Social Studies Update Week of 9/25

This week in Social Studies, students worked on  the learning target, Use of Evidence. Students read informational text about Rosa Parks and were asked to prove the following claim;  Rosa Parks had a positive impact on society. Students worked together to sort evidence found in the text, deciding if it only related to the claim or actually proved the claim. This activity was a practice exercise for students. Next, they will individually find evidence on a peacemaker using the same claim.

Curriculum Night Follow Up

Hello families,
For those of you that could make it we want to say thank you! It's always nice to put faces of families with your children. Thank you all for braving the heat to come learn more about Sterling. For those of you that could not attend, we're including the information provided last night electronically down below. Be on the look out in the next couple of weeks for parent conference sign ups.

Here is a link to the slideshow we shared: 2017 Curriculum Night

And here is a document that details all the ways we communicate with families: Sterling Communication Tools

Social Studies Intern

Hi everyone!

I’m Mr. McElroy and I’ll be student teaching this year in Mrs. Conry's Social Studies classes. I’m looking forward to working with everyone to make this a great year! I grew up in Marblehead, MA and completed a BA in History at the University of Vermont. Since that time, I’ve worked as a National Historic Site Interpreter, a Middle School Para-Educator, and an English Language teacher overseas. In my free time I enjoy playing guitar, snowboarding and hiking. I’m looking forward to sharing these interests as well as my love of Social Studies with our 5^th and 6^th grade students!

Mr. McElroy

YWP FAQs

Click below to access a link to FAQs for YWP:

Young Writers Project Frequently Asked Questions 2017/2018

ELA Update

Hello Families!

In English Languages Arts we have started out with a unit on Digital Citizenship.  This work is crucial as we start the year with the technology tools that are a part of our daily world, both in and outside of school.  Students have been working in table groups to create a Google Form survey, which they will be sending out to families and peers to collect data.  Questions will seek to gather information about technology usage, etiquette, concerns, questions, and ideas for guidelines for digital citizenship.  From the data collected, students will work to create our Sterling Guidelines for Digital Citizenship.

Students started Young Writers Project (YWP) last week.  YWP is a platform for students to write creatively on a weekly basis.  Students should show you their YWP site--they need to go to peterson17.ywpvt.org and then log into their account.

Sterling to Flynn Theater

On Monday, October 9th all Sterling students will attend a performance of Compagnie Herve Koubi at the Flynn Theater.  Buses will depart WCS at 9AM and will return by 11:45.  Permission slips will go home next week.    

Science Intern

Hello 5-6^th Grade students and families!

My name is Ms. G., and I will be student teaching in Mrs. Durant’s classroom this year. I look forward to working with you throughout the year!

I grew up in Burlington, Vermont, and graduated from Burlington High School. I attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges in a small town called Geneva, New York. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geoscience, and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies. I have worked as a Camp Director, Ski School Supervisor, Summer School Teacher, and an Environmental Educator.

This fall, I will also be helping coach the Williston Central Field Hockey team! I love being active and outdoors as much as possible, and I cannot wait to bring my environmental and outdoor education background into our classroom!

Ms. G.

Continental Math

From the desk of Julie Rogers:

Continental Math sign ups are open! Sterling has always been well represented when it comes to Continental Math so we're looking again to have students sign up to participate. Continental Math is a great way to challenge yourself and grow as a mathematician by doing a variety of math problems. Practice in small groups and compete monthly with other schools. See Mr. Bailey or Ms. Rogers with questions.

Here's a link to the sign up sheet: Sign Up

Social Studies Update 9/15/17

We are off to a great start in Social Studies. Our first unit of the year is Peace One Day. To start out, students watched a documentary film directed and produced by Jeremy Gilley. The film describes Jeremy’s journey to establish an annual global ceasefire and non-violence day on September 21st. Students discussed the film and vocabulary in small groups. Using the theme of non-violence,  students created skits to raise awareness of bullying and how it can be reduced. They also read a Scholastic News article titled, A New Kind of Bullying, to tie the learning altogether. Next week, students will be creating peace poems and making peace pinwheels which will be displayed in front of the school on September 21st.

Science Class Update 9/15

In science class we have been busy growing bacteria by making yogurt. Prior to making the yogurt, we learned all about bacteria (good and bad), viruses, and germs in general. This is a great time of year to talk about keeping each other healthy by washing hands a lot and the correct way to cough or sneeze to prevent viruses from spreading. Next week we will begin our study of Earth's systems (atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.)

A message from the School Counselors

WCS School Counseling Classes 2017/2018

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We hope you and your family had a restful and fun summer. As part of our on-going prevention
efforts, school counselors facilitate classes to all students during the essential arts rotation
throughout the school year. Each student will participate in a total of 6 classes according to the
following schedule:
5th/6th grade: During their Design and Technology rotation - 1x/week for 6 weeks
7th/8th grade: During their Music rotation - 1x/week for 6 weeks

This year, our classes will focus on the following topics:
5th/6th grade:
● Preventing bullying. Students will learn and develop skills to recognize, respond
to, and stay safe from bullying.
7th/8th grade:
● Preventing cyberbullying, harassment, hazing, and sexting. Students will learn
and develop skills to recognize, respond to, and stay safe from these harmful
behaviors.
● Preventing suicide. Students will learn and develop skills to recognize and
respond to risk factors and warning signs of suicide, while learning about
protective factors that help support resiliency and healthy development in teens.

We hope that you are able to talk with your children about these classes and how to stay safe in
their relationships and their daily lives. Please let us know if you have any questions or need
resources to help at home.
Best wishes,

Chris Ford & Danielle Morin
WCS School Counselors
Chris: cford@cvsdvt.org or 871-6176
Danielle: dmorin@cvsdvt.org or 871-6178

Math update & online learning expectations

What a great and busy week we've had in math. Students wrapped up the "Week of Inspirational Math" course designed by Jo Boaler at Stanford University. I blogged on my personal blog about that. Today we kicked off some project based learning basics. Students were placed in "design teams" (groups of 3 or 4) and were tasked with creating a team name for them to use. Teams will be creating websites and a blog to update their tasks and projects and those will be updated as often as possible.

All students this week are required to do what we call "online learning". We use a program called MobyMax which assesses needs and gaps and develops individual curriculum to help address that. Students that use MobyMax regularly have been show to make over 2 years growth within 1 school year. I really think it's a great tool.

All Sterling mathematicians are required to do 1 hour of Mobymax math lessons per week. The week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday night. All 5th Grade students are coming home tonight with the welcome letter from Mobymax which contains all the info they need to log in. Please put it somewhere safe and easily accessible (fridge, study desk, magnet board, etc). Here are a few photos of students working with their new design teams today in math:

School Pictures

• School pictures will be taken on Tuesday, September 20th.  Envelopes will come home next week

Spelling Team Tryouts This Week

Spelling Team Qualifying Test

5th/6th Wednesday, September 6th @ 12:35

7th/8th Friday, September 8th @ 12:35

Eat lunch in the Enrichment room day of test

It's time for those super spellers to begin working on the list of 500 words from the Vermont Principals' Association! Lists are in a bin outside the Enrichment room door and labeled 5th/6th or 7th/8th. PLEASE encourage anyone interested or who you believe would benefit from this opportunity to stop by, pick up a list of words, and show up for the qualifying test time. If you have a student who is unsure please have them stop by and speak with Mrs. Rogers.

We try to make it super fun, with an emphasis on team bonding while we learn a bit about spelling rules, tips, and tricks! Teams practice 2 times weekly with Mrs. Rogers during lunch/recess, 5th/6th on Monday & Wednesday and 7th/8th on Tuesday & Friday. We will participate in the district spelling bee in October and if we win we'll move on to regionals.

We're hoping that any students that participated last year will do so again this year. Any questions, please contact Julie Rogers at jrogers@cvsdvt.org.