Important Dates:
July 27:
Family program showcase and pizza party | Photos
PMS east
wing 6: 00 - 7:30 . We'll be supplying pizza (meat and meatless) and drinks.
Parents can bring a dish to share. There will be food for all
and a chance to see what we’ve all accomplished.
July 28: Whitewater Rafting trip Letchworth Gorge |
Photos
Class Summaries: Week 4 |
Class Photos
5th
Library: Candice Lucas, Stacey Ehrig
Volcanoes: We applied
the skills we learned in the last 3 weeks while working
on this weeks challenge: our
volcano webquest! This
project required a lot of
organization. We made
another calendar to keep ourselves on task.
We also had to
divide up the responsibilities of geologist, historian and
photographer. Each job was
very important and very different!!
We used Internet and library resources to find the
information we needed. Check our
volcano page
Each person had to
complete his or her part for the project to succeed. Working
together was fun, but sometimes tough! We used the conflict resolution
techniques we
learned last week to come up with win-win situations. Now that our
projects are
completed, we are experts on
what to do in case of a volcanic eruption.
Ask us:
·
What a strato or composite volcano is
·
How to predict an eruption
·
What the dangers of an eruption are
·
How to protect yourself in case of an eruption
5th
English: Judy Adair, Stephanie Perlet
The final week in Summer Prep
proved to be busy and extremely successful! The students worked on reading a non-fiction news article
about hurricanes that related to a creepy fictional tale, “Strange
Warning.” The kids practiced surveying the text by looking at the
headline, sub-headings, pictures, diagrams, and captions. Then, after
reading each section, students highlighted the most important details.
Beware of Ms. Adair and Ms. Perlet, the “highlighter police!!”
Then, they moved back into
fictional work, creating their own creepy stories. Recording their chain stories helped the kids practice active
listening, quick thinking, and their speaking skills. The students also
had to make sure they met all of the required story elements. After
careful revising and editing of the printed versions, the kids performed
their stories for the rest of their group in a campfire style setting. What an exciting and productive four weeks we have shared
with these terrific kids!
5th
Learning Skills: Andy Morrow, Jennifer Soloman
“All the world's a stage, And
all the men and women merely players”
Although our acting skills leave
something to the imagination, we completed this program with a fun
activity. To review the major topics that we learned in study skills
this month, students wrote, revised, rehearsed, and filmed skits. Each
group shared their skit with the entire 5th grade group
(often very embarrassing) and we spoke of the different ways that the
skills could be interpreted and used to make them successful 6th
graders. We finished our month together with our last learning log.
Please make sure to read the logs, notice the fantastic organization of
the binders, and laugh along with the skits Thursday evening!
Thank you for a fantastic program!
5th
Math: Raina Debboli, Heather Kitchen
This week we focused on the
skills used in measurement. Monday, we practiced measuring to the
nearest inch, which required them to use fractions. Tuesday, we measured
things to the nearest millimeter, utilizing their decimal skills.
Wednesday and Thursday students worked on a project that brought
together all the skills that we have reinforced throughout this summer.
The students stepped into the role of an architect to design a sketch of
a Critter Condo. This role had them drawing the perimeter of a building
complete with labeled dimensions in both centimeters and inches. Next,
they used the skill of adding decimals and fractions to find the
perimeters in both Centimeters and inches. After the blueprint was
completed students stepped into a new role of a purchasing agent. They
had a budget to purchase furniture, food and other materials for their
Critter Condo.
Students did a fantastic job on
this. Some creative ideas were developed like “The Lazy Ladybug’s
Lounge” and a house in the shape of a mouse. Students really had some
great hands on practice with using a ruler and seeing the connections
between all their math skills. We look forward to seeing and hopefully
working with these students as they move on through their middle and
high school years.
6
– 8 Upper School
English:
Pamina Abkowitz, Jill Wahl
This final week the effects of
one-on-one instruction caught up with us. Students worked at various
paces to complete the tasks started last week as well as started a DBQ
assignment in conjunction with Study Skills. Ask your student to explain
what DBQ means. This is preparation for the state exams in Social
Studies and English, as well as reinforcement of the process for writing
all essays. Some students will complete the whole essay, while others
will work toward building effective prewriting strategies, drafting, or
revising and editing. All
assignments from class will be on display in their binders on Thursday
night. Some cute summer
prep poems will also be posted in the English classroom (406)!
Thank you for your support throughout the program!
Technology:
Brian Holliday, Terry VanDerLinden
The 6th and 7th
grade students have been working on their personal web pages.
These web pages will be accessible from the Summer Prep 2000-web
site. During that time they have learned about file management and
overall web site design. The 8th grade students are finishing
work on the Summer Prep 2000 webzine. The students are working with in
the parameters of the original web site. This will keep the overall web
site the same and easily navigable by parents and students. You can
access this page from the Summer Prep 2000 home page.
Learning
Skills: MaryLynn Gleason, Dave Providence, Brett Provenzano
This week in 6th-8th
grade study skills we have continued our focus on analyzing the
documents, which are being used for the DBQ essay. We are happy to
report that in all of the classes there has been significant improvement
in the students’ ability to view a situation from a more abstract
perspective! We began our
analysis from a more simplistic view looking first at each leader
individually. In this first
attempt the students were looking at cartoons, quotations, and
narratives to discover the qualities of leaders and then to hypothesize
their impact upon society. Next,
the students were asked to evaluate their experience in dealing with the
documents. Specifically,
they were asked to reflect upon that which they were confident was easy
and that which they viewed as difficult.
This process helped all of the students to realize their
strengths and weaknesses. In
addition, this activity allowed the students to see how a group can help
each other to problem solve. In
the second attempt the students were asked to look at the documents from
a different view. This time we evaluated which leaders were connected in a
certain way either through having similar personal qualities or by
having similar societal impacts. This
activity made the complete jump to the more abstract realm of reasoning
and the students gave wonderful responses!
You will be able to see the depth they were each able to achieve
when you read the final draft of your child’s essay.
For us, the Summer Prep session
has been extremely rewarding and challenging. Every activity we have developed has been based upon the
following core foundation:
-
Success = organization +
effort + attention
-
Problem-solving skills:
communication, co-operation, awareness
-
Analysis
-
Prioritization
-
Use of analogies
-
Context clues
-
Concrete vs. Abstract
thinking
-
Evaluation—the use of
reflection to look at oneself
We have put in a great deal of
effort and we have seen the efforts of each child increase each day.
In addition, we have developed techniques that we intend to take
back to our own classrooms in the fall.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with your child.
Math:
Kathy Curtis, Kim Mrva
Math
6: During this final week, students have used scale and proportion
on Pittsford maps and United States maps.
Each student found distances from his/her home to Pittsford
Middle School and answered questions using maps and scales.
Students used white boards to review and demonstrate knowledge of
operations with fractions. Students
applied their knowledge of fractions and ratios to bread baking.
Math
7: During this final week, seventh grade students have expanded on
their knowledge of area and measurement using ratios and proportions in
scale drawings. The
students have also tackled non-routine problems solving and shared many
different strategies for solving problems in class. The Math interns
developed some unique questions for the students and directed a
problem-solving contest.
Math
8: During this fourth week, eighth grade students solved systems of
equations on graph paper and using graphing calculators.
Students applied their knowledge to telephone calls and athletic
club memberships. Students
learned to use linear models and compare options offered by different
companies. The final project includes drawing a picture and writing
equations for these lines.
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