In Mrs. Gentler’s class…
We had a successful month here at Charleston School. We have developed our full value commitments and are actively working towards their implementation. With this commitment, students accept the responsibility for their own actions and hold others in the classroom accountable for their actions. I am pleased with the open honesty that the students are bringing to their commitment.
Additionally, we are all working toward defining our own personal edge of excellence. The students know that it is important that they work as hard as they can. Education is indeed their ticket to the future. The more skills each student has as they move on to high school and post high school education the more choices they will have in their lives.
This is also the month that our students will be taking the NECAP tests required under the No Child Left Behind Law. These will begin on October 6th and continue until they are completed. It is our hope that all children come to school well rested each day for these tests.
After these exams, Mr. Morelli and I will be embarking upon a unit that integrates all four core curricular areas (science, math, language arts, and social studies). The unit will be on global warming and will focus on meeting the GE’s as defined by the State of Vermont. We are excited about this unit. We believe that the integration of subjects can be very beneficial for students.
In Mr. Morelli’s class… Welcome back. After a wet summer we started school with beautiful weather, great for some outdoor education.
This year, again I have the sixth grade as a homeroom and the seventh and eighth grades are combined as a homeroom for Mrs. Gentler. I will instruct both groups in math and science.
The science we are starting with revolves around the school garden. The garden is divided into two areas;
one, a raised bed arrangement and a second, traditional garden in rows arrangement. Students in all three grades will be harvesting and measuring the yield from both of the styles of gardening to see which has the better production. The kitchen will then use the produce from the garden for healthy snacks and lunches for our students.
The sixth grade will practice comparing and sorting numbers while learning the game of cribbage. The seventh and eighth graders were taught cribbage last year so they will participate in a short tournament to warm up their math minds. Also in math all students will be learning to construct a term table to solve problems. This is a technique that helps summarizing data from science experiments and is the basis for learning how to write equations in algebra. Although all three grades are learning this skill, the level of difficulty is easily changed to challenge any student at their own level.
Here’s looking forward to a great year!