6th Grade Weekly Newsletter
9/27 - 10/8
Family Dare
We hoped you took advantage of a cute movie night with your family full of goo snacks and treats. It's so hard to put down other distractions anymore like phones, but having a little quality time with family is always worth it!
New Family Dare - Kind Conference Call
If they don't pick up, leave an EPIC voicemail filled with some kind words from each family member.
Character Strong Recognition
Information from the 6th Grade Team
ELA
This week, we began our new unit: Theme and Summary. Students took a Pretest on Monday when I was gone. To begin this unit though, we had to discuss Plot and the Plot Diagram to see how those elements can help us determine Theme and Summary. We took notes over the Plot Diagram and had fun plotting out the events of some fun Pixar Shorts. Next week, we will start to practice using plots to help us write summaries and good themes.
Also this week, students received their grade for the Commas and Capitalization Quiz they took on Friday, October 2nd. Most students seem to be satisfied by their grade, but if they weren't or thought they could do better, retake forms were due to me today - Friday, October 8th. If your student turned in a form, I will be scheduling their retake next week either on Tuesday in FPC or Tuesday or Thursday in Academic Lab.
As always, please encourage your student to keep reading at least 20 minutes a day! We try our best as teachers to encourage this habit if students have free time during the school day, but middle school gets busy with assignments to work on and incentives for LiveSchool. It will help students reach their weekly reading goals and, hopefully, make progress on their 1st Quarter Reading Journal that we update weekly on our Library Days. The due date for the 1st Quarter Reading Journal is quickly approaching and it will be for an assessment grade (the only one not able to turn in late or redo) on the last day of the quarter, Friday, October 22nd.
Science
We have been really busy in Science! We just completed our first part of our Rock Cycle Unit - Earth's Layers and are in progress with our Weathering, Erosion, Deposition portion.
Next week, we will move on to the Rock Cycle. With that being said, we could use your help. If you could donate a bag of Starburst for a lab activity it would be much appreciated.
Math
If you have any questions or concerns about math, please contact Ms. Klingele by email and she will try to get back to you as soon as she can.
Social Studies
We have been learning about different types of governments, democracies, monarchies, and authoritarian governments. We have also discussed the 3 branches of government; legislative, executive, and judicial branches. We have discussed what each branch does and how they check on the other branches of government.
We are beginning to conclude our first unit. This next week we will be starting our unit 1 review with our unit 1 test to follow. I will be uploading on our classes google classroom page resources the students can use to study and prepare for the unit test.
After our unit 1 test we will be moving on to unit 2 where we will be covering the United States and Canada.
If you have any questions please email me at griffinb@platteco.k12.mo.us
Specials
PE
We took advantage of the nice weather and started our Soccer unit with a group doing soccer games outside and a group playing 4-corner soccer inside. Everyone did one activity for two days, then switched to the other. We finished the week with a Cardio Day, focusing on getting our heart rates up and improving our cardiovascular endurance.
Choir
Choir updates can be found on our website: https://barryschoolchoirs.weebly.com/
You can also follow Mrs. Harris on Twitter to see what is happening in choir @mrsharrismusic
Band
If you have any questions or concerns, please email our new Instrumental Music Teacher Mackenzie Brazier at brazierm@platteco.k12.mo.us.
Art
This week 6th grade has been exploring monochromatic color schemes. Next week we will use our monochromatic color scheme to paint a landscape. Using only Black, White, and their chosen color.
World Language
Students have just begun their last language of the class: Spanish! We will be working on comparing and contrasting cultural norms, counting to 10, identifying colors, and carrying out a conversation. In our last few class periods together students will choose a country to research a bit about. Our last day together is Friday, October 22nd, then they will go to a new elective class.
Computer Literacy
Students are focusing on learning about Google Sheets and making spreadsheets that calculate values as well as create "fancy charts" (one of their descriptions!) Once we finish practicing these skills, they will take a short assessment and finish up the quarter with some digital citizenship and some animation fun!
PLTW - Flight and Space
6th grade students are currently working on their Space Unit! Students have made chemical reactions to launch rockets, made orbits out of balloons and lots of other fun experiments. Over the next two weeks kids will be talking about what it takes to live in space!
Reading 180
If you have any questions or concerns, please email our new Reading Specialist Tanya Fleming at flemingt@platteco.k12.mo.us.
Important Dates to Remember
Monday, October 11th: NO SCHOOL (District Inservice Day)
Tuesday, October 12th/Tuesday, October 19th: 6th Grade Incentive Day
Wednesday, October 20th: PLC Day (students released at 12:50pm)
Friday, October 22nd: End of 1st Quarter