I hated to break the hearts of all my 6-2 Science students on Friday, but I had to postpone their test until Monday due to some glitches in the schedule.
Congratulations to the 6-1 Science students for your wonderful work on the test Friday. I have just finished checking and grading the tests and there we lots and lots of strong performances...way to go!
Hopefully, many of my math students started to prepare for the math test over the weekend. That test is scheduled for Tuesday. We will review in class on Monday. They all have a study guide with a pink cover; the study guide gives suggestions for preparing for a math test and explains how the students can earn extra credit points on the test.
With the math test out of the week, we can spend a couple of days before break working on the problem solving skill of interpreting remainders. In Social Studies, we will be working on a play about the life of Nelson Mandela, the great civil rights leader in South Africa who recently passed away.
On Friday, we will enjoy a movie. The kids may bring a snack and a beverage to enjoy.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season. Enjoy the time you get to spend relaxing with your family. Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Johnson's Journal December 10, 2013
Just wanted to let all you of you know that the sixth graders are scheduled for a science test on Friday of this week. Tomorrow (Wednesday) in class we will go through our materials and highlight the things that need to be studied for the test. Your child should be bringing that home (Wednesday) so they can start studying. We will review in class on Thursday and with a bit of extra work Thursday night, they should be ready to excel on the test on Friday!
For the science test, it is very important that they be able to identify the characteristics of organisms in a particular kingdom. For example, if you say "These organisms make their own food," they should be able to respond, "Plantae." If you say, "These organisms have no nucleus," their response would be "Monera." All these characteristics are in the booklet, "Characteristics of Living Things" which we made and also in their blue science packet. They do not have to be able to list the characteristics, just associate a certain phrase with the corresponding kingdom.
Once we tackle the science test on Friday, look for a math study guide. The students will work on the study guide with a partner on Friday; we will check it and go over it on class on Monday, and the test will be Tuesday. The study guide gives suggestions for preparing for a math test and provides the opportunity for extra credit points on the test. All that will be in your child's math folder on Friday.
Now....cross your fingers and hope that nasty weather doesn't force a change in any of these plans!!!
For the science test, it is very important that they be able to identify the characteristics of organisms in a particular kingdom. For example, if you say "These organisms make their own food," they should be able to respond, "Plantae." If you say, "These organisms have no nucleus," their response would be "Monera." All these characteristics are in the booklet, "Characteristics of Living Things" which we made and also in their blue science packet. They do not have to be able to list the characteristics, just associate a certain phrase with the corresponding kingdom.
Once we tackle the science test on Friday, look for a math study guide. The students will work on the study guide with a partner on Friday; we will check it and go over it on class on Monday, and the test will be Tuesday. The study guide gives suggestions for preparing for a math test and provides the opportunity for extra credit points on the test. All that will be in your child's math folder on Friday.
Now....cross your fingers and hope that nasty weather doesn't force a change in any of these plans!!!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Johnson's Journal December 4, 2013
Just a note to let you know that Mrs. Suntken and I mailed out midterm grade reports tonight (Wednesday). If you do not receive a report by Friday, please let us know. These reports were generated Monday at 4:00. If your child turned in work after that time, it will not show up on the midterm report but has been recorded in the Campus gradebook. Your must current information is always available there.
We talked to the sixth graders about their grades today. All those students who are doing well were encouraged to keep up their good work. We also wanted to make sure any student (and their parents) who is not doing well is aware of their standing at this point and can then take steps to improve their performance before grades come out later in January. If you have questions or concerns, please be sure to contact us.
We have taken a break from all the computation we have been doing recently in math. I have a resource book called Coordinate Graphing: Creating Geometry Quilts. By following the directions given and graphing the ordered pairs the students create a quilt block. They are so excited by their creations as you never know what your quilt block is going to look like until it is done! The kids are begging to do more during study hall and are taking home the directions to make more quilts there. Since this project has proved to be so popular, I have told them I will try to find similar activities! Little do they know that they are developing graphing and geometry skills, as well as learning about positive and negative integers!!
Our science lessons have focused on classifying living things. Did you know that all living things can be classified as either animalia, plante, fungi, protista, or monera? Your sixth grader does and knows the characteristics of each kingdom. Also ask them if they know anything about kings playing chess on funny green stools (or Katie Perry's cat ordering funny green spaghetti). These catchy sayings help us remember the subdivisions of a kingdom. Tomorrow we will begin a project in which we determine what kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species we belong to. When we are done with our research we will compile the information into a booklet called, What Am I?
As you can see, sixth graders are busy learning all kinds of new things. I so appreciate the enthusiasm they bring to school each day. I have a super job working with super kids!
We talked to the sixth graders about their grades today. All those students who are doing well were encouraged to keep up their good work. We also wanted to make sure any student (and their parents) who is not doing well is aware of their standing at this point and can then take steps to improve their performance before grades come out later in January. If you have questions or concerns, please be sure to contact us.
We have taken a break from all the computation we have been doing recently in math. I have a resource book called Coordinate Graphing: Creating Geometry Quilts. By following the directions given and graphing the ordered pairs the students create a quilt block. They are so excited by their creations as you never know what your quilt block is going to look like until it is done! The kids are begging to do more during study hall and are taking home the directions to make more quilts there. Since this project has proved to be so popular, I have told them I will try to find similar activities! Little do they know that they are developing graphing and geometry skills, as well as learning about positive and negative integers!!Our science lessons have focused on classifying living things. Did you know that all living things can be classified as either animalia, plante, fungi, protista, or monera? Your sixth grader does and knows the characteristics of each kingdom. Also ask them if they know anything about kings playing chess on funny green stools (or Katie Perry's cat ordering funny green spaghetti). These catchy sayings help us remember the subdivisions of a kingdom. Tomorrow we will begin a project in which we determine what kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species we belong to. When we are done with our research we will compile the information into a booklet called, What Am I?
As you can see, sixth graders are busy learning all kinds of new things. I so appreciate the enthusiasm they bring to school each day. I have a super job working with super kids!