JUNE 2005

Volume 24, No. 11, June 08, 2005

TEAM NEWS

Blue Team readies its good-byes

by T. K.

“I forgot how hard it was to get ready to say goodbye to my students to go off to high school. It was easier in sixth grade, because I knew I could watch them grow over the next two years,” says S. F., Blue Team social studies teacher. Although it may be hard for him to say goodbye, he’s “...looking forward to the summer, and teaching at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.” Blue Team will continue to study the Civil War and Reconstruction until the end of the year.

M. L., Blue Team math teacher says, “I’m confident that [the students] will do fine in high school.” The accelerated algebra students are working with polynomials and monomials. The algebra classes are working on exponential growth, while pre-algebra works on a spreadsheet project.

The Blue Team English classes are finishing TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee, and will watch the Academy Award-wining movie of it. After finishing TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Blue Team will probably be doing a poetry unit, and a culminating unit, until the end of the year. “ This year’s 8th grade is definitely ready for high school...they’re ready to take on Newton North,” says A. G.

S. G., Blue Team science teacher, will be taking a class this summer at UMASS Amherst, called ‘Stem Earth Central Institute’, a class sponsored by NASA, in which S. G. will be learning about using scientists’ visualizations and animations in the classroom. S. G. thinks that this year’s 8th grade is ready for high school, and that, “...they were an awesome group and I’ll miss them a lot, and they should come visit.”

Copper Team teachers applaud their students’ growth

by A. R.

Copper Team is wrapping up the year with quizzes, projects and much else.

In math, there will be a quiz on integers, which includes adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers. Students and teachers are relieved that the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) is now over. “It is very exciting when MCAS is over…kids feel proud afterwards,” says J. R., Copper Team math teacher.

J. R. says that she thinks 6th grade is a year where kids improve a lot. “Seeing them improve with skills and problem solving is always fun to see…they always connect math with the real world,” says J. R. This year, in J. R. opinion, students have progressed the most in becoming independent in problem-solving. Many people have also had fun in math this year. “I like the probability unit in the beginning of the year…there are many games which is fun,” says J. R.

In English, M. P. is ending the year with the usual vocabulary quizzes from THE GIVER and also a longer-term project, which is writing about THE GIVER, and answering the question, “Is Jonas a hero? ”. Classes will also work on creative projects.

“Students have done a nice job of asking questions when they read to help guide their understanding.” says M. P.  M. P. liked the excitement that the students had about THE GIVER and about Greek mythology. “I enjoyed how students respond to books read this year…enjoyed researching the World War 2 topic,” says M. P. He also enjoyed teaching all of the units.

In social studies, classes just finished a huge research project where students focused on a different question that taught them about East Asia. Students learned not only about the physical geography, but about the people and the economy in different countries from East Asia, for example, China, Japan and the Koreas. Students learned how to research using multiple sources, used graphic organizers to pull all the information together, received comments from teacher M. C. on their rough and final drafts, wrote a comprehensive essay, which communicated their information, then presented everything. “It was a challenging 4 weeks, however, the students rose to the occasion. I am very proud of them,” said M. C. Next, students will learn about Europe and the economic union.

This year, M. C. says that she has noticed students improve greatly in getting along and how much geography that the students have learned. “A change I’ve seen in kids is the ability to think and analyze other parts of the world and not just to think about themselves,” says M. C. M. C. favorite unit from this year was the end of the Parchland activity where students needed to work together and solve the problem in the fictional place of Parchland. “I love geography, I think it’s a great curriculum and I like how kids enjoy their learning,” said M. C.

In science class, T. B. is finishing up the Oceanography Unit, on which there will be a quiz, and then will be moving on to the Growing and Changing Unit. Students are currently working on organisms, or plant alphabet cubes, where each student picks a letter, chooses an organism or plant, which starts with that letter, and designs a cube.

“I think seeing students’ growth is very important and students are more responsible. They are able to work more independently,” T. B. commented. He has seen journal writing improve, people are working cooperatively in groups, and people’s study habits are improving. T. B. enjoyed working with his students on plastics and with living things.

Coral Team will Feast tomorrow!

by B. H.-M.

In social studies for the remainder of the year, students will be finishing up their unit of Rome. The whole 7th grade will end their study with a Roman Festival tomorrow, Thursday, June the 9th. Students will create 3-D projects to display at the festival using the knowledge they have about Rome. S. D. believes that the highlight of the year will be the Roman Festival.

In science for June, students will be doing a biome project to finish the year. Students will also learn a little about how organisms interact with their environment. R. B. says that the highlight in science this year was the genetic projects and learning about the cell.

In English, students have finished their poetry projects and presented them on May the 23rd. Afterwards, they had a poetry party to share further. Then, students will start reading ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY. S. S. believes that the research students did earlier in the year about black history will help them now as they read, for this book takes place in a time different from ours. S. S. also believes that there were many highlights of the year, differing from student to student.

In math, students will finish with the house project, where students will build houses using the knowledge they have, in class. Students will continue their unit about algebra for homework. S. C. says that the highlight this year in math will be the house project.

Jade Team teachers reflect on a productive year

by J. T. and M. Z.

As the 2005 school year draws to a close, teachers reminisce on their favorite parts of the year. “The highlight of my year was getting to know all of my wonderful students,” says A. R., Jade Team science teacher. In science, students will be learning about ecology, and how organisms interact with their environment.

J. O’C., Jade Team social studies teacher, says the highlight of the year for him was teaching all of the new units. In social studies, students will be finishing their biography papers and studying the fall of Rome. Also, they will be preparing for the 7th grade Ancient Feast, in which students build their own 3-D models based on something from ancient times, then present them and eat food from sponsoring restaurants in Newton.

In math, students in the accelerated class will be doing more of their algebra unit. All of the classes will be calculating and designing, then building their own 3-D houses. “My highlight of the year was working with all the students and helping them learn so much more math,” said B. M., Jade Team math teacher.

In English, students will be studying poetry for the whole month. The highlight of the year for D. S., Jade team English teacher, was teaching “ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY” by Mildred Taylor, and getting to know all of his students.

Orange Team teachers look back

by A. S. and J. R.

As the end of the year nears, many things fly across students’ minds...things like plans for the summer, grades, a final test in one subject or another. Some ponder how the year went and what's to come. J. C., Orange Team social studies teacher, says, “I wish we had more time” and is seconded by J. S., Orange Team English teacher, who says that, “The last four weeks... they’re not going to last long enough.”

When reflecting on the year in total, J. S. says, “ I don’t really know how it went. Only my students know... my perspective is drastically different from someone in my classroom.” J. S. liked the “...willingness of students to think deep and challenge their assumptions.” She also thought that during a time when Orange Team students had to go through “...a lot of transitions,” they “...rose to the occasion...matured and grew up.”

S. E., the Orange Team math teacher, when reflecting on her time with Orange this year, says she enjoyed teaching her students from last year and she was impressed with how her students had matured and their math skills had grown. She also recognizes the adjustment that the team made when she came, but it all worked out in the end. When this year is over she , ”would like to keep in touch [with her students]”. She can see most of the students in her classes going on to great things and wants to watch them grow.

In science, classes will be continuing astronomy and learning the “...evolution of the universe,” says M. M. His classes will be studying black holes and the life cycle of the stars, and might end the year with a reflection on his “Big Questions” which are hard to miss once anyone walks in his room and turns around. M. M. says, “I’m glad MCAS is over... [and hope that] students leave with an understanding of their planet and how they interact with it.” M. M. is “...very pleased, given that I had to leave for two weeks,” with the Orange Team and is happy that his students were able to grasp abstract concepts with little difficulty on the whole. He enjoyed interacting with his students who were learning about the material for the first time because, for him, it has become less interesting during 13 years of teaching.

Social studies classes on the Orange Team will be covering the end of the Civil War. According to J. C., it is her favorite of the units she gets to teach to the Orange Team. She also enjoyed Empire, a hands-on game designed to simulate the trading before the Revolutionary War. Nature’s Classroom was another experience she enjoyed doing since she got to learn about her students in a non-academic light. J. C. says that at the end of this year she has an appreciation for how wonderful everyone was. J. C. says that, “I’m very confident that everyone will be successful up at the high school.” This is a sentiment mirrored in the minds of most of her students as the time has arrived for the Orange Team, Class of 2005, to make way for the next.

Red Team students fitting in end-of-the-year projects

by M. D. and R. J.

As the Red Team prepares for the close of the school year, everyone is constantly working hard to fit in their projects.

In science, students will start the ecology unit and will learn how living things interact with the environment. Also, to look at nature’s interactions and how they take place, classes will go outside and around Day. Furthermore students will go to the library to research biomes: different kinds of area defined by climate.

Red Teamers continue with the unit “From the Ground Up”, in math. They also finish their scale model of a house with a brochure.

Students will be starting the short stories unit in English.

During social studies the students will have had their ancient Roman feast. They had to make projects along with a two page paper. After the feast the Red Teamers will be studying ancient Newton, specifically who lived in their house before them, which is a topic the Red Team has always done. They will have written a letter to themselves stating what they think of themselves, which will be sent back to them in May of their senior year. When asked his greatest achievement J. K. said, “Improving writing research papers.”

Silver Team wraps up year

by E. A.

The Silver Team is finishing off the school year with projects and a few new, small units.

J. C., Silver Team English teacher is planning out the rest of term. In J. C.’s class, the Silver Team is finishing up a unit on Greek gods and mythology. They will have a creative project to end the mythology unit. After the mythology unit, they will follow up by doing a “sub-unit”, reading a version of Homer’s THE ODYSSEY. “[I am] most pleased with the creative projects for THE ISLAND ON BIRD STREET overall. [The projects] show huge range of talent among the students,” J. C. said.

P. P., Silver Team science teacher gets ready for the end of the school year. After 8 tests, P. P. says the Silver team will have “...at least 2 more tests.” The tests will represent the unit they are studying. The Silver Team is in the middle of 2 large projects. One is a treasure chest/solar car project, and the other is a Boston Harbor Tide Chart. “If people achieve and behave as mature 6th graders, than there will be no need for another long term assignment,” P. P. said. After the Silver Team finishes “Oceanography”, they will begin a unit called “Growing and Changing”, a unit on puberty. “Even though many students are hesitant about this unit, it is about life-long research they will always need to know,” says P. P.

T. M., Silver Team social studies teacher, knows where the end of the year will take the Silver Team: some big final assessments on the world’s physical features, on June the 9th, then all the world’s countries on June the 16th. Because of the all the studying they must do to prepare for these assessments, the Silver Team will be doing some projects on Europe in class instead of at home, to keep the homework load light. “If we finish Europe fast enough, we may be able to start a small unit on Australia and Oceania,” she said. McNeil has a positive outlook on how this year went. “[This is my] first year teaching, and the students and I have taught each other many things. I have seen the growth of each student over the year,” T. M. said.

E. B., Silver Team math teacher, is right on schedule. Students will end the year with group problem-solving activities and a 6th grade survey. The Silver Team just finished a unit called: ACCENTUATE THE NEGATIVE where they learned how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide integers. “It is always exciting to watch the students become engaged in mathematical thinking,” E. B. said. The students completed taking the math MCAS, and E. B. says students reported feeling well-prepared, and said the test was easy.