Mrs. V's Blog |
Mrs. V's Blog |
I'm learning that everyone's favorite day of the week is Wednesday. On Wednesdays we devote our first 15-20min (or last 15-20 min, if you're in Mrs. Allen's TA!) to silent reading. Kids are super excited about this time. They bring the book they are currently reading, and the hunker down, get comfy, and read! It's fun to see them dive into their books. I must say, I've learned this week, that 6th graders put themselves in the strangest positions and places around the room just to be comfortable while reading. It's been fun seeing them find the smallest nook and cranny to claim as their own! It's exciting to see that the majority of sixth graders are enjoying reading. They get excited about it, and also enjoy talking and sharing information about that the books they are reading. This week they had to discuss what common themes are coming through in their books. I heard that their books have every type of theme from courage, survival, friendship, to kindness, acceptance, and cooperation. They were so eager to share, we ran out of time before we had to move onto finish an activity! I hope I can see this excitement for reading continue on throughout the year. Remember, they should be reading for 20-25 minutes a night! Enjoy the photos below!
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This week we talked about reading strategies and what good readers do while they read. We discussed Inferencing, Connecting, Questioning, Visualizing, and Monitoring for Meaning. At the end of the note taking session students got to put these skills into practice while watching a fun short film. They then answered questions about the film and had to use the skills! The short film was called Lifted (A Pixar Film). Students all were watching the film on their own individual computers, with headphones. This lesson was so much fun because at random times students would burst into laughter which would get the adults in the room laughing too (make sure you check out the newly added video!). We may have been a bit distracting to the math instruction going on next door, but it was a blast! Even Mrs. Allen came over and laughed with us! Every class told me this assignment was awesome, and that I should do it again with more kids! Enjoy the photos below of a mixture of all four of my ELA classes! Please have your student show you the Pixar film! It's hilarious!
Wow! Our first 5 day week! It was busy, but it was great. Students are falling into routines, meeting expectations, and finally diving deeper into the curriculum. * In Language Arts this week, we became experts at writing and assessing constructed response paragraphs. Students were also assigned another weekly assignment via Google Classroom. * In math students reviewed following concepts: the difference between multiples and factors of numbers and how divisibility rules can be used to determine prime and composite numbers. Weekly Comp is due on Friday of next week. *In Geography students navigated their way through the wonderful National Geographic textbooks and class atlases. *In science students discussed the difference between dependent and independent variables and started their first two science experiments. If you want more info on the content areas, you can check out the other 6th grade team's websites! On another note... Today marked our very first Fantastic Friday morning meeting! Each Friday, Mrs. Allen's TA and ours will join together to do something active before we head off to classes. The activities will range from musical chairs, dance videos, to free-for-all dance parties. Last year we found students really looked forward to these activities and it really got the blood moving for the rest of the day! Today we did a few warm up videos before the students taught us how to "Whip" and "Nae Nae!" I must say, it was so fun to see this group, they are ALL joiners. Years past, I have had students choose to sit out, today EVERYONE participated. How awesome is that! Students even needed a gentle reminder that Fantastic Fridays are meant to take place in our room and only our room, because some kept on dancing down the halls! It was a fun way to start the day, it was so fun that we had to end the day the same way before we went to buses! Below are some pictures of kiddos dancing, and there is also a link to the Whip Video that we followed to learn the dance (it's kid/school appropriate, and super cute!). Check it out with your students!
This Friday marks the end of our third week in 6th grade. I'm really starting to get to know my students, in all classes, but especially in TA. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing all of the banter going back and forth between students this morning while they were excitedly talking about last nights Pats game, and hearing the heated conversation about Deflategate! Mr. Crowley (A die-hard Steelers fan) even heated the discussion up when he made an announcement over the intercom about how his heart was feeling "deflated" this morning after the game. It was quite an animated discussion. Besides sports, we have been having serious discussions during TA. We have talked about being competitive, but appropriate (I'm quickly learning I have a very competitive bunch), and also discussed what our classroom rules should be. We'll be finalizing our classroom rules on Monday. I feel like the kids are settling into a good routine, and they are learning quickly that sixth grade teachers will never make them guess. Our routines, expectations and classroom practices are all very similar in style. They are doing a great job adapting to new routines and meeting our expectations. On a different note, students received their first ELA week-long assignment. Because it is the first one, they have a shortened version. But please know, they will always be assigned on Friday and due the following Friday. For full directions on the assignment, students can visit Google Classroom (link on the left).
Reminders- Please sign and return the ELA syllabus by Monday. Book Orders are due Wednesday, September 16th! Scholastic book orders are something I send home every couple of months for families who are interested in purchasing books. The book orders include some very reasonably priced books for students of all abilities. There are two ways that you can order. You can order through the use of the paper catalogs, attached to this letter. If you choose to use the catalogs, please send in the filled out form and a check (no cash will be accepted) written to Scholastic Book Clubs, inside an envelope, with your child’s name on it. You can also order online. (I find this to be the easiest and most efficient way!) If you use the link below, you can order from the same catalogs, and more, on the website. The order will be linked to our classroom, and will arrive here at school, with the regular catalog orders. There is more information for online ordering available at the website! https://orders.scholastic.com/JVWRN Book orders are due on Wednesday, September 16th. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. We have spent a lot of time on our laptops already! It's day 10 and we've used them 5 times already! We have spent time talking about our digital classroom in Google Classroom, and we have had a couple online digital conversations. It's been fantastic! The kids have loved using them and are doing a really great job meeting expectations. The best thing about Google Classroom is that even when you are home, you can access all of the content! Have your student show you their digital classroom! (Links can be found on the left hand side of this page, just click on Google Classroom!) |
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