November 14-17

Projects: We are spending the entire month on genetics and heredity; learning how DNA controls everything in our bodies; understanding chromosomes and traits; getting familiar with Gregor Mendel's work; drawing and understanding Punnett squares; making personal discoveries about our dominant and recessive traits

6th & 8th Writing: We are continuing our argumentative writing; each student has chosen a topic and is writing an argumentative essay with 3 claims and one counterclaim. This week we are focusing on the thesis statement and writing an introductory paragraph.

Reading: Students are increasing awareness of the Civil War by reading Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinklin; they are also becoming aware of the use of child labor in the world through a partially fictionalized account of a real child slave in Pakistan, Iqbal, who was assassinated by the carpet mafia of Pakistan a few years ago.

STORES will be held this coming Wednesday, November 16th

Next week there will only be two days of school---Monday & Tuesday---due to Thanksgiving.

Week of October 24-27

Important notice: “Life Threatening Peanut and Tree Nut allergy.  All celebration snacks will be eaten outside of the classroom. Parents are encouraged to provide nut free lunches and snacks.”  Thank you! 

Parent Conferences will be coming up. You will be receiving an email for sign ups, soon.

Halloween News: 
     There will be a dance this Friday, October 28th, in the cafeteria, from 6-10 p.m. Cost is $5 if a  costume is worn and $7 without a costume.
     Students may wear Halloween costumes to school on Monday, October 31st---no masks or really horrible/disgusting make-up. We will have a costume parade.
     Our class will have an activity, but no food or candy since they will be getting so much when they go trick or treating that night.

STORES IS THIS WEDNESDAY! 

Projects: Students will be presenting their endangered species projects and testing on the ecosystems unit. The second quarter will be covering genetics and heredity.

8th Writing: Students will begin working on argumentative writing unit.

6th Writing: Students will begin argumentative writing unit 

Reading: Students will have a reading log to complete every night as I am finding that many are not reading every night and many do not have a chapter type book, which is what they are supposed to be reading for 20 minutes every night, Monday through Saturday. They will be graded on this weekly and will have a reading project or two to complete this quarter

Week of October 10-13

Important notice: “Life Threatening Peanut and Tree Nut allergy.  All celebration snacks will be eaten outside of the classroom. Parents are encouraged to provide nut free lunches and snacks.”  Thank you! 

Archery for Oasis students is being offered. Cost is $30. Practice will be from 3:30 to 4:30 on Mondays for 4th-6th graders and Tuesdays for 7th-12th graders. (in the dungeon). This is under the direction of Mrs. Lane and Mr. Lewis. Please contact them with questions. Thank you.

Projects: Students will be working in groups of 3  to prepare a slide show that explains their plan to preserve an endangered species. They will also create an infographic (on online poster) featuring major facts about their chosen endangered species. 
 
8th Writing: Informative writing--Students will use the writing process to write an essay, comparing and contrasting two similar animals. This week they will finish their informative poster (in Venn diagram form), write a thesis statement, chose block or point by point form to produce an essay on their two animals.

6th Writing: Informative writing--Students will use the writing process to write a cause and effect essay, based on our Civil War book Two Miserable Presidents. This week they will write body paragraphs using text evidence, will write their conclusion, type up a rough draft for revision & editing. Their final is due Thursday.

Reading: Students are being assessed for reading improvement. In addition, they are reading about the Civil War in book club groups. They complete study guides with each chapter and have quizzes. This week they are taking a vocabulary quiz on the early causes of division between the North and the South and also  learning about John Brown's influence in beginning the Civil War.

Week of October 3-6

Important notice: “Life Threatening Peanut and Tree Nut allergy.  All celebration snacks will be eaten outside of the classroom. Parents are encouraged to provide nut free lunches and snacks.”  Thank you! 

Archery for Oasis students will begin this week. Cost is $30. Practice will be from 3:30 to 4:30 on Mondays for 4th-6th graders and Tuesdays for 7th-12th graders. (in the dungeon). This is under the direction of Mrs. Lane and Mr. Lewis. Please contact them with questions. Thank you.

Projects: Students will be learning about ecosystems and will have a project assigned Tuesday (due next week) about creating a plan to preserve an endangered species.

8th Writing: Informative writing--Students will use the writing process to write an essay, comparing and contrasting two similar animals.

6th Writing: Informative writing--Students will use the writing process to write a cause and effect essay, based on our Civil War book Two Miserable Presidents.

Reading: Students are being assessed for reading improvement. They are also researching and learning about the Author to their recent Read aloud, Never MInd. They will be finishing their own version of a final chapter to the book and writing to the author.

September 26-29, 2016

Projects: This week we will be learning about ecosystems and the relationships between biotic and abiotic elements within systems

8th Writing: Students will complete 2 essays: one on the Electoral College and one on three items that depict themselves

6th Writing: Students are finishing an essay on the Electoral College

6th Reading: Students are writing a final chapter for their read aloud Never Mind. They are also reading Two Miserable Presidents in book clubs for social studies.

In addition, we are conducting some reading assessments which will probably take the next two or three weeks to complete.

Please remind your student to read at least 20 minutes per day. Thank you!

Important notice: “Life Threatening Peanut and Tree Nut allergy.  All celebration snacks will be eaten outside of the classroom. Parents are encouraged to provide nut free lunches and snacks” 

September 19-22, 2016

Picture Day is Tuesday, September 20th!

Projects: 
Monday-Test on Body Systems. 
Tuesday through Thursday-Study Photosynthesis = matter and the flow of energy.

6th Reading: 
We finished the read aloud Never Mind last week and have several big assignments to go with it:
writing a final chapter,
researching the author to compare and contrast his life to the life of the twins,
writing a letter to the author and
creating an ad to recommend this book to others.

6th & 8th Writing:
Informative writing about the Electoral College.

The third Wednesday of every month will be STORES. That means this coming Wednesday. Students will be allowed to buy and sell new, used, homemade items---no food or drink & no real money allowed. We only use class cash.

August 29-September 1, 2016

Important notice: “Life Threatening Peanut and Tree Nut allergy.  All celebration snacks will be eaten outside of the classroom. Parents are encouraged to provide nut free lunches and snacks” 


Projects: Gallery walk to view 3D models; learn about the body systems

8th Writing: working on the rough draft and final essay of "Three Things That Depict Me"

6th Writing: working on the rough draft and final paragraph of "Three Things That Depict Me"

Reading: read aloud Never Mind; using ACES to to find main idea and key details in reading; reading/studying/taking notes on antebellum America culture and inventions/technology

PLEASE BE SURE YOUR CHILD IS READING AT LEAST 20 MINUTES PER NIGHT (I recommend 30, but only require 20)

Week of August 22-25, 2016

Important notice: “Life Threatening Peanut and Tree Nut allergy.  All celebration snacks will be eaten outside of the classroom. Parents are encouraged to provide nut free lunches and snacks”

Thank you to all who were able to attend the back to school night! If you missed it, please come see me after school or during my lunch. Email me for an appointment.

Projects: 

Students will be working in groups of four to build a 3D model of a structure/facility and relating the parts of the structure to the parts of a cell. They have the entire week to work. Students will bring materials from home to build with. There is a rubric posted in classroom. Due at the end of the period on Thursday.

Vocab test on Thursday---study on quizlet. There is a link to quizlet on classroom.

8th Writing: Students will take an assessment, a narrative writing piece on Monday. The rest of the week will be reviewing and using the writing process and parts of speech.

6th Writing: Students will take an assessment, a narrative writing piece on Monday. The rest of the week will be reviewing and using the writing process and parts of speech.

Reading: We will read about antebellum America, make annotations (notes) on transportation, economy & American renaissance.

We will learn to use the acronym ACES to help us identify the main idea and key details, organize and construct a paragraph response.

Math: Please see the Math teachers' blogs. If you have questions about Math, you may email the teachers: Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Weed.

August 15-18, 2016 FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: “Life Threatening Peanut and Tree Nut allergy.  All celebration snacks will be eaten outside of the classroom. Parents are encouraged to provide nut free lunches and snacks”

Thank you to all parents for trusting your children to me this year! It will be wonderful year. Here's what your students will be doing this first week.

1. Getting acquainted with me, learning routines, and WORKING!

2. Students will have some paperwork to return next week, as those will be passed out to parents on back to school night. Please be especially attentive to returning the internet use agreement so your child will be able to work in class, as they need to be able to use the internet every single day for learning and assignments.

3. Building a classroom community through TRIBES activities..

4. Applying for class jobs (6th grade).

5. Science topics for science this quarter are: cells, organ systems, photosynthesis, and ecosystems.

6. Social Studies will be covered during reading this quarter and will be about the antebellum period.

7. Writing and reading basic skills review.

Specifically, this week:

Projects: learning about and building cell models

8th Writing: reviewing writing process, letter writing, journal writing, grammar practice with Caught Ya & on ixl and generating ideas.

6th Writing: reviewing writing process, letter writing, journal writing, grammar practice with Caught Ya & on ixl and generating ideas.

Reading: reviewing and using Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanded vocabulary skills (CAFE), reading/discussing passages about antebellum America as part of the social studies curriculum

SCHOOL SUPPLIES LIST for 6th and 8th grades 2016-17

Many of these items you may already have; most of them can be purchased at the Dollar Tree

6th grade:

48 regular pencils or mechanical pencils with lead (they don't need to bring all 48 now)
2 lg. erasers
3 black &/or blue ink pens (mainly for math and correcting)
one 24 pack colored pencils
one pack colored markers
4 black sharpies fine point-2 for self & 2 for projects sharing
2 black ultra fine point sharpies
duct tape for projects sharing
3 ring binder--2 or 2 1/2 inch
a set of divider sheets/tabs
10-12 clear protector sheets
1 zipper pouch with 3 holes to fit into binder---rather than a pencil box
5 pocket file folders with 3 holes---not the prong type
3 composition notebooks (with lined paper)
2 spiral bound notebooks
8 expo markers (4 for math & 4 for homeroom)
2 rulers-not too flexible/bendable--1 for math & 1 for home room
1 pr adult size scissors
2-4 lg glue sticks


8th grade writing:
pencils and pens
2 composition notebooks (with lined paper)
1 spiral bound notebook
3 ring binder- ( 1 or 1 1/2 inch) or they can add a writing tab to an existing binder---just not the math one!
2 pocket file folders  with 3 holes---not the prong type
6 protector sheets

Week of April 11-14

I will be attending my granddaughter's wedding this week and will have a substitute for the entire week. It will be Denise Taylor, who is a retired 6th grade teacher that taught at Oasis last year.

Students will spend the week learning about the Westward Expansion, as well as preparing for the spring testing that will begin April 18th.

I sent an email to parents if they would like to sign-up for bringing in snacks on testing days. (April 18,19,27,28, May 3,4)

Week of February 29th

6th Grade will begin a weekly series called "Why Try?" to learn strategies and skills that will enable them to make good choices and steer clear of harmful activities and substances in their lives. It is taught by JPO Officer Brandon Bird. It is a 10 week program, to be taught each Monday.

Projects: We continue to explore How Energy transfers into various forms in the natural world. This week we will build mini catapults, graph data and interpret data.

6th Reading: We will finish the book Iqbal, explore child labor in the world, take 2 tests: vocab and comprehension from the book.

6th Writing: We will learn to make writing flow by combining short, choppy sentences into compound sentences. We will learn to avoid run-on sentences.

8th Writing: Comparing and Contrasting in writing by comparing two closely similar animals and finding differences. For instance Why is a moth not a butterfly?"

Drama and PE, as well. If any parents would like to help with PE on Tuesdays and Thursday, you are welcome!

Week of February 22nd

Projects: IF you have any shoe boxes or cardboard boxes about that size that you could give to us for science, please send them with your child Monday or Tuesday of this week. Thank you in advance! 
Final day and clean up for Rube Goldberg projects and beginning new unit on Energy

6th Reading: Summer of the Monkeys (read aloud); Iqbal Book Club (small groups); 5 minute fluency practice; book recommendations

6th Writing: Students are in their final week of word choice and formal vs informal language; their writing is improving!; Journal free write; ixl language arts practice; cursive writing and golden pencil awards

8th Writing: Journal free write, ixl language practice; Classification research and writing "Why is a ____not a ____?" example: Why is a frog not a toad? Students will conduct research and create a Venn diagram, a  poster and write a one page paper using either point by point or block method of comparing and contrasting.

STORES on Wednesday this week. (this is a re-run due to students inadvertently missing Stores last week.)

Week of February 15

Projects: Parents are invited to view Rube Goldberg simple machines on Wednesday this week (8:30 to 9:40); other Oasis classes are set for viewing on Thursday

6th Reading: Summer of the Monkeys (read aloud); Iqbal Book Club (small groups); 5 minute fluency practice

6th Writing: Write and Give a Speech about a school or community problem; Journal free write; ixl language arts practice

8th Writing: Journal free write, ixl language practice; Classification research and writing "Why is a ____not a ____?"

STORES on Wednesday this week.

Week of Feb 8

Reminder: There will not be a Valentines Day Party at school.

6th Reading: Silent read a book of student choice; Read Aloud by teacher: Summer of the Monkeys; Book club reading and discussion of Iqbal

6th Writing: Using specific verbs, adjectives and adverbs to improve and enhance our desriptive writing. 6 Traits packet week 3. 

8th Writing: Is Your Uncle an Inca? Informative and Expository writing of humorous test questions, using research to create multiple choice and true/false tests.

Projects: Some classes are behind so we are allowing a little more time for students to develop and practice their Rub Goldberg Machine presentations. Theyw ill present this week. We will clean up our areas and prepare them for demos. Tuesday is a Vocabulary test.

Week of February 1

This week is Super Bowl Week! Let it snow!

All classes will be using various aspects of the Super Bowl and the Biography of Vince Lombardi for research, analysis, reading, writing, math and discussion---culminating in a one page paper on the Super Bowl, due Thursday. 

6th Read aloud is Summer of the Monkeys and book club book is Iqbal.

Specials this quarter is Drama---students are doing a modern version of Shakespeare. 

PE: if weather permits (having snow on the ground) we will learn and play the old fashioned game of "Fox and Geese"  

* Reminder that there will not be a Valentines Party at school and there will be a Presidents Day holiday on Monday, February 15th! 

Week of January 25th

Announcements: We will suspend the Maverick Mondays. We hope to try a taco Tuesday before the school year ends.

Week of January 25th

Projects: Students will finish up their Rube Goldberg-type machines on Monday and Tuesday. They will make a video &/or a slide show to present to the class. Their project must use at least four different simple machines to perform a small task in no less than 8 steps.They will collaborate to write up their presentation and practice it. They will also take a vocabulary test. Presentation will be February 2nd & 3rd (next week).

6th Writing: We will use figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification) and descriptive verbs, adjectives & adverbs to write Haiku and practice on ixl Language Arts.

6th Reading: Book club on Iqbal, a novel based on a true story about child labor in Pakistan. Five Minute fluency is a program that enables students to improve fluency and accuracy; we do this twice a week. Silent reading, daily.

8th Writing: Students are writing a classification paragraph, revising and editing. The final is due on Wednesday and they will read their papers aloud on Thursday.

Specials: Drama

January---let the quarter begin!

Wow! Half a year gone by already! New classroom jobs have been assigned.

Wednesday, January 20th is STORES.

Projects: We are studying motion and forces in science this quarter. Students are working in groups of four to create a Rube Goldberg type machine that has to have at least 8 working steps. This is a culminating project of the learning about simple machines and Newton's Laws of Motion (laws 1,2 &3). Your child has an assignment of materials to contribute toward the project.

6th Writing: We are focusing on writing descriptive informative and expository paragraphs using specific nouns, verbs adjectives and adverbs. They are using a thesaurus and improving their vocabulary. This week they are describing one of their favorite people.

6th Reading: Students have several interesting reading assignments. They have their choice of books for silent reading, a book club on the book Iqbal (ask them what it is about), and we are beginning a read aloud titled Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls. 

8th Writing: Students learned some specific skills in writing a good conclusion and then revised their concluding paragraph from their argumentative essay. This quarter is informative and expository writing, beginning this week with studying and writing a classification paragraph.

Specials: Drama, a new take on Romeo and Juliet

Attention! There will be no Valentines Day parties and NO passing out or exchanging valentines at school. Please direct your questions regarding this to the administration.
Thank you!