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