6B Homepage

1) We have a small pizza party tomorrow (Tuesday). There is no need to bring a lunch!
2) Remember to bring in a small auction item ($1-2) by Wednesday. (Remember, it doesn’t have to be junk food.)
3) Free dress on Thursday for cleaning day.

June 5, 2008

Dear Parents:

Wow! These last few weeks are a whirlwind of activity! Here are a few little reminders about tomorrow and next week, our last week of school:

• Tomorrow, Friday, is free dress. We’re walking to Husky Deli at 1:30 to get some ice cream. We’re redeeming our magazine reward for being 2nd in the school in sales. (Thanks, Rilee!)
• On Tuesday we’ll have a pizza party. No need to bring a lunch that day. Thanks to Sandy Rottler and Donna Diedrich for organizing this and every other fun party of the year! You’ve been awesome room moms!
• On Wednesday, we’ll have our 2nd thank you auction. Students should bring a $1 - $2 item to be auctioned off. (By the way, the auction item doesn’t necessarily have to be a junk food item.)
• Also on Wednesday, we’ll be checking in books. Book fines will need to be paid in order to receive a report card.
• While I’m on the subject of paying, a handful of students never made the third and final sailing trip payment of $84.76. If I emailed you, please make sure this payment gets made. Thanks!
• Thursday is a half-day and a cleaning day. Students should bring a bag to take home their supplies.
• Friday is dismissal right after Mass. Happy summer!

Here’s what’s happening in all the subject areas:

Math—Mrs. Kirmeyer’s class: Please consult Mrs. Kirmeyer’s webpage: http://www.holyrosaryws.org/Specialists/Math/.

Mr. Secrest’s class: We’ll complete lessons 109 and 110 on Monday and Tuesday of next week. We almost finished the entire book, which, I think, is quite an achievement. Looking forward to having some of the same students in math class next year.

L.A.—Students are completing a mad-lib, which is due on Monday. The mad-lib reviews vocabulary, grammar and writing. On Tuesday, students will complete a course evaluation. Tuesday will be our last day of class.

Religion—Students are completing a culminating musical project, due on Tuesday.

Reading—This week in reading, students began presenting their Book In A… reports. So far they have been quite entertaining! I am also impressed with what supportive audience members the 6th graders have been and how genuine and specific their compliments are.

We will finish Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry today and students will take a very light ROT test on Monday, 6/9.

Science—Students will conduct a controlled experiment using their flipper systems. Students will choose an experimental variable and conduct multiple trials. Students will then graph their results to display the relationship of the variable to the outcome.

Social Studies—We are learning about the “History of Rome” as well as the “Structure of Government” during the Roman Republic. We will also be learning about the “Entertainment of the Romans,” The Coliseum. We will not have a formal assessment on these topics.

On Monday I will be showing a PowerPoint of Greece and some pictures from when I was working at the Olympics. (I thought I would save that until the last week of school.) I will also be showing some pictures of my mountain village Sopiki (a Greek village) in Albania. I have really enjoyed teaching this group of 6th graders these past two years. I know that they will do very well in Junior High! Thanks, Ms. Semandiris

Enjoy your weekend! Only one more week of school! Only two more weeks till I tie the knot! Thanks to all for a stellar school year. I thoroughly enjoyed having your children in 6B! Wooohooo!

Sincerely,

Matt Secrest

May 22, 2008

Dear Parents:

I sure enjoyed seeing some of you and your children at Beat the Bridge on Sunday. What a fun and worthwhile event!

We didn’t send home the boomerang envelope today because we didn’t get them stuffed in time. Instead, we’ll send home a double-stuffed boomerang next Thursday!

We had a fun time bowling today for our patrol party. Tomorrow the fun continues with Field Day. Please have students wear black and bring a water bottle. Remember that it’s a half-day. Next week is another short week with the always-enjoyable Wax Museum on Thursday.

Here’s what’s happening in all the subject areas:

Math—Mrs. Kirmeyer’s class: Please consult Mrs. Kirmeyer’s webpage: http://www.holyrosaryws.org/Specialists/Math/.

Mr. Secrest’s class: We’ll work on Lessons 104 and 105 next week. We will probably have a test on Friday, if all goes according to plan.

L.A.—Season analogies should be nearing completion. I moved the due date to Friday, May 30th because of the Wax Museum. The adjective test will now be on Tuesday, May 27th. Students have received a study guide. They should also have several worksheets from which to study. In the remaining weeks of school, students will briefly study adverbs and work on a culminating writing/grammar project; details are forthcoming.

Religion—Students did some reflection on Mary. They are also completing a prayer and a paragraph due on Tuesday.

Reading—This week in Reading, students studied a timeline that pinpointed some of the key events in the Civil Rights Movement. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and then, 105 years later, Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. This led to a discussion on the length of time it usually requires for real change to occur.

Because Roll of Thunder has an unusually large cast of characters, we created a character web and attempted to draw connections between the various characters in addition to creating imaginary categories under which the characters would fall.

The Great Economic Depression sheet is due on Friday, 5/30. Please allow your child to accompany you to the grocery store prior to that date. Students are to read Chapter 9 by next Tuesday, 5/27.

Science— Students will plot the results of controlled experiments using their model propeller-driven planes. They will present their graphs and describe the relationship between the experimental variable and the distance the plane flies.

Social Studies—Next week the sixth graders will be learning bout the beginning of Ancient Rome. They will be learning the myth about the two brothers, Romulus and Remus and how the city of Rome was created.

The Wax Museum is next Thursday, May 29th! It will start at 9:00 a.m. and go until 12:00p.m. Please come and experience part of the Ancient world through the words and creativity of our sixth graders.

Enjoy your weekend! Only three more weeks of school!

Sincerely,

Matt Secrest

May 15, 2008

Dear Parents:

Wow, we’re getting close! Only four more weeks left, and with several fun events on the horizon, it will go especially quickly. It is now mid-trimester; next Monday, look for a reminder to check powerschool to see how your child is doing. I’ll ask that each student bring home a sheet, sign and return it on Tuesday.

A few upcoming events to remember:

• Tuesday is our Mary Celebration with the Living Rosary and the Liturgical Dance.
• Thursday is our bowling trip to reward students for their excellent work on Safety Patrol.
• Friday is Field Day.

Here’s what’s happening in all the subject areas:

Math—Mrs. Kirmeyer’s class: Please consult Mrs. Kirmeyer’s webpage: http://www.holyrosaryws.org/Specialists/Math/.

Mr. Secrest’s class: We had a test today. Tomorrow we’ll complete another investigation on probability. Next week, we’ll work through 101 – 103, if all goes according to plan.

L.A.— Next week, we have a vocabulary test on Tuesday, and we’ll be revising and editing our analogies. Analogies are due on Tuesday, May 27th. We’ll also be reviewing for an upcoming adjective test, which will tentatively be scheduled for Thursday, May 29th.

Religion—Students are celebrating Mary. They brought in statues of Mary and Rosaries and shared them. They’ve also been discussing the importance of having a well-formed conference.

Reading— This week in Reading, students revisited the concept of context clues and, while reading chapter 5 in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, wrote down any words they are still unfamiliar with. Following the chapter, we read a number of these words in context and guessed at their meanings…eventually arriving at the correct definition.

In an effort to better understand why the characters in ROT speak the way they do, we had a discussion on dialect and non-standard English. Students were provided with a number of expressions written in non-standard English that they translated into Standard English.

They need to read to page 130 and complete the Mississippi sheet by Friday, 5/16.
Science—Students will work in teams to construct a model propeller-driven plane that flies along a fishing line. After students have investigated how many winds of the propeller it takes to fly the plane half the length of the line, they will identify the variables that affect flight. They will then modify their planes and design controlled experiments for testing the effect of other variables on their plane system.

Social Studies— On Monday students will take a quiz on the material from the Alphabet notes, Greek Clothing notes, Olympic notes and Acropolis notes. At the end of the week we will begin our study of Ancient Rome!

Enjoy your HOT weekend! Hope to see some of you at Beat the Bridge on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Matt Secrest

Dear Parents,

First of all, sorry this letter is arriving a few days late. Secondly, Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there.

Here’s the nitty-gritty for this week:

L.A. - Students received their final list of vocab words today for a test on Tuesday, 5/20. As always, the test will be over the past four weeks of words. Tomorrow I’ll hand out a study guide with words and definitions. In writing, students handed in their wonderful sailing scrapbooks today. I’m looking forward to reading them. Also in writing, they are beginning to draft their season analogies. In grammar, we’ll study predicate adjectives and comparative/superlative adjectives this week. We will tentatively plan to have our adjective test on Thursday, 5/22. A study guide will be forthcoming.

Reading - Last week in Reading, we continued to explore the dynamic characters presented in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. We revisited the Jim Crow Laws and highlighted some ways in which the story reflects the institutionalized racism laid out in these laws.

Additionally, students learned the definition of context clues and, during the reading of a portion of chapter 4, jotted down any unfamiliar words they encountered. Following the reading, we attempted to arrive at a definition by reading the words in context.

Social Studies - The sixth graders learned about the Ancient Olympics and participated in the “Mock” Olympics on Thursday. This week we will be learning about Greek Architecture and about an Acropolis. Students will be building an Acropolis in class using limited materials. We will also be reviewing what we have learned about the clothing, Olympics and Architecture of Greece on Thursday. A quiz will be held on these topics Monday, 5/19.

Science - Students will conduct controlled experiments to discover how many passengers (pennies) that each boat they made can hold before sinking. They will graph the data to discover the relationship between the capacity of the boat and the number of passengers it can hold.

Have a great week!

Sincerely,
Matt Secrest

L.A. - Vocab
S.S. - Wax Museum paragraph; Study for test (Monday)
Reading - Book Report (June 2)
Religion - Heartsong (Wednesday?)
Math - Mrs. K. - 113; Mr. S. - 99

L.A. - Analogy practice paragraph, due Thursday; Scrapbook, due next Monday, 5/12
S.S. - Wax museum paragraph typed, Monday, 5/12
Reading - Book report
Math - Mrs. K. - Lesson 110
Music - Memorize “Sweet Home Alabama”

L.A. - Vocab, Scrapbook, due May 12th
S.S. - Wax Museum Rough Draft, due May 12th
Reading - Ch. 3
Religion - Take home test and project
Math - Study guide, study for test; Mrs. K. Investigation/time capsule
Music - Memorize “Sweet Home Alabama”

Dear Parents,

Actual Boomerangs will come home tomorrow, but here is the weekly letter.

We’ve finished ITBS tests! Yay!

Here’s what’s happing in the different subjects:

Math—Mrs. Kirmeyer’s class: Please consult Mrs. Kirmeyer’s webpage: http://www.holyrosaryws.org/Specialists/Math/.

Mr. Secrest’s class: This week, we worked through lessons 92 – 96. Our next math test will be on Tuesday 5/6. Monday will be a review day to prepare for the test. On Wednesday - Friday we’ll finish lessons 97 - 99.

L.A.— Next week students will begin writing their season analogy. In grammar, we’ll continue to review adjectives. We’ll also continue with a group of new vocabulary words.

Religion—Students continue working on a compassion project. They also continue reviewing the Beatitudes.

Reading—This week in Reading, we started our new book, Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. Because the story is based in Mississippi in the year 1933, we first sought to gain some insight into the historical period in which the novel takes place. Students read a handout on racial segregation, were introduced to a number of the Jim Crow Laws, and watched a clip from the film Separate but Equal, starring Sydney Poitier.

Because time is limited, a large amount of the reading will take place at home. They have received explicit instructions to avoid the temptation to read ahead! They need to read chapter one by Friday, taking notes on the traits displayed by the various characters.

Science—Students will conduct an investigation to determine how many passengers a paper-cup boat can hold using pennies as passengers. After identifying the variables that influence the number of passengers they can carry, students will construct three more boats of differing sizes and determine the capacity of each boat by measuring the volume of water each can hold.

Social Studies—Next week the sixth graders will do an “Acropolis” activity. They will be learning about the different kinds of government such as Monarchy, Oligarchy, Democracy, Dictatorship and Anarchy. (All of which come from the Greek language..) In their city-state groups, they will decide which type of government that they want to adopt while completing a task of building an “Acropolis” in class. The catch is that they have limited supplies.

On Thursday, I am planning to have the “Mock Olympic Games” with the students. (If it is raining then I will reschedule.) Students should bring one clean sheet to wear at the games!

Enjoy your weekend!

Sincerely,

Matt Secrest

L.A. - Vocab due tomorrow; scrapbooks due on Monday, May 12th
S.S. - Wax Museum due on May 29th; study Greek Alphabet, Name tag
Reading - Quiz on chapter one
Math - Lesson 95, test Tuesday
Science - Test tomorrow

Other: Field Day and Patrol permission slips