March 20, 2013
Dear Parents,
It has been a crazy month here in sixth grade. First, thank you to all the students and parents for their well-wishes while I recovered from an unexpected surgery. Second, thank you to those same wonderful Leawood families who welcomed me back with hugs and smiles. It is GREAT to be back.
We completed nine sections of TCAP, and changes to our daily schedules. The children handled everything with a calm maturity. Maybe they are almost ready for middle school?
The only homework that your sixth grader should have over spring break is to read, read, and read. Unfortunately, the natural consequence of not completing work in class is to complete that work at home, and for some students that is the choice that they have made. So, if your child has homework other than reading that is the reason.
In social studies we have been working in groups to research and “build” a government. They have chosen different types of governments such as democracy, communism, monarchy, democratic republic, etc. We will present those governments on Fri, April 5. Soon after, we will delve into geographic issues of the Western hemisphere. This will involve collaboration, creativity, public speaking, research and expository writing.
During our writing workshop we have been writing memoirs. The students have narrowed down their topics, fully developed the settings, characters, problems, conflicts, tension, and resolutions. Most have completed, or close to completing their first one, and moving on to their second one. We have spent a lot of time revising and editing, so they can find their own errors, and fix them.
In reading we have finished up our Latin/Greek vocabulary work, and are now doing some “word ladders”, which is word work, that helps with patterns, rhymes, directions, and word watching. The students have also presented their fourth book report and are continuing toward their 30 books this year. In guided reading we are working on different skills, based on the leveled texts and the different needs of the groups. Some are working on inference, fluency, identifying non-fiction structures, character analysis, vocabulary using context clues, or critical thinking skills.
In science, we have finished water and the living environment unit. They now know where our water comes from, how it is distributed and cleaned, what watersheds are, different types of conservation plans and water as a valuable resource! We have just started digging into Earth surfaces and taking a closer look at the layers of the earth and how they interact with each other with heat transfer! We will continue studying the formation and movement of earth surfaces including continental drift, tectonic plate movement, volcanoes and some of earth’s most common minerals!
In math, students have been working extremely hard this past month. As we finished focusing on fractions, decimals and percents we moved smoothly into Geometry studying relationships with angles, circle graphs and line segments. We brushed the dust of our protractors and started putting them to good use in measuring angles and geometric shapes! They also are working with new and old terms such as isosceles, scalene and right triangles! We will finish this unit soon after spring break and move onto the next unit...more algebraic equations!
Have a safe and relaxing spring break. See everyone on Tuesday, April 2.
Mr. Lupo and Mrs. Story
