Thursday

We are celebrating Halloween at school. The students are all dressed up and it is fun. In Science the students got their essays returned. Some did really well, some didn't follow the instructions and their grades show that.

We had a debate in class today. Half of the class were to support the idea of outlawing fishing so the number of fish could increase. The other half supported the idea that we should not outlaw fishing. We talked about endangered species and ways to protect them without harming humans. We discussed that one way to solve problems is to listen to both sides of the issue and then find ideas that will work out. We also discussed that there are some ideas that are non-negotiable, that there are no merging of ideas and we can only agree to disagree.

There will be a field trip on Tuesday for the 6th graders. We will have a test on Thursday covering Chapter 2 pages A36-A80 and the notes about invertebrates and vertebrates.

Wednesday

Today we started school with a movie in the gym concerning drug abuse. It was very sad. Some students did two skits to encourage the other students to be brave enough to stay away from drugs and alcohol.

Tomorrow is the Halloween Dance or movie. For Red Ribbon week the students are either supposed to wear red or their Halloween costume.

In Science today we began studying about endangered species. We watched a power point presentation on flightless birds. We discussed how many had become extinct and why. The students then got in groups and discussed a hypothetical question about fishing. One group had to be for the question and the other against the question. They came up with ideas and wrote them down. Tomorrow they will have a debate about the issues.

Homework: read A64-67

Monday

Today we learned about mammals. There are three types, monotremes, marsupial and placental mammals. Then we watched a platypus and an echidna. We watched a lion lose a battle to a zebra, and we watched a blue whale. Last we played a game to see if the information about the animals was truth or baloney.

Test is coming up November 6th - study pages A30-A80

Tomorrow is "dress like a super-hero" day.

Thursday

The week is done! Enjoy the week-end. Today we finished birds and watched some really interesting videos on kiwis, penguins, bee-eaters, cardinals, and meadowlarks. We also started the mammal section by looking at the pictures the students brought. We tried to see if we could recognize the 11-12 year olds by their baby pictures. We concluded that when the picture was older, above the age of two, it was a lot easier to recognize the student. Then we discussed how stress, drugs and alcohol, and even meaness, can make people age more quickly.

On Monday we will read the section about mammals. Students are supposed to find out which birds cannot fly. It is also red-ribbon week. On Monday the students are to wear clothing that clashes, it is called mix-up day.

On November 4th, barring any unforseen incident, the 6th graders are taking a field trip to Logan.

On November 6th, we will be having our next test on A-30/A-80. Study early and avoid the rush!

Wednesday

Today we read and learned about reptiles. One class also read about birds. We got to watch monitor lizards on the Galapagos Islands. We also saw and alligator in Florida and multi-colored lizards in a zoo. Tomorrow we hope to finish and talk about how we have changed.

We reviewed our notes from yesterday and today.

Tuesday

We had a discussion today about the appearance of essays. Some of the essays are nearly impossible to decipher. I showed the students what an essay should look like. We discussed writing on the line, spelling correctly, keeping words together, indenting, and neatness. I told the students that knowledge gives power. The more they know, the more power they have. Learning to write legibly and express yourself intelligently is a power.

Most of the students brought their homework, some did not. They should have had a picture of them as a baby and a current picture with weight and height on the baby picture and just height next to the current picture. Also students should be working on reading A50-A80.

We read about amphibians and saw some interesting species on video. We saw a Japanese salamander, yellow frogs, an apodan, and various other critters. Tommorrow we should be doing reptiles and birds.

Monday

Our Internet at school wasn't responding well so I decided to write this from home. Today we read and discussed jawless fish, cartilaginous fish, bony fish, and a couple of classes touched on amphibians. When the Internet was up, we watched a couple of Youtubes on hagfish and sharks. The classes that missed the videos will see them tomorrow.

Homework for tonight is to bring a paper to school tomorrow with two pictures. First, their baby picture with weight and height. Then a current picture with just their current height on it. We are talking about life cycles and the changes everyone makes as they grow.

Wednesday

The invertebrate reports are in and done. I believe we had 100% turn-in. Now comes the grading. The students all gave oral reports about their written reports. It went quite well.

Tonight is parent teacher conference from 4:30-7:30. (I know, right in the middle of the presidential debate!) Please come.

Tomorrow the students will have a substitute teacher. They will be watching a movie about reptiles and amphibians. There will be a worksheet for them to fill out and it will be graded. I will be away with the Natural Helpers.

Monday we will begin learning about vertebrates.

Tuesday Reports due Wednesday

The students were supposed to have their rough draft finished on Monday so we could work on them. Some did, most did not. We worked on the reports anyway. Tuesday they were supposed to have their rough draft finished (again), some did, some did not. We worked on the reports anyway.

Wednesday the reports are due at the beginning of class. The students have had the rubric and assignment since Oct. 7th and should know exactly what is required. The report must have a minimum of three paragraphs, 8-10 sentences in each paragraph. Spelling and punctuation must be correct. That is why the rough drafts were important, so they could work on those things. Last, each report had to have five parts, Identify and describe the invertebrate, tell its habitat, life cycle, how it affects people, and an interesting fact. Each report must have a picture, hand drawn or computer generated. I would prefer the reports to be handwritten as many of the 6th graders need the practice.

At the beginning of class tomorrow each team will decide who is to tell about what in the oral report. Then we will all learn more about the invertebrate each team studied. This report is worth 100 points.

Parent teacher conferences are tomorrow from 4:30 - 7:00 P.M. It would be nice to meet the parents and see which student hooks up to which parent.

Monday

The papers are progressing slowly. With the progress we made today, I am hoping they will be ready for the reports on Wednesday. Currently, and with no other interruptions, that is the plan. In class today we worked on writing a coherent paragraph using the green, yellow, and red system. Each paragraph starts with a green which directs the student to write a topic sentence. This is followed by a yellow which tells the student to give a reason, fact or detail. This is followed by two reds which are examples or explanations of the yellow. Then there is another yellow followed by two reds. Finally there is a green which is the conclusion.

To see an explanation go to this site:
http://www2.pylusd.k12.ca.us/glk/jlaurich/StepUpToWriting.htm

This should help the student avoid writing in the buck-shot fashion that is so common.

Wednesday

We spent the day doing an outline and starting the rough draft for our reports. Students can spend time this week-end adding information to their rough drafts. Then on Monday, when they bring the rough draft to school, they can help their team a little more.

No school on Thursday for teacher inservice, enjoy!

Tuesday

Tomorrow, October 8th, is picture day. Please make sure you wear something appropriate.

Team reports on invertebrates were started today. Homework tonight will be to bring in any information that your team assigned you. Then, for the next few days, students will work together on an outline. They will use that outline to write their individual report. The other team members are there to help make sure that everyone gets all the information on their report. They are also there to help make sure that everyone's report is in a logical order and makes sense. Hopefully they will also help pick-up spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.

The purpose of this assignment is to learn how to write a short report. As they help each other they should become more competent writers.

Monday

For this morning's class we were in the gym learning how to practice kindness at school and in our lives. The students learned a lot of different things about working together and being more kind.

The afternoon classes reviewed invertebrates. Then the students worked in their teams to identify pictures of invertebrates. Last, we watched some videos on invertebrates.

We will start the team invertebrate reports tomorrow.

Picture day is Wednesday, October 8th. Remember that teachers have inservice on Thursday and Friday so there will be no school on Thursday. Have a good day.

Thursday

Today is a short day because of the parade and Monday morning we will be having a Kindness activity for the 6th graders. This morning, to prepare the students for the kindness campaign, they had to write a short paragraph about kindness, just to get them thinking.

Today we quickly covered arthropods and echinoderms. I will post some of the youtube videos we watched. Several students brought critters to class and we had a chance to look at them. We discussed the characteristics of the phylum arthropod and filled out the chart on both arthropods and echinoderms. Hopefully we will start our team project Monday or Tuesday.

Wednesday

Today the students had to write down the six characteristics of life without looking along with a polyp and a medusa cnidarian. Then they got together as a team and checked to see how they did. Then we went back to plato and covered flatworms, roundworms, mollusks and annelids. Tomorrow we end the invertebrate learning time with arthropods and echinoderms. The students might want to bring an arthropod or echinoderm to school, if they have a safe container. Next week we will begin the team reports on a phylum that they will pull out of a hat.

Tomorrow is a shortened day. The Homecoming parade will be moving past the middle school about 3 p.m. so we will be out by 2:50.

Tuesday a day late

Wow, I forgot to get this done yesterday! I woke up about 2 this morning and remembered. Yesterday we began watching Plato on the Animal kingdom. Right now we are concentrating on invertebrates. Students will be starting a team report on invertebrates either on Thursday or Monday. They will be asked to bring in information or pictures.