Greetings 6th grade,
Before we dive into our academic updates, a few announcements:
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Ms. Chow has started teaching both ELA and Social Studies, so please contact her with questions about assignments in those classes/feel welcome to attend her office hours at 3pm each day if students have questions.
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All students are expected to be using their school Chromebooks for remote learning. Using the Chromebook allows teachers to best support students, regardless of their learning environment. If this is a problem for any reason, please reach out to the teachers ASAP.
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Today is the last day of Trimester 2. Any missing assignments must be shared/emailed directly to teachers by 8AM Monday morning in order to go into the gradebook. Thank you.
This week:
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In ELA: students used knowledge of connotation to vote on new class names. “ELA A” is now the Poodles and “ELA B” is now the Cacti. Next, we moved into a new reading and writing unit: Dystopia! We defined “dystopia” with a 2-day guided notes session, then students got to meet in small groups with peers who will be reading the name novel for Literature Circles (each week, students will complete 1 page from their Lit Circle Packet; this will be due every Wednesday in March). Audio for each book is available on Google Classroom.
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In Social Studies: students have officially started studying Ancient Egypt. We began with some vocabulary word presentations on FlipGrid. Then, students dove into the geography of the Nile, with the opportunity to use a textbook as well as complete some digital mapping activities. There will be a quiz on the material Monday, to help determine if more practice is necessary before continuing with our unit.
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In Science: bring on all the acronyms with CERs and GMOs in Science this week. CERs were introduced as an important form of Scientific writing (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning). With the help of the wonderful Ms. Naomi, the students took a side on the issue of GMO usage in foods and animals. (GMOs are genetically modified organisms which ties nicely to our recent discussions on Genetics.) Next week, we will explore Punnett squares before concluding our Structure of Life unit.
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In Math: both of Mrs. Wright’s math classes (formerly A&B, now Poodle and Cacti) took end of module assessments this week. Those scores will not appear in the 2nd trimester gradebook. The Poodle Math class is headed into Expressions and Equations while the Cacti Math group will begin some Geometry concepts in Module 5.
Important Dates
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Today, Fri Feb 26: End of Trimester 2; Early Release, 1PM dismissal
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Fri, Mar 5: Materials Pick-up (remote students only)
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Thur, Mar 11: Student-led Conferences (link to sign-up coming next week)
-Ms. Turner & the Sixth Grade Team