Students are grasping graphing concepts

Today we worked more with integers, line graphs, and line plots.  We discussed the difference between line graphs and line plots.  Since we have worked with them for a few days, they answered the questions easily and participated in the discussion well.

In spelling we took our tests.

In language we took a quiz over compound subjects, compound predicates, simple subjects, and simple predicates.

Have a great weekend!

Introducing integers, analyzing sentences -- a day of active learning

In math today we introduced integers.  Integers are positive whole numbers, their opposites, and zero.    Most remembered working with them, but some had to be reminded.  We will work with them again tomorrow.

In spelling we did the remaining pages in the word skills booklet. 

In language we took sentences that the children had written and put them on the Smartboard.  These were done on a voluntary basis.  We took each sentence and found the complete subject and predicate.  Then we found the simple subject and predicate.  We also discussed the sentence to see if we could visualize it.  We also worked with the editing process and edited them. 

I hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Young authors work to add vivid images to their writing

Today we reviewed the different displays that we have been studying and discussed which one(s) would work best for different types of information. 

This kid would never make it in sixth grade. 
We write to be understood!

In spelling we read a story then answered questions concerning our words.  We worked with antonyms and synonyms. 

In language we worked with “Writer Sentences.”  We started with “The dog barked.” Of course, when I asked what picture each child has in his/her head each had a different type of dog in mind. Then we came up with “The black and white spotted dog barked.  From there someone asked if the dog was big or little.  We ended up with “The tiny black and white spotted dog stood on the slide on the playground at Broadmoore and barked.  We ran out of time just as we got into the discussion of what the dog might be barking at, or whom.

The  student council speeches went well today.  I was so proud of all of the 6^th graders that got  up there.  That is so hard at any age.  So in my book they are all winners!

Have a great Wednesday!

Big words don't scare these math students!

See you tonight for Grandparents' Night.

We had a very productive day today!  In math we checked the odd numbered problems on Skill Workbook pages 15-16.  There was a lot of discussion on #12 on page 16.  It asked about the general tendencies.  I told them that often big words are thrown in to scare us.  When we realized what was being asked, everyone felt better.  Also, a magical assignment came home, unless your child finished it.  Since the beginning of the year has been so hectic, some people are missing work.  I decided to get everyone off to a semi-fresh start by giving them an assignment with a sampling of the skills we have been working on.  This assignment will replace any missing math assignment or the lowest math grade.  It is due tomorrow, though.  There are only 6 problems.  On the first page, the third one that asks the mean needs to be marked out.  Since I made this page I didn’t check my numbers to make sure it would come out evenly.

In spelling we did pages 25-26 in our booklet, as well as said, spelled, said our words on our list.

In language we did acrostics for our grandparents.

I hope to see everyone tonight.  Remember you don’t have to bring a grandparent to attend! 

A busy day in sixth grade

Grandparents' Night is tomorrow!

We checked pages 31-32 in our math practice workbook.  Your child’s assignment is to finish page 15 in the skills workbook, and to do page 16 as well.

In spelling we handed out the list.  The words are on Spelling City.

In language we did personality cubes to put on our desks tomorrow night.

We also managed to squeeze a small art project in this morning!

Have a great Monday and I hope to see you at Grandparents’ Night tomorrow night.  Pizza will be served from 6 to 6:30.  From 6:30 to 7:00 is when you will visit your child’s classroom.  And at 7:00 the third graders will be performing. 

More work on mean, median, mode, and range

Today we worked with mean, median, mode, and range….oh my!  The children and I are enjoying this skill.  The ones that were having problems were making it too hard.  And that happens often times in math, as well as other subjects.  When something is new or doesn’t come to us right away, we make it harder by expecting it to be hard.

In spelling we took our test, which is actually more of a definitions test. 

I saw some great Student Council posters today! 

Have a great weekend!

Students work on means, construct lunch graph

Today we worked more with mean.  We used our lunch graph to do one for practice.  We then did workbook page 30 and checked it.  The only homework your child might have is Skills practice page 15 if he/she didn’t finish it. 

We wrote in our Writers’ Notebooks for language today.  We are still in the first-draft stage of writing. 

In spelling we did workbook pages 20-23.  The word search on page 21 was an option. 

Some students did not get home with their accountability sheets, as I forgot to take them out of the folder, so they will be coming home tomorrow. 

Have a great Thursday!

Students learn about means -- and about the age of their teacher

Today we discussed mean, median, mode, and range, but focused on mean today.  We used numbers relevant to the students to come up with our own data.  We also discussed the term “outliers.”  For example, we used the students’ ages as information.  Then we threw mine in the mix.  Since all of theirs were either 11 or 12, and mine wasn’t -- my age was the outlier, as it was drastically different from the others.  So we figured the mean (average) with and without my age. 

During spelling and language we had a lesson from our counselor.

I received an email today that our Scholastic book order had shipped.

Have a great Wednesday!

Graphs, short stories, word meanings -- a great day in sixth grade

In math today we worked with line plots.  Again, it is another way of organizing information.  It went quite well.  It went so well, in fact, that we had time to play “3 Strikes You’re Out.”  I think of a number then each student asks me a question that can be answered with a yes or a no.  I then put all on board, so that they can see the facts that we have come up with.  Then students may guess at any time, but if they guess before they have enough information, they will probably miss it.  They don’t get a strike unless they guess wrong.  This is great for reasoning, questioning, and applying information.

In spelling we read a short story that used our words from our list and did workbook pages 18 and 19 in our workbook.

In language we worked with words that have more than one meaning. 

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday evening.

Steams and leaves...but this is math, not gardening

Today we worked with stem and leaf plots.  Now you may be thinking, “Why is this new teacher giving a lesson on plants?”  It is a chart that takes information and organizes it in a way that is supposed to  make analyzing the information much easier. 

In spelling we started a new series.  It does more with the spelling words than the other text.  The words are a bit harder, so there are only 15 each week.  We will still do sentence dictations on the weekly tests.

In language today we worked with editing marks. We used sentences that told us about the Constitution to practice. 

Thank you to all that ordered from the book orders!  We were able to order several books for our classroom library!  Having been in third grade for 20 years, I don’t have many books for 6^th grade.  And what I do have is in storage!

Have a great Monday with your family!

Students finish another busy and successful week

I can’t believe another week has gone by.  We had a very busy and successful week.

In math we worked more with graphs and interpreting them.  We checked these in class today so there was no homework for today.

In language we wrote chosen sentences correctly.  There were 27 of them, but I told them they could choose only 15.

We took our spelling test.  Last week we started doing sentence dictations on the back of our tests.  I think it is important for them to be able to apply the words into correctly written sentences.  These do not count against the students on their grade.  But they do earn tickets for correctly written sentences.  We have two with each test. 

Have a great weekend.

Sixth graders see how bar graphs and line graphs are used

We worked with bar graphs and line graphs. We also discussed that bar graphs are used when data is being compared. Line graphs are used when looking at changes over a period of time. We also discovered this was another way to organize data to make it easier to understand.

In writer’s workshop, students were to finish their stories or edit/add to them.

We played Sparkle for spelling.

Tomorrow is the last day for book orders.

Have a great Thursday!

Math students work on organizing information into tables

In math we worked on taking information and organizing it into a table to answer questions. We did workbook pages 19-20 (most finished this in class) and stapled one problem for homework.

We used our spelling time to spend extra time on math. Since our words are on Spelling City we don’t need to work on them every day.

In language, each student chose a story that he/she had started and turned in a first draft.

Grandparents’ night is Tuesday, September 27^th. More information will come home tomorrow in the Thursday folders.

Most students do well on math test

Our math test went well.  Most did very well on it.  We will start chapter two tomorrow. 

In spelling we used a code to make our words.

In language we did a group activity to show the importance of including as much information as possible.

Have a great week!

Math test is tomorrow

We went over some concepts in math that have given some of us some trouble.  We also worked workbook pages 15-18, in preparation for our chapter 1 test tomorrow.  If your child didn’t finish it then he/she has homework.  I have mentioned aplusmath.com before, but I don’t think I told you about the homework helper section.  It is located on the left side of the site.  On this site there are also a for other math sites.  Some are free. 

In language we revisited complete sentences and fragment sentences.  Your child should also be continuing to work on his/her individual story.

In spelling we took our pretest.  The students had to write only the ones missed in rainbow style.  The words are on spellingcity.com and are under the list name of September 12. 

Remember that book orders are due this Friday, September 16^th.

Have a great Monday. 

Classes working on word problems

In math, we checked yesterday’s word problems, as many had trouble with a couple of them.  The one that seemed to give the most trouble to everyone was the one that needed one of each sign in its problem.  We also introduced algebraic equations and worked a few.  There is no homework tonight.

In writing we are still working on our stories.  Our motto is, “When you think you’re done, you’ve only just begun!”  They are coming along nicely, though.

We did our weekly handwriting.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Learning to 'think like a writer' in writer's workshop

We had a great day in writer's workshop.  The way I do workshop is to model how writers really work.  Before you can write like a writer, you have to think like a writer -- in other words, know how to take the thoughts and ideas and stories in your head and turn them into prose.

The young authors in the workshop selected possible ideas and voted on one they liked best.  Then, I began to talk them through the piece and show them how writers work with ideas to turn them into stories.  We had a great day, with more to come tomorrow.

In math, we worked on word problems.  If your sixth grader did not finish, he or she should do workbook pages 13 and 14.

We have a math test Tuesday on Chapter 1.  There is a review at the end of that chapter, so you might remind your student to bring the math book home for review this weekend.

Have a great day!

Sixth graders put in a busy day in math and language

I am glad we all made it back from the long weekend. I hope everyone enjoyed it.

In math we did more with function tables. Our assignment was wb 11 and 12. Most finished in class.

During spelling we read silently. Remember there is no spelling lesson this week.

In language we started a shared writing lesson. In this lesson we will go through the process that a writer goes through when he/she writes.

Book orders came home today, and a note along with explanations on how you may order online, if you like. You may still return the order form and check or cash, but by ordering online you may use your debit card. Our class gets free books when you order online, as well. Since I have been in the third grade for so long, I have very few 6^th grade level books. And the ones I do have are in storage.

Have a great Wednesday!

Today was an inservice and work day for Moore teachers -- and a chance to catch up on grading.  Tell my Jewels I look forward to seeing them tomorrow.

With a long Labor Day weekend ahead, we were a bit excited in 6th grade!  We did, however, manage to get some work done.

In math, we worked with Input/Output charts.  Have your child show you how these work.  

In language we used our silly subjects and predicates.  We matched them, then each child chose one to illustrate.  Next week we will see if we can pick out the sentence that goes with each drawing.

We took our spelling test.  

Have a great and safe weekend!

Students wrestle with words problems

Probably a sixth-grader's view of word problems

We did  math workbook pages 9 and 10 today.  It seemed to come together very well.  None of the problems were new.  As always, the word problems gave us a little trouble.  We will work on those all year long.  It is difficult for the children to break the problems down sometimes.  The first thing they should ask is, What is the question asking?  Them they need to look at the information and see what is needed for this answer. 

We did a definition lesson with our spelling words, and we played Sparkle.

In language we did a modeled writing lesson.  We reviewed the “show, don’t tell” rules of writing.  Some shared one of their stories.  All will get the chance to share, as time allows.

Remember we will not have spelling next week since it is a short week.