Greetings Team Equinox Families:
Happy September! Team Equinox is excited to get back into the swing of things with the start of this new school year. Every week we will send out an email to update families on what your student has been up to! Look for this email for assignment updates, news, and general happenings on Team Equinox. If there are emails that have been missed- please email mbeley-finnemore@mymtsd-vt.org for them to be added!
Students of the Week
Science: Gabby Lavee- Citizenship
ELA: Sydnie Martin - Citizenship
Math: Kain Bacon- Persistence (Persevering and seeking more)
SS: Lilly Noreault - Citizenship
Here’s what your child has been up to this week on Team Equinox~
Science:
This week in science we have begun our foray into our summer reading book Endurance by Scott Kelly. If your student has not yet completed it, please make sure they do so before next week! Students were sent home with a “get to know you” sheet- which includes vital information about what we are doing in science this year. I have also linked it here.
This year in science we are learning about space, forces, earth’s systems, STEMposium, and Earth and Human activity. Science has always been very hands-on, so there may be some days where students need to wear specific clothing (no open-toed shoes) so be aware of that for the future.
Homework: Complete Endurance
Humanities:
In Social Studies, we have spent the week getting to know each other better as a class through “get to know you games” and opportunities to talk to new people. We also learned about how the brain responds to stress and what strategies we can use in stressful learning situations. We later co-created classroom norms and expectations, and we talked about our classroom routines. Next week we will begin our first Social Studies unit on the American Revolution and the U.S. government.
Homework: None
This week in Language Arts we set up our binders and got started on Google Classroom with a reading survey. We read an article titled “A Message from Your Brain” to start thinking about how we have the power to change bad habits, maintain good ones, and learn new information. We went to the library to get books for sustained silent reading.
Homework: Read 30 minutes every night (a middle-school wide expectation).
7th Grade Math: This week students worked on understanding how a growth mindset can impact the brain in math class. We discussed the idea that everyone’s brain has the ability to adapt and grow through hard work, making mistakes and being persistent. Students worked in groups to explore patterns (using blocks) and shapes and then described what they saw and noticed. They worked on developing math conjectures and sharing and defending these ideas with their peers.
Next week students will begin their ratio unit by exploring the scale of two dimensional and objects.
Parent Resources:
Parent Tips for Scaled Copies from Open Up Resources
Homework: Homework next week will be to complete unit 1 lesson 1 practice problems. Homework is due Friday. You can find copies of the homework in Google Classroom. Please check in with your child about this.
8th Grade Math: This week students worked on understanding how a growth mindset can impact the brain in math class. We discussed the idea that everyone’s brain has the ability to adapt and grow through hard work, making mistakes and being persistent. Students worked in groups to explore patterns (using blocks) and shapes and then described what they saw and noticed. They worked on developing math conjectures and sharing and defending these ideas with their peers.
Next week students will begin their linear algebra unit; they will begin by reviewing proportional relationships and exploring various math representations (tables, graphs, and equations).
Homework next week will be to complete unit 3 lesson1 practice problems 1 and 2. Homework is due Friday. You can find copies of the homework in Google Classroom. Please check in with your child about this.
Parent Resources:
Parent Tips for Proportional Relationships from Open Up Resources
Executive Functioning/Speech-Language Pathology:
We will be embedding this executive functioning concept developed by Sarah Ward MS CCC-SLP into our curriculum this year.
Team Equinox