It's November!

Hello Otter Families,

The first quarter is over and done, and we have entered the second quarter without missing a beat. Report cards should have been mailed out. If you have not received yours in the mail already, you should receive it soon. Congratulations to the many Otters who worked hard all quarter. Your efforts have been paid off with outstanding grades. All students who earned a grade point average of 3.0 or higher will be honored in our first awards assembly to be held on Tuesday, November 23. I am not yet sure about the time, but I will post the time and send a note home with your child as soon as I know. Family members and friends are welcome to attend the assembly, so please join us if you can.

Don't forget this Thursday, November 11, is the Veterans Day Holiday (no school for students and teachers...hurray). Friday will be an inservice day for teachers, but the students will have the day off. Enjoy your four day weekend.

In social studies, we wrapped up our study of early humans and Mesopotamia last week. One of the "big ideas" that we will explore this year is the importance of water to the development of civilizations. Ask your child to explain to you why water was so important. We also talked about the change the early humans went through as they developed from hunter-gatherers, to farmers and villagers, to civilizations. Our next unit of study is Ancient Israel. Many students already know this part of history and they are enthusiastically sharing their knowledge with the rest of the class. Speaking of experts, if you have personal knowledge or experience with any of the civilizations that we will be studying this year and would like to share with the class, please give me a call. It is always exciting to hear about first-hand experiences and the kids love it when adults whom they know come in to class.

Last week, we spent a few days in the computer lab working on a data analysis mini-project. The kids learned how to use Excel to create graphs. We also finished our study of chapter three, fraction concepts. The kids began the chapter test on Friday, but it was longer than I had anticipated and many did not finish in the allotted time. I will give them additional class time to finish on Monday. Chapter tests differ from quizzes as they are summative. In other words, they assess the student's learning at the completion of the unit. There are no revisions allowed and students cannot use their math journals. Our next unit will be operations with fractions and decimals.

In math intervention, we are continuing to build basic skills. In addition, the students are supported in the regular class curriculum with pre-teaching of the day's lesson and homework assistance. Grades for this class are based on effort, attitude, and participation.

As a team, one of our main goals as we progress through this sixth grade year is to be a community of learners. As such, we are working on staying focused as this allows us to efficiently use our class time. Off-task behavior prevents the whole class from learning, so we are working on improving in that area. Interruptions that impede the learning of others will not be tolerated and students who engage in this type of behavior will be asked to write a note home for a parent signature.

This past weekend, I spent a good deal of time reorganizing my classroom. The kids will be surprised to see the changes when they come to school tomorrow. I hope that the new layout will help me utilize the classroom space more efficiently. There will be new seats on Monday!

Thanks to those of you who have sent in donations to the classroom. The students in room 301 and I greatly appreciate your support.

I hope you have a wonderful extended weekend next week.

Mrs. Shimamoto