Trying to Keep Track of the Week

The coming week and a half has a number of special days. It probably doesn't help that the elementary, middle, and high schools are all on different schedules! Please see below for a (hopefully) helpful guide.

Wednesday, November 1	Visit from Nate (Maritime Museum) to finish painting and preparing our boats.
Friday, November 3	Pajama Day; 6th Grade Read-In; Pride Assembly
Wednesday, November 8	School and Evening 6th Grade Music Performance Evening Show at 6:30 Students Arrive at 6:15 Be sure to buy some Scrip (more information to come)
Thursday, November 9	No School: Report Card Preparation Day
Friday, November 10	No School: Veteren’s Day

It will be a busy, but fun, two weeks! Conferences are also just around the corner. I will be sending home scheduling information soon. We will likely wait until conferences to pass out report cards. This will give us a wonderful opportunity to discuss your child's progress and goals for the year. 

Have a Happy Halloween!

-Ms. Kinsman

Halloween Looms Before Us...

Whew! What a busy couple of weeks we have had here in the sixth grade. The coming month is filling fast with a number of activities and projects. Let's start with next week!

Halloween

On Tuesday, October 31st, we will be holding our Halloween party at 1:40pm. It will go for an hour. I have one parent volunteer helping to gather food, but could use a couple more for food prep and general support throughout the party time. If you would like to join us, please feel free to send a quick email, and I'll put your name on the list.

Scrip

The sixth grade is starting a new fundraiser. We will be selling Scrip. If you have never purchased scrip before, it is basically buying gift cards for local stores and getting a cut of the value of the card. For instance, we get 4% of every Fred Meyer gift card we sell.

In the past, the office has sent home scrip information, placed the orders, etc. However, very few people participated. We plan to change this! The sixth grade team is pre-purchasing gift cards to sell directly to families! We think we will have a lot of success and have a lot of ideas on how to boost interest.

Here's where you could help: we need a few parent volunteers who would be willing to man Scrip tables 1-2 times a month, maybe help place and organize orders, or coordinate volunteers. Other than working a Scrip table, much of the scrip work could be done from home. If this sounds like something you would be interested in helping with, please let me know.

The Fun Stuff

We had another visit from Nate, our mini-boat expert, on Monday. We worked on priming our vessels, designing flags and stickers, working on our first letter to the sister school in Japan, and putting the finishing touches on our instructions if our boat is lost. Our time with Nate is busy, loud, but incredibly productive. Not only are our students learning more about boats, but the writing and organization of this project is proving a valuable experience for the kids.

Everyone is busy working on the boat project.

What Else?

Finally, this week we should be wrapping up our partner interview projects. My hope is we can hold a gallery walk of the projects early next week. I am so impressed with the quality of multi-media project that students are producing this year.

We are also taking our first unit test in reading, to assess where students are at with their independent reading and comprehension levels, completing a persuasive writing pre-assessment, we have science test over genetics early next week, and are still hard at work on our geography simulation. As you can see, there is never a dull moment in sixth grade!

When the camera comes out, they get a bit distracted! However, these are your students hard at work on the second assessment of the day!

Have a great rest of the week!

-Ms. Kinsman

Some Quick Announcements

Picture Day and Homecoming

If your family is purchasing pictures of your child, please make sure to send the picture envelopes tomorrow morning. I think you can order additional prints after the pictures are taken, as well.

We also have the high school homecoming parade tomorrow afternoon. Orange and black clothing and/or spirit wear adds to the festivities. Students may change after pictures, during their lunch, if necessary.

Upcoming Halloween Party

We are planning to have a sixth grade Halloween party on Tuesday, October 31st from 1:45-2:45. If you would like to help with food or activities, please let me know as soon as possible. I might also need a parent to do some food shopping ahead of time. If you really love bargain grocery shopping, please let me know, and I'll put your skills to the test!

Box Tops and Other Fundraising Opportunities

If you have any box tops you would like to donate for the fourth grade fundraiser, they are currently collecting for the fall drive. In addition, we sent home paperwork last week for a Taekwondo fundraiser. This is a great opportunity for our PTO to make a decent amount of money. 

Finally, our PTO is also looking for volunteers to work the student store. If you would like to help out, please contact the PTO with your contact information. Here is a link to their website: http://ottopetersenparentorganization.weebly.com/ . 

Have a wonderful three day weekend!

Mini-Boats Require a lot of Sanding!

Our first visit with Nate from the Maritime museum was a huge success. I hope your students came home and shared what a fun afternoon we had! From sanding hulls, to mixing epoxy, all the students were busy helping to prepare our mini-boat for its voyage. This includes writing special instructions to attach to the vessel to help it avoid the fate of other similar boats.

I am excited for our next visit with Nate, when we will finish assembling our boat, adding paint, a name plate, and discussing our first meeting with the sister school in Japan. All around, this is going to be a wonderful experience!

Don't forget, tomorrow is crazy hair day! 

Have a great weekend! 

A Lot to Share

Checking Grades

Below I have included a Google Slide show to review how to best use Synergy with your student. About half the class was able to check their grades on Thursday using StudentVue. If you have any questions, please let me know. Grades from last week should be updated by tomorrow morning.

What Have We Been Up To in Class?

Last week, we started our Caravans simulation. Students are in teams, called Caravans, traveling the world and seeking treasures. Along the way they will encounter a number of trials, including disease, storms, and team challenges making their journey more exciting. Travel dots will be awarded to caravans with the most complete, and well done assignments. Here's a shot of the teams working on their caravan banners.

In addition to the fun we've been having in social studies, we are also hard at work on our partner interviews. Many students will be starting their digital presentation this week. Please, if you have not taken the opportunity, student access to a Gmail/Google account will help ensure this process is a smooth one for your student. I have a classroom account for those students that did not set up a personal account, but classmates will be able to access one another's work. This has been a problem in the past. Thank you for your support with technology.

Upcoming Events

On Thursday, Nate, from the Columbia River Maritime Museum, will be here to start our mini-boat project! We are super excited. Here is what I know so far: On Thursday, we will begin assembling our mini-boat. Nate will also provide about 45 minutes of question and answer time. In addition, the captain of the boat we will be taking to sea (!?) to launch our mini-boat is awaiting federal approval, but we should expect a field trip in November to release our small vessel. 

On Friday, our school is having our first spirit assembly, Pride Ticket store, and Crazy Hair Day! I am already planning my special 'do. I'll be sure to post pictures early next week. 

Have a great week! 

Ms. Kinsman