C-Time seemed to go off without a hitch today. Thank you for helping us make it work!
We didn't have writing time, but the students wrote in their writers' notebooks when they first came in this morning. We had a bit of time to share. I am impressed with the students' willingness to write! Very cool on my part.
In reading, read aloud produced another great discussion. The students are showing strong feelings about how the main character in the story is being treated. I did a lesson on main characters vs. minor characters, using examples from the read aloud. We then talked about what we know about the main character Angus. We listed character traits and then generalized how we find out things about characters in our books. One way is the author tells us, another way is how the characters themselves act and what they say and the final way is what other characters say and how they act toward the main character. This is to help students think about their responses for the first blog entry. They had a chance to Respond to Reading or Read to Self. Some kids had a conference as well to check in with their comprehension. 2 hours and vocab is due Tuesday. All students need to read to their deadlines and sticky note along the way.
In science today, we talked about the variables that occurred during the "How Many Drops on a Penny" lab yesterday. We then began our discussion of the part of the scientific method which is materials and procedures. Students are being asked to write out very specific procedures for wrapping a shoe box. I think they will find out that it isn't as easy as they think! The importance of clear procedures will be the point of today, tomorrow and Monday/Tuesday's lessons.
Stay dry!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wonderful Wednesday
Don't forget that tomorrow is C-Time. There will be activities for kids here at the normal time but we will not start teaching until 8:55.
We had Picture Day today, so some reading and math time got interrupted. During reading, I went over the rubric for how the responses to reading will be scored. Students got a chance to either Read to Self or Respond to Reading on the class blog. 2 hours and vocab. is due on Tuesday Students need to keep reading to their deadlines and using sticky notes.
In science today, many students were out of the classroom due to Peer Mediation/Peer Leader training. We did another activity with hypothesizing. Students made an educated guess about how many drops of water would fit on a penny. Then they tested out their hypothesis to see if it was correct.
In writing, we did a lesson on Show and Not Tell. I put a telling sentence on the board and students copied it into their notebooks. Then we brainstormed together words and phrases they would use to show this sentence rather than tell it. Next, students wrote in their notebooks a paragraph of showing and not telling. We will apply this to our personal narrative pieces on Monday.
We had Picture Day today, so some reading and math time got interrupted. During reading, I went over the rubric for how the responses to reading will be scored. Students got a chance to either Read to Self or Respond to Reading on the class blog. 2 hours and vocab. is due on Tuesday Students need to keep reading to their deadlines and using sticky notes.
In science today, many students were out of the classroom due to Peer Mediation/Peer Leader training. We did another activity with hypothesizing. Students made an educated guess about how many drops of water would fit on a penny. Then they tested out their hypothesis to see if it was correct.
In writing, we did a lesson on Show and Not Tell. I put a telling sentence on the board and students copied it into their notebooks. Then we brainstormed together words and phrases they would use to show this sentence rather than tell it. Next, students wrote in their notebooks a paragraph of showing and not telling. We will apply this to our personal narrative pieces on Monday.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Another Busy Day in 6F/S/B!
I talked with my homeroom today about the schedule on Thursday. Hopefully, you all know that Thursday is our first C-Time for the district. This is a time that teachers are collaberating in the beginning of the school day. Students have one of two options for the beginning of this day. The first option is that they come to school for an 8:55 start. They would have to be dropped off by someone (not a bus) at this time or walk or bike to school. The second option is that students come to school for the regular time and participate in some volunteer-run activities for that first hour that teachers are in meetings. Buses are running at normal times that morning. I need to know from your child what his/her plans are for the C-Time on Thursday. Please talk about it at home and I will ask my homeroom tomorrow morning. Thank you!
We started with reading class today. Read aloud was packed full of discussion about metaphors, inferences and prejudism - heavy stuff! This book is so amazing and sparks such fabulous discussion! After read aloud, I handed out the requirements for the Celebrate Our Differences unit. We are adding Respond to Reading as an option during Reading Workshop time in the class. For this unit, I have set up an in-house blog/wiki for the students to respond to their reading of these books. The blog is only accessible when children are at Maple Street. It is not one that you can get to on the internet. Each week, students are responsible for gettting on the blog and writing a paragraph (5 to 10 sentence) response about the reading done that week. I have guiding questions that are to be addressed each week. Students will be graded on these entries according to the rubric that I gave them today. We will go over that rubric tomorrow. I'm so excited to try this process out! It's like a virtual book club. Students will be able to read each other's responses and comment back each time they get on the blog. Please let me know if you have any questions. Students do not need to do anything for this entry at home unless they want to plan it out. My suggestion was for them to look at the questions that will be addressed in the week's entry and be thinking about that as they are reading.
In writing today, we looked at two stories and discussed the difference between them. Both stories are about summer vacation trips, but one has much more detail than the other. The point is for students to write like the story with more detail so we have a picture in our minds as we listen. I also discussed the beginning stages of the writing process and what is expected for this published piece of writing. I am asking students to write their rough drafts on filler paper, skipping lines to make room for revision. We worked on these today.
Finally, in 6S science, we did the same thing as 6F did yesterday. Please see yesterday's blog for that.
We met with our buddies in Mrs. Roberts' class today. We did some logic problems in cooperative groups. So fun!
We started with reading class today. Read aloud was packed full of discussion about metaphors, inferences and prejudism - heavy stuff! This book is so amazing and sparks such fabulous discussion! After read aloud, I handed out the requirements for the Celebrate Our Differences unit. We are adding Respond to Reading as an option during Reading Workshop time in the class. For this unit, I have set up an in-house blog/wiki for the students to respond to their reading of these books. The blog is only accessible when children are at Maple Street. It is not one that you can get to on the internet. Each week, students are responsible for gettting on the blog and writing a paragraph (5 to 10 sentence) response about the reading done that week. I have guiding questions that are to be addressed each week. Students will be graded on these entries according to the rubric that I gave them today. We will go over that rubric tomorrow. I'm so excited to try this process out! It's like a virtual book club. Students will be able to read each other's responses and comment back each time they get on the blog. Please let me know if you have any questions. Students do not need to do anything for this entry at home unless they want to plan it out. My suggestion was for them to look at the questions that will be addressed in the week's entry and be thinking about that as they are reading.
In writing today, we looked at two stories and discussed the difference between them. Both stories are about summer vacation trips, but one has much more detail than the other. The point is for students to write like the story with more detail so we have a picture in our minds as we listen. I also discussed the beginning stages of the writing process and what is expected for this published piece of writing. I am asking students to write their rough drafts on filler paper, skipping lines to make room for revision. We worked on these today.
Finally, in 6S science, we did the same thing as 6F did yesterday. Please see yesterday's blog for that.
We met with our buddies in Mrs. Roberts' class today. We did some logic problems in cooperative groups. So fun!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Happy Monday!
Such exciting stuff going on in 6F and 6S/B! In writing, we started brainstorming topics for our first piece of published writing: the personal narrative. This is my FAVORITE writing project! I read a chapter from Ralph Fletcher's book A Writer's Notebook about writing small. Next, I did a lesson that compared finding a small topic to eating pizza. One would never eat an entire pizza (especially if it's a Sal's pizza!) just like you would not try to write about a huge topic. I showed them my huge topic, My Summer Vacation, and how to pare it down to a smaller topic such as A Whale Watch. I read them my actual story about a whale watch and then asked them to do the same thing with an experience that happened to them. Many found topics right away while others needed a bit of help. By the end of class, each student had an idea of what to write about for the personal narrative.
In reading today, we read aloud. I also handed out books for the Celebrate Our Differences Unit. Students met in small groups to decide deadlines for each day from now until October 20, which is the end of the unit and deadline for finishing the books. Students need to be keeping track (with sticky notes) of any predictions and questions they have as they read the book. They may count any time reading this book at home for their 2 hours. Reading logs and vocab are due tomorrow.
During science, we organized our portfolios and reading logs. Then I showed a few clips introducing the scientific method. We discussed what it was and then did some work with hypothesizing. I gave them 3 scenarios involving water, corn syrup, a marble and oil and asked them to make a hypothesis about what will happen. Then, we discussed how scientists use their prior knowledge (oh my, a reading term!) to make educated guesses. 6S has Learner Essays due tomorrow.
In spelling today, 6F made their first Words to Learn lists. The words came from a pretest I gave last week. Each child has a different list based on their performance on the pretest. They should be studying these words nightly to learn how to spell them. I also discussed Priority Words with them. These are the "no excuse" words that ALL pieces of writing should be checked for before being passed in. I will take one assignment per week and do a Priority Word check on it. This assignment will not be announced and it can be from any subject. The point is for all students to be checking all assignments for their Priority Words.
Picture Day is Wednesday!
In reading today, we read aloud. I also handed out books for the Celebrate Our Differences Unit. Students met in small groups to decide deadlines for each day from now until October 20, which is the end of the unit and deadline for finishing the books. Students need to be keeping track (with sticky notes) of any predictions and questions they have as they read the book. They may count any time reading this book at home for their 2 hours. Reading logs and vocab are due tomorrow.
During science, we organized our portfolios and reading logs. Then I showed a few clips introducing the scientific method. We discussed what it was and then did some work with hypothesizing. I gave them 3 scenarios involving water, corn syrup, a marble and oil and asked them to make a hypothesis about what will happen. Then, we discussed how scientists use their prior knowledge (oh my, a reading term!) to make educated guesses. 6S has Learner Essays due tomorrow.
In spelling today, 6F made their first Words to Learn lists. The words came from a pretest I gave last week. Each child has a different list based on their performance on the pretest. They should be studying these words nightly to learn how to spell them. I also discussed Priority Words with them. These are the "no excuse" words that ALL pieces of writing should be checked for before being passed in. I will take one assignment per week and do a Priority Word check on it. This assignment will not be announced and it can be from any subject. The point is for all students to be checking all assignments for their Priority Words.
Picture Day is Wednesday!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday
Today was the last day of this round of math groups. We are looking at other ways to mix up the groups for the next few weeks. More on that to come.
During reading, we used the Can It Be For Me? and Choosing a Good Fit Book strategies to decide which book we might choose for the Celebrate Our Differences unit. I will look at these choices, use what I know about each child, and assign books for Monday's class. Students will decide deadlines, knowing when the book should be completed, in groups during Monday's class. There was some Read to Self time today.
I explained the Who am I as a Learner Essay to 6S today in science. I gave them the pre-writing sheet to work on and I showed them examples of what the essay should look like. They had time to work on this in class. For 6F, the essays are due Monday. For 6S, the due date is Tuesday.
We had our first round of clubs today! So fun! My club is creating a digital movie in iMovie. There are so many choices for clubs this time around. Ask your child what he/she did and let me know how he/she liked it!
During reading, we used the Can It Be For Me? and Choosing a Good Fit Book strategies to decide which book we might choose for the Celebrate Our Differences unit. I will look at these choices, use what I know about each child, and assign books for Monday's class. Students will decide deadlines, knowing when the book should be completed, in groups during Monday's class. There was some Read to Self time today.
I explained the Who am I as a Learner Essay to 6S today in science. I gave them the pre-writing sheet to work on and I showed them examples of what the essay should look like. They had time to work on this in class. For 6F, the essays are due Monday. For 6S, the due date is Tuesday.
We had our first round of clubs today! So fun! My club is creating a digital movie in iMovie. There are so many choices for clubs this time around. Ask your child what he/she did and let me know how he/she liked it!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Testing Thursday
There is not much to report today because both 6F and 6S took their MAP tests in reading. Book orders are due tomorrow. Reading log and vocabulary find is due Tuesday.
In 6F science today, we began to put together all of the information that we've gathered to answer the question, "Who am I as a Learner?" Students filled out a graphic organizer compiling all of their results. This is the pre-write to the Learner essay. I showed students an example of what a typical essay might look like. I expect these essays to be in final draft form. They will be due Monday for 6F and Tuesday for 6S.
In 6F science today, we began to put together all of the information that we've gathered to answer the question, "Who am I as a Learner?" Students filled out a graphic organizer compiling all of their results. This is the pre-write to the Learner essay. I showed students an example of what a typical essay might look like. I expect these essays to be in final draft form. They will be due Monday for 6F and Tuesday for 6S.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wonderful Wednesday
After band and chorus or study hall today, we had a special treat: a guest speaker! Mrs. Doneski, our Occupational Therapist, came in to talk with both classes about her job and what it entails. I asked her to speak briefly about autism and she touched on sensory disfunctions. It was a great way to build our prior knowledge before we read a few of the books that are being offered for the Celebrate our Differences unit. Students were able to ask questions as well. After she spoke, I book talked all of the books for the unit. Students will choose books Friday. Tomorrow is the reading MAP test.
Before we sat down to write today, students had the opportunity to do a lap, running or walking, around the school. They needed to "shake their sillies out" in order to focus and build their stamina for writing time. I saw wonderful results! Students were able to sustain 20 minutes of silent writing time. I offered an "invitation" to write. This is where I give them an idea to write about. They may choose to use it, or write on their own. It's for anyone who can't come up with something to write about on their own. I will collect writers' notebooks at the end of the week to see how much and what they are writing.
In science for both classes today, we passed in our 3 graphs. We then did an independent activity called Who are you? This is where each subject area in school is separated on a sheet of paper and students choose their preferences within that subject. Each outlined a choice that could be classified into the 3 learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Students then worked together to brainstorm things they have seen teachers do in school to address each learning style.
Before we sat down to write today, students had the opportunity to do a lap, running or walking, around the school. They needed to "shake their sillies out" in order to focus and build their stamina for writing time. I saw wonderful results! Students were able to sustain 20 minutes of silent writing time. I offered an "invitation" to write. This is where I give them an idea to write about. They may choose to use it, or write on their own. It's for anyone who can't come up with something to write about on their own. I will collect writers' notebooks at the end of the week to see how much and what they are writing.
In science for both classes today, we passed in our 3 graphs. We then did an independent activity called Who are you? This is where each subject area in school is separated on a sheet of paper and students choose their preferences within that subject. Each outlined a choice that could be classified into the 3 learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Students then worked together to brainstorm things they have seen teachers do in school to address each learning style.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Race is On!
It was so nice to see and meet most of you last night at Open House. Please let us know if you couldn't make it and would like to sign up for a conference or to help out in the classroom.
I have been wearing a pedometer for the past week and measuring my steps. I thought it would be fun to challenge the students and see who could get more steps during the course of the school day. I have some pedometers from the PE teacher that students may borrow while at school. A handful of kids took one today to see if they could beat me! I will distribute these each morning (until I run out) and collect them in the afternoon. I will be interested to see how many steps they all have compared to me! If students want to measure their steps outside of school, they will need to purchase their own pedometers. I got mine at Walmart for under $20.00.
In reading today, we read more of The Crazy Man. Our discussion of prejudism continues. I continued to talk about the criteria for finding a Good Fit book. We've talked about motivation, vocabulary, prior knowledge and, today, fluency. I read a bit of the book Runny Babbit to demonstrate difficulty with fluency while reading. We practiced Read to Self and I conferred with a few readers. I also collected reading logs and passed out new ones that are due September 28.
In writing, we worked on our writing stamina. We wrote silently for 10 minutes and then discussed what silent writing time looks like in the classroom. Some students modeled appropriate silent writing behavior while others (for fun) modeled inappropriate silent writing behavior. Students will be expected to produce 3 pages of writing in their notebooks each week. Writing done in class counts!
In science, we went to the computer lab (6S) to work on our graphs. These are due tomorrow for both classes.
I have been wearing a pedometer for the past week and measuring my steps. I thought it would be fun to challenge the students and see who could get more steps during the course of the school day. I have some pedometers from the PE teacher that students may borrow while at school. A handful of kids took one today to see if they could beat me! I will distribute these each morning (until I run out) and collect them in the afternoon. I will be interested to see how many steps they all have compared to me! If students want to measure their steps outside of school, they will need to purchase their own pedometers. I got mine at Walmart for under $20.00.
In reading today, we read more of The Crazy Man. Our discussion of prejudism continues. I continued to talk about the criteria for finding a Good Fit book. We've talked about motivation, vocabulary, prior knowledge and, today, fluency. I read a bit of the book Runny Babbit to demonstrate difficulty with fluency while reading. We practiced Read to Self and I conferred with a few readers. I also collected reading logs and passed out new ones that are due September 28.
In writing, we worked on our writing stamina. We wrote silently for 10 minutes and then discussed what silent writing time looks like in the classroom. Some students modeled appropriate silent writing behavior while others (for fun) modeled inappropriate silent writing behavior. Students will be expected to produce 3 pages of writing in their notebooks each week. Writing done in class counts!
In science, we went to the computer lab (6S) to work on our graphs. These are due tomorrow for both classes.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday
Another busy, busy Monday! This morning we worked in our writers' notebooks for the first time. I had students do some "power writing" to build their stamina. I put a noun and a verb on the board and students wrote in their notebooks using those two words somewhere in that writing. We stopped after each 5 minute increment to talk and process how those minutes went for each child. It is my hope to work on "power writing" all week so that students are used to silent sustained writing. We also did a curriculum based measure (CBM) where students wrote to a prompt for three minutes.
In reading, we read aloud from The Crazy Man. I gave out book orders and did a lot of book talks about books in the orders. Students wrote titles on their Books to Read lists. These orders are due Friday. 2 hours and vocabulary is due tomorrow. Student also practiced Read to Self for 5 uninterrupted minutes.
In science, 6F worked on their graphs with the computers. These are due on Wednesday.
We had spelling in 6F today for the first time! Students took a pretest on the first 100 Core Words.
In reading, we read aloud from The Crazy Man. I gave out book orders and did a lot of book talks about books in the orders. Students wrote titles on their Books to Read lists. These orders are due Friday. 2 hours and vocabulary is due tomorrow. Student also practiced Read to Self for 5 uninterrupted minutes.
In science, 6F worked on their graphs with the computers. These are due on Wednesday.
We had spelling in 6F today for the first time! Students took a pretest on the first 100 Core Words.
Friday, September 17, 2010
TGIF!
We began our morning in small math groups, just like last Friday. Students stayed in the same groups but may have had a different teacher today. We have one more week of these groups and then we will re-evaluate and base our decisions on data that we collect for future groups.
In reading today, we read aloud The Crazy Man. This is such a powerful book that touches on prejudice. The discussion we're having is super. My lesson today focused on one aspect of reading class: Read to Self. We made a chart to delineate what students are doing during this time. After that, we modeled what Read to Self looks like and what it does NOT look like. Finally, we practiced for a 5 minute interval of time. It is my hope to build stamina with Read to Self over the course of the next week so that students can sustain 30 minutes of Read to Self behavior during the independent work time in reading class.
In science today, I had 6S and we worked on the computers for our graphs. I had them take notes on how they would be graded on these graphs. The final due date for both classes is Wednesday. Students need to have 3 separate graphs to pass in showing their data for the 3 activities that we completed in class about who we are as learners.
We ended the day with a school-wide assembly. Students will pick clubs that will start next week.
In reading today, we read aloud The Crazy Man. This is such a powerful book that touches on prejudice. The discussion we're having is super. My lesson today focused on one aspect of reading class: Read to Self. We made a chart to delineate what students are doing during this time. After that, we modeled what Read to Self looks like and what it does NOT look like. Finally, we practiced for a 5 minute interval of time. It is my hope to build stamina with Read to Self over the course of the next week so that students can sustain 30 minutes of Read to Self behavior during the independent work time in reading class.
In science today, I had 6S and we worked on the computers for our graphs. I had them take notes on how they would be graded on these graphs. The final due date for both classes is Wednesday. Students need to have 3 separate graphs to pass in showing their data for the 3 activities that we completed in class about who we are as learners.
We ended the day with a school-wide assembly. Students will pick clubs that will start next week.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday
Students in our pod took the MAP test today so we had longer blocks of time with them. 6F started their day with testing. After snack, I had them for reading.
In reading, we started a new read aloud! It's called The Crazy Man and it is a novel written in narrative poetry. It is a wonderful book that fits right in with our theme of celebrating our differences. The discussion we had today was great.
After read aloud, students put their graded reading logs into a folder that I keep in class. We then talked about one of the factors that influences us when we choose a book: motivation. I asked students to think about the things that they are interested in and brainstorm topics on a sheet of paper called I Wonder. This will help me point them in the right direction for choosing books.
Students also had a nice amount of time to read silently or work on reading benchmarks. I began reading conferences with them as well. This is where students read with an adult just to work on fluency as well to check on comprehension. Everyone will be having a conference once a week.
In science for 6F, we worked on our 3 graphs: learning styles, brain/body reaction time and multiple intelligences. These are due on Wednesday for both classes. I went over what they are being scored on and students took notes on that in their notebooks.
In reading, we started a new read aloud! It's called The Crazy Man and it is a novel written in narrative poetry. It is a wonderful book that fits right in with our theme of celebrating our differences. The discussion we had today was great.
After read aloud, students put their graded reading logs into a folder that I keep in class. We then talked about one of the factors that influences us when we choose a book: motivation. I asked students to think about the things that they are interested in and brainstorm topics on a sheet of paper called I Wonder. This will help me point them in the right direction for choosing books.
Students also had a nice amount of time to read silently or work on reading benchmarks. I began reading conferences with them as well. This is where students read with an adult just to work on fluency as well to check on comprehension. Everyone will be having a conference once a week.
In science for 6F, we worked on our 3 graphs: learning styles, brain/body reaction time and multiple intelligences. These are due on Wednesday for both classes. I went over what they are being scored on and students took notes on that in their notebooks.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Wednesday
As always on Wednesdays, we started our day with band and chorus or study hall. Students who had study hall were very productive.
It was a bit of a zigger-zagger day (a term stolen from Mrs. Boyko at HMS!) because I taught science this morning and reading in the afternoon. In science, Mrs. Locke came to teach us about Microsoft Excel and how to turn our data into awesome charts! Students began working on making 3 charts for the learning style/multiple intelligence data. They will have more time tomorrow (6F) and Friday (6S) to finish these up. I also handed back the questions from the Brain Body Reaction Time Lab today. If you have any questions about how these were scored, please contact me.
In writing, we worked one more time on the Graphs of Life. Final drafts of these are due on Friday. There is no writing time tomorrow due to math MAP testing, so the rest of the graphs are homework. Some students already passed them in.
In reading this afternoon, I had students take a second look at their reading logs passed in yesterday. I gave them the rubric for how I will grade them and asked them to make sure they have all the information that they need. I will not do this next time. If you would like a copy of the rubric, please let me know. Also today, we talked about Easy, Just Right and Challenge books. I gave examples from my own reading life to show that the size of the book has nothing to do with its challenge level.
2 hours and vocab is due on Tuesday, September 21.
It was a bit of a zigger-zagger day (a term stolen from Mrs. Boyko at HMS!) because I taught science this morning and reading in the afternoon. In science, Mrs. Locke came to teach us about Microsoft Excel and how to turn our data into awesome charts! Students began working on making 3 charts for the learning style/multiple intelligence data. They will have more time tomorrow (6F) and Friday (6S) to finish these up. I also handed back the questions from the Brain Body Reaction Time Lab today. If you have any questions about how these were scored, please contact me.
In writing, we worked one more time on the Graphs of Life. Final drafts of these are due on Friday. There is no writing time tomorrow due to math MAP testing, so the rest of the graphs are homework. Some students already passed them in.
In reading this afternoon, I had students take a second look at their reading logs passed in yesterday. I gave them the rubric for how I will grade them and asked them to make sure they have all the information that they need. I will not do this next time. If you would like a copy of the rubric, please let me know. Also today, we talked about Easy, Just Right and Challenge books. I gave examples from my own reading life to show that the size of the book has nothing to do with its challenge level.
2 hours and vocab is due on Tuesday, September 21.
Field Trip
Wow! What an awesome day we had up at Lake Ossipee. The weather turned out great. I hope you got the same report from your child!
We broke the kids up into 4 groups (all mixed homerooms) and they spent the day together. In my group, we started with a couple of ice breaker games. One was where they had to find different "handshake" partners and tell different things about themselves to their partners. There was a Boom Partner, a High Five Partner, Around the World Partner, Milkman Partner, a Lumberjack Partner, and a Ankle Shake Partner. Ask your child about that!
After that, we played Hide the Cone Red Light Green Light. This was a great cooperative game where the kids had to strategize how to move a cone down the field without the leader knowing. The kids learned a lot about how to work together as a team. It was also great for the teachers to see how the students interact with each other.
From there, my group moved to "Rob's World": a series of low ropes challenges. We learned the rules and then participated in "Nitro-Crossing". This is where there is a rope hanging and students have to get across a field of "hot lava" to a platform. Again, cooperation and communication among each other was required. Very cool! We did it!
Next, we moved to an 8 foot flat wall. The goal of this activity was to get all 20 students up and over the wall. They had to use each other and plan how to do this. Fascinating to watch! They did it!
Lunch consisted of burgers, hot dogs, chicken, or veggie burgers. There was potato salad, coleslaw, watermelon slices and cookies to go with it. YUMMO!
After lunch, we went on a boat ride around Lake Ossipee. We learned some information about the lake. We ended the day with a small hike and learned more about the lake and its surroundings.
Overall, it was an awesome day. I started to take pictures to post on the blog, but my camera died..... Boo Hoo! I will try to extract the pictures that I took and post them soon!
We broke the kids up into 4 groups (all mixed homerooms) and they spent the day together. In my group, we started with a couple of ice breaker games. One was where they had to find different "handshake" partners and tell different things about themselves to their partners. There was a Boom Partner, a High Five Partner, Around the World Partner, Milkman Partner, a Lumberjack Partner, and a Ankle Shake Partner. Ask your child about that!
After that, we played Hide the Cone Red Light Green Light. This was a great cooperative game where the kids had to strategize how to move a cone down the field without the leader knowing. The kids learned a lot about how to work together as a team. It was also great for the teachers to see how the students interact with each other.
From there, my group moved to "Rob's World": a series of low ropes challenges. We learned the rules and then participated in "Nitro-Crossing". This is where there is a rope hanging and students have to get across a field of "hot lava" to a platform. Again, cooperation and communication among each other was required. Very cool! We did it!
Next, we moved to an 8 foot flat wall. The goal of this activity was to get all 20 students up and over the wall. They had to use each other and plan how to do this. Fascinating to watch! They did it!
Lunch consisted of burgers, hot dogs, chicken, or veggie burgers. There was potato salad, coleslaw, watermelon slices and cookies to go with it. YUMMO!
After lunch, we went on a boat ride around Lake Ossipee. We learned some information about the lake. We ended the day with a small hike and learned more about the lake and its surroundings.
Overall, it was an awesome day. I started to take pictures to post on the blog, but my camera died..... Boo Hoo! I will try to extract the pictures that I took and post them soon!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Monday, Monday
Our first Monday of the school year! Phew! It was a busy one!
We began in 6F with an activity that we will do a lot this year: Making Big Words. Students were given a cup full of tile letters that, when put in a certain order, make a big word. The challenge not only was to find that big word but also to find as many two letter, three letter, four letter, etc. words as they could using those letters. They recorded their words in their notebooks. We will do this as a warm up for a few days out of the week. It's great for spelling reinforcement.
In writing class, we worked on our Graphs of Life. Final drafts are due on Friday.
In reading, I read a book called The Conversation Club. The message about this book was for us to take turns talking and listen to one another because we all have valuable things to contribute. I then showed a "You Tube" video called "You Gotta Keep Reading". So cool! Also, I did a lesson on Good Fit books in comparison to shoes. I even had different shoes to prove my point: not all shoes are meant for the purpose or interest in what we are doing. Also, just because the shoes (books) may fit the purpose and interest, they may not all fit. It's important for children to be able to find those "good fit" books for themselves.
2 hours and vocab is due tomorrow.
I taught both classes science today because of our field trip tomorrow. We talked about the Brain Body Reaction Time lab and how and why the results may be flawed. This led into a discussion of all of the things you need to consider when designing an experiment (something they will be doing after the unit on Learning Styles). We then completed a Multiple Intelligence Survey to see which Intelligence that describes us best. If students did not finish this, it is due by Wednesday.
Just a quick reminder that Open House for 6th grade is September 20 from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. We will start in the gym. See you then~
Tomorrow is the field trip!
We began in 6F with an activity that we will do a lot this year: Making Big Words. Students were given a cup full of tile letters that, when put in a certain order, make a big word. The challenge not only was to find that big word but also to find as many two letter, three letter, four letter, etc. words as they could using those letters. They recorded their words in their notebooks. We will do this as a warm up for a few days out of the week. It's great for spelling reinforcement.
In writing class, we worked on our Graphs of Life. Final drafts are due on Friday.
In reading, I read a book called The Conversation Club. The message about this book was for us to take turns talking and listen to one another because we all have valuable things to contribute. I then showed a "You Tube" video called "You Gotta Keep Reading". So cool! Also, I did a lesson on Good Fit books in comparison to shoes. I even had different shoes to prove my point: not all shoes are meant for the purpose or interest in what we are doing. Also, just because the shoes (books) may fit the purpose and interest, they may not all fit. It's important for children to be able to find those "good fit" books for themselves.
2 hours and vocab is due tomorrow.
I taught both classes science today because of our field trip tomorrow. We talked about the Brain Body Reaction Time lab and how and why the results may be flawed. This led into a discussion of all of the things you need to consider when designing an experiment (something they will be doing after the unit on Learning Styles). We then completed a Multiple Intelligence Survey to see which Intelligence that describes us best. If students did not finish this, it is due by Wednesday.
Just a quick reminder that Open House for 6th grade is September 20 from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. We will start in the gym. See you then~
Tomorrow is the field trip!
Friday, September 10, 2010
TGIF!
We started our day doing some math groups. The sixth grade team mixed up all of the students based on an assessment that was completed in class this week. Different teachers took different children based on particular skills. These groups will continue for the next three Fridays at least.
After snack, we had reading. In 6F we read The Tale of 3 Ralphs, which is a short story with the message "Fair does not always mean the same." This is a theme I will refer to MANY times this year as sixth graders are very aware of fairness issues! 6S read that story yesterday and read Tacky the Penguin today. Tacky's messages are, "It's okay to be different." and "Celebrate Individuality". Again, both of these messages will be stressed throughout the year, but especially in science and reading classes where we will be discussing our learning styles and celebrating our differences.
Also during reading, we surveyed books in my classroom library using the method that we went over yesterday. Students looked at books and used "Can It Be For Me?" to decide if they would like to read the books. We kept track of the books we surveyed as well as the ones we want to read on separate sheets of paper. Matching kids with the right books has been and will be our focus in the upcoming weeks.
2 hours and vocab are due on Tuesday. Students need to always bring their books to class.
In science, 6S did the same lab that 6F did yesterday. They need to complete the concluding questions for the lab by Tuesday. Questions need to be answered in complete sentences. The four questions are as follows:
1. Which cue did your brain respond to the quickest? Use data to support your answer.
2. Did your reaction time improve as the trials progressed? Use data to support your answer.
3. Which cue did your brain respond to the slowest? Use data to support your answer.
4. Predict what would happen to your reaction times if you practiced these activities every day for a week. Explain your prediction.
We got together at the end of the day with our Buddies in Mrs. Roberts' class. Oh what fun! We played the Blanket Game to get to know names.
Don't forget about our field trip on Tuesday to Camp Calumet. Lunch and snack are included and we will be back around 4:30 that day.
After snack, we had reading. In 6F we read The Tale of 3 Ralphs, which is a short story with the message "Fair does not always mean the same." This is a theme I will refer to MANY times this year as sixth graders are very aware of fairness issues! 6S read that story yesterday and read Tacky the Penguin today. Tacky's messages are, "It's okay to be different." and "Celebrate Individuality". Again, both of these messages will be stressed throughout the year, but especially in science and reading classes where we will be discussing our learning styles and celebrating our differences.
Also during reading, we surveyed books in my classroom library using the method that we went over yesterday. Students looked at books and used "Can It Be For Me?" to decide if they would like to read the books. We kept track of the books we surveyed as well as the ones we want to read on separate sheets of paper. Matching kids with the right books has been and will be our focus in the upcoming weeks.
2 hours and vocab are due on Tuesday. Students need to always bring their books to class.
In science, 6S did the same lab that 6F did yesterday. They need to complete the concluding questions for the lab by Tuesday. Questions need to be answered in complete sentences. The four questions are as follows:
1. Which cue did your brain respond to the quickest? Use data to support your answer.
2. Did your reaction time improve as the trials progressed? Use data to support your answer.
3. Which cue did your brain respond to the slowest? Use data to support your answer.
4. Predict what would happen to your reaction times if you practiced these activities every day for a week. Explain your prediction.
We got together at the end of the day with our Buddies in Mrs. Roberts' class. Oh what fun! We played the Blanket Game to get to know names.
Don't forget about our field trip on Tuesday to Camp Calumet. Lunch and snack are included and we will be back around 4:30 that day.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Busy Thursday!
Phew! What a busy day! We started our day doing some drumming for music class. This is usually in the afternoon but Mr. A had a conflict so we switched it to the morning time.
In reading today, we read aloud a story. In 6S, it was The Tale of 3 Ralphs (which we will read tomorrow in 6F) and in 6F it was Tacky the Penguin (which 6S will hear tomorrow). We discussed the importance of each story and how it applied to reading class. Next, we saw the rubric for how I am grading the reading logs and vocab. finds. I then did a Power Point Presentation on the use of the Can It Be for Me? strategy to locate a book. Students took notes.
In writing, we worked on rough drafts of our Graphs of Life. We learned about how to plot points on a line graph. We will do final drafts in class on Monday.
During 6F science, we did our first lab today. This is the Brain Body Reaction Time Lab. Students worked in partners to see how quickly their brains responded to visual, auditory and kinesthetic cues by dropping a ruler. Students need to answer questions as a conclusion for this lab. I will go over these questions in more depth tomorrow.
In reading today, we read aloud a story. In 6S, it was The Tale of 3 Ralphs (which we will read tomorrow in 6F) and in 6F it was Tacky the Penguin (which 6S will hear tomorrow). We discussed the importance of each story and how it applied to reading class. Next, we saw the rubric for how I am grading the reading logs and vocab. finds. I then did a Power Point Presentation on the use of the Can It Be for Me? strategy to locate a book. Students took notes.
In writing, we worked on rough drafts of our Graphs of Life. We learned about how to plot points on a line graph. We will do final drafts in class on Monday.
During 6F science, we did our first lab today. This is the Brain Body Reaction Time Lab. Students worked in partners to see how quickly their brains responded to visual, auditory and kinesthetic cues by dropping a ruler. Students need to answer questions as a conclusion for this lab. I will go over these questions in more depth tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Wednesday
We started the day with band, chorus, or study hall. I have been working to get the reading benchmarks going so some students worked on those. Others did some small group math activities. It was a productive time.
In reading for both classes, I went over the "Read and Log 2 hours" requirement. Students need to read 2 hours each week starting today. This is time that is outside of school. The time read in school does not count. In order to become better at something, we must practice. In order to become better readers, we need to read A LOT! Therefore, students will be reading a lot this year both inside and outside of school. I showed them what I expect on the reading logs. Tomorrow, I will show them the rubric being used to score this assignment. These logs are due on Tuesdays, starting September 14.
On the back of the reading logs is the Vocabulary Find assignment. Students are to find 3 unknown vocabulary words each week in context. They need to record the word, the sentence it is in, the part of speech it is in that sentence and its definition in words they can understand. The rules for vocab are on the bottom of this sheet. Please let me know if you have any questions. You can download a copy of the reading log as well as the vocabulary find from my Homework Now site.
In writing, we brainstormed some positive and negative events of our lives. Students then starred 5 positive and 5 negative events that they would like to graph. They rated these events for how positive and how negative they are. The homework for tomorrow is to find out what dates these events occurred. We will then turn them into our Graphs of Life.
In science, we took some learning style questionnaires and calculated the results. We learned, according to these tests, if we are visual learners, auditory learners or kinesthetic learners.
In reading for both classes, I went over the "Read and Log 2 hours" requirement. Students need to read 2 hours each week starting today. This is time that is outside of school. The time read in school does not count. In order to become better at something, we must practice. In order to become better readers, we need to read A LOT! Therefore, students will be reading a lot this year both inside and outside of school. I showed them what I expect on the reading logs. Tomorrow, I will show them the rubric being used to score this assignment. These logs are due on Tuesdays, starting September 14.
On the back of the reading logs is the Vocabulary Find assignment. Students are to find 3 unknown vocabulary words each week in context. They need to record the word, the sentence it is in, the part of speech it is in that sentence and its definition in words they can understand. The rules for vocab are on the bottom of this sheet. Please let me know if you have any questions. You can download a copy of the reading log as well as the vocabulary find from my Homework Now site.
In writing, we brainstormed some positive and negative events of our lives. Students then starred 5 positive and 5 negative events that they would like to graph. They rated these events for how positive and how negative they are. The homework for tomorrow is to find out what dates these events occurred. We will then turn them into our Graphs of Life.
In science, we took some learning style questionnaires and calculated the results. We learned, according to these tests, if we are visual learners, auditory learners or kinesthetic learners.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Welcome Back!
Summer is officially over and we're off and running today in 6F! Students began the day with writing benchmarks. We wrote about a personal experience that happened to us over the summer. I will score these benchmarks for idea development and conventions as well as for specific skills that we've decided as a sixth grade team. We will then do a series of lessons based on these skills and revisit the benchmark to revise and show what we've learned. I use these benchmarks as a springboard for much of my instruction.
I also started students on the reading benchmarks today. It is my hope to finish these soon since I use this data to help me make goals for each reader individually. I am eager to get going as we have so much great stuff to do!
We went to the library this morning for Library Orientation. Mrs. Alibrandi talked with us about library procedures and expectations. Students were given time to browse and check out books if they wanted to.
After lunch we had social studies and science. In science we began our unit on learning styles. Students looked at inkblot images and wrote down what they saw in the images. We then discussed what people saw and started our discussion of how we are all different with different perspectives.
The homework is to bring back any paperwork that hasn't come in yet.
I also started students on the reading benchmarks today. It is my hope to finish these soon since I use this data to help me make goals for each reader individually. I am eager to get going as we have so much great stuff to do!
We went to the library this morning for Library Orientation. Mrs. Alibrandi talked with us about library procedures and expectations. Students were given time to browse and check out books if they wanted to.
After lunch we had social studies and science. In science we began our unit on learning styles. Students looked at inkblot images and wrote down what they saw in the images. We then discussed what people saw and started our discussion of how we are all different with different perspectives.
The homework is to bring back any paperwork that hasn't come in yet.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork!
I collected lots of paperwork today. Thank you to all who sent things in. If you didn't get a chance to do that, please send it in with your child on Tuesday of next week.
Remember, we have no school until Tuesday, September 7. Enjoy the long weekend!
Today was the first day of band and chorus. They will meet every Wednesday from 8 to 9 in the morning. The students who do not go to either of these activities stay in the classroom for study hall. They fill out "Study Hall Goal Sheets". This is where students set goals for what they will accomplish during the hour's time. I collect these each week when the study hall is over.
I went over the homework policy today. Please ask your child for a copy if he or she doesn't show it to you. This is also on my Homeworknow website.
In reading, I book talked some books that I read over the summer. Also, we did an activity called "Who Read This?" where students asked each other about different books that they might have read. Homework is to have a book for Tuesday's class.
In writing, we wrote letters to ourselves. I collected them and will pass them out sometime in the future.
During science, we did a Scavenger Hunt about where things are in the classroom.
Remember, we have no school until Tuesday, September 7. Enjoy the long weekend!
Today was the first day of band and chorus. They will meet every Wednesday from 8 to 9 in the morning. The students who do not go to either of these activities stay in the classroom for study hall. They fill out "Study Hall Goal Sheets". This is where students set goals for what they will accomplish during the hour's time. I collect these each week when the study hall is over.
I went over the homework policy today. Please ask your child for a copy if he or she doesn't show it to you. This is also on my Homeworknow website.
In reading, I book talked some books that I read over the summer. Also, we did an activity called "Who Read This?" where students asked each other about different books that they might have read. Homework is to have a book for Tuesday's class.
In writing, we wrote letters to ourselves. I collected them and will pass them out sometime in the future.
During science, we did a Scavenger Hunt about where things are in the classroom.
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