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

Friday August 29, 2014

Dear Families,

We are off to a great start.  Your 6th graders are all adjusting well to school in our new and beautiful room.

Please remember to return all the important papers in the information packets that were sent home on the first few days of school.

In an effort to “go green”, for the most part, this will be my first and last Friday Classroom Newsletter. I will soon be posting information about our classroom activities, classroom assignments and homework on the classroom blog. If your family does not have internet connectivity, I will continue to send a paper copy of all classroom information. When you visit the blog, please sign up to follow by email and become a follower. The blog is set up so that if information is posted on the blog, you will receive an email between 5pm and 7pm that day.

Please visit our blog at:  http://emeslearningportal.blogspot.com.

I am in the process of setting up a system to email all the parents in the classroom and will use the email address you sent in on the school information packet. I will still be sending home other important school information for you in the Friday folder.

 We had a great first week and all of your children are wonderful. We have been participating in many Positive Behavior and Intervention Supports (PBIS) activities.

Students have been building up their silent reading stamina and we have started our first class read aloud, Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen.

In math, we are spending time reviewing math operations and making sure students have a solid command of their facts. Practicing math facts with flash cards is a great way to help your child work on their facts. 6th graders should have complete mastery of their multiplication skills. We also practiced writing up a math word problem.  Math word problems will be a weekly occurrence.

We has also started our first science unit, Bubbleology and The Scientific Process.

If you need to get in touch with me you can email me at eknoedler@u32.org.  You can also call the school and leave a message.  My extension # is:  324.  Please know that I will make every attempt to read and or answer emails as quickly as I can but often there is not time during the school day.  I will do my best.  Thanks.

I am excited about this year and all the students seem eager to learn and are putting their best foot forward all the time.

Throughout the year you will hear about Gambatte.  What is it?  Read on..

In front of every elementary and middle school in Japan stands a statue of a figure, studying, even as he carries firewood for his family and his community. His diligence underscores the importance of self-betterment and the responsibility to one’s community that accompanies personal progress.

The most important word in Japanese education is Gambatte. Literally translated it means, “persevere, never give up.” While we’ve gotten used to wishing people “good luck” in the United States, in Japan they say “Gambatte.” This word tells us that opportunity is not about luck, but about effort, diligence, and perseverance.

Have a splendid holiday weekend.      Ellen Knoedler  

May 2, 2014

Dear Families,

We have had a great week after our April vacation.  There are many events/happenings that are coming up.  The end of the year is usually fast paced and comes before we know it. 

Dates to Remember:

Friday May 9, 2014:   Photos to Laurie Mekkelsen who is creating the 6^th grade graduation slide show. 

Friday May 9, 2014:  Middle Ages Culture Box due.  Students painted a box in school this week.  They will use this box to hold items they have collected or made that reflects the life of a person from the Middle Ages.  Students will adopt the identity of a person in the Middle Ages.  Included in this assignment, is a written piece explaining the life of their person and how the items in their box relate to that person’s life.  Students have been given a rubric that will be used for scoring their work.

***Wednesday May 21, 2014:   This is the NEW date that the Castle Project is due.  The kids will have a few more days to put the final touches on their castles!

Friday May 23, 2014:  Unity Day for 6^th Graders.  We will travel to U32 for a day of team building with all the other 6^th graders in the district.  Permission slips will be coming home soon.

Thursday June 5. 2014   Emes Band Concert for those students in band and chorus.

Tuesday June 10, 2014 Move-up Day for 6^th Graders:  We will travel to U32 for the day and learn what core groups students are in and learn about how a day at U32 is structured.  Permission slips will be coming home soon.

Friday June 13, 2014 Grade 6 Trip to Ogunquit, Maine to study oceans and sustainability.  Our final science unit of the year is oceans and sustainability.  As a culminating activity, we will travel to the beach to conduct science experiments related to this topic.  We will leave early in the morning and return around 9:00pm.  We apologize profusely to those families that have a conflict with the U32 graduation but this was the only day we could arrange a bus to take us.  More information on this trip will be coming home next week. 

Wednesday June 18, 2014  6^th Grade Graduation.  More info coming later.

Wednesday June 18, 2014  Tentative 6^th Grade trip to Lake Limehurst.  I am firming up arrangements at this time. 

Thursday June 19, 2014  Last day of school.  Students are dismissed at 12:30pm.

In the classroom, it is business as usual.  In literacy, we are working on our research based argument papers.  In math, we are continuing our work on geometry. In social studies, we are learning about the middle ages. 

Have a great weekend,  Ellen

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