Activity on December 19th

On the Friday before winter break begins, the 6th grade team will be showing the 2007 Walt Disney movie, Bridge to Terabithia. Below you will find a brief overview of the movie and a link to the Disney website where information about the movie is provided.

Animation master Gabor Csupo directs his first live-action film in this adaptation of the novel The Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, whose son David co-wrote the screenplay and serves as a producer. Jess (Josh Hutcherson) is misunderstood. Despite Jess' talents as an artist, the school bullies pick on him, his father (Robert Patrick) belittles his dreams, and his four sisters invade his space in the family's cramped house. Jess' bleak world changes when Leslie (Annasophia Robb) moves into the house next door. Bright, creative and outspoken, Leslie also finds herself an outsider in their school. Soon the two are thick as thieves, spending their after school hours exploring the woods beyond their backyards and on the others side of a creek, which Leslie deems the kingdom of Terabithia. Here, they create their own magical world, complete with a Dark Master and his minions, dragonfly soldiers, giant trolls and a tree house fortress. In Terabithia, the two friends let their imaginations run wild and control their destiny, far away from school bullies and the pressures of adolescence.

http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/liveaction/bridgetoterabithia/

Persuasuve Letter

The 6th grade students received this prompt in Language Arts class today. "Have you ever asked your parents to buy you something, take you somewhere, or let you do something and their answer was, “NO!”? Well, here's your chance to make your case!"

The students will be writing a letter to their parents, grandparents, or guardian. Within this letter they must include the following components:

1. State your claim
2. Give three reasons
3. Support each reason twice
4. Use one strategy of persuasion (Example: ethos)
5. Use three transitions
6. Address 3 counter-arguments
7. Use language suitable for your audience

Poetry Unit

During the month of December, we will be focusing on reading and writing different styles of poetry. Everyday your child will be introduced to a different type of poem. We will review the rules and definition of each type together and practice writing them as a class. Independently, your child will write at least one poem for each type we study. Daily, your child will be asked to share his/her poems. Everyone is expected to share at least one poem. At the end of the unit, your child will type out each poem and construct a book of poetry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, 1st trimester is over. The sixth graders did a wonderful job transition to Lakeview. This is a great group to work with and we are all having fun. At the start of 2nd trimester we will be beginning Poetry in Reading, Persuasive writing in LA, and finishing up decimals in Math.

Hope your Thanksgiving is filled with tasty foods, warm memories, and fun family times.

Medieval Times

In an effort to continue the unit on Middle Ages and the field trip to Medieval Times, the 6th grade Language Arts and Reading classes will be working on activities relative to the theme. During LA classes the students will be editing an introduction to Medieval Times. The students will focus on finding mistakes with verb usage, capitalization, and fragments. This will be a review of the first 3 units we have completed in LA. During Reading class, the students will write a extended reading response based on our trip to Medieval Times. Before the trip the classes will review the Knight's Code of Chivalry. After reviewing what the Knight's Code includes, the students will be asked to pay attention to knights that follow or do not follow the code. Thursday in class, the students will write a Reading Extended Response on, “Do you think the knights showed chivalry?”. On Friday we will edit and rate the responses to allow the students to fix or add anything to make each response the best it can be.

Accelerated Reader Tests

The sixth grade students were introduced to the accelerated reader program by Miss Hagensee. Students were asked to independently take a sample test on the novel Taking Sides that we read together. All sixth grade students did very well on the test. After passing at least one accelerated reader test, the students were asked choose any novel with an accelerated read test. After completing the book, each student will independently take the test on their novel. Once the test is completed, it will print. The student will turn the test into their teacher. The test is due on November 20th. We expect that each student should be at least half way through their book. It is encouraged that the students take the test as early as possible to ensure there is enough time to complete the test. We will accept the test before the due date.

Decimals

The 6th graders are begining the Decimal unit is Math class. Last week we worked on the concept of decimal and place value. The student wrote decimals out in standard form and in works. This week we are returning to the textbook where we will cover, decimal place value, measuring metic lengths, comparing and ordering decimals, rounding decimals, estimating sums and differences using decimals, and finally adding and subtracting using decimals. This will be a short and quick chapter.

If you child is having difficultly with any assignment, encourage him/her to use their notetaking guide, examples from the book, or the tools on line. http://www.classzone.com/ has many resources for your child to help where he/she is having difficulty. Oue textbook code is 2432737-180.