January 13, 2015 Newsletter
I want to keep you updated on some things that we will be doing with in the next couple of months. In Math we are working on Percent and how to find percent. We will also be looking at how to find a percent of a number. We should be finishing up with that next week by Jan 23, 2015. We will then be headed into the Expressions and Equations standard of 6th grade math (algebra). Algebra is a very fun time in math as we explore and find puzzles. Your student may have told you that we are experimenting in Math. We are changing our format and start with homework from the day before, then we start our new lesson. This will help students learn to use their notes as a resource to help them understand and to reteach themselves. We are strongly trying to teach our 6th graders to be independent. In Social Studies we are finishing up with WWI and beginning the Great Depression. We have also changed the way we teach Social Studies and study History. We are now looking at History and asking what can we learn from History to make our lives and world a better place! With this I have been encouraging students to watch the News, as we watch a 10 minute version everyday on CNN Student News. It is important for all of us and especially our students to be aware of what is happening in our world as well as how it applies to History! In Reading we are diving deep into our Nonfiction text while reading some historical fiction that will accompany WWII in Social Studies. In Science we are beginning our exploration of Space... not the space between our heads, but space and our solar system. In Writing we will be working on our Research papers and then our persuasive pieces. As always if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me.
Welcome 6th Graders and 6th Grade Parents
I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer! I hope that you are as excited as I am about the upcoming year! I spent my summer working in my yard and playing with my two children: Selah is 3, and Judah will be 2 in November. My wife, Renae, and I have worked extremely hard all summer on our house, inside and out! I am very excited about trying some new things in Math, Reading, as well as the other subjects. We are geared to changing with the rest of the state, in heading to the new Common Core State Standards. I am very excited about all of the new thinking we will be bringing to Math this year! I will let you know from the start that I expect Excellence from my Class! What I mean by excellence, is that I expect 100% effort in everything that we do! As long as you give me your very best effort we will have a great year and accomplish amazing things! Using my website will be extremely helpful to parents and students. I will have a page listing assignments for up to two weeks, which will help with Makeup work or if there is missing assignments. We also have a new website: Learnzillion.com that we will be using in the classroom as well. This website has lessons, as well as practice options for many of the common core standards that we will be learning. It is also a great way for Parents to refresh their memory on what their students are learning in Math and Reading, as well as opportunity for students to practice then show they understand the skill in a quiz. We will have opportunity in class for students to use this if Internet is not available at home. I also will be handing out Scholastic Book Orders out every month, I will try to turn in orders twice a month if there is enough interest. If you choose to order online my classroom code is: HPCC7. I am so thankful that you are in my class this year and I know that together we can make this a fantastic year!
