REACH Weekly Update
10/14/2016
HUMANITIES (Mrs. Rather)
This week students read many chapters in the book. We had a discussion about imagery, figurative language, and colons (:). This author tends to use a variety of punctuation and readers should continue to look for those and how she is using them.
Veterans Day Choice
This was the second week students had to work on this choice writing assignment. I gave feedback to all students who completed a rough draft by Thursday. The final drafts are due on Monday.
Colonization
I introduced the 13 colonies this week. Students are going to be learning about the three colonial regions: New England, southern, and middle colonies. They will discover how each region developed socially, politically, and economically. Each person has access to the menu which includes main dishes, side dishes, and desserts. They will use this to create their learning path. This was the first week it was introduced and they will have two more weeks to work on this topic.
Important Links
Student Voice
Math (Mr. Pautz)
One of the coolest things we get to see every week is the students sharing an individual problem that they've been working on with the rest of their group at the whiteboard. It's so cool to see the visual learning and the different places that the many different students are excelling at. Each student has the opportunity to do that one time weekly, while their peers look on, ask questions, and cheer them on afterward. Along with those math meetings, we've continued with the normally scheduled items of Wednesday Concept Checks and weekly Khan Academy.
A week or so now into starting the menu planners to help keep students organized with their math and get feedback, I've seen many students excel with it and others have shown lackluster work with it. Many students chose to wait until the end of the day on Friday to check in with a teacher, when we'd like them to get in the habit of using the other many offered times to check in.
Finally, please encourage your children to talk to me if they are having any issues or struggles - I don't bite! There is a core group of students who definitely gets a lot of help and feedback, because they ask for it, but it's sometimes tough to do that for others who don't ask. While I do try to check in with most students, I can't be everywhere at once. My encouragement for this coming week is to be more particular about how they plan out their days, use the check-in times daily, and ask for help when need be! I love to see the students grow, and I love to be part of it.
REACH Program
Email: reach@waterford.k12.wi.us
Website: frmsreach.weebly.com
Location: Fox River Middle School
Phone: 262-514-8200