Dear Parents,

We'll be completing a mini lab in science next week on light and I could really use the following supplies:

1). Mineral Oil
2). Baby Oil

If you can send in a bottle, it would be SUPER appreciated. 

Thanks in advance,
Bill Ferriter

Dear Parents,

I stumbled across an interesting current event on the Popular Science website that I thought some of you might be interested in.  It details the best science related podcasts that are available for free download online.  Here's where you can find the post:

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-02/best-science-podcasts

If you're not familiar with podcasts, they are basically free radio-style programs that you can download to your computer or to your iPod.  They can be super informative and are almost always free.

While I haven't had a chance to check these podcasts out myself yet -- so I'm not sure if they will be interesting or appropriate for your kids -- I'd bet that there's content here you will like if you are a science driven person.

Hope this helps,
Bill Ferriter

Dear Parents and Students,

One of your peers -- Fletcher S -- is a part of a Boy Scout Troop that is collecting nonperishable goods to help out a local food bank that serves families here in the Apex area. 

As a part of that project, Fletch brought in a brown bag that is sitting in the front of my classroom.  He's hoping that together, we can fill it with things that the food bank needs. 

Embedded above is a list detailing the kinds of things that the food bank does -- and doesn't -- need.  Please check it out and consider making a donation before Friday, February 24. 

If everyone checked their pantry and brought in ONE item before Friday, we'd fill that brown bag several times over again! 

Do you think you can help?

I hope so!
Bill Ferriter

Dear Parents,

Not sure if you're aware of it or not, but we've been doing some serious bird watching during Spartan Time recently.  We've even created a website to document the birds that can be found on the Salem Middle campus.  Check it out here:

http://birdsofsalem.posterous.com

If your child has been joining us, you might want to think about ordering them one of these really cool pocket guides to North Carolina birds:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/north-carolina-birds-james-kavanagh/1100003611

One of our students brought one in today and it's pretty neat.  Not only is it only $6, it includes color drawings of a ton of the most common birds in our state.  Better yet, it's laminated -- so it's durable times ten. 

I just bought 8 for our club to use, but we usually have almost 20 students with us each week.  That means I don't have enough for everyone to have their own!

Hope this helps,
Bill Ferriter

I have attached the Must Do/Can Do for the week.  We will putting together our Grant Project presentations later in the week.  Small groups of 3-4 students will begin working on the presentation in an effort to receive the $50 million dollar grant.  Students should have all of the research done by Thursday.  They have done an awesome job with the research thus far. 

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Chambliss Barrow

Dear Parents,

Quick heads up to let you know that there is a sound assessment this Thursday in class.  Like the other assessments that we've had this quarter, it is a quick 12 question multiple choice test. 

Embedded above is a study guide that your children will be getting in class today.  It covers all of the content that is on the test.  They'll have some time to work on it in class, but for the most part, this is a guide they should fill out at home. 

Hope this helps,
Bill Ferriter

Dear Parents and Students,

I can't tell you how excited we all are about our upcoming team book study (see here).  We've already got about 30 students signed up to participate -- and just as exciting is the fact that we already have 5 parents who are planning on coming to our weekly Friday Lunch conversations. 

We are really looking forward to having your voices in our conversation!

If you haven't signed up yet and are still interested in joining us, please take a minute to fill out this information sheet. We're just trying to get a sense for how many people to expect so we can make plans for an appropriate meeting place. 

Also, if you are planning on joining us, please note that we've changed our initial reading assignment.  Originally, we asked everyone to read the first chapter by March 2.  Our books arrived here at school yesterday and we found out the first chapter is 2 pages long! 

So to make sure we get through the book before track out -- which is our goal -- we've changed the first reading assignment to the first 60 pages.  That would put us on pace to finish the story in about 5 weeks.  

Feel free to email if you have any questions about what we're doing!

And thanks for playing with us.
Bill Ferriter

Dear Parents,

In all likelihood, grades for today's science test will be posted before 3 PM.  I'm working on getting them entered now. 

If your child scored less than an 80, he/she may take a retest to raise their score to an 80.  The first step in that process is turning in a completed study guide.  Without a completed study guide, students cannot take a retest. 

You can find a blank copy of the study guide posted here:

http://fightingnomes.posterous.com/parts-of-waves-note-taking-guide

Once your child has completed this study guide, they should see me during working lunch.  We'll talk about next steps when they arrive. 

Hope this helps,
Bill Ferriter

Dear Parents,

Just a quick reminder that your children have a short test on waves in science class tomorrow.  We spent two days in class working on a study guide.  A final copy of the study guide can be found online here:

http://fightingnomes.posterous.com/sample-waves-parts-study-guide

Hope this helps,
Bill Ferriter

Dear Parents,

One of the coolest things about the Gnomes team is that ALL of your children's teachers really enjoy reading and talking about books with our students.  That's one of the reasons that we rotate silent reading days on our team instead of leaving it to one teacher in one subject. 

That's also the reason that we've decided to try something new this year.  We're going to start a shared reading group called Gnomes Read. 

The plan is to encourage as many students and parents on our team to read the same book at the same time.  We'll read one chapter of the book each week until we're finished and have weekly conversations -- on Fridays at lunch time -- about what we've read. 

Parents who can make it are encouraged to come in and have lunch with us and join our conversations if they want -- and if they can't, they're encouraged to join us for an evening event that we'll hold when we've finished the entire book. 

The purpose is simple:  Let's read and talk about a shared book together.

Sounds fun, doesn't it?

So here's the book that we've chosen to read: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

It's the story of a middle school boy who wants to be ordinary in every way.  His only real desire is to fit in with his friends.  The hitch: He's got a facial deformity that makes him stand out in every way -- and that hurts. 

Here's a video trailer introducing the book:

The themes are perfect for middle schoolers.  More importantly, they're perfect for the Gnomes -- a group of kids that we want to be leaders in every way here at Salem.  Our hope is that by tackling Wonder together, we'll have the chance to talk about the steps that we can take as a group to make our school a more accepting place for kids who are different. 

Have we hooked you yet?  If so, here's what to do next:

1.  Fill out this information form no later than February 24 so that we have a sense of how many parents and students are planning on reading with us. 
2. Buy a copy of Wonder (or sign one out of a library) and then read the first chapter -- which is available on the Amazon website -- by Friday, March 2. 
3. Be ready to join our first lunch discussion -- which will take place in Mr. Hutchinson's room on Friday, March 2. 
4. SWEAR that you won't read ahead!  We don't want anyone inadvertantly spoiling the story for the rest of us!

 

Really excited to see what this becomes -- and hope that you'll be a part of making it remarkable.

Regards,  

The Gnomes Teachers