January 30th, 2015

Open House- MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd

One last reminder-- we look forward to seeing you and your child at the Open House @ 6:30 Monday in Swift House.  Students' projects will be set up in their core classroom.  Be sure to circulate throughout Swift House to learn about an excellent array of topics.  Students will ask you to complete an evaluation form, too, after they have presented. 

Sneak Peek: Olivia V's trifold on immigration...

Marko

Please keep selling those Marko tickets.  The most important step in making this fundraiser a success if to have a full auditorium!  If you are helping with the show and would like to attend it as well, purchase tickets using the ticket form (click here for link).  Share the form with any group you know that might be interested as well.

Student-Led Literature Groups

Students have submitted lesson plans and rubrics to us, hoping for final approval to lead a literature group!  We have been impressed with their self-motivation on this challenging task.  We will finalize the list of Student-Led literature groups and send home a sign-up survey next week.  

Immigration Studies

Seventh and eighth graders have been engaged in an immigration simulation. In small groups they were assigned a country, had to take on an identity, determine the push/pull factors for immigrating, determine cost of voyage and write three journals in character reflecting on the process. Click on the image below to view a presentation about immigrating from Vietnam by Varsha, Madi and Bray.

 

Relative Sizes

Seventh and eighth graders have been calculating and plotting the relative size and distance between planets.  They discovered that if the sun was 30 cm in diameter Earth would be a mere 0.27 centimeters.  Using this same scale to model distances, Pluto would be 77 miles away from the sun.  We have discovered why it is so challenging to create a true scale model of the solar system!

Bennett and Nick holding up the solar system

Scale model (in diameter only)

Koell and Bryce with their planets