Parent Survey

Hello everyone,
About half of the 8th grade parents have responded to the parent survey Ms. Stebbins sent out. Please respond if you haven't yet. Thank you!

The LAST Distance Learning Calendar!

Distance Learning Calendar
We hope you're doing well and still hanging in there with the stress of distance learning. We are happy to announce that this will be our last distance learning calendar! Traditionally, at the end of 8th grade, we go on field trips and enjoy a host of other group activities.  Since we cannot do those things, we thought giving you some time at the end of the year to catch up would be helpful.

Please keep checking PowerSchool, and submit any late or missing assignments!

The *LAST* Distance Learning Calendar for 8th graders & other end of year information

Distance Learning Calendar
We hope you're doing well and still hanging in there with the stress of distance learning. We are happy to announce that this will be our last distance learning calendar! Traditionally, at the end of 8th grade, we go on field trips and enjoy a host of other group activities.  Since we cannot do those things, we thought giving you some time at the end of the year to catch up would be helpful.

Please keep checking PowerSchool, and submit any late or missing assignments!

Belongings left at school & school property return
The janitorial staff has completely cleaned our learning community. Student belongings that were left in cubbies are now bagged. There will be a pick-up planned for the week of June 10th. (More information to follow.) At that time, please be prepared to hand in Chromebooks, Science text books, and literature circle novels.

Report Cards
Report cards will be mailed home sometime after June 18th.

MRUSD Parentt Event - Please attend!

MRUSD Parent Event:

An Evening with Joelle Van Lent

COVID 19 has had a huge impact on each of us, and our entire community. As educators, we have reached out to Joelle van Lent to help us make sense of our role at this time and to help us feel confident in supporting the children and families we serve. 

We would like to provide a Zoom session with Joelle for our interested families on Thursday, May 28th at 6:30pm.  This session is designed to explore how we are impacted by the stress we are each experiencing, and what we can do as individuals and caregivers to best support our children.

Zoom Event - Thursday May 28th, 6:30-7:30pm

To receive an invitation, please use this link.

Joelle van Lent is a licensed psychologist with over 20 years of experience working with children, families, and child serving agencies. Dr. van Lent has expertise as a therapist, clinician, evaluator, consultant, and trainer. Her work focuses on child and adolescent mental health, family therapy, trauma, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Dr. van Lent’s approach is geared toward fostering resilience and creating communities that support healthy development. She is currently in private practice based in the northwestern part of Vermont and works across the state with schools and agencies.

Graduation Speeches

Traditionally, we invite 8th graders to give speeches at graduation. We are looking for any 8th graders who are interested in giving a speech to add to our graduation video. If you are interested, please submit your speech to Ms. Lanfear by Tuesday, May 26th. Once your speech is approved, you will have the chance to come to school to record your speech. Please email Ms. Lanfear if you have any questions.

Get your school work done early over the next few days, because we're going to have some beautiful weather this week! 

Ms. Lanfear

Virtual Students of the week: Lexia Leaders!

Wow; there were two students last week who each completed 46 units each! Thank you for your hard work and dedication to your online learning!

McKenna McWilliams 

Cole Lemieux

Fantastic Job!

Have a great week everyone, and don't forget to log your Lexia minutes! Parents, for more information about the benefits of Lexia, please visit: https://www.lexialearning.com/why-lexia

Graduation Update

Hello everyone,
We wanted to make sure you all saw this important line from survey results that SATEC sent out via emial.


"We are working on our plans for celebrating our 8th graders.  We will not be able to have an in person graduation as we normally would, but we plan to pre-record some of the important components (i.e. graduation speeches from our students, award presentations, and reading of all our students' names).  We will be sending out a survey to students and parents to gather your input on our plans and how to use the fundraising money that was slated to be used for our trip to Montreal next week so stay tuned."

Be on the lookout for a survey from SATEC via email!

We are looking forward to celebrating our 8th graders!


Ms. Lanfear

Lexia Reminder

Hello everyone,

Reminder: Lexia is scored as a self-direction score in Language Arts. To receive a score of '4' you need to log 60+ minutes over the course of the week. If you have finished the Lexia program, you should use this extra time for independent reading.

In case you missed it, Here is the Distance Learning Plan for Monday, May 11th - Friday, May 22nd. 

Have a great week & make sure to send us an email with any questions you have!

Mrs. Lanfear

Distance Learning Plan May 11th - May 22nd

Hello everyone,

Here is the Distance Learning Plan for Monday, May 11th - Friday, May 22nd. Please email us with any questions.

We hope you have a relaxing weekend.

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Having a hard time with independent reading?

Hi everyone,
Here are the independent reading guidelines for school closure.  Even if you haven't been able to commit significant time to reading, please make sure to complete the survey every Friday.

A parent recently shared a great post with me; it's Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) reading chapter 1 of book 1. I suggest you play it and clean your room at the same time! What a great way to complete your independent reading for the day!

Have a good night.

Ms. Lanfear

UA Information

Hello everyone,

We were asked to share the Unified Arts page with you, to make sure everyone has the link and access to Unified Arts information.  Here you go:

https://sites.google.com/maplerun.org/satec-elearning/grade-level-departments/unified-arts  


Have a good evening.

Ms. Lanfear

2 week distance learning plan & independent reading options

Hello everyone,
I hope that you're successfully navigating the two week distance learning plan for April 27th - May 8th.  As always, please reach out with questions.

Some of you might be looking for independent reading ideas. Audiobooks definitely count toward your independent reading goals. They challenge your mind to sustain attention in different ways, while still expanding your vocabulary and deepening your comprehension skills. I put together this list for you of some really great books I found online, and I will continue to add to it. I plan on listening to The Hobbit first, as I've never read it.

Have a great day.

Ms. Lanfear

2 week distance learning plan & Google Classroom information

Hello everyone,

We hope you had a relaxing school vacation and were able to get out and enjoy some of the warmer weather we had.

Here is the planning page for the next two weeks of assignments and lessons. If you can, please print this page and post it where you can easily cross off assignments as you go. 

Parents - If you would like to be invited as a 'guardian' in either of our Google Classrooms, please let us know. You will be able to see if your child has turned in work or if it is missing, before it gets scored in PowerSchool. Also, you will get an automated message, on a weekly basis, for assignments that haven't been 'turned in'.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out.

Thank you,
Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

General Information on turning in assignments

Thank you to the students who have turned in work this past week! For language arts and social studies, it is really important for you to select 'turn in' once you finish your assignment. That way, if it happens to be late, I will get a notification. This includes the 'Independent Reading Check In' from Friday.

Please check PowerSchool this week. Since you are on vacation, it would be a good time for you to get caught up on any work you might owe.

Parents - If you would like to be invited as a 'guardian' in my Google Classroom, please let me know. You will be able to see if your child has turned in work or if it is missing, before it gets scored in PowerSchool.


Thank you!

Mrs. Lanfear

Lexia Reminder

Reminder: You will see a score for Lexia each week in PowerSchool. To score a 4, you need to log 75+ minutes during the week. (15 minutes each day) Lexia scores will be entered every Friday night.

Attendance Reminder

We will be evaluating attendance for the week tomorrow, Friday the 17th.

Please remember that we are required to take attendance each week and report it to the State of Vermont. Students will be marked as 'present' for the week if they are engaging in most of the assignments for all four core classes. If a student is not doing assignments and not communicating with staff about arrangements to complete assignments, they will be marked absent.

Please reach out if your child is sick, as they will be marked excused.

Distance Learning Update - Thursday, April 16th

Hello Everyone,
Students are getting into the swing of handed in assignments online. Thank you!

If you are handing in older, hard copy assignments, the Notes app on your phone is a great way to scan them to one file. It makes it a lot easier than sending individual pictures.

Next week is technically vacation, and it would also be a great time to check PowerSchool and take care of any missing assignments.

Thanks to everyone who has been keeping in touch with us!

Mr. Howrigan & Ms. Lanfear

Distance Learning Update - Tuesday, April 14th

Hello everyone,

We're getting a lot of assignments handed in this week; fantastic job everyone! We know that adjusting to this new schedule is hard. We appreciate your hard work. That goes to students and parents, because we know that parents are doing quite a bit to support learning at home!

For those of you who missed the schedule, here it is again. Many parents have found it helpful to print the schedule and post it on the refrigerator. Students should cross off and initial an assignment when they have completed it and turned it in online. It's just one way parents to help kids without feeling like they're "nagging". 

As always, please reach out with questions or concerns. This is new to us too, so working together will be important.

Thank you & have a good evening.

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

State Mandated Attendance Policy

Good morning,

We want to make you aware that we are required to take attendance each week and report it to the State of Vermont. Students will be marked as 'present' for the week if they are engaging in most of the assignments for all four core classes. If a student is not doing assignments and not communicating with staff about arrangements to complete assignments, they will be marked absent.

Official school attendance starts this week.

As always, please email with any questions or concerns.

Thanks,
Mrs. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

An amazing independent reading opportunity for those of you with Instagram...

Good morning everyone,
More and more authors are sharing their books as read alouds online. To hear the author read their own work, in the way they intended it to sound, is a really cool opportunity. Jason Reynolds (a favorite for many of you) will be reading his new book, Look Both Ways this week on Instagram. This would be a great way for you to meet your independent reading requirement! I'll be listening every morning at 10:30 - I hope you can too!

Have a good week,
Mrs. Lanfear

Next week... and beyond!

Good Evening 8th Graders and Parents,

Everybody’s health and well being is of the utmost concern and should be our number one priority.  We hope you are maintaining a schedule that provides time for exercise, fun, and time with friends, as well as maintaining the proper attention to your learning goals.

A big high five to those of you who have managed to take this transition in stride and complete all (or many) of your assignments on time. We know that this has been a major adjustment period for many of you.  One of the parents compared this transition to school at home as putting the end of a fire hose in your mouth and opening it full blast! We realize it can be overwhelming at times, and are trying to balance this with the need to keep everybody well-informed during these unusual times. 

Remember, your teachers are here to help.  Please ask any questions you may have as they arise.

As of Monday, we will be moving forward with "Distance Learning." Please find the calendar for the next two weeks here. (Surprise: April Break is still a break, so it’s actually just one week of work!). We realize that it is Saturday - we wanted to give you a heads up for what to expect for the next two weeks. You do not need to start these assignments until Monday.

***Virtual Student of the Week is Braidyn Luman! Congrats, Braidyn! Keep up the good work and communication. ***

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update: New work for the week of April 13th

Hello everyone,
Every two weeks, we will give you a new schedule with lessons and assignments. Here is the schedule for next week. The following week is April break.

General information about the schedule:

• The school expectation for 8th graders is 2.5 - 3 hours of academics each day.
• Please turn assignments in the day that they are assigned. 
• Please continue to check PowerSchool to monitor your progress.
• The 'Office Hours' listed are times when you will receive quick responses from teachers, as we've blocked off that time to field your questions. Please continue to reach out to us outside of those hours. 
• If you are not an Algebra student, please disregard the Algebra row.
• If you are going into Accelerated Global Studies and Writing Workshop next year, please complete all extension activities for language arts and social studies on page 2, in addition to the assignments on page 1. 
• While everything in this schedule is accessible online, we recommend you print the schedule out and cross off assignments while you work.

If you have any questions, please send one of us an email.

Thank you,

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update: Thursday, April 9th

Keep those assignments coming! Thank you to everyone who has submitted work.

Tomorrow, we will be sharing next week's lessons via this blog. Stay tuned.

Have a good evening,

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Wednesday, April 8th

Hello Everyone,
We hope your learning at home is going well! The Wellness teacher (Ms. Stetz) has a Google Classroom that she has asked all students to join.

Lanfear Homeroom code is 7lrfxje
Howrigan Homeroom code is ebb7b2h

Please continue to check Powerschool for missing assignments. Students know how to log-in, so sitting with your child and going through subjects and assignments might be a good idea. We have many students with multiple assignments missing at this point. We are available to help students; please reach out to us. 

Thanks, 

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Tuesday, April 7th

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to everyone who has submitted assignments this week! Keep up the good work. Later this week, I will be sending out a slideshow of all 8th grade 1800's research poster projects to "showcase" your work. If you haven't submitted it yet, please do so ASAP! If you don't have poster materials, you are welcome to make a Google Slide. Check out the slideshow so far in the Google Classroom to get some ideas.

Ms. Katarina sent us this slideshow to share with 8th graders.
8th Grade Art

Please keep checking PowerSchool!

Have a good evening,

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Monday, April 6th

Hello everyone,

As you probably heard on the news, the State of Vermont extended the 'continuation of learning period' from April 6th to April 13th. Here's what that means:

- Students will have time to finish/submit any missing work during this week.

- Starting April 13th, students will have new learning to engage in. 

New learning officially starts April 13th. Our team will be sending a calendar of assignments and lessons every two weeks, so that you can have all subjects in one document. (Expect the first calendar later this week.) 

Now is a great time to make sure you are caught up in Powerschool. Assignments that are not submitted will be marked as missing. Parents, please check Powerschool with your child. The program works best on a computer or lap top.

Thank you & please continue to reach out with any questions.

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Friday, April 3rd

Hello everyone,

Powerschool
Now more than ever, it's really important to check your scores in Powerschool. Parents, it is much easier to navigate Powerschool on a desktop or laptop computer. The phone app is not very user friendly.

Yearbook News
Students will need to fill out this form for the yearbook committee. Any questions, please email Quinn.

LA & SS Assignments
Please upload your distance learning work to the Google Classroom. Make sure to check Powerschool to see your scores.

Overdue Assignments
If you are missing assignments from earlier in the semester, now is a great time to get those done. Email pictures of your finished work to Mr. Howrigan or Ms. Lanfear for credit in Powerschool.

Virtual Student(s) of the Week!
From now until the end of the school year, Mr. Howrigan and Ms. Lanfear will be giving a shout out every Friday afternoon to the Virtual Student(s) of the Week. Students chosen for this honor will show pride in their work, determination, perseverance through challenging assignments, and strong communication with teachers.

This week's Virtual Students of the Week are Reese Holsopple and Keerah Gaudette! Keep up the good work!

Have a good weekend.

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Thursday, April 2nd

Hello everyone,

We hope you found some time to get some fresh air before the rain came today. Please continue to work on the assignments and ask us questions. Email has worked well for this, and we are impressed by how many students are reaching out to us over email. Thank you!

There is now a spot in Ms. Lanfear's Google Classroom for students to submit the Turn of the Century literature circle packet, the 1800's poster project, and the Junior Scholastic mapping packet. The poster project slideshow is filling up! Thanks to everyone who has already added a picture.

Going forward, you will be receiving your assignments in 2 week chunks. The first week of assignments will start on April 13th.  We will make sure to get you a calendar detailing those assignments the week before.

Curious about independent reading requirements through the end of the school year? Details about independent reading expectations can be found here.

To answer a few parent questions:

Yes, we will have parent/teacher conferences via phone calls. More information to follow.

Unfortunately, we will not be going to Montreal for our 8th grade class trip. We double checked with administration, and the fundraiser money will follow this class to BFA.

Yes, there is still a yearbook in the works. It is unclear at this time when it will be made available to students.

Yes, you can still pick up your child's chromebook from school. Chromebook pick up will start again next week. Please let one of us know if you're interested.

Thank you & have a good evening.

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Wednesday, April 1st

Hello everyone,

The 8th grade teachers were so excited to see the video that a group of students made for us. Thank you! If you want to see it, contact Penelope.

Many of you have done a great deal of work over the past two weeks, thank you! You've adapted well to your new classrooms. Here's some information that you might find helpful:

Do you need another copy of the expectations for this time period? Here you go.

How to hand in the 1800's poster:
This assignment was intended to be displayed in our main hallway. As you know, that's not going to happen now. I'm willing to accept a very broad range of student work to meet the assignment description. Please do not go out and buy poster board, markers, etc. Use what you have at home. If it is easier for you to make a Google Slide with the information, go for it. If you already have a poster finished, please add a clear picture of it to the slideshow I've created in the Google Classroom. Ms. Westbrook and I plan on creating one big slideshow to showcase your work! 

How to hand in your Junior Scholastic mapping packet:
Please upload pictures of your answers to the assignment in the google classroom.

** If you are feeling overwhelmed or behind, please reach out to us! We will help you get caught up. It's really important that we stay connected through the end of the school year.

Thank you,
Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Tuesday, March 31

Hello everyone!
Thank you to the many students and families who have reached out to ask questions and get help with distance learning work!

New assignments and lessons will be assigned starting the week of April 13th. This is in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the State of Vermont. You will be receiving a blog notification with the details the week before. Until the end of the school year, we will be assigning lessons in 2 week increments. In the mean time, please check Powerschool to see if there is anything that is missing. Send an email to the subject area teacher, if you need another copy of a certain assignment.

Thank you for keeping up with school while you're at home! We know it isn't easy.

Have a good night.

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Monday, March 30th

Hello everyone,
We are busy planning for instruction during the months to come. The school will be coming out with guidelines and expectations for each grade level, so we can tell you more as that work progresses. Please make sure you are working on the assignments we gave for this distance learning period.

In addition, we urge all students to check Powerschool for missing assignments that were assigned earlier in the semester. If you complete one or more of those assignments, please send pictures via email to Mr. Howrigan or Ms. Lanfear.

For those of you wondering about Brewer, here he is asleep in his dish. Having all his people home is quite tiring!

Take care of yourselves and please reach out with questions!

Mr. Howrigan & Ms. Lanfear

Distance Learning Update - Friday, March 27th

Hello everyone,

Please know that we are as shocked as you were about the announcement to continue distance learning through the end of the school year. 

We have fielded numerous questions in the past 24 hours about the details for the end of the school year - everything from yearbook to graduation to conferencing. Please understand that we do not have many answers for you at this time, as we are waiting to take direction from the administration and the state Department of Education. Some of these questions will have to wait. We understand how frustrating this is and want you to know that we will seek answers for you. Please be patient. We are working on assembling Frequently Asked Questions, and will send you this information in the next week.

Thank you & be well.

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Thursday, March 26th

Hello everyone,

We hope you are settling into a routine at home. Please make sure to keep emailing us with any questions or concerns.

LA - Ms. Lanfear is grading the 1800's Research Essays and should be done in the next day or two. Please check Powerschool for your scores. Four different standards were assessed. For the most part, you all did a great job! As we discussed in class, this is a large assignment and will weigh heavily in your final report card scores.

Thank you to the students who participated in today's literature circle meetings. All groups have met at this point. We missed the few students who weren't able to attend.

Thank you & stay healthy!

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Wednesday, March 25th

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much to the students who met online today to discuss their literature circle books! Tomorrow, City of Orphans will meet at 10:30 and A Bandit's Tale will meet at 11:00. You all should have your meeting invitations from Ms. Lanfear. If you didn't receive an email invite, let Ms. Lanfear know ASAP.

Many of your books are set in New York City and feature Italian immigrants. Watch this quick video to give you a sense of the people and places you're reading about!

We are still missing quite a few Super Short Surveys. I promise, it is really short! Please respond if you haven't yet.

Thank you for all the work you're doing at home!

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Tuesday, March 24th

Hello everyone!

We hope your learning-at-home is going well. Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns, or just to say hello!

Book Groups: We hope you were able to access the videos from yesterday. Today, please page through these 30 photos of NYC - they will help you visualize the places you are reading about. Today, you should be working on the fifth reading and Job #5. 

Tree Grows group: Listen to the 6 minute segment Inside The Black Hand from NPR. (The Black Hand is referenced in today’s reading). Other groups - listen if you are interested!

We have some people who never responded to yesterday's Super Short Survey. Please make sure that you do! It's very important for us to know how your reading is going.

Mrs. Lanfear will be hosting book discussion groups over the next few days, just to touch base. If you have internet access, you need to attend. Think of it as a literature circle meeting, but without the speaking/listening score! What's most important is that you are understanding what you read and that you have the opportunity to discuss your book with classmates. If you aren't able to connect, don't stress out. Think of this as a test run. It is possible that we will continue with distance education after April 6th, so we should practice coming together online before then.

You will be receiving individual email invitations to connect via Google Meets. All you need to do is click the link at the right time. Here is the schedule for tomorrow (Wednesday):

10:00 Uprising
11:00 Tree Grows
12:00 The King of Mulberry Street

The remaining books, (City of Orphans and A Bandit's Tale) will meet on online on Thursday. Be watching for your meeting invitation in your school email.

Please reach out to Mr. Howrigan with any questions about math or science! He would love to hear from you.

Thank you & be well.

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update - Monday, March 23rd

Hello everyone,

We hope you're healthy and that your learning-at-home is going well. Please reach out to us if you need help!

All students: Please fill out this very short survey for your literature circle book ASAP. In addition, please watch Coming to America - NY’s immigrants (5 mins) and tenement housing. These videos will give you some visuals for the settings you are reading about in your book groups. You should be working on the fourth reading and job #4 today. Please continue to check the shared questions in Google Classroom and share a discussion question that your peers can respond to! We appreciate you adding your voice to our online discussions.

Have a good week!

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

--------------------------------------------------------------------

A message from Ms. Montagne:

I hope you all had a good week and are adjusting well to this disruption in your normal schedule. Please remember that the faculty and staff at SATEC are here to support you and your family in any way we can, so do not hesitate to reach out to us if you are in need.

Regarding your academics, I have decided the most beneficial and supportive thing for me to do to support you and my fellow math teachers is to monitor all grade 5-8 use of our i.Ready online math program. When reviewing the data for this week, I noticed that some students have yet to log the minimally required 60 minutes for the week (kudos to the dozen or so of you who have already met or exceeded your weekly goal). If you haven't completed this task because you do not have access to a device and/or the internet, please email me so I can help remedy that problem for you asap. If you did not work on your instructional path yet this week because it indicated that you had no assignments when you logged on, it means that your path was shut off. That happens automatically if you do not pass two quizzes in a row to prompt you to reach out for instruction/guidance on the concept you are having difficulty with (I am in the process of turning them back on now so that you will have access to your path over the weekend). In the future, please email me if this occurs. This way I can reactivate your path, and more importantly, offer you the instruction that you need in order to be successful as you move forward on your individualized learning path. This can be done through email, on the phone or via one of the virtual meeting platforms.

My email is jmontagne@maplerun.org. I look forward to hearing from you! Stay safe and healthy, and enjoy this beautiful day!

Ms. Montagne
Math Content and Intervention Specialist

Friday, March 20th

We hope you are all well into your School Closure assignments. Thank you to those of you who have reached out to us with questions! Email is a great way to get a hold of us, and we appreciate all of the students who have reached out to us directly with questions.

A special thanks to the Tree Grows in Brooklyn reading group. We did a test run of a virtual meeting today. There were some pro’s and con’s, and we shared those with the administration.

Parents - Please have your student sign up for this blog directly, if they haven’t done so already. The blog spot is: https://howriganlanfear.blogspot.com/

Thank you & stay healthy!

Ms. Lanfear & Mr. Howrigan

Distance Learning Update for Thursday, March 19

Book Check-In:
Today you should be working on your second reading and Job #2. Please remember to check your email daily to ask us questions as they come up! Also, please check Ms. Lanfear's Google Classroom to see if anyone had questions about their reading. Maybe you could help someone! 

Tree Grows in Brooklyn Literature Circle:
We have been busy learning about online teaching platforms, and Ms. Lanfear would like to do a test run of a group meeting tomorrow at 11:00. Tree Grows readers, please check your email for more information. We will most likely be testing other platforms next week, with other groups of students. Our goal is to decide on one platform, to make it easier for all of us to navigate online.

Have a good day, and make sure to email us with questions!

Mr. Howrigan & Ms. Lanfear

Daily Communication during school closure - Wednesday, March 18th

Hello everyone, 

Please check your email everyday, as you will receive emails (via our blog) quite often!

Language Arts

Today was your first day of reading for our Turn of the Century literature circle. Remember, sometimes when you start a book it can be challenging to keep people and places organized in your thoughts. It will help if you add information to your character page as you read. 

Do you have questions about your literature circle book? You usually do, and I give you time and space to discuss what you’re reading in our literature circle meetings. Those will look a little different in the coming weeks. I created a question in the Google Classroom - one for each book. Reply to my question if you need clarification about something. I invite you all to respond to each other’s questions. Remember, we can all read what you write. 

Social Studies

The Mapping Skills packet is in black and white, which is difficult to read. Please use the color maps on the Google Classroom while you work on this. Email me if you have questions! I was able to help a few kids during the school day Monday and Tuesday, and I fully anticipate that more of you will have questions. 

Email is the best way to get a hold of us, so please don’t hesitate to send us a message. 

School Closure & Learning Plan through April 6th

Hello everyone,

For students who have been absent yesterday and today, your folders of assignments, books, and other reading materials are in the front office with Lorna. Please stop in today or tomorrow to pick it up. If it is not picked up by Thursday, the school bus will be delivering student work. Please note, all social studies mapping assignments are in color on the Google Classroom. The photocopies are black and white, which are difficult to read.

It is important for students to remember that this is not a vacation and we are expected to maintain student learning and teaching to the best of our abilities. Student work completion will be tracked and scored on PowerSchool. We will be updating this blog on a regular basis, as a way to communicate with all students. If your child hasn't subscribed with their school email address, please have them do so asap. 

Parents may pick up student Chromebooks this week! We just need an email from you letting us know that your child needs the device at home. The Chromebook and charger will be in the front office for pick-up, once we hear from you. An automated phone survey went out with this information, but we have no way of knowing if all of our students received it. 

Students are encouraged to email us with any questions, concerns, or just to keep in touch. We will be checking our school email and working with students on a daily basis.

Thank you for your support at home, and stay healthy.

Abby Lanfear & Will Howrigan 

Important Information: Academic Expectations During School Closure

Please read this important communication about 8th grade academic expectations during the school closure. For students who were absent this week, we have folders of assignments and reading materials here at school for you to pick up. If it is not picked up before Wednesday, it will be delivered to your house. Please note that some of the assignments are required, and some of the assignments are enrichment/extension in nature. These enrichment/extension assignments are not required.

If a student misplaces their handouts for LA or SS, please check the Google Classroom for extra copies.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the subject area teacher. 

Thank you & stay healthy!

Abby Lanfear & Will Howrigan

BFA Course Selection Sheet & Paperwork

Please make sure your child has handed in their course selection paperwork to Ms. Giroux, SATEC Guidance Counselor. All forms are due tomorrow, February 21st.

*Please make sure to review all pages and sign in all applicable places.*

Thank you!

Spirit Week & extra academic support

It's Spirit Week! Tomorrow's theme is "Dress up or Mess up".

Academic Support - Please have your child show you his/her missing assignment link on Powerschool. Some students are missing multiple assignments for Semester 2. On Friday, we will have a small supported academic time early in the afternoon for those students who are missing work. Students who are caught up by Friday will go to a Spirit Week assembly.

BFA Field Trip tomorrow! Please get to school by 8:15!

We are visiting the tech center tomorrow, and the bus will be leaving between 8:20-8:30. Please make sure your child arrives to school by our 8:15 start time. Thank you!

Tissue Request and BFA Daily Schedule

Tissue Request
Thank you to the two families that donated facial tissues last month. With all the sicknesses that have been going around, we are again out of tissues. If anyone is willing to send a box or two in, it would be much appreciated.

BFA Daily Schedule
We are fielding lots of questions about the BFA daily schedule, which is typical for this time of year. For your reference, here is the schedule from their handbook. We also encourage parents to check out the BFA Guidance web page.

BFA Course Selection Paperwork

The BFA forms for course selection were sent home with students today. The recommended core classes are circled at the top of the first page. Teachers have also communicated these recommendations directly to BFA guidance.

As the directions indicate, students need to select additional courses and rank those choices 1-7.

If a student is on an EST plan, 504 plan, or IEP, we suggest that they sign up for a study hall. This is on the second page and is called Skill Building. Even though it is called Skill Building, it is a study hall. (We confirmed this information with BFA twice in the past week.)

We will start collecting these forms back from students next week. Please reach out to our guidance counselor, Amanda Giroux, with any general questions about the course selection process. For questions about specific course recommendations, please contact Abby Lanfear or Will Howrigan.

Constitution Unit Test & BFA Field Trip

Constitution Unit Test - Monday, January 27th

Please help your child dedicate some time each night to studying. They were given a study guide today in class, and there are additional resources in the Google Classroom.

BFA Field Trip - Thursday, February 13th

Green field trip forms went home yesterday for our trip to BFA on February 13th. Please return this form ASAP. 

Please join us! *BFA Information Night* 1/29 @ 6 p.m.

When: Wednesday, January 29th 6-7 p.m.
Where: library or cafeteria

8th grade families, please join us to meet with Preston Randall from BFA, as well as BFA student ambassadors,  to learn more about the transition to high school, including information about course selection. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions. 

Government Unit in Social Studies

Hello families,

We are about half way through our Government Unit in Social Studies. Students have taken two quizzes which are scored and available in Powerschool. They will have two more quizzes before the unit test; one quiz this Friday and the following will take place next Wednesday. In my Google Classroom, you will find many resources to help them prepare for these assessments. Much is memorization, so I've attached quizlets for practice, video resources, and various games to the Google Classroom.

There will be one extra credit opportunity for the unit test. If students can memorize the Preamble to the Constitution, they will receive 5 bonus points. There are many Preamble resources in the Google Classroom, and the text is here. Maybe your child wants to practice reciting it with you? 😉

Thanks for your support.

Abby Lanfear