August 21-25, 2017

Well, we have had a busy busy week! So - I am going to give myself a little break and blog using Tellagami. Please view the video above for my blog post!  AND - we have a special blogger! Students are able to have the job of blogger in our class. Here is our first student blogger - Sophia:

Week 1: 

      The First week of school went great! This week, we started our first Language arts unit on myths, which includes reading Percy Jackson and making inferences with evidence.  The time capsules we made will be saved in our classrooms until the end of the school year so we can open them and see how much growth we have made throughout the year. 

Are you excited to construct a tool? Our next project is so exciting because you can only use things naturally found outside like weeds, leaves, bark, and more to create a tool. Remember to bring your tool into class by September 1! 

This week we used microscopes in math/science class! We started module one in math books which focuses on ratios. We also started organizing our interactive notebooks. 

Last, Alliance Redwoods is coming up on September 18! We had a great week with lots of progress. 

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Welcome to Our First Week!

The Brief:

• Return solar eclipse forms Monday. (Ask your child for it.)
• Alliance Redwoods Parent Information Tuesday, August 22, 6552 multipurpose 5:50 PM
• Back to School Tuesday August 22, 6552 rm. 225 for Jimison/Paul 6:30pm-7:10pm and 7:20pm-8:00pm
• Friday August 25 Time Capsule assignment DUE

The Long:

Welcome to our first week! I am so blessed to experience this year with an awesome group of respectful, responsible, and resourceful 6th graders! My heart is full of joy!

We started the week by creating a few "norms" together. Students came up with a social contract they all agreed with and signed it with their thumb print!

Next we worked on what makes a great discussion and came up with group expectations. We all know working with a group can be tough sometimes but it is a wonderful lifelong skill. Collaboration and participation are important.

Monday starts our new "regular" week. Students will be beginning science and history as well as music/band. PE will not be starting until the following week. In history we will start our year with the study of map skills, deserts, and the Paleolithic era. In ELA we are beginning our Lightning Thief book. Students will work on the essential standard of writing a gist and citing evidence. These two important standards will be visited throughout the year!

Monday is an important even! It's the first total solar eclipse since 1979! Students received permission slips on Friday that I hope they have given parents by now. Please sign the permission slip and return Monday. If you check the "yes" box your child will be able to go outside with special glasses and view the eclipse with us. If you check the "no" box your child will stay in for inside recess. The eclipse begins at the west coast and travels across the US to the east. Our best viewing time is just after 10 (around 10:12!) and our class is scheduled for viewing from 10-10:20! Yes! California is not in the path for totality but hopefully students will enjoy the experience. You may read more at NASA's web site our here.

Important DATES:
TUESDAY is our Alliance Redwoods Parent Information meeting - 5:50-6:20 in 6552 multipurpose unless otherwise indicated.  It is also Back to School Night (Parents only) at 6:30 or 7:20. Both homeroom classes will meet in 6552 room 225.

Remember to sign up for Bloomz! It is our parent communication tool. Thank you!

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Monday Made It and Class Reveal!

I'm so excited to participate in another Monday Made It! This time - it's my classroom reveal...well, at least as much as I have completed of it! I have a tad bit more work to do. 

But - before the reveal, I have to share what I've been doing these past 3 weeks...

First...our son got married! We love our new daughter, Naomi! She is a gem and they are a great team.

Here's me giving a speech!

What do you do when you are an empty nester?...

  

Yes! My husband and I celebrated our 30th anniversary in Paris and Venice! It was a wonderful trip! It was really one of our few vacations. Anytime we have gone out of country, it has been on a mission trip with our church. These was the first time to go to another country and just relax! My hubby has been working out of town for the past few years and is only home a few days a week so it was a special time to be able to spend together. LOVED it!  Venice was my favorite...such a beautiful city and the FOOD....OMG. So good.  

After coming back home, I had to quickly get to work on my classroom. I moved rooms this year and while my room is a bit larger, it is long and skinny. I am still trying to figure out how my new desks fit together! I haven't quite gotten that down yet!

  

I love my shiplap bulletin board paper and papers flowers. The flowers were super easy to make and turned out so pretty! This board is the fridge for student work:

I can't take too much credit for this one except for printing out, laminating, and cutting! These are Marzano's Levels of Questioning by Teaching and So Forth. You can purchase it HERE from TPT!

This is my "Keep the Quote" board. All I did is take a roll of Kraft Paper and put twine through it and hung it from 2 hooks! Easy!

I've posted my group boxes but here they are again. I'm trying to make it so that my group shelves are not so messy! Someone will be in charge of keeping them clean and organized. The group caddies are cute with a fake succulent in them!

Those that know me know I love to run and cycle...so...I had to include a little bit of that on my book shelf:

Here is our CI Goals board above our sink area along with our school-wide 8 keys of excellence:

My desks are so hard to put together. I am still working on that!:

Cricut comes in handy for the whiteboard!

Birthday cupcakes...student names will be on candles in the cupcakes:

My desk area. It's already starting to get full and school hasn't started yet. Yikes. 

Front of the room:

Student jobs and positive thoughts board:

File Cabinet Makeover!

My husband brought home an old file cabinet and we had fun making it over! First we painted it white (it was a weird tan color)...then...we added old solid redwood to the front that he had saved! Free makeover and looks awesome! We did buy cute drawer pulls from Amazon!

Finally, I bought a new essential oil for my classroom...Purification! Oh my...it smells awesome!! I don't know how I am going to give it up and send it to school to use so I am going to have to get another one for our house!  I'm putting in an order mid month so comment if you want me to order some for you!

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