Milton Town School District

                                  42 Herrick Avenue, Milton, VT 05468-3097 (802) 893-3210 Fax: (802) 893-3213

www.mtsd-vt.org

HOUSE B

November 6, 2013

Dear House B Families,

We are approaching the end of our first trimester of the school year, and it is already time for our first round of Student-Led Parent Conferences! Educational research tells us that children benefit greatly from having meaningful conversations about their learning with important adults in their lives. We hope that you can attend a Student-Led Parent Conference where your child will present to you a portfolio of 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 discuss their reflections on their successes and challenges in each academic area, and the goals they are proposing for the second trimester. These goals encompass lifelong learning skills and the Habits of Mind students are striving to achieve in our Middle School. Those habits are: flexible thinking, preparedness, citizenship, persistence, and precision.

For your convenience, we are scheduling conferences on the evening of Tuesday, November 19^th and Thursday, November 21^st from 4:00PM to 7:00PM. Please be aware that this is not a traditional parent-teacher conference, so every teacher may not visit you during the conference session.

We look forward to seeing you!

Sincerely,

Karen Allard - Consulting Teacher
Greer Krembs - Science
Francine Lemnah - Math
Josh Roof - Humanities
Ellen H. Taggart - Humanities

Please complete, detach below and return to your child's advisor.

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*Please indicate your FIRST AND SECOND choice for a conference time. We will get back to you to confirm the scheduled time of your conference.*

____ 4:00–4:30pm on Tuesday, November 19

____ 4:30-5:00pm on Tuesday, November 19

____ 5:00-5:30pm on Tuesday, November 19

____ 5:30-6:00pm on Tuesday, November 19

____ 6:00-6:30pm on Tuesday, November 19

____ 6:30-7:00pm on Tuesday, November 19

____ 7:00-7:30pm on Tuesday, November 19

____ 4:00–4:30pm on Thursday, November 21

____ 4:30-5:00pm on Thursday, November 21

____ 5:00-5:30pm on Thursday, November 21

____ 5:30-6:00pm on Thursday, November 21

____ 6:00-6:30pm on Thursday, November 21

____ 6:30-7:00pm on Thursday, November 21

____ 7:00-7:30pm on Thursday, November 21

Student: ______________________ Attendees: ______________________________

Science so far this Fall

We have been busy in Science class this Fall!

We began the year with a unit on Nature of Science, in which we planted bean plants in different amounts of fertilizer to answer the question, How does the amount of fertilizer affect bean plant height?  We are still using this investigation to learn how scientists ask and answer questions.

Next, we explored how living things are sorted in a unit called Sorting Out Life.  We learned how an ecosystem is divided into biotic/living parts and abiotic/non-living parts, and we will continue to explore how these interact and influence each other.  We are currently learning about cells, the smallest living organisms, and the building blocks for all life.  We have examined our own cheek cells, aquatic plants cells, and aquatic microorganisms.

We just began a unit called Mini-Ecosystems in which we set up aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and we are exploring the complex interactions within these ecosystems.

Please feel free to contact me at any time, about anything.  The best way to reach me is by email: gkrembs@mtsd-vt.org

Stay tuned for more...!

Ms. Krembs

House B Enrichment

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XKk9mvoWJAc9yPrRq1foKyz2JZkHqlgYE1pjCtzAG2Q/viewform

Boston!!!!

Dear Families,

At the end of your student’s middle school experience, he or she will have the opportunity to participate in the 8^th 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 8^th grade.

For 8th and 7th Graders, your student will be getting a summary of their account on Monday.

Tentative list of this year’s fundraisers:

September – PTA Fundraiser – If your student participates, 50% of the profits from their orders will go towards Boston.

October – Dan’s Chocolates

November – Thanksgiving Pie Sale

November – Dan’s Holiday Cards, create your own custom cards for the holidays

December – February – Calendar Raffle

March – Spaghetti Dinner

April – Fire Truck Pull