Students write letters to soldier in Afghanistan

Today, the class wrote to a sodier serving in Afghanistan

In math we continued with angles, triangles, and different types of each.  Everyone kept saying how easy it was, so I will see if it really was when I grade them.  It is very important that your child stays  caught up with his/her work, as we wind down our year.  Getting behind even one or two assignments can hurt a grade.

In spelling we matched our words to their definitions.

In language we wrote letters to a soldier in Afghanastan.  Several asked about sending a CARE package.  We will discuss this more as a class and I will let you know.

Tomorrow is the last day for book orders!

Happy snow day -- even if it isn't snowing!

Today in class we had a lesson on angles taught by our student teacher from the University of Central Oklahoma.  In language, we studied homonyms and homophones and took a spelling test.

Remember, next Tuesday is the final deadline this year for ordering books from Scholastic.  Be sure to get your sixth grader some new books for summer reading.

Have a great long weekend.

More on angles for sixth graders

In math we continued to work with angles.  I gave them a sheet with 5 different rays on it.  They made 75 degree angles out of each.  The purpose of this was to show that the direction of the angle doesn’t change the measurement.  We also estimated angles and then checked for the exact measurement.

In spelling we went outside to play Sparkle.

In language we are still working on our autobiographies.

Sixth graders work with angles

Diagram used by permission of Nathan Brunner

In math we worked with angles, first reviewing different types, such as acute, obtuse, right, and straight.  The first hurdle was remembering how to use a protractor.  If your child didn’t finish his/her work, he/she may come in tomorrow at recess to do so.  I didn’t allow them to take the protractors home, as things I send home to use tend not to come back, unfortunately. 

In spelling we found the correctly spelled word in groups of four.

In language we made make-shift books out of plain paper so that they may take their timelines and do a rough draft for their autobiography.  At the first of the year I bought a class set of hardbound blank books and we are going to use them.  They will not receive them until I see that they have their rough drafts truly ready.

I also sent home the last book order for the year.  A letter came home with them with the code for ordering online.  The last day to order is May 1^st.

Happy Tuesday.

Students are writing autobiographies

Sixth graders began work on their autobiographies
today.  Their personal timelines are due tomorrow.

In math we added rule notes I found, already printed up nice and neatly, on the Internet.  The website was loisterms.com.  (I liked the name.)  The we worked and checked all of the odds on skills workbook pages 87-88.  Again, subtraction is giving us the hardest time. 

In spelling we did a matching lesson with the words and their definitions.  The words for this week are on spellingcity.com.

In language, we discussed the difference in biographies and autobiographies.  They need to bring their finished personal timeline to school tomorrow, as we begin to write our own autobiographies.

If you haven’t sent your money for the party or the item for our craft basket that is to be in the school auction, please do so.

Have a marvelous Monday!

Today: relaxing math?

In math we had another day of relaxing math. We worked more with adding integers, as some of them were getting confused with rules for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing them.

We are still working with our paragraphs that we started yesterday.

Mrs. Garner brought cupcakes for the class, since they had behaved this week with all of the testing. We appreciated that!

Lesson integrates art and math

We took a break from reviewing and testing today. We still did math, focusing on word problems. But we also included art with today’s lesson. If they answered the question correctly, they found the corresponding part of the painting and glued it on top of the given problem. Today’s painting was done by a Dutch artist who didn’t find success until after his death. He couldn’t make a living by being an artist and had to take a job as a customs officer. Therefore, he didn’t have much time to devote to painting. The name of the painting we used today was “The Avenue at Middelharnis." The artist was Meindert Hobbema.

In spelling we went outside to play Sparkle. It was such a beautiful morning.

In language we did a prewriting. They were to choose a topic from the list we made at the beginning of the year. They could also choose a different topic, if they wanted. They had to jot down the topic, three supporting statements, and a closing sentence. We will continue to work on these tomorrow. We also started a prewriting lesson for an abc book about 6^th grade.

Have a great Thrusday!

Students finish math test; time to get back to normal in the classroom





Yea!  Testing is over!

We finished our test today with math.  All students seemed to concentrate and take their time. 

We celebrated with a mini “Read and Feed.”  We had enough snacks left over so we took part of our afternoon to read silently and have another snack.  They worked so hard these past two mornings I felt they deserved a break.

Tomorrow we will go back to a normal schedule. 

Happy Wednesday!

Today was testing day in sixth grade ... so if your sixth grader comes home a little more spacey and glassy-eyed than normal, it's probably with good reason.  We tested only in the morning and did a read-aloud and an art project in the afternoon.  Tomorrow's another test day; we'll be doing math tests.  So be sure your sixth grader gets plenty of rest and a good breakfast.  And of course, keep everything as upbeat and calm as possible at home tomorrow morning so your child will come in with a positive attitude.

Practice makes perfect ... we hope.

In math we did some more practice. Your child should bring home the practice booklet and go over it tonight. I told them to go through and see if any of them give them any trouble. If so, come see me at recess tomorrow.

In spelling I handed out a list that we will be working with, but will not test on. I chose 15 words from a list of most commonly misspelled words.

We were able to read a chapter in the fifth book of the Shadow Children series today. We are going to use what we know about this series to do some writing later on this week.

Tomorrow is the reading test. Remind your child to get plenty of rest. We have snacks in the morning. If your child needs a big breakfast, I hear that McDonald’s is serving free breakfasts to children who are testing.

Have a great Monday!

Sixth graders continue to practice different types of math problems

We continued to practice math problems today.  We didn’t do all on each page.  What we did was take turns rolling a number cube and we would work that number problem on the page we are on.  This way we did several different types of problems but didn’t have to do multiples of each type.

In spelling we took our test.

In language we finished our Gallery Walk Review.

Sixth graders put in a full day of test preparation and learning

We worked more with practice problems in math today.  I see some of the students feeling a little more at ease as we go over the problems.  I keep stressing for them to do their best.  I also tell them that there will be problems on the test that they do not know, and that is OK.  That is how they make the tests.  I do stress for them to take their time and work problems out.  It is important for them to use the scratch paper on many of the problems.  There is no reward for trying to work a problem in their heads!

In language we did a “gallery walk” type review.  There are questions posted around the room and they have to write the answers.  It was a way to get them up out of their seats for awhile.

In spelling we played sparkle.

Tomorrow is the last day for book orders! 

I only have $13 for snacks for next week.  If you haven’t sent your dollar, please do so tomorrow.

Have a great Thursday!

Students practice more for OCCT test

Well, again we practiced OCCT-type questions in math.  We are not just doing them and answering them.  We are going over them and discussing why the correct answer is the best choice. 

In spelling we did sentence matches with the correct words.

In language we worked with the thesaurus and editing marks.

Students continue to work on practice tests for upcoming state assessments

We are continuing to work on practice tests that are formatted like our state tests next week.  Being comfortable with the format will benefit everyone. 

In spelling and language we did lexicons for some of our spelling words.

No homework!  Enjoy!  This is a great opportunity for those that are missing work to get it turned in. 

Homework cut as students ready for (more!) tests

Tell the pooch in your house that he'll be on starvation rations for a couple of days. In math we have begun our review/practice for the OCCTs next week. There will be very little or no homework for the next few days.

In spelling and language we did activities with our words on the Smart Board.

Please remember to send your $1 for snacks and book orders are due by this Friday!

Happy Monday!

Students learn to work with algebraic expressions



Happy Easter!



Math was another day of algebraic expressions. The children seem to be doing well with this. They just have to remember numbers with variables cannot be added to those without.

In spelling we took a test.

In language we worked with prepositional phrases used as adverbs. But instead of picking them out of a sentence, we added our own. I also included some editing at the bottom of the page.

Happy Easter!

Sixth graders subtract integers, have some 'a-ha' moments

In math we reviewed subtracting integers.  For some reason this is giving us more trouble than multiplying and dividing them.  But I heard several “Ahhh, I get it now!”s today.  We also worked with the distributive property.  We did simple algebraic equations.  Some had numbers as answers.  Some had answers that were expressions.  For example:

                7(n+8)

                7n + 7 x 8

                7n + 56

The last one is the answer.  Since we didn’t know the value of n or the sum of the original problem. 

In spelling we played Sparkle.  Please remind your child to remember to study.  Since we have fewer words, some think they don’t need to.  And some were not happy with last week’s test grade.

In language we went over yesterday’s assignment with the prepositional phrases used as adverbs.

Tomorrow is the day we wear our school colors and/or shirts.  It is also snack day for those who didn’t pay for the year.

A day in sixth grade: reviewing for math tests, graphing, spelling activities and grammar

Today we had a mid-chapter review in math, as well as a coordinate graph activity.

In spelling we had to rearrange words to make sentences that made sense. This is one of the activities that is on spellingcity.com, and they have made it where some can be copied.

In language we worked with adverb and adjective prepositional phrases.

Today in sixth grade

In math we reviewed lessons 1-6 in chapter 11. We also worked more with coordinate pairs. We added a coordinate graph to our spiral and labeled it.

In spelling we used one of the words and did a lexicon page.

In language we finished checking our practice test. These will come home Thursday.

We received more pencils today! Thank you!

Today in 6th: Strategies for word problems, and discussion of grades

In math we worked with word problems and different strategies.  We also took a quiz over lessons 1-5 in chapter 11.  We discussed grades, as I have three grades for this nine weeks, so far, and many have only turned in 1 or none of the assignments.  The fourth nine weeks is the worst time to get behind. 

In spelling we handed out our lists.  This week’s words are:

                           back

                                distinct

                                filed

                                tempermental

                                altitude

                                hermit

                                accumulate

                                fowl

                                client

                                negotiate

                                essential

These are on spellingcity.com.

In language we went over the math section of our practice test.  When your child brings his/her test home, please go over it with him/her. 

Thank you to those who sent your $1 for snacks during testing, and to Janell’s mom, Stephanie, for sending pencils.  Taylor Hawkins’ mom had sent some a few weeks ago and we are already almost out!  Thank you, to both!

Book orders are due April 13^th. 

Have a great Monday evening!