May 17

Emily's concrete poem about Phillis Wheatley

Skyler's portrait of Thomas Paine

SBAC
Phew! We finished our SBAC testing this week.  If your student was absent, they will need to make up the test sometime next week.

NO Bake sale!
The bake sale has been cancelled!  We have enough funds for both Boston and the Reservoir.  Thank you for your help!

POW and Math homework are back for next week.  Many students finish these in school.

Quest Quilt
Some of our students are organizing a class quilt to be left on team as a memento of the 2017-2019 Questers.  We are asking that each student donates one piece of fabric approximately 10" x 10" for this quilt.  This could be a piece of fabric that they design, or maybe a segment of one of those old shirts they've outgrown these past two years.  It could be a piece of fabric that has a favorite animal or a symbol of them.   Please have your student bring in this piece of fabric by the Boston field trip (May 30th).  The sooner the better, so I can get sewing!

Snack Report No candy at snack time! Thanks!

Boston Field Trip
The Boston field trip is coming up!  Here are a few reminders:
Date: Thursday, May 30th
Departure Time: 6:30 AM.  Please have your student arrive by 6:20 to settle in.
What to bring:

• Bag lunch (students may opt to purchase one at Faneuil Hall. However, there are sometimes lines at the different vendors.
• 2 snacks (one for morning, one for afternoon)
• $5.00 or so for a cannoli on the Freedom Trail :) Each group may be stopping at Mike's Pastries for a treat!
• Water bottle (no glass please)
• Rain gear
• Layers of clothes
• Comfy walking shoes – no flip flops!
• Sunscreen
• Silent reading book / other entertainment on the bus.  Electronics are fine. Taking videos of others is not allowed on the bus.  Students are responsible for their own electronics. Chaperones will hold phones during the IMAX movie.
• Any medications you may need – get school nurse approval prior to the trip.

Estimated time of return: 9:30 PM

Chaperones: Thank you for signing up!! You will have a group of 3-5 students for the day.  We will be walking in these small groups on the Freedom Trail from the USS Constitution to Faneuil Hall.  If you are driving, thank you again!  Here is a website where you can find closest parking.
We will walk the Freedom Trail in small groups.  You and your group may decide to spend more time at a particular site, such as the Bunker Hill Monument.  We will be in contact via cell phones.  A popular stop on the walk is Mike's Pastry.  Please be sure to bring your group their for a tasty treat!
After the Freedom Trail, we will be eating lunch at Faneuil Hall.  Students may bring or purchase lunch there.  We will regroup at a set time to travel to our museum of choice.  Here is a map of the route.
Then, you will be travelling with your group to the New England Aquarium or to the Boston Museum of Science.  Your group will have time to explore the museum and then will see an IMAX movie. 
We will all head to Jake and Joes for dinner in Woburn.
I will give you all packets with maps and other information when you arrive.

Revolution / History
We are finishing up our project based unit on the Revolutionary War.  Skits, parodies of songs (to include parts of the Declaration of Independence), portraits, and posters are among some of the many projects students have completed.  Next week, we will begin our last unit on branches of government / current events.

Reservoir
We will be going to the Waterbury Day Use Area - aka the Reservoir on June 12th from 9:30 - 1:30 to celebrate our two years together on Quest.  We hope to swim, play games, and have lunch together.

May 10

Hello Quest Families!

We have been heavily immersed in our American Revolution unit.  Students have been reading and writing about the Revolution in the morning, acting certain battles and causes, and completing projects during second core.  In math, they have been working on algebra.  Soon, students will be able to pick a revolution from somewhere in the world for their own projects.  If you are familiar with a particular revolution, let us know :) or you can talk to your student about it.

A few announcements:

SBAC
Next week starts SBAC testing.  Your student will have testing from 8-10 on Monday - Thursday.  Please help them to get a good night's sleep, and have a healthy breakfast.  There will be no POW for the week, and no math homework.  If your student should miss one of the tests, there will be makeups on Thursday afternoon.

Boston:
Is coming up!  Thank you to all who have turned in permission slips and who have volunteered to chaperone and drive.  If you have not turned in your permission slips, you can still pass them in :)

April 12

Hello Quest Families!

Our months of March and April flew by just in time for spring.  Thank you to all who were able to come to conferences.  We appreciate being able to meet with you!

We wrapped up our weather and statistics unit today with our news shows where students explored culture, weather, and statistics.  Some students even mastered forecasting weather with the green screen.  Our next unit will be Revolution, focusing on the American Revolution, algebraic thinking with patterns and variables, and science fiction.  Students will also be working on a project about a revolution of their choice, focusing on main ideas and details and informational writing.

Books:
Our books will focus on how sci-fi handles revolutionary themes.
Your student has chosen one of the following books to read.  Please note that some of these have Young Adult themes.
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman
Divergent by Virginia Roth
The Neptune Project by Polly Hollyoke
Please let me know if you have any concerns with any of these titles for your student.

Boston Field Trip:
Your student should be bringing a permission slip home in the backpack express.  Another copy is here.

We hope you and your student(s) have a great break!

March 7th

Hello Quest Families!
Here is the latest news.

Spring Conferences
Our conferences will take place on April 3rd and 4th.  These conferences will look different from our student-led conferences in the Fall.  During your 15 minute time slot, you will be meeting with both Mrs. Williams and Mr. Taylor.  Your student is encouraged to attend this meeting, but not required.  If you have time before or after this meeting, your student will be able to share some of their work with you.

Campaign Project
Students will be wrapping up their Campaign Projects this week.  This project included a persuasive piece, a slogan and logo (our "slogos") and a project about a choice topic and its affect on the Earth.  We will be presenting these projects to our classmates next Friday.

Weather and Data Unit
We are starting a new unit next week that will include collecting and analyzing weather data. Our project for this unit will be a weather show that students will be completing in groups.

Reading Books
For the months of March and April, we will be reading the following books.  We previously read Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone.  These four books will help us continue our study of "Three Worlds Meet." (The study of Europe, Africa, and the First Nations on the American continent)

Boston Field Trip
On May 30th, our team will be traveling to Boston for the day.  We are always excited to have volunteer chaperones on this trip.  Please let us know if you are interested in chaperoning.  Here are the directions for how to apply to be a chaperone, as mandated by the district.

January 4th

Team Quest Website

Happy New Year Questers!

Important Changes

In an effort to streamline communication about student learning, we piloted Otus as a learning management system.  After presenting Otus to the administration team, it was decided that the district would not be pursuing the use of Otus on a larger scale.  It is with this decision in mind that we have decided to transition away from Otus.  Below are some FAQs that will help you get started with our new system.

Where do I start?

The Quest Website Resources page will be your number one stop for all things Team Quest.  Here the link. 

What should my student be working on at home?

Reading 20 minutes a night.  Also, check the "What's Due This Week" document that is linked on the Quest Website Resources page.  Highlighted assignments are considered 'homework' but can be completed at school.  Writing assignments will be turned into Google Classroom or Newsela.

Where are the grades?

Use the JumpRope link on the Quest Website Resources page to access proficiency scores on all scored assignments.  

Where are the POWs?

There is a Google Classroom set up for POWs.  This is linked to the Quest Website Resources page.  If you don't have access as a guardian and would like to have access, please email Melissa at mwilliams@wwsu.org.  Here you will see what your student submitted as well as any feedback they received.  Please note that comments on writing will be shown either through Google Classroom or through Newsela.  I hope this will be easier for students to find.

What is SeeSaw?

This is a tool students use to collect evidence of their learning and reflect along the way.  It will be used as a blog for students to document learning.  We have just started, so there is not much on this site yet.  Here are the direction

Please Sign Up Now

1. Click on this link: https://app.seesaw.me/s/184-484-897
2. Choose your child from the list
3. Create your account
4. Once I approve you, you can see content from your child

After you sign up, download the free Seesaw Family app and sign in. You can also access Seesaw from a computer at https://app.seesaw.me.

Thank you for helping us pilot Otus!