Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: Our students have embarked on a new writing composition, a professional letter to Santa! Students first need to determine the purpose of this letter (request to be on the nice list, request for specific toys, request to visit me first, request to add someone to the naughty list, etc) and then write in a professional tone to the big man up north. There is an attached template that will help students see how to format their letters (tomorrow). For tomorrow's class, students need to be prepared to share their first draft with classmates for peer editing.

RELIGION: In this week's "Christmas" lesson we look at the similarities and differences between The Holy Family and our own families. Additionally we looked at ways how our actions may bring us closer to God and how they might put distance between us and God.

SOCIAL STUDIES: As a bridge between our India unit and our next unit on Buddhism and Hinduism, we used an online generator to create our own personal mandalas. Students submitted their design on the Google Classroom assignment page and had copies printed for them to color. Tomorrow's class will see them finish coloring these designs to be displayed outside our classroom. Students will have access to this generator for their own amusement as long as it is still operational. Enjoy!

MATH (8:00 class) pg 180 1-52 Chp test tomorrow  (9:00 class) pg 212 1-8 + 14-21 Chp Test Friday

SCIENCE Worksheet study your notes and key terms...Chp 4 Test Tomorrow

Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: Shortly after drilling our vocabulary with some flash cards, we set out to determining the meaning of select terms in their written context. From there students read another passage to practice pulling meaning from it. With the remaining time in class, students collaborated to form high-scoring words in scrabble in a class-wide game.

LITERATURE: In today's chapter from "The Wednesday Wars," we see a very strong maturation of Holling's character as he admits to missing his sister and reaching deep into his own pocket to bring her home from Minneapolis. Holling applies the morals of the Shakespeare to his daily life, this time looking to Hamlet to help him recognize the challenge he has with his father.

RELIGION: In place of our lesson today, we went to Colman Hall to fold and package clothes for the donations to Honduras.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Today was testing day for our Ancient India and Early Indian Empires chapter.

MATH (8:00 class) Pg 175 1-27 Chp test This Thursday  (9:00 class) WS 4-7 & 4-8 Chp Test Friday

SCIENCE Chp Test Thursday

Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: We started our iWords today for Unit 8, drumming up associations to go along with our definitions.

LITERATURE: In the latest installment of "The Wednesday Wars," Holling Hoodhood is proving to be a determined and accomplished cross-country runner. After making the varsity team, he competes in a regional competition and wins! His father is showing more of his own true colors as indifferent toward the hopes, dreams and wishes of his children. Mrs. Baker takes even stronger interest in Holling's business as she trains him for cross-country.

RELIGION: We opened our Bibles to examine the descriptions of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Under examination, we see that both evangelists focus on different details that they deem important to this story. We keep in mind the context of who they were as writers and who they may have been writing for.

SOCIAL STUDIES: On Friday, students were given a list of study materials for Tuesday's test. With that test being tomorrow, our class today was designed to serve a s a study/Q&A session. Students could choose to study alone, ask questions regarding the content of the chapter, or quiz a partner on the chapter material.

MATH (8:00 class) WS 3-9  (9:00 class) pg 206 1-53

SCIENCE pg 128 1-4

Today in 6A!

ENGLISH: Students wrote their Unit 7 vocabulary and Chapter 11 grammar test today.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Today was our review day for the upcoming chapter test on Ancient India. The test will cover what is listed as "Chapter 6" and "Chapter 9" in our textbook. This material covers the geography and initial development of civilizations in India and then advances to the early empires of the Mauryas and the Guptas. While the review is not required work, the list in the image below provides an strong road map to guide students in their studying. The test will have some multiple choice questions, some true/false, some vocabulary questions and an extended response (that by merely looking at the image below, one should be able to guess what this will be on). While the test is Tuesday, students should review their materials each day over the weekend in order to be fully prepared. Monday's class will be an opportunity to ask pointed questions and to shore up understanding of specific content.

Today in 6A!

ENGLISH: In our review session students were guided through the exercises that will best prepare them for their test tomorrow. The format of the test should be familiar to everyone. There will be antonyms and synonyms. There is a section where students will add punctuation to a written text. Students should know how to make abbreviations and contractions as well as how to make use of possessive features. This entire unit is largely review for all of our students.
Students should review the following exercises to best prepare for the test: 

-Chapter Review - Assign Sections A, B, C, D

-11.1 Ex 1, 3, 11.2 Ex 1-2, 11.3 Ex 1-2, 11.4 Ex 1-2, 11.5 Ex 1-2, 11.6 Ex 1-3, 11.7 Ex 1-2

SOCIAL STUDIES: Today's lesson was the last of new information that students need to review regarding our upcoming test on Tuesday. In class we reviewed our homework from Tuesday and I stressed the importance of being able to compare the rule of Chandragupta and his grandson, Asoka`

LITERATURE: We have advances through "March" with today's reading. Holling is an exceptional cross-country runner, the only 7th grader to make the varsity team. Additionally, we are getting to know Mrs. Baker much better as the book progresses. She is certainly not the person Holling described her to be in the beginning, and he is starting to recognize this himself as well.

**************Tomorrow will be a free-dress day!!*************

Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: In class we finished off our lessons with a review of apostrophes and other punctuation marks. The most confusing of these was how to employ parentheses (or brackets) and dash marks. The major difference is that parentheses are used when adding a related list to the sentence, whereas the dash is used to separate a different thought from the sentence.

RECITAL PRACTICE: This took the place of our usual Social Studies time. In preparation for the Christmas concert tomorrow evening, students are reminded to wear their best regular uniform pieces tomorrow for school, and to dress in their "Sunday Best" for the concert. Students are expected to report to their classrooms for 6:00 PM to ensure a prompt start to our show. Out of respect for all classes that are performing, we ask that everyone stay for the whole performance.

MATH (8:00 class) pg 170 1-46  (9:00 class) pg 200 1-39

Today in 6A!

ENGLISH: Our lesson unpacked the rules that govern the usage of colons, semicolons and quotation marks. The trickiest part of the use of quotations is knowing when and where to place your punctuation. Students should practice their use of commas in conjunction with the use of quotation marks.

LITERATURE: In the section of "The Wednesday Wars" that we read today, Holling reads "Romeo and Juliet" and reflects on it's morals. His interpretation of the play changes as the events of his life begin to imitate it. His observations are acute and stand in stark contrast to the expressions of his father. Holling is beginning to show his true feelings toward his father's intentions for Holling's future.

SOCIAL STUDIES: After reviewing yesterday's home work, we dive directly into the rule of Asoka, Chandragupta's grandson and how his ideas of tolerance and peaceful living permeated throughout society. Unfortunately this was short-lived, as soon after he died, India fell into chaos and his ruling ideals were forgotten.

**We also spent some time at the end of our day, rehearsing for Thursday's recital**

Today in 6A!

ENGLISH: Starting our Grammar week, we looked at end marks and the many uses of commas for punctuation. This should be mostly review for these students so we moved swiftly through the first 3 sections of the chapter. Students should take note of the many ways in which commas are used. A friendly reminder that this Friday will be the combines Vocabulary/Grammar test for unit 7/chapter 11.

LITERATURE: In this segment of "The Wednesday Wars," we discussed how Holling's perceived impression of Mrs. Baker does not necessarily align with her described actions. He is convinced from the start of the novel that Mrs. Baker is out to get him, yet is surprised at every turn when she shows compassion, deference, and a keen sense of how best to reach this young man. This dichotomy seems to set us up for something big in their characters' development.

SOCIAL STUDIES: We advance our look at early Indus culture and civilization to examine the Mauryian Empire under Chandragupta. These three lessons will be completed at a faster pace than the previous three, a detail that will impact students' preparation for the Chapter test. Last week I had announced that our Social Studies test will be this upcoming Friday. Over the weekend I decided that since our Christmas concert is Thursday evening, and our rehearsal schedule all week will erode some of our instructional time, that this test should be bumped to next Tuesday, December 18. 

Today in 6A!

ENGLISH: Students spent their class time putting finishing touches on this week's composition; a personal review of "Click, Clack, Moo; Cows That Type." They shared their work with peers for critique and made the necessary changes to their grammar and mechanics. This work should have been submitted at the end of class. Absent students will need to submit as soon as possible.

Today in 6A & 6B

RELIGION: Students took a short quiz on the meaning behind the Advent wreath and candles.

ENGLISH: Students have been assigned a new writing composition, a personal response to literature. Here students are asked to express their feelings about a piece of award winning literature, "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type." In this composition students will practice expanding on their "why" in each of their body paragraphs. They will also get practice developing their essay writing format (intro-body-conclusion). In tomorrow's class students will share their work with their peers, make necessary edits, and submit for review.

LITERATURE: In today's excerpt from "The Wednesday Wars" we pick up with Holling haven just had the image of his hero, Mickey Mantle, destroyed after having met him. There was a strong paragraph on page 93 where Holling describes this painful feeling. Later in that same chapter, Holling uses familiar language to describe his new heroes, signifying that he refuses to close his heart off once damaged. We took a moment to examine that interaction and reflect on keeping our own hearts open, despite the fact that we may also later be burned.

SOCIAL STUDIES: In class we performed a role-playing activity where groups students were divided into individual castes, following the Indo-Aryan tradition. Students were required to follow the rules of their caste, which in some cases involved only speaking when spoken to. They had to navigate certain obstacles all the while staying in character. It was a helpful exercise to understand the benefits and limitations of a rigid social structure.

MATH (8:00 class) Worksheet 3-6  (9:00 class) pg 183 1-44

SCIENCE 6B takes their test Tomorrow

Today in 6A!

ENGLISH: Clash began with our Flash cards, minus the assistance of our word lists. Shortly thereafter, students were asked to identify some changes to sentences presented to them and justify why they made that choice. Students are now better able to identify their "why" then ever before.

RELIGION: As part of our Advent preparation, we examined the Advent wreath, its history and the meaning behind the 5 candles. This will be what is tested tomorrow.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Today's lesson examined the Vedic age of Indian history, which speaks about the Aryan people and their influences in this region. The lasting influence of the Indo-Aryans was their implementation of a robust and rigid Caste system. In tying this to our more modern influences, it is known that the Aryan traditions were hugely influential to the spread of Nazi-ism in Germany and Racism in America's South. The purposeful creation of rigid classes within society with the expressed intention of maintaining relational separation is an important legacy of this ancient people. Students were assigned questions 1-6 for homework.

Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: We began with some flash cards and the students in both classes are really on top of these words. Tomorrow we will take away the word lists and have them make those connections without them. After completing our Vocabulary in Context and Passage-Based Reading, we took some time to play Scrabble as a class. Having students manipulate letters and find word combinations that generate points is helpful for their quick thinking and problem solving skills.

LITERATURE: We read another 20 pages on "The Wednesday Wars" as a class, witnessing how Holling Hoodhood's classmate reacted in various scenarios that Holling is fearful of.

RELIGION: We continued our discussion of Advent and why the methods of preparation matter in order to help us get into the spirit of the season.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Students continue their look at Mohenjo-Daro where we analyze how, and infer why, the concept of "cleanliness" was presented in this early culture.

MATH (8:00 class) pg 153 1-25  (9:00 class) pg 178 1-43

SCIENCE Test moved to Thursday Dec 6

Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: our lesson begins with the week's vocabulary terms (unit 7) and there are some doozies in there! Students should have a bit of fun putting these together in their writing pieces. We first list the word. then define it, then find associations to help us understand and remember the term.

LITERATURE: We read the 'November" chapter in "The Wednesday Wars" and our antagonist is beginning to understand an enjoy his Shakespeare lessons. He's read "The Merchant of Venice" and "The Tempest" falling in love with the creative insults and curses that Shakespeare uses.

RELIGION: We opened our new books for the first time today, this week exploring Advent and tyhe many symbols the Old Testament has for the coming of Jesus. We used the analogy of a blackout to help us understand the coming of the "light," that is Jesus Christ, at Christmas.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Students were given a new assignment to help them understand some of the findings of the earliest discovered sites in the Indus River Valley, Mohenjo-Daro and Harrapa. This information was researched and taken up as a class.

MATH (8:00 class) worksheets Quiz Wed (9:00 class) Pg 174 1-48

SCIENCE finish packet science Test Chp 3 will be wed

Today in 6A

ENGLISH: Students spent the day finalizing their writing. We've seen some enormous progress in this area and I can't wait to share. Thank you to all friends and family who took the time to read their student's work. This process really helps our 6th graders learn and understand their language. Bravo!

Today in 6A

ENGLISH: As mentioned in yesterday's post, today's class was entirely dedicated to the writing process for the students' argumentative essay. Entering class, students should have their road map completed, their pre-writing phase complete. The example provided on the assignment page and in class shows a minimum of 3 body paragraphs to be sandwiched by an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph. With this road map student have worked on developing their first draft. Some of our students are already editing each others' papers and this is excellent. I encourage all students to get as many eyes on their writing as they can. Please take some time to help your kids by reading their compositions. Tomorrow, students will be finalizing their last draft and submitting to the Google Classroom page for assessment.

Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: Since Monday I have been explaining the format of this chapter/unit's English test, to the students. Today we began the initial work to determine our footing for this assessment. Students will be writing an argumentative essay and will be working on it for the remainder of the week, submitting after class on Friday. Please see the assignment on Google Classroom to understand the requirements, grading structure, how you might assist your student, and brainstorming resources that have been made available to all students.

MATH (8:00 class) pg 148 27-49  (9:00 class) Accelerated Math

Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: Building on yesterday's lesson we explored Compound Subjects and other problems with verb-subject agreements. As a visual learner myself, I drew up 3 linear equations that should help students understand when to apply singular and plural verbs to a compound subject.

Plural Subject (PS) Singular Subject (SS)

(PS) / (SS) when joined by AND (PS) / (SS) = Plural Verb

(PS) / (SS) when joined by OR/NOR (PS) = Plural Verb

(PS) / (SS) when joined by OR/NOR (SS) = Singular Verb

The biggest trouble students seem to have is in identifying the singular and plural verb forms. This visual helps in identifying what should be used, but knowing what the plural and singular forms of specific verbs are can be confusing. The logic is often reversed from plural and singular nouns. With Nouns we add an "s" to the end to pluralize. With Verbs it is the opposite, we add "s" to the end of a singular verb. Johnny acts weird. Johnny and Suzie act weird.

MATH (8:00 class) pg 148 1-26all  (9:00 class) pg 167 1-42 Chp 3 Test Tomorrow

Today in 6A & 6B

ENGLISH: We started a new set of Grammar lessons today as we explored the agreement between subject and verb. The key to this lesson was to ensure that the subject and verb carry matching plural or singular forms. Adding complexity to this was the prepositional phrases between the subject and verb. By having students first identify the subject and and prepositional phrase, they could easily identify the verb and then the proper form of that verb.

LITERATURE: We read chapter 2 "October" of the Wednesday Wars where we saw our first person narrator and middle schooler, Holling Hoodhood, surrender his Wednesday afternoons to Mrs. Baker's chores. The cream puffs were ruined by chalk dust and the classroom rats escaped. A lot of excitement for a single 7th grader.

RELIGION: We observed the last two presentations from our work before Thanksgiving in connection with the World Food Programme.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Students used partner reading to review the section we read the week prior to Thanksgiving. They were assigned questions 1-7 on page 175. If this was not completed in class it is homework.

MATH (8:00 class) pg 143 1-27  (9:00 class) WS 3-6 & 3-7 Chp 3 Test Wed

Today in 6A & 6B

Students continued with preparing their presentations, adding posters and songs and skits to their slideshows. Additionally, we had several parents kindly volunteer their time to support the crafting of our Stone Soup. This story and small meal serve as a gentle reminder to think of others and value the spirit of community giving. What a wonderful opportunity to share our bounty with others!

Today in 6A & 6B

Today we started our special Thanksgiving program which has the students creating presentations regarding the work of the World Food Programme. WFP has 7 focus areas that they work in and each of our seven groups were issued one of these areas to profile. On Wednesday students will deliver a 10 minute presentation that explains the work of the WFP through this focus area.