Mr. Kohler's Classroom News
Parent Newsletter--September 8, 2014
Class Info and Reminders
Please use the classroom website to find your child's weekly spelling/vocabulary list (these will start this week). We will always do an activity in class with these words that is due on Friday. At home, I need the kids to do a practice spelling test and vocabulary quiz. You can either email me that you did it, sign in their planner, or send in the practice test with your signature. Any of these are fine with me, as long as I get it by Friday.
The third-sixth grade students/teachers will be using ClassDojo this year for our classroom management and positive behavior support system. You and your child should have activated your account using the code I emailed you or gave you on the paper. This program allows us to award positive and negative points for student behaviors. The goal is for them to earn more positive points which can be "spent" to buy rewards. We have reviewed the rewards in class, and the students are excited about this program. You will also receive a weekly email about your child's behavior for the week, so you are aware if there are any issues. If you have questions please let me know.
Mr. Kohler's Email
Thursday, September 18--Frankenmuth Fundraiser Kick-Off
Wednesday, September 24--School Pictures
5th Grade Info
We have started the year out doing a little bit of review of the concepts we learned last year. Last week, we reviewed fractions and negative numbers. We will be getting into our Journals this week. Our first unit will be on "Number Theory". Most of this unit will focus on our rules for multiplication/division, number pairs, and factors.
Social Studies
Social Studies in fifth grade is one of the funniest years (in my opinion)! This is the year that the students finally get to learn about the early American History. We will learn about American History up to about 1800. We will learn about Native Americans, Explorers, Colonization, Slavery, French & Indian War, Revolutionary War, and the Constitution.
Last week, we reviewed different features of maps and map skills. This was necessary for both grades to help them with the content we will be studying in the upcoming weeks.
Reading
Our reading class will be very similar to last year (for those students that were in my class). We will do many of the lessons together "whole group". However, the expectations obviously will be slightly different for the two grades. Last week, we started a Buddy Book with a partner(s). The students were able to choose a novel of their choice that they will read and complete activities on over the next couple of weeks.
Your child's reading grade will consist of classroom assignments and their AR reading goal. The AR reading goal will account for 25% of their reading grade. The 5th grade will need 15 AR points for the first marking period (approximately 9 weeks). The books will need to be at or above the student's reading range.
Science
In fifth grade science, we are starting a new unit called “Systems and Survival”. In this unit we will cover classification and dichotomous keys, the animal kingdom, cells, the human body, and heredity. This will take us most of the marking period to complete.
Writing
This year we will continue to build on the students' writing skills. We will do a lot of our writing on the student Google accounts, just like last year. The students were all able to sign into their accounts last week. Feel free to have them sign in at home and work on writing activities as needed. I have put their Login below, and they all know their passwords.
Google Account Login--lastname.firstname@students.browncityschools.org
6th Grade Info
We have started the year out doing a little bit of review of the concepts we learned last year. Last week, we reviewed fractions, vocabulary terms, factors, and negative numbers. We will be getting into our Journals this week. Our first unit will be on "Collection, Display, and Interpretation of Data". We will be Comparing Data, Using Statistical Landmarks, Using Stem-and-Leaf Plots, and Graphing Data.
Social Studies
Sixth grade social studies will build upon the American History curriculum your child had last year. This year, our focus will be on the Western Hemisphere (concentrating on most of the hemisphere except the United States). We will focus on South America, Canada, and Mexico. Our first three chapters will take us through the next several weeks, and they all focus on different aspects of Geography in the Western Hemisphere.
Reading
Our reading class will be very similar to last year (for those students that were in my class). We will do many of the lessons together "whole group". However, the expectations obviously will be slightly different for the two grades. Last week, we started a Buddy Book with a partner(s). The students were able to choose a novel of their choice that they will read and complete activities on over the next couple of weeks.
Your child's reading grade will consist of classroom assignments and their AR reading goal. The AR reading goal will account for 25% of their reading grade. The 5th grade will need 16 AR points for the first marking period (approximately 9 weeks). The books will need to be at or above the student's reading range.
Science
In sixth grade science we began a new unit called “Objects in the Sky”, which covers various elements of the earth/moon/sun system, tides and seasons as well as space.
Writing
This year we will continue to build on the students' writing skills. We will do a lot of our writing on the student Google accounts, just like last year. The students were all able to sign into their accounts last week. Feel free to have them sign in at home and work on writing activities as needed. I have put their Login below, and they all know their passwords.
Google Account Login--lastname.firstname@students.browncityschools.org
One thing new for the sixth graders this year will be our "Research Projects". I have set these up as essentially an independent study for the students to learn about topics they are interested in. About every 3 weeks the students will be given a very general topic by me, and they will pick anything they want that falls into that topic to research. They will have a few days of class time to work on this each week. They will be responsible for coming up with questions to research and using various resources to find the answers. They will also create about a 10-12 presentation/lesson to share with the class and teach us about their topic. The presentation can be organized and done however they would like. My role in this will be more of a "guide" as they need me. The grade will consist of an outline/plan/organizer, a list of sources, and their overall presentation. Each project will be worth 40 points and will count toward one of their core subject grades.
Our first project has already been assigned, and the students have chosen their topics. Their general topic was "Famous/Important/Historical Places". The students came up with some amazing topics to research, and I am very excited to learn from their presentations in a few weeks.
Ipads
School Policy Reminders
- No guns/knives or other weapons allowed at school
- Cell Phones--If your child does have a cell phone it is to be OFF during school hours and in the desk or locker. If they need to contact you or any other adult they are to use the office phone (or they can have me email you).
- If you are picking your child up prior to the bell ringing at the end of the day, you must sign them out at the office.
- If you are picking your child up at the end of the day, please wait in the entry way by the office.
- When your child arrives at school they will go into the cafeteria and get their breakfast (if they are eating at school).