Social Studies: Ms. Gisel Saillant
[email protected]
On Friday, January 5th, our social studies scholars will be heading to our first field trip of the year! As part of our Social Studies curriculum, we are taking a field trip to Harvard University’s Peabody Museum and Harvard Museum of Semitic History. We will explore artifacts and engage in activities to help us understand how early humans moved “From Foragers to Farmers.” The field trip is free and transportation will be provided. Permission slips need to be signed by Thursday, January 4th, 2018. Permission slip link here: http://bit.ly/RAUCfieldtrip
ELA: Dan Tobin, aka Mr. Tobin
[email protected]
As the year ended, so did our reading of
The Lightning Thief, starring Percy Jackson. As we come back from break we’ll learn the format for writing a literary analysis essay, the first of middle school. Students will learn how to begin an introduction paragraph and end with a conclusion, with MEAL paragraphs in between. Students will be writing about connecting a theme in the book to a theme in the myth of Kronos, and based on the work they’ve been doing up to this point, they should do a nice job!
Science: Mr. Phil Nerboso
[email protected]
Our focus has shifted from Physical Science to Chemistry in recent weeks. In the coming weeks we will look into phase changes, the effects of temperature on matter, and properties of gases. Ask your student to explain why and how water can move through different states of matter. Additionally, we began an independent research project called Scientists Workshop. Before winter break students started by exploring scientific topics of high interest to them. As the project moves forward students will develop a research question, scientific claim and ultimately present what they learned. The Scientist Workshop will take place during class time, but please ask your budding scientist what their particular project is all about.
Math: Ms. Alexandra Spencer
[email protected]
During the month of January students will use proportional reasoning as they learn about rates, ratios, and percents. Students have been working on reasoning with real world problems and ratios and will continue to apply these ideas to rates and proportions. Challenge your child to calculate the sale price of an item while shopping or the tip while dining out! Towards the end of the month students will be assigned a project where they will create the catalog of their dreams! Students will be tasked with the math practice standard of making sense of problems and interpreting the impact of sale prices, tax, and shipping fees. Perhaps you can share memories of catalogs from your youth with your child to give them inspiration!