New Lesson Plans Available

This week's plans are available.  Please pay attention to the students goals and assessment pieces as they include the adopted Core Curriculum Values.  I'll discuss this more on this week's newsletter to come home on Tuesday.  Also, look for the new spelling/ vocab list to be posted and come home on Monday.  The test will take place on Friday.  Progress reports will also come home on Monday as scheduled.  Hope you had an excellent weekend!

Slime Invades the 6th Grade!!!

On Friday, the students had an experiment that introduced them to some measuring skills.  The purpose of the experiment was to allow students a chance to practice measuring out and combining ingredients, witness a cool chemical reaction, and if some of the student's slime did not turn out, learn that following directions precisely, and using only the prescribed amounts of the ingredients is critical to an experiment's success.  Students combined 1/2 cup of glue with some food coloring and a 1/2 cup of cold water.  Then, they combined 1 cup of hot water with a teaspoon of Borax Powder.  Once both of these two solutions were mixed entirely, came the big moment when the students got to combine them.  The reaction happened instantly and within about 30 seconds, the students had their own self created portion of slime!!  Here's some of the photos of the event!

The Week of 9-28- 2012

I have decided to up my efforts to communicate with all of you, therefore, I will be calling half of my class each week to touch base with you, let you know how your child is doing, and give you a chance to voice any concerns.  This upcoming week, expect at least one call from me if your child's last name ends with an 'A' through 'K'.  The week after that, I will call the names ending with an 'L' through 'Z'.  I have noticed that in my recent efforts to call many of you, the number given on the emergency card is not working or no longer in service.  Please make sure I have a working number to keep you informed.  I want to remind parents who receive e-mails with updates to the class web site, that if you click on the title of the update that is in your e-mail, you will automatically be transferred to the class site.  Just a reminder, the weather is getting cooler and we still go out for recess if weather permits.  Please make sure your child is leaving with a sweatshirt or jacket each day.  Progress reports go home on Monday, and if you would like missing work from me, please send the progress report back signed with a note stating so, or drop me an e-mail.  10 points will be deducted for each day after the day following the time the child receives the missing work.  For example, if I get the note on Wednesday, and your child receives the work on Thursday, every school day after Friday that the work is late will receive a 10 point deduction.  I am investigating how to also create sites where the reports can be posted weekly on line for you just in case you are one of the parents who does not get these in a timely fashion.  Any student who returns a progress report signed the next day following when it was given, will receive a homework pass.  Two days after, and your child will receive a Marshall Buck.  Be on the look out for a note to go home on the "Bring a Hero for a Hero Sandwich Party" at the end of October.  Kids will be selecting someone they feel is their hero and invite them to the school for a sub sandwich lunch and to thank them for being such a big part of their lives.  Students on this day can dress up like their hero as well.  This will happen on October 26, 2012.  I have a parent volunteer who will be helping me coordinate this, but we could always use more assistance in set-up, and assisting in serving our heroes.  If you would like to be part of it, please let me know.

Science News
We are now moving into the measuring portion of our first unit.  Next week students will do experiments on volume and mass.  They will have to calculate volume using a water displacement method, and mass using a triple beam balance.  The test has been pushed back a week to the first Friday of October. 

Social Studies News
We will have a small quiz next week on reading a map, and we will study the five themes of geography and study other groups of people in more depth.  One map skill coming up that kids should practice, is reading a time zone map.  You can Google one and just quiz your child, "If it is 10:00 a.m. here, what time is it ______?"

Reading News
We have finished our district assessment, and will begin grouping students according to their reading level next week.  This week we have studied what it it is like to read a book too hard and too easy.  Next week we will look more into reading a book that is "Just Right".

Math News
This past week we started the first lessons of our curriculum.  Students learned about exponents, writing in scientific notation, and were introduced to multi-function problems.  Next week we will master multi-function problems and move into some algebraic equations that utilize a variable in the problem. 

Writing News
The "All About Me" website project is due in a little over a week.  I have handed out and posted on the web site the rubric for grading this project.  Please turn this sheet into me with the web address of your child's site.  I will turn this back over to you when I have graded the site.  I am also highlighting any grammar mistakes and explaining them on the comments section located at the bottom of each web page.  Your can fix these and resubmit the sheet to me with a note stating it was corrected, and I'll give your child the higher score.  Writers make mistakes, especially grammar mistakes before a book becomes published and they are rewarded for their efforts.  No reason your child can't too.

Have a great weekend, go to a cider mill, and remember, "Go Irish!"

Caution Typo!!

I made a typo on the last spelling list!  Serves me right to do things in such a hurry!  The words twilight and descendant on the list are wrong.  Please download the corrected list using the same link.  I told the kids, in the future if you notice any typing or grammatical errors, please let me know, and I'll pay your child a Marshall Buck for helping me out!  I too, will be much more careful with things I send out!

Lesson Plans for 9-24 to 9-28-2012

Next week's lesson plans and reading log is up on the class site if you would like a preview.  Also, be sure to check the calendar by scrolling down and looking for the link on the right hand side.  We have some updates. 

Penny Drop Experiment

This past Tuesday, the students showed their skills at using the Scientific Method to predict how many drops they could fit on a penny, and create a hypothesis on how the size of a coin affects the amount of drops that can fit on it.  The students then tested their prediction, and based upon this knowledge, made predictions for a quarter, dime, and nickel.  The students then tested their hypothesis, recorded data, and created a conclusion based upon the results.

Very Sorry!!!!

This is entirely my fault, but the progress reports were ready to go home today.  It was just that we stopped class late to get one more item in for science, and in the confusion of getting ready to get out, I completely forgot to give the progress reports out.  I will have them on the kid's desks first thing in the morning to go home on Tuesday. 

Sorry again,
Mr. Scott

The Week of 9-17 to 9-21

Well, it was another successful week for us!  Picture Day went off without a hitch.  Please remind your child to not lose his/ her ID he/ she received on Tuesday.  This will get them lunches, snacks, and be able to check out books from the library.  Please also tell your child not to destroy his/ her photo on the card as this will prevent other children from using your child's card because the photo does not match the person.  Finally, the school is selling lanyards for $2.00 in the office.  This is a handy device to keep your ID safe. 

Over this past week, you should have received two project guidelines, one for the "All About Me" project due on October 1st, and the other for the "Learn the Process- Experiment!" project due at the end of October.  You also received a sheet showing the rubric we will use to score the "All About Me" project, and soon one for the "Learn the Process" project.  Please, on the due date of each project, turn the rubric in with the web address for the "All About Me", turn the second one in with the title of the page your child created on the "Learn the Process" site.  This will help me locate the work faster, and be able to return a score to you sooner.  If anyone is having difficulty accessing the Internet at home or have a computer issue, please let me know so I can work something out with you.  Best of luck everyone!  I hope you enjoy these homework assignments.

Please go to the website to retrieve any of the following items, "Parent Helper List", "Supplies List", our syllabus, project guidelines and rubrics, the school/ class calendar, Mr. Scott's contact info, and now....Mr. Scott's Lesson Plans and Homework Log.  On my lesson plans, I will strike through all the items I have covered each day so that you may check it and know if I did a lesson or not.  The homework items will be in red text font on the homework log if I assigned it.  If it did not get assigned, it gets moved by me to the next day.  Sometimes over the course of a week, weird things happen.  Like this week we did not have enough reading and writing tests, so I had to teach Thursday's and Friday's Reading Lessons already on Wednesday and Tuesday.  So, be sure to scroll through the entire lesson plans to be sure I did not skip around. 

This week, the students earned a 50 compliment prize for exceptional lines and behavior.  Things of course begin to slide a little as the year goes on, but we want to always to stress, reinforce, and reward great behavior and following procedure.  Please remind your child to not talk to, touch, or try to annoy other people in line.  Please also remind your child to come to class prepared, come in quietly, and be ready to learn each day.  I have had the pleasure of calling some of you this past week to let you know your child is doing great, and I want to give out some more calls next week!

Science News
This week the students performed more experiments to assist them in learning about the Scientific Method.  Next week, we will begin learning the Scientific Units of Measurement, and do experiments where we have to calculate volume and mass.  Look for a rubric to go home for the latest science project, and be sure to visit the site to get ideas on what experiment your child wishes to try.

Social Studies News
Students learned this week how to calculate distance on a map using the map's scale.  They also located places on a map using longitude and latitude, and created their own maps.  Next we will shift gears temporarily on Tuesday to cover a quick unit on our Core Democratic Values.  On Monday we will have a quiz on the geographic land and water forms.  Books and flash cards may go home to help students study, but books must be checked out and checked back in Monday.

Math News
This past week we finished our MEAP Prep and started to move into our first chapter.  Students also completed their first District Test in Math this year.  Chapter 1 will begin with story problems and continue with using exponents, scientific notation and following the order of operations.  Look for math homework to come home often next week.

Reading News
If you did not turn the reading log into me on Friday, please do so by Monday morning.  Progress reports will go out Monday and I want to make sure your child's score is not hindered by this assignment not getting into me on time.  A new reading log will come home on Friday and will be available on the class web site.  Next week the students will be doing the District Reading Assessment on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Please be sure your child is in attendance as much as possible next week.

Writing News
Please push forward on the web site project, and if you have any questions, please e-mail me.  All of the students who were in class on Tuesday got to create their home page.  Many pages I noticed did not have pictures or clip art.  I also noticed that many pages had a lot of typo's.  Please make sure these get cleaned up before submitting the scoring rubric back into me.  This project is due on Monday, October 1st, 2012.

You first progress report comes out on Monday, September 17th, 2012.  Be sure to look for these after school.  Have a great weekend and Go Irish!

Next Week's Lesson Plans Are Up!

Just to let you know, next week's lesson plans are up and available on the web site.  Homework Log to follow soon!  A new newsletter will come out tomorrow!

Mr. Scott

My Apologies....

To those who have tried to access documents using the links on the web site but were not able to, I am very sorry.  I completely forgot to change the privacy selection so that anyone with a link could have access to the documents.  Please let me know if you have any more problems with this and I will work hard to clear them up. Thanks again for your patience and have a great rest of your week!  Thanks also to those parents who brought this to my attention.

Mr. Scott

Dancing Raisins Experiment Pt. 1

For part 1 of this experiment, the students had to observe what happens to raisins when they are placed in a cup of 7- Up.  They needed to make quantitative observations like how many times the raisins came to the surface, and qualitative such as most of their raisins came to the surface.  The students then had to create an inference to explain how the raisins were able to move up to the surface and back down to the bottom of the glass.  The students next, had to decide which question to investigate, does the type of pop make a difference in how well the raisins rise and fall. or does the number of raisins affect how active the raisins are?  Depending on which variable they change (the type of pop or the number of raisins), that will be their independent variable.  The dependent variable will be how often or well the raisins rise and fall.  The constant variable will be the one variable they did not change throughout the lab.  We'll have more pictures tomorrow to show you how this went for them!

Build a Boat Contest!

Last Friday our students got to use the Scientific Method to help them build and test a boat design.  They had to work in teams of 3 and create a hypothesis on which type of boat desing would hold the most nails before sinking.  They were then given 2 pieces of construction paper, some crayons, and tape to build their boats.  After the boats were completed, we tested them in a bin full of water and placed nails in them one at a time.  Savannah, Jasmine, and Sierra were the members of the winning team whose canoe shaped boat held 92 nails before sinking.  Congratulations girls!

Homework Log Available

I have created a homework log for you all.  Please be sure you read the fine print underneath the table.  Due to factors like time, how fast kids pick up on a skill or lesson, or other things beyond my control, some homework may not be assigned on the day it appears in the log.  I will on a daily basis, change the text to red for each homework I did assign.  Homework not assigned on its scheduled day will be re-assigned the next day.  I will let you via e-mail if I not able to make the change.

Lesson Plans and Grading Rubric Available!

Did you know that if you get e-mails of my posts, you can just click on the title of the post and it will take you directly to the class website?  Try it when you want to locate something on the website but do not have time to type out the web address.  On the right hand side of our class website you will find a link to next week's lesson plans and to the project grading rubric I'll use to score your child's "All About Me Website" project.  The rubric I will send home on Monday.  Throughout the week I will place a check by each item on the lesson plans to show you we have covered that part of each lesson and if I assigned that homework for that day.  Refer to this often.  In the future (a lot to do and a lot going on), probably within the month, I will create a table of this week's homework by subject area, and update it when I complete my lesson plans.  I will also post links to any homework or class work pages I create, so that you may download them if your child has lost them somehow.  This will be placed on a separate web  page starting next week, due to a shortage of space on this website. 

The Week Ahead: 9-10-2012 to 9-14-2012

Coming home before the weekend are some valuable items for your child to complete.  The first item is a spelling/ vocabulary list, the second item is the guideline for our "All About Me" website project, and the third item is their reading logs for next week.  Please be sure to locate these items and keep them in a safe spot.  We will have student pictures on September 11, 2012.  Extra forms/ envelopes are in the office in case you need one.  Every Wednesday your child's library books are due, please remind your child to bring them to school that day.  Those who had difficulty getting the items for the take home experiment can contact me via e-mail, and I will make arrangments for your child to get either that experiment, or an additional assignment done to make up for it.  We always need parent volunteers, if you would like to help, click on the Parent Volunteer link on the right hand side of the class web site at: http://up2dategrade6.blogspot.com.  Those who returned the blue slips with an e-mail, will be signed up for the class web site.  You will get an e-mail asking you to confirm this with a link from blogspot or Goggle.  By clicking on the link, you will be automatically updated on changes with the class site and with new posts.  Those who do not want this can just delete the e-mail and you will remain unregistered.  We had an excellent start the first week.  I hope to get some calls made next week to some of you whose children were exceptional in clasroom as things start to wind down from the busy opening days!  Have a great weekend and, "Go Notre Dame Irish!" 

Science News
We have a link to the take home experiment page in case some of you missed or lost it.  Go to the class web site and download it.  The link is on the right hand side labeled, "Acid Rain Experiment".  We took the unit pretest for measurement and the Scientific Method and did some demonstrations like the "Bloody Hand" and "Changing the Chemical's Color".  Next week we will continue to go over the Scientific Procedure with a couple of more experiments including making slime on Friday, September 14, 2012.   Expect a science project explanation to come home either Friday or Monday for the "Learn the Process" project.  This will be due around mid to late October.  Project guidelines for this unit's project will come out on Monday, September 10, 2012.

Social Studies News
This week (and continuing into next week), we worked on map skills and identifying the parts of a map.  Next week we will create our own maps with a key, identify different types of maps and their uses, and the five themes of geography.

Reading News
You all should have received a reading log for next week.  Students need to read 140 minutes total for the week (20 minutes a day).  They will receive 1 point per minute read for a toal of 140 points.  If you did not get the sheet, download it from the web site by clicking on the "Reading Log 9-7 to 9-13" link.  This week we learned about "Just Right Books", set norms for reading instruction, and took our first opening year reading assessment.  Next week we will be working on Metacognition (monitoring our reading and thinking) and take the District Reading Assessment.

Writing News
This week we did our prewrite, first, and second rough drafts for what we will be writing on our own student made websites.  We will get some computer lab time for this project, but also kids can create/ work on them at home too.  Look for instructions and guidelines to go home on Friday, September 7th.  If you did not get this paper, go to the class web site and download one from the link entitled, "All About Me".  This project is due October 1, 2012.  Next week we will be doing our District Writing Assessment on Wednesday- Friday.

Math News
Next week we will take our district math assessment.  This will give a baseline score to monitor your child's progress throughout the year, and allow us to target some kids we would like to provide with additional help to get them up to speed.  We will also wrap up our MEAP Review and move into the procedure for solving story problems.  We will have a MEAP Camp for some students who received invitations, if you did not get one but think it would be valuable to help your child do better, please contact Ms. Grenfell here at Marshall Upper Elementary.