What a week! We had a long week of baseline testing (fun stuff!) and full day visits in class. In social studies we learned about ancient Sumer and how to write in cuneiform. (I thought that was pretty cool!) In math we reviewed dividing decimals by decimals and learned about multiplying and dividing by the powers of 10. (Don't forget to do you homework, pages 66-67 1-42 odd problems only for Monday.) Students also did a wonderful job in predicting our class novel's, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM, direction through skits, songs, and poems. I was so impressed, so was Mrs. Lukomski. 
   Next week will be even better! We have only four days of school (yes, we are out Friday!) and it's spirit week. Monday is hat day, Tuesday is super hero day, Wednesday is class color day. We are yellow, so wear it proud! Thursday is pajama day. Don't forget your rules when choosing what to wear. Those who violate the guidelines will have parents called for a change of clothing. Don't test the rules or we may not have another week like this. 
   In class we will finish up Chapter 3 and learn about Gilgamesh. We will explore Hammurabi's code and write a paper. Thursday will be a Chapter 3 quiz. In math we will learn to divide by powers of 10, explore some word problems, and finish up Thursday with a test as well. What else finishes on Thursday? The grading period!!!! 
   If you are missing any assignments they must be to me by Wednesday. If you have been absent you need to make sure that you make arrangements with me to make up any tests that you may have missed. If you missed any in class assignments you can not make those up, sorry. 
 
   As we click right along here in the sixth grade we get comfortable and start to branch into extra after school activities. We also find that we might be missing days due to colds. While we miss you dearly while you are gone, the class still must move forward. It is for that reason that it is important that students come to class. More importantly however, is that students make up what they missed within the number of days absent plus 1 (student handbook). If a student misses an in class quiz, a unit test, or any other type of assessment, it is important that they make arrangements to make that work up before or after school. Those can not be done from home. In class activities that are graded can not be made up. An absence accompanied by a doctors note will get and excused grade. Unexcused absences on the other hand will not. It is vital that students attend school unless they are sick.

   I am working on transferring grades from the original online grade book to the new, district approved one, and I am noticing a number of students missing major items from their grades. Please communicate and ask your student about any missing assignments they may have. 

   Next week we have postponed spirit week due to a number of mandatory benchmark assessments that we must administer. These are almost impossible to make up and the exact schedule has still not been shared. While these tests can not be studied for, students should get plenty of rest, have breakfast, and be at school on time.

  Let's get ready for Friday! Have a great weekend and be refreshed!
 
Dear Parents and Guardians (as well as students),
   I would like to talk about two things in particular that I would like to address as a team before they become a larger problem.
1. The making of the loop bracelets. while I like the bracelets and I applaud those that can make them, they can not be made during instructional time in the class. Nor can they be sold at school or orders collected for them. They are quickly becoming a distraction and I do not want to ban them from coming to school as a whole.


2. The drawing of comics. I love comics! I have read them for years and I enjoy seeing what the students can do, however, they too are becoming a distraction during the instructional day. Students are putting a tremendous amount of effort into them, but they are passing them around during class and working on them instead of paying attention. I know there will be a few times that students will be asked to draw comics to represent content area material, but the comics they are drawing are not school or class related and must not come out during class time. I really don't want to take them or tear them up. 




I would greatly appreciate your support on these matters with your student. 
 
The end of September is upon us. Can you believe that? We enter October this week and excitement is in the air! We have a lot of things going on or about to happen at GCCAS and in the sixth grade!

First, let's recap last week.
  • In math we finished up multiplying with decimal numbers. If you see that your student is struggling with this skill you may encourage them to use graph paper when doing their homework. I have most likely talked with them about this. You can purchase it at the store, print of just what you need off the internet, here's a great site: http://www.printfreegraphpaper.com/ , but please do not let them use graph paper composition books. These pages will not fit into their binders. 
  • In social studies we finished learning about early humans and the dawn of agriculture. 
  • In reading we read the first two chapters of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH together as classes. Students have been asked not to read ahead as we are working through the book in class. 

Now for the week ahead:
  • In math we will move into dividing with decimals. (A lot of the same principals of multiplying with decimals apply, as well as basic rules of division.) 
  • In social studies we will learn more about farming and how civilizations used technologies to produce more. We will also have a Unit one review session and Unit test.
  • In reading we will learn more about what is happening with Mrs. Frisbee and I have some fun activities planned.
In the school as a whole:
  • We have many visitors that will be here over the course of the week. They will be in our school observing and checking out what we are doing. I encourage all students to make sure that they are on their best behavior (I know you will be because we talked about this during the first week of school). 
  • Teachers will also be getting initial evaluations, so there will be visitors coming in and out of the classrooms. We should follow procedures for that as well. Students should also remember that adults working for the school are addressed Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss. and last name. Not by their first names. Even if you know that adult outside of school, inside school you must follow the expected rules. 

After school next week:
  • The milk carton building club will meet on Wednesday, only if some building materials are brought in (ask your student if they are a member what those supplies are), in the Radio Road side of the building. This is so we can construct our plane with little interference and safety. This will be good for all parties. After the construction is complete we will move it (if possible) to the front of the main building. When time is almost over for the meeting, students will be walked back to the main building under adult supervision.
  • The yearbook club is meeting on Thursdays after car line (4:00 I believe). Students interested in helping with the yearbook should stay with after school until the sponsor comes to get you. 


The week after this:
  • The week of October 7th is Spirit Week. The schedule of events is on the calendar in the What's Going On tab of the website. Each day has a different theme. I do not have a full set of rules yet, so please be patient (reading vocab word!) as I will pass them along as soon as I have them. I do know that our class color is yellow. I saw plain t-shirts on sale at AC Moore crafts 3 for $10 and they had lots of yellow... 


Hope you all enjoy your weekend and I will see you bright and early Monday morning!
As always, feel free to contact me if I can be of service! 
 
Four weeks down! That's hard to believe, isn't it? I just wanted to pass a few things along. 
1. We will keep the builders club on Wednesday's as it seemed to work well for all who are participating. 
2. Extra credit math work is due Monday. We have a test over chapter 0. I am live on Edmodo; if you have questions ask them. 
3. I would like for everyone to have a copy of the class novel by Friday. (Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIHM) They are available in lots of places.
4. Interim reports should come out on the 20th. CORRECTION! They should come home on the 25th. If you think you may not be doing well, please ask me. I can give you some kind of indication.
5. Friday the 20th is a half day. 

Keep up the great work and let me know if I can be of assistance!
 
 
Hi everyone! I hope you have come over to the blog to vote on Reading class. However, this post is to let you all know that we will finally have a meeting about the building of a milk cartoon transportation model on Wednesday, 9/11, right after car line is finished (think 4) in my room (12) until 5. If you stay you MUST BE PICKED UP AT 5! Unless you are after school. We will talk about the specifics and come up with a game plan. Only those serious about the project should attend. 
See you then!!!
 
What a whirlwind week last week at GCCAS for the sixth grade. We had a few baseline tests, and I believe there may be more in our future, that took up a lot of time. We also had a fun critical thinking assignment with Mr. Mr. Auer on Friday (that's our principal, Mr. Auer's father). We did some additional review in Math, read the second section of our World History text book online, and then on Friday, we received our new textbooks!
We spent some time Friday looking over the new books and thinking about what is in store. As we move through next week students will be working out of them directly, as well as utilizing some technology. A lot of people have asked me about the Edmodo code (which will be used primarily for Math homework help, but also some review problems) and if you will
send me an email you can have the class registration code before the rest of the class gets it on Monday.
Also, I told you we had a staff meeting on Friday afternoon. Administration has realized that sixth grade often loses their outside PE time due to the rain and to help curb that they have adjusted the days specials schedule. Mrs. Lukomski is working on a new daily schedule to reflect these changes and should have it ready for us all on Monday. Our lunch time has not changed, neither did most of our morning, but the afternoons did.
I was also informed that there will be no set reading curriculum for us this year. This is good and bad. Bad that we have to make up our own course, good in that we get to make up our own course! At the bottom of this list is a poll. Please think about the options before you vote. I believe that we can do one of a few things. 1) We can choose a new novel every grading period. Read it at home or during some classes, discuss the book as well as do activities. 2) Use that class time to work on writing and the mechanics of writing. Not just nouns and verbs, but we can read short passages and then imitate them, have writing workshops, and create original works. These works can be your contributions to the class magazine!!! or 3) Continue using the reading passages like we used last week, answering questions, and learning about various subjects. I am very interested in all three options and would really like for you and your parents to help decide. If we choose option one we will need to either check out copies of the book from the local library, each student provide their own (I can help those who can't afford it), or find ways to pay for class sets.
That's about all for now. I am dutifully working on lesson plans for next week so that we have a great, productive full week of school. Let's go get it!

See you Monday!
 
As a STEM school we want as much technology inside the classroom as we can get, and when that helps boost a lesson in Math, it's even better. This past week, through donations of batteries from you wonderful parents, we were able to use our clicker system for the first time. By utilizing assessments with this system, I can get instant feedback on what areas we need to focus on, and with which students. The data collected helps to differentiate the class, allowing students to get the most out of instruction time. 
We also had a visit from Principal Auer. He came in to tell the sixth graders how great they have been as school leaders and role models for the younger classes. That makes us all proud! 
Also, in Math we watched a video about how math and algorithms have changed the face of origami,  then we folded some "fortune tellers" that we used as question generators to ask one another questions about the printing press. Things are always happening in sixth grade! 
 
Last week we started to understand why people, archaeologists in particular, study the past and how difficult that job might be at times. Students were divided into groups where they had to perform a number of tasks. They wrote a letter to the future (what would be important to share with people in 3013?), read about the profession of archaeology, dug up bones and reassembled them like real archaeologists, and looked through layers of the ground to see what might be buried and how they came to be so. Students also got to interact with the OneBoard  and reassemble dinosaur fossils. 
One of the things I heard the most was how difficult some of the tasks that seemed to be easy really were. That was an eye opener. Students also learned some practical applications for the vocabulary we learned about archaeology that will follow us throughout our world history studies this year. 
 
I don't say the above lightly. But, I do have the best group of sixth graders ever to be assembled! Parents, you should be even more proud. As we all know our parent pick up line is not the fastest in town (yet), but today our sixth grade leaders helped us all get finished at about 4:15! They braved the rain with us to help students get to cars. Sixth graders stepped up and helped keep the younger students quiet and calm and preventing them from horse playing. This is a great group of kids.

As we keep moving forward with the school year I have nothing but high expectations for all of you, students. Working as a team we will make it through subjects that might not be our favorite and excel in them. Together we will do the best!

As we continue to get ready for the arrival of texts (eta Friday) we are continually reviewing, re-teaching where necessary, and learning some new foundational skills. We will also be working on writing, creating stories whenever possible, and poetry, but most of all we will be working on the mechanics of writing. We will be working intently on mechanics when we do writing in social studies. The skill of writing is not restricted to language arts or reading, it is a cross curricular skill. Plus, I like writing (do you remember what I said about writing?).

I hope that as we continue to bring the parent pickup times down with the help of these great sixth grade leaders, we can finally have our informational sessions about the magazine and the building sessions. We will do these sometime after the Labor Day weekend.

In the meantime, bask in the glow that is your own awesomeness. You all deserve it. I am as proud as a mother goose!