Week 5

We have a short week this week, but we still have a lot going on!

MAP Testing:
We’ll be taking our math and reading MAP tests on Tuesday and Thursday (see prior email or the note on Seesaw for more information).  Please have your student to school on time, well-rested, and having eaten a nutritious breakfast, especially on those days!  Students who miss MAP testing will make it up later.

No School Friday:
There is no school Friday, September 29 for a professional development day.  The students will be taking their memory work and spelling tests on Thursday.  I’ll be giving them more time in class to work on studying and practice both of those!

Math:
In math this week, we’ll be representing even numbers with equations.  We’ll also be representing equal groups.

Language Arts:
Our spelling concept this week is “Bossy R” spelled with an -er.  This is the most common spelling of the /er/ sound.  Our red words are: call, room, and ball.

Christian Studies:
This week in Christian Studies we’ll be discussing Jacob’s bad decisions, and his return home, focusing on confession and forgiveness.  We’ll also be learning about Joseph and how God was still with him, even when people were lying about him to get him in trouble.

Science:
We’ll be learning different types of landforms in science this week.  The students will also start making a model with clay, including some of the landforms that we’re learning about.  Our model will keep changing as we learn about land and water on earth!

Week 4

 We have a full week of learning ahead!

Looking Ahead:
We’ll be MAP testing next week!  MAP stands for Measures of Academic Progress and is a computerized test that helps us get some information on where the students are in reading and math.  More information will be coming!

Fall Fest Quick Start:
Our Fall Fest Quick Start assembly is on Friday, September 22 at 2:30 PM.  The students will be pumped up for Fall Fest and will learn about all of the incentives for their fundraising efforts at that time.  More information will be coming home on Friday!

In Christian Studies this week we’ll be talking about God testing Abraham.  We’ll also learn about Isaac and Rebekah and their relationship.  We’ll be discussing God’s love and how He provides everything we need.

We’ll take our first math test on Wednesday, which will focus on using mental strategies and properties to add and subtract fluently.  The students will have a practice test on Tuesday for their homework.  We’ll also start our second module by identifying odd and even numbers.

Our concept in language arts this week is “schwa,” which can be spelled by any of the 5 vowels in the English language.  It is the most common vowel sound in the English language, and usually sounds like a short u or short I, but can be made by any of the vowels.  (Example: the o in “bacon,” the a in “ago,” or the o in “gallon.”)  I’m sending home a sheet with more information today.

In Social Studies we’ll finish our unit on leaders and government, discussing how countries interact with each other.  We’ll also take our test, using our magazine.

We’ll continue reading our story Trouble at the Sandbox, and we’ll discuss the points of views of the characters, we’ll use the illustrations to gain more information regarding the text, and we’ll discuss how the characters respond to events in the story.

We’ll also start our science unit on land and water on earth this week.  We’ll discuss science safety, and we’ll do a pre-assessment, where students will have an opportunity to share what they already know about land and water on earth.

Week 3

This is our first full week of school, and I’m excited for us to get into a full routine!  We also have our open house and ice cream social this Thursday, September 14 from 6-7!  The classrooms will be open from 6:00-6:30 PM, and then everyone will have an opportunity to have some fellowship together outside with ice cream!  We hope to see you there!

In Christian Studies this week, we’ll discuss the flood and we’ll relate how God saved Noah, and how God saves us.  We’ll also talk about Sodom and Gomorrah, discussing how God protected those who were obedient to Him.  We’ll also create a prayer to God.

In math we’ll continue our unit on addition, with the goal of using strategies to become more fluent in addition.  We’ll related addition and subtraction, and we’ll make a ten to add more quickly.  We’ll also use a tens fact to subtract.

In Language Arts, we’ll be studying three-consonant blends, such as scr-, shr-, spr-, squ-, str-, thr-.  We’ll also study the red words “away” and “after.”  We’ll also read the first several chapters of Trouble at the Sandbox and we’ll discuss the characters, their reactions, the sequence, and the setting.

In Social Studies we’ll continue our unit on leaders and government.  We’ll discuss the three branches of the national government.  Then we’ll discuss our nation’s capital, we’ll learn about local, state, and national governments, and we’ll discuss differences between nations.  We’ll also make connections between playground communications and cooperation between countries.

We’ll also continue to work on our artwork inspired by Vincent van Gogh!

Week 2

I hope everyone had a restful long weekend!  It’s been nice to ease into the school year a bit!

This week we will start to get down to a “normal” week.  We will have reading and flash cards as homework each night (so you’ll have two boxes to sign or initial, one for reading and one for flash cards).  We’ll also start bringing some homework home.  We’ll usually have time in class to complete homework, but I still send the paper home.  Please go over it with your child and make sure it’s completed.  We will have math homework on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

We had a chance to get to know our 6^th grade reading buddies this morning!  Look for a bright orange paper in your child’s folder with information about your child’s buddy!

In Christian Studies we’ll start off with the very first six days—when God created the world.  We’ll also discuss the fall into sin and God’s promise to send a savior.

In math we’ll begin our first module, which is all about fluency in addition.  The flash cards we do for homework daily, as well as the Math-a-Minutes we do on a regular basis, will also help with this.  The goal is for the students to practice their math facts so much, it becomes second nature to them.

In Language Arts we’re talking about compound words.  We will have a spelling test on Friday, so please take a moment to look over the concept, the example words, and the red words for the week (located on the pink homework sheet).

We’ll also start our Social Studies unit on leaders and government, and we’ll discuss the rights and responsibilities of citizens.