Verbs!

The 6th graders started Verbs this week in Language Arts. We will be working on this unit throughout the month of November. We will be cutting the chapter in half only taking 2 smaller quizzes instead of one huge huge test. The first section will be on:
1. action verbs-jump, think, run, and love
2. helping and main verbs- was thinking, will be jumping, have loved, or have been running
3. being and linking verbs- students find the being verb and the predicate noun or adjective that is linked to the subject.
4. simple verb tense- students form the past, present, and future tense. (jumped, jump/jumps, will jump)
The quiz for the first section will by on Wednesday, 11/5.

Character Counts Club Field Trips

The Character Counts Club is planning two field trips for the month of November. We will be traveling to the two schools to promote positive relationships in hopes to diminish bullying.

At Elizabeth Ide we will be facilitating a circle activity. The Club members will start by passing a ball around the circle and asking students to tell their name and one interesting fact about themselves. Next, the students will pass the ball to anyone saying the name of the person they are passing the ball to. Later the students will list different characteristics and anyone who has them will go into the inner circle. The game will reset as each characteristic is announced. Everyone will be in the inner circle a few times. Some discussion questions will follow each activity.

At Prairieview the Club will be starting with the 5th grade class and teaching them about three different types of Bullying: verbal, social, and intimidation. After a quick presentation, the Club members will split each class into six small groups. Each group will be given a scenario to act out in front of the class. After each scene is acted out, the Club members will ask the class as a whole what type of Bullying was shown.

Washington, DC

Last weekend I had the privilege to chaperon the 8th grade Washington, D.C. Trip. It was my 3rd year attending the trip and this might have been the best one yet. The students were wonderful and I had a very fun time. The kids had the opportunity to see almost all the memorials, a comedy show, Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, and a ghost tour of Alexandria. My favorite part was seeing the the FDR memorial and watching our students participate in the wreath ceremony and the tomb of the unknown soldier. I look forward to going again next year and hopefully with your child in two years.

Nouns!

The sixth graders will be starting the English Unit about Nouns. Since this is a small unit and the students have been studying Nouns for many years, the unit will end quickly. We will be studying recognizing nouns, common and proper nouns, singular and plural nouns, possessive nouns, and plural and possessive nouns. We will continue to practice writing skills by concentrating on using appositives in sentences.

On Wednesday of this week the students were given the opportunity to "test out" of the unit. Every sixth grader was given a pretest of the material taught in the Nouns Unit. If the student received a 90% or higher on the pretest, he/she would "test out" and therefore be excused from the lessons and homework of the unit. Any student that "tested out" would participate in a alternative project using the lessons from the unit. The alternative project is always creative and allows the student some freedom in the finished product.

Comprehension Suggestions

As an attempt to promote continued growth in 6th grade reading and writing scores, we are encouraging complete, thought out answers to all comprehension questions. When your child comes home with any type of comprehension question from a chapter, there are a few things we are looking for:

• Students are encouraged to restate the question in their answer.
• All answers should be in complete sentences using evidence (facts or examples) from the text.
• We would like the students to explain and extend their answer. (Or, we like to say: PROVE IT!)
  

With these tools in place, we predict overall reading comprehension and writing across the curriculum will improve. We are hoping that the students will apply these skills with their writing in Science, Social Studies, and even Math.