Updated Calender for the year and web links that we use in math and typing

5/6 Crew Calender

This year has really been a very interesting one with the kids. The first two expeditions strengthened them as a group and fortified their critical thinking skills. I have enjoyed working with them.

Here is an updated list of curriculum and achievement report changes and general information for the remainder of the school year. There are a few adjustments from the beginning of the year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday Night, March 2, 6-7 p.m.

Celebration of Learning for 5-8 grade

All parts of the Expedition for the 5/6 and 7/8 will be on display. The 5/6 Final Product Screenplay is in the works and will be completed in the next two weeks.

Saturday, March 3 Winter Market, 10 a.m.-2 p.m

Service and Compassion for Humane Society of the Palouse...knitted scarves for donation

February 29- March 9, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

End of Second Expedition Parent/Teacher/Students Meetings

3:30 to 4, and 4 to 4:30 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. (In case you didn't know, Thursday is reserved for Faculty meetings.) These meetings give us a chance to catch up all together

Information has been coming in through the planners. Thank you!

March 9

Achievement Reports go home

March 12-16

Spring Break

March 19-23

Student Led Conferences

Plan on 20-30 minutes and schedule a time through the planner. 3:00- 4:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday.

March 19

Third Trimester and new Expedition starts

May 22-May 26

Discovery Week, Celebration of Learning Night, and the last week of school. Achievement reports are mailed the next week.

 SEE the SITES :) 

 I am also testing ALEKs for math (not free, subscription needed). www.aleks.com We had a pilot in our first year, but looking at it again. You can try it for free.

www.apangea.com--This one is free and the one we currently use two days a week. It can be accessed at home. The kids know their user names and passwords.

www.khanacademy.org--This one is free and the kids are familiar with it. I have used this one since our first year.

school.typingpal.com-This is program is the one the school ordered last month after testing the free ones out there. We had pretty good success with BBC typing, but the kids liked the feedback from this program. This can be accessed at home. The kids know their user names and passwords.

I'll be sending a paper copy of the updated calender home in the planner too. You can have the kids put it by the 'Fridge Log' in the kitchen. 

     I look forward to seeing everyone!

Ms. Bonzo

Onward to Writing the Screenplays

 All the work with research is done and the eleven areas that the kids have been learning about to understand the dozen years that they are studying in the 1800s will now become a script. Two characters were created-Anna Beth and Reem who will time travel and collect information about the symbol that represents America's westward expansion.
The biggest focus of this expedition has been learning how to do research. The 4 sets of encyclopedias
(all reclaimed from Moscow's Recycle Center) in our classroom have gotten lots of use. The reading and REreading of the books checked out from the Latah County library and University have provided the specifics and details, along with bookmarked websites on the two computers in class.
Each triad talked with me to show their research and understanding of the content they are learning about. The two huge Timelines of World History have helped them to find people or events.

 Literature Circle Books that support this period of time. Below, this troup is reading Farmer Boy.

 This groups is reading The Red Badge of Courage. Each group is using a note catcher to find interesting quotes, write a response, or find a connection to the Guiding Question. The Literature Circles give added depth to the research.

 This triad is explaining their scenes to some of the UI Interns that are part of our class on Tuesday and Wednesdays.

The next two weeks will be quite exciting as the story of the 1800s comes to life.

Miss Corwine communicates about 6th grade math

Hello parents and families!

My name is Miss Corwine and I am the “new” 6^th grade math teacher.  I have been part of the Palouse Prairie Community all year as one of two Americorps volunteers.  I have a background in Science Education and Environmental Health research and a true love for all things math (and especially statistics) related.   I have lots of energy and math strategies to share with your student and I am excited to share with you what we’ve been up to.

When we returned to school in the New Year, we began a unit in Shapes and Designs.  We learned how to estimate angles using our landmark angles and how to think about interior, exterior angle measurement and how different shapes fit together. We stretched our thinking to begin algebraic reasoning using basic geometry equations.

 This week, we started a new unit in statistics.  We are talking about data distributions and learning to think about data in terms of ranges, medians and modes.  We’ll be deciding as a crew what types of data are interesting to us and put our new mathematical tools to use to describe our own data sets. 

We have also started using a program called Apangea to supplement our in class curriculum here.  One to two times a week, students will be working on a customized pathways of math lessons that is designed to help them practice basic math skills as well as introduce new math concepts.  This program is a great complement to our in class curriculum.

Many of us are experiencing new challenges in math:  Some of us love the spatial reasoning we used in the Shapes and Designs unit, while some of us are enjoying how we can use data to describe our worlds. In our Data About Us unit.  Most of us are not used to having homework four nights of the week, and we are working to figure out how to stay on top of our workload.

Please contact me with any questions you have about 6^th grade math.  I’m happy to help support your student’s mathematical development in any way that I can.

Sincerely,

Miss Corwine

Winter Market- Feb.11, 2012 for Humane Society of the Palouse

 There pictures show some of the preparation and then Saturday at the Market. We had some quality control going on--adding fringe. Others are working on scarves. Signs were made by the group that would be at the market. They spent the early part of the week reviewing notes from the visit of Trina and Randi.

 All the kids that signed up showed up. So we had half the crew for this market. Once the table was set up, then they realized they would be talking about all they had learned and what they were collecting for. It was a very good learning experience.

  Coasters are being made and sold in groups of three. This was Emma S.'s wonderful idea!

  A lot of discussion about what to put on the signs. First brainstorming, then getting the message clear and legible. They were also given only a few sheets of paper to think before they created.

 All of them jumped in to help and speak to people about the Humane Society. They were nervous, but kept trying. After paying for the spot which was $10.00 and deducting the cost of the umbrellas I bought that morning, the kids raised a bit over $150 dollars.

 Thank you Ms. Berkana and Ms. DePhelps for the table and chairs. Thanks Sam for bringing one of the clothes racks.

 Displaying the scarves on the clothes rack. Signs were attached to the individual whiteboards I made this summer.

  Our daughter brought the family dog, Rex, who is from the Humane Society.  He enjoyed the day and several people tried to adopt him!!

  We figured out how much the Shelter needs per day to make their annual budget.

  The information that about how many cats would be born in two years that we tabulated at school was really appreciated by people.

 Sorry for the blurry picture, but the snow was coming down and my hands were wet!!

  We had lots of snow!! Thank you to Mr. Tonnemaker for his tent!! He is an organic farmer from Royal City, Washington that has come to the Farmers' Market since the 1980s. We would have been soaked otherwise.

 Milo stayed up late on Friday night to finish his first scarf and it sold very quickly!!

 We will work the March 3 Market and have lots of work to do to have merchandise. We have only 15 scarves left!

Preparing for Winter Market and deep in research

Here are some examples of the knitting from the 5/6. After they took all the skeins and rolled them into balls, we all are knitting. First learning to cast on and then knitting. We are trying to have some knitted scarves  and finger knitted scarves for the market this Saturday. 

 The research has been going very well. The encyclopedia sets around the room are getting lots of use  and the kids are learning how to search and make sure that info relates to the event they are covering. On Friday, we went through each triad's year, event and symbol so they all know what happened during the 1800s.

 The giant chart paper has helped them all keep up with the 11 items they are researching.

 Learning to balance the freedom of working on your own or in a small group coupled with the responsibility of doing the research has been a major focus.

On Friday, Trina from the Humane Society of the Palouse came with the cutest dog named Randy to our classroom. The kids learned tons about how the society works, the costs, the importance of spaying and neutering and what to help people know about this organization. Be sure to ask them. They wrote 3 facts into their planners from a full board of notes I scribed while Trina presented. She was a fabulous expert for the Service Project.

Hope you are seeing knitting at home!