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Football Season has come to an end in Math. The students have finished following their players that were chosen in September. They have taken all the scores that they computed every week and produce either stacked bar graphs, circle graphs, or multi-line graphs. |
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The Green Team has a new member on the team. He is Brutus, an 1,800 pund West Indian manatee. Brutus lives in the waters near the Blue Spring State Park in Orange City, Florida. He returns to the park every winter to enjoy the warm water spring. Brutus shows up at the park quite frequently, but he also likes to be off on his own. He is not a “morning manatee” and will often sleep late while the other manatees at the park report for roll call. This is when the rangers at the park go out in the early morning to count and identify the manatees. Brutus was adopted by the Green Team after the students completed a reading exercise about manatees. The Team collected donations to pay for the adoption, and before we knew it were welcoming him to our team. As adoptive parents we received a picture of Brutus and an official biography. Periodically throughout the year, we will receive updates on his progress. |
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Biography Book Reports Biography/autobiography was the genre for the second term book report on the Green Team. Students visited the library where Ms. Urban talked about the genre and showed many examples of what the library had to offer. Students then chose a biography or autobiography to read. The project for the report was to write a one page “dramatic monolog.” In the monolog, the students wrote about the person they read about as if they were the person. The monologs talked about the person’s life, field of importance, and goals and accomplishments. During the next few weeks, the students will be presenting their monologs to the language arts classes. |
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7th Grade Students Simulate MCAS
In preparation for the upcoming MCAS long composition test, students have been reviewing the format of the five-paragraph essay. Seventh grade students were recently administered a sample writing prompt in which they were asked to explain various ways a school might make new students feel more welcome. After brainstorming, mapping, and creating a 4 Square graphic organizer, students composed thoughtful, well written essays. The practice essays will be placed in student portfolios and follow students to Palmer High School. We are confident that students will apply their writing process skills to the MCAS test in March. Good luck to all. |
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Green Team Science During the 2nd marking term, we have been observing a variety of single celled (Euglena, Paramecium, Ameoba) and multi-cellular (Volvox, Hydra, Daphnia) organisms. We will continue to explore various multi-cellular organisms as we start to talk about genetics.
The Wisconsin Fast Plants we used previously for plant anatomy are now being used to help rear Cabbage White Butterfly larvae (caterpillars). We will continue to watch them through their life cycle and determine their food preferences. We will also determine if different colors attract the butterflies. |
