April 28th News

Information and Announcements

• Friday, May 5: Service hours are due, 3:00pm

Religion:

This week in religion we discussed the minor projects Elijah and Amos and the major prophet Isaiah. Students wrote newspaper stories about Amos and created action hero drawings related to Elijah. Next week we will continue our study by creating a diary and in it reflecting on Bible verses from the book of Isaiah. The chapter 22 quiz on Wednesday is over the key events in Isaiah's life. In this 14 point quiz, students will be asked to fill in the blank with the appropriate term that describes Isaiah, his life and the book in the Bible that relates to him. There is no word bank provided.

Later in the week we will begin our study of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Please don't forget that each student is required to turn in 6 service hours by Friday, May 5th at 3:20. If a student does not have their service hours turn in by that time he or she would receive a late slip each day.

Social Studies:

This week we began studying the Mayas. In this chapter, students will study the Mayas and what led to the rise, flourishing, and fall. We started the week with a role play where students began to learn about different levels of the Mayan social pyramid. As the week went on students began using the sacred round and Mayan calendar to answer questions.

We will continue studying the culture next week and will complete the chapter test on Thursday, May 4th. The test format will be as follows -

• Matching vocab - 8 questions/8 points
• Multiple choice - 16 questions/16 points
• Short Answer - 1 question/6 points
• Graphic Organizer - 5 parts/15 points

Reading: 

We looked at the music of folk singer Woody Guthrie this week, and how his experiences during the Great Depression were expressed in his songs. Students will try their hand at song writing, too, using Guthrie's Dust Bowl Blues as an example.

We will finish the class novel next week. We will take a final test over the book, then watch a Ken Burns PBS documentary on the Dust Bowl. Ask your student what some of the causes of the Dust were, and how the dust affected daily life.

Language Arts:  

We wrapped up poetry this week, ending with a final test on Monday. We then spent some time on grammar, specifically hyphens, dashes, parentheses and apostrophes. There will be a 30-point test over this material on Tuesday. We did an in-class review with a study guide on Friday. Students should use this as their guide to study over the weekend.

Math Period 1:

We have been working on three strategies for finding the percent of a number.  This includes mentally calculating tips and discounts, changing percents to decimals such as 6% sales tax, and changing % to fraction such as 25% off would be same as 1/4 off.  Please encourage your child to use these skills to calculate tips and sale items.  On Thursday and Friday, we practiced finding the whole of a number when the part is given. There will be a test next Wednesday, May 3rd over Chapter 5 skills.  

Math Period 4:   

We completed Chapter 4 Fractions by practicing word problems.  Wow, these kids have come a long ways with the understanding of fractions.  Look for the test to come home over the weekend for you to review and sign.  The next unit will be ratios, decimals, and percents.  The first quiz of Chapter 5 is tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 5th.

Math Period 5:    

We have been working on three strategies for finding the percent of a number.  This includes mentally calculating tips and discounts, changing percents to decimals such as 6% sales tax, and changing % to fraction such as 25% off would be same as 1/4 off.    Please encourage your child to use these skills to calculate tips and sale items.  On Thursday and Friday, we practiced finding the whole of a number when the part is given. There will be a test next Wednesday, May 3rd over Chapter 5 skills.  

Science:

The students reviewed igneous and sedimentary rocks this week, and we spent time learning about coral reefs and metamorphic rocks.  Next week we will spend a couple of days reviewing the three types of rocks.  The test is scheduled for Thursday, May 4th.  

April 21st News

Information and Announcements

• Wednesday, April 26: All school liturgy, 8:45 am
• Friday, April 28: Mission Dress Down Day
• Friday, April 28: April BINGO cards / Book marks are due (600 reading minutes)

Religion:

This week in religion the students worked on and turned in twitter pages about three of the people they studied in Unit 4. It was fun to see the students get creative in their picture selection and tweets as they demonstrated their knowledge. Ask to see what they accomplished.

Next the students began the final unit of the year. Here we will study the prophetic books. The Chapter 21 quiz will be a 14 point quiz on Wednesday over the chapter's key terms and knowing the difference between Elijah's story and Amos' story.

Social Studies:

This week students finished their study of Muslim history, beliefs and innovations and adaptations. Next we will move to central America and study the Mayans. Specifically students will learn what led to the rise, flourishing, and fall of the Mayan civilization. During this chapter students will use a sacred round to learn more about the Mayan culture.

Reading: 

Students took a quiz over the next section of the class novel. Those were returned today, and do not need signatures. We are nearing the end of the novel! This coming week we will have the final vocab quiz of words from the novel on Friday.

This week in reading, we will look at the Blues, and how that music was especially important during the Dust Bowl. We will learn about Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, and how their life experiences shaped the music they made. Then the students will write their own blues song!

On Friday, students will need to turn in 600 reading minutes on their BINGO cards or book marks, whichever they are using. Those are due at 3:20.

Language Arts:  

On Monday, students will have the final test over the poetry unit. Students have two documents in google classroom to help them prepare for the test. We also did a review in class on Thursday. The test will be 60 points. Next week, students will also be getting back their poetry writing rubric, which will cover all the poems they wrote over the past few weeks. That rubric is 100 points.

We will complete a short grammar unit over dashes, hyphens, parentheses and apostrophes next.

Math Period 1:

The students worked on unit rates this week.  I would encourage you to let your child use this skill while shopping by letting him/her find the better buy of an item with the use of the calculator.  Next week the students will find the percentage of a given number and find the whole when the percentage is given. 

Math Period 4:   

The students will spend a couple of days solving word problems with fractions. Most of the students did a nice job on the last quiz, but I will continue to encourage a few of the students to practice the basic facts daily.  We will spend a couple of days reviewing the skills from Chapter 4 and the test is scheduled for Thursday, April 27th.  

Math Period 5:    

The students worked on unit rates this week.  I would encourage you to let your child use this skill while shopping by letting him/her find the better buy of an item with the use of the calculator.  Next week the students will find the percentage of a given number and find the whole when the percentage is given. 

Science:

The students observed and classified igneous rocks this week. Next week we will spend time with sedimentary rocks and coral reefs.  There will a quiz Wednesday, April 26th over the first three sections of chapter 5 (Classifying Rock, Igneous Rock, Sedimentary Rock)

April 14th News

Information and Announcements

• Sunday, April 16: Easter
• Monday, April 17: No School
• Friday, April 21: Civic Center Field Trip

Religion:

This week in religion the students finished the 4th unit. For this 66 point unit project students are working on twitter pages for three of the Old Testament figures that we studied. This is a fun way for the students to demonstrate their knowledge. Next week we will begin studying the major and minor Old Testament prophets.

I am so proud of the students and their efforts during Stations of the Cross prayer service. I am so proud of them and I am certain you are too. Special thanks to Ms. Graf, Mrs. McLuen, Mrs. Umstead and Mrs. Westholm for all of their efforts in preparing for and presenting the Stations of the Cross.

Social Studies:

This week we continued to study Muslim inventions and discoveries. The Chapter 9 social studies test is scheduled for Thursday, April 20th. This will end our Muslim unit. The format of the test is as follows

• Vocab terms - 6 questions/12 points (I define, you provide the word no word bank)
• Multiple choice - 14 questions/14 points
• Essay - 1 question/12 points (students will have a choice)

Reading: 

Students continue reading our class novel Out of the Dust. Next week, we will have a quiz over Summer-Winter 1935 on Thursday, April 20. We will review for the quiz on Wednesday. We will have the regular weekly vocab quiz on Friday over page 8 words.

Language Arts:  

We are nearing the completion of our poetry unit. Students finished their final poems this week, ending on the sonnet, a very challenging form of writing! Next week, students will get all their poems back, and they will bind them into poetry book collections. Students will then do a "book walk" where they will get to read their classmates' work. Look for those collections to come home, along with their grading rubrics. Please take some time to read over their books - a lot of work went into them, and the students did a fantastic job.

We will have the final test over poetry on Thursday, April 20. This will cover all the forms of poems and figurative language we learned about. Students will get a study guide, and we will review for the test on Wednesday in class.

After finishing the poetry unit, we will focus on grammar, specifically dashes, hyphens and parentheses.

Math Period 1:

The students are working on calculating unit rates and unit costs.  We had a great discussion about when these skills are used in everyday situations.  There is a quiz tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday, April 19th over sections 5.1-5.3 in the book.  Next, we will move on to percents. 

Math Period 4:   

The students are working on the division of fractions.  We used fractions strips to develop understanding.  There are also a couple videos posted on Google Classroom for students to view.  We will spend a couple days reviewing and a quiz over computation of fractions is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 19th. 

Math Period 5:    

The students are working on calculating unit rates and unit costs.  We had a great discussion about when these skills are used in everyday situations.  There is a quiz tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday, April 19th over sections 5.1-5.3 in the book.  Next, we will move on to percents. 

Science:

The students took a test on Thursday to assess understanding of minerals.  These tests should be coming home over the weekend for you to review and sign.  Next week we will begin Chapter 5 Rocks.  We are fortunate to have several large boxes of rocks for students to observe and learn about various rock classification during this unit. 

April 7th News

Information and Announcements

• Sunday, April 9: Palm Sunday
• Monday, April 10 (3:20-4:30: Stations of the Cross practice
• Tuesday, April 11: Spirit Wear
• Thursday, April 13 (3:20-4:30): Stations of the Cross practice (if needed)
• Friday, April 14 (2:30-3:15): Stations of the Cross Prayer Service

Religion:

This week in religion we finished learning about Samuel and King Saul and began learning about King David and his son King Solomon. In chapter 19 we compared and contrasted King David and King Solomon's lives. Next week we will study some of the specific events from their lives described in the Bible. On Wednesday, there will be a 2o point quiz over chapter 19. Students will be asked to fill in the blank using the provided word bank and compare and contrast King David and King Solomon.

I also would like to invite you to the Stations of the Cross Prayer service on Friday, April 14th at 2:30. The students have been working very hard and have done a great job. You should be proud of their efforts I know that I am.

Social Studies:

This week in social studies we began studying Muslim innovations and adaptations. I think the students are surprised about the number of things we still use today that were improved on by Medieval Muslims. On Friday, we were able to use virtual reality to tour a famous mosque. This experience will hopefully help the students get a better idea of what the textbook is talking about. Next week, we will continue with chapter with a test tentatively scheduled for Thursday, April 20th.

Reading: 

Students took a quiz over the first quarter of the book this week and did very well! Vocab quizzes continue every Friday. We will do a project over The Blues soon - students will write their own blues song. This form of music was very prevalent during the Great Depression. It is always fun to see what 6th graders have the blues about :)

Language Arts:  

Found poems and Limericks were explored and created this week. Students also recited their memorized poems. Next week, we will be exploring Concrete poems and Sonnets. All these creations are being added to the students' poetry collections. They will be really amazing when they are finished! We will also be looking at poem interpretation next week.

Math Period 1:

The students completed a problem-solving assessment this week.  Overall they did an amazing job using the different strategies.  Look for these to come home on Tuesday next week.  We will start Chapter 5 Ratios and Percents. There will be many opportunities for students to practice these skills, such as comparing prices by using unit rates. 

Math Period 4:   

The students have been practicing multiplying fractions and mixed numbers this week.  There will be a quiz on Monday over adding, subtracting, and multiplying mixed numbers.  Next week we will begin to divide fractions, first beginning with manipulatives to gain understanding. 

Math Period 5:    

The students completed a problem-solving assessment this week.  Overall, the students did well using the different strategies.  If they did make any errors, they will correct these in class on Monday.  Look for these to come home on Tuesday next week.  We will start Chapter 5 Ratios and Percents. There will be many opportunities for students to practice these skills, such as comparing prices by using unit rates. 

Science:

The student made crystals this week and should understand that the process used was a hot water solution cooling.  Many students brought their crystals home over the weekend, others wanted to wait until next week due to after school activities.  We discussed that magma cooling and solutions are the two type of processes that form crystals/minerals.  Next week we will discuss how minerals are used in our everyday lives.  This is a short chapter, so the chapter test will be on Thursday, April 13th.