Dear Sixth Grade Families,
We are in our new semester and need to
be working even harder than first semester. Most students are doing
a nice job of showing parents planners and getting a signature
nightly. Other forms of communication that should be coming home are
math tests, math homework and weekly progress reports, that all need
a parent signature.
This past week in class we did not get
to begin the process of experimenting with energy because we could
not control our behavior as a class. We left the lab and went back
to the classroom and students wrote to me about how they were
feeling, their own behavior and possible solutions to the poor
behavior and disrespect shown while I was trying to teach. The
letters were well written and they made suggestions, like number
order to line up, more card flips, whole class card flips and helping
your neighbor to remember how to behave. I agree with all of the
above and talked to the class about this. Please be watching for
your child's card color in their planner. It is extremely important
that students are being respectful, not shouting out, turning off
their voice when I am teaching, and overall not distracting other
students who are trying to learn. Thank you for your continued
support.
Happenings
on Campus
President's Day—Monday, February
17th. NO SCHOOL.
Field Trip Friday—Friday,
February 28th. This is considered a regular
school day from 7:45-3:30. Students should be in uniform and pack
the same healthy, low-waste lunch as usual. No gum please!
Family Reading Night—Thursday,
March 6th from 6:30-8:00. All
children and families are welcome. It's a free event with each
teacher doing a different read-aloud and activity after the reading.
Sign up for each activity will be posted when it is closer to the
event.
Battle of the Books—Final
Battle is during family reading night, but class battles take place
the week prior during the day.
Staff vs. Middle School Basketball
Game—rescheduled for April 3rd, from
6:30-7:30. It only cost $1 and the money goes directly back to
the school for building cost.
Happenings
in the Classroom
Lanuage
Arts
We are tying to finish at least two
B.O.B. books before the first battle. This is a great assessment of
comprehension and fun for the whole class. We will begin an IEW
paper on one of these books over the course of the next two weeks,
analyzing character, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. We are
in the midst of our poetry unit. Students are doing a great job of
writing poetry, but most of all they are superb at supporting each
other while they are sharing their work. It is really great to have
the class feeling confident and comfortable enough to read poetry out
loud. This weekend students are to pick a poem of 10 lines or more
to memorize for recital later in our unit.
Math
We have done a lot of work with
fractions and decimals for the past month and a half, and are now
moving into area and capacity. We will still take quizzes and
practice specifically with fractions and decimals as it is an area of
stress for many. A great resource for all students in math is
www.khanacademy.org. If
you use another site that you find helpful, please let me know and I
will pass it on to the class. Many students are still not correcting
their mistakes on their homework and getting signatures in their
notebook, showing parents how many they are missing. Parents, please
bug your student until this becomes habit. It is crucial that they
correct their mistakes and are being successful on their homework.
Again in math their should be a daily signature on
homework, as well as a weekly signature on
tests.
Core
Knowledge
We have finished our Enlightenment unit
and are now in our Energy unit. We have focused on the two different
categories of energy, potential and kinetic as well as the specific
types of energy, mechanical, chemical, nuclear, etc.. Rubber bands
are a great example of potential to kinetic energy. It was a good
excuse anyway to have a rubber band war. We have begun discussing
transferring of energy and we will conduct experiments next week that
help students develop a deeper understanding of energy. For our
February field trip we will have the privilege of touring Reed
College's nuclear reactor with some hands-on time in the lab. If you
have a few extra glow sticks and/or hand warmers around your house,
we could use some for experiments next week. Please send me a quick
email that your student will bring them so I don't go out and
purchase them.
Have a great weekend,
Miss King
