Hello Penguin "Peeps",
Don't forget, our first sixth grade social of the year is this Friday, October 24.
Thanks to all who have already volunteered to help or who plan to send in a donation. Your support is greatly appreciated...we couldn't do it without you!
non-perishable donations can be sent in with your child at any time.
perishable donations should be brought in on Friday morning.
We still need a few volunteers to run the games. You can sign up on our wikispace by clicking on the blue link.
In addition, we need a couple of runners who would be willing to pick up lots of pizza and/or bags of ice and deliver them to school by 3:00. We won't be able to reimburse you on the spot, but we can get you your money by the following Monday. Please call (264-1122 x 301)or email (shimamotoh@unionsd.org) to let me know if you can do either of these "exciting" tasks.
Tickets for the social will be sold on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at lunch. Tickets are $5 and include all games and activities.
You may want to send your child with a little extra spending money. We will have pizza and other treats for purchase. There will also be a photo booth where kids can have their picture taken with their friends. Nothing will cost more than $1. Please do not send large denominations, quarters and dollar bills will be greatly appreciated.
The social will begin at 3:00 and will end promptly at 4:30.
We are looking forward to a great time with your kids!!!
Hello Penguin Families,
With eight weeks of school under our belts, the Penguins are shaping up into an awesome team. We have already cultivated a strong and supportive community. As 21st century learners, we are using a variety of modes of communication including this blog and Edmodo, an educational social network.
The end of the first quarter, October 26, is soon approaching. At that time the first quarter report card will be sent home in the mail. Expect it to arrive during the first week of November. Our grade books will close for the quarter on Wednesday, October 24. Please make sure to have any make-up or missing work completed and turned in no later than that date. It is important to keep in mind that the first quarter can be a challenging adjustment period for many sixth graders. This might be evident in the first grading period. As students become acclimated to the middle school environment, the goal should be continual improvement. With the beginning of a new quarter, grades will also begin anew.
In Language Arts, we are embarking on a journey to become great persuasive essayists. We are using academic conversations and power words to argue and debate our positions on things that we really care about. This year the Penguins are fortunate enough to pilot a new academic vocabulary program with links to the sixth grade curriculum. We just finished our first unit. The words are challenging, but we are using a variety of engaging activities to learn them. Ask your child to show you the web site and challenge them to a game of Hangman. Good luck!
As writers, it's important to find and share our passion and voice. One way we are doing this in Mrs. Adelman's class is through our graffiti wall. Our current focus is courage and what it means to each individual. Ask your child to tell you about everyday and awesome courage. You will be amazed at how sophisticated and articulate they are in their thinking.
In Mrs. Adelman's class we have kicked off our Reading Response Logs. Your child is expected to log his/her independent daily reading and write a personal response weekly. The logs will be collected biweekly and Mrs. Adelman will respond to the entries. This will provide us with an opportunity to make connections and share our thoughts and feelings about literature.
In math, we have just finished our study of integers. This is a challenging concept that will provide a foundation for higher level math. Some students are still struggling, but we will continue to revisit this concept all year. The flipped classroom model has been well received by the students. They like the fact that they are "doing" the math at school with the support of their peers and teacher. As we finish the first quarter, students will take the district-wide benchmark exam. Our next unit of study is on fraction concepts.
In social studies, the children are continuing to work on their large world maps at home. The due dates are October 19 (for Mrs. Shimamoto) and October 26 (for Mr. Small). We have begun our study of ancient humans and the beginning of the agricultural revolution.
Sixth graders will celebrate the end of the first quarter with our first sixth grade social. It will take place on Friday, October 26, from 3:00 to 4:30. This after-school celebration will include games, music, dancing, crafts, food, and plain old-fashioned fun. In order to make this much anticipated event happen we need your support. Please visit our wikispace to sign up for donations or to volunteer your time.
If you find this form of communication useful, please leave a comment below or send us an email (it's worth 5 invaluable Penguin Points!). In the right hand margin of this page, you can subscribe to the blog and receive email notifications of new posts. Thank you for your continuing support. We love our Penguins!
Mrs. Adelman
Mrs. Shimamoto
Mr. Small
