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