Opal Team Back to School Info
Welcome to Opal Team Virtual Open house! The Opal team teachers hope that your child is off to a great start at Fuller! We know how difficult remote learning can be so we are thankful for all the hard work we are seeing from students. Even though we are not in the classroom, school should still be an enjoyable experience. One where students gain the knowledge and skills needed to become successful life long learners. A friendly reminder to encourage your child to turn on their camera! It is super helpful for the teachers to be able to see the students and interact with them. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to any of the Opal team teachers!
On the Opal Team we believe in the Fuller Middle School Core Values: Respect, Responsibility, and Results.
We appreciate the support and dedication of our parents, guardians, and students. Below you will find a little more about the Opal Teachers and their syllabus for the year!
Math with Ms. McGovern
Hello 6th grade families! Ms.McGovern is so excited to be back to learning and teaching. This is Ms. McGovern's 6th year teaching and 4th year at Fuller. Although we are not in the classroom she is trying her best to make remote learning as engaging and fun as possible!
In 6th grade math students will be working on the following topics this year:
Unit 1 Ratios and Proportional Relationships
- Ratios, Unit Rate, Equivalent ratios, Percent
Unit 2: The number system
- Fraction operations, Long Division, Decimal operations
- Positive and negative numbers, Absolute value, coordinate plane
Unit 3: Expressions and equations
- Expressions, equations, inequalities, exponents
Unit 4 : Geometry
- Area of polygons, surface area, volume
Unit 5: Statistics and Probability
- Statistical questions, measure of center and variability
While we are learning remotely, students will work independently and in small group “breakout rooms” to complete math lessons and activities. For the most part, all assignments will be submitted through Canvas, our online learning system. I will not assign frequent homework, but my expectation is that if students don’t finish their work during class, they will finish it sometime that same day. This is considered “homework.” This year we will work a lot with IXL and Khan academy for extra practice. Students can access these platforms through clever. Ms. McGovern is looking forward to a great year!
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you!
ELA with Mrs. Sullivan
What is Language Arts? What happens in Language Arts, and why is it important? Language Arts is exactly what it sounds like, the study of language and its many forms and uses. Language is a powerful tool. We use it to express ideas and to interpret the ideas of others. It can take the form of a speech or a poem, a novel or a news article.
Essentially, Language Arts is about communication. Throughout this year, students will learn how to communicate ideas effectively when writing or speaking, and to understand the ideas communicated by others. They will develop strategies to read and analyze challenging texts and respond to these texts in writing. These skills will prepare them to take on the challenging work expected of them in the future.
We will explore three major units in Language Arts this year. Our first unit is a study of folktales. Students will learn some common characteristics and themes of folktales, read a variety of folktales from around the world, analyze them for those common folktale elements, and as a culminating assignment, write their own folktale.
The second unit this year is centered around the historical fiction text, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Students will learn the elements of fiction, analyze how setting, character, and plot interact, and how the main character develops over the course of the story.
Our final unit is a poetry study. Students will learn common poetic techniques, structures, and themes, read and write a variety of poems, and hopefully develop an appreciation of how poetry can deliver a powerful message in a compact form.
We have exciting work ahead, and I’m looking forward to digging deeper into these units with our students this year. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Social Studies with Mr. Bliss
Hello again 6th Grade families. Mr. Bliss has really enjoyed getting to know everyone these first few weeks of school and is excited to see what the rest of the year brings. This year in World Geography and Cultures students will be introduced to the following content, while focusing on our course’s essential questions, which are; in what ways and to what extent does geography shape human experience? In what ways and to what extent does human activity shape geography?
To achieve this goal, students will be studying:
Unit 1: Geography Essentials-Students will learn the layout of our world including continents, oceans, and physical landforms. Students will learn how to read maps, find locations using latitude and longitude, and how to differentiate between climate and vegetation zones.
Unit 2: Central America, South America, Caribbean-Students will learn the political and physical geography of these areas while investigating how geographic factors influence the ways people live in Latin America.
Unit 3: Africa and “A Long Walk to Water”-Students will learn the political and physical geography of the continent and read the novel “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park to get a better understanding of the challenges and daily lives of people living in Africa.
Unit 4: Europe-Students will learn the political and physical geography of the content while investigating the forces that either unite or divide European nations.
Unit 5: East, Central, and South Asia-Students will learn the political and physical geography of these areas while investigating how countries meet the challenges created by large and growing populations.
Unit 6: Southeast Asia and Oceania-Students will learn the political and physical geography of these areas while investigating what makes the countries of these areas unique.
Unit 7: Arabia/South West Asia and World Religions-Students will learn the political and physical geography of these areas while learning about the 5 major world religions and how they developed.
During remote learning, students will have daily meetings through Zoom and will be asked to complete a variety of assignments and projects. The expectation is that students complete all assignments and projects by their due dates and turn in their work through Canvas. If at any time, students have difficulty completing any assignments, or have questions regarding any aspect of my course, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your time and for taking an active role in your student’s education.
Science with Mr. Faller
In Mr. Faller's science class we have been studying various aspects of astronomy. We began by taking notes on solar and lunar eclipses through watching a video and viewing a powerpoint. Next, students conducted a web-quest on solar and lunar eclipses. Our next subject in astronomy was about rotation and revolution. Students highlighted an article and took notes on what they highlighted. Finally, we finished off the week by watching a video from Bill Nye about gravity where students then filled in a worksheet while working in groups.
Students will be learning all about four domains of science. Within those four domains we will focus on astronomy, geology, cells, human body systems, physics and some chemistry to name a few. With the help of technology we will be able to work together on group projects and participate in lab activities using interactive demonstrations. The students are sure to have an exciting experience in their science classes with as many hands on opportunities as I can provide.
The picture of me is from this summer fishing with my Dad in Connecticut. I caught a sunny in this picture.
Guided Academics with Mrs. Mearls
Ms. Kraus
Ms. Kraus is one of the opal teams teaching assistants. She is starting her 1st year at Fuller. She graduated from Boston College and is excited to be a part of the Opal Team!
Mrs. Hansen
Mrs. Hansen is one of opal teams teaching assistants. She is starting her 4th year at Fuller and 3rd on Opal team. She is excited to be learning with all of you!