Christmas Break is Nearly Here!

This week there are quite a few event happening around the building. Here they are, in order!

Monday

Today the students are starting their Unit 2 Tests (these are the long ones that you saw at conferences) and will be finishing up our reading work from last week. While I hate having to give a test before winter break, it is an important tool in gauging our students' ongoing progress. 

I did not assign any writing homework this week! However, there are many students with missing writing homework assignments that can be made up. If your student is missing an assignment, they have been informed and given a new copy. 

Wednesday

Students will have a chance to visit Santa's Workshop, conveniently located in the sixth grade hall. We are scheduled to visit from 9-930. All items are only a $1.

In addition, we will be attending the 5th and 6th grade band concert in the afternoon. This will be held in the gym at 2:00.

Thursday

On Thursday afternoon, we have our school-wide, canned food drive assembly. This should be a lot of fun. If we reach our building goal, Mrs. Hessong and Ms. G, will be completing super hero training! 

Friday

On Friday afternoon, we will be holding our Christmas party from 1:45-2:45. We are still looking for parent volunteers to help pass out food, monitor students, and help clean up. If you are interested in helping, please let me know. 

Also note, Mrs. Angelo will be holding a gift exchange (new socks or a new/slightly used book) in her room during the party. If you students would like to participate, please have them bring a wrapped gift on Friday morning.

Resources

ASPCA

Cesar's Way

Dog Bite Statistics

Animal Planet Video

Pet Finder

New Yorker Article

Time Article

Pit Bull Video

'Tis the Season

We have had a great start to the month. Once again I have found my classroom decor seriously lacking in holiday spirit, but I am committed to do a little decorating at the end of the week. I'm exciting to get the classroom a little more "Christmas-y".

6th Grade Spirit

Our sixth graders have earned a grade-wise Hootie surprise. On Wednesday, we will be headed to the high school to watch a movie for the afternoon. I am looking forward to this special treat. 

We are also off to a nice start to the school-wide canned food drive. Our class has set a goal of two cans per student by the end of this week. Thank you to the families who have sent in items with their children; this is a great opportunity to get into the spirit of giving.

Christmas Events & Supplies

We will be holding a grade-level Christmas party on Friday, December 18. Again, if you would like to volunteer, please send an email and I will put you on "the list". All of your support makes the celebration a lot of fun. I will be sending home letters later this week with more details.

I am also asking for students to bring 1-2 rolls of high quality toilet paper for a Christmas craft. We will need these this Friday. Mr. Jeremiah, who has done this craft a few times, recommends the Charmin two-ply brand. Any small decorations, like extra bows, ribbons, and ornaments are also welcome. 

In addition, we are needing donations of egg cartons. We use these as paint palettes and are running short. If you have any lying around the house, please send them our way.

Blog Title

Okay, so we had a blog title recommendation at the very beginning of the year. Hence, the title change. I did ask the students to come up with a few more ideas, but they tended to be a bit to "assertive" for the content. Examples included, "Our Blog is Better than Yours", "We are the Best", and others that incorporated Star Wars. I think the new title is nice. Thank you for the suggestions.

Learning Targets

I have noticed that my own children's teachers include the weekly/monthly learning targets in their newsletters. I would like to start sharing this information at the end of each post, in order to keep families more up-to-date on what is happening in sixth grade.

• Writing: Students are working on a argumentative essay, "Should certain breeds of dogs (pit bulls) be outlawed?"
• Math: Students are comparing and completing different operations with fractions (ratios), decimals, and percentages.
• ELA: Students are comparing and contrasting, evaluating arguments and claims, and identifying author's purpose in non-fiction text.
• Health: Students are learning about how they can build their health skills.

Conferences

I hope all of you are having a great start to your Thanksgiving Holiday Break! I love this time of year, and am excited to be a part of a community that can really embrace the spirit of the season. We have an upcoming food drive, which will begin on November 30th, and a Christmas party in the works. More information will be coming soon. 

As you are probably well aware, tomorrow we will begin our fall conferences. I will be here from 8:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m., both Monday and Tuesday. If you need any changes made to your conference time, please do not hesitate to call or send an email. I will be available on and off throughout the day. Due to the 20 minute time slots for each conference, it is important that we all try to stay on time (I'm prone to talking up a storm). I will have the conference schedule posted outside my classroom. 

I will also be passing out your child's report card during our meeting. However, I would like to encourage you to take a look before your arrival (here's the link: Synergy ParentVue). If you have any concerns about your student's performance, we can address those questions at the beginning of the conference. In addition, I have invited the students  to join their parents. Many of the kids were surprised hear I wanted them to attend, but I think being a part of the discussion helps them take more ownership for their learning. If other plans have been made, I completely understand. 

Have a great week,

-Ms. Kinsman

The Week of Veteran's Day

For a short week, we have a lot going on in the coming four days!

Music Program

Please remember the sixth grade music program will be held on Tuesday, November 10, from 6:30-7:30 pm. Students performing in the program will need to arrive by 6;15 pm, with their recorders in hand. We will also have a dress rehearsal performance for the school on Tuesday afternoon, from 1:30-2:00. If you cannot make the evening performance, you may want to join us in the afternoon.

Veteran's Day

On Wednesday, we will have no school in observance of Veteran's Day. Because of the shortened week, the students will have a shorter writing assignment for homework. I also want to remind the student to be sure to have their parents sign their planners each night. As we have adjusted our schedule, the planner filling time has shifted to different parts of the day. We now have a dedicated five minutes at the end of each day to fill out our planners. If you are not seeing lists of assignments, or the planners are not coming home each evening, please let me know. 

Upcoming Conferences

We will also have no school the week of Thanksgiving. Monday and Tuesday, November 23rd and 24th, will be dedicated to conferences. I have received scheduling sheets or email requests from about half the class. Please let me know what times work best (I'm here from 8:00 am- 8:00 pm both days) for your conference. 

Reports cards will be passed out at conferences. This was a district-wide decision. At that time we will be able to discuss your child's progress and goals for sixth grade. I would like to invite students to join us at conferences; I think it is important that they play a role in their planning for the year.

I hope everyone had a great three day weekend! I look forward to seeing you all soon,

-Ms. Kinsman

Grade Week

Music Program

On Tuesday, November 10, the sixth grade will hold their annual evening music program. Students will need to be to the high school auditorium by 6:15 p.m. We will be holding rehearsals this week, but I would like to encourage the students to practice at home, as well. I'm excited to see their performance.

Synergy

I want to thank all of the families for being patient while I navigate using ParentVue this year. There have been a few kinks, yet you have been patient as we work through the problems. I now realize more information (like a video guide) would be helpful in teaching students and parents how to best use Synergy. As time allows, I might try to make such a video. If you have suggestions on what information would be helpful, please leave a comment in the "Comments" section below.

Grades

On Friday we have no school for report card preparation. While it has not yet been officially decided, we will likely send home report cards before conferences. This will give families an opportunity to look through the grades before they meet with teachers at the end of the month. I will keep you updated on the date for report card distribution.

Conferences

Last week, conference scheduling sheets were sent home. These are due back next Tuesday. If you have any special requests, please feel free to send an email. I will do my best to accommodate schedules.

Have a great week!

-Ms. Kinsman

 

Fall Celebrations

The Day of the Dead

Many of you might be wondering what we have been up to in the sixth grade. This week we are ending our first unit in language arts, which mean a test! Yes, your students were thrilled to hear the exciting news as well! Luckily, we try to off-set the fun of testing with some actual fun . We will be studying The Day of the Dead, which means reading a number of articles on the topic, while comparing and contrasting our own traditions from home. This is a great mini-unit that complements our later social studies curriculum on Mesoamerican history.

On Friday, we will be creating ofrendas, or offering alter, style collages. If your family has any old magazine, their donation would be greatly appreciated. 

We are also wrapping up our social studies unit this week. I will be announcing the winning "Caravan", along with a short celebration on Friday morning. Students will be assessed on how well they understand basic latitude and longitude, continents, world oceans, and major locations around the globe. It has been a very fun unit. 

Halloween

Later this week, the sixth grade team will be sending home a letter regarding our Halloween celebration. This is currently scheduled for Friday, October 30th, in the late afternoon. Students are invited to wear costumes and come prepared for fun! Parents who indicated an interest in helping with parties will be getting an email soon.

Box Tops

You may have noticed the box top competition sheet sent home last week (orange with pumpkins). If you have been saving box tops, please send them to school with your student. The box top program helps put money directly into our classrooms and allows the OPPO to help support field trips and assemblies. We all appreciate your help.

Email Accounts

Does your student have a Gmail account? This week I will be showing a few students with established accounts how to use the Google Docs and Drive tools. This is a great way for me to "collect" homework from my students and gives kids an opportunity to collaborate securely in an online environment. I would love for all our students to have accounts, but the district does not currently support email for our learners. If, however, you would like to set up an account from home, I would love to do more activities as a class using this tool. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Grades

The end of our first grading period is just around the corner! Believe it our not, November 6th marks the end of the first quarter. Many of you have reached out regarding your student's performance. Please continue to do so. Synergy ParentVue doesn't seem to be working perfectly, so if you notice a lot of missing assignments from you hard-working student, please let me know. 

Many students are still working on improving their study habits, especially during our language arts block. I have designed instruction to help encourage the development of time management and study skills. This will be an area of focus throughout the year. 

Have a great week!
-Ms. Kinsman

Grades Galore!

Grades

Last week we sent home forms with the username and passwords for the Synergy ParentVue accounts. I hope that you received your letter and had a chance to view your students grades online. As I mentioned before, I typically am caught up with the previous week's grading by Monday morning. I encourage you and your student to take a look and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Regular assignments are graded as follows, on a 0-5 scale:

0= Not turned in

1= Incomplete

2= Not yet meeting

3= Nearly meeting

4= Meets

5= Exceeds

Tests and quizzes are given a proficiency grade (Exceeds, Meets, etc.). I am fairly flexible with the my grading; students who wish to redo, complete, or extend an assignment have my blessing. After a week, I typically don't encourage my students to finish late work. Because we use a proficiency model, multiple assignments will be given throughout the year to measure skills in each of the report card areas.

Math grades will become available soon. We are currently compiling class lists to match your student to their math teacher.

Just What Have We Been Doing?

Many of the assignments posted in ParentVue are from our language arts block. Every week the students are given a choice menu with a number of activities to complete. Each of these assignments is aligned to the sixth grade common core standards covered in our Houghton Mifflin series. This includes vocabulary activities, comprehension work, and writing tasks. So far we have been looking at character development, author's purpose, and writing narratives.

We have also spent time in health working on communication skills, have used our knowledge of heredity to create dogs, and have been working on map reading. Typing skills have been our focus during our computer lab time, and I introduced and set up Newsela accounts for the students. We will be spending more time reading and reflecting on current events using the Newsela website in the coming weeks.

Upcoming Dates

This week the fifth grade is hosting a Scholastic book fair. We are scheduled to visit the fair on Thursday afternoon. If your student would like to go earlier, the fair is open before and after school, from 8-3:30. Students may also visit during their lunch breaks if they have money.

Finally, we have our first three day weekend coming up this week. Remember, there is no school on Friday, October 9. 

I think we off to a great start. Thank you so much for an excellent September!

-Ms. Kinsman

Newsela

You may have heard about our current social studies unit. Students are part of a "Caravan" that is traveling the world seeking treasure. There are many adventures along the way, but most importantly, they are learning geography. So far it has been a ton of fun.

In order to move across the map and collect treasures, the students must earn travel dots. These are awarded for completed work and appropriate classroom behavior. There are also extra credit (and travel dot!) opportunities. One is the completion of the Current Event Homework assignment. Students may use the newspaper, but I also wanted to recommend one of my favorite websites for reading: Newsela. This great resource not only provides excellent, age appropriate news article for students, but you can also adjust the reading level! If you have a reluctant reader at home, this might be a great way to find high interest topics to read about.

Students logging on for the first time need to use our class access code: P2EWC9. You will be asked to provide your first and last name, create a user name, and finally a password. This information is shared with teacher, which allows me to view the user accounts, change password, and remove users. Students who are ready to sign up now may do so, but I will also offer this opportunity at one of our upcoming visits to the computer lab.

Happy Travels!

- Ms. Kinsman

Week Two

A special thank you is deserved by our students and families for a great first week! I am so impressed with the work ethic and enthusiasm of the class. Honestly, my biggest challenge was finding enough engaging materials to keep them busy and learning!

An image to exemplify Ms. Kinsman's efforts toward finding engaging and valuable lessons.

This week we will begin our new language arts and math curricula. In addition, I will be sending home the first writing homework of the year. The first few weeks will include review of basic writing conventions. Again, this is due on Friday, but can be turned in at any point in the week.

I also wanted to mention that I have been entering assignments into the Synergy grade book. I am new-ish to the system and want to make sure I have everything entered correctly before posting the information. If you like to stay updated about your student's performance, the weekend will likely be a good time to see if the week's work is completed. Most assignments are due by Friday and graded over the weekend.

Finally, some odds and ends:

• Band is actually starting THIS week. Yes, on Tuesday, those students signed up for band will begin their lessons. We are working as a grade level team to provide enrichment for students not part of band.
• Please make sure your students are entering the school through the gym unless a parent is also entering the school. 
• Remember, Mondays are late start. The tardy bell rings at 9:15.

Thank you again for the great start to our 2015-16 school year! I am looking forward to another great week. Here's a shot of the beautiful work your students have already completed.

We're Back...

And we are busy. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have time in the computer lab. This is a teacher directed time dedicated to improving typing skills, using technology for multi-media projects, and taking computer assessments.

We will start our time in the lab by reviewing computer use rules, and we will have a discussion on digital citizenship. I'm asking students to apply those lesson by contributing to a class Padlet. If you have never seen this tool, check out what we have to say about digital etiquette below.

I also wanted to let families know that band will be starting soon. Please join Mr. Wilkins on September 15, from 3:30-6:30 for Band Instrument Display Night. All students joining band will begin class on September 22.

Here's to a great first day of sixth grade!

-Ms. Kinsman

P.S. Here's a link to the digital citizenship Kahoot!

Welcome to Sixth Grade!

I want to welcome my students and families to the sixth grade! This will be an exciting year for all of us. As I'm sure many of you have realized, I am new to Scappoose and Otto Petersen Elementary. For over twelve years I taught for the Hillsboro School District and lived in Beaverton. It will be an exciting change to be a part of the community where I both work and live.

The purpose of this blog is twofold. First, it will act as a communication tool for families. I will post weekly to bi-weekly updates on what is happening in our classroom. This includes newsletters, assignments, photos, and videos about what we are working on in sixth grade. I also use the blog as a tool to organize some assignments. I might post links, informative videos, or helpful tips for the class. I invite my students and families to share comments on the blog posts; if you see anything you would like added, please let me know.

What should you know about Ms. Kinsman?

• This is not my first time teaching 6th grade in an elementary setting; I have taught fourth through eighth grade. Yes, that's right, I survived teaching middle school!
• This is not my first move. I lived in over 20 houses and three states as a child. Moving to Scappoose is an exciting and welcome change.
• I love being a teacher. Other than contemplating careers in abalone hunting, philanthropy, and neuropsychology, teaching was always my first choice. 
• I have two children (an eight-year-old girl and five-year-old boy), attending Grant Watts. They are also excited and nervous about our big move 
• I love the reading, the Internet, movies, traveling, and telling stories. I hope to do a little of all with the class this year. 

I also have very high expectations for my students. My goal is to create a rigorous learning environment where all my learners are equal participants. This means I need active and engaged students prepared to take on the challenges of our classroom. As I learn more about the routines, expectations, and culture of Otto Petersen, I will be posting updates about how we can ensure your success in the coming year. 

Thank you for visiting our blog! I look forward to meeting all of you at our "Back to School Night" this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Finally, I hope that my new students might be able to help me think of a name for this blog. I'm open to suggestions!

-Ms. Kinsman