Archives

Week 14

Nov15

Thank you all who participated in our annual Chili Cook Off!  This is my all time favorite community building event.

This week we are busy working and learning many new and different things.

Cultural

We have an amazing parent volunteer (and close friend of mine) teaching Botany lessons this year.  We are so lucky to have Rachael Bush in our classrooms once a month giving foundation lessons!  She brings a passion and energy to this subject that cannot be matched!  We are learning about the importance of roots as supporters and nitrogen fixers (thank you symbiotic relationships!).  We will be following up in class with a traveling nitrogen activity as well as a beautiful work demonstrating the nitrogen cycle.

International Festival is a month away.  Please be sure your child is working on this project at home.  The expectations for this project were given to your student, and can also be found under the International Festival tab at the top of the blog.  This year the festival will be held on Monday, December 19 from 9-11.  Parents are welcome to attend.

4th Level  – We have just started our fractions studies in class.  With Thanksgiving right around the corner, this is a wonderful time to have your child practice using fractions in the real world by reading recipes, measuring ingredients and spending time with family in the kitchen!  Understanding of fractions is a crucial part of our world.

5th Level  – We are continuing our fraction studies this week with multiplication of fractions by whole numbers.  Do you have a recipe that is written for 4, and need to scale it up for 8? Allow your child to help you with this fun and important task during the holidays when it is natural for you to spend time in the kitchen.

6th Level – Currently, rates and ratios are the focus of our math studies   Like fractions, ratios are used in the kitchen.  What better time to practice in the real world than during the time of year we spend a lot of time cooking and preparing for guests.

Redwoods payment due Wednesday, November 16.

Finally, if you have any questions regarding any of the grade level home projects, or the international festival, please send me an email.

No School – Monday, November 21-Friday, November 25.

 

Week 13 Update

Nov9

Happy Wednesday!

First of all, my apologies for the lack of blog and email updates.  My computer has not been working properly and I’ve had extremely limited internet and server access.  I have a temporary solution for now.  Hopefully I can get quickly caught up and back on track with my communication.

Due to the late notice, there are only 2 IXL assignments this week.  They are posted on the IXL page at the top of the blog and your student should have them written in their planners.  This reduced assignment load should have allowed some time for those students who are behind to get caught up.

4th – We are deep in our studies of Utah History and have finished up talking about early explorers and the Spanish Trail (ask your kiddos about our adventure!).  Utah History Fair topics were due last Friday.  Your students should have brought home their project timeline.  This timeline can also be found at the top of the blog.  Research notes, the first big step in the project, are due November 28.

5th – The invention convention assignments have gotten off to a very slow start.  Out of nine students, only 3 have turned in their first assignment.  The second assignment, “Problem Selection” is due Monday, November 14.  Please check in with your kids to see what help they need.  Partial completion of each assignment will not be accepted.  The more details they include now, the easier their end product will be.  A timeline of due dates can be found at the top of the blog.

6th – Our Expert Project is deep in the second week of note card development.  The project has been carefully designed to break down every step of the research process.  I can provide the instruction and help with questions during class time, but it is up to your children to take the initiative to complete the work.  It is crucial that your kids stay on task.  It is my goal to not give any work related to this project over Thanksgiving Break; however, if your child is missing assignments, they will need to be completed during this time.

Lastly, don’t forget our annual Chili Cook-Off tomorrow, November 10.  It’s not too late to sign up to bring a pot of chili to support this fun community event!

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Fall Festival Help Needed and 6th Grade Student Volunteer Opportunity

Oct12

Please read the following message from our MAPA and Fundraising Parent Liason:

We need parents of sixth graders to help with the set up and clean up for the food trucks at the Fall Festival this Friday.

In preparation for the food trucks, we will need 4 or 5 parents to help set up tables right after pick up,  and 4 or 5 parents to help take down tables after the festival is over.  If you can help please contact brianne.mcmullin@gmail.com.

We are also in need 2 sixth graders at 5:00 and 2 sixth graders at 6:00 to help bus tables.  This is an excellent opportunity for your children to get some of their service hours.  Sixth graders are welcome to help more if they would like to.

Also, we are still short quite a few volunteers and have resorted to making closed signs that we will have to put on games/rides if we still have all these holes. That makes us so sad, but we just don’t have another option.   Please sign up to help our class.  You don’t have to be a 6th grade parent to sign up.  All parents are expected to volunteer 40 hrs each year.  Helping out with the ride is an easy way to get an hour of time, while your kiddos are having fun.

Thank you,

Brianne McMullin and Heidi Bradley

6th Grade Parent Meeting

Aug31

Attention 6th Grade Parents!

Our first meeting of the year regarding the Redwoods field trip is next Thursday, September 8 at 6pm in the library.  This meeting is for parents and 6th grade students.

Please make other arrangements for siblings so that your attention can be wholly on the meeting and your 6th grade child.

See you there!