Hello everyone,
With just a few weeks left in the first quarter, the 6th graders have been very busy! Last week, we had three different speakers. Ken Bradford, a retired journalist for the South Bend Tribune, spoke about his trip to the Mayan ruins in Mexico. We Skyped with a woman named Diane Sherman who hiked the Incan trail and visited Machu Picchu in Peru. Her pictures were amazing; ask your children to show you! Lastly, Bill Bradford, (yes, Ken Bradford's son) a teacher in South Bend, shared his pictures and experiences of traveling in Athens, Rome, and Pompei. The students really took a deeper interest in the civilizations once they saw remnants of these places still exist today. I've attached some pictures if you're interested!
IMPORTANT DATE: On Wednesday, October 9, there will be an optional parent meeting for students in 5th and 6th grade Innovation Academy (PBL). The meeting will start at 6pm. If you have questions about Echo, grading, and other PBL related topics, please attend this informational meeting.
Here's a look at what's happening in 6th grade this week:
6th Grade Math: The students did an excellent job presenting their Birthday Party Planning pitches; some were very creative! This week, on Tuesday, the students will have a Common Assessment over decimals. Monday will be spent as review. The rest of the week students will begin working with fractions: Greatest common factor, least common multiple, simplest form, and ordering of fractions. They will have lessons on Digits covering these topics.
Math HW: Complete 60 minutes of IXL
Language Arts: Students will continue working with argumentative texts and argumentative writing. Specifically, this week they will take part in workshops on how to write strong introductions and conclusions to arguments. This will be helpful for their presentations in PBL. Also, students will be learning how to create bibliographies to cite their sources of information. (Fun, I know!) Additionally, students will continue learning and practicing use of proper nouns.
**Students have until October 18 to complete their Riverside Reads Tic-Tac-Toe and written reviews. All Riversides Reads work must be turned in by the end of the day on the 18th.
Language Arts HW: Complete two Achieve 3000 articles at 75% or higher, read 30 minutes a night
PBL Worktime: PBL groups will be working on their argumentative outline early this week. Their group's outline is due on Tuesday by the end of the day. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, groups will have time to create their final presentation (commercial, website, brochure, etc.) for their Ancient Civilizations project. The groups' bibliographies will be due on Friday, at the end of the day. All presentations will take place next week. I have attached the rubric for the project.
As facilitators, we will offer multiple workshops for students to help with their final preparations.
PBL HW: Students may need to spend some time finishing their part of the outline or working on their part of the presentation. This will vary per group.
Other Important Dates and Information:
*Wednesday,Oct. 9: Innovation Academy Parent Meeting, 6pm
*Friday, Oct. 18: End of 1st Quarter
*Monday, Oct. 21: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 4-6pm
*Tuesday, Oct. 22: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 6-8pm
*Thursday-Friday, Oct. 24-25: Fall Break, no school!
As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. We love hearing from you!
Have a great week,
6th grade PBL Facilitators
With just a few weeks left in the first quarter, the 6th graders have been very busy! Last week, we had three different speakers. Ken Bradford, a retired journalist for the South Bend Tribune, spoke about his trip to the Mayan ruins in Mexico. We Skyped with a woman named Diane Sherman who hiked the Incan trail and visited Machu Picchu in Peru. Her pictures were amazing; ask your children to show you! Lastly, Bill Bradford, (yes, Ken Bradford's son) a teacher in South Bend, shared his pictures and experiences of traveling in Athens, Rome, and Pompei. The students really took a deeper interest in the civilizations once they saw remnants of these places still exist today. I've attached some pictures if you're interested!
IMPORTANT DATE: On Wednesday, October 9, there will be an optional parent meeting for students in 5th and 6th grade Innovation Academy (PBL). The meeting will start at 6pm. If you have questions about Echo, grading, and other PBL related topics, please attend this informational meeting.
Here's a look at what's happening in 6th grade this week:
6th Grade Math: The students did an excellent job presenting their Birthday Party Planning pitches; some were very creative! This week, on Tuesday, the students will have a Common Assessment over decimals. Monday will be spent as review. The rest of the week students will begin working with fractions: Greatest common factor, least common multiple, simplest form, and ordering of fractions. They will have lessons on Digits covering these topics.
Math HW: Complete 60 minutes of IXL
Language Arts: Students will continue working with argumentative texts and argumentative writing. Specifically, this week they will take part in workshops on how to write strong introductions and conclusions to arguments. This will be helpful for their presentations in PBL. Also, students will be learning how to create bibliographies to cite their sources of information. (Fun, I know!) Additionally, students will continue learning and practicing use of proper nouns.
**Students have until October 18 to complete their Riverside Reads Tic-Tac-Toe and written reviews. All Riversides Reads work must be turned in by the end of the day on the 18th.
Language Arts HW: Complete two Achieve 3000 articles at 75% or higher, read 30 minutes a night
PBL Worktime: PBL groups will be working on their argumentative outline early this week. Their group's outline is due on Tuesday by the end of the day. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, groups will have time to create their final presentation (commercial, website, brochure, etc.) for their Ancient Civilizations project. The groups' bibliographies will be due on Friday, at the end of the day. All presentations will take place next week. I have attached the rubric for the project.
As facilitators, we will offer multiple workshops for students to help with their final preparations.
PBL HW: Students may need to spend some time finishing their part of the outline or working on their part of the presentation. This will vary per group.
Other Important Dates and Information:
*Wednesday,Oct. 9: Innovation Academy Parent Meeting, 6pm
*Friday, Oct. 18: End of 1st Quarter
*Monday, Oct. 21: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 4-6pm
*Tuesday, Oct. 22: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 6-8pm
*Thursday-Friday, Oct. 24-25: Fall Break, no school!
As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. We love hearing from you!
Have a great week,
6th grade PBL Facilitators