6th Grade Newsletter: Week of February 4, 2008

 

Hello Parents,

 

We actually have a full week of school this week (knock on wood), and it’s full of things to do.  Here’s what’s in store:

 

Important Dates

Ø     Tuesday, February 5th: Math progress reports due back signed

Ø     Wednesday, February 6th: Happy Birthday Mike!  Ash Wednesday Mass at 9:00 (can you believe it, already??)

Ø     Thursday, February 7th: Math problem of the week due

Ø     Friday, February 8th: Spelling test, rough draft of descriptive essay due (see below), Mid-Trimester Reports go home, Social Studies newspaper due (should be finished in class this week, see below)

 

Subject Update

Language Arts:  Last week we learned many different strategies for writing effective leads in our papers.  This week the students will be putting those strategies to use while writing a descriptive essay.  We will be spending the next few class periods working on the first draft of this paper.  The rough draft will be due on Friday.  We will also continue working with nouns in our English text.  Spelling is on a normal schedule this week. 

 

Literature:  With the start of February, all students should have chosen and begun reading a book for their independent reading requirements.   We will be reading the short story, Sarah Tops in our text this week.  It is the story of a clever teenager who solves a crime while listening to his father describe the case.  Next week, we will begin a new literature unit on Tuck Everlasting. 

 

Math: We are starting chapter 6 this week.  The sixth graders will be working on divisibility rules, prime and composite numbers and greatest common factor.

 

They will also have a Problem of the Week (due Thursday).  I know getting the correct answer is important, but I am more concerned with their written explanation.  Can they write a clear explanation on how they solved the problem?

 

Math progress reports were sent home last Wednesday and need to be signed and returned by Tuesday, February 5.

 

Religion:  Chapter 5 is on our agenda this week, entitled Slavery and Deliverance.  We will be picking up food donations tomorrow from the classrooms, since we haven’t done this for a couple of weeks.  I’ve been reminding the students that since we are in charge of this service project, it is especially important that we be good role models by participating in the food drive ourselves.  It is my hope that each student will donate one beverage related item to the drive each month.  Thank you for your support!  Finally, please join us for Ash Wednesday Mass if you can!

 

Science: This week we will be continuing our study of physics through Newton’s laws of Motion. We will be looking at the history of those ideas from Aristotle and Galileo. We will also be discussing the characteristics of each of the three laws.

 

Social Studies: We will be working on finishing up our group newspaper front page project this week.  Students will spend three social studies class periods (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) in the computer lab pulling their final products together.  The project sheet, rough draft, and revisions all need to be handed in with the final product no later than Friday, February 8.

Looking ahead to next week, the chapter five test will likely be on Wednesday, February 13.

 

Other: On Friday we will be meeting with our Kindergarten buddies in the computer lab to do a spreadsheet activity with candy conversation hearts. 

 

Have a great week everyone!

Pam Schwartz  J