Saturday, December 20, 2014
December 20, 2014
Dear Families,
We have had an exciting 2 weeks with Starbase trips to
Colchester, a rocket launch at EMES, chorus students singing at area nursing
homes, and a snow day. Our rocket
launch was a huge success with a window of no rain just long enough to safely
launch each rocket. Thank you to
those families who were able to join us.
Many other classrooms came out to watch as well.
Literacy: We were finally able to squeeze in time
to watch “The Mighty”, the movie based on the book, Freak the Mighty,
written by Rodman Philbrick. We
were also able to compare and contrast the book and the movie, which is always
an interesting exercise. I have
been checking student reading logs each day. Many students are reading at least 20 minutes a day at home,
some are reading much more and a few are not reading at all. Please be sure to ask your child about
their reading log. After vacation we will be working on an independent book project. Students should be reading independently now so they have a book or two ready to complete the independent project after the first of the year.
Math: While we used math in all of our
Starbase activities, in our EMES math class we are having a review of fractions,
comparing fractions, using fractions in all the operations (addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division), number lines, and place value. We will have a final quiz before
vacation.
Congressman Peter Welch made a guest appearance at Starbase
on our final day and attended the “graduation”. I am posting some great photos of our time at Starbase below with more to follow
Have a great holiday break. All the best in the new year.
Ellen
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| Starbaser's with Congressman Peter Welch |
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| F-16 Tour |
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| Pop Goes the Fizz |
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| Creating a vacuum with marshmallows, before and after |
Friday, December 5, 2014
Mrs. Knoedler’s 6th Grade Classroom
December 5, 2014
Dear Families,
December is here and it is going to be a
busy month. Next week students will
travel to Starbase on Wednesday and Friday. This is a wonderful science based
program. Please be sure your child is at
school by 9:00 am. The bus will leave
promptly at 9:00 and a little sooner if we are all here. Please
talk to your child about appropriate bus behavior and the expectations for
being a representative of the East Montpelier Elementary School at
Starbase.
Literacy: We are
finishing our all class read, Freak the Mighty. I would like to show the movie next week, The Mighty, when we finish the
book. The movie is a wonderful
adaptation of the book. It is rated
PG-13. If you have any concerns about
the movie and do not want your child to watch the movie, please email me at eknoedler@u32.org or call me at 223-7936
extension 324 by Tuesday morning, December 9th. If you are fine with it, no need to respond.
Social
Studies: Students had a test on Ancient Greece on
Thursday as we are wrapping up that portion in our study of Ancient
Civilizations. We will begin Rome next
week. Most did well on the test. There is an opportunity for students who want
to improve their grade to retake the test.
Students must see me about retaking the test.
Math: Students
are becoming more adept at using fractions in all the operations. Adding and subtracting fractions with unlike
denominators seem to cause the greatest trouble. We have been working on problems like, 90 is
¾ of what number or find 2/3 of 24.
These kinds of problems make us look at fractions from different
perspectives.
Writing:
Today students worked on the information
writing pre-assessment. Students wrote
about a topic they thought were an expert in or a topic that they could teach
someone else about. Information writing
will be our next writing focus.
Have a wonderful weekend. Ellen M. Knoedler
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