AR Books

Please remember that all of your AR Quiz books should be at a level 5.5 or higher.  Your next AR Quiz is due by Friday, September, 5, 2014.  Remember that if your grade level reaches the goal of 350 points by the end of the 1st quarter, the highest point reaching scholar will get to smash a pie in my face!

ALS Challenge

Our classroom was challenged by Mrs. Clark's classroom to do an ALS challenge.  If the scholars can complete the frame and answer the questions below with depth by Friday, September 5, 2014, Mrs. Erickson will donate to ALS on behalf of Room 23, challenge another GATE teacher in our district, and have a bucket of ice water dumped on her head.  However, if I call on ANY scholar in class and they cannot answer the questions in depth, I will only donate to ALS.  Good luck researching and remember to use the Prompts to help you delve deeper into the questions.

Think Different Person of the Week!

Our Think Different Person this week is Ansel Adams.  Please research him and come to class prepared for our discussion on Thursday, September 4, 2014.  Know the major contributions he made to his field and why people say he thought different. You should have written or typed notes for our discussion.

Social Studies Test!

Tomorrow, Friday, August 29, 2014, we will have our first Social Studies test.  The Chapter 1 test will have 20 questions.  We created a study guide together today and the scholars were encouraged to bring home their textbooks to study for the test.  Good luck!

Ratios Quiz Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Thursday, August 28, 2014, we will have a quiz on ratios.  You will create a table, double number line, and plot the coordinates on a plane. Good luck! Below are sample ratio problems.

     

GAFE ACCOUNTS!

Your child can access their GAFE account from home now.  This means that they can complete and turn in their writing assignments from home if they need to. Ask your child if they have completed their Animal Narrative, if not have them log in tonight to finish typing. There is now a link to the right of this post.

THE CHALLENGE!

The 6th grade teachers are officially challenging the 6th grade scholars to earn 350 points on AR by October 3rd!  Are you up to the challenge? If the grade level reaches the goal, the top reader in each class gets to smash a pie in their teacher's face!  Grab a book and start reading today!

Math with Ratios!

Today in math we learned how to take a ratio table, equation, or double number line diagram to create ordered pairs.  These ordered pairs can then be graphed on a coordinate plane as a representation of the ratio.  Please go onto Learn Zillion and do the lessons I have assigned to help you with today's lesson.  Please complete all of the lessons by Monday, September 1, 2014.

Homework for the week of August 25th!

1. ELA homework packet is due Friday (parent signature).
2. Read 20 minutes per night for AR is due daily (parent signature).
3. Math Fluency page (one side) is due Friday.
4. Study for all of your tests listed on the left side of the blog for this Friday.
5. Any unfinished work.
6. Work assigned on the websites listed on the right side of the blog.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

A big congratulations goes out to all of our Student Council officers for winning their elections last week.  We are particularly proud of Santiago Escobedo for becoming our new Treasurer and EG for becoming our new President!  Both of our fellow scholars campaigned hard and wrote their own speeches.  Our class is excited to have two of the winners in our room!  Congratulations again!

Kid President Pep Talk

Click on the link below to see the Pep Talk we watched last week from Kid President.  We watched this short video for inspiration for our Passion Projects during Genius Hour.  Your scholar will receive their finalized question tomorrow for their Passion Project.
http://youtu.be/l-gQLqv9f4o

Distinguishing Sharks From Other Fish

This is an interesting website recommended by the NEA Magazine.  It is full of information including videos on sharks.  I know a lot of my scholars are fascinated by this species, have fun looking around if you want to.  This is just for fun!


http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/59269.htm

Genius Hour

For those of you that are new to my classroom, I wanted to help you understand Genius Hour.  Your child will do four Passion Projects this year, one per quarter. The video below will help you understand the process your scholar is going through. This is a graded project and will be weighed into your scholar's grade.

AR Testing

Please help your scholar with their AR reading log by providing a quiet place for them to read each evening or have them read to you every night. Every scholar was supposed to quiz on their AR book last Friday, unfortunately a few scholars did not make their goals. The grade the scholars earn on their AR test averages directly into their reading grade.


Their next AR test is September 5th.

Homework Week of August 18th

1. ELA Homework Packet (Parent signature needed)
2. AR reading log - 20 minutes per night Monday-Thursday (parent signature needed)
3. Think It Through if not finished in class
4. Come up with your Passion Project question for Genius Hour (due Wednesday Aug. 20th)
5. Math Fluency paper (one side)
6. Any unfinished work
7. Research your new Think Different Person - Dalai Lama - Due Monday, August 25th!

STEM Conference for Girls!

Below is a link for an upcoming STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) conference for girls.  This is a great opportunity for our 6th grade girls to learn about STEM and meet inspiring women in these fields.  This is the link to sign up according to the e-mail I received this week.  There is a small fee to attend the conference.

www.upperhandtocollege.com

Progress Reports

Bi-weekly progress reports went home today. Please go over the progress report with your child, sign the paper, and have your scholar bring it back to school on Monday.  If the progress report is not returned on Monday, your scholar will have to clip down.  This is an essential part of our (parent-teacher) communication.  This will help to ensure that there are no surprises come report card time.

Type To Learn 4 and Jupiter Grades

Many of you asked last night how to log on to Type To Learn 4 from home.  Click the link below and it will take you to the download page for Type To Learn 4 for Macs and Windows.  Follow the instructions and remember to click "save" when downloading the file rather than selecting "Open."
http://ttl4.sunburst.com/downloads/

JUPITER GRADES!  I was able to print out your passwords so you can now go to Jupiter Grades and have access to your scholar's grades.  Please follow the instructions on the paper. Click on the link below to get started!
www.jupitergrades.com

Lexia Information and Thank You!

Thank you to everyone that came to Back to School Night yesterday.  If you were unable to come, please look at the papers I am sending home with your scholar tonight and fill out the parent contact form.  Please return the form tomorrow.  I am sending home instructions for Lexia with your scholar today.  If for any reason you are unable to log on to my blog and get onto the Lexia website, this paper gives you instructions on how to log on.

Social Studies - Early Man

In Social Studies we are studying Early Man.  The link below is to a website called Flocabulary.  As they point out, "Early humans could not read books, but they could read something else: tracks." The link below takes you to a funny song that follows the rise of early humans. "From cave paintings and fire to irrigation and civilization, learn about humans’ first steps toward civilization here." 

http://www.flocabulary.com/hunter-gatherers/

Context Clues!

This week we have been focusing on context clues.  Scholars use context clues to help them figure out what an unknown word means.  Below you will find a link to a context clues video.  Have your scholar watch the video to help them understand the concept better.

http://www.flocabulary.com/context-clues/

180 Day Project

If you look at the 180 Day Project page today you will notice a change.  I have changed the order of the Project Days.  The newest day will appear at the top of the page now.  If you want to scroll down to find an anchor chart of something that you need to reference, it is still there.

Back To School Night

Just a reminder, Back To School Night is this Wednesday, August 13, 2014. My classroom will be open at 6:00 pm. Any student that has a parent sign in on Wednesday night is excused from Wednesday's AR Reading Log.

GATE Training

Today I attended and presented at our District's GATE training.  If you click the link below you can view the Slides I presented to other teachers in our district.  The Slides shows you examples of TLAD - Think Like A Disciplinarian. If you have trouble clicking on the link below, copy and paste it into your browser to view.

https://docs.google.com/a/cjusd.net/presentation/d/1qnH31tHw8pOP8zC6brWFe3anIEUfmrwp_ynTJHfSN1k/edit#slide=id.p

Homework for the week of August 11th!

1. Homework packet for ELA is due Friday, August 15th.

2. Math Fluency (one side) is due Friday, August 15th.

3. Watch the 2 new videos assigned on Learn Zillion by Sunday, August 17th.  

4. Research our next "Think Different" people - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.  We will discuss them on Tuesday, 12, 2014.  Come to class prepared to discuss their contributions.

*AR reading log needs to be signed DAILY.
*Agendas must be signed by an adult every week by Friday!

Narrative Writing on Learn Zillion

This quarter we are working on Narrative Writings.  Learn Zillion has a set of lessons to help your scholar with their in class writings.  They will watch videos that take them through the process of writing a narrative.  I have assigned the first 2 videos on Learn Zillion to be watched by Sunday, August 17th.

Restrictive and Non-restrictive Clauses

This week we have been working on restrictive and non-restrictive clauses.

Check out the Grammar Monster website to review what we have learned about restrictive clauses here: http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/restrictive_clause.htm

Check out the Grammar Monster website to review what we have learned about non-restrictive clauses here: http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/non-restrictive_clauses.htm o id

*JUST A REMINDER THAT BOOK ORDERS WENT HOME AND THEY ARE DUE AUGUST 13TH.  This is a great way to help your child achieve their AR reading goal.

Homework - Week of August 4th

Homework packets for ELA and AR reading logs were sent home on Friday, August 1st. 

*AR reading log needs to be signed EVERY night and brought to school EVERY morning.  Parents need to sign the reading log DAILY.

*Your math exit ticket is due every day if not completed in class.

* Homework packet for ELA is due Friday, August 8th.
*Math Fluency (one side) is due Friday, August 8th.
*Agendas must be signed by an adult every week by Friday!

*Watch the 2 new videos assigned on Learn Zillion by Sunday, August 10th.  

*Research our next "Think Different" people - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.  We will discuss them on Tuesday, 12, 2014.  Come to class prepared to discuss their contributions.

*Explore the links to the right of this post.