November

November updates

__November 1, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science || Completed and graphed a simulation on birds eating walking sticks over 5 generations to see how population changes in different environments || none ||
 * Social Studies || Today we wrote rough drafts of summaries as a group. || November Newsletters were handed out today. They should be discussing these with you and getting them signed. ||
 * Math || Worked on Problem 3.4, which dealt with finding decimals with fractions that do not have a base-ten number as the denominator. || 1st and 2nd: ACE, page 49, #23, 24; 3rd Math: Problem 3.4, page 43, B (writing the items as fractions and in simplest terms). ||
 * Advanced Math || Went over Problem 4.2, which dealt with finding percents. Students worked on Problem 4.3 for tomorrow. || 6th: Finish Problem 4.3. (7th: Problem 4.3 and Fraction/Decimal Table Practice Sheet) ||
 * Language || Studied imagery in poetry and talked about how small things can be gateways to big ideas || Finish list of items or small actions that could be a poem starter ||
 * Reading || Students listened to the story "Baseball in April" by Gary Soto. On Thursday we will discuss the connections that I made and categorize them. || Students should be on book #9. It is week one for reading conferences. Students found out on Friday which week (1, 2, or 3) that they would be having their conferences. ||

__November 2, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies ||  ||   ||
 * Math || Discussed how to find decimals from fractions. Worked on ordering decimals and comparing the size of decimals. Worked on Problem 3.5 in class. || Finish Problem 3.5, page 46, A-C ||
 * Advanced Math || Discussed how to find a fraction, decimal, and percent from a story problem involving surveys. Continued practicing how to move between a decimal, fraction,and percent. Worked on Problem 4.4 in class. || Finish Problem 4.4, page 60, A-E ||
 * Language || Continued to study poetry and also studied for spelling test tomorrow || Make sure you are ready for the spelling quiz tomorrow ||
 * Reading || Discussion and notes to understand why proficient readers use connections. || * Make page number goal and read.
 * Letter assessment retake is tomorrow. ||

__November 3, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies ||  ||   ||
 * Math || We discussed Problem 3.5 and how to order decimals. || Skill: Comparing and Ordering Decimals Practice Sheet, page 26, blue sheet. ||
 * Advanced Math || We discussed Problem 4.4 and identified fractions, decimals, and percents of shaded grids (grids were not 10 x 10). || Finish finding fractions, decimals, and percents of shaded grids sheet AND Skill: Percents, Fractions, and Decimals Practice Sheet, page 30, pink sheet. ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || There was not a mini-lesson today; instead we were on letter assessment retakes, conferences, and reading! || Ask your student about the notes they are keeping in their independent reading books. They are supposed to mark their thinking on a sticky note. ||

__November 4, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies ||  ||   ||
 * Math || Sorted cards in the correct order of place value of decimals; Took notes in our Practice Pal (flip-book); took a quiz over Investigation 3. || Skill: Fractions and Decimals Practice Sheet, page 25, golden sheet. ||
 * Advanced Math || Shared various strategies on how to find percents, fractions, and decimals of different shaded parts of a grid. Took notes about percents in Practice Pal (flip-book). Bits and Pieces I UNIT TEST Monday!!! || Shading Areas of Rectangular Grids Practice Sheet (white sheet) ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Today we discussed the connections for "Baseball in April" and categorized them as deep or surface, as well as text to text, text to world, text to self, and text to media. We also watched the Book Fair DVD. || READ! Ask your student how many books they have finished, and if they are on track. ||

__November 5, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science || Completed our test over adaptations today || No practice ||
 * Social Studies ||  ||   ||
 * Math || Introduced percents. Solved a problem to determine who was a better free-throw shooter, either Shaq or Yao, which helped to connect percents with fractions and decimals. || No practice. ||
 * Advanced Math || Reviewed for test on Monday. Bits and Pieces I UNIT TEST Monday!!! || Review problems/Study for test. ||
 * Language || Today we finished our imagist poems and posted them on the wall. Next week we will continue our poetry lesson and also share some of the excellent scary stories that the 6th grade wrote. || If you did not get your two poems done, you need to complete them this weekend. ||
 * Reading || Spent the day practicing logging into the reading workshop wiki at http://huchreadingworkshop.wikispaces.com/. || Students should read and be starting their 10th book. Remember to work on your genre requirements. ||

__November 8, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science || Finished our milkweed bug study by completing a population graph ||  ||
 * Social Studies || Student began preparing for their presentations which will be on Thursday or Friday of this week. || Vocabulary Quiz over V5-V8 will be on Wednesday. ||
 * Math || Review sheets for up coming unit test. || Three white and one purple - Due Thursday ||
 * Advanced Math || Bits and Pieces I Unit Test Today. || None. ||
 * Language || Students worked on a longer poem in class today while I started writing conferences. We also shared a few scary stories. We will continue working on poetry tomorrow. || If students have any more work to do on the scary stories, they need to finish this week so that I can get them graded before the end of the trimester. ||
 * Reading || Today, we are reading Langston's Hugh's poem, "I Too, Am America" and filling out a connections chart. I am also show a short video of photographs [] to support the poem. We are having week 2 of conferences. || READ at home. Many students are not reading at home, & are falling behind. Please encourage them to do this! ||

__November 9, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice || Link to Reading Trimester Eval. || End of the trimester is on Nov. 12th. Students should have 10 books finished to be on task to finish 30 by the end of the year. ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science || Worked on defining genes, chromosomes, genotype, phenotype, alleles, DNA, and nucleus || Students interested in bringing home one of our classroom guppies need a parent permission slip and an aquatic ecosystem at home to care for it. ||
 * Social Studies || Continue working to prepare for presentations. Students also had a chance to visit the book fair for a short time. || Vocabulary quiz over V5-V8 tomorrow. Presentations on Thursday & Friday. ||
 * Math || Worked on writing fractions, decimals, and percents and moving in between the three expressions. || Problem 4.4, page 60, A only. (Copy table and fill-in missing parts.) ||
 * Advanced Math || Introduced next unit called Shapes and Designs. Got new books. Worked on Investigation 1. || ACE, page 17, # 3-4: Use Labsheet with shapes. ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Sorry for the late update! We worked on Reading Trimester Evaluations for Trimester 1- this is an evaluation of students and the reading workshop.

__November 10, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Vocabulary Quiz, finish preparing for presentations. || Presentations tomorrow. ||
 * Math || Reviewed percents and how to go between fractions, decimals, and percents. || Problem 4.4, page 60, A only (Complete Table) ||
 * Advanced Math || Discussed polygons and started sorting shapes. || ACE, page 17, #3-4 (Labsheet) ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Today we are finishing Reading Trimester Evaluations (see above). || Finish 10th book this week. ||

__November 11, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice || Bits and Pieces I Unit Test Tomorrow!! || Finish any review sheets AND make quiz corrections, if needed. ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Presentations. || None ||
 * Math || Reviewed fractions, decimals, and percents. Started just the first few questions of the test.
 * Advanced Math || Defined properties of polygons and sorted them into different attributes. || Finish Problem 1.1, page 10, A-D. ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || I am gone for professional development today. Students will be given a crossword over the daily vocabulary words we had since the start of this year. They will be allowed to use their notebooks, but not work together. If they are missing some of the words, please direct them to http://huchreadingworkshop.wikispaces.com/Vocabulary+Words for a list of words and definitions. || Vocabulary crosswords and read! ||

__November12, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Presentations. || None ||
 * Math || Bits and Pieces I Unit Test Today!! || None. ||
 * Advanced Math || Compared each group's sorting/labeling of polygons. Discussed symmetry of shapes. Students worked in groups to determine lines of symmetry in Problem 1.2. Discussed as a whole class. || None. ||
 * Language || Today we polished, illustrated, and revised writing pieces done earlier in the trimester while I had writing conferences with individual students. We still have a few to go. || Parents: If you ever notice your child misspelling a word, feel free to ask them to add it to their word bank for spelling. ||
 * Reading || First, I apologize for the 3 missing words in the crossword. I had planned on doing the crossword at another time, but move it up since it seemed like a good thing to leave for a substitute teacher. Consequently-#7, #20, and #30 across are not required . I will also take these Tuesday without a late penalty. As I told the kids-I'm only human; I make misteaks!

Today we are reading the book //Teammates// about Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese and how Robinson broke the color barrier in MLB. Students will be asked to work on making connections while I read aloud. We will discuss them on Monday. || Finish crossword and finish 10th book. ||

__November 15, 2010__

 * No School today- Professional Development Day **

__November 16, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || We are working this week and next to make sure all students understand the Five Elements of a Civilization before we move on to our next big unit, Greeks and Romans. Today we did a quick assessment to see where students are at. They will be doing work over the next week to cement this knowledge. || Vocabulary #9 is due on Friday (handed out today). ||
 * Math || We started a new unit today called Shapes and Designs. Students got new books and turned in their Bits and Pieces I book. They listened to a story about shapes and polygons, and then were asked to draw different polygons. || Draw 10 different polygons. Use page 8 in Shapes and Designs as a reference. ||
 * Advanced Math || We looked at symmetry more today and students identified different lines of symmetry in different polygons. || ACE problems, page 18, # 6-8 ||
 * Language || We eased into this week by sharing some very scary stories the students wrote. We also studied for spelling tomorrow. || If students need to complete spelling worksheet, I will be collecting it tomorrow. Study for spelling quiz if needed. ||
 * Reading || We did a lesson today about connections. We looked at the connections from the book //Teammates// and discussed one for each table group. We decided if they were deep or surface and why. We will be practicing one more time with connections, and then doing an assessment for Monday/Tuesday next week. || Besides reading, I am also asking students to have **12** books completed for the next book count, which will be the week after Thanksgiving. I am meeting with Week 3 students for conferences, Week 1 will be conferring after Thanksgiving and should have a letter ready . ||

__November 17, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Today we worked in groups to try to cement and advance our knowledge of the five elements of a civilization. || No practice assigned for tonight, but I encourage you to ask your students about the five elements and check what they know. V9 due Friday. ||
 * Math || We discussed properties of polygons and started cutting out polygons for a sorting activity tomorrow. || None. ||
 * Advanced Math || We looked at both rotational and reflection symmetry of different shapes, both polygons and non-polygons. Students got back their Bits and Pieces I Unit Test. || Write letters of name as polygons and identify the number of sides, number of vertices, and any lines of symmetry. ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || We practiced reading strategies in class today by reading! Students also received a copy of the connections table that we used yesterday. This is the same table they will use for their assessment next week. || Read! ||

__November 18, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Students are continuing to work in class to practice classifying information according to the five elements of civilization. They did some practice worksheets on this in class. || Some may have practice worksheets to complete. Everyone has V9 due tomorrow. ||
 * Math || We worked on identifying properties of polygons and students began sorting them into different groups based on various properties. They worked on Problem 1.1 from the book with their group. Most got finished in class, but if not, they are to work on finishing A-C for tomorrow. || ACE problems, page 17, #3-4 and Finish Problem 1.1, page 10, A-C ||
 * Advanced Math || Students worked on tiling with regular polygons. They worked on Problem 1.3 with their groups. Most got finished in class, but if not, they are to work on finishing A-C for tomorrow. || ACE problems, page 20, #14-16. Make sure name of polygons is complete. ||
 * Language || Today we read a few "short, short" stories, and then students wrote their own. Ask you student about their "short, short" with a surprising point of view or ending. || Students may revise or continue to work on story, but might not have to. ||
 * Reading || Students did a practice assessment-which is not graded-for connections. I asked them to do their best so I am able to review them and decide how to best prepare them for the graded assessment, which will be on Monday. || Students should be reading-remember that the book count is after Thanksgiving (12 books finished!) ||

__November 19, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Class today was spent getting feedback on Vocabulary #9 in preparation for a new type of quiz. Ask your students if they can explain this to you. We also talked more about the five elements of a civilization which will be assessed before break. V9 was turned in as well. || Ask your students to explain the five elements of a civilization to you. If they can't, they should call a friend and ask them. They need to know them by Tuesday. ||
 * Math || Discussed polygons and students wrote descriptions of specific polygons and others had to guess what shape they were describing. || None, unless students want to edit their descriptions and share them on Monday. ||
 * Advanced Math || Discussed tiling and how tiling is the same as tessellations. Students started coloring/creating their own tessellations. || None. Students can bring in examples of different tessellations they find or have made. ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Today, we went over the plans for up to break. They are as follows:

Nov. 19th: Explain connections assessment rubric & meet with students about their practice assessment. Nov. 22nd: Finish meeting with students about their assessments. Nov. 23rd: Explain new grading system for reading letters & finish reading letter conferences. || Week after break: -Connections Assessment -Book check (MONDAY) : 12 books finished ||

__November 22, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice || Week after break: -Connections Assessment -Book check (MONDAY) : 12 books finished -Book orders due Dec. 5th
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Today we reviewed the five elements. Had time to work on Vocabulary #10 as well. || V10 due tomorrow. Students will also be asked to list and explain the five elements of civilization tomorrow. ||
 * Math || Shared descriptions of different polygons and guessed what shapes they were describing. Worked in groups to identify and sort shapes into specific subgroups and made posters. Students also received their tests back from last week and are able to make corrections to earn half a credit back for those that they missed. || Test corrections: Need to be done on a separate sheet of paper and need to be stapled to the original test when handed back in for credit. Make sure to label each problem re-worked. ||
 * Advanced Math || Shared tessellations; continue to work on them. Made Practice Pals (a.k.a flipbooks) and took notes on everything we've talked about so far in this unit. || Keep working on tessellations. ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Finishing conferences: both for practice assessment and reading letters; students will have ample time to read. ||  ||

__November 23, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice || Finishing conferences: both for practice assessment and reading letters; students will have ample time to read. ||  || Week after break: -Connections Assessment -Book check (MONDAY) : 12 books finished -Book orders due Dec. 5th
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Assessment on 5 Elements, final review of elements || None ||
 * Math || Students compared and contrasted their posters with others in the room and discussed properties of the polygons. Students then worked on using the polygons to write their names and color-coding each shape. || None. Can finish writing name using polygons. ||
 * Advanced Math || Students created various shapes and repeated those shapes to create tessellations. Students then were given a design of all different polygons and are to color it to make it a unique tessellation using different polygons. || None. Can finish designing tessellation of polygons. ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || New rubric for reading letters reviewed.

__November 29, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science || Derived an equation for calculating distance || Flight distance worksheet for period 1 ||
 * Social Studies || We are starting work on Greeks and Romans. This will be a unit that will use the social studies books more than the past unit. || No practice tonight. ||
 * Math || We made a Practice Pal (flipbook) today with notes about the polygons we've worked with so far. || Define the properties of a kite. Use the sketch of a kite to help. ||
 * Advanced Math || Student are to use a right (90 degree) angle to help them estimate the degrees of other angles. || Problem 2.1, page 26, A-C ||
 * Language ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Book Count Day! || Starting/ working on the 13th book.
 * I will work on getting grades updated soon. Sorry for the delay. ||

__November 30, 2010__
Class Time ||~ Practice ||
 * ~ Class ||~ During
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social Studies || Today we started the first step of our first summary. Students read a section or two from the social studies book. They will continue this tomorrow. || Nothing for practice tonight. ||
 * Math || We discussed the properties of a kite and how it is similar to other quadrilaterals. We then talked about symmetry and were introduced to both reflection and rotational symmetry. Students were to identify symmetries of the different polygons. || Problem 1.2, page 13, A-B. Use shapes from Shape Set on page 10. ||
 * Advanced Math || We took more notes about quadrilaterals in our Practice Pal (flipbook). We then worked some together on finding degrees of angles using right angles. Students shared ideas from Problem 2.1. || ACE, page 40, #1, 2, 29 ||
 * Language || Today we finished editing our short-short, did an online quiz with then vs. than and got spelling lists ready for tomorrows spelling quiz || Finish any unfinished work and practice spelling Quiz tomorrow. ||
 * Reading || We discussed how to use the strategy of connecting in our letters by looking at a student letter that uses connections well. || Thursday and Friday are the days we will be doing the connections assessment. Please discuss how independent reading/ genre requirements are going with your child-some students are doing very well, while some are falling behind. ||