http://2.bp.blogspot.com/Good evening, everyone--
Sixth graders have spent the last few days talking about the ways in which they learn. Discussions about right brain/left brain dominance and visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning preferences have been rich and have provided an opportunity for the students to consciously identify both their challenges and their strengths in learning. Their second writing piece, entitled "How I Learn," incorporates all that they have discovered and presents a "shapshot" of how they see themselves as learners. They're quite interesting to read. You'll see them at Open House.
http://serc.carleton.edu/images/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer/teaching/learning_styles.jpgSixth graders took their first test in Social Studies today as part of their map skills/geography unit. They will bring them home to show you--please sign and return. (Students are required to keep all paperwork in their folder until the end of the unit.) There were some pretty impressive scores! FYI: You will notice that some students got a point taken away for misspelling a word. As sixth graders, they must get into the habit of copying accurately--it matters!
Fifth Grade will take this test tomorrow. Same test, same expectations.
We've done Vocabulary instead of Spelling this week, and have quickly discovered that we can easily do both. From this point on, after we go over the words, Vocabulary will be more independent and can go home for homework and we'll go back to having a weekly "packet" that includes Spelling and Daily Oral Language (DOL), which we do here as a class activity. It should never need to make its way home. (Spelling words can be provided for studying, of course.) The DOL, for example, is discussed and completed together. It will eventually involve developing and diagramming pretty sophisticated sentences! Occasional assessments will be given to insure that everyone understands the concepts. First assessment is on Friday -- Nouns and Verbs.
Book projects will be due on Friday, also. We've been working on them here since yesterday. Two students did not complete their books; please encourage your child's reading whenever possible. Remember, they are required to read two books per month as part of their Reading grade.
I guess that's it for now; I hope everyone is home and unwinding by now. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
R/
Teri
