Mrs. Liberty's Science 10/31 - 11/4

This week we are starting off with completing plate boundary pictures to describe what happens at the different types of boundaries. I am anticipating these being completed by Wednesday. After we finish with the plate boundary pictures we will move on to the parts of an earthquake and there impact on people.

Later in the week look for a study guide covering Layers of the Earth, Plate movement, Theories and vocabulary we have used so far in the unit. There will be a test over the items on the study guide next Tuesday, November 8th.

Science Class Survey

Students,

Please complete both of the surveys below. This will help me plan for a project we have scheduled a little later in the year.

Thank you,

Mrs. Liberty

Science Survey Part 1

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Science Survey Part 2

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Mrs. Liberty & Mrs. BW Social Studies 10/17 - 10/20

In Mrs. Bosch-Wilson's class they are a few days behind Mrs. Liberty so please refer to last weeks post regarding the graphic organizer. They started today and will take several to complete in it class.

In Mrs. Liberty's the students have been broken up into Allyu groups and are working on creating an Inca inspired myth and group symbol about how their Allyu was formed. This is a group project that each student is participating in. They will be graded on their ability to work with their group as well as the result of their efforts on the project.

South America Test Retakes-

Given the amount of time that the students had to study for their South America Countries and Capitals test some of the results were very disappointing. We are offering a one time only chance to retake this test. For Mrs. Bosch-Wilson the retake will be on Thursday, October 21st. For Mrs. Liberty the retake will be on Monday, October 24th. Please be checking your child's grade on this test. Grades lower than a C are eligible for the retake.

No School

Just a reminder that there will be no school this Friday the 21st of October. This is one of the furlough days that we have as a result budget cuts this year.

Mrs. Liberty's Science 10/17 - 10/20

This week we will have our Layers of the Earth test on Tuesday. We filled out the study guide last week and the students should have been studying every night for the past several nights in preparation for the test. The final step was to get a parent signature on the study guide saying that they had studied.

We are wrapping up this first section on plate tectonics this week. We will have a virtual lab on Tuesday after the test and then put some vocabulary in our notebooks for future reference. Thursday I am planning a lab on convection for the students. Those that have good behavior will be able to participate in the lab, those that do not will go to the library to write a research essay on the process of convection.

Next week we will be moving on to Earthquakes.

Mrs. Villastrigo

Language Arts

• We wrapped up subject/predicate successfully and are moving on to review verbs.
  


• We started a spelling program this week. This seems to be an area of great need in our group, based upon ISAT scores and a pre-test students did at the beginning of the year. We have many outstanding writers and I think we can really improve writing through working on this peice. I found a research based program arranged by spelling patterns and similar vowel sounds and I am really excited about it! We will work about every other day on spelling and spend about two weeks before we test learning word patterns, sounds, strategies.
  


• Students will begin telling anecdotes on Friday, on a volunteer basis. We will sign up for about 5-6 students a day and will go through next week, dedicating part of the period to this. After performing the 5 minute anecdote, students will submit a neatly written or typed final copy. The story does not need to be memorized, but should not be read directly from the paper.
  


• We will work to create well-developed settings in a narrative next week!

Short Vowel Sounds

1. unselfish


2. possible


3. accent


4. messenger


5. publish


6. snapshot


7. withstand


8. athletic


9. rapid


10. significant


11. mathematics


12. dismiss


13. penniless


14. establish


15. suspense

Challenge (required for some students)

1. velocity


2. optimum


3. discipline


4. recommend


5. necessity

Mrs. Villastrigo

Reading

• I hope you are all continuing to do your 30 min. of reading each night. Some students are close to making their goals already, it is so exciting to see all this enthusiasm for reading!
  



• Hopefully everyone is enjoying our book, Walk Two Moons. It is certainly a unique book, in that it is not written in chronological order. The characters are very interesting and the mystery in the book seems to be holding student interest in class.
  



• We are about a quarter of the way through our fluency contest. I love this activity because students get to practice as much as they want and I am always amazed at the level of oral reading demonstrated. It will also be a content knowledge grade. We will give out reading awards sometime next week and this is always a great way to celebrate reading. *If you are absent, don't forget to check out a book to take home. We really breeze through the book with each student reading a page for the contest and we don't want anyone to miss the story.
  



• We added some new vocabulary words this week and few new words last week. We will keep practicing the words often with our "hand signals" in class. We will also complete sentences for the second half on Friday. Next week we will do a review and take a test to demonstrate your wider vocabulary. Here is the second half of our list from our book:

Chapter 5 & 6

1. distress- in trouble, in need of help



2. dismantled- all in pieces, taken apart



3. diabolic-evil or devilish



4. primly- fussy about appearance or behavior

Chapter 7-10

1. precisely- exactly



2. veer- to change direction or course



3. lunatic- insane or crazy person



4. vivid- very strong or bright



5. pandemonium- a wild uproar



6. potential- possible

Mrs. Liberty's Science 10/10 - 10/14

This week we will be taking notes on the layers of the Earth. There will be a test at the beginning of next week (I am currently thinking the 18th) where the students need to draw, label, and describe each of the layers.

After we finish with the notes on the layers we ill look further into plate movement and what we can learn from the spreading of the sea floor. (Jason Project pages 100-102 if you want to have your child show you online.) We will talk about the types of plate boundaries, mid-ocean ridges, rifts, and the Theory of Plate Tectonics. This should take us to the end of this week, maybe into the beginning of next. When we are done with this section we will have our first lab of the year.

For the lab I do need something like a metal pizza holder, think of the ones at restaurants where they have the lit candle under the pizza to keep it warm. If you have one you could lend me next week or know where I could get one, it would be greatly appreciated.

Mrs. Liberty & Mrs. B-W Social Studies 10/10 - 10/14

This week in Social Studies we are starting off with an assignment that is worth 50 points. The students have read and discussed The Inca People and The Sapa Inca in class. They need to pick one of those 2 sections to create an illustrated graphic organizer of the information from their section. They will need to include the following elements:

• Title
• 6 sections (Introduction and the 5 more headings from the book)
• 3 main facts from each section (18 total)
• Graded on Spelling, capitalization, and using periods
• Graded on neatness and effort

I am initially planning the due date for this assignment on Wednesday, October 12th at the end of the period. I may extend it if it looks like the students need more time.

After we finish the graphic organizer we will talk more about the Allyu. The students will be put in groups and need to create their own Allyu with an appropriate symbol and creation myth. For the myth we will ant them to think about the elements that were included in "The Rod of Gold" that they read in Reading with Mrs. Villistrigo.

UPDATE: The graphic organizer will be due on Thursday at the end of class.

Book Orders

It is time for the October book orders. If you are interested in ordering something please have the order to Mrs. Liberty by Friday. You can also order online at www.clubs.scholastic.com You will need to set up an account and then enter our class code J4JKY to place the order through our class. There are some great scary stories available this month in honor of Halloween. Our order should be in in plenty of time for those books to arrive and start reading before the 31st!

Thanks for your order!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences are this week! They will be both Wednesday and Thursday nights from 4:00 to 7:00. They will be located in the MPR of Annex A (the 6th grade building). Please try to make it as we are looking forward to talking with each of you about your child's progress so far. If your child comes with you so they can contribute to the conversation we often have extra credit available! 

We are all looking forward to seeing you there.
The Purple People Eater Team

Mrs. Liberty & Mrs. B-W Social Studies 10/03 - 10/07

This week we are delving more into the Inca. We will finish looking at where they came from in Origins of the Inca then move to the expansion of their empire in The Empire. The students will need to complete and turn in a graphic organizer outlining the 3 most important ideas from each section of the reading.

Towards the end of the week we will Read about the Inca People and the Sapa Inca the students will create a graphic organizer in the form of an illustrated concept map. This will be due early in the week of the 10th.

On the 7th will be the South America Countries and Capitals test in both classes. The students need to be able to identify each country and it's capital. They will also need to spell each item correctly.

Blank South America Map
List of Countries and Capitals

Mrs. Liberty's Science 10/3 - 10/7

This week we are Discussing the Structure of Earth. We are using resources located on Jason.org Each student has a log-in for this site and can access the book and other activities and assignments from any computer with an internet connection. Please feel free to have your child explain the following concepcts this week:

The Theory of Continental Drift
convention currents
Name and describe each layer of Earth