Mrs. Blankenship's News You Can Use
Week of March 14th
Spring Pictures!
Spring pictures were sent home today in your child's Friday Folder. Please note that these pictures were not prepaid. Only class pictures were prepaid, and I sent those home last week.
Next week is already going to be busy due to district assessments and finalizing grades for report cards. Here is where I really need your help! I will be collecting money and/or pictures Monday-Friday next week. If you wish to purchase pictures, that is great. Please just send the payment. If you do not wish to purchase the pictures, please just send them back. If you want some of the pictures, and not the rest, just pay for what you like and return what is left. That's it! It will help me more than you can imagine if you do one or the other by next Friday. Instructions will be sent home with pictures today, however, I am appealing to you now before the long weekend gets here. It is very important that 100% of my collections are complete.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you so very much for your attention and support.
Curriculum Update...
Reading- We will begin the 4th MP with a daily grade covering information regarding the Japanese internment camps. Emphasis on the quality of work will be expected. The DG will be given Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will have time reserved for the students to perform their plays.
Writing- Our focus for this marking period is opinion writing. While we do not have an assessment until the week of March 31st, we will work on gathering and supporting opinions in non-fiction texts. I will also be conferring with students on their recent writing piece. This grade has been entered into the portal for your review.
Word Study- We will begin our new root "crat/cracy." All roots for the marking period (ate/ation and phobe/phobia) are available on Quizlet. If students scroll down to where terms were loaded August 2015, the words lists will be found. The DG will be given Friday, March 18th.
Grammar-The first skill covered this marking period will be looking at verb tenses and the proper use of semi-colons. A DG will be given Wednesday. From there, we will cycle back to a review of figurative language. Be prepared for puns! (My apologies in advance!)
Homework:
The students will be writing a thank you letter to our WWII guest speaker, Shannon Hudson. The letter is due Wednesday. A FrontRow reading and writing assignment will be posted Monday. It will be due Friday. The expectation for 30 minutes of nightly reading and documentation in the agenda remains for Monday-Thursday.
Math- In math next week, we will wrap up our study of two dimensional figures, volume, and measurement with a cumulative test. This test covers quite a bit of material. A study guide for that test will be handed out on Monday and is due on Tuesday. The test will be either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on student readiness. Please check your child's agenda or the eClass calendar for the date.
I'd like to pass on another reminder that sixth grade math content is available on my eClass page and that all of my homeroom students and Mrs. Blankenship's students have access to this content. If you want to get a head start on the sixth grade math content, downloading these PDFs and working through them is a great idea. Send them in to me and I will check the work and provided additional support for your child.
Social Studies- In social studies next week, we will start chapter 9, which covers the 1950's and the post-war world. There are no assessments next week. We will also review for the district assessment.
Science- In science next week, we will begin our unit on electricity and magnetism by first exploring static electricity. We will also review briefly for the district assessment.
Dates to remember
The last day to accept Jackson Jam orders is Monday, March 14th. An order form was sent via email today.
Don't forget to "spring ahead" Sunday! We begin Daylight Saving Time!
Thursday- March, 17th-St. Patrick's Day! Wear green!
Friday- March 18th- Jackson Jam
Tuesday- March 22nd (6:00 PM)- Northbrook Middle School Parent Night.
Friday- March 25th- Report cards will be sent home.