Johnson's Journal October 30

In Social Studies, the sixth graders have been working hard on creating dialogues in which they are applying skills taught in language arts and demonstrating an understanding of what life was like at Border Cave.  They are off to a great start but now need a bit of help from you.  They have written four dialogues and are now ready to have their work edited and make any revisions necessary to improve their work.  Would you please look over the dialogues your child has written and help them with this process  by Friday?  Evidence of editing and revisions will result in extra points on your student's final grade for this project.  On Friday, we will be ready to start our final drafts which will be published so I am looking for high quality work.  Thanks for your help in this process!

Johnson's Journal October 28, 2013

Happy Halloween to all of you!

Just a reminder that the sixth graders will celebrate Halloween on Thursday with a movie.  They may bring a snack and a beverage to enjoy during the movie if they desire.  The kids all know what size beverage is acceptable to Mrs. Suntken and me!  They do not dress up or wear make-up for the day or participate in the parade.

Johnson's Journal October 18, 2013

This weeks brings MAP testing to sixth grade.  This is a test that all students at Jacobson take.  The information from this test enables me to see the strengths of your learner,  skills that he/she is ready to learn, and areas where further work is needed.  This is an online test; the sixth graders will take their Language Arts test Monday, the math test on Tuesday, and the reading  test will be taken on Thursday.  Each test takes about an hour.  As with any task, students are encouraged to give their best effort as the information from this test is valuable when planning instruction.

Our new math unit focuses on decimals.  We will work with decimal concepts such as place value, comparing and ordering, and rounding this week.  We will then move into computing with decimals. Being on top of basic addition and subtraction facts, as well as multiplication and division facts is a must in this unit!

We wrapped up our cells and heredity unit last week, and will switch gears and begin a social studies unit this week.  Sixth grade social studies focuses on world history, and the first unit finds us looking at early man and the technology he developed.  I look forward to lots of interesting conversations as we discuss what technology is and how it has changed over the years.  By the end of the week, we will be diving in to a writing project in which the sixth graders will be applying the skills Mrs. Suntken has taught them about writing dialogue and demonstrating an understanding of what life would have been like more than 40,000 years ago at Border Cave.  Your child will be asking you for help editing and revising his/her work by the end of the week.  I hope you enjoy what your learner has written!  I am looking forward to seeing what they create!

I would like to encourage you to regularly check your student's Take Home folder.  Unfortunately, there are quite a few kids who seem to be competing to see who can collect the most papers in their folder.  Take a look at your child's work.  Are you pleased with the quality of the work they are doing?  If so, encourage them to keep up the good work!  By checking the work that they have completed and that has been checked and/or graded, you will have a clear picture of your child's progress.  The Campus gradebook gives you part of the picture, but I think you will have an even clearer picture by looking at all the work they have completed.  If you see something you have questions about, please contact me if your student can't answer your questions.  If your child knows you are interested in their work and their progress, they will be more motivated to give their best effort!  Thanks for being a partner in your child's education!!!

Johnsons Journal October 13, 2013

Thank you to all of you who stopped by during conferences last week.  It was good to visit with you and update you on your child's progress.  Report cards with final grades will come out at the end of the month. 

This week the sixth graders will have their first science test, as well as their first math test.  We will review for the science test in class on Monday, and the test will be on Tuesday.  Hopefully, your sixth grader has asked you to help them review over the weekend.  Tuesday the kids will work on completing their study guide for the math test, we will review together as a class on Wednesday, and the test will be on Friday (Remember there is no school on Thursday due to teacher inservice).  

There is an opportunity for your child to earn extra credit points on each test.  On Monday, I will send home a "cartoon" showing Gregor Mendel sitting in his pea patch.  To earn extra credit, your child needs to fill in the speech balloons with something Mendel might be saying as he worked with his peas.  I'm looking for creativity, as well as knowledge of Mendel's discoveries.  The math study guide includes suggestions on how to study for a math test.  There is a place for you to write and sign a note telling how your sixth grader prepared for the test. Both extra credit opportunities need to be turned in with the test.  I'm confident the kids will do well on both tests.  We have worked hard in both math and science this fall!

 No school Thursday, October 17th due to teacher inservice

Johnson's Journal October 4, 2013

Dates to Note:
Tuesday, October 8th--Early Dismissal, Parent-Teacher Conferences 2-6 p.m.
Wednesday, October 9th--Healthiest State Walk 10 a.m.
Thursday, October 10th--Parent-Teacher Conferences 4-8 p.m.
Friday, October 11th--No School

Please remember that conferences at the 5th and 6th grade level are not scheduled.  You are encouraged to stop by and have a short conversation with each of your child's teachers.  If your child has Mr. Wessels, Mrs. Bock, or Mrs. Ysker as a teacher, they would welcome visiting with you, but you will have to go to the Junior-Senior High Building to see them.

You are also invited to join all of us at Jacobson on Wednesday for the Healthiest State Walk.  We will head to Luick Lane, head south to Main Street, and head back to Jacobson on the trail.  This walk will begin at 10 a.m.

In the midst of all of this, we will squeeze in a bit of academia!  We will be working on algebraic skills and math and will start wrapping up our science unit on cells and genetics.  We finish the unit with a project called, "Genetics with a Smile."  You will probably hear your sixth grader talking about their smiley face baby!  The unit test will come early during the week of October 14th.  Stay tuned for an exact date!

After all of that, we will be ready to enjoy a day off on Friday!