Happy Wednesday!

Greetings from Physical Science,

We are well into the fourth quarter now and students are actively engaged in studying physics.  We have been studying motion and with that Isaac Newton’s contribution to physics.  We began the unit by making measurements of distance and time and using them to calculate speed.  Students were tasked with chewing bubble gum in order to calculate their chomp speed.  We then moved quickly into topics such as velocity, acceleration, and momentum.

 This week we have been studying Isaac Newton and his 3 laws.  In studying force and Newton’s 2^nd Law, students timed how long it took to blow a golf ball a distance of 2 meters.  Using their average time, they then calculated the speed of the golf ball, followed by the acceleration.  With these calculations they were able to use Newton’s 2^nd Law to determine the force with which they blew.  There were prizes for the team with the “most hot air” or the team who used the most force when accelerating the golf ball.

I’m sure this quarter will fly by just as fast as the 3^rd quarter.  Students will take their 8^th grade science SOL on June 3.  This SOL will cover all 3 years of middle school science.  There will be a period of 6^th and 7^th grade science review in late May when Ms. Cabrera and Ms. Rigby will each take a turn reviewing with the 8^th grade science students.  We will then finish out the year by completing a fun project with paper cars.  As we finish out the year, it will be important for students to finish strong as they prepare to make the jump to high school in the fall.

Friday April 11, 2014

Spring has Sprung @ Walton

This past week at Walton has gone by like a blur.  We’ve had a million events this week.  The 8^th graders went and visited the capital in Richmond.  The 6^th graders went to Walnut Creek and did outside experiments.  The Future of Walton will visit Friday morning.  Each and everyday built upon the last and made for a great week.

Academically, we have been taking the Math and Language Arts MAP tests.  Students at all grade levels were taking the second round.  7th grade Language Arts students were working on Greek Mythology.

Next week rising 6^th grade parents and students visit Tuesday night.  We also will have an Activity day schedule on Friday the 18^th.

Enjoy the sun and have a great weekend

Light at the End of the Tunnel

 

            It has been a long and arduous third quarter!  Even though it encompassed the traditional nine weeks, the snow days, delays, and standardized testing days made the weeks seem much longer.  The kids weathered the storms pretty well, however, and I’m proud of their accomplishments. 

Read 180 students welcomed three practicum students enrolled in UVA’s Curry School of Education.  These UVA students observed the Read 180 program, learning about the individualized skill-building on the computer as well as the guided instruction using Scholastic magazine articles.  In the week before Spring Break, each Curry student taught one lesson to a small group of Walton students.  The kids performed well and the Curry students received a good report from their supervisor.

In mid-March, Read 180 students completed another round of Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) testing.  Despite the interruptions from snow days, students performed brilliantly: almost everyone showed growth and four kids tested out of the reading intervention program!  Some of the kids have made remarkable progress, mastering four years of reading growth in less than three years. These students have selected new exploratory classes and will be able to explore new interests in this last quarter.  I’m sorry to lose people from my class, but I’m so proud of their efforts and accomplishments.  I can’t help sending them to the office to show off their high scores to the principals and bragging about their achievements to their teachers!

In my Honors Language Arts class, students demonstrated tremendous progress on the Winter MAP test.  Students who had already tested above grade level made stellar improvement; much of the class reads on an eleventh or twelfth grade level!  They worked hard to prepare for the 8^th grade Writing SOL, completing four practice essays in four weeks.  They were able to get familiar with the prompts (posted ahead of time by the DOE) and entered the testing zone with calm confidence.  I know that I push the students hard and demand a lot from them.  Watching them grow as writers and mature as problem-solvers makes me very proud! 

As we enter this fourth quarter, everyone’s thoughts turn to the end of the year (fingers crossed that the snow is over!) and plans for the summer.  Keeping kids on track and performing their best as the weather finally turns warm will be a challenge.  However, my students have proven that they can maintain their focus despite distractions and continuously work to impress me.  I can’t wait to enjoy these next nine weeks with my kids!

Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, April 13, has been celebrated at UVA since the University’s first academic session. Since April 13th falls on a weekend this year, Founder's Day is being celebrated this Friday, April 11th.

The Tom Tom Founder’s Festival publicly acknowledges this historic day with back-to-back talks, workshops, panels, installations, concerts and block parties. The converging disciplines of music, art, design, business, science and technology connect people and new ideas to the future.

Walton students, along with many other students from Albemarle County Public Schools will be presenting on Saturday from 12-3 at Lee Park about some of these futuristic ideas … come out and show your support for them, and see a lot of cool stuff while you’re there!

The Genius Hour Expo is a gathering of students who embody the maker ethos. Innovators of all ages come together to show off their best ideas, from Robotics to 3D printing. The Genius Hour Expo is like a science fair that spans all ages & interests, featuring experimentation across science, engineering, art, performance, and craft. Making these projects inspires students young and old to be the authors of their own educational careers and our future leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs.