Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Hello Parents,

Our end of unit celebration was a success.  There were many very good student presentations that reflected a lot of hard work and energy.  We will continue working on building presentation skills throughout the year.  Thanks to all the parents who helped their son/daughter prepare food for our "international food festival" which accompanied the presentations.  This was a real treat for all students.

I hope everyone has a safe, restful holiday filled with family time.  Merry Christmas!

Mr. Burton

STAR reading

copy and paste the following web address into your browser:

https://hosted99.renlearn.com/12260/

Humanities-Social Studies: 12/15-12/19

Hello Parents,

We are entering our last week before break.  This is also the week we are wrapping up our unit on immigration, "From Many, One".  We will culminate with a celebration of student work.  We would like to extend an invitation for you to see your son/daughter's presentation.  Today they were all given their presentation time.  Presentations will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.  Please check with your son or daughter for their specific time.  We are encouraging (not mandatory) students to prepare the recipe that they have chosen in their projects to share during the presentation times.  We are also encouraging students to dress as their character for the presentation.

Deadlines for the week are as follows:

TUESDAY (by end of class):  students will finish #7 on the assignment sheet - 4 items their character carried with them on their journey
WEDNESDAY:  "Things They Carried" project due
WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY:  Project and narrative presentations

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Also, please check in with you son or daughter about their project as there are many students who are not meeting the deadlines.  Thanks for your help.

Mr. Burton

To House D Students and Families,
You have probably all heard by now but, unfortunately, the ice skating field trip is canceled.  We had to cancel the field trip due to district-level decisions regarding funding and non-academic field trips.  Thursday will be a regular school day and will include student presentations in Humanities.

On Friday, teachers have planned several celebration activities after the Star Reading Assessment.  All students on House D will be taking the Start Reading Assessment online starting at 9:00 on Friday morning.  

Humanities- Social Studies: 12/8 - 12/12

Hello Parents,

I hope everyone was able to dig out from the storm.   This week we have been continuing to work on "The Things They Carried" project.  Students are taking the main character from the narrative they have been writing in Mr. Badeau's class and developing it through this project.  The project is due on Wednesday, Dec. 17.  Deadlines for this week are:

Tuesday, 12/9 - Completed MAP (make sure they review requirements - #2 on assignment sheet)
Thursday, 12/11 - Recipe- by the end of class this should be in project booklet
Friday, 12/12 - Traditions/Portrait/Pictures - by end of class these need to be completed in project booklet.

Report cards are/have been sent home.  There was not enough room in the Humanities comment section for both Mr. Badeau and mine.  Below is a "general" comment that pertains to Trimester 1 in Humanities-Social Studies.  Let me know if you have any questions.

COMMENTS:

In Humanities-Social Studies, this trimester we began with a short unit on Geography skills. Students focused on location, hemispheres, maps, map types, and seasons related to latitude. The geography skills will be used throughout the year as we explore various aspects of the world through the remaining units of study. We then moved into a unit on immigration, “From Many, One”. Within this unit students gained background knowledge with a look at historical migration including theories around Native American origins, as well as a look at different European groups in early colonial time. We then moved to more modern immigration and the various reasons why people move, contributions of different immigrant groups, and the various issues faced as new arrivals.

 

Have a good week.

 

Mr. Burton

Schedule for Homework

Immigrant Story Schedule

Name:________________________

Below is the list of tasks that your child needs to compete for homework each night from now, until winter break in order to complete their “Immigrant Narrative”.

Please note that this schedule is not permanent; things may be rescheduled or modified as needed.

12/9/14

Finish writing your 3 “hooks/openers”.   Begin typing your story.

Finish any research you have not completed.

12/10/14

Finish typing your story

12/11/14

Revise your story by expanding your sentences to add more detail.

12/12/14

Do any revisions or editing that your teacher has told you to do

12/15/14

Revise your story to add dialogue for more realistic detail.

12/16/14

Edit common grammar errors. Print story

House D will be taking a field trip on Thursday, December 18th to go ice skating at Cairns Arena.  We will leave school at 8:45 am and return at approximately 1:15 pm.  

The cost of the field trip is $12.  This covers the cost of the bus, ice time, and ice skating rentals.  Students can bring a lunch or money for the snack bar.  

Students must wear a helmet on the ice this year.  It can be any type of helmet (bike, ski, etc.) If a student does not have a helmet at home or cannot borrow one from someone else, let us know and we will try to find extras.  Protect your brain!

Immigration Story Project

Immigration Story Research:

Our students are about to embark upon a task that has them researching the story of and immigrant and then writing that story as a finished product.  

The first step in this process is to identify who each student will be writing about.  Below are some of the suggestions for how to identify a good candidate for your child to write about.

1^{st -} If you have a relative or a member of your social circle whom you trust and respect that is an immigrant, then could your child interview and use their story for this project?

2^nd - If you have a relative or member of your social circle that you trust and respect who knows someone who was an immigrant, but is no longer living, then could your child interview that person about that immigrant and use that information for this project?

3^rd - If you have a relative or a member of your social circle whom you trust and respect that moved a large distance (minimum of changing from at least one US state to another), then could your child interview that person and use their story for this project?

4^th - If you have a relative or a member of your social circle whom you trust and respect that knows someone who moved a large distance (minimum of changing from at least one US state to another), then could your child interview that person and use that information for this project?

Please contact me if you do not have anyone who fits any of the above criteria.  If you have more than on option, then the best fit would be for your student to use option 1, with option 4 being the least preferable, but still acceptable option for this project.

Humanities - Social Studies 12/1-12/19

Hello Parents,
      I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We are back in action. Mr. Badeau and I have the next three weeks mapped out to wrap up our Immigration unit. In Mr. Badeau's LA side, students will be writing a narrative from an immigrant perspective. On the Social Studies side, we will develop the main character in a project called "The Things They Carried" (I have attached the assignment in Edmodo, which includes description, rubric, deadlines and checklist). If classtime is utilized well, students should be able to complete all work in the classroom. We will culminate with a celebration on Dec. 17-19. Students will read part of their narrative, present their "Things They Carried" project, and hopefully be dressed in character. As part of the project, they will be researching a recipe of a food from their character's home country. Not mandatory......but on the day of the presentations (we will announce the specific day a student presents) we would love for the student to bring in a prepared dish from their recipe for an "international food day" as part of the celebration (small dish). This will be a fun way to wrap up the unit. Let me know if you have any questions.

 Mr. B

Humanities- Social Studies 11/17-11/21

Hello Parents,

The end of Trimester 1 is this Friday.  The mini-reports that were due this past Friday will be the last assessment used for this report card.  There are many students who did not meet the deadline.......please check with your son/daughter.  I will probably have grades for the report posted by early next week.

This week we will focus on immigration, but from the problems immigrants faced in the U.S., their contributions to society, and a look at the port of entry (Ellis Island) for many.  Below are the online links I am using Monday-Wednesday (students have the worksheets and it is also posted on Edmodo).  On Thursday and Friday, we will watch the movie "God Grew Tired of Us", which is a documentary on the Lost Boys of the Sudan.

Homework this week:  completed the worksheets that go with our online resources by end of class Wednesday.

1. Segment 5: Know-Nothing People http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web08/segment5.html

2. Segment 7: The Promise Land http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web08/segment7.html

3. The History of Ellis Island https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X4CypTaOQs

Have a great week!

Mr. Burton

Humanities-Social Studies 11/10-11/14

Hello Parents,

This week we will continue to work on our "mini-reports" focusing on why some people leave Central American countries to go to the U.S.  Deadlines for this week are as follows:

Due Tuesday - outline (students worked on it in Monday's class)
Due Wednesday - rough draft of written piece (students will work on this in Tuesday's class going from the outline)
Due at end of class Friday - final draft which will include two graphs, one map and edited written piece.

I posted the assignment in Edmodo (www.edmodo.com).  If you have not joined, remember to have your son/daughter sign in to their page.  On the left hand side is the "parent code".  Use this at the log in page signing in from the parent tab.  Let me know if you have any questions.

I handed back the vocabulary quiz today.  Awesome scores!  I will update PowerSchool this week with the grades.

Have a great week.

Mr. Burton

This week in Humanities - Social Studies (11/3-11/7)

Hello Parents,

I hope everyone had a good weekend.  I am looking forward to the student led conferences that begin this week (Weds, Thurs, and next Tuesday).  For me, students had to complete their final drafts of their "porfolio reflections" this past Friday.  Checking today, there were still several students who had not completed them.  Please check with your son or daughter or you can email me if you have questions.

We have a special treat to build on our immigration unit.  Joe Smith arranged to have guests speakers who will visit our classrooms tomorrow.  These speakers were refugees who have settled in the Burlington area.  Today we have been preparing with background information on their countries of origin and creating appropriate questions to ask.

We will continue with the immigration unit through the week.  Students have been investigating potential "push factors", or reasons why people leave their countries.  We are using CIA World Factbook for our data gathering.  The focus is on Mexico and other Central American countries.  This coincides with the book they are reading in Mr. Badeau's class, Crossing the Wire.

Homework this week:
Monday - finish the Data sheet for the Guest Speaker presentations
Tuesday - finish the Data Sheet "Exploring Potential Push Factors"
Friday - QUIZ Vocabulary from "Immigration, part II" worksheet

Lastly......I had one parent email me to say she could not see the grades with PowerSchool.  Are there other parents that cannot view them?  Let me know as we are trying to figure out why they are not showing.  Thanks.

Have a great week.

Mr. Burton

Upcoming Events:

Friday, Oct. 31- 

Please remember this is a regular school day.  Leave the costumes and masks at home please!  

Tuesday, Nov. 4-  

Milton Middle School will be hosting Refugee Guest Speakers from Winooski as part of our Humanities unit on immigration.  Two children/teens and one adult will be speaking in each classroom, sharing their experience.  Students will work with Humanities teachers beforehand to develop thoughtful questions to ask.  

Wednesday Nov 5

Thursday, Nov 6

Tuesday, Nov 11

Student-Led Portfolio Conferences!

Thursday, Nov 13-

We will get to see a presentation from Sam Drezdin about our Summer VT Reads book Wonder.  

Update for Humanities - Social Studies

Hello Parents,

Sorry for the delay.........I am finally getting around to sending an update on what we are doing in Humanities - Social Studies.  We began the year with a short unit on Geography skills.  These skills will be useful through the year when we are looking at different parts of the world.  We are now in our unit Immigration (From Many, One).  We began with a historical look at immigration focusing the "first immigrants" (Native Americans), early Native American encounters with Europeans, and then living in a multicultural community (contributions of immigrant groups).  Next, we are moving into a look at more modern immigration.  We will be working closely with the information presented in Mr. Badeau's class, especially when we get to a culminating project.

All grades in my class have now been posted in PowerSchool.  There will be a few more miscellaneous assignments that will be added soon.

Homework this week is finishing their "Portfolio Reflections".  These will be used in the upcoming student led conferences.  The final drafts are due on Friday.

Lastly, I invite all of you to join our classroom "Edmodo" group.  All students have an account through www.edmodo.com.  On the student page, on the left hand side of the screen there is a parent code.  You can use this when prompted when signing in as a "parent" on the log in page.  We use Edmodo to communicate with one another, post assignments, and for students to electronically store material.  I send general parent group messages at times with updates.

Please contact me anytime you have any questions or concerns (tburton@mtsd-vt.org).

Mr. Burton

How time flies! We are already halfway through the first trimester and it is time for Student-Led Portfolio Conferences! Educational research tells us that children benefit greatly from having meaningful conversations about their learning with important adults in their lives. To that end, we hope that you can attend a Portfolio Conference where your child will present to you artifacts of his or her learning – work from each class that he or she has thoughtfully selected to demonstrate learning and growth.

In addition to presenting artifacts of academic growth, your child will also discuss their progress with the Habits of Mind we have been working on this year:  Citizenship, Persistence, Precision, Preparedness, and Flexible Thinking.

During the conference, House D teachers will be present to meet with you and answer questions.

For your convenience, we are scheduling conferences on the evenings of Wednesday November 5, Thursday November 6, and Tuesday November 11.  Anyone is welcome – parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors. Your child will be bringing home a form for you to fill out to request a time.

We look forward to seeing you!

Interested in why we hold Student-Led Conferences? Read here:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin112.shtml

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-school/parent-involvement/student-led-conferences/

On Thursday, October 9th we will have our first 

House D Celebration of the year!

We are asking two students from each advisory to volunteer to bring in snacks to share.  We will have shortened classes (40 minutes) to allow for celebration time at the end of the day.  The celebration will include August/September birthday recognition, achievement recognition, announcements, and a whole house game (outside if nice weather).  

STAR Reading Assessment

House D is administering a reading assessment today, 9/24/14.

Students;
Please copy the following link, then paste it into your browser  to begin the log-in process:

https://hosted99.renlearn.com/12260/

Starting this week our schedule will be alternating between "A Week" and "B Week".  

"A Week" is the schedule we have been practicing since the first week of school.  It goes like this:

7:30-8:00  Advisory
8:05-8:55  Unified Arts 1
9:00-9:55  Core 1
10:00-10:55  Core 2
11:00-11:55  Core 3
12:00-12:30  Lunch
12:30-1:20  Unified Arts 2
1:25-1:35  D.E.A.R.
1:35-2:30  Core 4


On a "B Week" the core classes will go in reverse order. It will look like this:

7:30-8:00  Advisory
8:05-8:55  Unified Arts 1
9:00-9:55  Core 4
10:00-10:55  Core 3
11:00-11:55  Core 2
12:00-12:30  Lunch
12:30-1:20  Unified Arts 2
1:25-1:35  D.E.A.R.
1:35-2:30  Core 1

Teachers have noticed that most students are more focused and ready to learn in the mornings and can be more distracted in the afternoon.  The alternating schedule gives students the opportunity to experience their core-subject classes in a different order to take advantage of our more productive mornings.

Upcoming Events:
September 15- Community Dinner, MS Cafeteria, 4:00 - 7:00
September 22- School Board Meeting, HS Library, 6:00 - end
October 10- Progress Reports Due to Families
October 14- MS Boosters & PTS Meetings, Herrick Ave. Library, 5:30 - end

Dear Families

At the end of your student’s middle school experience, he or she will have the opportunity to participate in the 8th grade field trip to Boston.  This field trip is three days and two nights and for many students it is the highlight of their middle school years.  During this trip, students get to witness the culture of Boston, visit a few of Boston’s best museums, and they get to stay at Emerson College.  This is a unique opportunity that every student should experience.  In order to make this trip affordable for all families, we offer numerous fundraisers throughout the school year.  Each student is given a field trip account.  Students earn money for this account by fundraising.  This money will be put towards the cost of the Boston trip and can also be used to fund other school based field trips as well.  I have created these accounts so that students can earn their trip to Boston. This year the cost of the trip is $325, if your students participates in a couple of fundraisers each year, they will not have to fund raise all of the money during 8th grade.   I cannot stress enough the importance of fundraising early so that your family is not stuck with a $325 bill at the end of 8th grade.  Also, this account can be used for other field trips in the middle school.

I will be getting out a list of fundraisers that we will be doing shortly.  I just wanted to alert you to this excellent opportunity to earn money that does not involve selling something.

Christine Vaughn has given us a fun opportunity for parents to earn money for their students fundraising account.  If you help out for the 6.5 hours you will get $65 for you students account.  Here is the information:

For groups of 10-20 adult volunteers before or on event day, we will donate $10 per volunteer hour back to the field trip fund.  Our day begins at 6:30, and lasts about 6.5 hours.  The work is easy, either monitoring the course for fair play, working merchandise tables, or registration.  We also have some opportunities for set up and tear down.

Possible donations:
10 volunteers X 6.5 hours X $10 = $650 total donation
20 volunteers X 6.5 hours X $10 = $1300 total donation

If you are interested in running in the Zombie Run, you can get $10 off runner registration - and for each time the coupon is used, we would donate $5 back to the Field Trip fund.  The code for registering is MMS.

To register for the run [ https://zombierun.webconnex.com/register ]https://zombierun.webconnex.com/register

To register to volunteer and help with the run contact Joe Smith, at jsmith3@mtsd-vt.org or 893-5529, by September 11th.

To learn more about this even visit www.zombierun.com

Thanks,
Joe

Thank you House D students for a fabulous first day of school!  

Families:   Please ask your student for their planner and their field trip permission form.  House D is going on a hiking field trip this Friday, August 29 to Mount Mansfield.  We need permission forms tomorrow preferably or Friday morning at the absolute latest.  The cost is $9 which covers the bus and the state park entrance fee.  If this poses a challenge for your family budget, please speak with one of the teachers and we can work something out.  Here is the information your child received today:

Hiking Information for House D Field Trip:

Underhill State Park

We are leaving at 7:45 am on Friday, August 29, 2014. Be on time!

We will be hiking on Mt. Mansfield, which is Vermont's highest peak! It takes the average hiker 4-5 hours to complete the hike (with breaks). This means many students will reach the top to eat lunch and enjoy the view then hike back down. For people who would like to hike at a slower pace, there is a wonderful vista about half-way up where we can eat lunch, enjoy the view, take pictures, and then start hiking back down. There will be a variety of groups from our team hiking at a variety of speeds. Students may self-select the pace that is right for them. Regardless of how far you make it up before the turn-around time (12:00), here are some guidelines to ensure a fun and safe day:

-Take care of your feet! Wear sturdy, comfortable shoes and socks. Hiking boots are best . Sneakers work just fine as well. Do not wear sandals or flimsy shoes (such as Toms, Keds, or similar).

-Bring a comfortable backpack (not too heavy). You should pack a lunch, snacks, and water bottles. We recommend 2 water bottles per person. Please do not bring energy drinks or soda. Also, there are no trash cans so we will be packing all of our trash and wrappers in our backpacks to take home.

-Dress based on the weather but know that it is often cooler and windy at the top. You might want to wear athletic shorts and a T-shirt but bring a long-sleeve shirt or even a light jacket/windbreaker.

-Since it is a school event, all school rules still apply. We understand that many students use their cell phones or other electronic devices as cameras and that is fine. However, we are hiking together to bond with one another and enjoy nature so other cell phone uses will not be permitted. Bring valuables at your own risk as the hike may include puddles and rocky terrain.

-At least two teachers will have first aid kits (the leader and the caboose).

This is a fun field trip that often creates lasting memories for students. We all have different athletic abilities so it is important to remember to go at your own pace and have fun!

Sincerely,

House D Teachers

Important Summer Information for 2014-2015

Hello Parents and Students!

This summer we are requiring students to read at least 2 Dorothy Canfield Fisher(DCF) books. One book, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, provided for you free of charge, to be picked up on or after August 1^st at the Milton Public Library. A second book can be chosen from the (DCF) Book Award List. Please visit http://libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/cbec/dcf for more information about the books, including recommended ages and descriptions. A letter with further explanation of our required reading will be also be sent to your homes.

Our current students have received an intervention letter from math department with information about this summer. We recommend that all incoming sixth graders spend about 45 minutes 5 days a week on skills.  This can be done by accessing online websites such as Khan Academy, or Grand Prix Raceway, which can be found at: http://www.mathplayground.com/ASB_GrandPrixMultiplication.html. These sites and the practice they provide will help prepare your child for their arrival at the middle school this fall.

House D Supply List

2014-2015

            MMS greatly appreciates all the work you do in getting your child prepared for the school year.  Thank you for taking the time to examine our supply list request.   Below are the supplies that each teacher is requesting that your child brings to school.  Please note that some supplies run out quickly during the year.  For example, pencils and paper will need to be resupplied throughout the year.  If you have any questions regarding specific supply requests please contact one of the teachers.

Janet Smith (Science):                                     jsmith2@mtsd-vt.org

Leonard Badeau (Humanities):                     lbadeau@mtsd-vt.org

Amy Johnson (Math):                                      ajohnson@mtsd-vt.org

Tony Burton (Humanities):                            tburton@mtsd-vt.org

Lauren Talbot (Science and Humanities):   ltalbot@mtsd-vt.org

Maria Gordon (Math):                                     mgordon2@mtsd-vt.org

Math:

1 inch 3-ring binder

loose leaf paper

pencils

eraser caps

Science:

1 inch 3-ring binder

5 dividers for binder

Loose Leaf Paper

Pencils

Erasers

1 pack of Colored Pencils

1 pack of Highlighters

Humanities:

Composition Notebook

1 inch 3-ring Binder

Loose Leaf Paper

Pencils

Eraser caps

Head phones - for use during computer based assignments.

Market Day Reflection

Click here

Boston Feedback Survey

Click here

Humanities Ted Talk on Entrepreneurs

Click here to watch

Marketplace survey link

Click here to take the survey

Humanities website for today

Click here to go to the website

Humanities In Class Reading

Alec's Spicy Pretzels

https://sites.google.com/site/alecsspicypretzels/in-the-news-1

Team Breakfast

We will be having a team breakfast during advisory on Friday April 18th. This is a great opportunity for us to come together as a whole team and enjoy a meal together! There is a sign up sheet outside Ms. Page's room where students can sign up to bring something in for Friday. Please help us in making this possible.

Link to STAR Assessment

Click here to take test

Reading Logs

New reading logs were issued today. These are due on Friday instead of Monday because we will be on break next week. Thank you!

Humanities Homework Tuesday Feb 4th.

There was no vocabulary assigned for Humanities last night or tonight. Students should still be completing their weekly reading logs. Also, students who had Humanities in the morning today should finish the worksheet on claims if they did not finish in class.

Humanities Homework Tuesday 1/21

Due to yesterday's holiday, reading logs for last week were collected today. New reading logs were issued to students today and will be collected on Monday. There is also vocabulary homework tonight that will be collected tomorrow.

Humanities Writing Responses

The past few days in humanities class we've been learning about problem solution writing and slavery. Students were asked to spend time writing a super paragraph using the problem solution format about the problems within slavery. Today, students used class time to examine their sentence structure and fluency. Tonight for homework (if this was not finished in class) we are asking students to make the revisions to their writing pieces. We will be collecting these tomorrow and assessing it.

Humanities Homework

Each week students will have vocabulary practice sheets and reading logs for homework. Reading logs are turned in, and new logs are issued, every Monday. Vocabulary is assigned four nights a week (typically Monday-Thursday). Tonight, students have Vocab. Practice #6 for homework and it will be collected tomorrow.

Welcome Miss Page

We would like to welcome Miss Ericka Page to House D. Miss Page has been teaching humanities on House C since the start of the school year, covering Jana Fabre's maternity leave. She is familiar with our curriculum and students having completed her student teaching here last spring. Miss Page joined our team on January 2 and will be here for the remainder of the year, taking the place of Miss Marsh when she leaves for her maternity leave, which could be any day now. She coaches cross country and track for the Middle School. Miss Page can be reached at epage@mtsd-vt.org.

Humanities Homework

We have resumed our daily humanities homework routine. Daily homework serves to review vocabulary terms and concepts we are covering in class. Students will have daily homework due Tuesday-Friday and weekly reading logs due each Monday.