English Language Arts, Reading and History
Writing: We are planning on completing our rough drafts for persuasive writing this week in class. We only have to write an introduction and a conclusion so we will see. Grammar: Appositives have been checked in Typing for Accuracy and have revealed a good understanding of the concept which will improve writing in the long run. Reading: We have been dipping our toes into poetry with reviewing figurative language and literary elements. Students read "The Road Not Taken" and have been analyzing the poem for metaphor, tone and vocabulary for deeper understanding. In addition to Massachusetts Book Groups, we are also beginning a new novel this week which is part of the Federal Core standards. We'll be reading "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" as a class activity. This book. although difficult, has traditionally been really popular because of the universal theme of growing up. I LOVE THIS BOOK and I will be throwing all my enthusiasm and passion for Mark Twain at 12 year olds who don't yet know they will love it too! Besides, they may be reading the sequel "The "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in a subsequent grade level. History: We end the week and end our unit on Ancient Egypt with a pyramid competition on Friday. Just fun, cooperative learning! English Language Arts, Reading and History
Writing: We continue typing our persuasive writing into Google Classroom. Typing practice has done well to improve how students proofread their writing. Reading: We continue reviewing literary elements and figurative language to prepare for poetry. Students have been preparing their Greek and Latin roots assignments really well, but I realize my next step is for students to understand how those are the keys to understanding so much of our language. More to follow… History We had an extraordinary mummification ritual performed in class. It was a great opportunity for students to recognize the importance of sequence, understanding main ideas, and identifying a summarizing statement. Using the visual presentation and work on a study guide, students will be tested on this information to demonstrate how they understand specific historical content as well. They will receive a study guide on Wednesday and we will be spending time going over how to prepare for this test for next Tuesday. Presidents Tests are officially over! Learning a difficulty and, in their words last November, impossible task build confidence and sustained concentration. Thank you for any work you did to help your child to achieve this. Math Students will have a chapter 5 math test on Wednesday. On Tuesday we will review, and extra credit is due by Thursday morning. Students should be sure to focus their efforts on the skills as well as the vocabulary. The remainder of the week will be spent on make ups, catching up on old work, and previewing chapter 6. Science Lots of fun this week in science! As we are now studying Life Science, students will get the chance to view different items under microscopes in a fun game called "Alive or Not?" Blood, bone, and plant material will all reveal their cells to us as we begin to learn about the structure and function of the cell and each of its parts. Our main focus this week will be learning the three parts of the Cell Theory. Information about a take home cell project will be given early next week. Math- QUIZ TUESDAY On Monday students will take their mid-year STAR assessment in math. These assessments help us to see if students are progressing at grade level through the year's content, and who might need some additional support. Results of this assessment will be sent home with term 2 report cards in March, but feel free to contact me with questions before that if you have any. On Tuesday students will take the chapter 5 quiz. This quiz covers most of the chapter and includes lessons 1-5. These lessons focus entirely on absolute value, positive/negative opposites, changing fractions to decimals using division, and comparing and ordering integers. It is a longer quiz than usual, and is a great study tool for their test next week. A practice quiz will be done in class on Monday and can be found in binders. On the remaining days this week, we will finish the last two lessons of the chapter, which focus on graphing ordered pairs in all 4 quadrants of the coordinate plane. Science- QUIZ WEDNESDAY This week we will be wrapping up chapter 4, lesson 4 which is about fossils! This lesson focuses on 5 ways fossils are formed: mineralization, carbonization, casts & molds, trace, and original material. Students should be able to explain the difference between each type, and give an example. Additionally, this lesson talks about the differences between absolute age dating vs. relative age dating, and the geologic time scale. A study guide will be provided on Monday so students can review at home. Please see math/science links for a copy of this study guide. English Language Arts, Reading and History Writing: We will be finishing our persuasive writing in Google Classroom Grammar: Continues our work with appositives on how to improve writing. Reading:Students did very well on STAR testing as we round the corner into DIBELS testing for some students. We finished Lightning Thief earlier in January and will be seeing some sections for clarifications as we prepare an compare and contrast response. History Have you been impressed with the Presidents recitation? It's a great way to demonstrate how to accomplish a difficult task by breaking it down into manageable steps. The oral test should be done by the end of the week. We will be demonstrating the steps of Egyptian mummification. In this project, students will be in charge of performing the sequence in small groups. This has been a lesson in sequencing and summarizing as well as learning the gruesome job of getting ready for the Underworld. The Mummification Ritual will be on Thursday or next Tuesday after much practice in class. Following the performance, students will get a study guide and take a test on the sequence next week. Math
We welcome the first full week of the new year this week! It's a rare, magical week where I have no tests or quizzes for students! Hooray! Lots of new learning will be going on this week in math. Students will be diving into chapter 5, with a focus on absolute value, comparing and ordering positive and negative numbers (including fractions and decimals), and using division to find the decimal form of positive and negative numbers. Although negative numbers are new to 6th grade students, the math that we are doing along with them isn't. This chapter takes some familiar concepts and pushes them to the next level. Some frustration with comparing and orderings, as well as division, is to be expected. These lessons push students to think critically and have math stamina. Please see the math links for some helpful videos to review at home. Science With the new year brings a new focus in science! While term 1 primarily focused on Earth and Space science, term 2 will focus on Life Science. Throughout the next several months we will be learning about what it means to be alive, what cells are, cell parts and functions, and body systems that keep us alive and moving. We begin the journey with a look at the past. This week we will be reading about fossils. Fossils can tell us about the earliest forms of life on Earth, and how we have grown and evolved into the many species and types of plants and animals we see on Earth today. It's a great journey, and I'm hoping for lots of fun (and projects!) along the way! English Language Arts, Reading and History Writing: We are writing a short 3 paragraph essay using persuasive writing techniques. A graphic organizer was mostly done in class on Monday with the expectation that it be completed by Tuesday. Students will be adding the details and infor- mation on the graphic organizer as a rough draft to be finalized in Google Classroom in class. Grammar: We are just trying to firm up our understanding of appositives since it is so important in writing. Students will begin the 8 Principal Parts of speech next week for review, mastery and application. Reading and History Students have been completing a thorough reading and annotation of The Book of the Dead. This week, we practice putting the annotations into the computer. A test on this reading will be on Friday, after we have thoroughly reviewed the reading. Our Latin/Greek roots for vocabulary are -hosp, -host, and -onym due on Friday. Students have been learning the presidents in the order they were elected. Now is time to take the oral test. Recitation tests are made by appointment and should be completed by Thursday. |