Dear Room 705 Families:
Welcome back to school! We are in full swing of the second quarter of school. As I've mentioned to students, this is our busiest quarter of the year. Students will have daily assignments and independent, long term projects for which they need to be organized and manage time wisely.
CVESD Writing Benchmark 1
Friday, November 13, 2009: Response to Literature
Response to literature is a form of critical analysis of a given book that evaluates the authors message and theme or character traits. Currently students are working on their five paragraph essays in class and how character traits of a main character change from the beginning, middle, and ending of a story. Students take the majority of the notes in class and will have to apply that same knowledge for practice with homework, and independently on their written benchmark. I'm trying to teach with the approach: I do (teacher modeling), We do (group collaborative work), and They do (independent student work). It's quite a long writing process and we've been working on the story The View from Saturday as our "I do" and "We do" example in class for the past two weeks. We are in the process of editing work and putting together the best parts from each group's paragraph to form an example essay for students. Some language arts notes are already posted on line. I hope to have everything wrapped up by Tuesday, November 10 (and posted to my website for parents to see the final output) so that students will be prepared for their writing test on November 13.
Independent Projects
Reading: The Giver
We have been reading The Giver in class since October 16. Each week students are required to read five chapters. At the end of the week, students will take a written quiz and submit their vocabulary words. Five questions from the ones listed in our class notes will appear on the quiz. However, sometimes an additional question will appear that was not given to children beforehand. Please encourage your child to fill these sheets out as they read so they are not left with a lot of work at one time. Reading comprehensions will be based on homework 10%, quizzes 25%, and tests 65%.
Science: Ecology
Students self-selected an animal from one of the California biomes (temperate deciduous forest, chaparral (scrub forest) , or Sonroan Desert) to do research. Students will have the opportunity to type their paragraphs and do some research at school during our library and computer lab days on Thursdays. The packet under the Resources Tab/ Science provides a guideline and time frame of what is expected of students for this report. The final grade for the ecology unit of science will be determined by daily homework 10%, final project 45%, and written test 45%.
Social Science: Ancient India
The bulk of the summarizing will be done in class. Therefore it is important to make sure your child copies the necessary notes from another student if s/he is absent from class. The political/economical section of the brochure will require students to do independent research (for which they have time during computer lab on Thursdays). Under the Resources / Social Science tab, there is a sheet that provides a guideline and time frame of what is expected of students for this report/brochure. The final grade for the social studies unit on ancient India will be determined by daily homework (paragraph deadlines) 10%, final project 45%, and written test 45%.
Extra Stuff
Sixth Grade Camp Final Payment Due: Friday 10/30. Checks should be made payable to Salt Creek Elementary. Please write your child’s name and TENGCO on the memo portion of the check. The total cost of camp per student is $185.
Book Fair: November 16-21. Only students who bring money will be able to attend the book fair during school hours. The book fair will be open after school until 4PM for students who want to peruse the reading selections offered. More information will be given to students next week in the Mt. Lion Mail.
Last but not least, thank you to all the families who supported PTG's Fall Festival by donating money/items for our basket, giving candy for prizes, volunteering their time at one of the booths, and/or buying wristbands for the festivities. PTG is funding the $1480 cost of bus transportation for sixth grade camp. We appreciate your enthusiasm and financial support during these hard economic times.
