Prepositions in LA.

Sixth grade students are finishing up the English unit on Prepositions. We encourage that students try to memorize as many prepositions are possible. There is a great chart on page 315 which we asked students to record in their LA notebooks.

We have practiced identifying prepositional phrases, adding them to sentences to elaborate meaning, using them correctly, and recognizing the difference between a preposition and an adverb.

Prepositions make a phrase that ends with an object (noun or pronoun).
*into the room
*by the desk
*near the school
*to the store and home

After Spring Break

Enjoy Spring Break next week!

When we return, the sixth graders will continue with Grammar Lessons. We will introduce Prepositions on Monday. We encourage students to memorize as many prepositions as possible to make identifying prepositional phrases easier.

In reading, we will begin a new writing format. The sixth graders will practice responding to Literature and reading a short story. We will also be visiting the IMC to choose new silent reading books. This is a "free choice" book but must be an Accelerated Read book. The students will be asked to take an AR test once they have completed the novel. If they choose to take notes while reading, they are allowed to use the notes while taking the test.

Have a wonderful Spring Break. See you in April!

Compare and Contrast Brochures

The sixth grade Language Arts student working on creating a Compare and Contrast 4 paragraph composition. Today and on Monday the students will be turning the composition into a brochure to share with the class.

Each student chose a compare and contrast two famous people, two places they visited, or two snack foods.

A great compare-contrast composition includes the following:

*an engaging introduction that name the two subjects
*corresponding details fro each subject
*topic sentences to state the main idea of paragraphs
* transitional words and phrases to compare and contrast
*a conclusion that sums up the main ideas in a satisfying way

Fun in LA!

To break up ISAT week, the sixth graders will be doing a Newspaper Scavenger Hunt in LA. The purpose of the Newspaper Scavenger Hunt is to find as may as possible of the items on the list. Some of the items include; an editorial, a weather forecast, an account of a school board meeting a quotation by the president, an article about anything happening in a European country, and an ad for a free kitten.

The purpose of this lesson is to allow students to use cooperative learning stratiges and navigate through a local newspaper. We would like studnets to be more aware of the section and articles in a newspaper while working in a small group.

ISAT are coming

The students in the RtI Math class are getting ready for ISATs by practicing short and extended response questions. We have worked on a number of short response questions using multi-step problem solving methods. We are asking students to remember to show their work and be sre to circle their final answer. Extended response questions can be trickier. The students will need to ask a math questions showing proficent math knowledge, strategic knowledege, and explain what steps they used to solve the problem and why they took the those steps. We askthe students to try and use just words to explain the steps instead to telling the numbers.

Review of Fraction Rules

Adding or Subtracting Fractions
1. Make all whole numbers and mixed numbers fractions.
2. You must have common denominators.
3. Add or subtract the numerators and keep the denominators the same.
4. Simplify your answer.

Multiplying and Dividing Fractions
1. Make all whole numbers and mixed numbers fractions.
2. Turn division in multipication by flipping the second fraction.
3. Cross cancel if possible.
4. Multiply numberators then multiply the denominators.
5. Simplify your answer.

In multi-step problems:
Remember: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

P (paraenthesis)
E (exponents)
M/D (multiply or divide)
A/S (add or subtract)

Tier III Math

This week in RtI Math class, the students are working on Decimal Operations. The students started with a review of estimating sums and differences. Estimating means to find an approximate answer or solution. We moved on to adding and subtracting review with whole numbers and decimals. The week with a focus on using decimals to find the product and quotient of an expression. During the week the students will not be using a calculator to solve the expression, but we do allow a multiplication square.