Sunday, January 10, 2016

January 8th Newsletter

January 8, 2016
Dear Families,

            It is all about bridges in the 6th grade.  Students in both 6th grade classrooms have been mixed up and put into teams of three or four.  Their task is to build a truss bridge, with certain specifications, to see how much weight it can hold.  Teams have a budget of $1,550,000.00.  While that might sound like a lot of money, when each cup of glue costs $500.00, gusset wood costs $75,000.00 each, and  a 36” piece of truss lumber costs $162,000.00,  it goes fast.  Students must come up with a design and their bridge must be an exact replica of the design.  We will be having an evening of bridge testing, the date as yet to be determined, but soon.  Stay tuned!
            We are also in need of more tools.  We need fine saws, wood snippers, and a portable work bench to set up for students to work.  If you have any of these items to loan us, we promise to take good care of them.  Also, if you would like to come in during the day to help students, we usually work on our bridges from 1:45 to 2:45 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays. 

Literacy:  All students have chosen an important person in history for their writing profile assignment and are researching and note taking.  Students are also working on a table of contents and an introduction which should be completed by Tuesday.  Please remember that this information profile will be used for students in their poster board presentation of the person.  This presentation will accompany them as they dress up as their person and “become” the person.  We will have an evening of sharing on Wednesday, February 17th.  More details on that later, but please save the date.

Math:  In math we are reviewing adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions as well as simplifying  fractions.  The POW (math problem of the week), The Three Pigs,  is due Wednesday January 13. 

All Winter Fitness activities are slated to begin next Tuesday.  Have a great weekend. 
 

                                                Ellen

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.