BCMS Brag Board
March 2017
Spellebrity Video Contest
THANK YOU to everyone who has voted for our video! IF you have not yet voted,
PLEASE, PLEASE do so before noon Saturday 3/25!
We are currently in 5th place and need to stay in 1st-5th place until noon tomorrow
to become a NATIONAL FINALIST and go to Washington DC!
Here are the directions to vote, it takes a few minutes to complete the process with
email verification, but WE REALLY APPRECIATE your time and SUPPORT for students in
BRANCHBURG!
1. Go Spellebrity website
2. Click LOGIN on the right side.
3. Click REGISTER HERE
4. Fill in the registration form with an email address and choose an easy 6 letter
password.
5. Go to your email and click the email from Scripps National Spelling Bee.
6. Click VOTE UNDER Adventures in Reading to support The Innovators video! The
thumb should turn red and the word votechange to undo once you have voted.
The Innovators video team really appreciates your vote for the Spellebrity Video Contest so that they can premier their video at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC.
Voting closes NOON tomorrow, 3/25, and we have to stay in the top 5!
Art Achievement
Various pieces of artwork from Miss Russo’s and Mr. Kupcha’s classes were
selected to be on display at the Somerset County Youth Art Month Exhibit
at the Center for Contemporary Art in
Bedminster, NJ.
Enrichment Day 2
Students and staff participated in Enrichment Day 2 and it was a great success! Over
180 students were on ten different, small group field trips, 150 students participated
in our a Spring Pop-up Gallery with displays of art from artistic activities and 40
students from four performance enrichment groups showed their work at the Gallery .
It's truly inspiring to see so many students and staff collaborating on activities that
magnify their strengths and interests or trying something totally new!
The Spring Enrichment Day included trips to a Kissimmee Pottery Studio for clay on a
pottery wheel, rock climbing at Defy Gravity and Rutgers University for a study of
physics, nutrition and growth mindset, Washington's Crossing State Park Museum and
Vanderveer House for historical reenactments, Strength & Honor Fitness for exercise
and nutrition, Sophie's French Bistro for French culture and crepes, geocaching at
Duke Farms for orienteering and problem solving, Pinot's Palette for painting, math
and OJ, and the Branchburg Police Department for police explorer training.
Some students chose to participate in service activities like Ziti for the Needy and
Supporting SHIP as well as Blankets for a Cause making fleece throws for hospitalized
children. Others pursued their interest in science or history through Trebuchet Toss
Engineering, The Science in Science Fiction or Presidential Trivia while artists and
performers chose topics such as Zentangling, Guitar Lessons, Lego Animation movie
making, Fold it Like Origami, Doodles and Designs, Creating Electronic Music, and
Calligraphy. One of the most popular options was again Cupcake Wars! complete with
challenges, twists and guest judges.
Puzzle and problem solvers worked together in Breakout!, Can you Say It Fast?, Chess
Dynamics, Cracking the Rubik's Cube, Diplomacy, and Storytelling Games. Athletes
who didn't go on a trip could choose from Field Hockey, Baseball Trivia, or The History
of the Yankees.
Performances by four enrichment groups were highlighted in our Pop-up Gallery at the
end of the day. Cheerleading performed a new routine with stunts, Actors Unite! did
an improv skit about superheroes and not so supervillans, Write a Team song
premiered a potential BCMS alma mater and Color Guard gave a performance with
flags, sabers and dance moves choreographed by the Somerville color guard coach.
An Enrichment Day trip to defy the laws of gravity at the Gravity Vault in Chatham,
quickly turned into a lesson on resilience and perseverance. Students were
encouraged by Gravity Vault coaches to set goals, respond to coaching in developing a
growth mindset on the spot.
Students engaged in trust activities and they went as far as to climb blindfolded.
Many students participated in a 3-legged event where they had to climb with their
one leg banded to their partner’s one leg. This encouraged tolerance and
communication.
Instruction was differentiated based on interest, ability and a desire to push
themselves.
Thank you Mrs. Updegrove for an amazing opportunity to educate students this way!
March Mathness!
Most of the BCMS math teachers jumped on the band wagon to get their
students involved in a Math March Madness competition. They are using
the ALEKS technology program and have students complete as many
topics as they can each week. Some created pairs and teams to help
motivate one another. Winning teams from each grade and also a handful
of MVPs will get a celebration of some sort.
The 6th graders took off in the first week with having some students
completed over 70 topics!!! Mrs. Jordan shared this with her 7th and 8th
grade resource students to light some fire.
Access Lenses
Students in Language Arts and Social Studies explained how the Bill of
Rights would have made a difference in people's lives during the
Holocaust, Japanese Internment, and the Jim Crow period. Students used
access lenses to examine different photos from these time periods as
well. Here is a video of a student explaining her photo using the access
lenses.
Canstruction
Canstruction creations are being completed this week. Over the next
week or so students will have a chance to vote for their favorite
structure. 6th grade has built Pac Man destroying hunger, 7th grade has
built the Snapchat App Logo and 8th grade has built a NASCAR track,
(pictured). Thank you to all the teams for your hard work!
Animals of the Future
This week in Mrs. Heaney's science class, students used their
understanding of adaptations to create an animal species of the future.
Students were given a choice of 4 planets on which their species could
live. They designed their species giving it at least 5 adaptations to help
it survive. They created drawings of their species and wrote paragraphs
discussing how these adaptations were useful. Students truly enjoyed
this project.
Drama Club
The BCMS Drama Club performed The Humor Games on Friday, March
10th and Saturday, March 11th, after almost 5 months of preparation!
The students studied character development, memorized and learned
how to deliver lines, practiced blocking, attended workshops on physical
comedy, worked in costumes and props, learned how to use lighting and
sound, designed beautiful sets and logos, and much more. We are so
proud of the hard work, talent, and dedication shown by each and every
actor and crew member in the final product!
Here is a review of the performance from Mrs. Emmons:
Congratulations!! Such an entertaining show!! The cast and crew did the most amazing job. I
laughed out loud the entire show!!! The set, lighting and costumes had me laughing before
the jokes even began!! I know I have to give the playwright credit for providing the script,
but that script came alive last night. I love it when the acting is so good that you forget they
are our students and you just think of them as those characters. I don't ever recall the
lighting being more effective. The set was perfect, and it changed so seamlessly.
The students were surprised and delighted to learn that Dean O’ Carroll,
the playwright of The Humor Games, was present in the audience on
Friday night’s performance! He also came backstage after the show to
meet the cast and crew, which gave them the opportunity to ask
questions about the script and characters.
Almost every seat was full on both nights, thanks to the wonderful
support of family members, teachers, students, and community members!
Here are a few photos from the performances:
NJAMLE Presentation
On March 10th at Kean University, these six students presented @NJAMLE
on our reverse inclusion program, Be-A-Buddy.
They inspired a middle school principal from Nutley to bring her team to
BCMS to replicate our program in their school!
County Spelling Bee Results!
CONGRATULATIONS TO Andrew DeAngelis and Rishi Purohit who competed
at the Somerset County Spelling Spectacular on Saturday, March 11! They
made it through to the 4th round and were in the top 20 of the 50
spellers.
As sixth graders, we look forward to seeing them compete again next
year.
Odyssey Competition Results
Congratulations to our TWO Odyssey teams who competed Saturday,
March 11th in Pennington in both Long Term and Spontaneous Problems!
Team Superhero finished 3rd of their group of 14 and Team Vehicle
finished 5th. Both teams had their best show at the competition and
showed great effort, teamwork, kindness and support for each other this
year! Odyssey teams select one of 5 problems and write their own skits,
create costumes, sets, props and special effects and use a LOT of
creativity to make their own unique solution over several months. Teams
also practice spontaneous problems for competition which they have
THREE minutes to solve a random problem!
Want to know more? Ask any Odyssey team member or Mrs. Updegrove!
Science Fair
On Saturday March 04, 2017 students from BCMS participated in the Central Jersey
Science Fair organized by the RoboRaiders Team 75 from Hillsborough HS. The fair
was organized to encourage Central Jersey students to pursue the sciences and math,
as well as STEM. Students researched interest in many fields, such as computer
science, biology, physiology and engineering. All participating students did an
outstanding job! They conducted their projects at home, and at school they were
supported and guided by Mrs. Plaza. JM and MP won second-place for their project
titled: “Unknown Bacteria Among Us”. The question they tried to answer by
conducting their project was: “What location in the school has the most bacteria?”
After they analyzed their results, they found out that a computer mouse has the least
number of bacteria and the cafeteria floor the most. In conclusion, maintaining
proper personal hygiene is important in protecting ourselves from harmful bacteria
that can make us sick.
Spelling Bee
Two of our 6th graders are in the Somerset County Spelling Spectacular this Saturday
at Somerset Vo-Tech, 2pm! They are competing against 50 other spellers for a chance
to go the National Finals in Washington DC.
The Library cordially invites you to attend the Second Annual SCLSNJ Spelling Bee to
be held at the Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School (Vo-Tech),
located at 14 Vogt Drive in Bridgewater, Saturday, March 11, 2pm.
French Class
Mrs. Fredericks’ 8th grade students recently read their first French novel! Students
worked in pairs to summarize various chapters of the book in any way they chose.
The Humor Games Set Crew
The Set Crew worked for weeks and painted great scenery for The Humor Games.
Terrariums
In Mrs. Heaney's science classes this week students built terrariums.
Terrariums will help the students observe and learn about ecosystems.
For example, students will explain the abiotic and biotic factors of their
terrarium. Also students will be able to see the water cycle occur in
their terrarium. We look forward to watching the plants grow and seeds
sprout.
Congratulations Nat Geo Bee State Competitor!
Congratulations to seventh grader DY who has qualified for the second
year in a row for the National Geographic Bee STATE FINALS, Friday,
March 31 at Rowan University. He will represent BCMS with 99 other
students from around the state. One champion from each state and
territory will advance to the National Geographic Bee Championship,
which will be held May 14-18, 2017 at the National Geographic Society
headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Super Teacher of the Month:
Ms. Stulack! Congratulations!
Youth Art Month Exhibit
7th grader EM’s artwork has been selected to be exhibited at the State
Youth Art Month Exhibit at the State House in Trenton! The artwork will
be on exhibit from March 25 - 31, 2017 in the Annex Tunnel.
Congratulations! Below is a picture of her artwork.
National History Day
Congratulations to all of the 8th grade students who participated in the
regional National History Day at Monmouth University on Saturday,
February 26! Students researched and created entries included a
documentary, research papers and websites on this year's theme "TAKE A
STAND". RK’s paper, The White Rose: The Power of Passive Resistance
won in the research paper category and will be going to the state
competition at William Paterson, Saturday, May 6, 2017.
