September 16, 2016 Respec Tea Newsletter *No remediation on Monday due to Faculty Meeting Math Remember to check Schoology for supplemental videos and the Respect Team Homework Calendar nightly for assignments and due dates. As always, please feel free to contact me at any time should you have any questions or concerns. Periods 1 & 3, PA Core 6 This past week, students explored integers ­ positive and negative whole numbers. They related integers to real world situations like atoms, elevators and football and learned about the additive inverse property and absolute value. They learned that where a negative sign is located can make a big difference and absolute value symbols and parentheses can too, for instance ( 8) = 8 but | 8| = 8. This upcoming week, students will be ordering, comparing and solving real world problems involving integers and absolute value. A quiz on these skills is scheduled for Wednesday. We will then move onto the coordinate plane and using our knowledge of integers to relate to points on the coordinate plane and distance between points. Period 2 ~ PA Core ⅞ This past week, students gained a strong understanding of adding and subtracting integers by using a story about “Integer Soup.” Students modeled real world situations on number lines and wrote numeric equations to represent them. They should be able to explain WHY the rules of addition work & why subtracting is the same as adding the additive inverse. This upcoming week, student will be working with multiplying and dividing integers and complex order of operations problems involving all operations with integers and absolute value, as well as working with real world problem solving involving integers. A quiz on these concepts is scheduled for Thursday. Language Arts Unit 1: Stories of Change Overview In this unit, students explore the skills and features of storytelling in narratives focusing on a change. Developing Skills and Knowledge Throughout the unit, students engage in activities in which they use various reading strategies and p
ractice the important skills of close reading, analyzing narrative elements, and writing real or imagined narratives around the elements of plot. Students analyze and discuss a variety of texts including teacher and student selected novels. Throughout the unit, discussion, brainstorming, and drafting are promoted as ways to develop ideas for narratives. Student’s v
ocabulary study concentrates on a
cademic vocabulary such as sequence, cause­effect, and transitions , and vocabulary s
pecific to literary study such as simile, denotation, and p
oint of view . Helping Your Child Students should be practicing every day in class for their upcoming performance on assessments. Help your child reflect on and focus his or her learning by asking the following questions: ● What did you learn today? ● What texts did you read, discuss, and respond to in writing? ● What strategies did you use during your reading, discussion, and writing? ● What do you still need to practice? Science Science classes will be starting off next week with a Measurement quiz on Monday 9/19. All students have Powerpoint notes (on pink paper), as well as access to the Powerpoints on Schoology. Further, they have a graphic organizer that will be filled in to review over the weekend and can use the ISN to review the labs and concepts associated with each Metric Unit. Next week, we will have a brief introduction to the "The Scientific Method" and the steps that scientists follow as they conduct an experiment. From there we begin our unit on Variables. Students will investigate what can be changed in an experiment and how it might effect the outcome. They will think like scientists to make predictions, plan an experiment, and analyze the outcomes. This is a very hands­on unit with a lot of precise directions­­ please review lab safety with your child. Note: Since I was unable to stay later during Back to School Night to answer curriculum questions, I will be availableMonday 9/19 in my classroom to discuss the 6th grade social studies and science curriculum. As always, please feel free to contact me at any time should you have any questions or concerns. Remember to check Schoology for supplemental information and the Respect Team Homework Calendar nightly for assignments and due dates.