Rainy Tuesday!

Happy rainy Tuesday! It was so nice listening to the rain today. It's supposed to rain more tomorrow; be ready!
Today we started Unit of Study 3. We worked on vocabulary, fluency, and close reading. We also did Word Work. In math we worked on Least Common Multiples. We also worked on Digital Citizenship. Tuesdays band cuts into our afternoon but we managed to get quite a bit accomplished today.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute (James Madison)
• math practice 6-2
• spelling choice
• writing: what is your favorite snack? why?

Tuesday

Wow we have a lot to finish up before tomorrow! We are finishing up our Ancient Egyptian job research projects and starting the Egyptian one pagers. Tomorrow we will have the rotations test as well as the Topic 5 math test. Tomorrow we are also going to the library so you'll have something to read over the break. AND -- tomorrow is the last day of the first trimester. Where has the time gone?!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• writing: write about a day in the life of a chair
• math: practice test and note card

Monday Monday

Today was such a nice day! We worked on our root machines/monsters this morning. Some of your work is so clever! In math we did lesson 5-7 (solving multiplication equations with decimals). We worked on our Ancient Egypt research projects and had a fire drill. We also need more First in Math stickers! We need to stay in first place!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• writing: if you were a caterpillar....
• math reteach 5-7
• spelling choice

Wednesday

Today we did 100 Mile Club. We came into the room for Word Work (finally got that working!). We filled out the GRAPES chart for Egypt. We also did fluency practice and worked on our close read. We had time to work on our assignment with the close read.
In math, we took the Topic 4 test.

Library tomorrow!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• no math (my group)
• writing: free choice
• spelling choice

Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! Have you looked at our plants recently? We have tomatoes, two kinds of peppers, and BEANS! We grew the beans from seeds -- that makes me so happy! The squash was taking over the cauliflower pot. Hopefully we've fixed that problem.

Today we did 100 Mile Club, then came in for rotations. I like the way the rotations work for most students. There will be an assessment Friday over this week's work.

In math, my group did the problem solving lesson. Tomorrow is the Topic 4 test!

I am really enjoying the book Wonder. Today's read aloud was fun with the emails back and forth between Mr. Tushman and the families. The text messages between August and Jack Will were great too.

Today we had the last day of our first round of rotations.

Remember to think about participating in a talent showcase at the next assembly. We'll meet tomorrow morning to discuss.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• writing: the Pharaoh sent a message. He wants to see you...
• spelling choice
• my math group practice 4-6 (1-3) and make a note card to study
• Reflections project due Monday

November!

How can it be November already?! 

Today we did 100 Mile Club, then came in for a spelling pretest. We did rotations for fluency, close, vocabulary, Gooru, reading, and enrichment. I like the centers!

In math, my group did lesson 4-5 today (multiplying with whole numbers and decimals).

We moved seats, read a little in Wonder, and started afternoon rotations.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• my math group practice 4-5
• writing: you discovered a new planet...
• Reflections project due Monday 11/10!

Thursday

How was your day? Did you enjoy Lunch with a Loved One? And nachos?
We started the day with 100 Mile Club. We were late to the library (thanks Abraham and Caleb for reminding me!). We did Word Work, fluency, close reading, and filled out part of our GRAPES chart. We also worked on DOK questions.
In math we took the Benchmark over topics 1-3.
We worked on science, chapter 1. Remember there is an open book test tomorrow!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• writing: Greta Grape is sad. Why?
• no math
• no spelling

Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday! We had visitors today.  That was fun!
We started with 100 Mile Club, then came in and shared writing. The stories and poems are amazing! We did Word Work, read fluency, read our close reading for main idea and details, and worked on our GRAPES chart. We also took notes on Mesopotamian Achievements. Then we went to the Book Fair.  In math, we took the Topic 3 assessment.
We continued to work on our new writing prompt, and worked in our science books.

Crazy sock day is FRIDAY!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• math -- benchmark review
• writing: why does Waldo keep getting lost?

Monday, start of Unit of Study 2

Happy Monday! Today we did 100 Mile Club, then came in and started Unit of Study 2. The first thing we did was empty our binders of everything from Unit 1. Then we had a spelling pretest (those words!), started Word Work, did a KWL on ancient civilizations, read a fluency selection by echo reading, and did close reading. We watched a Gooru video and starting filling out a GRAPES chart on ancient civilizations.
Some students moved math groups and those started today. We all worked on lesson 3-1 in math (dependent and independent variables).
We started subject and object pronouns and had our last day of this round of science rotations.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• writing: red
• my math group reteach 3-1

Tuesday

How was your day? We started with 100 Mile Club, then shared writing. We did two lessons in Boot Camp (we are almost finished with that!), read our fluency, and then did close reading looking for answers as to why the volcano hasn't disrupted the ice. We read in our science books and took AVID notes on what we read.
I read the book Mudball to you. Please take the AR quiz!
In math, my group worked on problem solving, which involved multiplication and division equations. We also practiced graphing equations.
We worked some more on our final drafts of writing. Finally, we had science rotations.

Picture Day is Thursday!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• writing: favorite food and least favorite food
• math practice 2-9 (my group)

Baseball Monday

Happy Monday! We started the day with 100 Mile Club. We had our spelling pretest (-able and -ible endings). We read a fluency about red ants predicting earthquakes and worked on a close read about an under ice volcano.  In Boot Camp, we talked about -able and -ible endings (perfect tie-in to our spelling work). We also worked on DEA vocabulary.
In math, my group worked on graphing equations.
We worked on final drafts of our agricultural revolution writing.
We had day 2 of the second round of science rotations.

Picture Day is Thursday!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice (24 new choices today!)
• writing: the letter Q
• my math group: practice 2-8

Library day!

Happy Thursday! I was so happy to go to the library today! We started with 100 Mile Club, then came into the room and got ready to go to the library. After the library, we watched a Gooru video on the agricultural revolution, then shared our writing. After that, we chose pictures to accompany our agricultural revolution writing.
In math, we took a practice test that I created on our new program Illuminate. Then we played Jeopardy to review solving one step equations.
I passed out a list of adverbs and adjectives that would be good to add to writing. We will work with that tomorrow.
Finally, we had science rotations.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute (quiz tomorrow)
• spelling practice test
• writing: it was a dark and stormy night...
• my math group finish practice 2-6

Early Release Wednesday

Thank you for the good sub report this morning!
I came to school at math time. We worked on multiplication and division of fractions in equations.
We had another ASB meeting today, and our representatives reported back to the class.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• writing: write an alternate ending to your favorite book
• my math group: reteach 2-6

Monday!

Happy Monday! Today FLEW by! 

We started with 100 Mile Club, then did Boot Camp. We had a spelling pretest, then read a fluency about Pompeii. I will look for pictures from my trip tonight. Our close read was also about a volcanic eruption. 

We made vocabulary flip books with our DEA vocabulary. This is the first time we have a science reading in our morning time block.

In math, we all worked on lesson 2-5 (solving multiplication and division equations).

We worked on revising our writer's workshop. We got through the first paragraph!

We started science rotations today.

Band tomorrow!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• my math group: practice 2-5 and Frayer frames for equation and variable
• spelling choice
• writing: what is one habit you've always wanted to form but haven't?

Assembly and Auction Friday!

Did you have a good Friday? We had some fun things happening today.
First we did 100 Mile Club, then had a fluency quiz and weekly assessment. Then it was off to the assembly! SO EXCITED that we won the attendance award for 6th grade AND the award for the entire upper grade. GREAT JOB!
We regrouped for math. Did everyone work on the problem solving lesson?
We ended the day with a 6th grade auction! Look for that to happen each assembly day. I loved it!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend. Cheer on my Cardinals!

Thursday

Sorry I did not blog yesterday. This week has been filled with quite a few non-classroom related tasks.
Today we started with 100 Mile Club, then came in and shared writing. We had Boot Camp, fluency practice, and worked on close reading. I like the posters each group made that show gist, author's purpose, vocabulary, reasons the paintings are fading, and something that you learned. We also wrote Depth of Knowledge (DOK) leveled questions for Hatchet.
We continued math groups. My group worked on solving addition and subtraction equations involving a variable.
We wrote a conclusion to our agricultural revolution essays. Tomorrow we will begin the revising process.
Finally, we read about earth's moving plates. Science rotations start next week!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute (quiz tomorrow)
• spelling -- take a practice test
• math -- my group practice 2-3
• writing: a penny falls from a tall building, what happens?

We also changed jobs today and staked the plants that are growing. It is so exciting to see our garden!

Weekly assessment tomorrow in Language Arts.

Tuesday

It was so nice to be back in class today!
We started the day with 100 Mile Club, then came in and talked about how math was going to work. Then we shared writing. We did Boot Camp. We worked on fluency with the Gary Paulsen piece, then close reading. We also went over DEA vocabulary for Hatchet. We reread Hatchet with our partners.
In math, we started math groups. You may be in a different class for math. I believe each group worked on lesson 1 in Topic 2.
We worked on our tools paragraph in writing, and finished the day by reading in our science book.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute (quiz Friday)
• spelling choice
• writing: you find a secret tunnel down a back alley in Riverside. Where does it go?
• my math group: practice 2-1

See you tomorrow!

Thursday

So glad today was cooler! We worked on writing DOK questions today, and then had a Socratic Seminar using the questions we wrote. In math, we took a practice test. Tomorrow we are using the chrome books to take the math test online. We "unpacked" our next writing prompt, and then we went to rotations. Today was the first day of the last rotation this time around.

Hopefully you have at least 3% of your AR goal. There may be a fun surprise tomorrow!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• math -- review practice test and revise one pager
• writing: you are taking a journey down the Yellow Brick Road. What happens?

Very hot Monday

Happy Monday! Thank you for your patience as I worked through the DIBELS.
We finished our compare/contrast essays on Homo erectus and Homo sapien. We had a spelling pretest, read a new fluency passage, then found author's purpose and gist of an article called Earliest Humans. We also worked with vocabulary for our new reading selection in the history textbook.

In math, we worked on identifying equivalent algebraic expressions. Remember, it does not matter what value you choose for x as long as you use the same value in each expression.

We had our first day of the third round of rotations today.

Hopefully the weather will be a little cooler tomorrow!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• math practice 1-11
• writing: You wake up in a hospital...

Have a wonderful evening! Stay cool!

Friday Fun

I'm so glad we got part of the board working! There are still some things that need to be fixed, but we can write on the board and use the document camera. Big improvement over a few days ago!

Today we had 100 Mile Club (well, you did because Mrs. Neuman was showing me things on the board). We had Boot Camp and took the assessment for this week. I really liked being able to put the assessment under the document camera.

In math, we used the distributive property to write equivalent expressions. This is a lesson that was not previously in the 6th grade curriculum. We will revisit the lesson on Monday.

3(2x + 5) = 6x + 15

8x - 4 = 4(2x - 1)

I did not get many finished final copies of our writing. We will finish that up on Monday. We ended the day with rotations. I had a great time planting!

Have a wonderful weekend! Cheer on my baseball team the St. Louis Cardinals and my college football team -- go USC Trojans!

Patriot Day Assembly

This morning we started the day with a Patriot Day Assembly. I loved hearing you sing!

We did 100 Mile Club, shared our writing, did Boot Camp, and worked on taking notes out of our history books. We used the headings provided to guide us in note taking.

In math, we worked on simplifying expressions:

2x + 5 + 3x - 2

2x + 3x + 5 - 2

5x + 3

We worked on editing and revising our writing, and started final drafts. Then we had the first day of the second round of rotations.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• math practice 1-10
• spelling choice
• writing: what is your favorite season? Give at least 5 reasons why.

Happy Wednesday!

Do you like your Language Arts sub dividers? I was very impressed with how smoothly that went. We did Boot Camp, fluency, close, vocabulary DEA, and reading. I am feeling like our Language Arts block is coming together. We are getting used to the routine of Units of Study.

In math we learned how to write expressions to represent patterns. We talked about input/output tables.

Tomorrow we are having a Patriot Day assembly to start the day. Please wear RED, WHITE, and BLUE.

Homework

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• math practice 1-9
• writing: write about the life of a washing machine

Tuesday

Today we started with 100 Mile Club and then came in to share our writing. I can't wait to hear the poems you have tomorrow! We did Boot Camp, fluency, close reading, and did some work in the social studies book with partners. We also worked on vocabulary. If you finished, you worked on your One Pager.
In math we evaluated expressions.
We worked on our rough drafts of comparing/contrasting homo erectus and homo sapient.
Finally, we had rotations. Thursday you will go to your new rotation.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• spelling choice
• math practice 1-8
• writing: write a poem about a character (from a book, movie, or play)

First Day of Rotations!

How was your Monday? Enjoy the rain?
Today we had 100 Mile Club and then came in for our spelling pre-test. We had Boot Camp, fluency practice, close reading practice, and vocabulary DEA before we read a selection in our social studies textbook.
In math, we learned about the parts of an expression. We learned about terms and coefficients.
We had a few minutes to start a rough draft comparing and contrasting homo erectus and homo sapien. And then...we rotated! Hope you enjoyed your rotation. You will be there one more day before you rotate to the next class.
Remember you need 3% of your AR goal by next Monday.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency 1 minute
• math reteach 1-6 and reteach 1-7
• spelling: missed words on pre-test 5x each
• writing: write about crossing a bridge

It's the weekend!

Wow, if I thought Thursday was busy, what word can be used to describe Friday?! We shared our writing and then went to an AVID assembly. After that, we had an assessment over our Unit of Study 1, Week 2. We also looked at a power point Mrs. Neuman made to explain One Pagers. We reviewed yesterday's math lesson and then had a lesson on writing expressions with variables. New math vocabulary: coefficient (the number that is multiplied by a variable). In the expression 3m, 3 is the coefficient.
We finished math after lunch and started working in Writer's Workshop. We used our social science books for information to supplement the close reading on Early Humans, and used that information to fill in a Venn Diagram. Finally we went back to the One Pagers.
Samantha brought us cupcakes since tomorrow is her birthday. They were delicious!

You also received your AR goal for the year. I'm so happy that some of you have already started taking quizzes!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Busy busy Thursday

Oh my goodness what a busy day! I loved hearing your writing this morning and I cannot wait for tomorrow's selection. We added another syllable type and cutting pattern to our chart in Boot Camp. We reread our fluency selection and watched a Gooru video that related to "Climb or Die." We read our close reading selection with attention to types of early humans and the time they lived. We did a writing piece on which tool was the most important and why.
In math, the lesson was full of mini-lessons! We learned about adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals, using brackets, and solving expressions. Whew!
In writer's workshop we started a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting two types of early humans.
Finally, we had a few minutes to start the "Distant Past" section in our social science text.

Tomorrow there is an AVID assembly and a week two assessment in language arts.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• spelling due tomorrow
• fluency 1 minute
• math reteach 1-5
• writing -- write about the sound, the color, and the smell of school

Wednesday!

Wednesdays sure do fly by! We started the day with 100 Mile, then came in the room to share writing. This was our first day of sharing writing -- I'm looking forward to what tomorrow brings! We had a Boot Camp lesson on -cle words, worked on fluency with partners, close read the article on Early Humans, and discussed "Climb or Die" using questions from the Basal Alignment Project (BAP). We also had more vocabulary words from "Climb or Die." In math we reviewed the Distributive Property.

Advanced Band tomorrow!

Homework

• read for 30 minutes
• spelling tic tac toe due Friday
• math practice 1-4
• fluency "A Mummy Mystery" 1 minute
• writing: write about a white shirt

Tuesday After a Three Day Weekend

Happy Tuesday! I have to admit, I was a little shocked by how many of you said your weekend wasn't great. Hopefully you did some fun things and rested.

We hit the ground running today. First, 100 Mile Club. When we came back to the room, we started our Unit of Study Week 2. We had our first spelling pretest, then we learned about schwa in Boot Camp. We did a close reading over "Early Humans." We had Vocabulary DEA for "Climb or Die" and read the selection in our anthology. Remind me to give you a novel recap.

In math we learned about the Distributive Property. Today was the first day we started accountability. I needed to see your finished work, and then you were responsible for checking your answers using my Teacher's Edition.

We went over homework, I checked planners, and we read two chapters in our book. We started Writer's Workshop and then it was time for band. How was it?

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• fluency ("A Mummy Mystery") -- 1 minute
• spelling tic tac toe due Friday
• math reteach 1-4
• writing: write about 5 things you forget

Oh! Do you like the new look blog?

See you tomorrow!

End of the First Week!

How was your first week of 6th grade? I am so excited for this year. We are going to accomplish great things!

Today we did some more work with Boot Camp. We had a discipline assembly. In math we learned about Order of Operations.
Remember:

• Parentheses
• Exponents
• Multiply and Divide from left to right
• Add and Subtract from left to right

We read a chapter in our book, and then we finished our geography presentations. We had popsicles to celebrate the end of the first week! Yum. I had coconut and it was DELICIOUS!

Have a wonderful long weekend! See you Tuesday. If you were in band last year, Advanced Band starts Tuesday.

Back to School Night

Don 't forget -- tonight is Back to School Night! Sixth grade is meeting in the cafeteria. There are two sessions. The first is 5:45 and the second is 6:15. REMEMBER -- if a parent/guardian signs in for you, you get a HOMEWORK PASS and $5.

Today we did an activity with close reading and our table groups. I love the way the posters turned out! We also finished reading "A Mummy Mystery" and answered some questions about the story. We did Day 2 of Boot Camp. In math, we learned about Properties of Operations. We also started working on small group presentations with the geography section of our history textbook.

See you tonight!

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• math practice 1-2

Early Release Wednesday

How was your Wednesday?
Today we had 100 Mile Club, then reread the journalist article for close reading. We had two more DEA vocabulary words, then read the next segment in "A Mummy Mystery." We started boot camp today by learning about closed syllables.
In math we finished lesson 1 in Topic 1. Tomorrow -- lesson 2!

Don't forget that tomorrow is Back to School Night. We will be meeting in the cafeteria with the other sixth grade classes.

Homework

• reading for 30 minutes
• math practice 1-1

Tuesday

Second day of school in the books! Today we started 100 Mile Club with the other sixth grade classes. We had a district writing assessment, started close reading with the journalist interview, and worked on vocabulary DEA for our new story "A Mummy Mystery." We also started math with a lesson on exponents. We will finish that lesson tomorrow. After lunch we read in our history books and created a one pager about Time, People, Place.

In between that, we checked out our textbooks and started the Accelerated Reader STAR test. Busy day!

Don't forget that Back to School Night is Thursday. 6th grade will be in the cafeteria.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• math reteach 1-1 (problems 3, 4, 6)

First Day of School!

Happy first day of school! Did you have a good day? I did. I really like our class. We are going to do GREAT THINGS this year!
Tomorrow we start the first day of the first Unit of Study in Language Arts. We'll also have our first math lesson. Wow -- busy day. We also need to go to the library and check out textbooks.

Homework:

• read for 30 minutes
• sign/fill out: emergency card, district notification, compact
• have parents sign homework planner

See you tomorrow!

Last day of school

Happy last day of school! I miss you already...
Have a wonderful summer! I know 7th grade will be fantastic for each one of you -- please come by and let me know how you are.
Thank you for a wonderful year!

Skills Day Tomorrow!

Very excited for Skills Day tomorrow! You have all been put into squads. Mrs. Paredes and I are in charge of the softball throw for accuracy. Can't wait! Wear comfy clothes that allow you to participate in events. Also bring water! It's been warm outside.

Thursday is Movie Day. That was fun in December and I'm looking forward to it again.

Kickball game vs teachers Friday.

Busy week!

Three Day Weekend!

...and a SWIM PARTY on Tuesday! We are going to have such a great time! Did you see all the goodies the PTA left in our room? Chips, popcorn, and water. Plus they paid for the pizza lunch. Thank you PTA!

Even though we are starting our fun end of year activities, we still have content to cover and district tests to take. The math benchmark and 7th grade placement tests are coming up in a week. I know we will be ready!

Don't forget to bring:

• a towel
• sunscreen
• water
• a hat

Can't wait!

Thursday Fun!

Anybody still reading?! There will be a treat tomorrow for comments on THIS blog post!

Today we started reading the last selection in the anthology. Out There. This is one of my favorites because it's a mystery. Love mysteries!
We talked about punctuating dialogue and sorted our spelling words.
In math, we worked on Benchmark Review. We need to keep our focus until the Benchmark!
We had Ancient Rome rotations today.
Heard there was some promotion song practice at lunch -- YAY!

Swim party Tuesday!

Tuesday

Today was such an odd day! I felt "off" all day...
We managed to accomplish a lot nonetheless.
In language arts, we started reading a new selection called Chuck Close, Up Close. We worked on Depth of Knowledge questions for the selection. We also sorted our spelling words and took notes on avoiding double negatives.
In math we worked with area of parallelograms and triangles. Remember that you may use a calculator for tomorrow's math!
We had day two of the second round of Greek rotations. You know how I feel about Ancient Greece!

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (art, questions due Friday)
• math practice 16-3
• Studies Weekly due Friday
• spelling choice (except those of you who missed none on the pretest, I forgot to give you the challenge words)
• writing: He would never forget the town called __________.

Monday!

Happy Monday!
Today we sorted out the costumes for our play. Rehearsal starts Wednesday!
We worked on Bloom's Balls. Need to get those completed and ready for Open House.
The Greek mosaics are FANTASTIC! So excited to see them on the floor.
In math we worked on Benchmark review. Be ready for the test tomorrow! Remember, 75% or better and there will be an ice cream bar Friday.
We had day 3 of our Greek rotations today. They are going by way too quickly!

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (Ancient Greek Olympics, questions due Friday)
• spelling choice (new choice paper!)
• math review for benchmark
• writing: persuade your parents you need an allowance (or more, if you currently receive one)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 
Today we worked on our Bloom's Balls. They need to be completed, graded, assembled, and hung up by next Thursday.
We did a timeline activity with A Kind of Grace.
In math, we converted between different measurement systems.
This afternoon we practiced some more with the SBAC practice test site.
Tomorrow we start our Ancient Greece rotations! YAY!
Have a wonderful evening!

Homework

• reading log
• fluency (Ancient Greece)
• math practice 15-3
• spelling choice
• LA: subject/object pronouns worksheet
• Greek mosaics due Monday
• writing: Deep in the rain forest of the Amazon....

Doughnut Friday!

Today was anything but ordinary!
We made doughnuts in class -- YUM. We also worked on props for our play. It was a good day to do this since the music from Jump Rope for Heart was heard in our classroom.
In math, we talked about metric conversions.
We changed teams and created new team names. It is an interesting process to watch -- the agreement on a team name and creation of the team poster.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday

How was your afternoon? Did you enjoy having PE?
Put three large boxes into my car so we can get to work on more props for our play! Very excited!
See you tomorrow!

Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!
Today we started work on props for Dumb Bunnies. We also started work on the new selection A Kind of Grace, which is an autobiography. We took notes and started writing DOK questions based on the text. We also did sorting with our spelling words and took notes on subject and object pronouns.
We had our Topic 14 assessment today. Hot dog party at lunch tomorrow if your score merits it! Can't wait!
In science, we took notes on renewable and nonrenewable fuels. We wrote letters to a mayor trying to persuade him to use one or the other.

Homework

• reading log
• fluency
• spelling choice
• math -- review what you know in front of Topic 15
• science worksheet
• writing -- tell about a time a strange substitute replaced your teacher (can be fiction)

Time Change Monday

Today was a difficult time change day for me! Glad we got through it :)
We started Theme 5 (Doers and Dreamers) in Language Arts. Our first selection is an autobiography. We talked about the different types of propaganda. We also did work with vocabulary and took a spelling pretest.
There was also Bloom's Ball time given.
In math we had the problem solving lesson. Tomorrow is the Topic 14 test. Remember -- hot dog party for everyone Advanced! Can't wait for Wednesday.
In science, we continued with work on vocabulary waves. If you finished, there were questions to answer.

Homework:

• Reading log
• Fluency (High Fliers -- due Friday)
• Spelling - missed words on pretest 5x each
• Science worksheet
• Writing -- tell about a time you went on a journey with an imaginary creature

Thursday!

Today was filled with information. We talked about end of the year activities. Rewards. Visitors. The end of the year is going to be packed with things happening.
We went to the library this morning. I liked the story Mrs. Wassman read us. Don't forget to take the AR quiz!
We worked on a culminating activity (overview of a caravan) and played a spelling game. Tomorrow is the selection test!
The math lesson today was GREAT! I enjoy graphing equations.
We finished the day by exploring the new state testing system.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency
• studies weekly due tomorrow
• math practice 14-5
• spelling -- practice test
• writing: write about a car

Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday! How was your day?
We worked on Topic, Main Idea, and Details. I like the organizer Mrs. Neuman shared! We also worked on unstressed syllables and the schwa.
In math, we plotted points on the coordinate plane.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency
• Studies Weekly worksheet due tomorrow
• Writing: write a story involving cake
• math: graphing points worksheet

Tuesday

How was your Tuesday?
Today we reread the selection and discussed the Basal Alignment Questions. We worked on adverbs. We had time to work on our Bloom's Balls. And we did a little bit, prop-wise, for our play. Yay!
In math, we used equations with more than one operation to complete a table. Fun!
In science, we did an experiment with hot and cold water. We made graphs to chart the water temperature over the course of 45 minutes.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency
• studies weekly due Friday
• spelling choice
• math practice 14-3
• writing: write a story using the words chicken, volume, illuminate

Happy Happy Monday!

Today was an awesome start to the week. It was kind of odd in that we had an assembly today, but it flowed nicely.
We started work on our Bloom's Balls. They look fabulous when finished and put together. Can't wait to hang them up!
We finished reading our selection and used the drawing strategy to monitor and clarify.
In math, we found patterns and wrote equations for tables.
In science, we learned about kinetic and potential energy. We had a sorting activity to go along with the lesson.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (heat energy)
• spelling choice and related words
• math practice 14-1 and practice 14-2
• studies weekly due Friday
• writing: When I left ______ I didn't expect to see _______ again.

Baseball....and hot dogs!

So excited that baseball is back! Well, almost. Spring Training is here and that makes me happy! To celebrate, we had hot dogs today. They were DELICIOUS, don't think I've made a better one. We'll have to do that again very soon.

Today was also READ ACROSS AMERICA. We went to Mrs. Neuman's room and had a fabulous reader. Loved the books she read. I also read a book on working on the Great Wall. Be sure to take the AR quizzes!

We read part of our new selection and did a drawing activity with it to help monitor and clarify. We also did some work with our spelling words.

In math, we started Topic 14 by solving equations with more than one operation. 

We had our Ancient China test today. We finished up the day by working on team names. 

Such a fun, rainy day! 

Have a wonderful weekend! Sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns -- don't forget!

Unikitties and Baby Unicorns

Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. Right? Right!
Today we listened to some nifty crocodile stories. Loved them! Can't wait to see what you do with tonight's writing prompt!
We started a new selection. Today we did a close reading on Gifts from the Greeks. We used an organizer to write Topic, Main Idea, and Details. We worked on vocabulary as well as took a spelling pretest.
In math, we had our Topic 13 test. How did you do?
In social studies, we worked on filling out a study guide for Ancient China. This is a way to review material and get you ready for your test. Test will be tomorrow!
Tomorrow is Read Across America! YAY!

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (questions due tomorrow)
• Studies Weekly due tomorrow 
• math -- review what you know in front of Topic 14
• writing: write a story using the words sequin, glub, cure
• spelling -- missed words 5x each

Let's add unicats!

Sounds like I really need to see the Lego movie and find out what a unicat is. Do you think we'll be able to be about sunshine and rainbows with the rain that is in our forecast?
Today we took the selection test for The Great Wall. We also finished our writing about the quote from yesterday.
I asked you to give me the name of the chapter book you will be using for your Bloom's Ball. I need those by Friday, if you haven't decided.
In math we worked on the problem solving lesson of reasonableness. This is an important lesson! Please make your notecard to help you study for tomorrow's test.
I am really enjoying Pippi Longstocking too. Are you?

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency
• spelling -- related words
• math -- practice 13-7 (1-4) and notecard
• Studies Weekly worksheet due tomorrow
• Writing -- write a scene that involves a crocodile. Use the word "nifty"

Sunshine, Rainbows, AND Unicorns!

Continuing with the sunshiny, rainbowy days! Today I added unicorns!
We went to the book fair this morning. I bought three books for the classroom. I may have to go back and purchase some more things!
We read the link for our selection and worked on reading a time line. Then we responded to a quote from the selection using details and quotations from the text.
In math we learned the formula for simple interest

Interest = Principal x Rate x Time

We also reviewed what we have learned about taxes, tips, and discounts.

Finally, we finished the day with a writing assessment (responding to a picture prompt).

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (Great Wall)
• spelling -- practice test
• math -- worksheet 1-10
• Studies Weekly due Friday
• writing -- hamster picture

Sunshine and Rainbows

Do you feel it?! Sunshine and rainbows? Tomorrow I'm adding unicorns! Really, I am!
Today we met our new Assistant Principal. Very exciting!
We learned about cause and effect. We looked at the Ming Dynasty and what caused that to weaken. We also took a cartoon and rewrote as a story.
Remember to let me know what chapter book you are going to do for your Bloom's Ball by Friday.
In math, we worked on discounts. We figured tax and even tips after a discount has been taken.
I read a non-fiction book on China to the class. Take the AR quiz!
We read about Confucius and his work. We made tiny Confucius sayings books.

Homework

• reading log
• fluency (Great Wall, Great Jump)
• spelling choice
• LA -- compare/contrast the book and movie of Bridge to Terabithia (at least three things each)
• math reteach 13-6 (1-4)
• writing -- raccoon/cat picture
• Studies Weekly due Friday

Happy Thursday!

Today was awesome!
We went to the library. Love going there! We finished reading The Great Wall and used a summary hand to record important facts/details/events from the selection.
We also retook the STAR test. I am excited to see the results and will have a print out for you tomorrow.
In math we learned how to find a percentage of a number and to figure out what percentage a number is of another number. One of my favorite lessons!
Finally, we watched part of Bridge to Terabithia. So exciting to see it on the new projector!

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (Silk Road) -- quiz tomorrow
• spelling choice
• math practice 13-5
• Studies Weekly due tomorrow
• writing -- gave you a picture prompt 

Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!
Today we read part of The Great Wall and took notes on facts from the selection. You shared your notes with your partner. Then we worked on spelling and comparing with adjectives. Does anyone remember the academic language used -- what form is it when we compare two things? Or three or more?
In math, we estimated with percents.
Remember tomorrow is library day! Friday we have Read Across America; can't wait!

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (silk road)
• spelling -- choice
• math -- practice 13-4 (1-12 only)
• Studies Weekly worksheet due tomorrow
• writing -- what would you wish for if you had only one wish?

Tuesday!

Today FLEW BY. Just flew!
We started a new selection in language arts called The Great Wall. To start off, we listened to a read aloud about Pompeii, which was special since I visited there over winter break. I showed some pictures I took there. We talked about cause and effect; specifically, what happened (effects) because of the volcanic eruption (cause).
We worked on vocabulary for the new selection and took a spelling pretest.
Then -- we listened to the story we are going to reproduce for our play. We assigned roles. Can't wait to get started on the props and costumes!
In math, we talked about percents greater than 100 and less than 1.
We finished The Bridge to Terabithia. I always tear up at the end :(
We listened to a Cinderella type story from China called Yeh-Shen. We compared and contrasted the story elements with a traditional Cinderella story.
Finally, we worked on making bricks for a small scale sized Great Wall in the classroom. Each brick is about a friend and why that person is a friend. Loved reading those!

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency -- silk road
• spelling -- missed words 5x each
• math -- practice 13-3
• studies weekly due Friday
• writing -- write a scene that involves a safety pin

Monday

Today we started the district Blueprint B assessment. We worked through half of the assessment today and will finish tomorrow.
We did some work on our scale drawings.
In math, we started Topic 13 and worked with percents.
We finished the day putting together the dragons for Wednesday. Almost finished!

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (Ping)
• studies weekly due Friday
• math practice 13-1 and enrichment 13-1
• write about something you cannot find on the Internet

Wednesday

I am so excited about the Ancient China work we are in the middle of completing! We have two different types of dragons being constructed. We painted. Sewed. Colored. Can't wait to put them together Friday! 

Today we took the district writing test over problem/solution. 

We also worked on scale drawings. We did some work with scale drawings in the book and then started on Ancient China pictures. We are enlarging the pictures. Cannot wait to see how they turn out!

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (China)
• spelling choice
• math practice 12-6
• studies weekly and worksheet due Friday
• writing: write a story that starts with a pyramid

Behave for the substitute! I will see you Friday!

Tuesday

Today went by very quickly!
In language arts, we continued our "Think of Three" activity. You talked to ten classmates and discussed the three things each of you picked out as most important in the selection. We came back together and generated a list of things that were most commonly listed. Then we talked about author's bias and how it relates to this selection. We practiced finding bias. Finally, we talked about three suffixes.
In math, we worked on similar figures. Similar figures are figures that are the same shape and have proportional sides.
In social studies we did a close read on a passage about daily life in Ancient China.
We spent the last fifteen minutes outside.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (China)
• studies weekly due Friday
• spelling -- choice
• math -- practice 12-5
• writing: write a scene that takes place before a tower

New Seating Chart Thursday

It seemed to get colder as the day went on! I like this weather.
Today we went to the library. Mrs. Wassman read to us about droughts, which is timely for California. Hopefully you all took the AR quiz on the book.
We started a new selection in Language Arts. Our new theme is "Discovering Ancient Cultures." I especially like this selection since I visited the site of the ruins last year. We listened to the read aloud, discussed author's bias, and worked on vocabulary. We also took the spelling pretest for this selection.
In math, we learned another was to solve proportions -- using unit rate. Since we spent time on unit rates in the last topic, today's lesson was something of a review.
We changed seats today! Hopefully the new boy/girl arrangement will limit the amount of chattiness that was occurring earlier in the week.
Finally, we took notes on four Ancient Chinese dynasties.

Homework:

• Reading Log
• Fluency (pandas)
• Spelling -- missed words on pretest 5x each
• Math -- practice 12-2
• writing: convince the governor that students need three day weekends
• Studies Weekly due tomorrow

Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!
Today we did a close reading of the science link in our anthology. We also talked about word connotation and rewrote a section of The View From Saturday, changing it from first person to third person. The story test will be tomorrow.
In math we had the Topic 11 test. From the scores I saw, you did really well on it. Topic 12 is another one of my favorites. I love ratios and proportions!
We corrected our science test and had a small introduction to Ancient China. The last part of the day was spent having PE.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (panda)
• studies weekly due Friday
• math: review what you know in front of topic 12
• wriitng: write a scene that involves silk. And a baseball.
• spelling: take a practice test

I cannot wait to read the nightly writing tomorrow!

Monday!

Today we accomplished quite a bit. We worked on problem solving in language arts. Remember to list all the possible solutions to a problem. We also answered questions from the Basal Alignment about our story The View From Saturday. We worked on correct word usage, and wrote about what Nadia learned in our story.
We worked on drawing a picture to problem solve in math. I enjoyed today's lesson.
Finally, we had a science test. Tomorrow we will go over the test and start Ancient China.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (panda)
• studies weekly due Friday
• math practice 11-6 and create a note sheet for test
• spelling choice (the words are on spellingcity.com)
• writing: you stumble across a secret dungeon

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!
Today we wrote and turned in a writing sample, reviewed the Studies Weekly, reread The View From Saturday, and went to a discipline assembly.
In math, we revisited rates and unit rates, then moved on to distance, rate, and time. The formula is d=rt
We also learned about three cycles of life: the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, and the water cycle.
Remember there is a science test Monday, a math test Tuesday, and a language arts test Wednesday.
Have a great weekend!

Tuesday

Thank you for being such a good class while I worked through the scan sheets issues today. I really appreciate it!

Today we had a spelling pretest for The View From Saturday. We also listened to the read aloud and created a problem/possible solution chart. We are almost finished with the vocabulary from this story.

In math, we discussed proportions and how to create equal ratios. This topic is one of my favorites!

In science we read about food chains and you created a personal food chain based on what you ate today. 

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency (questions due Friday)
• Studies Weekly due Friday
• math: practice 11-2
• spelling: missed words on pretest 5x each
• writing: persuade a parent to send their children to Jefferson

Wednesday

What a day! We had our story test for The Challenge. We also started a problem-solution composition that will be due tomorrow.
In math we reviewed for the Benchmark.
Please rest tonight and eat a good breakfast! Benchmark tomorrow.

Homework:

• Reading Log
• Fluency
• Studies Weekly worksheet due tomorrow
• Math -- review for Benchmark
• Writing: tell about a time a robot was disguised as your best friend. How did you find out which was the real best friend?

AVID Monday

Happy Monday! Today we had AVID visitors. They will be back on Friday also.
We played Cats and Fish with questions we wrote for The Challenge. We also did some reading with students playing the parts of Jose and Estela, as well as the narrator.  We found words in the text that have the suffixes we've been studying. Also, we worked on subject-verb agreement.
In math, we took the Topic 10 test. Thursday is the district benchmark assessment over topics 6-10.
In science, we did more work with photosynthesis.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency -- science workbook pages 10-17
• math -- free response test
• Studies Weekly due Friday
• writing: persuade your principal that lunch recess needs to be longer
• spelling -- choice

Talent Show!

Today was even better than I imagined it would be! We had an impromptu talent show. There were singers, dancers, skits, comedians...a little bit of everything. We ended the show with a grade level cha cha slide. So fun!

Homework tonight is Studies Weekly, if you haven't finished that yet.

Ciao!

Today was another good day!
We worked on The Challenge and writing DOK questions. We also sorted our spelling words and worked with suffixes.
In math we solved equations with fractions and mixed numbers.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency
• spelling choice
• math practice 10-7
• Studies Weekly due Friday (no worksheet this week)
• Writing: tell about a time you were afraid

leggendo i nomi in italiano

Happy Tuesday! Today was very fun; I enjoyed hearing everyone's name in Italian!

We started work on a new story called The Challenge. We looked at story structure of the read aloud (I like baseball related stories!) and you did some work with vocabulary.
In math, we divided mixed numbers.
We worked on the AVT word issue.
Finally, we did drawings of different parts of photosynthesis.

Homework:

• reading log
• fluency -- photosynthesis
• spelling choice
• Studies Weekly due Friday
• math practice 10-6
• writing: tell about a time you found a box full of money