Test Moved to Tomorrow

Just a heads-up to Room 21 families: The math test that was scheduled for today has been postponed until tomorrow to allow for extra review. 

Popcorn!

From Kristie Brown, our popcorn guru:

Happy New Year 6th Grade Families!

 We will be starting the popcorn sales this Friday, January 6th. This fundraiser helps fund the transportation costs to Camp Orkila for our students and we are in need of volunteers. The sales occur every Friday from 11:30a-1:30p during the 3 lunch recess periods. 6th Grade students come out to help collect money and distribute popcorn bags so you are not alone. An adult must run the popcorn machine though and that is where your volunteer time is needed.

Please take a look at the dates we have coming up and see if you can fill a spot. Two volunteers are ideal during a shift but even one allows us to run the sale for the day.

Here's how it works to sign up in 3 easy steps:

1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com:   http://signup.com/go/re7zbv

2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.

3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.

Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Test Alert!

Hey Room 21 families! We've just gotten back to school and already we have a test coming at us. Unit 8--studying how to multiply fractions--is fairly short and so our unit test will be next Wednesday, January 11th.

By next Wednesday, students should know:

• how to multiply a whole number by a fraction
• how to estimate products of fractions
• how to multiply fractions by fractions and by mixed numbers
• solving multi-step story problems.

If you have a moment, check in with how your student is doing so far in this unit.

Welcome Back!

Happy New Year! I hope all of our Room 21 families had a relaxing and fun Winter Break. I hope, as well, that students are coming back ready to hit the ground running for our new year.

We are starting new units in Science and Math and we are continuing work on the novel Walk Two Moons in Reading.

In Science, we'll be spending the next few weeks studying the solar system. We'll discuss models of the solar system, how accurate they are, how accurate they should be and we'll learn lots about the objects that make up our local galactic neighborhood.

In Math, we'll take the work we've done so far with fractions and translate that into multiplying fractions by whole numbers and by other fractions. We'll explore different ways to approach these problems and find a way that works for each student.

I'm super excited to be back at work and look forward to a focused start to the New Year.

FYI: Winter Break Homework

Room 21 families: Winter Break is almost here! As it is a busy time for most of us, I do not plan to burden our students with a giant mound of homework. They will, however, have a few assignments to keep their brains active while they are not in class. So you know what to look for, the break homework will consist of:

• A four-page math sheet reviewing recent fraction/decimal topics;
• Daily reading assignment of forty minutes;
• One three-paragraph writing assignment in which students will detail their best/worst moment of the school year so far;
• An extra-credit for which students can read and summarize a science story in the news over the next few weeks.

Hope you all enjoy extra time with your students and have a safe and happy holiday season!

Test Alert

Well that was quick. We are already at the end of Unit 7 in our EnVision books. There will be a unit test on Monday. We'll be taking time on Friday to review the concepts from the unit:

• Adding/subtracting fractions with like denominators;
• Least Common Multiple;
• Adding/subtracting fractions with unlike denominators;
• Estimating fraction sums/differences;
• Adding/subtracting mixed numbers.

This will lead into the unit we'll launch after winter break: multiplying fractions and mixed numbers. 

Cookie Dough Notice

Room 21 Families:

We have been informed that the cookie dough will be delivered next Thursday, 12/15. If your student has sold a lot of cookie dough, please make arrangements to help them get it home. We've been informed, further, that big boxes are not permitted on the bus, so if your student has a large amount of dough coming home, they will not be able to bring it on the bus. Happy doughing!