New Year

Hey Kids!! I'm glad to see you still stop by the blog now and then. THis summer has absolutely flown by, I can't believe that school is about to start again. I have had so much fun playing with Brighton, Vacationing, and finishing my Masters degree. Its nice to be done. Brighton has gotten so big, you just wouldn't believe. In June I was in Vegas for my grandpa's 80th birthday and saw my kindergarten teacher there. It was so much fun to catch up with her, she will be teaching again this coming year. She was excited to see me as well. I will always love to talk with you guys as you continue through your lives. Keep me up to date on all that happens. I am excited for your new year at the Jr.High and hope that all goes well. I have opened up the comments so you can get on and let me know about your first day. You know where I am if you every need any help next year.

Brighton's Bouncer!

Thanks to all who donated to Brighton's new Bouncer. He absolutely loves it and has already spent lots of time playing and smiling in it!

I'm Back!

Coming back to teaching today was Bitter Sweet. Although I greatly miss my little Brighton it is so fun to be with my students again!! They have been so wonderful on my first day back, its like we never skipped a beat. We are going to continue learning up until the end of the year. This week the students are doing some 7th grade algebra. I know they can handle it. We will also do writer's workshop, guided reading, and social studies. Today we started reading the last book in the Lightning Thief series. I just hope we can finish before the end of the year.
I feel truely blessed to have the students I have this year. They have made it so easy for me to come back to them. Thanks for all your help and support!

Brighton is Born!

Last Monday Brighton decided he was ready to join us in the world. My goal was to make it past Parent/Teacher conferences and I was able to do that. Mother and baby are doing well. Chris and I are so excited to have him and are enjoying parenthood. I know my wonderful students are left in great hands. I talked with Ms. Tagg and she said they are being angels for her; I knew they would. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns about the class. Here are a few pictures of my little cutie!href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GBZ1kTF8-QHHc4mEILu6u5cc2lnXSFuz8WSAiy_2pIB5LRhBmP_tN4hQpckP8c_XtGDI2tsKPNRTUBrH1VcvQmneu1D0Vwva9pAvXWTqJvJUiBTyH84uBMYTJLPNWxEXSxGDjnoa1HoI/s1600-h/P1010256.JPG">

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Students: If you visited the blog, come tell me one thing you saw or read and you will get a surprise!

This week is the end of our third term. I can't believe how fast the time has been going by!! I am excited to meet with all the parents one last time on Thursday night. Make sure your student has given you the time of your conference and you have signed it so I am able to plan for attendance.

Literacy: We are so excited to be doing book groups again. The students are reading books like Crispin, The Uglies, Naomi Leon, Peak, and Ida B. Students are writing myths about a character they created. They had a lesson on writing descriptive settings and are incorporated that knowledge into their writing. There is no spelling test this week, but students will be tested on their latest 25 vocabulary words.

Math: We are continuing the add and subtract with positive and negative integers. The students are wonderful at knowing how and why it works. They will be learning how to do it on a numberline and read story problems that deal with positive and negative integers this week. On Thursday they will be tested on this knowledge.

Social Studies: Ms. Tagg has begun teaching the class about the Middle Ages. They read a book that answered silly questions about this time period like, "Why do castles have moats", and "why did ladies wear pointed hats?" They are now researching the different levels in their class system and preparing presentations to teach the class about their given level.

Science: Students made a model of the Solar System's distances between each planet. They also learned how long it would take to travel to each planet.

Thanks for visiting our blog!

Lovin' Life

I feel like we have been just having tons of fun the past few weeks in class!! The students had their Jazz Player Assembly, and a Fear Factor Assembly where the teachers preformed some crazy things like Kissing Pigs and a Jello eating contest. We took the Persuasive Writing Test and I think the students did an excellent job!!

Literacy: I was so impressed by the students' book projects for The Lightning Thief. They were very creative. The class is excited to have some time to write their own stories instead of working on Persuasive Writing. They created life size character drawings from the book as well and will begin Guided Reading again this week.

Math: We have moved on to working with integers, and rational numbers. The class has learned to compare them and will be working on adding and subtracting them this week. On Tuesday and Thursday the students will be video taped for my final Masters project.

Social Studies: Last week we finished watching Ben Hur and Ms. Tag taught the students about the fall of Rome. The Empire was to big to hold itself together. They will begin learning about the Middle Ages this week.

Science: Mr. Groneman continues to teach about the solar system. They are learning about the sizes and distances between the planets.

After all our Assemblies and Projects it will be nice to get back into a regular schedule. Inside your student's homework folder you will find their SIS login. It would be useful for you and your student to look through their grades this week before conferences.

Please make sure to turn in Jr. HIgh Registration Papers and Purple shot papers. The students will not receive their class schedule for next year until the shot papers have been returned!!

Into March

I cannot believe how fast time flies these days!! Everyday I think about how lucky I am to have this job. I enjoy being with my students and look forward to teaching and learning from them.

Literacy: We finished our book The Lightning Thief and have started listening to the sequel on an ipod. Technology has really changed things! The students are working on book projects of their chose. Some are writing stories about things that happened before this book, others are making comics, or drawing large illustrations of scenes. I have read very creative scripts for parts of the book and looked at some very creative character trading cards. The students have really been able to show their creative side in these projects.
The Persuasive writing test will be giving on Thursday. Please send your child to school with lots of rest and a full stomach. I know they will do a wonderful job as they have been working very hard the past few months.

Math: This week we will continue to work on percents, decimals, and fractions as some students still need another day on the concept. We will also move on to positive and negative integers.

Social Studies: We began watching the movie Ben Hur. It really depicts how the Romans lived. This week we will finish the movie and learn about the decline of the Roman Empire.

Science: The students have been researching and preparing a presentation on part of the Solar System. They will share these with their classmates on Monday. They learned the order of the planets and an acronym to help remember that order.

On Friday I sent home a purple sheet of paper about shots they will need in the seventh grade. Please get these returned as soon as possible. Students will not be registered for Jr.High until the school receives this data.

There is also a paper for Peaks Readers. THe students need to return this at the end of March with the required about of reading (easy for these kids) and they will get a free pass to seven peaks for a day.

Ms. Tagg has recently joined our class. She is fulfilling her last requirements before she becomes a teacher and we are very excited to have her. She will be in the classroom until Spring Break

Recent Pictures

I finally got my camera to download on the computer so here are some pictures you've been missing out on!

We had tons of fun at our Greek Olympics.

That's right, SciErra won the wrestling event against our class and Mrs. Davis'. That girl sure is strong!!



The kids looked great dressed up as Romans and did an amazing job on their presentations! The other classes enjoyed having visitors from the past.

Monday, February 23

We seem to have been quite busy lately, but having tons of fun!

Literacy: We will be finishing The Lightning Thief this week and completing some fun book projects. The students continue to work on their persuasive writing. Together we read some essays written by other students and looked at their scores. It was interesting to look at how the six traits are graded. Students will be taking this test within the first two weeks of March.

Math: Students have been comparing fractions, decimals, and percents and changing the three back and forth. This week they will be learning how to find a percent of a number. Use their knowledge to help you do your bargain shopping. Students also took a math placement test for next year on Friday.

Science: The class finished learning about Microorganisms last week and took their test on the subject. This week they will begin learning about the Solar System with Mr. Groneman.

Social Studies: The students learned how to write an outline while reading out of our Social Studies book. This will be very helpful to them through out the years of reading text books.

Our class has done great on their Jazz reading minutes. Tonight is their last night to get any minutes in. After that we will go back to normal weekly homework.

Thanks for all your help and support! My students are wonderful and we have a great feel in our classroom of community and friendship.

Another Great Week

We had so much fun in class last week with our Rome Presentations, Ice Skating, and making mini mes!

Literacy: We continue to work on persuassive writing. The students started their own essay trying to convince a family to move to Mapleton. We are reaching the end of our shared reading book, The Lightning Thief and are excited to find out what happens in the end. The students have been making connections to the book through their daily journal prompts.

Math: Students were sent home with a Proportions assessment. This needs to be returned this week. For a performance assessment in class they have been making a "Quarter-sized" me. They measured all over themselves, divided the measurements by 4 and used these to draw a mini me with the same proportions as themselves. They turned out great and will be in the hall soon!

Science: Mrs. Andersen continues to teach the class about microorganisms. Caleb Young won our Moldy Universe Pagent. They also made decomposing chambers and are watching mold grow from various places they swiped around the school.

Social Studies: I was so impressed with the class as they presented their Roman Character to the other sixth grade classes. They stood up there with such confidence and all looked great in their togas! Thanks to those who brought a few extra and Mrs. Harris for providing us with gold for around their waste!

Jazz Reading

The students did an excellent job last week, but we need to keep up the hard work! We got second place in the sixth grade with 26,483 total minutes. I think we could have gotten first place if everyone remembered to turn in their minutes on time. The next batch of minutes is due Tuesday the 17th. Please make sure your student brings them to school. GO Jazz!

Welcome to our Blog!

I am excited for everyone to be connected electronically. I will be updating at least once a week so make sure to check back often!

Literacy:
The students have been cruising throught The Lightning Thief and have enjoyed every minute of it. The connections they make to their social studies knowledge has been amazing. We just met Ares, the god of War, in the latest chapter. We continue to work on our persuassive writing. The assessment will be in the beginning of March.

Math:
We have enjoyed math this week working with proportions and scale drawings. The students are creating floor plans for my house and coming up with the actual size of their drawing.

Science: Students looked at pond life and saw the most interesting microorganisms living in it.

Social Studies: The students learned about the Roman government and the three Punic Wars that involved Rome. They created television newscasts to teach each other of the wars' events. This week students will learn about a famous Roman and prepare a presentation to give to the other classes. They will need to bring a bed sheet on Friday, Feb. 13th to turn into a toga for their presentation.

The Jazz Reading Contest is going well. Our class was in the lead for the first week beating Mr. Groneman's class by 400 minutes. Keep up the great work!

I love working with these students. Their bubbly personalities bring joy to my life everyday!