Category: Week at a Glance

This week is Read Across America week. See below for daily events.

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Tuesday – field trip to Innovation Station – students must bring a healthy sack lunch.

Students will be taking the Interim Smarter Balanced tests in Language Arts this week. Please be sure your child comes to class on time each day.

We started a research project for Ancient Greece last week. Students each chose a subtopic to research; two-column notes are due this Thursday and the final 1-2 page typed report will be due next week. Ask your child to see his/her notes and project directions.

 

Here are the important dates and events for the week:

Monday: Grade level speech contest; Let’s wish Hailey good luck as she represents our class in the grade level speech contest!

Tuesday: Eastlake Middle School band will be performing for us; students will have a chance to see and hear all the instruments that they may choose to play in middle school as an elective.

Friday: Jump Rope 4 Heart; National Wear Red Day! Last day to turn in camp store money in envelope. Please do NOT bring camp store money on the morning that we leave for camp.

We will review the camp equipment list and some reminders. There will be a flier of reminders sent home this week.

If your child sold Butterbraids you will be receiving an updated camp balance this week. Remember to turn in the camp health history form as soon as possible.

I’m excited to announce that our nonfiction project on Donorschoose has been fully funded and we should receive our new books as early as this week! Thank you to all families who donated and supported us. I know the students will be ecstatic to receive these resources to expand their knowledge.

Some students received extra support homework in math (computing decimals) and handwriting last week. All work is due this Friday, 11/3. Please ask your child if he/she received any extra support homework and review it with our child before turning it in.

Here is what is happening this week:

Tuesday: Halloween – this is a regular day of school for us, so please no costumes, candy, or anything else that is distracting. I will NOT be assigning any homework on this day.

Thursday: VAPA

Friday: extra support homework due

Here is what we will be learning:

Language Arts – We will begin Unit 4, The Reader’s Perspective, and start off with some poems, “The Road Not Taken,” and “The Road.”

Writing – We will work on informative/explanatory writing and discuss thesis statements.

Math – This week’s lessons from module 2 include: odd & even numbers, divisibility rules, greatest common factor (GCF), least common multiple (LCM).

Social Studies – We will begin our study of ancient Egypt. Students will be reading from the text, taking notes, and completing a culminating project within the next four weeks. Students will have an option of working by themselves for the project or with ONE other partner.

PE – students will rotate to Mrs. Benson.

This week is Red Ribbon Week, in honor of Enrique Camarena and for students to pledge to stay off drugs. Please see the previous post for dress-up days and events.

The heat will continue this week so please send your child to school with appropriate attire and a water bottle (with water only). Also, please remind your child that the following items are NOT allowed at school: sports equipment from home and toys (including cards).

Here is what is happening this week:

Wednesday: Red Ribbon photo (wear red)

Thursday: DEA Assembly on blacktop

Friday: Character Parade (please see the school website for guidelines); students must bring change of clothes to change immediately following the parade.

This is what we are learning:

Language Arts: We will finish reading and discussing about John Muir and the Unit 3 Test will be given on Wednesday and Thursday.

Writing: Students will draft, revise, edit, and publish their biography reports this week. They should be completed by Friday at the latest.

Read Aloud: We began our next novel, Dead End in Norvelt and the students are enjoying it very much. It is written by Jack Gantos and ties in true events from his childhood with some fictional elements to make for a humorous historical fiction read.

Math: Division (long-division and decimals)

Science: Last week of rotation with Mrs. Benson

PE: We will stay inside for PE this week due to the heat.

Here is what is happening this week.

Monday: Pastries for Parents (8:15 – 8:45 in the classroom); 6th grade teachers have a collaboration scheduled this time, but VAPA teachers will be teaching so you will be able to see the VAPA program in action. At 8:45, you will be invited downstairs for a light breakfast.

In the afternoon, 6th graders will have an assembly to review behavior and academic expectations and the criteria to earn end of year activities. Please ask your child what was discussed and be on the lookout for the letter detailing the end of year activities criteria.

Thursday: VAPA; great American Shakeout

Friday: Mid-Module 2 test; Butterbraid order forms and money due. Please be sure to check out order forms and ensure that all information is thoroughly completed.

This is what we will be learning:

Language Arts – we will continue to read about Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir and talk about how we can influence the balance of nature.

Writing – students will continue to take notes for the biography reports. So far we have been gathering information on personal information. Students learned to analyze the credibility of websites, record sources, and paraphrase notes on index cards.

Read Aloud – students completed their Book Trailers on 90 Miles to Havana last week and we will attempt to publish on the blog this week. We will also begin our next read aloud, Dead End in Norvelt.

Math – we will begin operations with decimals and our mid-module 2 test will be on Friday.

Science – rotation with Mrs. Benson on environmental impact

PE – 4-square with Mrs. Benson

I would like to invite you to visit our student blogs (links at bottom right) to read their writing and leave some positive feedback. Having an authentic audience is crucial to improving student writing. Students will continue to post at least one reading response per week and one processed writing piece per month.

Please consider donating to our project, A Need for Nonfiction, on www.donorschoose.org. The project will expire on 11/1 and we are only $250 away from getting it funded. If the project is not funded by 11/1, the donations already acquired will be lost. This project will expose our children to engaging nonfiction texts so they can increase their knowledge about various topics. Any amount truly helps! Many times, a 3rd party will donate the remaining amount once we get closer to the goal.

Please note that Pastries for Parents has been changed to Monday, 10/16. Here is what is happening this week:

Tuesday: Picture makeups

Friday: library

Here is what we are learning:

Language Arts: We have begun Unit 3 and have read about Rachel Carson, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Muir.

Writing: We will continue research skills and begin researching for our biographies. Students will learn how to take notes by paraphrasing on index cards and how to record source information on a record log for their bibliography.

Read Aloud: Book Trailers of 90 Miles to Havana (completed in groups) will be due this Friday.

Math: Division of Fractions, Whole Numbers, and Mixed Numbers using models and algorithms. Please review the parent resource that was sent home to help your child at home with this concept.

Science: Week 2 with Mrs. Benson

PE: Ultimate Frisbee – forehand throws

Welcome back to Quarter 2! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful fall break! We will return tomorrow, Tuesday, 10/3, for a full day.

Reminder to please turn in completed Camp Health History forms as soon as possible. And the Butter Braid fundraiser will be due on Friday, 10/20/17.

Here is what is happening this week:

Thursday: VAPA

This is what we will be learning about:

Language Arts: We will begin Unit 3 of Benchmark, Relationships in Nature (nonfiction text), by reading about Rachel Carson, Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir.  We will work on identifying key details, summarizing, determining author’s point of view, analyzing structure of a text, and figurative language.

Writing: We will learn about online research, how to identify website bias, using key words to search for relevant sources, and paraphrasing information to take notes on a topic.

Students will also be writing a thank you letter for the Donorschoose flexible seating materials that we received over the summer. The letter will be due on Friday and will be sent to donors who contributed to the project.

Read Aloud: Students will work in groups to complete their book trailer on 90 Miles to Havana. My goal is to finish the trailers in the next two weeks and have them published on their blogs.

Math: We will begin Module 2, Arithmetic Operations including Division of Fractions. I will send home a parent resource for the first topic this week for you to use as a guide. Here is the link to the parent resources. Be sure your child is completing 15 minutes of Tenmarks each night during the week.

Science: Students will rotate to Mrs. Benson to learn about environmental impact.

PE: Students will rotate to Ms. Greenlee for chasing games.

Conferences and minimum days continue this week and fall break begins next week. I will not be assigning any additional homework over break other than reading 40 minutes a day and completing Tenmarks for 15 minutes a day. I also encourage students to enjoy the outdoors, parks, museums, libraries, etc. These are the most natural and engaging modes of learning for our children. Enjoy!

Here is what is happening this week:

Monday, 9/11: Patriot Day – wear red, white, and blue; we will be learning about 9/11 and for homework, students will need to interview someone who remembers the events of 9/11/01.

Friday: End of Module Math Test on Ratios and Proportions

Here is what we are learning:

Language Arts – We will be taking the Benchmark Performance Task on Monday and Tuesday. This is the formal writing assessment for Benchmark and will be administered online.

Students will complete a Book Trailer on our read aloud, 90 Miles to Havana.

Math – This is the final topic for Module 1. Students will learn about percents and how to find percent of a quantity using various models and algorithm. The end of module exam will be on Friday.

Social Studies – Students will finish the Mesopotamia chapter we began last week and may build a diorama as extra credit if they wish. This project will be optional due to our limited time.

 

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend! Thankfully, this upcoming week will be cooler and we will be able to go outside for PE. Remember to have your child bring a water bottle to school every day.

We will be completing a diorama project for social studies next week so please start bringing in any shoeboxes you have at home.

Conferences and minimum days start this Thursday and continue into the following week. Please check your conference time here and arrive promptly at your scheduled time. Keep in mind that many conferences are back to back so I will do my best to stick to the twenty minute appointments. If you cannot make it, please let me know prior to your appointment. I look forward to meeting you and discussing your child’s progress.

Here is what is happening this week:

Monday – Labor Day; no school.

Thursday – conferences and minimum days begin and continue through to the following week.

Here is what we will be learning:

Language Arts – We will be reading an excerpt from Call It Courage and will work on the following skills: identify key events and summarize, determine theme, analyze word choice and point of view, compare themes.

Writing – We will be finishing our narrative drafts, revising, editing, and publishing to our blogs hopefully by the end of the week. Students had a choice to write what happens next in Jason’s Challenge or Cassie’s Fight. Ask your child which story they are writing about.

Math – Students really enjoyed the grocery shopping activity on Friday. Thank you for the Vons fliers! This week we will be looking at measurements, speed, and conversions.

Social Studies – Students will read about how early civilizations developed around a major river system, the development of the world’s first city-states, and Mesopotamian achievements.

PE – With only two days of PE, we might just practice our game of kickball this week.