It's "snow" much fun!

Thanks to the school for getting these awesome snow tubes, and thanks to our learning community's "Healthy Helpers" wellness group for planning a fun outdoor afternoon to get some exercise!

Apparently Morgan was too tired to pull Raeanna up the hill!

Andoni smothered Justin to get in on the ride!

Alyssa and Desiree taking a spin down the hill!

Corey hit the jump just in time for Ms. Maguire to hit the shutter!

Trimester 2 Learning Showcases

Please use the links below to sign up for Learning Showcases.  We're looking forward to seeing all our Dynamic Design families!

Monday, March 24

Tuesday, March 25

Wednesday, March 26

Thursday, March 27

Call or email the team with any questions.

What's New?

We've been awfully busy in Dynamic Design.  So busy we forget to update this blog!

In Language Arts, students have been delving into some complex literary terms vocabulary - everything from foreshadowing to diction to connotation, to name a few!  They are also getting instruction, gaining new skills, and refining their research report writing process. The theme of the research?  The 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, of course!  Focusing on one American Olympian, students are researching to report on the question, "How did this Olympian get to where they are today?" and they will report on performance results from the games, as well.  A few have already been lucky enough to have selected gold-medal-winning American Olympians, such as Men's Slopestyle Snowboarding Gold Medalist Sage Kotsenburg!

In Math, 8th graders are looking at data and statistics with histograms, box-and-whisker plots, and more.  7th graders have moved from ratios into unit rates and finding equations.  Both groups are doing a lot of work to improve their basic math computation skills, such as working with fractions, decimals, and percents.  Students use WIN time for individualized self-directed instruction and practice to test out of their skills and to prepare them for the next Basic Math Skills Assessment.

21st Century has us digging deep into earth and space science.  We have learned about rocks, minerals, the solar system, plate tectonics, and more.  Mr. Citro has all kinds of models, materials, hands-on labs, and investigations for everyone to explore.  In addition, he tries to work in "the science of the Olympics" during morning meeting, from the friction caused by skis on snow, to the types of energy produced and absorbed during crashes and falls!

MLK Jr. Day

Students in Dynamic Design used the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for a lesson on primary source documents and comprehending/analyzing informational text.  As a culmination of the mini-lessons used to celebrate his day, the students performed two sections of his "I Have a Dream" speech in a speak chorus format.

Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours!

 

Stewardship & Citizenship Culminating Video Presentation

Check out this great video on our first trimester work put together by the Dynamic Design Video Production Team!

CULMINATING EVENT SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

The week of December 16th is the Culminating Event Week for our first thematic unit, "We the People: Government and Citizenship."

We have a variety of events planned during the week for our students to demonstrate the work they have been doing all trimester long as active and involved citizens within our Dynamic Design Learning Community, the St. Albans City School community, and extending beyond to greater community needs and government.  The schedule is as follows:

Monday, Dec 16	11:30am - 12:00n	Team Job Presentations	Students will present the work they do in Dynamic Design team jobs to demonstrate citizenship (oral group presentations)
Tuesday, Dec 17	8:30am - 9:30am	Guest Speaker: VT Representative Mike McCarthy (Franklin 3-1)	Mike, a state representative for St. Albans and local business owner, will lead a discussion on the importance of young people being involved as active citizens in local government and organizations. (Mike is currently one of only 7 out of 180 members of the state legislature under age 35!)
Tuesday, Dec 17	11:30am - 12:00n	Stewardship Presentations	In a gallery-style display, students will present the work they do on a weekly basis to fill a need and serve the St. Albans City School community, thinking about how to extend that work to the greater community.
Wednesday, Dec 18	11:30am - 12:00n	Socratic Seminar	Each week, students have responded to various text and media in a socratic seminar discussion.  On this day, they will model the seminar, a method for deep questioning and higher-level understanding, in 3 separate groups according to topic choice of interest (Local crime & drugs, Sports Injuries, The desensitizing effect of media on youth)
Thursday, Dec 19	11:30am - 12:00n	Government Video	Students have produced a short video on the Dynamic Design government established for this theme’s project-based learning and on what citizenship means to our students now.

Please feel free to join us for any or all of these events as your schedule allows.  We look forward to seeing you.

Learning Showcases

Thank you to all who participated in our learning showcases last week. We hope everyone received helpful information, and we look forward to our Designers working toward their newly set Trimester 2 Goals. If you weren't able to come in and would still like to set up a Learning Showcase to see your student's work and check-in with the Dynamic Design teachers, please feel free to email or call (527-0565 x2013).

Day of Code

On Monday, December 9th, City School participated in a school-wide "Day of Code" event to celebrate Computer Science Education Week.  Students did coding activities in content area classes, including a writing contest, participated in virtual and interactive presentations with local game programmers and website developers, did both online and unplugged coding activities, and a few girls took part in a roundtable conversation about women in computer science careers.

Big Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to put this day together.

Check out the Day of Code Website for more information about our day.

Learning Showcase Conference Sign-Ups

The week of December 2nd is time for Learning Showcases. Your son or daughter will present their e-Portfolio to you, and it is a time to check in with teachers to review PowerSchool grade reports and if you have any questions or concerns.

Please sign up for only one slot. You may see duplicate or overlapping times - this is because we run multiple showcases at a time and the team rotates through.

Follow these links (click on the date) to view available times and sign up for a showcase. Please sign up using both Your Name(s) and (Student's name). Thanks!

Monday, December 2 (afternoon)

Tuesday, December 3 (afternoon)

Wednesday, December 4 (early morning, afternoon, and early evening)

Thursday, December 5 (early morning, afternoon, and evening)


(Remember, there is no school on Friday, December 6th!)