Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Amazing Gods and Goddesses!























What an awesome day we had in the suite today!....thanks to the wonderful parental support and commitment, I am pleased to say that we had a wonderful turn out and participation rate in our god and goddess event today.
Please enjoy these few pictures that were taken by Mr. Campbell with my camera before the battery died! If you have photos that we can use for the blog, or our portfolios, please email them to my school address and I will include them!
Thank you!

Also, tomorrow is our final exam on Julius Caesar. I showed the scholars the trailer for the movie that is currently hosted on YouTube, but I am not showing it in class. It is rated PG-13 and if you find it appropriate, you may share it with them on their own time at home.

Tomorrow we will also be finishing up writing our essays and the scholars will need to write their final piece to be handed in Friday morning. They need to remember to include five meaty vocabulary words and to be sure it is either hand written in cursive neatly, or typed. If your scholar chooses to type, it must be double spaced, MLA style, one inch margins, Times New Roman.

Friday will also be our Vocabulary and Spelling test, first thing. Friday afternoon the Speech and Debate Club will be meeting in our suite before heading out to the tournament to observe. Please be sure I have a permission slip for your scholar if he or she is going to join us. We will be calling homes when we are close to Riverdale and you can pick up your scholar at school that evening.

Thank you for your support today! I am so honored to be working with your scholars. They really have raised the bar!

There are also some photos included from other parents who so graciously are sharing them with us! Thank you all so much!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Enthralling Book Report Projects!










Last Friday was our first Book Report Project Presentation. The scholars took the floor to show off their projects and intrigue us to read their books. Please see photos below of some of the presentations:
We also worked on our math review and finished it up yesterday so that we could take our math tests today.

Tomorrow is our gods and goddesses get-together. The second grade will be joining us for the beginning portion when our gods and goddesses are being guessed by their classmates and giving hints. This will take place at 2:00 in the cafeteria. The scholars will have the opportunity to sample Greek foods when done. Thank you to Mrs. Bloker and her committee for putting this together for us.....it is one of those events these scholars will never forget.




























We also completed Julius Caesar today and will be having a review day tomorrow and a final on Thursday. We will then be moving into an Introduction of Mark Twain on Friday.
Scholars should be working on their essays due on Friday about respect. We have been writing in class, and this evening they need to have their three solid paragraphs and introduction done. Tomorrow they can work on their conclusions.

They should also be working on memorizing their speeches; at least the first through second minutes, and writing their third minute at this point. We are also spending time in class working on those.

Thank you to all who have donated to cover our new couch and chair. I will be traveling to the store today with Mrs. Bloker to get the fabric and be working on covering them this week. Thank you for your generosity! :)

Have a wonderfully blessed evening.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Virent Ova! Viret Perna!!




Ask your student what our title means and they should be able to tell you that they listened to Doctor Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham in Latin today. We specifically found roots that we have been studying in class throughout the text, so it was fun for the scholars to hear the Latin conversationally.

We have a full week ahead of us next week, but tomorrow has a full day of its own. Book Report projects are due tomorrow morning. We will begin around 8:30. If you are coming in to watch your scholar please be here by then, and we will have the scholars with parents go first so you don't have to wait through a bunch of students. Each scholar will be performing a 3 minute presentation about their project and their book. It does not have to be memorized, but can be if they are more comfortable with that.

Tomorrow is the first meeting of Speech and Debate Club. We will be diving into LD and then talking about the tournament that we will be observing next week at Highland High School. If your scholar will be joining us then please send back the permission slip that will go home tomorrow. We have two drivers, but may need more. I will communicate that to you all next week.

Today we worked on Act 4 questions for Caesar and will dive into Act 5 tomorrow or Monday. There is a history test on Judaism and Christianity on Monday and will most likely be a math test on Wednesday. Thursday is the Julius Caesar test, and Friday vocabulary and spelling as well as their first essay. We have been working on these essays during class, so the most they should have to do is their final writing on Thursday evening.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Essays, Speeches, Myths, and Such.....


Your scholars currently have quite a bit on their plates. They may not have a list a mile long in their planners each night, but they have many things in process that need work a little bit at a time. As stated before Time Management is VITAL this year as middle schoolers continue to learn how to govern themselves and portion out their time. Middle School demands responsibility, and it's our job to help them get there!

They are currently working on a number of things, all of which can be worked on at home as well as in school. They are:

Monthly book reports
myth writing
essay writing
speech writing
novel reading
play reading
content reading
squares and cubes
GCF and LCM...and on and on.....

Tomorrow is the first science assessment on light. We had a review class today and all scholars should have brought home their notes to study. They will need to be able to give me the five steps in the scientific method, as well as list out the visible light spectrum in order. They need to be able to determine where a piece of equipment lies in the spectrum dependent upon which types of rays it uses. It's a pretty straight forward test and if they were here for the experiment and have been listening intently, they should all perform quite well.

We will continue writing our essays that are due on the 30th as well as working through what makes a great myth and how to develop their own. We will be writing our myths via a website in the computer lab. The scholars should find this quite entertaining as well as engaging.

Our gods and goddesses gathering will be on the 28th from 2 to 3. I would like each scholar to have at least a minute up in front of the class to give us hints as to who they are, why they dressed the way they did, and why they chose their particular god or goddess....anyone who would like to contribute Greek food for the occasion is more than welcome, and of course all parents are welcome to observe that afternoon.

Included today is a picture of our class preparing to sculpt in art. They all have their groovy art shirts on, and are definitely showing us who they are in living color! :)

Have a delightful evening!

Monday, September 19, 2011

To Everything, Turn, Turn, Turn....There is a Season.....

Important note:
Due to Instructor Error I was under the impression that all of my students were following the dress code to a tee. Apparently I was mistaken as my students' photos showed up on the large screen at faculty meeting last Friday, to my dismay. I thought the wording "patch pockets" referred specifically to cargo type pants and shorts. Apparently I was sorely mistaken, and patch pockets refers to any pocket that has stitching around the outside of the pocket. Therefore we have a number of students OUT OF DRESS CODE. Please see to it that your students are only wearing shorts and pants with an interior pocket, not "patch pockets". Again, it's gone this long because their instructor did not know the definition of the words. I stand corrected, and will be watching for dress code adherence starting next Monday. Please excuse my error.

Ask your scholar about those title words, and you'll hear that they experienced the famous BYRDS today, from the 60s singing, "Turn, turn, turn..." Yes, the looks on their faces were priceless! :)

We were studying the book of Ecclesiastes in our Pearson History books today and they had a passage in print that went along with the music. They then answered some questions about what the author was trying to get across to the readers. Very interesting, to say the least!

We had our first NWEA test today, which was Reading, and tomorrow we take Language. If your scholar scores above 80% in BOTH sections of the test, they will be invited to take part in the Novel Project for the class. This is an enrichment project that will challenge even the best writers to stretch and produce a novel that will be turned in to a publishing company to read and critique. There is a cost involved, and you will get an email explaining it, and have a choice of joining the group or not joining the group.

After the Math NWEA I will be inviting students to take part on our Math Team, to participate in Math Counts. There is a regional competition, a state competition, and then a team that's put together from Utah of the top students to participate in the National Competition.

There will also be 6 scholars invited to participate in the Geography Bee, those being the strongest in geography, of course.

Speech and Debate club will begin on Friday and we will be discussing traveling to some competitions to observe the different events.

Wednesday is our Science test on light. Please be sure your scholar is studying. Book reports are due to be presented on Friday. Tomorrow speech topics are due, and 2 bits of information that they would like to include in their speech.

We will be working on our essays on respect tomorrow, and getting ready to write our first minute of our oratories.

If you haven't noticed, we are taking up the pace a notch with a number of things in process at one time. It is mandatory that students learn to time manage, and pace themselves to find a balance and not be overwhelmed with everything at once. The best coaching that you can do from home is to make sure your scholar is working on something every single evening, even if it is something that is due in a week. Thank you for partnering with me in training your scholars to think ahead, plan ahead, and balance their academics.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Thankful for Friday!

What a crazy week we had here in the suite. Some of your scholars will be bringing home math work since they haven't quite mastered the GCF and LCM material. I HAVE to move on and they will be working over the weekend to solidify those skills. We will be finishing up the first chapter next week, and we need to have a chapter test by the end of the month. We are a bit behind where I would like to see us at this point, but much of that was due to my trip.

ALL SCHOLARS SHOULD BE STUDYING THEIR LATIN THIS WEEKEND! There is a Latin quiz on Monday. Please make sure your scholars look over the terms.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
NWEA TESTS FOR OUR CLASS BEGIN THIS NEXT WEEK, WE WILL BE TESTING ALL WEEK AT 8:30 IN THE MORNING. PLEASE BE SURE YOUR SCHOLAR IS WELL RESTED AND FED BEFORE SCHOOL!


These tests provide the baseline for the rest of the year.

Next Friday the 23rd is our first Speech and Debate Club meeting after school from 1:00 to 2:00. Talk to your scholar and see if they are interested in competing and going to tournaments to observe and watch high school students perform. If so, they are welcome to join club. There will be more details forthcoming.

I am hoping we can have our gods and goddesses gathering on the 28th of the month, from 2:00 to 3:00. If you are interested in providing a Greek snack for the class, please contact Mrs. Bloker and we will put your name down. All parents are welcome to join us as our gods and goddesses perform mini presentations about their character.

We will be working on Act 4 of Julius Caesar next week, and it is a long one, therefore I am moving the final test to the 29th of September. Scholars will be informed on Monday. Act 5 is quick, but I want them to have time to study.

We will spend our history time studying Judaism more next week. I will be bringing in some artifacts, and we will study the Jewish calendar, find their birth months, and learn about Hanukkah and Dreidel. When December comes around, which will be quickly at this rate, we will be prepared to celebrate!

Book Report books should be finished over the weekend and all scholars should be working on their projects that are due next Friday, the 23rd.

Have a glorious weekend!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Cha, Cha, Cha....for our Heroes!




We were all busy today trying to accomplish many things getting caught up from last week and moving into new material!

Tomorrow is the Julius Caesar quiz for acts 1 - 3....scholars have notes to study from, and should spend some time looking them over tonight. Below you will see photos of them re-enacting their favorite part of act 3, the death of Caesar ( of course! )

We have been assigned a basket that we need to put together for the Art Gala and Auction in November. Our class' theme is Cha, Cha, Cha. Scholars can start bringing things in for a fiesta type basket, that we can put together and wrap. If anyone has a large basket they would like to donate, please feel free to send it in. I have the cellophane wrap for it. We were brainstorming today and thinking about salsa, chips, the DVD Three Amigos, and fun things of that nature. Someone even suggested a Spanish/English dictionary! :) We need to have it done by November first.

We have begun a study of heroes, that will lead into writing our own myths, a great prelude for those students who will be selected to participate in novel writing beginning second quarter. They will be inventing their own mythological god or goddess and developing the character through the unit. It is an enjoyable activity and I believe the students will enjoy it as much as our Gods and Goddesses party at the end of the month. I am hoping to sandwich that party in on the 28th, but I am not positive yet, as we have a lot of information to cover. Hopefully we will get there!

There will be a quick quiz tomorrow on GCF and LCM....we are moving into squares and cubes and some new material tomorrow!

We have a need for the clear page protectors for our portfolios. If anyone has some sitting at home that they can donate, we would appreciate them in class. The scholars got their first installment of photos for their portfolios and I prefer to protect the photos with page protectors. Thank you in advance for helping us to keep them looking sharp!

Have a wonderful evening!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Back in the Swing of Things!

Mrs. Goers is back from New York, and with the wedding of her son behind her, she can now concentrate on things in the classroom more precisely! We are busy making up work that didn't quite get finished last week, and then moving into some new territory!

We are finished with the first three acts of Julius Caesar. We will complete our Act III comprehension questions tomorrow and then take a quiz on Thursday (see dates below). We will then dive into Act IV.

We are completing our history unit on Judaism and Christianity as well. We will be starting Ancient Greece and Rome early next week.

The Children's Homer is being read to us, and we are reading it to each other in Lit Circles. The students reported today on a missing person, and we had a discussion on how long each of them would search for a parent who had gone missing. This is to bring the story of Telemachus to life, as he decides to search for his father Odysseus. Even though the literature is ancient, the life lessons are not!

In Math we are solidifying the procedures of using prime factorization to find the GCF and LCM in a set of numbers. We will be moving in to squares and cubes later this week.

We are talking about refracting and reflecting light in science and will work with some lasers tomorrow to see what we can learn. We are learning about absorption of light energy and have created Electromagnetic Spectrum charts of our own to study for the test.

Important dates:

15th - SHIRT ORDER DUE, Julius Caesar acts 1 - 3 quiz
16th - Vocabulary and spelling tests
19th - PICTURE DAY, Latin quiz
21st - Science Test, Light Energy
23rd - Book Report Projects due, Vocabulary and Spelling tests
26th - History Test
27th - Final Assessment for Julius Caesar
30th - Vocabulary and Spelling tests, first essay due

If anyone is interested in coming in and volunteering for a few hours I can use some help putting up work in the hallway, and making copies. Let me know if you're available. Thanks so much!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

We Will, We Will Rock You!






The Sixth Grade Sagacious Scholars helped to lead the first assembly of the student body yesterday as we taught the proper way to respect our Headmaster and Dean when they enter the room. The student body got to practice together for the first time when Ms. Downs and Ms. Demeter entered the gym.

Ms. Downs gave a short explanation of what respect is about, and then asked for volunteers to help her strengthen the definition.

We then ran a little skit about how students respect their teachers and each other throughout the day. It was fun to work with Coach Hassell and I believe the message got across to the student body well.

We ended the assembly by leading the student body in "We Will, We Will Rock You!"
We were very honored to help with the assembly and practice our leadership skills!

We also had our Spelling and Vocabulary tests first thing in the morning. Since the instructor is updating this blog from 32,000 feet in the air, the rest of the vocab tests are still being scored. Check Engrade by the end of this evening for scores on that test.

We had very little time to accomplish much else on Friday, but we did cover another scene of Julius Caesar and worked with Greatest Common Factors in math. We also learned about oratory and humorous interpretation and watched an HI from a national competition. The scholars enjoyed the young man's interpretation of literature, and have an idea of what some of the speech events for Speech and Debate look like.

Tuesday Mrs. Koren will greet the scholars, and they know that they are to be on their absolute best behavior for the week while I am away. I expect nothing but the best from them, and I am sure they are up to the challenge.
Thank you to all of you who came out to see the scholars on Friday, and a special thank you to Mr. Doug Johnson who willingly became the blog photographer at a moment's notice!

Have a great week!!!!