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Archived Letters to Parents:
January 8, 2007 Dear Families,
Thanks for reading! Hope to see many of you on Friday!
All the best,
Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher lauren@compass-school.org, (802)387-5324
December 11, 2006 Dear Families, Last week students worked very hard even though many of them were tired, fighting off (or recovering from) colds, and hoping for snow! As a Middle School, we discussed our newsletter and brainstormed ways to make the next one even better. I was impressed by the excellence that the 7th and 8th graders demonstrated in terms of reviewing their work critically and problem solving ways to make the 2nd newsletter more in-depth and encompassing. In Humanities, Block 2 students worked hard on putting together a skit and activities for Julia’s 9/10th grade Humanities class in order to teach them about colons and semicolon usage. They also finished reading The Giver and will begin Lord of the Flies this week. Block 1 is almost finished reading Lord of the Flies and has engaged in some thoughtful conversations about the book. This week students will begin to work with their ancient world group and will prepare for Ancient Art Week next week.
All the best,
Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher lauren@compass-school.org, (802)387-5324
November 28, 2006 Dear Families, I hope you all had a restful and happy Thanksgiving with family and friends! This week in Humanities, we’ll be finishing up our survival (Block 1) and Utopia (Block 2) projects and presenting to the class. We’ll continue with Lord of the Flies (Block 1) and The Giver (Block 2) and will learn about prehistoric man. On Friday, Manya Gordon will be presenting a slideshow of her world travels last year to help us think in a more global context as we move further into thinking about the ancient world. How lucky we are to have 2 world travelers in our class! Our newsletter is almost ready for release! Look for it later this week. All the best,
Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher lauren@compass-school.org, (802)387-5324
November 13, 2006 Dear Families, Last week was an amazing Health and Culture Week! We attended interesting workshops, listened to inspiring speakers, and shared music and energy with our visitors from Baltimore. Many, many thanks to the Lawrences, Gordons, Pedigos, Pellerins, Swansons, Turners, Janet, Julia and Amah for opening their homes and/or helping to find places for the Baltimore visitors to stay. They had an amazing time and loved their Vermont hosts. The week before, we enjoyed some wonderful Presentations of Learning. The students worked very hard to prepare them and we were extremely impressed by their articulation of their learnings and experiences and the respect with which they all listened to each other. Thanks to those parents who were able to come to some of these presentations! We will try to schedule the next round of Presentations at a time when more parents can attend. This week we will beginning reading Lord of the Flies (1st Block) and The Giver (2nd Block) together. We will also begin our unit on the Ancient World. Some of the “identity” books are still missing! Please remind your child to bring these books back. They belong to Compass School. It was wonderful to have a chance to talk with the 7th graders and their parents during conferences. I was impressed by the dedication you all have to your children’s successful development as people and as students. Please feel free to follow up on any of our conversations via email or telephone.
Thanks and have a great week!
All the best,
Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher lauren@compass-school.org, (802)387-5324
P.S. If it is helpful for you and your child to review this homework page and letter each week, then I will continue to check for parent/guardian signatures. If you do not feel the need to review and sign this homework schedule and letter, then I will not expect them to bring. I will continue to send this packet home with each student every week and the letter and homework are posted on my Compass website. Thanks!
___ I DO want to review the weekly Humanities homework schedule and letter. I will sign and return this HW schedule and letter each week.
___ I may review the weekly Humanities homework schedule and letter, but I don’t feel the need to sign and return these letters.
Student Signature: _________________________________________
Parent Signature ___________________________________________
October 23, 2006 Dear Families, The weeks are flying like leaves off a tree. In only two short weeks, the trimester will be over! The Middle School has a lot to do. We are preparing our newsletter for publication, collecting our work and thoughts for Presentations of Learning and Trimester Portfolios, and planning for the visit from our new Baltimore friends. In Humanities, we will focus on these projects, wrap up our“Who Am I?” unit, have a short Trimester Exam (based on the spelling, vocab, grammar rules, geography, and other projects we have done this trimester) and debrief our theater experience last week. The play was wonderful! Thanks to Michele and Nolan Turner and Lisa Nigro for coming with us. Many students owe me assignments. I have given all of them print-outs with a list of work that they owe me. Please encourage your child to get this work in so he/she will get credit for it. I will not accept work after the close of the trimester (Nov. 3rd). Students who owe work now will be required to attend lunchtime and after-school study hall (2:30-4 on Wednesdays and Fridays) until the work is turned in. I hope all of you are doing well. I continue to enjoy each day that I spend with your children. They make me smile, laugh, and think about life in new ways. I feel very lucky to teach and learn from each and every one of them. Thanks and have a great week!
All the best,
Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher lauren@compass-school.org, (802)387-5324
P.S. Thanks to those of you who got back to us last week about possibly hosting Baltimore students. If you did not fill this out last week, please send it in with your child this week. Thank you so much for your generosity!!
October 16, 2006 Dear Families, Last week we all survived the NECAP testing and then got back to work on our newsletter, our final assessment project for the books students chose to read, our trimester portfolios and reflections on our significant learnings from this trimester so far. (It is rapidly drawing to a close!) We also finished up the final masks and writings and the Block 1 Humanities class shared theirs in a very groovy coffee house. The classroom was transformed, complete with a black light and hot chocolate. It was a moving experience to share such personal reflections with one another. I was so impressed by the quality of writing and thought and by the care and respect that the class showed toward one another. This is not something I would do with just any group of young people. This group is extraordinary in so many ways. We have a short week this week. Block 2 will hold their mask Coffee House, we will continue our newsletter, portfolio and Presentation of Learning preparation and do some background explorations on the content of the play that we will see on Wednesday, Metamorphoses. There is still a ticket available for a parent or guardian interested in attending with us. Students should dress appropriately for the theater and should bring a bag lunch to eat on the bus on the way home from the play. We will return to campus around 12:45. It would be a good idea for students to bring a snack to eat on the way there. Thursday and Friday are Teacher In-Service days and there will be no school.
Thanks and have a great week!
All the best,
Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher lauren@compass-school.org, (802)387-5324
October 9, 2006 Dear Families, Thanks to all of you who came out for the potluck last Thursday. It was so great to meet so many of you and share such delicious food. Thanks also to any of you who came out and helped with the Compass booth at the Putney School’s Harvest Festival. What busy, beautiful days Autumn brings! This week we are busy with NECAP testing. This will take up Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings and students will not be assigned homework Monday and Tuesday nights. We are preparing for a coffee house celebration (sans coffee) on Friday (Block 1 Humanities) and next Monday (Block 2 Humanities) in which we will share our masks and writing with each other. Stop by the classroom sometime to see their mask masterpieces and ask your child about their writing. They’ve all done some stunning work! There are still a few permission slips missing for the play next week so please get those in with the $8 for the ticket. One parent realized that she cannot come and her ticket is up for grabs, so please contact me if you’d like to join us for Metamorphoses on October 18th at 10am in Weston, VT. Thanks and have a great week!
All the best,
Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher lauren@compass-school.org, (802)387-5324
October 2, 2006 ear Families of 7th/8th Graders, This past week, we were immersed in our mask projects. The classroom turned into an art workshop with glue, paints, glitter, ribbon, and even macaroni everywhere! The masks are looking stunning and the writing to go with them has been evolving in amazing ways as we move from draft to draft. This week, a final draft is due on Thursday. Students have also continued to present current events. Generally, the presentations have been informative and entertaining. Although I am reminding students of when their presentations are due, you may wish to help your child remember to prepare for this assignment. The list of students and their presentation due dates are posted on my website under “Current Events” in the Humanities section. There is also a list posted in the classroom. On Friday, the whole school will be climbing Mt. Monadnock near Keene, NH so there will be no classes that day. Be sure to send your child to school on Friday with water bottles, a lunch, sturdy shoes or boots to hike in and a few layers of warmer clothes for the summit. WE WILL BE LEAVING COMPASS AT 8:15am, so be sure that your child is there at 8:00am that day. Students need to bring in $2 for the park entry fee. Advisors will collect the money. Next week, all 7th and 8th graders will be taking the NECAP standardized tests. We plan to get through these during the first 3 days of next week. No homework will be assigned on these nights to ensure that the students will get a good night’s rest before taking the exams. Please contact us if you have any questions about this testing. Please note the attached letter about the Middle School Family Potluck occurring this Thursday night at 6pm. Please return the bottom portion of the letter with your child or email me so we know how many people are planning to attend. It should be a fun and informative evening! Thanks and have a beautiful week! All the best, Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher
September 25, 2006 Families of 7th/8th Graders, This past week we were busy with the fun and messy task of making plaster masks of each other’s faces. We also worked on the narratives, poems and stories that will help to explain the symbolism behind our masks. This assignment is deeply self-reflective and requires students to look at themselves honestly and thoughtfully. It is a difficult assignment in many ways, but I have been greatly moved and impressed by the rough drafts that have been produced so far. We spent some time peer editing and getting feedback from each other about our writing. This week we will produce a second draft and move towards a final one. This week we will also work on completing our masks, we will have some mini-lessons in drafting and grammatical concepts that will help to strengthen our mask writings, and will work on our newsletter, among other things. Please look in the Compass newsletter and for a letter that will be coming home soon about a 7th/8th grade potluck on Thursday, October 5th! Mark your calendar! We hope everyone can make it. I’ve enjoyed meeting and corresponding with many of you. I encourage you to contact me at any time if you have questions or concerns about your child and his or her life at school. Thanks and have a beautiful week!
September 18, 2006
Dear Families of 7th/8th Graders, I’m sure you all heard stories about making it across the pond last Monday! We learned a lot about each other and about communication that day and had a lot of fun in the process. We also had gorgeous weather! Last week we chose quotations that inspired us or were important to us and presented them artistically to the class. We also started on our newsletter, had a grammar competition, brushed up on our New England geography, read some challenging stories by Alice Walker and Ursula Hegi and responded individually in reading logs and as a class. We thought about how we choose books to read and spent time looking through a variety of books that I’d chosen for their similar themes of changing identity and self-reflection. Each one of us chose a book that we want to spend time reading and thinking about over the next few weeks. ** (Please see note below.)
Our mask-making was postponed due to weather and we’ll plan to do those this week. Please send in an old shirt that can get plaster on it. We’ll work on a reflective piece of writing to accompany this project. We’ll also start reading our choice book, continue working on the newsletter, work on some specific grammar issues, and begin our current events presentations. This is a four-day week since Friday is a Teacher In-Service Day. On Friday, Alexandra, Bruce and I will be taking a group of students to the Coalition for Essential Schools’ Student Summit at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, NH. The students who have expressed interest in 7th/8th grade are: Alina, Elliott, Manya, Dylan, and Meghan. Those students need to be at Compass by 8:10 on Friday morning or may meet us at Antioch at 9am. If you are running late on Friday, call my cell phone at 410 703-8414. We will leave promptly at 8:15am. If parents/guardians of these students have questions about this event, please feel free to contact me. Thanks and have a beautiful week! All the best, Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher lauren@compass-school.org home phone: (802)387-5324
** Please note that one of the book choices was Night by Elie Wiesel. For those who have not read this powerful novel, it is a graphic and personal account of a Holocaust survivor’s time in concentration camps. As you can imagine, it is quite emotionally demanding. It is a wonderful and eye-opening novel, but I want to be sure that parents understand the mature content of this book. Please speak to your child to see which book he/she chose. If he/she chose Night, please write a note here telling me that you approve of this choice.
September 11, 2006 Dear Parents and Guardians, We’re off to a great start. What an energetic, thoughtful, and humorous group of 7th and 8th graders! Last week we spent time getting to know each other and reflecting on our goals and thoughts about ourselves as writers and readers. All 7th and 8th graders met together to discuss Compass’ learning contract, our expectations of one another and how we hope to establish the Middle School as a cohesive group with a strong, productive presence at Compass. We also brainstormed ideas for our brand new newsletter (due out at the end of the trimester). This week we will start off with a group initiative that will challenge us all to think about the way we communicate and work as a team. Back in the classroom (and on the lawn outside of our classroom), we will be making masks of our own faces and reflecting on our personal identities as well as our sense of “home”. We will read a few short stories, make sure we know our geography of New England and will begin to construct personal vocabulary lists. We will begin our Writer’s Workshop on Wednesday. At the end of the week, students will be choosing books to read around the theme of “identity” from a suggested list of books and the books themselves. We need all theater trip permission slips and money this week. Thank you for sending this in promptly with your child. You can print out another copy of the permission slip from my website under the “Middle School Calendar of Events” subsection of the “News” section. Attached you will see your child’s reading contract for the trimester. He or she decided upon the number of days per week and minutes per day that he or she will read. We discussed whether this was truly reasonable and realistic, made some adjustments, and then signed the reading contract. A Weekly Reading Record will be sent home each week for each student to record his or her reading. Please support your child in staying on top of his or her goal and contact me if it seems like they are struggling with the goal they have set for themselves. I feel so lucky to be working with your child. This is truly a gifted and lovely group of young people. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. All the best, Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher September 5, 2006
Dear Parents and Guardians, I will do my best to communicate with you as much as possible during the school year. Support at home is so important and I appreciate everything that you do. On Mondays during the first trimester, I will send home the week’s homework and a short description of the plans for the week. I request that you sign and date this homework assignment page so I know that you are aware of the work required of your child at home during that week. Please try to remind your child to show you his/her homework assignment sheet. During conferences at the end of the trimester we will discuss whether this practice has been helpful and/or desirable. I hope this will help to keep a line of communication open and to provide a basis for discussion and feedback. I am very open to your comments, concerns and suggestions as to how I can better serve the needs of your child. Please feel free to contact me at any time via phone, email or in person. Also check my Compass website (http://www.staff.compass-school.org/~lauren/) for updates, news and homework. I am truly honored to have this opportunity to teach your children. It’s going to be an exciting year.
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