SOCIAL STUDIES

All Classes are finishing Chapter 5. We spent the last week working on the five sections in Chapter 5. We took a written quiz on sections one and two. The students will take an oral assessment on sections 3, 4, and 5. A final test for Chapter 5 will be on Friday, December 18.

Students have written homework for Social Studies is to study each night in preparation for their oral assessment and final chapter test. Homework is written in their agenda books everyday.

MATH

Math A and C have a homework practice sheet due tomorrow, December 11. Math B did not have a practice sheet for homework this week. We spent our class time reviewing and re-learning multiplying mixed numbers.

Week of December 14
Math A and B will move on to dividing fractions and will have homework handed out in the start of the week, due back Friday, December 18.

Math C will move on to dividing mixed numbers. Homework for Math C will go home at the start of the week and will be dure Friday, December 18.

If students return their homework earlier than the due date, they receive a chance card for the prize box.

HOMEROOM NOTES

1. Permission slips for the first 6th grade field trip were handed out today, December 10. Please sign and return with the fee to the homeroom teacher
2. December Book orders for Schlolastic are due tomorrow, December 11.
3. Report Cards will be sent home December 16th. Please sign the envelope and return to the homeroom teacher on December 17th.
4. The next middle school gathering is on Monday, December 21.
5. The 6th grade holiday party will be on the afternoon of December 23. Please fill out your contribution form and return it (or e-mail Mrs. Sweetman) as soon as possible so we determine what is still needed to make a great party for the students.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Monday, December 7

Social Studies A and B took their quiz on Chapter 5, sections 1 and 2 on Monday. Social Studies C will take their quiz on Tuesday due to the Pep Rally Monday afternnon.

All classes will begin Chapter 5, section 3 this week.

All students should be studying notes each night in preparation for the next quiz. The next quiz will cover sections 3, 4 and 5.

MATH

Monday, December 7

Math A is working on fractions. Today we reviewed adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. As the week progresses we are moving onto multiplying fractions and mixed numbers. HOMEWORK : practice sheet 5.2 due Friday.

Math B and C are working on multiplying mixed numbers. Math C will be taking a quiz on Tuesday and Math B will take the quiz on Wednesday. Each group will start working on dividing fractions later in the week. HOMEWORK will be given out once we start the dividing fractions.

SOCIAL STUDIES

All social studies classes received their chapter test scores before break. The score was written in thier agenda book. Parents-if you haven't seen the score, please ask to see your child's agenda book.

All classes started Chapter 5, section 1 this week. We completed vocabulary and key terms for section 1 today, Wednesday, December 2. Tomorrow we will start Section 2 vocabulary and key terms and should finish our reading and review questions for Section 2 by the end of this week.

HOMEWORK: Students are instructed to study the vocabulary and key terms each night to prepare for the end of section quiz on Monday.

MATH

Week of December 1, 2009

Math A-is wroking on fractions, adding and subtracting mixed numbers. This week we are focusing on practice problems and review. The homework sheet 4-4 was handed out on Tuesday and is due on Friday, Dec. 4.

Math B and C-started to multiply fractions and will complete this section and move onto multiplying mixed numbers before the end of the week. Homework sheet 5-2 was sent home on Tuesday and is due Friday, Dec. 4.

ALL CLASSES

I hope everyone had a safe and restful Thanksgiving break.

Monday, November 30 the sixth grade team held parent teacher conferences. If you still need to hold a conference with the sixth grade team, please contact Mrs. Smith to set up the appointment.

December Book order forms are now available . To receive the order before the Holiday Break, please return the form and the check (made out to Scholastic Books) no later than Friday, December 11.

All missing work must be completed and turned in by Friday, December 4th. All grades must be entered by December 8 (for the end of this trimester).

Social Studies

All classes are studying Chapter 2, Section 4.

A quiz will be on Friday covering vocabulary in Chapter 2. Students should be studying the vocabulary all week to prepare for the quiz.

MATH

Monday, November 16

Math A and B are working on fractions on page 182.

Math C is working on page 187, fractions with mixed numbers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

All classes are working on Chapter 2, section 2 this week.

No school on Wednesday, Nov. 11.

MATH

Monday, November 9
Math A is taking their Chapter 1 test this morning. Point cards are being handed out and need to be signed and returned tomorrow.

Math B is working on Chapter 4.2 Fractions with like denominators. HOMEWORK: Practice sheet 4.2 due on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Math C is continuing to work on Chapter 4.3 Fractions. HOMEWORK: Practice sheet 4.3 due Tuesday, Nov. 10.

NO SCHOOL on Wednesday, November 11.

Social Studies

Monday, November 2, 2009

All classes are working on Chapter 2, section 1. Section 1 quiz is scheduled for Friday. All classes will have a review session before the quiz and mid week will be spent on social studies investigations. All students have been given study guides and have been encouraged to take home their books to re-read the section to be prepared for Friday.

MATH

Monday, November 2, 2009

Math A is working on Order of Operations and has a practice sheet (1.10) for homework, due tomorrow.

Math B is finishing Order of Operations and will have a review session on section 1.10, a quiz and then a chapter review for chapter 1. Chapter 1 test to follow on Thursday.

Math C is finished Order of Operations and has a chapter review session today for the chapter test tomorrow. Starting on Wednesday with Fractions.

MATH

Wednesday, October 28
MATH A was working on rounding and estimating numbers today. HOMEWORK for tonight, due back tomorrow is to finish the "Brick by Brick" sheet.

MATH B we are finishing word problems and starting on comparing numbers. HOMEWORK for tonight will be exercise A problems 1-12 on Page 49/50 due tomorrow.

MATH C is continuing to work on comparing numbers. We will reivew their homework at the start of class today and continue on in the section. No homework tonight.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Monday, October 26
All classes took their quiz on Chapter 1, section 3.

Tomorrow-students will work on their current events portfolio.

MATH

Monday, October 26
All math classes worked on their point card and check register for today's gathering.

HOMEROOM

Monday, October 26

1. Picture are scheduled for November 2. Forms were sent home last week.
2. Progress reports will be sent home this week.
3. Our sixth grade halloween party will be held on Friday, October 30. If you are able to contribute something to the party, please fill out the form that was sent home on Friday, October 23 and send it back before Wednesday, October 28 so we know what additional items need to be purchased.

HOMEROOM NEWS

1. Monday, October 26 is the next gathering. Please make sure your child gets his/her point card signed and returned on Monday so they may attend the event.
2. November Book Order forms are in the class for students to take home. Parents may place an order online through scholastic or use the paper form. Money and forms are due back Friday, November 20.
3. Friday, October 30 the 6 sixth grade will be having a halloween party for the students. Each homeroom is contributing to the party and a notice is coming home with students today.

***CHANGE****to previous post!

The Social Studies quiz for Friday has been moved to Monday. Students will have the weekend to review and get ready for the section 3, chapter 1 quiz. Please accept my apologies for the mistake.

This week in Math and Social Studies

Week of October 19th-

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday students are taking their DSTP tests in science and social studies from 8:30am to 11:20am (or until they finish). Then it's off to lunch and recess. The remainder of these days have a limited schedule.

HOMEWORK: Since we are not having all of our classes everyday this week, there will not be any math homework. Students do have a social studies quiz on Friday for chapter 1, section 3.

MATH-students are working on worksheets and math games for decimals and word problem review.

SOCIAL STUDIES-students completed their "KWL" charts for Chapter 1 and review of Section 3 in preparation for the multiple choice quiz on Friday. Students are also starting their "final test" for Chapter 1. Instead of a written chapter test, the students will be creating a current events portfolio. They will have 4 class periods to work on completing this project.

Week of October 12, 2009

MATH-
In math class the students are continuing with Chapter 1 working on Exercises in 1-5 and 1-6 problem solving. On Tuesday point cards were sent home to be signed and returned on Wednesday. Several students were given a re-test of Quiz 1/1, 1/2 on Tuesday.

Wednesday's lesson will start with updating each student's check register to record their citizenship grade.

Homework: Practice Sheet 1-5 was sent home withe students on Monday, it is due on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES-
This week students are working on DSTP prep. The DSTP testing for Science and Social Studies will take place on October 19, 20, 22 and 23. On Wednesday, students will be given a retest of the social studies quiz Chapter 1, sections 1 and 2.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Week of October 5, 2009

All classes are creating Weather Notebooks.

Students are working in groups to complete the notebooks using their books and classroom handouts to complete this assignment.

1. Each group is given an envelope with cards for different cities around the US and Canada.
2. Students are to separate the cards and decide whether the city/state on the card is in the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest or Canada.
3. Once the piles are separated, students will write down the weather information on the cards by coast/canada. This will give the students 4 separate weather reports for the US and Canada.
4. Next the students will compare the weather on the coasts (East versus West, East versus Midwest, and Midwest versus Alaksa and Hawaii) by either writing a summary of the similarities and differences or creating a VENN diagram to illustrate the information. Students will have 3 more pages for their notebook after completing this task.
5. Lastly, the students will create colorful and creative construction paper cover for their Weather Notebook.

Students will work on this for the remainder of the week.

Coming up next week: DSTP prep for the Social Studies DSTP on October 19, 20, 22 & 23.

MATH

Tuesday, October 6

Math A, B and C-started section 1-5 Adding and Subtracting Decimals. Students took notes on the 'key concepts' on the section.

Simplify-to simplify an expression is to replace it with the simpliest name for its value. Example: to simplify 4+5, you would write 9

Properties of Addition
Communicative Property of Addition-changing the order of the addends does not change the sum.
Associative Property of Addition-changing the grouping of the addends does not change the sum.
Identity Property of Addition-the sum of 0 and any number is that number.

Students worked in small groups to solve practive problems Exercises A 1-22. As each group completes these problems they will meet with Mrs. Bloemker. Once they have successfully completed the problems, the group will move onto the next assignment. When the next assignment have been successfully completed, the group will take a quiz.

We will work on this material for the remainder of the week.

HOMEWORK:
Math A -page 16 problems 1-15 are due on THURSDAY
MAth B and C- practice sheet 1-4 is due on THURSDAY

HOMEROOM

• Book orders for October were due today.
• Powder Puff Football sheets went home to parents today.
• REMINDER-No School for students on Friday, October 9
• Joe Corbi Fundraiser forms and all monies are due on October 12th.

Social Studies

Monday, 10/5
All classes took a 20 questions quiz on Chapter 1, Sections 1 and 2. After the students were finished the quiz, they resumed work on their Population Distribution Maps of PCA.

HOMEWORK:
Anyone that did not get their map quiz signed and returned today (Friday's homework) was asked to get the quiz signed tonight and return tomorrow.

MATH

Monday, 10/5
In math today we updated our check registers to reflect the money earned from Citizenship points from last week. Next we reviewed our homework from last week (practice sheet 1-3).

HOMEWORK:
Math A page 16 exercises 1-15 due on Thursday.
Math B and C have practice sheet 1-4 due on Thursday.

ALL CLASSES

Students were told on Thursday they would have new seat assignments when they return on Monday. The desks have been reconfigured from rows into groups of four. Students will be grouped by their level/pace. The idea is for all students to be able to work independently and within a group with students that work at the same pace on assignments, projects, etc.

SOCIAL STUDIES

All Social Studies Classes played a computerized review game to prepare for our quiz on Monday. Students did very well working in teams and answering the questions.

HOMEWORK:

• All Social Studies Classes received their Map Quiz scores and are asked to have their quiz signed by a parent and return on Monday.
• Study for Social Studies Quiz on Monday on Chapter 1 sections 1 and 2.

MATH

Friday, 10/2

All Math classes took a quiz reviewing 1-1 and 1-2 in Chapter 1.
Math A and B read pages 14 and 15, Math C reviewed page 19 and worked on problems 1-7.

HOMEWORK: Get point card signed and return on Monday.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Wed., 9/30
All Social Studies classes read section 3 and answered the questions in Section Review 3.

Groups B and C were not finished question # 6 and were asked to complete at home tonight.

Thurs., 10/1
All Social Studies classes will be working in groups to create population distribution maps.

Friday, 10/2 All classes will have a review for the quiz on Monday.

Social Studies quiz on Monday.

MATH

Wed., 9/30
MATH A and B continued work on number lines and plotting decimals on the number line.
MATH C continued working on Estimating with Decimals.

MATH Quiz on Chapter 1-2, 1-2 on Friday.

Thurs., 10/1
All Math Classes will have reivew sessions for the quiz tomorrow.

SOCIAL STUDIES

All classes worked on Chapter 1, Section 2.

In Social Studies A and B we had a class discussion reviewing the partner work the students completed yesterday. We discussed the section review questions 1-5.

Social Studies C worked with a partner today to answer questions 1-5.

HOMEWORK: Students worked individually on #6 in class. Anyone that didn't complete #6 has it for homework to complete (page 20). Students will have a quiz on Monday, October 5 on Sections 1 and 2.

MATH

Today is Tuesday, 9/29

MATH A created number lines to use while we work on ordering decimals.

MATH B continued their work on ordering and comparing decimals.

MATH C finished working on 1-3 and started rounding decimals to the nearest whole number.

HOMEWORK-a practice sheet numbered 1-3 was handed out. The completed sheet is due on Friday. Students will have a quiz on Friday to assess their knowledge of Chapter 1-1 and 1-2.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Two of the three social studies groups met today due to an assembly and the gathering at the end of the day.

The two groups that had class worked on the Chapter 1, Section 2 review questions while working with a partner. Tomorrow we will review together as a class.

No homework tonight.

MATH

Students worked on updating their check register with the points earned from 9/21-9/24. PCA Bucks and Gathering admission tickets were handed out for the Gathering at the end of the day.

Tuesday, 9/29: Homework (Practice Sheet 1-3) will be handed out and due back on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Friday, September 25: all social studies classes began Chapter 1, Section 2 Climate and Vegetation today. We read the section (pages 15-20) and then we had a class discussion about the reading.

Reminder-please bring your signed point card back on Monday!

MATH

HOMEWORK-Please return you signed point card on Monday in Math class.
Students were given their point cards today for Mon., 9/21 through Thurs., 9/24. The cards must be signed and returned on Monday for eligible students to be permitted to attend the gathering on Monday afternoon.

HOMEROOM STUDENTS

1. Monday there is an assembly to explain the fundraising kit that came home yesterday.
2. Monday afternoon the first gathering of the year will be held from 2:30-3:20pm.
3. Scholastic Book orders are due back October 2. If you would like to place an online order Mrs. Bloemker is waiting for an e-mail from Scholastic with the log in information. The info will be passed along to parents as soon as it is received.
4. LEAP forms are due back by October 5 with the appropriate money for the course selected.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Thursday, 9/24-We had a class review of Chapter 1, Section 1 Physical Geography. We also discussed key concepts of the chapter that students need to know for the final Chapter 1 test.

Mrs. Bloemker collected any current event articles student found in the newspaper, magazine or through the internet. All classes will be doing an activity with the articles next week.

MATH

MATH A and B-Thursday, 9/24 the students continued working with manipulatives to find different decimal combinations and then write the expressions in expanded form.

MATH C-the students moved ahead into the next chapter to begin comparing decimals and placing on a number line.

MATH

The first week of school the students 'played' math games with foam dice working on their multiplication math facts. We spent a lot of time working on multiplication fluency with single and double digit multiplication. I wanted to get the students thinking about math again after the long summer break.

Last week we began exploring decimals. Students worked in groups with math manipulatives and grid paper to investigate decimals.

This week the students worked on reading and writing decimals, place values and expanding decimals. The students began writing decimals in written form, standard form and expanded form and we compared the three expressions.

Tuesday, 9/22: the lesson began with a life skill-using a check register. All sixth grade students will be filling out a check register to record their PCA bucks earned through their weekly citizenship grade. Homework-Math A and B were asked to complete exercise A, problems 1-8 on Page 10 and Math C was assigned Exercise A, Page 10 problems 9-16.

Wednesday, 9/23: students worked in groups to create their own decimal problems by using dice and dominios. Students were then asked to write those problems in expanded form.

HOMEWORK: On Monday Practice Sheet 1-2 was handed out and given to students to practice the skills we have been working on in class. The Practice Sheet is due Friday, Sept. 25.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We have been working on the United States and Canada in Chapter 1, the activity atlas. We spent the last two weeks working on learning the 50 states in the US. We studied maps and discussed latitude and longitude. Students worked on activities to assist them with learning what physical geography is and what it tells us about the US and Canada.

This week the students began reading Chapter 1, Section 1 Physical Geography. The students created vocabulary study guides to help them learn the key terms in this section of chapter 1.

Glacier-a huge, slow moving sheet of ice
Tundra-A cold, dry region covered with snow for more than half the year in the Artic
Permafrost-permenantly frozen subsoil, thaws only during the Artic summer
Prairie-a region of flat or rolling land covered with grass
Alluvial-the silt that is left by rivers after a flood
Tributary-stream that flows into a larger river
Continental Divide-Rocky Mountains that separate rivers flowing toward opposite sides of the continent.
Irrigation-watering farmland by artificial methods

The students have read chapter 1, section 1 two times. Once silently and once as a read a loud in the class. We discussed the key terms as we read them in the chapter and how they relate to the physical geography of the US and Canada.

HOMEWORK-students are asked to find a current event that discusses the US or Canada. They may look in the newspaper, internet or a magazine to locate an article.
Suggested news sites were:
CNN, Delaware Online (News Journal), New York Post or Washington Post.