we watched a presentation given by the 7th and 8th graders on the Native American history in this area.) Thursday: Progress Check and Conferences Friday: Game Day! Project TimeStudents worked on two activities this week. The first was looking at the history of graffiti. Students used videos and secondary sources to learn about people involved in the early history of graffiti. They used this information to formulate their own opinion around the question "Is graffiti art or vandalism?" They used a Persuasive Writing Organizer to help them formulate their opinion. The second activity they focused on was writing their short speech on a person of their choosing who made an impact on American economy and trade. This activity was a good warm up for our final project. We focused on conducting research and learning how to speak effectively in front of a group of people. Here's the rubric for the mini project. Questions to Ask Your ChildIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
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HomeroomThis week the big event in homeroom was starting the process for planning the next middle school social event. Students volunteered to form the party planning committee and are starting to brainstorm the event during lunch. The next social event will be on Dec. 5th. We also resumed our OWL lessons this week. We're about to wrap up the first workshop. What's Coming Up in OWLWe're going to wrap up the first workshop next week and move on to the second. We had a lot of great conversations on what our values our during this workshop and what it means to be a good friend. As we move on to the next unit please take some time to do the second HomeLink at home. The next unit is going to focus on images in popular culture. MathMonday: Book Work Time Tuesday: Word Problem #9 Wednesday: Number Talk #2. We used this Number Talk to focus on how to break apart multiplication problems into smaller problems to be able to do them in our heads. Thursday: Progress Check and Conferences Friday: Game Day! Project TimeThis week we spent some more time learning about different people in history and discussing why their stories aren't told. Here are the people we learned about this week.
We ended the week with students selecting and researching a specific person involved with the economy or trade. They'll be using this research to give a short 2 minute speech on the person they chose to research. Questions to Ask Your ChildIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
HomeroomThis week was a short one because of the snow day. We also went on two trips. So the regular flow of the week was a little disrupted. We spent most of our time during homeroom getting ready to head out for a trip. We did have one conversation as a group about secrets, rumors and gossip. The focus of the discussion was to talk about how we handle each others privacy and who's job it is to share information about themselves. We also focused on the negative emotional impact sharing something about another person can have on someone. Middle schoolers are at a point where they want to be much more social and having these types of conversations now are super helpful. Please continue this conversation at home. What's Coming Up in OWLWe took a hiatus from OWL this week because of the snow day and trip to the Henry Ford Museum. If you haven't already this weekend is a good time to complete HomeLink #1. If you haven't already. MathLike all of the other subjects this week was cut short because of the snow day and trips. We only had time for math on Monday and used that time to work in our books. Project TimeThis week in project time we shifted our focus to science and innovation. The main activity this week was spending the day at the Henry Ford Museum. While there we worked on this packet. The goal was to learn about as many innovations as possible while learning about the context of the time period and their impact on the present. We also spent some time learning about some specific people. We had a lesson on Wednesday we learned about Raye Montague by using both primary and secondary sources. We also used the kids book The Girl With a Mind for Math. On Friday we learned about Dolores Huerta and her contribution to worker's rights here in the the United States. We used a chapter from the book Kid Activists as our source. This book is great because it tells the story of a person's childhood and what lead them to becoming an activist. Questions to Ask Your ChildIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
HomeroomThis section of the weekly update is going to get shorter now that we've started OWL. Most of our homeroom time during the week will be spent having those conversations. Which means we do other activities on Monday and Wednesdays. This week in homeroom we spent our time playing Story Cubes. We do have two field trips coming up next week. We'll be going to the Henry Ford Museum on Tuesday and the Ann Arbor Symphony on Wednesday. I sent an email regarding the Henry Ford Museum earlier in the week. Check your inbox for more information. What's Coming Up in OWLWe'll continue to have our conversation on Sexuality and Values. The main focus of the conversation is for students to reflect and think about how they feel about these topics. Both from their experiences and from their family backgrounds. Remember each unit has a HomeLink for you to use at home to continue this discussion. Here's the link to the first one. They can also be found in the OWL section of the website. MathMonday: Book Work Time Tuesday: Word Problem #8 Wednesday: We started doing Number Talks. This activity is a great way for students to talk about how they do mental math. Here's the prompt we talked about this week. Thursday: Progress Check and Conferences Friday: Game Day! Project TimeWe started our new project this week. "People Who Changed the United States". Here's a link to the information sheet if you want to learn more about the project. This week we took some time to practice breaking down events and learning about how they happened. To do this we took an event and listed some of the things that happened leading up to the event and the context about the time period. We then described the event. After that we explored the outcomes and impact of the event. We're going to use this model throughout the project. We also started our first Spotlight lesson. The focus of this spotlight is Law and Government. We spent some time learning about child labor laws and the photography of Lewis Hine. A photographer to captured images of children working during the industrial revolution. Lastly, on Friday we took sometime to learn about the childhood of an activist and about their work as an adult. We'll be using the book Kid Activists: True Takes of Childhood From Champions of Change. Questions to Ask Your ChildIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
HomeroomThis week in homeroom we played a fun game we practiced listening to each other. Students were given a question to answer about themselves and they had a period of time to share their response while the other person just listened. Then they switched and rotated to a different sharing partner. We've been working a lot on how to share and listen to what others are saying. It's a hard skill for kids to master and it takes a lot of practice. A phrase that I say to them a lot is: Are you listening to just respond or are you listening to learn? Feel free to use this phrase at home to reinforce active listening and being considerate of what others are saying. What's Coming Up in OWLNext week we'll be starting OWL. The first unit is on Sexuality and Values. We'll start the unit taking some time to talk about how we'll talk about these topics as a group. We'll be generating a Group Agreement. Here are some examples of what the agreement will contain.
After that we'll move on to talking about Sexuality and Values. The focus of the conversation will be about helping students clarify, support, and communicate their values about sexuality. We'll be using the Circles of Sexuality as a discussion tool. Remember each unit has a HomeLink for you to use at home to continue this discussion. Here's the link to the first one. They can also be found in the OWL section of the website. MathMonday: Book Work Time Tuesday: Sprints. We worked on taking irregular fractions and turning them into mixed numbers. Wednesday: Word Problems Thursday: Progress Check and Conferences Friday: Game Day! Project TimeWe wrapped up our first project this week. I'm super proud of the students and their work. There were some days were students were really challenged to create new and unique work. I was happy to see someone from every family come to the project showcase to see their work. Your kids all worked extremely hard and they love showing off their work. I have digital copies of all of the projects if you want me to send you a copy please send an email. I can also print them at school and send a copy home if you want. The conclusion of one project leads to the beginning of another. Next week we'll start our American history project that focuses on ideas that changed the United States. Students will be learning about a range of topics and people. Some of whom don't normally get their stories told. This will culminate with students selecting a person and preparing a presentation on their life and impact on our society. Questions to Ask Your ChildIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
HomeroomThis week in homeroom we focused more on having fun. We're starting to wrap up our current project and our stress levels are a little elevated as we get closer to the deadline. We have also had a lot of conversations about how when working in a group understanding that different people work at different paces. Instead of focusing on the quantity of the work someone is doing focusing on if they are trying their best. It's lead to a lot of great conversations about the different ways we learn and work. MathMonday: We just focused on working in our books on Monday. Tuesday: We completed Sprints that focused on adding fractions. Wednesday: Word Problem #6 Thursday: Progress Check and Conferences Friday: Game Day! ScienceProject time this week has been mostly focused on putting together our field guides. Groups start each class period talking with each other about what they want to finished during the class period. There have been a lot of great conversations about working together and learning about how other people get stuff done. On Tuesday this week we had our first "No Computer Day". Last week we spent most of our time researching and preparing to build our field guides. Part of that process was filling out a series of research sheets. On Tuesday I told students that they wouldn't have access to their computers all class period. This was to test the quality of their research and to see if they looked up enough information to get their work finished. Some groups were prepared and some weren't. If they weren't I asked them to think about what they could have done differently. By the end of the week their work started to come together. The rough drafts of their field guides look great and I'm really excited for you all to see their work on Oct. 31st from 12:30 to 1:15 during the Project Showcase. If you can't make it I'll make sure you child is able to bring a copy of their project home for you to see. Questions to Ask Your ChildIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
HomeroomWe started the week with parent-teacher conferences. It's always a good experience when we get together and talk about what we've been working on in class. For some students this is their first time being an active participant in a conference. This is a good opportunity for them to be able to practice advocating for themselves. As the year progresses please continue to ask them questions about school and they need to be both the best student they can be and the the best version of themselves as possible. We also worked on a few other skills in homeroom time this week. Lauren lead a great activity on how to handle worries. We had a discussion about what we feel when we worry. We also talked about how to identify the parts of our lives that our under our control and the parts that aren't. Kat finished the week with a discussion about identity. Students shared some aspects of themselves that they feel define them as a person. They then looked up images, song lyrics, or quotes that reflect that identify. As your child starts their journey into young adulthood they're starting to form and refine their identify and how they see themselves in the world. MathMonday: No School Tuesday: Sprints. We focused on writing equivalent fractions. This is an extension of our conversation on factors and multiples. Wednesday: Word Problem Practice #5 Thursday: Progress Check and Conferences Friday: Game Day! ScienceStudents have entered the last phase of this project. Students have been busy conducting research on their ecosystems and locations. We've also been talking about how to work with others. The framework we're using is pictured below. We've also been working on taking a large task and breaking it into a series of short term goals with clear evidence of completion. This might be something like stating a clear research goal on a specific topic or a specific drawing they're looking to complete. Hopefully by the end of this project students have developed new skills to be able to tackle large long term projects. Questions to Ask Your ChildIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
HomeroomWe started the week in homeroom by taking some time to reflect on our progress so far this year to prepare for conferences. Students were asked to think about some success and some areas for growth. They were also asked to think of a few artifacts of their learning to show off during the conference. We also spent some time working on our social skills. We spent some time talking about the difference between the intent of our words and their impact on others. We framed the conversation around the phrase "I was just joking" and how we correctly handle when we accidentally hurt someone's feelings. We finished the week by leading a great discussion on compliments. Both how to give them and how to take them. We had a long discussion about how we feel when we give compliments and how it's OK to say something nice to another person. MathMonday: We worked on a brainteaser on how to guess a number using the fewest amount of questions. Tuesday: We continued working on Sprints that focused on factors and multiples. Wednesday: Here's the word problem we completed as a group. Thursday: Weekly Progress Conference Friday: Game Day! ProjectThis week we visited our last park for this unit, Lower Huron Metropark. While at the park we explored three different ecosystems and talked about how they work and some of the plant species there. Now that we have completed all of the park visits and Spotlight lessons for this unit we can transition to working on the final project for this unit. Students were divided into four groups and asked to select an ecosystem found in Michigan, find a park that contains the ecosystem, and build a guide for someone visiting that location. As a group we went over the rubric for the project. While going over the rubric students were asked to take notes on the conversation. Be sure to ask for their notes on the conversation. We wrapped up the week with students creating a plan and mapping it out so they can complete the guide by the October 31st due date. Questions to Ask Your KidsIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
Homeroom
This week in homeroom we had some great discussions about the difference between an introvert and an extrovert and about respecting the personal space of others. The talk about personal space included how our personal space bubbles change depending on how we're feeling and the person involved. We also talked about not making assumptions about another persons personal space and that if they ask you to back away you should respect that. This conversation ended with us talking about our own personal space and what we're comfortable with.
Don't forget to sign up for conferences if you haven't already. Check your email for the link to the sign up sheet. Math
Monday: We worked on a brainteaser about how we divide up groups in our head. This type of conversion is great for learning about how others think about numbers.
Tuesday: We worked on Sprints that covered what factors and multiples are. Having a solid understanding of factors and multiples helps students work with fractions. Especially when they need to either find a common denominator or simplify a fraction.
Wednesday: We worked on Word Problem #3. Project
We started the week by wrapping up our Spotlight lesson on Biodiversity and exploring solutions for threats to biodiversity. We started our last Spotlight lesson on how humans and ecosystems interact with each other. The main focus of this topic was seeing how ecosystems are under threat around the world and what young people are doing to help. We focused on two different stories. Here are the videos we watched in class on.
We also spent some time exploring Huron Meadows Metropark. While there we walked through a series of different ecosystems and thinking about why different ecosystems exist in such a small area. Next week we'll visit another Metropark. This will be the last Metropark we visit for the unit.
Questions to Ask Your Kids
In this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
HomeroomThis was a short week because of our trip to Howell Nature Center to take part in the Global Village program. The program focused on learning about how resources are distributed around the world and who has access to them and who doesn't. Students did a lot of role playing. This culminated in them being split into different group based on different geographic locations. At group had a different set of resources. Some had extra and some didn't have enough. Students then had to negotiate with each other to get the necessary resources for making dinner. This led to a lot of great discussions on what it's like to live in other parts of the world. MathMonday: Because of the short week we spent all of our class time working in our books. Tuesday: On Field Trip Wednesday: On Field Trip Thursday: Book Checks Friday: Game Day. This is our last game day that everyone will received no matter what progress they made in their books. Starting next week access to game day will depend on the book goal we set this week. ScienceWe worked on three activities in science this week. The first being the completion of our forest poster project. Students spent a lot of time researching different forests around Michigan and turning that research into a poster. Part of the process was creating a series of drafts to think about how the information would be displayed. If students didn't finish their posters they were asked to take them home for the weekend and turn them in on Monday. Students also started the 4th Spotlight Lesson. The topic covered was biodiversity. We discussed what it is and why it's important to an ecosystems health. These lessons will continue next week. Lastly, we started preparing for our second park visit to Huron Meadows Metropark. Students started working on their Park Visit Sheet. Before we visit each park students are asked to research the types of ecosystems they might see, list a few species they might see and how to identify them, and create some learning goals to see if they can connect what they're learning in class to what they're seeing at the park. We also worked a little bit on how to read trail maps. We'll be visiting the park on Thursday next week. Make sure they come to school on Thursday prepared to take a walk in the woods. Questions to AskIn this section I'll try and give you a few questions to ask your kids to see what they learned this week or some of the ideas they were forming.
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