October Due Dates:
Tuesdays - Homework Journal / Writers Notebook
Tuesdays – Weekly Spelling Test
Tuesdays - Homework Journal / Writers Notebook
Tuesdays – Weekly Spelling Test
GARCIA HOMEROOM
Wednesday – October 12th Welcome Home Milo Party – Part1: Final Exam
Wednesday – October 12th Welcome Home Milo Party – Part1: Final Exam
Thursday – October 13th – The Phantom Tollbooth - Part2: Final Exam
Friday - October 14th - Literary Outline on The Phantom Tollbooth
WI:BERT HOMEROOM
Thursday – October 13th Welcome Home Milo Party – Part1: Final Exam
Friday – October 14th – The Phantom Tollbooth - Part2: Final Exam
Friday - October 14th - Literary Outline on The Phantom TollboothFriday October 28th – Country Reports begin (check your date)
Oct. 24-28 – Pride Week (dress-up days)
Sat. Oct. 29th K-6 Fall Carnival 5-8 pm
Monday - October 31th – October Book Report due (Non-fiction outline)
“Greetings!” “Salutations!” “Welcome!” “ Good Afternoon!” “Hello!”,
(Synonyms from the King’s advisors in The Phantom Tollbooth)
I am often in awe of the amazing students that are in our classrooms. They are sharp as a tack! Ask your student what kind of figurative language "sharp as a tack" is.
BrainWise: Ask Questions
We did not work on BrainWise last week due to the short days of PTC so…. we will continue to practice the skills we have learned so far and learn about asking questions. Asking questions help us determine if something is a fact or an opinion. It has been great to hear our students using the BrainWise ideas and language to problem solve in the classroom and among themselves.
Language Arts:
As a reminder, the homework journal is a responsibility credit which means it must be complete to receive any credit (5 entries in reading log, 5 journal writing entries and penmanship written 5x)
Penmanship Quote due Tuesday 10-4-2011
"You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out dry. Most people do." - Canby
October Book Report: October’s book report will be a non-fiction outline on an article from National Geographic Magazine for students. We will be working on this in class the week of October 17 and minus any typing of a final draft, students should be able to finish this in class
Novel Study: The Phantom Tollbooth by: Norton Juster
Our study with this wonderfully imaginative book will focus on figurative language, theme and finding our favorite sentences and identifying if they are simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex sentences.
Welcome Home Milo Party – Part 1: Final Exam Thurs. Oct. 13th
(Character dress-up and explanation)
As part of their final exam students will choose a character out of the book, (excluding Milo and a Lethargarian) dress up like the character, and choose at least 3 proofs from the book to create the costume. They will present their chosen character, using the “voice” of the character, in class pn Wed or Thurs. depending on homeroom. Costume proof must be labeled and include the page # as evidence. For example: If I choose the Miner as my character, one of my costume props might be a plastic number (refrigerator magnet). I would have it labeled as a “Stone” and include the quote from pg.180 “He scooped up a great handful of stones and poured them into Milo’s arms. They included all the numbers from one to nine, and even an assortment of zeros.” This is not intended to be a huge production, be creative, we do not intend anyone to rent or purchase anything for this project.
Part 2: Final Exam Fri. Oct. 14th
This will be a traditional exam that will focus on figurative language, theme and sentence types.
Spelling: We are using the website www.spellingcity.com to post spelling words each week. This wonderful website allows students to practice their spelling words through interactive computer technology games. If you want to see how they are doing, have them take a practice test. We will be taking a spelling test in class every Tuesday.
Oct. 24-28 – Pride Week (dress-up days)
Sat. Oct. 29th K-6 Fall Carnival 5-8 pm
Monday - October 31th – October Book Report due (Non-fiction outline)
“Greetings!” “Salutations!” “Welcome!” “ Good Afternoon!” “Hello!”,
(Synonyms from the King’s advisors in The Phantom Tollbooth)
I am often in awe of the amazing students that are in our classrooms. They are sharp as a tack! Ask your student what kind of figurative language "sharp as a tack" is.
BrainWise: Ask Questions
We did not work on BrainWise last week due to the short days of PTC so…. we will continue to practice the skills we have learned so far and learn about asking questions. Asking questions help us determine if something is a fact or an opinion. It has been great to hear our students using the BrainWise ideas and language to problem solve in the classroom and among themselves.
Language Arts:
As a reminder, the homework journal is a responsibility credit which means it must be complete to receive any credit (5 entries in reading log, 5 journal writing entries and penmanship written 5x)
Penmanship Quote due Tuesday 10-4-2011
"You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out dry. Most people do." - Canby
October Book Report: October’s book report will be a non-fiction outline on an article from National Geographic Magazine for students. We will be working on this in class the week of October 17 and minus any typing of a final draft, students should be able to finish this in class
Novel Study: The Phantom Tollbooth by: Norton Juster
Our study with this wonderfully imaginative book will focus on figurative language, theme and finding our favorite sentences and identifying if they are simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex sentences.
Welcome Home Milo Party – Part 1: Final Exam Thurs. Oct. 13th
(Character dress-up and explanation)
As part of their final exam students will choose a character out of the book, (excluding Milo and a Lethargarian) dress up like the character, and choose at least 3 proofs from the book to create the costume. They will present their chosen character, using the “voice” of the character, in class pn Wed or Thurs. depending on homeroom. Costume proof must be labeled and include the page # as evidence. For example: If I choose the Miner as my character, one of my costume props might be a plastic number (refrigerator magnet). I would have it labeled as a “Stone” and include the quote from pg.180 “He scooped up a great handful of stones and poured them into Milo’s arms. They included all the numbers from one to nine, and even an assortment of zeros.” This is not intended to be a huge production, be creative, we do not intend anyone to rent or purchase anything for this project.
Part 2: Final Exam Fri. Oct. 14th
This will be a traditional exam that will focus on figurative language, theme and sentence types.
Spelling: We are using the website www.spellingcity.com to post spelling words each week. This wonderful website allows students to practice their spelling words through interactive computer technology games. If you want to see how they are doing, have them take a practice test. We will be taking a spelling test in class every Tuesday.
Mythology Unit:
Upon the completion of The Phantom Tollbooth, students will begin their study and writing about a chosen god or goddess. We will also be learning to summarize through our reading of the children’s version of the Iliad and Odyssey. The 6th grade program coming up on November 10th . We will have a mythology theme and students will be an expert on, and dress up like their chosen god or goddess. It will be a marvelous evening!
Math: We will continue working on algebra using tables and real world problems. For those of you who purchased ALEKS passwords they should be here soon. Anyone still interested in purchasing on will have one final opportunity on Nov 1. We have 1/2 of Wilbert Homeroom with an ALEKS account and for those students, time logged on ALEKS will take the place of paper/pencil homework.
Remember to check out the math text book online by going to www.go.hrw.com, clicking on middle school math, and then choosing the Course 1 2007. I really believe this is a great tool for students to utilize with their homework. Please encourage them to watch the math lessons video and the interactive practices. I showed my students how to use the algebra tiles found in the Lab section of Chapter 2. The algebra tiles are a great way to work out problems and practice algebra! We will continue to work on algebra this week including word problems.
Social Studies:
We are just beginning the series of Studies Weekly papers that will teach us many exciting things about World History. My Social Studies students have a password and username for www.studiesweekly.com Students can reread or finish reading the weekly paper on line at home so they are prepared for the quiz. Studies Weekly also has a nifty "speed read" button that students can use to increase their words per minute.(It looks like a lightning bolt)
Country Reports:
Country Reports begin Oct 28th and continue with 3 reports every Friday through April. Our focus is for your student to become an expert on their country, we are not looking for just a retelling of facts, but want your student to really immerse themselves into their chosen country. This is one assignment that will make it possible for your student to create an extraordinary product. Please ask your student about their country and due date.
It was good to meet and talk to all of you at Parent Teacher Conferences. Being able to focus on one student at a time confirmed in me the fact that we have a remarkable group of 6th graders this year!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Wilbert
