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