Sixth Grade Families,
It has been nearly two weeks since my last class-wide update and we have been moving steadfastly through October. With a number of large projects looming ahead, I want to make sure you have access to important dates, details, and information.
IMPORTANT DATES AND UPCOMING EVENTS-
Roman Road Building Project- Wednesday, October 21st from 2:15 to 3:15 PM AND Thursday, October 22nd, from 2:15 to 3:15 PM
Field Trip Friday- Friday, October 23rd from 10:45 to 3:00 (students must be at school by 8 am and will be dismissed at 3:30 pm)
Sock Hop- Thursday, November 5th from 3:45 to 4:30
Veteran's Day- Wednesday, November 11th NO SCHOOL
November Field Trip to Reed College Nuclear Reactor- Thursday, November 12th from 8 am to 1 pm (still need more chaperones!)
Thanksgiving Break- Wednesday, November 25th and Thursday, November 26th NO SCHOOL
Tale of Troy Presentation- Thursday, December 3rd at 1 PM and at 6 PM
Winter Showcase- Thursday, December 17th at 6:30 PM
Winter Break- December 21 through December 31 NO SCHOOL
CONFERENCES-
If you haven't had a chance to sign up for conferences yet, please do so ASAP. Conferences are being held Friday, October 30th, but I have made some additional dates available. Please check the signup website here:
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/uakhxG
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)
3. Sign up! Choose your spot.
If none of the listed dates and times work for you, please let me know and I will find a way to meet with you!
OCTOBER FIELD TRIP (Friday, Oct 23)
Our original itinerary included a visit to the Portland Art Museum. Scheduling issues has caused us to change this. We will now only be departing from CHPCS at 10:45. We will be back to school at 3:00 PM.
Between 8 AM and 10:45 AM we will be working on getting ready for our upcoming play and the winter showcase. You are welcome to join us and help supervise students as they create props, paint backgrounds, etc.
We are in need of at least 1 more chaperone. If you can join us on this trip, please let me know ASAP!
SCIENCE FAIR BEGINS-
The CHPCS Science Fair is one of middle school's biggest projects. Your students should have chosen a guiding question and identified their variables. For the next two weeks they will be researching (at school and at home) information regarding their chosen question. This research will help them design a hypothesis and their experiment. This next step is to complete their research, due Thursday, October 29th.
For a copy of the checklist with due dates you may check my blog here: http://chpcs6thgrade.weebly.com/science-fair.html
NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH (NaNoWriMo)
I mentioned NaNoWriMo at Back to School Night, but I wanted to give you one more heads up about this project! Students will begin planning their novels in October, will writewritewritewritewrite in November, and edit in December. This is an amazing program that really shows students how MUCH they are capable of writing! For more general information see here: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/
FINAL EXAMS
Last week we took quizzes in preparation for our upcoming final exams. Quizzes and exams in middle school may look significantly different than what your child has seen before. They require more thinking and application rather than memorization and regurgitation.
Because they are not just memorizing facts, students are allowed to use any and all class notes during tests. We used last week's quizzes as an opportunity to discuss the exam process and expectations, how I grade, and went over the answers after everyone had finished. For an example of what these quizzes/tests lok like, see this document:
15/16 Greek Mythlogy Quiz
Final exams are scheduled as follows:
Greek Mythology Final- Tuesday, October 20th
Ancient Greece Final- Tuesday, October 27th
Astronomy Final- Wednesday, October 28th
PROGRESS PORTFOLIOS
This week your student will bring home a Progress Portfolio. The Progress Portfolio is made of recycled manila folders and includes samples of your child's work up to this point. Please sit down with your child and go through the portfolio with them. This month's portfolio includes samples of work from spelling, writing, science and social studies. The cover looks like this:
Portfolio Cover.jpg
UPCOMING UNITS OF STUDY
Writing- Novel Writing
Science- Energy and Heat
Social Studies- Ancient Rome
Literature- Tale of Troy (The Iliad and the Odyssey)
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed!
It has been nearly two weeks since my last class-wide update and we have been moving steadfastly through October. With a number of large projects looming ahead, I want to make sure you have access to important dates, details, and information.
IMPORTANT DATES AND UPCOMING EVENTS-
Roman Road Building Project- Wednesday, October 21st from 2:15 to 3:15 PM AND Thursday, October 22nd, from 2:15 to 3:15 PM
Field Trip Friday- Friday, October 23rd from 10:45 to 3:00 (students must be at school by 8 am and will be dismissed at 3:30 pm)
Sock Hop- Thursday, November 5th from 3:45 to 4:30
Veteran's Day- Wednesday, November 11th NO SCHOOL
November Field Trip to Reed College Nuclear Reactor- Thursday, November 12th from 8 am to 1 pm (still need more chaperones!)
Thanksgiving Break- Wednesday, November 25th and Thursday, November 26th NO SCHOOL
Tale of Troy Presentation- Thursday, December 3rd at 1 PM and at 6 PM
Winter Showcase- Thursday, December 17th at 6:30 PM
Winter Break- December 21 through December 31 NO SCHOOL
CONFERENCES-
If you haven't had a chance to sign up for conferences yet, please do so ASAP. Conferences are being held Friday, October 30th, but I have made some additional dates available. Please check the signup website here:
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/uakhxG
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)
3. Sign up! Choose your spot.
If none of the listed dates and times work for you, please let me know and I will find a way to meet with you!
OCTOBER FIELD TRIP (Friday, Oct 23)
Our original itinerary included a visit to the Portland Art Museum. Scheduling issues has caused us to change this. We will now only be departing from CHPCS at 10:45. We will be back to school at 3:00 PM.
Between 8 AM and 10:45 AM we will be working on getting ready for our upcoming play and the winter showcase. You are welcome to join us and help supervise students as they create props, paint backgrounds, etc.
We are in need of at least 1 more chaperone. If you can join us on this trip, please let me know ASAP!
SCIENCE FAIR BEGINS-
The CHPCS Science Fair is one of middle school's biggest projects. Your students should have chosen a guiding question and identified their variables. For the next two weeks they will be researching (at school and at home) information regarding their chosen question. This research will help them design a hypothesis and their experiment. This next step is to complete their research, due Thursday, October 29th.
For a copy of the checklist with due dates you may check my blog here: http://chpcs6thgrade.weebly.com/science-fair.html
NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH (NaNoWriMo)
I mentioned NaNoWriMo at Back to School Night, but I wanted to give you one more heads up about this project! Students will begin planning their novels in October, will writewritewritewritewrite in November, and edit in December. This is an amazing program that really shows students how MUCH they are capable of writing! For more general information see here: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/
FINAL EXAMS
Last week we took quizzes in preparation for our upcoming final exams. Quizzes and exams in middle school may look significantly different than what your child has seen before. They require more thinking and application rather than memorization and regurgitation.
Because they are not just memorizing facts, students are allowed to use any and all class notes during tests. We used last week's quizzes as an opportunity to discuss the exam process and expectations, how I grade, and went over the answers after everyone had finished. For an example of what these quizzes/tests lok like, see this document:
15/16 Greek Mythlogy Quiz
Final exams are scheduled as follows:
Greek Mythology Final- Tuesday, October 20th
Ancient Greece Final- Tuesday, October 27th
Astronomy Final- Wednesday, October 28th
PROGRESS PORTFOLIOS
This week your student will bring home a Progress Portfolio. The Progress Portfolio is made of recycled manila folders and includes samples of your child's work up to this point. Please sit down with your child and go through the portfolio with them. This month's portfolio includes samples of work from spelling, writing, science and social studies. The cover looks like this:
Portfolio Cover.jpg
UPCOMING UNITS OF STUDY
Writing- Novel Writing
Science- Energy and Heat
Social Studies- Ancient Rome
Literature- Tale of Troy (The Iliad and the Odyssey)
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed!