Class Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We are officially in Winter Program mode!  Please check in with your student to see if they are expected to be memorizing lines or bringing in props. We will be having rehearsal several times a week, and we can't wait to perform for you. If you know that your child will not be able to be there, please let me know ASAP so that we can cast him or her appropriately.

I look forward to connecting with each of you at our conferences this week.

Additionally there is no bus run this Friday afternoon.

All students recently completed a Keynote Presentation on Ancient Egypt and we are now finishing up our 3d sarcophagi which your student should be able to define. 8th grade students will be diving into their Constitution Unit while the rest of us will begin our study of Ancient Greece.

Thank you for your support!

Maggie Orion

Class Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The trimester has officially ended. This week your students are reporting out on their Genius Hour projects. I was so excited by the variety of topics that were chosen and the amount of creativity students poured into their presentations. Just to give you an idea, some of the topics were:

Why do we forget?

How to make a homemade slushy and why it works.

Why are Americans obese?

The history of Native American beading.

Swedish baking (tasty treat included!)

Biography of a favorite musician

Does Bigfoot exist?

Meanwhile, I'm busy filling out report cards and the students are busy practicing their presentation skills for Veteran's day. Please consider joining us at the cemetary to plant bulbs at our local veterans' gravesites and honor all those who have and continue to serve in our country's military. .

Please note on your calendars: Tuesday, there is no school in honor of Veteran's Day. Wednesday is a half day for our Awards Assembly. And Friday, we are hosting a Fun Night for the upper grades - a permission slip was sent home last Friday.

I look forward to meeting with each of you next week. If you forgot your conference time feel free to send a note with your student.

During our conference, I will be introducing you to our new report cards. Teachers, staff, and administration began creating the report cards over summer to reflect the new standards. The new report cards allow us to evaluate students on effort, capability, and social, emotional, and behavioral skills. They look quite a bit different, so be prepared! I've uploaded a blank report card in the previous post that has a bit more explanation if you're curious. The students have had a chance to look them over too.

Finally, we have just begun preparing for our annual Winter Program - a night of student entertainment and community fun. You may hear requests for props and there will likely be some at-home memorizing in your child's future. This year the Winter Program will be held December 11th in the evening.

Thank you for your support,

Maggie Orion

ms.maggieorion@gmail.com

www.cougarvilleclass.blogspot.com

Introducing...A Report Card!

With the new Common Core State Standards being taught in our classrooms, we knew that our old report cards needed a change. Starting over summer, teachers, staff, and administration have worked to create report cards for the 2014/2015 year that reflect what students are learning and doing this year.

In the upper grades, you'll see that each main subject is still associated with an overall letter grade - associated with the scores that students earn for classwork, homework, projects, and assessments. The areas of math, reading, and writing are further broken down into subcategories where teachers can communicate with caregivers whether students are meeting grade level expectations.

We also decided to revise our list of skills that we associate with successful students now and into the future. We've titled these Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills, and we used parent feedback to inform the list we created. In this area, teachers will evaluate students on a variety of choices and actions students make every day including how a student demonstrates respect, controls unnecessary talking, accepts responsibility, works independently, returns work on time and more.

There's a lot more to share about these report cards, but I'll save that for conferences.

In the meantime, feel free to get acquainted with the new look.

   

Class Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Despite the rain, Halloween at school was enjoyable with many creative costumes and a spooky Haunted House built by Parent Club that was fantastic as evidenced below.

This is our last week of the first trimester and students in my math class will be taking a math test. Students will also have a science test this Friday. Please encourage studying at home. Next week, students will report out on their Genius Hour projects.

Mark your Calendars:

This Friday the 7th, the Parent Club is hosting a Movie Night fundraiser for all ages. Please consider joining for food, fun, and a film at 5:30. A $5 donation is requested, and students must be accompanied by an adult.

Tuesday the 11th we have no school in honor of Veterans day. Wednesday the 12th is a minimum day. We will have our monthly awards ceremony starting at 8:45 am and later that day we will be walking to the cemetery to plant flower bulbs and share words about Veterans Day.

Thank you for your support!

Maggie Orion

Class Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Thank you for confirming your availability for conferences. Students are encouraged to attend conferences though they are not required to be present.

On Halloween this Friday, please send your student with his or her costume in a bag. We will be dressing up after lunch for our annual parade! After this event, we will celebrate a Dojo Party for positive student behavior and walk through the Haunted Library built by the Parent's Club.

Below is a photo of students checking out a density tower created in class. Students were asked to create a hypothesis ordering nine different liquids by density. I then "stacked" these liquids in a graduated cylinder and we dropped in various objects to check where they floated. Students were offered extra credit for making density towers at home for you!

Thank you for your support!

Maggie Orion

Class Update

                                                                                                      

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome back from break! I hope you enjoyed some quality time with your child. 

We are three weeks away from the end of our first trimester which ends November 10th. I will be putting report cards in your hands the following week when we meet for our annual parent conferences. The conference schedule will go home next week. Feel free to send a note home this week if you have a strong preference for times between 1:00-3:30pm November 17th-November 19th. I have a couple 8:00 am slots as well.

Students have begun working on their Genius Hour projects which they will be presenting on the last day of the trimester for the rest of our class. Check in with your student to ensure they are on track with their time management.

The academic update: Students have become confident writing summaries of informational text and we are working on editing many of our manuscripts to publish on the student blog.  Math is moving along nicely, and I'm proud to see our school and our students grappling with the thought provoking questions of Common Core math. We have finished our key concepts overview of physical science and will be beginning on density and buoyancy this week. In social studies, we are wrapping up our agricultural beginnings and moving towards the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Sumer.

As always thank you for your support,

Maggie Orion