TWIS 9/30-10/4

Parents,

   We have another busy, bright week ahead!  Some notables you can (should) ask your student about: 

   1) Finishing up Shades of Gray- our UNI pre-service teachers are planning to finish the book by Friday, including all our literature circle work.  I am continuing to be impressed by our students' hard work and development through the book.  We are having great conversations in our groups- I sat in on one group that wanted to find a historical map of the Shenandoah Valley during Civil War times using Google Advanced Search- and they did it!  Another group had a conversation about how to deal with bullies, and evaluated Will's (main character in the book) approach to the bullies he faces.  Finally, I had a group look up "conscription teams" and talk about how those teams operated in Civil War times in the South.  What powerful learning!

   2) We begin thinking about blogging and commenting in the next two weeks.  I want our students to be as safe as possible while online, so I will send home a letter about how we approach blogging and internet safety soon.  Blogging is a great way to enhance our learning by creating, evaluating, and analyzing other's thoughts and claims.

Here's This Week in Switzer:

Literature: Wrapping up Shades of Gray this week will be our major focus- students have homework every night this week on Google Docs over the book.  Thanks for allowing your student time on the computer at home to complete this.

DEAR- We are taking a mini-test over summarizing after practicing for the past two weeks.  We'll log this test in our Data Notebooks and continue to practice.

WIN- A vast majority of our students have passed all of their CFA's (Common Formative Assessments- teacher term for the mini-tests that we use to determine when students have Met Standard, Progressing toward Standard, or have Limited Progress.  You'll remember these terms from our report cards CLICK HERE).

Math- We are continuing through decimal division and multiplication in Topic 3.  We'll have a CFA (see above) every Tuesday to see who is getting it and who needs a little more support.

Social Studies- Students are finishing up Chapter 1 on US geography and beginning to talk about causes of the Civil War.  Look for a painted clay map of the US to come home soon!

Science- Students have a test on Thursday over terms and concepts in location, force, movement.  Encourage your student to study for this test Thursday.

Writing- Our focus will be narratives and how to write a great story.  We'll also set up our blogs and begin the blogging routine.  I have a few classrooms around the US lined up to start blogging with.

Data Notebooks- As part of our Leader in Me program, students will be keeping their work in a data notebook, setting goals, and reflecting on their progress.  This tool will be extremely helpful during Student-Led Conferences in November.

Have a great week!

--

Matthew Switzer
6th grade teacher

The book Signal

This book "Signal" was mostly rated  * * ** * (5)- * * * * (4) stars because of how Kam and Owen really related to each other. How the author made us think that Kam was a alien. There were a bunch of characters in this story, but the most main characters were, Owen; Owen is new to this area, he is shy, and doesn't have any friends except for Josie and Kam. Kampion; Kam is a "alien", who is alone and needs as much help as she can get. Mr. Powers; He is a suspicious cashier that suspects Owen on his journey. The probably most biggest big idea is to never run away, be brave. Or it could be Life has it's hard times you can't skip them or go around them, you have to work your way though them. The most important conflicts in this book were with Owen's dad and Owen, Would Owen go with Kam on the spaceship, And when Kam wasn't a alien. The symbols of the book Signal were the crop circle, Tootsie Rolls, and the old barn house. 

TWIS 9/9-9/12

Parents,

   The forecast is calling for another hot week this week- thankfully we are air conditioned at Lincoln.  Just a reminder that your student may bring a water bottle to school to keep hydrated.  Some quick notes- school is not in session on Friday for students, we have a spelling test (and 8 pt assignment due) on Wednesday, and I will continue to take classroom Twitter forms if you have yet to turn one in.  Also, this week your student applied for a "job" in our classroom- these jobs were developed by the students to help our classroom (and the whole building) running smoothly.  Classroom jobs include a Tweeter, class blogger, Lincoln Facebook Page Updater, Tech Help, Librarian, Lunch count, etc.  As we go throughout the trimester, we'll evaluate the jobs and our performance in them, then re-apply for new jobs.  Students are very excited, and I am glad to offer them one more learning lesson that has incredible applications in the real world.  And now, This Week in Switzer:

Reading/DEAR- I tested students last week to get an idea of where they are at as readers; this week, we'll be forming small groups to work on specific skills in the Iowa Core.  The first skill we'll tackle is Summarizing for fiction and non-fiction texts.  We are also continuing to read through Words of Stone and our comprehension packets.  In the about 3 weeks, my pre-service UNI teachers will begin teaching a novel to our students.  Please continue to encourage your student to read every evening!

Math- We are working through Topic 2 in our textbook dealing mostly with Number Sense, Order of Operations, and Working with Variables.

Social Studies- Students are studying the present day geography of the United States, and how our history has helped to shape the borders.  Your student will also make a clay model of the U.S.! 

Science- Students are beginning to work with a brand new curriculum dealing with physical science.

Writing- We talked about ancient Greek farmers, how to write concisely using a prompt and 50 to 100 words, and now we're going to tackle Paper Blogging and iPad tips and shortcuts.  I will also work with Mrs. Nelson (Media Center Teacher/ Librarian) on teaching your student to be a safe digital citizen.

Keep your eye on the weather and have a great week!

--

Matthew Switzer
6th grade teacher
Lincoln Elementary

TWIS 9/3-9/6

Parents,

   What a great afternoon on this beautiful Labor Day!  I pulled myself away from the outside to send you This Week in Switzer- so here goes!

Literature- Students are reading through the novel Words of Stone and have a chapter to read every night, along with some comprehension questions.  We discuss the questions the next day, then continue through the book.  Make sure to ask them about their work!

DEAR- I do expect students to read a free-read book of their choice for at least 20 minutes a night.  If you haven't added this practice to your student's nightly routine, please consider it for their benefit.  I do not make this a graded practice, but a celebrated one.  I will begin meeting with student groups in the next two weeks to talk about their books and how they can get the most from them.

Math- We finished up Topic 1 (which covers 2 skills from the Math Iowa Core) and will test over those skills on Tuesday.  We will also begin Topic 2 this week, along with W.I.N. (What I Need) time to brush up on specific skills for each student (this was formerly named "Math Intervention," but apparently there is a negative connotation with the word intervention that we want to avoid).

Writing- We'll take the iPad quiz this week, begin building our blogs, look at how to be safe on the internet, and write everyday!  Exciting week!

Social Studies- Students will begin looking at the time leading up to the Civil War.  Social Studies involves plenty of homework and chapter tests, so encourage your student to study and bring their book home often.

Science- Mrs. Heine is excited to begin a new curriculum in science- I'll be honest, I don't know much about it, but Mrs. Heine has been working tirelessly with other 6th grade teachers in the district to provide a rich experience for our students.

Updates- The 6th grade has a Twitter account where we post information, photos, and news from around the school.  We had a challenge to see which 6th grade class could bring back the most Twitter challenge slips- congrats to Mr. Switzer's class for doing so!  I've got ice pops for recess for my class tomorrow.  If you are interested in following us, find @lincoln6dotcom and request to follow.

-In about a week, I'll have two pre-service teachers from UNI coming in to regularly work with our students in the morning.  This will be a great learning experience for the UNI teachers and your student!

-I hope you have a great week!  I better get back to the grill...

--

Matthew Switzer
6th grade teacher