Classroom Newsletter

Mrs. Knoedler’s 6^th Grade Class Newsletter

September 25, 2014

Dear Families,

This newsletter is going home on Thursday as the All School Hike is on Friday.

I hope you will all be attending the Open House Ribbon Cutting on Thursday October 2, 2014.  The event will run from 5:00PM to 7:30PM.  A spaghetti dinner will be served at 5:15 in the cafeteria.  Come and tour the building.  It will be a great evening.

Here is a quick classroom update:

Math:  We are continuing our work with fractions, decimals and percents.  Students have been taking assessments on rounding, circle graphs and fractions, decimals and percents.  It is critical that students have fluency in their math facts. 

Reading:  We finished the book group book, Number the Stars, and our read aloud book, Harris and Me.  Students will now write an epilogue for Harris and Me.  Students have been encouraged to be creative and to use interesting language in their writing.  The epilogue is due Friday October 3^rd.   We also reviewed the 40 book challenge.  Ask your child about the challenge and ask them how many books they have read so far.

Science:  Students are investigating scientific and historical events throughout time.  They are then choosing one scientific event and writing about that event and how it impacted the world.  Students will present their information to the class next week.  The list of 15 scientific/historical events and the 2 paragraph paper is due Tuesday September 30. 

Word Study:  We completed lesson 2 in Wordly Wise.  We have had many lively discussions about the correct usage of words in the questions. 

Just a note that due to various schedules in the building and our own classroom schedule, Mr. Quackenbush and I decided that it would work out better for students if we kept our classrooms all day.  This means we will not be switching for science and social studies.  We will still be providing like experiences for students in the two classrooms, as Mr. Q. and I work very closely together in all subject areas. 

We have a beautiful oak tree outside our classroom window.  It has been a joy to watch the colors change on the tree.  Fall has arrived and we were lucky this week to have such beautiful weather. 

Enjoy the weekend,  Ellen

Bubbleology Photos

We had a great time practicing blowing bubbles to prepare for our bubble experiments!

Mrs. Knoedler’s 6^th Grade Class Newsletter

September 12, 2014

Dear Families,

We have had a busy week. A reminder that sixth graders should be sure to bring all their materials to school each day.  A few students are forgetting key items that interfere with them being the best student they can be. It would be great if you could check with your child each day to be sure they are organized and have all their materials. Here are a few highlights from our classroom.

Math:  We are working on rounding, fractions, multiplication and division.   Students learned how to take a fraction and convert it to a decimal and then a percent.  The formula to remember is: divide the numerator by the denominator to find the decimal and then multiply the quotient by 100 to find the percent.  Each week students have weekly math word problem.  This week’s problem was The Long Trip.  The problems will be handed out on Monday and are due on Friday. 

Language Arts:  We are continuing with our book, Number the Stars.  We are having great discussions about the book.  The next assignment for the book is for students to read chapters 7-10, to answer the assigned questions in their reading journal and to be ready to discuss the chapters. This is due Tuesday September 16.  It is also important that students bring their reading book, their journal and their completed assignment to school each day.

Word Study:  We began our word study program, Wordly Wise.  This program is a great way to increase vocabulary and word awareness.  It introduces students to higher level vocabulary.  We will have a test on the words on Monday September 15.  Students should review the definitions for the words. 

Science  We had a great time on Monday practicing blowing bubbles in the classroom.  This prepared us to conduct an experiment on Tuesday to see which soap solution, blue Dawn, Joy, or the store brand Shoppers Value, made the biggest bubbles. On Thursday, students designed their own experiment and our next step is to conduct the experiments. 

Important Dates

•   EMES Open House & Ribbon Cutting - Oct 2^nd  5:00pm to 8:00pm

•   All School Hike- September 26^th

•   Parent Conferences November 10th & 11th - 12:30 Early Dismissal for Students (more information coming later about Parent Teacher Conferences)

Sixth graders need support from home and school in order to learn how to be organized.  Being organized is not necessarily a skill people are born with.  Sometimes it takes lots of practice. 

Have a great weekend,       Ellen