Mrs. Knoedler’s Grade 6 Classroom Newsletter

February 20, 2015

Dear Families,

Our last day of Winter Fitness was Thursday and from the looks of it, everyone had a great experience.  The weather and snow cooperated to make it a successful experience for the students at EMES.

Field Trip to the hood Museum in Hanover:  On Friday March 13^th, both 6^th grade classes will travel by bus to Hanover, N.H. and Dartmouth College to the Hood Museum.  Information regarding the trip was sent home with your child today in their Friday folder.We will be seeing the “Poseidon and the Sea Exhibition.”  This exhibition includes the largest amount of Ancient Greek and Roman artifacts that the museum has ever had available for the public to see.  Please read the attached information regarding the trip.  Also, please review the Hood Museum’s behavioral expectations for students with your child.  Please sign and return the permission slip.  We will need to leave the school at 8:30 am.  Please have your child at school no later than 8:20am.  We will return in time for regular dismissal. 

            After the visit at the museum, we will be having lunch at a local restaurant called, Everything But Anchovies.  They will provide a room for our group, a pizza buffet, a salad bar, beverages, and dessert.  The cost of this is $8.88 per person, and includes tax and gratuity.  Please submit the money for the lunch with a check made out the EMES or cash in the amount of $8.88. 

Literacy:  Students turned in their Book Cover Independent Book Project today and they are quite splendid.  Many students chose to stretch themselves and strive for a 4 on the rubric.  This was great to see. 

Writing:  Students were impressive with their writing stamina on Tuesday and Wednesday as they worked on their post assessment for the Writing to Inform Unit.  There were many interesting topics, from the saxophone to great camping sites in Vermont to the jumping mouse and the sloth. 

Math:  Students worked hard learning the formulas used to determine the circumference and area of a circle.  Circumference = pi (or 3.14) x the diameter.  Area of a circle = pi (3.14) x radius squared.    .

Over vacation it is important that students are reading every day.  Please remember that it is an on-going assignment that all students read 20 minutes a day.  Having strong personal reading habits is one of the most important skills your child can develop as a learner.  Reading will improve their learning in all subject areas.  As with any learning anything, riding a bike or swimming, it takes practice.  Reading for 20 minutes a day is that practice. 

Have a wonderful winter break.  See you in March!     Ellen

Mrs. Knoedler’s 6^th grade Classroom Newsletter

February 13, 2014

Dear Families,

I am grateful that we had a whole week of school.  At first look, it seems there was quite a bit of effort done on the ancient Rome final assessment graphic novels.  I have been very impressed with the hard work everyone has been putting forth.

Literacy: 

Students have been learning about writing conclusions for their writing to inform papers.  Students are conferencing with me about their work and editing their work.  We also brainstormed a list of possible ideas for the information writing post assessment, as coming up with a topic for your paper can be very difficult.  We will complete our post assessment next week.   

Book Cover Individual Book Project: 

Students we assigned this last week.  The original due date was Wednesday February 18^th but due to Winter Fitness and other changes in the schedule, it will be due Friday February 20^th, the day before vacation. 

Math:

In math, we have been learning about the order of operations.  If you follow the rules you are able to accurately solve any mathematical expression. 

Just remember to proceed in this order: PEMDAS

1.   P= Parentheses are done first

2.   E= Exponents are done next

3.   M/D= multiplication and division are done as they are encountered from left to right.

4.   A/D= addition and subtraction are done as they are encountered from left to right.

Using these rules can you figure out the answer to: 7 + (6 × 5² + 3) =

Please remember that it is an on-going assignment that all students read 20 minutes a day.  Having strong personal reading habits is one of the most important skills your child can develop as a learner, as this will improve their learning in all subject areas.  As with learning anything, riding a bike or swimming, it takes practice.  Reading for 20 minutes a day is that practice. 

Stay warm!   Ellen

I Love East Montpelier Feast

Dear Families,  Here is information about the "I Love East Montpelier" feast on Friday, February 13, 2015.  We hope you can make it!  Thanks Ellen

I Love East Montpelier Day!

Come share why you love living in East Montpelier and join us for a special feast.

On Feb 13th, East Montpelier Elementary will be hosting an “I Love East Montpelier Day!”

Students will share what they love about our town and ask community members to share something that they love about East Montpelier.

All community members are welcome, please join us and visit with neighbors and students!

I Love East Montpelier Feast: Guests and Community Members have a choice of which seating they would like to attend:
                          
     - Pre-K at 11:00 a.m. in the Pre-k Classroom

     - Kindergarten -Grade 2 at 11:30 a.m. in the cafeteria
                           
     - Grades 3-4 at 12:00 p.m. in the cafeteria
                            
     - Grades 5-6 at 12:30 p.m. in the cafeteria

Feb 13th Feast Menu and RSVP
Garden Green Salad
Rolls or Biscuits
Chicken Stew with a Puff Pastry Top (like Chicken Pot Pie) or Vegetarian Pot Pie
Desserts- assorted pies
Milk, Cider, and Coffee

Please RSVP to solander@u32.org
by Wed. Feb. 11th and let her which
seating you will attend.

Adults: $5.00
Students: $3.00

Classroom Newsletter January 30, 2015

Hopefully all of you received this in your student's Friday folder with their report card!  

Mrs. Knoedler’s 6^th Grade Class Newsletter

January 30, 2015

Dear Families,

Please be sure to look for your child’s report card in the Friday Folder today.  If you are a family with two households, both copies of the report card were sent home with the Friday Folder. 

Please remember to return your student’s U32 information regarding 7^th grade course selection.  This folder is due February 18^th. 

We completed a full week of school this week.  Congratulations to all the students who performed in the band and chorus concert on Thursday evening. 

Literacy: We are continuing our work on information writing.  This week we discussed the importance of editing as you go, punctuation, and spelling.  We also took a look at similes and metaphors and the importance and the role of figurative language plays in all writing.  It is imperative that your child is reading each night at home. We finished our read aloud, Firegirl, written by Tony Abbott.  We have started a new book,  Shadow and Bone.

Math:  We are studying area and perimeter of rectangles and triangles.  and perimeter in rectangles and triangles.  Students are doing well in remembering the formulas for determining area and perimeter of rectangles and triangles. 

Social Studies:  The graphic novel final Rome assessment is due Monday, February 9^th.  Students have a little over a week to complete the assessment.  We are finishing our study on Rome and will next move onto science and the human body. 

Next Thursday, February 5^th, is week 3 of Winter Fitness.  Friday February 6^th is a Teacher Inservice Day and there is no school for students.   

On Friday, February 13th EMES will be hosting an "I LOVE EAST MONTPELIER" kick-off event. This event will include a community lunch and a heart/video project.  I hope you will be able to join us for lunch in the cafeteria.  More details on the lunch and how to sign up for lunch will be coming soon.  

Our class will be having a Friendship Celebration on Friday February 13^th.  If you would like to send something to share, I would ask that you remember that we are a nut free classroom.  All baked goods or store bought foods should be made in a nut free processing plant.  Thank you so much. 

There is now light in the sky until 5:30PM. Have a great weekend.   Ellen

Friday January 16, 2015

Dear Families,  Students presented wonderful monologues today.  The first Winter Fitness day was quite a lot of fun for all last Thursday.  The main assignment on the horizon is the Ancient Rome graphic novel that is due February 9th. I encouraged students to take home as many of the page templates that they wanted for the long weekend.  If you are in need of more papers for the graphic novel, our classroom will be open on Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday.  A word about reading. While many students are reading independently, there are some students who are not reading.  Until a person gets into the habit of reading and makes a conscious effort to read, reading will not become a natural part of someone's life.  6th graders are expected to read 20 minutes a day at home.  As the monologues are completed, students should be onto reading another book that they will be able to use for the next book project. In math, we have started geometry with area and perimeter of rectangles.  We will move onto finding the area and perimeter of triangles and then the diameter and circumference of circles.  We are also reading a class read aloud called Firegirl.  I hope you have a great long weekend and you are able to get out and enjoy some winter fun.  Take Care, Ellen 

Ancient Rome web sites that may be helpful:

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/

http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/RomeUnit.html

http://rome.mrdonn.org/index.htm

http://www.lancasterschools.org/Page/5591

January 9, 2015

Dear Families,

It the first week in the New Year and we have been very busy.  While the temperatures have been unusually cold, there are still some students coming to school who are not properly dressed for outside.  Please be sure your child has boots, snow pants, mittens, hat and jacket. 

There will be a 6^th Grade Transition Session for Parents only on Tuesday, January 13^th at 6:30PM at U32 for all parents only.  This is an important meeting for you to attend, even if it is your second or third child going to U32. Please see the flyer in the Friday folder.  Another one was also sent home with students earlier in the week.

There are two assignments on the horizon.  One is due next Friday, January 16 and the other is due Monday, February 9^th.

Book Character Monologue:  This assignment is due January 16^th.  Students will assume the persona of a main character in a book they have read.  The character, in a class presentation, will explain the story and how the character is feeling in the book.  Students must write the monologue, as well as present it.  It should be no longer than 2-4 minutes long.  Students should practice and practicing for you would be a great home activity. Students should practice using expression in their voice for the presentation.  Dressing up as the character will earn extra credit.  Most students have a great start on the monologue.  This assignment will require some work at home.  Students were given a rubric to follow for this assignment.  It is very important that your child is reading.  When we have book response assignments, it assumes that students are reading at home and have a book they will be able to use for projects.

 Graphic Novel Final Rome Assessment:  As part of our study of Ancient Rome, students are working on a graphic novel final assessment.  Students have chosen either a general overview of Ancient Rome or will have focus on one topic, such as daily life, architecture, Pompeii or gladiators, to name a few.  I am providing  students with the graphic novel “cell” papers.  Students also have a rubric to follow.  While we will have some time for researching and for working on the graphic novel, students will need to work on this at home as well.  This assignment is due February 9^th.    Students should begin working on this now to produce a quality product.

Literacy:  We have started a to work on our information writing instruction.  Students will write an information paper using information text features.  Students will use the topic they are using for their graphic novel assignment for their information writing piece.  In this way, students will be able to conduct research for both assignments but create two different pieces of work.  I am hoping this will make both assignments more meaningful to students.  For the most part, we will work on the information writing in class.  However, students are always encouraged to work on their writing at home and all are able to access their writing on Google docs.

Math:  We are working on Statistical Landmarks:  minimum, maximum, range, mode, mean, and median.  We are also analyzing data.  Students are working hard and all seem to be doing a great job on this material.  Today in math class we had a quiz on the landmark terminology definitions. 

Please remember that reading is imperative.  Students should be reading for at least 20 minutes a day on average.  If your child struggles to read for 20 minutes, start with 10 minutes and increase a minute a day or every two days. 

Please see the information sent home regarding the Winter Music Concert on January 29^th. 

I’m glad the weather is warming up for the weekend.  -20 is a bit too cool for me!

Have a great weekend.

Ellen