Week of April 22-26, 2024
*Choir and Band concerts this Friday--come hear some great music!
*Monday starts our "Last 22 days of 6th Grade" calendar (each day bringing a new treat or activity) I already provided the kids with a printed version. M-brainteaser and bubble gum. T-paper airplanes. W-Wacky Wednesday (dress-up) and ice cream. Th-Group game of Frogger & more brainteaser puzzles. F-Indoor s'mores and sit on the floor (like camping, pjs, blankets)
*WIN time: students will either be with me, Mrs. Rauch, or Miss Collins from 8-8:30 to work on specific MATH skills using iXL online; we will continue to alternate weeks between ELA and math (wrapping up on May 10)
*Chess does meet this week. Next meeting: April 24 at 7:15 in the cafeteria.
April 2024 monthly newsletter--Check it out!! It has updated general info every month and is available through a link on the left side of my webpage at pcwolves.net.
Scott BR Book reading: Students this past Friday received their final project books (yay!) and these are "rotation novels" meaning groups are reading the same books but at their own pace. The books include: War Horse, Night of the Twisters, Thomas Edison, or I Survived: The Hindenburg. Each book includes an accompanying slideshow. These rotation novels always involve vocabulary work: I provide the words and page numbers; students are to figure-out the meanings of the words based on context clues (I specifically chose the words because there is great evidence for each one--if kids are reading carefully). After figuring-out the meaning, cited evidence is typed onto the slideshow, and then a detailed elaboration is needed--HOW did the student use the evidence to figure-out the meaning? This is the tricky part: How do I explain my thinking? Well, close attention to what's happening in the story at that moment is essential. Since it's the last project, the kids will choose only one word on each vocab slide, for a total of 6 words instead of 12. There's also a character description slide: choose an adjective to describe a main character, define that adjective in own words, cite two separate pieces of evidence, and, once again, elaborate HOW those quoted evidences helps support the adjective chosen. This final signed bookmark and slideshow are due Wednesday, May 15 (to allow time for AR tests before that closes with Mrs. Kuberski).Please keep encouraging daily reading, and the kids can write on their bookmarks their own schedule of their reading, breaking up their novels into manageable chunks.
"In-Class" Reading: We'll be continuing a slideshow in class this week, focusing on our new theme of Altruism (and a bit of repercussions). To begin the week, students will finish reading the short article "Zoo Story" individually and composing a ToSEEC about how the people in the selection show altruism (since we created definitions last week) that uses evidence from this story about Hurricane Andrew and the damage it caused to the Miami Zoo. Next, the selection "Saving Grace" will be read about a woman who unexpectedly made a huge difference in people's lives by acting in an altruistic way. This time, partners will compose a ToSEEC together on big paper citing evidence from this selection. Because the president a while back honored the woman described in "Saving Grace" with a special medal, we'll look into the history of The Nobel Prize, focusing first on how it began before focusing mostly on the Nobel Peace Prize, looking up a few examples of this prestigious honor. In the coming weeks, we'll be looking at excerpts from a newer book, I am Malala, since she was a recipient of the award.
Scott Math: Monday-One brain teaser; plus, kids will use whiteboards to solve problems from XL for Lesson 6-6 while I show it on the TV. HW: none. Tuesday-After using most of math time to make paper airplanes and create a picture graph of flying results, students will continue working with equations for percent problems by starting XL for Lesson 6-6, additional practice. HW: Finish the XL started in class. Wednesday-First, we'll set-up a graph on paper to use with a science activity practicing average speed. Then, the whole class will work on a review of more complicated percentage problems (me on a Jamboard, kids on bigger paper). HW:none. Thursday-Since it's "brainteaser" day, and math happens in different half-hours due to music, we'll complete various puzzles that require a different type of thinking throughout the day (in addition to the Frogger game). HW: none. Friday-Students will complete a review in Savvas of skills from throughout the year. No HW.
Language: The main focus this week is finishing the essay "The Advantages of Living in Northwest Illinois." (since next month our focus will be the history of our county and area towns). The rough drafts have been finished (and a couple have finished the final copies). All sentences are being written onto a tri-fold pamphlet with drawn illustrations or decorations. It's basically a persuasive writing project presented in a different format. The next writing project is a "Pearl City School Rocks!" slideshow (and some students have already started this)--pictures will be inserted from around the elementary part of the school, and patterned sentences will be created, one per picture. I'll be printing these in color, so changing backgrounds and borders, etc. will be part of the grade.
Next writing project (for those who finish the above): Summer Is... 8 stanzas, each about a different fun part of summer, and the focus is adjectives and adverbs with verbs. Decorating the slides is required.
I've also introduced a recipe poem writing project; it's a recipe for a favorite place, with items in that place being used in the stanzas to rhyme in an ABAB pattern. These recipe poems are for working-on when other assignments have been finished but not everyone is done.
Social Studies: During SS time, we'll suspend working with a quick visit to the Revolutionary War (supporting the idea the soldiers were dedicated to the cause be surviving miserable conditions, using both a nonfiction source-a doctor's journal from Valley Forge and an historical fiction source-the book Forge to find cited evidence) so that we can start learning some basics about the Civil War to prepare for our field trip on May 1. First, a foldable will be made in the shape of a house to illustrate the idea of "A House Divided", on which 10 main vocabulary words/phrases and their definitions will be written (major ideas and proper nouns of the war). Each student will also quickly research a specific battle and bar graphs of casualties will be created on paper.
On Friday, the Weekly Reflection of Q4 will be completed on the quarterly slideshow.
Science: A quick visit to vocabs for motion will be completed this week (to connect to later activities). A slideshow of 16 vocabulary words was shared that I made to demo the ideas; now students are finding ways to illustrate the concepts using items in the classroom and their Chromebook cameras before presenting their "demos" to the rest of the class. The paper airplane creating and flying on Tuesday is a science grade. In addition, on Wednesday outside, average speed will be practiced (and connected to the motion concepts mentioned before) in a group activity involving walking, skipping, jumping, and running. Ted-Ed choice on Friday: Volcanic eruption explained or Can loud music damage your hearing?