March 29, 2013

Wretches and Jabberers

All Swift House students watched the documentary "Wretches and Jabberers" on Wednesday and met the two men from the documentary, Tracy Thresher, 42, and Larry Bissonnette, 52.  Their stories are moving ones.  Both of these men, who have autism, grew up at a time when they were presumed "retarded" and excluded from normal schooling.  "With limited speech, they both faced lives of social isolation in mental institutions and adult disability centers.  When they learned as adults to communicate by typing, their lives changed dramtically.  Their world tour message is that the same possibility exists for others like themselves."  (wretchesandjabberers.org)

This was a powerful experience for our students and they were articulate about their learning from the afternoon's presentation.

DC Fundraiser- Basket Raffle Fun Night - April 13, 2013

 

We are still in need of student and parent volunteers for the Fun Night.  Please click here to volunteer. 

Parent Conferences

If you haven't already, please sign up for a parent conference using the link on the right.  We will call parents later in the week if you have not signed up. 

Science Fair

The seventh and eighth graders did a wonderful job participating in the science fair.  Winners will be known next week and we will put it in next week's Swift Flyer.

Observer

The April 4th edition of The Observer will highlight articles from Williston School District students.  Be sure to take some time to read it!

Eighth Grade Challenge Projects

David Roy has distributed collection boxes for the Williston Food Shelf in all the WCS teams.  He would love for students to each bring in a nonperishable item.  David's Eighth Grade Challenge is about "Starting a Business"

Zachary Varricchione has organized a Swift House T-shirt order.  It has been many years since we have done this.    Each shirt is $15 and a part of the cost will go to the Vermont Children's Hospital.  Click on the link above for the order form.  It was also attached to the Friday Slips this week.

The New Design

New Humanities (Literature, Writing, SS) Classes Start This Week

New humanities groups will start this week.  The 5/6 students will focus on life in colonial America and the 7/8th graders will focus on WWII.  Be sure to ask them about these new groups.

Stock Market Update

 

We have gone down in the rankings this week!!  Hopefully, students will log on during school (or at home) to look at the stocks in their portfolios.  We are not spending class time on this anymore, but would like students to continue to buy or sell.  The last day is April 12th!

 

 Top five 7/8 Teams

Team A244-Jackie, Annie, Chiara Al, Hannah
Team A242-Aaron W, Brock W, Matthew M.,  Cam L
Team A232-Mystery???  Jeff's second portfolio???
Team A245-Julia, Ella, Nina, Annabelle
Team A231-Alyse, Eliza, Julia N, Molly

Top five 5/6 Teams

Team A254-Olivia O, Zach S, Prince- 1st Place in region and in Swift House!
Team A248-Lily, Joe, Eve, Bekah
Team A259-Hannah, JoJo, Bray, Caroline
Team A258- Silas, Isaac, Chase
Team A253-Alix, Bryant,  Madi

FAP Basket Raffle

This is the last week for parents to bring in Basket Raffle Donations.  Here are the core group "baskets":

Mrs. Donnelly's Core:  Family Handyperson
Ms. Longchamp's Core:  Motor Trends
Mrs. Laberge's Core:  Get Organized
Mrs. Skapof's Core:  Fishing Frenzy

Pictures from the Week

 

Mariah S. introduces the documentary, "Wretches and Jabberers".  She is studying autism for her 8th Grade Challenge Project.

Larry (left) and Tracy (right) communicate via iPads.  They both have their support team "Harvey and Pascal" with them.  Students asked questions and they responded via typing. 

Our own Paraprofessional, Katie Palmer, led a stretch break with Tracy, between the documentary and the question/answer session.

 

  

March 22, 2013

Portfolios/Reports/Conferences

 

Portfolios went home last week (If students had finished compiling evidences for their personal plan goals), so it is now time to sign up for conferences.  Click on the link to the right and sign up.  If there isn't a time that is convenient, please email your child's core teacher.

3/27 Community Budget Forum

 

There is a community budget forum on Wednesday, March 27th at 6:30 in the WCS Dining Room.

 If any parents have questions regarding how iPads might be integrated into the classroom,  if the WCS budget ends up with 1:1 iPads for some students at WCS, please contact Amy Skapof or Julie Longchamp.  We were both involved in the committee meetings and would gladly engage in conversation.   There are many resources on on 1:1 iPads on the WSD homepage (www.wsdvt.org) which are very informative.

Nina, Our Visiting Thai Scholar

 

Our students really enjoyed their first class (out of three) with Nina.  The first class focused on geography and culture.  Our second class is about Thai festivities and decorations.  Students will be creating some of these decorations.  Our final class will be about Thailand during WWII.

Our Thai Scholar, Nina.

Nina showing us her 24-hour long trip to get to the United States!

Williston Observer- WCS Reports!

Next week's Observer will be written by Williston School District Students.  Swift House contributed to the Opinion pieces.

Science Fair Update

The seventh and eighth graders have been busy preparing for the science fair, which is this Thursday at 6 pm.

Argument Writing Update

Students in grades 5/6 are writing  Argument pieces, following the new Common Core State Standards.  Some students created a "mini" version (100 words) of their piece for the Williston Observer.  Final drafts are due March 28th.

Big Basket Raffle

Collections for the 13th annual Big Basket Raffle and Silent Auction are underway!  

This is one of FAP’s biggest fundraisers of the year, with proceeds distributed as grants to
teachers and other FAP programs for the benefit of WCS/ABS students. Items donated
by our Williston School District families will be made into beautiful themed baskets that
will be raffled off at the BIG BASKET RAFFLE on Saturday, April 13th, 2013.

We ask each family to donate one (or more) item(s) that relate to your class theme:  See the March 8th blog for specific examples of what might go in each basket.

Mrs. Donnelly's Core:  Family Handyperson
Ms. Longchamp's Core:  Motor Trends
Mrs. Laberge's Core:  Get Organized
Mrs. Skapof's Core:  Fishing Frenzy

Stock Market Update and InvestWrite Essay

 There were many changes this week!  The 7/8th graders top five portfolios are in second place for the state.  The 5/6 graders are in seventh place for the state.  Below are this week's rankings.

 Top five 7/8 Teams

Team A242-Aaron W, Brock W, Matthew M.,  Cam L- 3rd place in region and 2nd in Swift House
Team A244-Jackie, Annie, Chiara Al, Hannah
Team A231-Alyse, Eliza, Julia N, Molly
Team A240-Riley, Carly, Alexis, Mariah
Team A235-Brendan C, Jordan M

Top five 5/6 Teams

Team A254-Olivia O, Zach S, Prince- 1st Place in region and in Swift House!
Team A248-Lily, Joe, Eve, Bekah
Team A258- Silas, Isaac, Chase
Team A259-Hannah, JoJo, Bray, Caroline
Team A253-Alix, Bryant,  Madi


Students are busy writing an essay about the Stock Market Game experience.  The essay asks them to think critically about a stock that they either bought or bought and then sold.  How might their portfolio been different if they had done the opposite.  For example, if they bought a stock and held onto it, instead of selling it, how would that have impacted their portfolio?  What world events might have contributed to this?  This requires some independent research.  There is a minimum and maximum word limit to the contest, and Mrs. Donnelly and I will select no more than 10 from each class to submit.  There are some very nice prizes! 

Ms. Longchamp's Core Journals on Kidblog

 

Any parent from Ms. Longchamp's Core Group (or other visitors) who would like to read and comment on student journals are welcome to.  Log onto kidblog at: 

http://kidblog.org/MsLongchampsCoreGroup/

Select Swift Guest as the name and the password is "swift".  Your child can help you.  There are some funny stories, as well as six word sentences.  It would empower students to write knowing the audience is real.  Your comments can be private or open.  Thanks in advance for visiting!

March 15, 2013

 

Music Concert

Congratulations to all the band and chorus students on a wonderful concert this week.  Swift saw the afternoon concert on Thursday.  This concert is planned by the students and the engagement throughout was fabulous to watch.

Reports and Porfolios 

Reports/Porfolios will go home on March 20th.  Please click on the side links to schedule your conference with your child's core teacher.  The students are working diligently on collecting evidences to support their progress on their personal plan goals, as well as reflecting on these goals in writing.  We encourage you to schedule a time for your child to go through the portfolio with you without distractions.  This is a powerful process when students are held accountable for their work, citing both their successes as well as their areas that need to improve. Thank you in advance for making the portfolio conference a special moment.  We look forward to hearing about the conference and what was discussed in our parent-student-teacher conference. 

 

FAP Survey

 The FAP wants to hear from you!  Please take a few moments and complete the following survey about Williston Wins and fundraising. We look forward to your input. Thank you for your time.   Here is the link to the survey.  Please complete the survey by March 18th. 

 

 

 DC Update

Student notecards are due next Friday.  They have also been asked to sign-up for activities during the week.  This is the first step in creating the week's schedule.

 

Stock Market Game Update

We went down a bit in the rankings this week.  We are not giving as much class time on this, so we are encouraging students to use other times, including time at home to buy/sell stocks.  Group members much have consensus of the group before purchasing, so they need to communicate via email, google chat, or face-to-face.

 

 Top five 7/8 Teams

Team A242-Aaron W, Brock W, Matthew M.,  Cam L -1st place in Region!
Team A244-Jackie, Annie, Chiara Al, Hannah
Team A234- Chiara An, Matthew Y
Team A240-Riley, Carly, Alexis, Mariah
Team A246-Nathan, Zach R

Top five 5/6 Teams

Team A254-Olivia, Zach S, Prince
Team A259-Hannah, JoJo, Bray, Caroline
Team A248-Lily, Joe, Eve, Bekah
Team A253-Alix, Bryant,  Madi
Team A262- Emma, Alex R., Elaine R., Pete

Big Basket Raffle

Collections for the 13th annual Big Basket Raffle and Silent Auction are underway! This
is one of FAP’s biggest fundraisers of the year, with proceeds distributed as grants to
teachers and other FAP programs for the benefit of WCS/ABS students. Items donated
by our Williston School District families will be made into beautiful themed baskets that
will be raffled off at the BIG BASKET RAFFLE on Saturday, April 13th, 2013.

We ask each family to donate one (or more) item(s) that relate to your class theme:  See the March 8th blog for specific examples of what might go in each basket.

Mrs. Donnelly's Core:  Family Handyperson
Ms. Longchamp's Core:  Motor Trends
Mrs. Laberge's Core:  Get Organized
Mrs. Skapof's Core:  Fishing Frenzy

Donations are voluntary, and every donated item, large or small, is greatly appreciated.
Price is not a factor, and all donations are anonymous. If you have more than one child
in a house, it is perfectly acceptable to donate one item per family. Students may also
join together to donate a larger item.

We are also seeking donations from local businesses for gift basket items, gift
certificates, and silent auction items. If you have a connection with a local business
you think would be interested in supporting this school fundraiser, please contact
Lisa Wong at 878-1150 or lisakenwong@myfairpoint.net.

Pictures of the Week

8th Graders completing the CSSU Science inquiry task this week.

The colorful safety googles brightened the room!

Students worked collaboratively for the investigation.

Conservation of Mass was a theme in this 7/8 inquiry.  The fifth/sixth grade inquiry theme was ecosystems.

 

 

   

Twitter Users

Please follow  #wcsswifthouse  for additional "tweets" during the week!

March 8, 2013

Dance Help Thanks

Thanks to all the chaperones and parents who contributed drinks and snacks for the dance.  It was a lot of fun and was a quick evening!

 

Twitter Users

Please follow  #wcsswifthouse  for additional "tweets" during the week!

Big Basket Raffle

Collections for the 13th annual Big Basket Raffle and Silent Auction are underway! This is one of FAP’s biggest fundraisers of the year, with proceeds distributed as grants to teachers and other FAP programs for the benefit of WCS/ABS students. Items donated by our Williston School District families will be made into beautiful themed baskets that will be raffled off at the BIG BASKET RAFFLE on Saturday, April 13th, 2013.

We ask each family to donate one (or more) item(s) that relate to your class theme:

Mrs. Donnelly's Core:  Family Handyperson

Donation suggestions: tools(hammer, screw drivers, chisel scraper, Allen wrenches, etc.), hardware, work gloves, paint supplies, Home Depot or Lowe’s card, tool belt, toolbox, Do-it-yourself books or magazines, duct tape, utility line, electrical tape, level

Ms. Longchamp's Core:  Motor Trends

Donation suggestions:  auto safety kit, glass wipes, protectant wipes, travel mug, backseat organizer, car wash and wax, chamois, car freshener, tire gauge, gas card, car wash certificates, steering wheel cover, jumper cables, road atlas

Mrs. Laberge's Core:  Get Organized

Donation suggestions: desk top/draw organizers, photo album, plastic bins, cord organizer, list notepads, Post It pads, highlighters, compression bags, dry erase board/calendar, dry erase markers, cork board, battery organizer, organizing baskets, gift card to Walmart, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, Staples, Christmas Tree Shop

Mrs. Skapof's Core:  Fishing Frenzy

Donation suggestions: fishing rod, lures, fishing line, fish hooks, fishing vest, fishing nets,
bucket, knife, fishing chair, waders, hats, cooler, fishing magazines, fish ID book, gift cards to
Dick’s/ Wal-Mart

Donations are voluntary, and every donated item, large or small, is greatly appreciated.
Price is not a factor, and all donations are anonymous. If you have more than one child
in a house, it is perfectly acceptable to donate one item per family. Students may also
join together to donate a larger item.

We are also seeking donations from local businesses for gift basket items, gift
certificates, and silent auction items. If you have a connection with a local business
you think would be interested in supporting this school fundraiser, please contact
Lisa Wong at 878-1150 or lisakenwong@myfairpoint.net.

 

ExploraVision- Honorable Mention Team

Swift had two student groups submit entries to the Exploravision Competition this year.  Students worked on this project during the fall, as well as during the month of January, during our independent project unit.  In this STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) competition, students select and research a technology and create that technology 20 years into the future.

John Colt, Ananth Malladi, and Baxter Bishop's submission, "Inter-Protein Compound" was selected as a 2013 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Honorable Mention Winner.  The Honorable Mention award places this team’s project among the top 10% of all ExploraVision projects submitted to the competition this year (out of thousands). They are commended for a job well done in demonstrating innovative thinking in their exploration of science and its impact on technology and the future.

 

Reports and Porfolios 

Reports/Porfolios will go home on March 22nd  due to the Related Arts end date.  Please click on the side links to schedule your conference with your child's core teacher.  The students are working diligently on collecting evidences to support their progress on their personal plan goals, as well as reflecting on these goals in writing.

 

New Literature Groups This Week

Students started health related literature groups this week.

5th Graders with Ms. Skapof- Fifth graders are focused on culture: how is it defined and what makes each culture unique.  Students are reading either Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr or Facing the Lion by Joseph Lemasolai Lektuton.  Both books provide rich detail that will allow students to compare another culture to their own.  One of our first projects will be to create a "cultural suitcase" in which students put artifacts that define their own culture. 

6th Graders with Ms. Longchamp - Students are reading short stories and poems with the theme of growing up.  We will be looking at gender differences and adolescent growth changes - physically, emotionally and intellectually.  Next week, students will be assigned to interview one of their parents about their experience in middle school and growing up.  During this unit, Mrs. Birdsall will also be teaching a class on Internet safety.

7th Graders with Mrs. Laberge- Seventh Graders will be working with Mrs. Laberge and Sarah Klionsky on Drug and Alcohol education.  They will be reading the book, Bluefish, and engaging in discussions around this important topic.

8th Graders with Mrs. Donnelly- Mrs. Dolley's group will be discussing high school transition and reading the book, "Sleeping Freshman Never Lie."  The description of the book is below.

While navigating his first year of high school and awaiting the birth of his new baby brother, Scott loses old friends and gains some unlikely new ones as he hones his skills as a writer. While navigating his first year of high school and awaiting the birth of his new baby brother, Scott loses old friends and gains some unlikely new ones as he hones his skills as a writer. 

5/6 Argument Writing Class

The 5/6th graders started a writing class focusing on argument writing.  Mrs. Donnelly and Ms. Longchamp are facilitating this class.  Aside from learning how to back their "claims" with evidence and warrants, student will be reviewing capitalization and comma rules. Our goal is that these rules will become automatic in student writing.

We introduced argument writing by discussing "claims" and "evidence" to support claims.  This is the language of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and will be the language used in the class.  For Tuesday, students need to come in with some "claims" that they might want to support in writing.  We are encouraging community or school issues since we will be submitting ten "editorials" to the Observer for their student-written edition, which will be published at the end of March.  It would be GREAT if you could help your student with this so we have a large list of claims when we all get together for the next class.  For example, one claim might be, "There needs to be a traffic light at the Oak Hill and Route 2 intersection."  They would then, in the weeks ahead,  research evidence to support this claim.  Opposing claims do not come into the CCSS until 7th grade, however, more advanced writers will be encouraged to include this in their writing.

 

Science Fair 7/8th Graders

Science Fair- March 28th @ 6:00 pm
Seventh and eighth graders have formulated testable questions, written a hypothesis, and completed background research.  We have reviewed dependent and independent variables, and what makes a testable questions.  The next big task is to have a procedure written by Tuesday, March 12th.  A good procedure will ensure that only one variable is changed at a time.  Students should be checking in with parents about any specific materials they may think they need in the weeks to come.  Please mark your calendars if you have not already done so!

 

Budget Update

As you know the school budget failed to pass by 23 votes on Tuesday.  The administration and school board will be looking at trimming this budget and bringing it back to the voters later this spring. 

 

Stock Market Game- Week ending March 8th

We were all watching a very active stock market this week, causing lots of energy.  For most of the week (until Friday), Ms. Longchamp's class (7/8) was the #1 ranked middle school team (average equity of the top five portfolios).   We slipped to #2 on Friday, however, the top three are within $100 of each other.  We really liked seeing our name on top!  We also had a team that was #1 ranked out of all the middle school portfolios.  They slipped to #2 on Friday, but it is all very close!  View the weekly Stock Market Game letter here.

The elementary portfolios (5/6) also saw improvement.  Mrs. Donnelly's group went from 7th to 6th place on Friday (again, the average equity of the top five portfolios), out of 10 teams.  

 Top five 7/8 Teams

Team A242-Aaron W, Brock W, Matthew M.,  Cam L
Team A234- Chiara An, Matthew Y
Team A240-Riley, Carly, Alexis, Mariah
Team A244-Jackie, Annie, Chiara Al, Hannah
Team A246-Nathan, Zach R

Top five 5/6 Teams

Team A254-Olivia, Zach S, Prince
Team A262- Emma, Alex R., Elaine R., Pete
Team A259-Hannah, JoJo, Bray, Caroline
Team A248-Lily, Joe, Eve, Bekah
Team A253-Alix, Bryant,  Madi

 

Pictures of the Week

Mr. Howard, one of the original Swift Facilitators, at the Monday Evening's Town Meeting.  To celebrate Williston's 250th Anniversary, many Williston residents simulated what that first town meeting might have been like for the residents.  Mr. Howard retired 4 1/2 years ago, but volunteers see him each year as Santa on the Polar Express!

Ben, who spent two months abroad, shares his Independent Project on the Rock of Gibraltar.

6th Grade Math students exploring side lengths of quadrilaterals.

Science students work to create circuits and electromagnets.