Week of January 28th February 1st

Class Update
As many of you may know, the NASA trip might be canceled due to our President/Senate/House of Representatives who have the government shut down partially. I read there is a deal on the table today to potentially/temporarily re-open until February 15th. Our class even has parents' jobs affected by this. The bottom line is we probably won't go on this trip. This is a sad thing! I will keep you posted. A big thanks to Allison Fessenden for getting the word out about finishing Insurance Paperwork. We are looking good for drivers should we be able to go.

In other news here is an update about the learning happening in Room 20:

Reading-This week we focus on Building Empathy as a reading skill focus during Reader's Workshop. In Perspectives we will wrap up our Animal Ally Unit with "Monkey Madness"

Writing-Our celebration day on Friday went really well when we went to the other 6th grade classes and read their Informational Books. Our class has done an amazing job with their speeches/slide shows! Wow!
We will kick off our new writing unit which focuses on Persuasive Writing. In addition, we will be doing Wordly Wise #10 together as part of our "word work"

Science-We continue our weather/climate unit. In groups we are studying an extreme storm that took place. Individually, we will continue to track weather of our 3 cities around the world.

History-Our class has begun a play about Babylonians, Ancient Man, Kush, and Egypt. Each group is reading through the scripts and selecting roles. Our class will have the opportunity to use Mr. Mc's Green screen for their performance.

HOMEWORK MONDAY
AR - 20 min.
Science World-Read p.4 + 8-11
Science World Code: F9YY2QF
Wordly Wise Packet Due Friday

HOMEWORK TUESDAY
AR 20 Min.
Science World: p. 14-17 "Puzzle  Solver"
+Watch Video
+ Mind Map/In his own Words Handout
Wordly Wise Due Friday

Homework Wednesday
AR 25 Min.
+ Finish Comprehension Science World (use online article/video to help you)
Math 7.3
Wordly Wise 10 Due Friday

Homework Thursday
Finish Reading Science World
+ Comprehension Sheet
Math 7.4
Wordly Wise 10 Due Friday

January 22-25th

Class Update

No School on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.

ELA-We are wrapping up our Info Slide Show and will begin our speeches on Wednesday, January 23rd. In reading we will continue our Animal Allies Unit in My perspectives. We will be  reading Poetry on animals while focusing on Verb tenses and similes in Grammar. In addition, we are learning about the 7 reading comprehension strategies and applying them to stories. (Envisioning, Building Empathy, Inferring, Asking Questions, Determining Importance, Summarizing/Synthesizing)
Accelerated Reader Goals are due by March 5th.

MATH - We kick off Chapter 7 on Equations and Inequalities

SCIENCE - Weather and Climate

FIELD TRIP DRIVER FORMS-Need to filled out with insurance/Driver's License etc.
I will select drivers that finish the paperwork process. By next Friday, January 25th.

Field Trips: Friday, February 22nd (NASA)
Thursday, March 7th-Rosecrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose

SCIENCE PROJECTS-Due next Friday, January 25th (For students that are participating)

HOMEWORK TUESDAY
Reading-AR 25 min.
Practice Informational Speech
Slide Show
Finish Math L 7.1 - Equations
Pajama Day tomorrow!
Find Weather Details on your 3 cities

HOMEWORK WEDNESDAY
Reading-AR 25 min.
Practice Informational Speech
Slide Show
Finish Math L 7.2 - Equations Due Friday
Find Weather Details on your 3 cities
Use Sample Plot Sheet

HOMEWORK THURSDAY
Reading 15 min. AR
Read Play Script Choose a couple of
parts
Khan Math 20 min.
Speech-Practice Slide Show if you haven't
gone yet
Science: Weather Report (Your 3 cities)

Week of January 15th-18th

Welcome back! I hope everybody enjoyed that extended winter break. A huge thanks goes out to all the parents and students for their thoughtful holiday gifts! My family went to the San Jose Sharks to see them play the Tampa Bay Lightning (best team in NHL). They won, which made it even better. My wife and I loved seeing "Vice", as well. Thank you so much for the gift cards to restaurants, movies and tickets! I enjoyed a peaceful break with family and friends. I was able to go to Lake Tahoe with my son and loved our time in the snow, along with playing fun board games. In fact, I bought Code Names for our class, which was especially fun and challenging. In addition, I brought in a variety of board games to help with the long rainy days coming soon in January.

During the break I enjoyed reading a book called the Stand that kept me up late at night. Finally, I golfed with Mr. Kyle and Mr. McMillan a few times, as well. 

Enough about me! It's time to get back to learning.

Class Update:

These next two weeks we will be exploring the amazing life and struggle of Martin Luther King Jr. 

This week we are also doing New Year's Resolutions for school and at home to kick off learning and growth in 2019.

Science-In Science we will be learning about weather and climate.

In Math-We are ahead of both the other classes so we are focusing on our Map test weaknesses by using Khan Math and Moby Max. Next week we will start Chapter 7, which focuses on Equations and Inequalities.

Field Trip Forms were sent home for NASA trip on Friday, February 22nd.

HOMEWORK TUESDAY

MLK Jr. Reading/Comprehension+Vocabulary

Math-Have parents sign/ and you return 

Khan Mappers Goal Sheet 

NASA Field Trip Permission Slip (We need drivers!)

HOMEWORK WEDNESDAY

Read AR 20 min.

MLK Content/Complete Speech Activity (Handout)

Continue MLK "Tynker" Coding Project

in Google Classroom. (20 min.)

HOMEWORK THURSDAY

Read AR 25 min.

Read Newsela MLK + Quiz:

Why Martin Luther King encouraged 225,000 Chicago kids to cut class in 1963

Math - Play Huey Dewey Louie with your parents

Finish Slide Show/Practice Info Speech 

San Jose Sharks game with the family

Lake Tahoe Trip