Game On

Game ON Team 1 Grade 6!

Math and English students on Team 1 in  grade 6 have completed an interdisciplinary game design project to wrap up their studies in Math and English.  Students developed, designed, and created games in groups of 2-4 to share with others on-team.  Students used their knowledge of Greek mythology, English grammar, vocabulary, story structure, character development, integers, order of operations, geometry  and number sense to progress through a game and to win.

A total of 15 games were created in Mrs. Conahan’s and Mrs. Multer’s classes.  The creativity and  knowledge shared demonstrated that grade 6 students have their Game ON!

French Immersion Google Hangout with Post-grad in France

French Immersion students prepared questions ahead of time to video chat with a friend of Miss Auster's in Pau, France, a region in the south west, between Bordeaux and Toulouse. Johanna Gittleman is a Tufts grad from Newton spending the year as a teaching assistant, helping French kindergarteners learn English. Miss Auster thought this would be a great way to give her students the opportunity to talk to someone who has used French in college and beyond with help from the technology readily available to them daily. They asked everything from, "what is your favorite meal in France?" to "what is school like for kids there?" to "what is the weather like?" all in the target language. Johanna responded in French as well giving examples from her experience abroad. The students enjoyed the chance to speak to someone like them using their second language in a real way. It was fun a fun, easy way to bring France to Holliston. 

Congratulations Anna Mason! Artsonia Artist of the Week

Congratulations to Anna Mason who was honored as Artist of the Week from Artsonia, an online art museum being used by Art students to create digital portfolios.  

Artsonia selects twelve random art submissions in each of four different age groups.  Voting is open to the general public every Wednesday through Saturday, with the winners from each age group being awarded on Sunday. 

Anna received over 1700 votes, making her the winner of the grades 7-9 bracket.  View her work here.

RAMS Connects with Burkina Faso

Mrs. Auster recently connected with a French speaking classroom in Nouna, a city in the African nation of Burkina Faso. This connection has enabled her students to exchange French letters with the students there and to get a sense of the way of life for kids so far from Holliston.

Burkina Faso is a small country in West Africa that has a long history of European domination. In 1960, the country, then known as Upper Volta, gained full independence from France. Burkina Faso is not a wealthy country, but its relative stability in the area has made it an attractive destination for foreign investment.

Last year, Mr. Steiner, RAMS tech integration specialist, exchanged e-mails with Noel Teri, an English teacher in Nouna and established a connection. Mrs. Auster's assigned her students to write letters in French and she and the students collected school supplies and other items that were then shipped to the classroom in Burkina Faso. The package also included two disposable cameras. Mr. Teri took pictures of his school and students and this January, we received the package back from them. All of the students had written reply letters to our students in French and there was also a customized wooden desk organizer that is a product of the area.

Grade 8 Math: Tessellations

Students in Accelerated Math 8 are completing their unit on transformations. We have studied reflections, rotations, translations and dilations on the coordinate plane, as well as ratios of similar figures. Students recently created tessellations using pattern blocks to explore the relationships of patterns and space, building on their previous experiences and understanding in Art classes. What’s next, you ask? Lines and angle relationships!

By Alicia Multer

BEANS, BEANS, AND MORE BEANS!!!

"What a mess!!" was my first thought when walking into Mrs. Buckley's Science class.  Students had thrown beans all over the classroom.  They were everywhere!  On top of that students were laying on the ground without any shoes on!

Once I took a closer look and started talking to some of the students, I realized the valuable learning that was occurring and the deep understanding that was a result of it.  Students were doing a population study, where each type of bean represented a species.  Interestingly, the class's floor is made of square linoleum tiles, making for a perfect grid.

Students count the number of different types of beans in fifty randomly selected grids on the floor of the classroom. Students compile their results on a Google spreadsheet and calculate the average number of each type of bean per grid. Next, they devise their own methods to determine the total number of grids in the classroom and use this number to estimate the total populations of each type of bean in the classroom. Lastly, students graph the total populations on a bar graph.

When pressed by me for greater understanding, students were able to relate how greater densities of beans in some tiles may correlate to a high density of organisms in an area with a high number of natural resources for survival.  Students were also able to draw conclusions why cities may have large populations versus more rural areas.

Daffodil Day at Adams

When the call went out for volunteers to help plant daffodil bulbs at Adams for the next school day, many grade 8 students answered.  Students offered to help plant daffodil bulbs on the school grounds as part of Bobby Blair’s “Daffodil Project” to beautify high-visibility areas around Holliston.  Students and teachers planted around the Adams Middle School sign and in the front of the 7^th grade wing.

Many thanks to the students who generously volunteered their time to stay after school yesterday to help beautify the grounds of the Adams Middle School!  A special shout out goes to the following grade 8 students:  Sabrina Cunha, Gabby Ramirez-Brodeur, Henry Dolan,  Grace Kocur,  Rebecca Hurley,  Alex Panaggio and Brooke Geoffroy. 

Together with Mr. Zakrzeswki, Mrs. Rice, and Mrs. Multer they helped to plant over 300 daffodil bulbs.  Look for all our beautiful blooms in the earlier spring and be sure to say THANKS to these terrific gardeners when you see them!