Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Puzzle

6th grade students have been working on a 1,000 piece puzzle in their spare time. They have completed it!

Spelling Words: 12-10

importance
entrance
difference
independence
insurance
conference
ambulance
absence
instance
audience
allowance
intelligence
assurance
appearance
obedience
presence

Monday, December 3, 2012

Friday, November 9, 2012

Spelling Words 11/12

pillow
indeed
monster
fifteen
escape
gotten
velvet
engine
insist
admire
index
intense
further
frantic
convince
instinct

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Science IDL



The 6th graders will be participating in a 5 session IDL program (Interactive Distance Learning) through Greenbush this month that will explore the biomechanics of fluids.

"If you have ever had a sore throat, you know just how miserable it can be! In this 5 lesson
series, students will work together in teams to learn about the biomechanics of fluids and apply that knowledge to help them develop a new bio‐medical device for delivering medicine to ease a sore throat. Students will have the opportunity to research, test, and develop fluids to soothe and deliver medications to sore throats, in hopes that they will find the perfect cure."

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween Party

Spelling

*Don't forget, the Spelling City website is accessible at home!  This is a website that creates games using the current spelling words.  www.spellingcity.com



Reading

Metacognitive awareness means that the reader is aware of his or her thinking during the reading of various types of text.  We have been discussing how to become better readers and comprehenders. One way to do this is to talk about various comprehension strategies and to practice those strategies.  There are 13 parts of metacognitive awareness.  Here are the parts we have discussed so far:

  • Clarifying: What words or ideas don't I understand?
  • Connecting: What does this remind me of? 
                     -text to self
                     -text to text
                     -text to world
  • Deciding What is Important: What is important, based on my goals?

Math

Students have been exploring integers and the absolute value of integers.  Integers are a set of positive whole numbers and their opposites.  The distance of a number from zero on a number line is its absolute value. Students will review these concepts on Thursday (11/1) for a test on Friday (11/2).

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Science

Ecosystems: Students learned about different environments where animals live and how they interact with their habitat to survive. We also discussed how animals adapt to their climate.

Spelling Words- Week of 10-29 to 11-2

cities
mummies
supplies
families
varied
centuries
colonies
applies
occupied
identified
enemies
activities
denied
allied
industries
qualified

Friday, October 5, 2012

Spelling Words

greenhouse
seahorse
fireworks
fun-loving
New Year
fairy tales
bedtime
cupboard
upright
teenager
thunderstorm
barefoot
mean-spirited
middle-aged
bodyguard
so-called

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Spelling Words

boyfriend
girlfriend
mischief
pier
freight
foreign
receive
receiver
belief
relief
weighed
reins
fierce
heights
thieves
achieve

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Week of 9/17- 9/21

Upcoming Events
9/19- Site Council meeting in Elem. Library (5:30)
9/20- I will be in Eudora at a leadership conference.  There will be a substitute teacher.

Spelling Words
roar
apart
reward
worse
turtle
nightmare
burnt
curb
purse
declare
scarce
inserts
sparkling
source
nervous
warrant

Language Arts
The focus for reading groups this week will be characters in a fiction text.  Students will learn about what motivates a character based on his/her actions in a story.  We will also read The Emperor's New Clothes in the form of a play.  Students will determine the moral of the story and explain the characters' motivations.  It is important for students to be able to support their thoughts and opinions about a story with quotes or ideas from the text. 

Math
We are going to begin making interactive math journals this week.  These journals will be helpful in learning and will be a great tool for studying.  Our first few entries will include math operations, mean, median, and mode, and patterning. 

Social Studies
This week in 6th grade we will complete our Early Civilization projects.  Students will have a final product in the form of a book made on the app Scribble Press.  The book will describe what life was like for an assigned civilization.

Science
The goal is to begin science on Wednesday of this week.  Our first activity will be to build a model of a cell.  This will be done in a fun and creative way.  More on this later in the week!


Sunday, September 9, 2012

9/10

Spelling Words for the Week of 9/10
Lesson 3:
count
county
salt
cross
shout
youth
amount
pounds
mountain
thousands
proof
crawled
account
launched
rumors
saucer

Language Arts:
Reading groups are under way.  Last week our focus was main idea.  This week we will begin discussing cause and effect.  Each group is reading a different book, but focusing on the same reading skill.  We have also been doing several writing activities. 

Social Studies:
Our focus in SS has been ancient civilizations and how they have an impact on our world today.  Ask your child about ancient cave paintings and what they tell us about the people that painted them.

Math:
We are reviewing multi-digit multiplication and division.  It would be helpful if your child could review his/her math facts at home.

*We continue to use the iPads in a variety of ways to support learning in our classroom.  Ask your child about their favorite apps! 

Reminders:
-School picture money is due on Sept. 17. 
-Books orders can still be turned in this week.
-If you haven't already, please send an email telling me about your child.  See details in last week's blog post.  (jmcintosh@usd386.net)

Friday, August 31, 2012

Upcoming Events

9/3: No School
9/5: School pictures
9/19: Site Council Meeting in elementary library

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

6th Grade

We are having a great time in 6th grade!  The students are awesome, we are learning new things, and we are becoming technology geniuses using the iPads! 

Reading Groups:
We are getting underway with reading groups.  Students will be a part of a small group which may change throughout the year.  This allows students to be instructed at their reading level.  While I'm giving small group instruction, the remaining students are working independently on other reading skills important for developing better reading comprehension.

Writing:
Students will be engaged in a variety of writing activities this year.  Our goal is to become more thoughtful and fluent writers!  Our first activities have been personal narratives.

Spelling:
This week has been a practice week for spelling.  Spelling practice will be done on the iPads through various apps including Spelling City, which is also a website that students can access at home (spellingcity.com). Spelling tests will be given once a week.  Once students feel they are ready to take the test, they may complete it independently on the iPad.  This will be done through an app called Spelling Free. 

Spelling Words for 9/3-9/7:
bait
peach
bride
prime
globe
grove
slope
slice
roast
spike
stroke
praise
squeeze
breathe
gross
thigh

Social Studies:
Social studies and science will be taught on a rotating basis.  Once we are finished with a unit in social studies we will switch to science.  We will go back and forth between the two all year.  Right now, we are learning about early civilizations in Mesopotamia.  Students are researching what daily life was like for these people.

Homework:
Parents, the first homework assignment is for you!  Please email or write a short summary about your child.  What do you feel is important that I know about your child?  What interests and hobbies do they have? What special qualities? How do they feel about learning? Do you have goals for your child?  Does he/she have any allergies? Any other questions or concerns?  I am looking forward to getting to know your child better!