From the Desk of Mrs. Contrino

Tier 2 ELA News

Grade 6 and 7 Tier 2 ELA

This year students who are looking for a challenge while in their regular education classes can explore reading and writing challenges while completing interesting and engaging activities in a virtual classroom.  One particular student favorite is the Annual Creepy Story Contest. The 6^th graders will be reading a packet of 7^th grade submitted stories, and voting for their favorites.  The 7^th graders will be judging the 6^th grade submitted entries. It is so exciting and motivating for our young writers to read, critique, and learn from the work of other students!

Tier 3 Advanced ELA News

Grade 6 Advanced ELA

The 6th graders have begun reading their first novel of the year, The Graveyard Book; a dark and delightful gothic fantasy by Neil Gaiman.  The students typically read 60 pages for homework each week, and return to class ready to discuss and write about key elements of the novel.  In addition, everyone has been working diligently on the monthly writing assignment, to be written and shared through our Google Classroom .  At the end of October, we will be conducting our 12th Annual Creepy Story Contest! The 6^th graders will be reading a packet of 7^th grade stories, and voting for their favorites.  The 7^th graders will be judging the 6^th grade entries. It is so exciting and motivating for our young writers to read, critique, and learn from the work of other students!

Grade 7 Advanced ELA

The 7th graders and I have kicked off the new school year by reading and enthusiastically discussing various classic short stories, such as The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and Click Clack the Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman. We have just begun reading our first novel of the year, Marcelo in the Real World, the story of a seventeen-year-old who hears music in his head as a result of mild autism, by Francisco X. Stork. Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the intensity and purity of its voice, this award winning novel is a love story, a legal drama, and a celebration of the music each of us hears inside. On the writing front, these eager young authors have been thoughtfully crafting their own chilling short stories for entry in the 12th Annual Creepy Story Contest. I am excited to see the increased complexity and sophistication in their writing compared with the stories that they wrote last year!

Tier 3 Future Problem Solving News

Grades 6 and 7 Future Problem Solving (FPS) 

We are excited to have a large number of 6^th graders who have signed on to learn the basics of a very complex and challenging component of the FPS Program, Global Issues Problem Solving. GIPS is a competitive component of the Future Problem Solving Program, which can be accomplished as a team (up to 4) or individual activity in which participants research a series of global topics and learn a six-step creative problem solving process.  

We are also thrilled to be registering five 7^th grade BIS FPS teams, who will be competing for the first time in the Grade 7-9 Middle Division of Future Problem Solving International.  All FPS competitors, in Barnstable and throughout the world, have begun the year with a “practice problem,” which focuses on the first topic of the FPS season: E-Waste.  All teams have been learning or refining their understanding of the first three steps of the problem solving process: 

1. Identify 16 “challenges” the team recognizes within the Future Scene. 

2. Select an Underlying Problem - determine which of the 16 challenges is “most solvable?” 

3. Produce 16 solution ideas for the one Underlying Problem. 

Our 7^th grade teams are fully competitive this year; and they will be hard at work measuring their critical and creative thinking skills against other middle school FPS teams from around Massachusetts. The first practice problem competition will occur in the BIS Library on October 20.  Let’s Go Barnstable!

From the Desk of Ms. Meredith

Tier 1 News

Tier 1 - 6th Grade

I am very excited to bring back a fun lab that all 6th Grade BIS students participate in, but was suspended during the pandemic.  During Cape & Islands STEM week (Oct 17 - 21), every 6th Grade science class is invited into my classroom to extract DNA from a strawberry (one class at a time,of course!)  It is a great opportunity for all students to experience the challenging topics and activities that we offer in Gateway.

Tier 1 - 7th Grade 

This pilot class is offered this year to 7th grade students.  During the GATEWAY Tier 1 class (actually 50 minutes!) students will reflect on what their passions are, learn and research a topic or question of their choice, and then create a Passion Project which will be shared out to the BIS and Cape Cod Community.  Stay tuned for updates on this process and when you will be able to see these amazing projects in person!

Tier 2 STEM and Math News

Tier 2 Science 

This year, students who are looking for a challenge while in their regular education classes can explore Biology, Physical Science and Engineering while completing interesting and engaging activities in a virtual classroom.  

Tier 2 Math 

This year, students who are looking for a challenge while in their regular education classes can explore mathematical topics such as Logic, Algebra, Geometry and Probability while completing interesting and engaging activities in a virtual classroom.

Tier 3 STEM News

Grade 6 STEM

In 6th grade STEM, we start the year learning about the Scientific Method and experimental design.  Students will learn what is required to create a valid and unbiased experiment.  After learning about bacteria & viruses, students will conduct an experiment to test the 5-second rule.  Finally, they will use what they know about experimental design to create their own experiment on bacteria.  During this process, students will start to practice original thinking and higher-order thinking skills to write a conclusion to their experiment. Click here to view the learning plan for this unit. 

Grade 7 STEM

In our first unit, 7th grade STEM students will learn about DNA, its structure and function as well as its applications in Forensic Science.  After learning about the components of the DNA molecule, they will create a model made of candy (and then happily eat it so I’ll take pictures so you can see them!) They will also practice decoding DNA as they learn that DNA’s function is to code for amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.  And finally, after extracting DNA from a strawberry, and themselves, they will learn about how DNA is used in solving crimes.  They will then use this knowledge to solve the mystery of Princess Anastasia.  Click here to view the learning plan for this unit.

Tier 3 Advanced Math News

Grade 6 Advanced Math

The first unit this year in 6th Grade Advanced Math is called “Numbers and their Inverses.”  Students learn there are many more numbers than they have been exposed to in the past.  First we learn about the real numbers system, including natural numbers, whole numbers, integers, rational numbers and irrational numbers.  Students will then learn about additive and multiplicative inverses, as well as squares and square roots.  All of these numbers will be used (and inversed) in our next unit! Click here to view the learning plan for this unit.

Grade 7 Advanced Math

We dive right into 7th Grade Advanced Math by learning about irrational numbers.  First we approximate their value and placement on a numbers line (not actually possible), and then how to simplify them in their radical form.  Students will then perform adding, subtracting & multiplying with radical numbers.  Finally we will address the essential question: how do you take the square root of a negative number? This leads us out of the realm of real numbers and into imaginary ones.  Click here to view the learning plan for this unit.