SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

Hope you enjoyed an extra week of Winter Vacation! I missed all of you this last week. I hope that all of my students past and present have a wonderful holiday break, and I can't wait to see you when school resumes on January 5th. Check often, I'll try to post pictures of anything exciting that happens over break!

Snow!

It's been snowing at my house for a couple hours, do you see any where you are?

This Week in Core: December 8 - December 12

9 school days left before winter break! Woo-hoo!

I hope that you are all settling in to Trimester 2. We sure have a lot on our plates this week and next week, and after 9 days of craziness, a 2 week break will come as a much needed gift.

First, I'd like to direct you to the main page, where I have been adding to the list of "cool things" for you to check out.

Here's what is happening this week:

Monday: Create a Culture final draft work time
Tuesday: Create a Culture due (after one period of work time), library to get a new book
Wednesday: Chapter 5 section 1 (due), novel project work time
Thursday: Chapter 5 section 2, winter words skit prep
Friday: import/export simulation (this may get moved or canceled based on how much time we have), special assembly schedule, sci-fi/fantasy book due

Important Dates:
December 9th: Create a Culture DUE!
December 12th: Band/choir/strings conert assembly
December 16th: 6th grade movie trip
December 18th: Spelling Test
December 18th: Chapter 5 TEST
December 19th: Novel Project DUE
December 19th: Afternoon mini-incentive (special schedule)
December 19th: 6th grade OAKS incentive (1st period or 6th period depending on your CORE class)
December 20th: first day of WINTER BREAK!

Have a great week!

Welcome to 2nd Trimester!

I hope that you had a fabulous Thanksgiving.

The Civil War was incredibly disappointing, so much so that I refuse to discuss it in class at all. The atmosphere at the game even before it started seemed really strange, like something was about to happen and we didn't know what...and my friends, that is exactly what ended up happening. The Ducks dominated my poor Beavers and none of us (not even a large flock of Duck fans) saw that one coming.

This week we put Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping and the 7th oldest college football rivalry in the nation behind us and turn our attention toward December, winter, and of course our fabulous new friend Trimester number two.

Here's where we are headed:

Social Studies
This trimester we leave behind the beginnings of geography and embrace our northern neighbor Canada with open arms. Before we head north we have to discuss natural resources, and finish up with culture. This week in SS students will work on finishing their Create a Culture final drafts. At the beginning of the week all SS students in the building will compete in the National Geographic Geography Bee. Students with exceptional scores will move on to the next round.

Language Arts
Reading logs are changing this trimester. On Wednesday, students will receive their trimester 2 reading log complete with explanation and due dates. Also, students are reading a Sci-Fi/Fantasy book and will be recieveing their novel project outline on Tuesday. The novel project is due on December 19th.

Have a great week!

Have a super trimester!

and always and FOREVER: Go Beavs!

This week in Core: end of the Trimester, Turkey Day, Civil War

We've made it to the end of our first trimester!

Here is a list of what's happening in class this week:

Monday: Last day to turn in late work/make-up work/extra credit for Core. We'll be in the library typing our how-to paragraphs which are due on Tuesday. In Social Studies we'll be doing a mini-incentive period with the other 6th grade Core classes.

Tuesday: locker clean out. We're back in the library to finish our paragraphs. In Social Studies students are working to finish their Create a Culture rough drafts (due Wednesday).

Wednesday: Beaver/Duck Day! How to Packets will be collected, and Create a Culture rough drafts are due at the end of the period.

Notes about the end of the trimester:
1. Reading logs will be changing for Trimester 2, which means that students will NOT receive a new one on Wednesday, Nov 26th. Students are encouraged to read over the Thanksgiving break but a log will not be collected.

2. Remember that there is no school on Monday, December 1, 2008. This is our grading day!

Finally,

Have a safe, and wonderful Thanksgiving! Remember to root for the Beavs on November 29th. Watch the game on Versus at 4pm and look for me and my family in the stands!

GO BEAVS!

This Week in Core: Nov 17 - Nov 21

Greetings!

This week we have Twilight fever, well I suppose it's fair to say that I have Twilight fever, but a large number of students and staff seem to have it as well (the movie opens Friday).

In Language Arts we have begun our process paper assignment, more affectionately known as the How to Packet. The packet will be our focus for this week and next week. Please see the due dates below. In addition, there are 2 more reading logs due before the end of the trimester (this Wednesday Nov 19th and next Wednesday Nov 26th).

How-to Packet Deadlines
Page 1 and Page 2: due at the end of the period Nov 17th
Page 3: due at the end of the period Nov 18th
Steps 3, 4, and 5: due at the end of the period Nov 20th
Steps 6 and 7: due at the end of the period Nov 21st
Step 8: typed in class Nov 24th and 25th
Last day to work on the packet in class: Nov 25th
Packet and paragraph (rough and final draft) due: Nov 26th

In Social Studies we continue our study of culture. This week we look at the ways in which geography defines a culture. On Wednesday students will begin the Create a Culture project. Please check back for details on this project.

Important Dates to Remember:
November 24th: Last day for late work/EC/make up work for Core
November 26th: Last day of Trimester 1
November 26th: Beaver/Duck Day (CIVIL WAR IS NOVEMBER 29th!!!!!)
November 27 -28:N No School (Thanksgiving)
December 1st: No School (grading day)
December 12th: Science fiction/fantasy book needs to be completed

Have a great week!

Check out this picture (from Sunday's sports section):

This Week in Core: November 10 - 14

I apologize for my lack of blogging last week, I was sick.

Here is the roundup for this week in core:

Language Arts:
On Monday we will review adjectives, homophones and verbs in anticipation of our adjective, homophone and verb quiz on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday we will have a reading log quiz. On Thursday we'll review transition words and on Friday we will begin our expository writing assignment: the how to paragraph.

Social Studies:
In Social Studies this week we will begin to unravel the meaning of culture by doing a number of activities and readings. Later in the week, students will start creating their own culture for the created countries.

Remember NO SCHOOL on TUESDAY in observation of Veteran's Day.