Social Studies Books

Today we received our Social Studies books!  They are old, and some are in pretty rough condition.  However, they are still school properity and need to be treated with care.  We will be working from the book this week each day.

I told the kids I would start posting a "Mystery Word" or "Mystery Question". which will be  posted ramdomly.  Today, the Mystery word is "longitude".  Be sure to tell me the word before class.

Grades!!

Today I posted the first grades of the year!  Please don't be worried if your child does not have an "A", there is plenty of time for grades to improve. 

Tomorrow, we will be correcting pages 7 and 8  from the atlas booklet.  Time was given today for the kids to work on the assignment, and I strongly recommended that those kids who were not done come to the room tomorrow during lunch to complete the assignment. 

This work is not difficult, but it does require the kids to read CAREFULLY and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.  These are skills that are still developing is many Sixth Graders, and this is the perfect time to get those skills perfected.  Working in an atlas is all about reading informational text, understanding what has been read, and applying the skills.  Many kids want to rush through the work and miss important cues.  I am convinced, however, that everyone will be successful in no time!

Thanks,
Cathy

Friday!

We continued to work with the atlas today.  I have asked that all kids be done with pages 1-4 by class time on Monday; they have had three or four days to completed these pages, and we have done sections together in class.  I told the 5th and 6th hour kids if they weren't done by the end of class they could come to my room on Monday during their lunch to finish the assignment.  I told them they won't be in trouble; they are just getting a little extra time.

Have a good weekend,
Cathy

Atlas Work

Greetings,

We are currently learning the "ins and outs" of an atlas.  Being able to use an atlas is being able to read informational text and apply what has been read.  Many students are doing a great job with these assignments, and are able to "work ahead".  However, some students are finding it difficult to use class time wisely, which can prove problematic.  I only have one classroom set of atlases, so I can't allow students to take an atlas home.  I did this last year, and not every atlas was returned, so they need to stay in the classroom. 

Beginning next Monday, I will be asking students to return to my class during lunch if they need to completed work that was not completed during class time.  I usually make sure that I don't give an assignment that is too big to complete in class, but it does require the kids to work diligently. I know this is just the beginning of the year, and the transition to a Middle School setting may be a little difficult for some kids, so I've been cutting them a little slack.

  But.......starting Monday, I will expect everyone to use their time to their advantage and complete in-class work.

Thanks,
Cathy

Homework

The two pictures of  "The Places I've Been" is due on Friday.