Classroom News

April 11, 2014

 Dear Families,

 It looks like spring is here. A gentle reminder that kids should bring boots to school, as the playground still has snow on it and it is muddy out there. It is important for all students to have a second pair of footwear in the building so that we can keep mud to a minimum. Staying in at recess isn’t an option as kids need fresh air and they need to run around!

 Social Studies: We are continuing our study of the Middle Ages. Students have been working very hard on their reading and answering questions about their readings. I hope your child has started thinking about their castle assignment. The due date for the Castle Project assignment is May 16. Students have also been working in small groups to create an illustrated time-line of the Middle Ages. Working in small groups can be challenging. I am encouraging kids to assume positive intentions and to compromise. The time-lines are an in-class assignment. There is no at home work that kids need to do on this. I am amazed at the creativity going into their work. The time-lines are informative and are works of art!

 Math: In math, we finished up with area and perimeter of polygons. and are now on to circles. We began with some new math language for circles: radius, radii, diameter, circumference, and, of course, Pi. All of these words are key to our next unit. We will equate the value of pi as 3.14. Later on, remembering:
  May I have a large container of butter? 
might help students remember the longer number span of Pi used in high school and college math: 3.1414926. Ask your student how the question relates to that number. As for Pi, well, it is an irrational number, it has no pattern and mathematicians don’t think anyone has ever figured out the end of Pi. We also looked at a website that showed us the first 100,000 numbers in Pi. We have also been working with Arlyn on robotics. It is amazing to see kids outside of their comfort zone and using their math skills to program the robots to do what they want them to. Students are learning that it might take trial and error, patience, as well as, an understanding that we often have to try many times to solve problems.

 Literacy: We are having many great discussions about argument writing. It is important for students to know that they may have opinions, but if they can’t back them up with strong, solid evidence from credible sources, their opinion is weak. We will be working on argument writing for the rest of the year. We are also continuing to read, The Door in the Wall. The book uses great language of the Middle Ages. One of the words students came across was bannok, a quick bread that is rolled out in a circle and then cut into triangles before baking. We call them scones today. On Thursday, I brought some scones to share. We are also continuing to read our read-aloud, Crispin. Crispin is quite the sympathetic character who is on an incredible journey to gain his liberty. He is a young boy learning how to take charge of his own life.

 GRADUATION Slide Show: A letter was sent home today from Laurie Mekkelsen who is working on the 6th grade graduation slide show. She would like to have all pictures to her by May 9th. If you would like to help Laurie with the slide show, please contact her. For more specifics on the slide show please look for the letter your child has brought home.

 Have a great weekend. Ellen

Parent Newsletter

March 28, 2014 Dear Families, I hope this finds you well in these early spring days. I sent home a paper copy of the parent teacher conference times in your child’s Friday Folder. I look forward to seeing you all next week for conferences. MIDDLE AGES UNIT: Both 6th grade classes are studying the Middle Ages. Mr. Q and I are each working with our own classrooms on this social studies unit. It is an exciting time period to study. This week students were given a castle project assignment that is due May 16. Yes, that is correct, May 16th. Students were given the assignment and a rubric for the project. Please ask your child about the project. This kind of project can’t wait until the last week. Some planning is required beforehand. Please try to use items around the house for the project. Coffee cans or Pringle cans make great towers. Cardboard is a great material to use as well. We began with an introduction to the Middle Ages by reading non-fiction text and taking notes. Studnets also worked on an illuminated letter of thier first name initial. These beautiful letters decorate the wall around our door. Also, studnets chose a Middle Ages name. We looked at common first names and discussed how people's last names came about. Ask your child what thier name is! Some of them are quite interesting. We are now investigating castles and learning about defenses. If you have any questions about the project, I can answer them at Parent Teacher Conferences. MATH: We are working on area and perimeter. Many students have trouble remembering the formulas for both and working with both area and perimeter at one time. Very often, it is the area of triangles that is difficult for them. WRITING: We are starting our opinion writing unit. This is technically called Research-Based Argument Writing. Students were give a pre-assessment on this writing form. I wasn’t surprised that these students have many opinions about a whole lot of things! LITERACY: We are reading two Middle Ages related books. One is, The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite di Angeli. All students are reading this and have reading responses for the chapters. This started on Thursday and the first chapter and written responses is due on Monday. We also are reading Crispen, by Avi. Both books give a great description about the life of those in the Middle Ages. It is hard to believe that April is next week. Have a great weekend. Ellen

3-D Human Body Projects!

Outstanding!  Incredible!  Awesome!  Informative!  Creative!  Educational!  Impressive!  These are just a few words to describe the 3-D Human Body Projects.  Here are a few samples!  The projects are also on display in the hallway and in the classroom.  Stop by to see them.  You will be amazed!

Molli's heart cake!

Famous People Visit Mrs. Knoedler's Math Class

On Wednesday January 15th, two incredibly famous students, Eric and Patrick, from Mr. Q's room, visited our math class to share and to teach us the fraction game they created. Thanks Eric and Patrick!

Eric and Patrick explain their game.

Body Systems: Worm Dissection

Monday, January 13, 2014
Part of our Human Body Unit was to take a closer look at at another body system.  We spent the afternoon dissecting worms.  Why worms?  Well, even though they don't have a skeleton and can't walk upright, worms do have many of the same things people do to survive.  Worms move around, eat, breathe, reproduce and defend themselves. They are sensitive to temperature, moisture, light and vibrations.  

The cuticle is the worm's outermost body wall. Beneath the cuticle are:  the epidermis, which is like our skin; a layer of nerve tissue which performs like our sense of touch; and circular and longitudinal muscles for locomotion.  

                                                            Goodbye Kate 

Last Friday we said, "See you later", but not goodbye, to our classmate, Kate!  We wish her all the best at her new school.  Here are some last group photos before she left!

Ghost Books with our First Grade Buddies

On Monday our first grade buddies visited us to make ghost books.  We helped our buddies cut out the ghosts and put the book pages together.  All that was left to do was to add some ghost faces and some Halloween words.