Busy, Busy, Busy

Three posts in one day? Sometimes, that's how we roll here in Room 21.

We have so much coming down the pike that I wanted to make sure everyone was up to date.

This Thursday, we have counselors from Einstein Middle School coming in to talk with the sixth graders about next year. Then, on Friday, we'll be taking a trip to Einstein so the students can get a look at where they'll be spending the next two years of their educational lives.

Next week, students are off on Monday. Tuesday through Friday are half days, as it's once again time for Parent-Teacher Conferences. If you haven't had a chance to sign up for a conference, please do. We'll be discussing students' current progress in their studies, Camp Orkila, SBACs and middle school scheduling.

Test Alertses

Hey Room 21 families!

We have some tests coming up. 

My class will be taking the next unit test in math this Friday, March 3. The test is on Geometry and covers lines, rays, angles, angle pairs, triangles, quadrilaterals, and problem-solving. Students seem to have a good handle on the subjects so far, but, if you have a moment, get your student to tell you the difference between an isosceles triangle and a scalene triangle.

In science, Mrs. Stenfjord's class has a test this week on the Solar System. They'll need to know the difference between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt and be able to tell me why Pluto and Titan aren't planets. Fun, cosmic stuff!

Writing About Reading

Good afternoon Room 21 families!

Sixth grade students have been working for the last couple of weeks on a writing assignment. We finished reading the book Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. It's the story of a young girl dealing with her mother's departure and how it affects her approach to the world. We read the book over several months and now students are finishing up a deeper look at the work.

Students chose a writing prompt to respond to. Each prompt focused on a different literary element: theme, setting, conflict or subplot. Students used evidence from the book to discuss their chosen element. We've been through the process of drafting and finding supporting details; we've conferenced and we've had peer feedback. Now, we're getting down to the end of it and students are going back and revising/editing their work.

The finished product is due on Tuesday of next week. If you have a few minutes, ask your student to share their work. Or, if they have trouble accessing their work from a home computer, just have them tell you about what they've written. We've got some keen literary analysis going on in room 21 and I'd love for you to learn more about what they've learned.

Test Alert

Room 21 students have a math test on Wednesday. The test will cover our unit on integers. Students need to know how to compute operations with positive and negative integers, as well as how to graph points on a coordinate plane.

Updates. So many updates.

Room 21 Families, we have been and continue to be super busy and there's a whole bunch of things I want to update you on today. So here we go:

• Report cards: Report card will be going home tomorrow. Please check with your student to make sure they have it.
• Valentine's party: Letters went home this week about next week's Valentine's party. We're looking for parent volunteers to come in and assist with the party and we're asking for contributions of snacks and such. 
• Conferences: Parent-teacher conferences are early in March. I emailed all Room 21 families with a link to our on-line conference schedule. If you haven't already done so, please take a moment to schedule a conference.
• Middle-high: Early in March, 6th grade students will be meeting with counselors from Einstein Middle School and will be touring the school the next day. Now is the time when we'll need to start thinking about your student's class schedule for next year. You'll have the opportunity to go to an information session at Einstein and we'll be discussing scheduling in conferences.
• Camp Orkila: Letters went home this week updating families on how much your student still needs to pay for Camp Orkila. If payment is going to be a problem, please contact me and we can figure something out.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

We are now in the second semester of the year. Grades for the first marking period have been entered and report cards will be heading your way next Friday.

With the second marking period, we will see changes to some procedures here in Room 21. I thought I'd take a moment to briefly go over these changes with you.

Reading logs--Until now, I've had students keep their reading logs in the back of their notebooks. Starting next week, reading logs will get a little more complex. Students will have a packet for their reading log and they'll be responsible both for writing one reading response per week and also for evaluating their own responses.

Writing--Students will be keeping a journal this semester. They will be writing journal entries about whatever topic they choose 2-3 times per week. They will also be given an assigned writing piece every Friday, which will vary from assignment to assignment.

Grammar--We will be putting more emphasis on grammar this semester, with daily grammar exercises.

Math homework--Every Friday, in lieu of the worksheet that comes with our math program, students will be assigned one problem that ties in with our work that week. Their task will not be to simply solve the problem; they will be required to teach the problem to a family member. This will require a little bit of time from families, so I thank you in advance. The problem can be taught to a parent, grandparent, sibling, friendly neighbor or whoever the student chooses. The person being taught needs to sign off on the problem and the student will get credit when the sheet comes back Monday with the signature.

I hope that these changes will help deepen our students' understanding of the material and propel them to even greater heights.