This is one of my favorite projects for students! I am always in awe of the craftsmanship, ingenuity, and hard work students put into their cells. Great work everyone! Our class has been busy learning about the two major categories of cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic, and the sub categories, plant and animal. They are now experts in the organelles of each type and their functions. I have been amazed at how fast they have grown in their knowledge of cells. Another wonderful acheivement I have seen so far this term is the amount of books being read! I think it is so great that students are creating a habit out of reading every night, yes I know it is homework, but they are loving it! This is a goal of mine, that students find the enjoyment in reading and that they want it to become a permenant routine in their daily lives. Our first week of the year was full of team building, getting to know one another, and learning the routines to help us all have a successful year. Please use this site as a reference to current happenings and for resources to help with your studies. Here is something I saw that may be of help during this transition back into the school year. This is also the place in which I like to post photos of our adventures in and out of the classroom. I have uploaded all of the videos from campfire on to YouTube. They are not published, so they can't be viewed without this link. I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed seeing it in person.
We are beginning Rights, Respect, Responsibility this week. All the sixth graders will be going through 7 lessons together, two each week (minus outdoor school). This program has been designed to be taught together with parents. I have linked all of the lessons for you to preview with your student, there will also be homework each night after the lesson has been taught at school.
As a class we have decided that we are the Sea Otters, because we are studying the ocean! The last few weeks we have been learning about the different oceans of the world, there are five now! And what happens on the floor of these 5 oceans. Last week we looked at the vertical profile of the ocean and how it changes as we dive deeper into the water. I have finally shared a "secret" about outdoor school with students, I am sure you have all heard about it. We will be spending our first night at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in the shark tunnels. They are all getting really excited about our week at the coast. We will be prepping little by little each week. We have begun our Lewis and Clark interact unit. We started by diving into maps and how to read them! We dissected an angiosperm. Some of the activities going on in class. Peace, Love, and Pancakes! I love watching students from across different grade levels working together! I'm a little behind in getting this first post out! The term has started great. This website is a way for me to connect with you and show off what we have been working on in class. There is lots of information here, so please snoop around and if you ever have any questions please feel free to contact me.
The topics of study this term are botany, the Lewis and Clark Expedition - including reading The Captian's Dog, and persuasive writing. If any of you have any expertise on this topics I would love to hear what you know and see how we can fit you into the term. Monday-Wednesday afternoons I assist in teaching Robotics with Kassandra, when I am out of the classroom, Hannah comes in. While she is in the room, the students are working on study skills, Gardening with Katherine, and she is reading aloud Where the Red Fern Grows. The robotics competition is on January 27, the results of this will determine how long this schedule will continue. Current needs for the classroom: I am looking for help in getting materials organized and copies made for an interactive unit we will be doing later in the term. This could be done in several sessions, shared by several parents, or a one time team effort. I would greatly appreciate the help!!! I would always love to have extra help prepping lessons, grading papers, or having an addition adult in the classroom. Please connect with me if you are able to donate any of your time. I am looking forward to a wonderful term and getting to know your students even more! The last few weeks we have been finishing up our studies of Lewis and Clark and botany. Students have been able to put themselves in the shoes of the explorers that discovered dozens of new species of plants.
It has been a few weeks, so there is lots to go over. Thank you to all the families that came in for conferences. It is so great to see the interactions between students and parents, and for the students to see us as team cheering them on in their education. If you haven't done so already, here is a great TED Talk video to watch. The talk is about your mindset and when not knowing/accomplishing something using the word "yet" instead of giving up or saying "fail". We have been gently caring for plants that we started from seed. This week we used bees to pollinate our flowers, soon we will get to harvest the new seeds. It is such a great experience to see the students' tenderness towards their plants and for them to be able to watch and be active in the whole life cycle right here in our classroom. I have been very impressed with the students Home Journal writing. It is awesome to see how much they know about the science we are studying. The goal for each HJ is to have five nicely formed paragraphs (more than one sentence in a paragraph); some students aren't at this point yet, but we should see movement in that direction. We have been continuing to work on compassion and craftsmanship in class. I have been seeing a lot more attention to the quality of student work, I really appreciate the encouragement you have been giving them on this. Compassion has been a little harder to see change. We have really been working on appropriate school behaviors, such as not talking during instruction, staying on task, and using kind words. The other big issue we have been dealing with is the use of fidgets. I understand the need to fidget or doodle, both are intended to be used to stay on task and this is not what has been happening. The students and I have talked multiple times about this and they know that if I see them playing with a fidget (any time it is a distraction) then I will ask for them to give it to me. They are able to get it back at the end of the day, but they must remember to talk to me. If you have any questions/concerns about this, please let me know. Katherine, our garden coordinator, has been keeping the garden blog up to date, be sure to check it out! Wow, that was a lot! I could continue but I will save it for next time. |
Upcoming EventsNov 9: No School
Nov 12: No School Nov 19-26: No School Nov 30: FFS - Volunteers Needed. Dec 7: FFS - Volunteers Needed Dec 14: FFS - Volunteers Needed Dec 21- Jan 7: No School Previous Posts
October 2018
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