What’s new at
Philomath Microschool?
November Learning Adventures
Hello there, Philomath community! Another update from our virtual school/independent study programs with a few things to know going forward:
Starting Monday, November 7th, all ELA students will be reading Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. The book is a fun, very accessible read, and your child will likely want to tear through it. However, for our learning activities in class, there will be some fairly specific requirements for how to approach this book:
Students will need to read about one chapter per day to keep up with our in-class discussions. That will almost always happen outside of class, and after completing two chapters, students will need to complete a reader’s journal entry on Google Classroom. Please check in periodically on your child to see if they’re not falling behind or getting ahead…and reading ahead is strongly discouraged! Among other things, reading ahead in the book will make it much, much more difficult and time-consuming for your child to complete the reader’s journal assignment, which is a fairly sizable part of their grade this quarter. Check out the calendar on our reader’s journal assignment on Google Classroom to make sure you and your child know where they should be in the book at any given time.Again, there will be no class or independent study on Tuesday, November 8th in observation of election day. Thanksgiving Break will be from November 23rd through 27th.
Keep an eye out for the November story contest; we’ll have a prompt going up for that sometime next week.
The ancient civilization website project is due by class time on Friday, November 11th. See the assignment description on Google Classroom for specific instructions and a rubric. Your child is working hard on this project, so you should definitely check out what they’re focusing their energy on!
This week both 4th and 6th graders will be wrapping up math units so we can start the new units next week: Fractions (4th) and The Number System (6th). In 4th Grade, students will be working on adding, subtracting, comparing, and multiplying fractions. 6th graders will be working with decimals, fractions, and graphing integers on the coordinate plane.
Our Next Science Units Are Coming on Monday, November 14th!
The 6th Grade unit is called “Sharing Planet Earth” and will be focused on the interactions between organisms within an ecosystem, the link between resource availability and population size, interactions between ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural and manmade changes that affect specific ecosystems. This unit will be full of research opportunities and the students will be expected to find information in both text and digital resources as well as “out in the field”. Text resources may include, but are not limited to: encyclopedias, periodicals, science journals, field guides, and other informational texts on our chosen topics. Students will be expected to spend a few minutes outdoors collecting data (observations, pictures, etc) a few times a week to help them develop their hands on research skills.
The 4th Grade Unit is called “Bake It!” and there WILL be baking involved. It’s all about the physical sciences this time as the students explore chemical changes through baking bread. This is a very hands-on unit and the students will need to have a few ingredients ready to go starting on Wednesday, November 16th. You may already have many (or all) of these ingredients at home.
Your child will need:
Flour
Water
Sugar
Yeast
Salt
Vegetable oil
*There may be additional ingredients needed as the students design and tweak their recipes over the course of the unit. (Some examples may include: butter, vanilla, garlic, eggs, assorted spices, or baking soda.) These will be specific for each student rather than a necessity for the whole class.
We will be learning about energy, the principles of condensation and evaporation, matter and its three states, and changes that are reversible and irreversible. During the class, the students will be mixing and observing changes in their dough. I will be using an oven or stove during these baking activities, and you may assist your children in doing the same. Sometimes baking during class is not possible and you may prefer to have your child refrigerate the dough until a more convenient time when you will be able to bake their bread together. That is absolutely fine, the students can bake after the classes as well, they just need to be sure to record their observations in their baking journal when they finish. I will be sending more information as the unit gets started, but please feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, or concerns.
Jumping into the Second Quarter, and a New Award-Winning Story!
Greetings and happy Halloween, Philomath friends! Here are a few of the recent goings-on at the end of October in our wonderful learning community:
If you didn’t see the previous email, our ELA class will be reading Hoot by Carl Hiaasen starting Monday, November 6th. Please get a copy of this book for your child as soon as possible so we can all begin reading it as a class—you can get it from your local library (that’s what I did), a local bookstore, or Amazon if need be.
We’ve started our new Social Studies unit, and for the next two and a half weeks your child will be working on designing a website to share what they learn about an ancient civilization of their choice. There will be some time in class to work on this project, but students may need to spend some of their time outside of class reading or writing to complete the project by the deadline of Friday, November 10th. Additional information and resources can be found on Google Classroom.
As a reminder, there will be no school on Tuesday, November 7th in observation of Election Day, and our Thanksgiving Break will run from November 23rd–27th.
And now, the real star of this blog post: the winner of our school’s October Story Contest! This month students were inspired by the Halloween season to write scary short stories, and this month our community chose sixth grader Andrew Butler’s story “No Entry Beyond This Point…Deck 11” as our winner. Turn out the lights and prepare to be thrilled by Andrew’s gripping story about time traveling horror. Congratulations, Andrew!
The summer was hot and humid. The Jonson family wanted to get away, when they were watching tv they saw an ad for Ante Cruises. The next day, the dad called their travel agent and booked a flight to New Orleans on American airlines and a room on the ship. They were excited because they knew they'd be chilling on the poolside on a deck aboard a giant cruise ship in two short weeks. Two weeks later, the family drove to the airport early because they liked their airport lounge. When they came down to go to their gate, they passed a gate where a plane was coming from New Orleans. The daughter noticed that the people coming off the plane were wearing a dazed look of terror. The mom and dad didn’t seem to notice.
When they arrived in New Orleans, the Jonson family left the airport quickly. As they approached the port, they saw an enormous red, black, and white vessel, called Bèl. As they boarded the cruise ship, the friendly crew greeted the family. After receiving the safety briefing, they stepped onto the elevator, headed for the pool, then noticed a mysterious button. The button said in small print “Do not press”. Afterward, they sailed away.
On the cruise ship, the son mistakenly pressed deck 11 instead of deck 12 when going to see a show later during their vacation. They found they could not press any more buttons when they stepped off the elevator. The temperature on the deck was hot, like being inside an oven, with red lights and an endless hallway. The elevator miraculously disappeared. They were running the find an exit back to the elevator.
In a matter of seconds, the deck cooled down, and along with the temperature change, the hallway changed too. The hallway turned into a large space with blank walls, and monsters were lurking. A zombie-like creature launched at the daughter, but the dad could protect her. Then there were a few bird-fishlike creatures with sharp teeth that bit the family. When the family enters a random cabin through the window, they can see a gigantic megalodon. The large shark-like creature launched out of the water and smashed into the window.
When they left the room, the hallway looked abandoned. The odor of the moldy carpet was unbearable, and the wallpaper was torn to reveal walls that had giant holes in them. It looked like something from a dystopian future. They could see the elevator, but it was not operational. There was no one out there when the family yelled out. There was a sound like a torch being lit. After searching for the sound for some time, the family was about to give up. Until they saw a robot with cameras that looked like glasses. There was a staircase in front of them, and the robot pointed them there.
The family walked down it and could get to the theater at their current time, not in the future. The family started to process what had just happened; they were traumatized that they went to the future and back. The family stayed in their rooms for the rest of the trip. When they flew back to Chicago, Chicago, they looked like the people they saw coming off the plane before their trip.
Our First Monthly Story Contest Winner!
Hello again, Philomath community! It’s hard to believe, but we’re coming up on the final two weeks of the first quarter of the 2022–23 school year. We’ve got a lot of exciting things happening in our three core classes:
The 6th Grade students (and 4th Grade if they opted in) should be wrapping up their Science data collection for the seeds they have been growing during the last three weeks. Remember that we are studying the effects of the environment and genetics on how and how fast a plant or seed can grow. Students should be measuring and recording so they have data to communicate to their peers on Monday, the first day of our next Science unit. 4th Grade’s unit will be “Our Wonderful World” with a focus on the physical processes that shape our planet. 6th Graders will be focusing on the second half of their first unit (where we learned about adaptations, specialized structures, cells, and cell parts) and studying the flow of energy and factors that influence growth.
In both 4th Grade and 6th Grade, the students will be moving onto new topics next week. 4th Grade will be using what they know about multiplying 1-digit numbers by 2, 3, and 4-digit numbers to being learning how to multiply 2-digit by 2-digit numbers. In 6th Grade, the end of the first unit is approaching and it’s almost time to move on from Rates and Ratios. The only task left for the unit is the review!
In Social Studies, students completed and delivered a presentation about how humans move and interact with the environment in response to a changing landscape. For our next Social Studies unit, beginning October 24th, we’ll look at how and why ancient civilizations formed, grew, and perished.
ELA class has concluded a short reading project in which students read and responded to a biography about an important person from history. They’ll begin next week by sharing some of what they learned with the class, and they’ll also be starting a short research paper project that will be due on Friday, October 7th.
Just a reminder that our fall break is fast approaching, running from October 8th through October 16th. You’ll be receiving a progress report about your child’s educational journey shortly after the end of the first quarter. Tuition for the second quarter will be due no later than Monday, October 17th.
And last but certainly not least, here’s the winner of the first-ever Philomath Story Contest! This month students wrote short original works of fiction on the theme of learning, and they chose “Max and Rick” by fourth grader Nico Hennon as the winner. Nico’s work is a funny, creative story about the importance of friendship and a celebration of people’s ability to change for the better, and we’re thrilled to share her writing with the Philomath community. Congratulations, Nico!
Max And Rick
by Nico Hennon
Once upon a time there was…
“YO YO stop that bro I'm the bully of this story and we're not about to make this a fairy tale.”
“Woah calm down Max. Hi I am a nerd but my real name is Rick”.
“Can we have it like an introduction so every main character will say like um wut their name is and one thing they like to do” said the nerd.
“Sure I like that idea, '' said the bully.
“Hi, I am the bully. “My name is Max and I like to play ummm soccer”.
“Hi, I'm a nerd”. “My name is Rick and I like to do math”.
“I am Maxis' friend and I like to play soccer and bully kids, my name is Tg”.
”Hi I am the author and WHY ARE THERE SO MANY MAIN CHARACTERS i like to write ok story time”.
There was this bully named Max and he had a friend named TG and there was this one guy they liked to bully a lot. And they called him a nerd but his real name is Rick poor Rick. So Max and Tg would always track Rick down and they would bully him and call him a nerd and a weirdo and a loser. But one day a kid named Jack was a nerd too. And they bullied Jack a lot more than Rick and Rick felt bad for Jack so one day Rick saw Max and Tg bullying Jack so Rick said. “HEY LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!”
“what did you say to me NERD”.
“I told you to leave him alone”
“hey hey i'm over here come get me run Rick ''Jack said.
Jack and Rick ran as far as they could and they became best friends. They learned that standing up to your bully can make you have a real friend.
Ok ok i know what you mite be thinking but no the story is not done yet we still have a little to go ok. 5 months later Max had a really important test coming up and he needed a toter so he went to the only person he could think of… Rick. But he had bullied Rick so much Max was thinking that what if he said no and Max would fail the test. Max needed a plan so he was thinking and thinking and he came up with the best plan in the world or so he thot. So the next day he went to Rick's house and got down on his knees and begged that Rick would touter him but Rick just slammed the door. Max ringed agen and said,
“Rick i will do anything if you would turter me”
“ok i will do it on one condition you have to pay attention”
“ok i'll do it” said Max.
but the first lesson did not go so well. The bully would not concentrate so the nerd was nice and made math fun. The bully likes to play soccer. So Rick made a game where you have to hit a target and to win you hit that target you have to solve a problem. And to Max it was a lot of fun. two months later Max scored Really high on the test and he got into a really good college. And he was so grateful that the nerd did not give up on him.
The End
Heading into Social Studies
Hello and happy September, Philomath community! Hope the school year is going well for you so far. Just a friendly reminder that there will be no class held on Monday, September 5th in observance of Labor Day.
Our English and Language Arts class has been practicing important reading and comprehension strategies including close reading, skimming and scanning, and drawing inferences. After the long weekend we’ll be starting a long-term nonfiction reading project—to that end, please secure a copy of any of the books in the “Who Was __?” series from your local library, independent bookstore, or Amazon. Have your child choose a book about a person they’d like to know more about (I chose Marie Curie!). We’ll make a reading plan and begin discussing the book from Monday the 12th; if you can’t get a copy of one of those books before then, please let Ms. Althoff know as soon as possible. Also, look out for more information about our monthly writing contest coming out this next week!
In Math, 4th Grade just completed their first unit assessments to demonstrate mastery of place value understanding, addition, subtraction, rounding, and estimation. Next week we are onto Multiplication and Division!
In 6th Grade, the students have been focusing on factors, multiples, ratios, and rates. They are discovering the importance of determining the unit price of items sold in bulk (such an important life skill!) and have been identifying patterns in the relationships between numbers. The students will be moving on to ratio tables next week as they wrap up their first chapter.
The students completed their final research projects in the first Science unit of the semester: Extreme Adaptations. They presented on plants and animals that survive in extreme heat and cold or on several systems within the human body. The students spent their final day in class planning an experiment to determine how environment and genetics can affect how a plant grows. Does it matter how much sun a plant gets? Does every plant species require the same amount of sun? How much water is too much or too little? What if an animal eats the plant as soon as it starts to grow? These are just some of the questions that the students will be attempting to answer during their three-week “break” from Science.
With Science coming to a close for the time being, we’re going to move on to Social Studies! Our Social Studies class will happen at the same time and in the same Zoom room as Science, and will be taught by Professor Althoff. Our first unit will be focusing on the fundamentals of social studies and an introduction to ancient civilizations. Your child won’t need any special materials for this first unit, though there will be a few minor homework assignments over the next three weeks. Please make sure to check in with our four Google Classrooms to see if there are any assignments coming up or missing.
As always, please let either Professor Smith or Professor Althoff know if you have any questions about anything at all. Thanks for all you do, and enjoy your three-day weekend!
Week one: complete
Hey there, Philomath Microschool community! Professors Althoff and Smith here, happy to report a successful first full week of the school year. Among other things, students have learned about how images and words work together to express a message, as they’ve demonstrated with these awesome school memes!
In Math, 4th grade has been reviewing place value, rounding, and estimation. Next week we will focus on reviewing addition and subtraction with regrouping. In 6th grade, the students have been focused on their skills in mathematical practice (making sense of and persevering in solving problems, reasoning abstractly and quantitatively, constructing and defending mathematical arguments, modeling, using appropriate tools strategically, and attending to precision). Next week we start investigating rates and ratios.
In Science the students have already proven themselves to be skilled and curious researchers. 4th graders have been focusing on behavioral and structural adaptations that make certain animals well suited for thriving in the most extreme conditions. Whether it be in the extreme heat of the desert, extreme cold of the Arctic, or the darkness at the bottom of the ocean, animals can be found in places where we once thought life was impossible. We still have one more extreme environment to explore next week: extreme altitude.
In 6th grade, we have been focusing on finding out as much as we can about the basic building blocks of all living things: cells. The students have been researching both plant and animal cells looking for similarities, differences, parts, and functions. Next week we will move on to body systems and dive deeper into the specific cells needed within the human body.
And in English and Language Arts, we’ve introduced a few major routines that we’ll be following all year long. In addition to our Daily Oral Language, a quick sentence-correction activity that starts off every ELA class, we started keeping a running vocabulary list in the back of our notebooks. Students will be expected to add four or five new vocabulary words to their notebook every week, and we’ll be having vocabulary/spelling quizzes on those words every other week, so please check to make sure they’re keeping up!
Next week we have a few assignments to watch out for, including an in-class reading comprehension quiz due on Wednesday and
a vocabulary quiz on Friday.
That’s about all for now. Thank you for helping your child develop critical school habits like arriving to class on time and staying focused during the class period. It’s clear this is going to be an amazing school year. Thanks for all you do!
Starting off the year with a bang!
A big start to the 2022–23 school year!
Happy New School Year! The first day of the school year is quickly approaching and here are the answers to some of your most pressing questions:
What dates should we keep in mind?
Wednesday, August 10th: The first day of school! The semester officially starts at 9:00am Central (10:00am Eastern) and your child will have 3 back to back 50 minute sessions. Tuition for Quarter 1 ($1,150) is also due this day.
Monday, September 5th: It’s Labor Day and there will be no regularly scheduled classes on this day.
What is the schedule for the school day?
Excellent question! Here is the daily schedule for the first few weeks of Quarter 1.
9:00am-9:50am Central (10:00am-10:50am Eastern): Math
10:00am-10:50am: Science
11:00am-11:50am: English and Language Arts (ELA)
What will the first week of class look like?
We will start Quarter 1 with establishing expectations and routines, getting to know each other, and completing some diagnostic assessments to make sure your child’s learning plan is appropriate. Taking this time to break into the new school year helps us to establish what kind of learner preferences, skills, and areas for growth we will be working with this semester as well as giving us time to really get to know the social, emotional, and academic needs of each individual in class.
What materials will my child need on Day 1?
Your child will need to be prepared with a notebook and pencils. They will also need access to a device and the internet to make sure they can join the class. Students will also be joining GoogleClassrooms for each subject so it is important to make sure that each student is logged in to the email that they will be using this year.
I haven’t enrolled yet, is enrollment still open?
Yes! We are still accepting new students for the Fall 2022 semester.
What if I still have more questions?
You can always email us with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have and we will endeavor to provide you with information within 24 hours Monday-Friday. (It may take a little longer on the weekends.)
We look forward to beginning this new academic adventure with you and hope you are as excited as we are for August 10th.
