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

Geography Help

Students, here is the digital version of the Geography dictionary. Remember, if you are aiming for an Exceeds score, you must find an actual location for each of terms. Google is a useful search tool. Try entering phrases such as, "example of a delta".

I also included a link to the cool website I shared in class, that compared the sizes of different locations on Earth. Enjoy learning more about our beautiful Earth! 

The True Size App

The Good News and the Even Better News

The Good News

The good news is... our first homework assignment is due tomorrow! I feel pretty good about the number of students who have said their homework is already completed. Again, the purpose of our weekly writing homework is to get a little more practice in each week, and to help student learn independence and responsibility around tracking materials to and from school.

By the end of the week, grades should be updated in Synergy. The last few kinks are being worked out of the program and new report card. I'll send out an email letting families know when it is a good time to check to see if homework and assignments were turned in on time.

The Even Better News

The even better news...our classroom was one of five in the Portland Metro area selected to participate in a mini-boat program through the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Why is this so exciting? Your students will be helping to assemble a small, unmanned craft, which will be sent to Japan with a number of measuring devices on board. We will be working with the museum to track the vessel's voyage, measure ocean conditions, and share results with a sister school in Japan. 

I am still learning all the details of this incredible opportunity, but I cannot wait to get started next month. I believe this experience will prove to be unforgettable for this year's class. More information  will be coming your way soon!

Finally, graded work is now being returned to your student. I am trying to help students to remember to check their mailboxes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. If you have any questions about scored work, please let me know. 

Have a wonderful evening,
Ms. Kinsman

So Many Important Papers

This afternoon, I had your students empty their mailboxes for the first time. There were a few notices from the school I wanted to quickly discuss. The first two are notices about using Synergy ParentVUE. This allows families to check grades from home. You'll notice I also have a link on the right hand side of the screen. 

While ParentVUE is an invaluable resource, we recently made changes to our report card, which are not yet reflected in the grade book. As a result, I am waiting to enter data into our electronic system. I will be sure to let families know when the system has been updated and grades are current online. In the meantime, if I am noticing a pattern of missing assignments from your student, I will be sure to let you know. If you have any concerns, I am here to take questions as they arise.

I also sent home information about the OPPO's movie fundraiser. If your family would like to order movie tickets, please feel free to send an envelope with the order form and money back to school with your child. We will make sure it gets to the office. 

Tomorrow morning I will be distributing our first weekly writing homework assignment. Please expect this in your child's backpack. Remember, the homework is not due until the following Thursday morning. It will then be returned to your student, with a grade, on Friday morning. Your student will have an opportunity to analyze and reflect on their work and make a plan for improved writing the following week. The next week's assignment will also be attached. 

It has been a great week. The kids and I have settled into a nice routine, and we are learning a lot! Thank you again for all your support. You have wonderful students!

Have a great weekend,
Ms. Kinsman

And Now the Fun Begins!

I hope you all had an excellent back-to-school week! I know I was exhausted by Friday afternoon, and expect many of your students were tired, as well. Now that the fun of the first week is over, we will spend the upcoming week experiencing some of the more "normal" routines of sixth grade. 

On Monday, we will be breaking our students into their new math classes. It is a lot of fun to teach different groups of students throughout the day, and a good opportunity for your student to practice moving from one teacher to another. All the sixth grade teachers are looking forward to getting to know your students.

We are also starting our first language arts story, conducting a partner interview in writing, and beginning our geography unit in social studies. I guarantee it will be a busy week! On Friday, you can also expect your student's first homework assignment. More information will follow.

Finally, as part of the partner interview project, your student will be making an awesome multi-media presentation using an app called AdobeSpark. It is a wonderful, free (with no ads!), resource, which allows each student to create their own narrated slide show about a fellow classmate. This was a hugely successful project last year, with one exception: using only one Google Account for logging into the program made it nearly impossible to save the different projects without overwriting data. 

Last year, I kept track of student writing assignments using a Google Drive account shared by my whole class. However, it was challenging for each learner to keep their Google docs, presentations, and other projects protected, as the whole class could access one another's work. As a result, I am asking parents to explore creating Google accounts for your student. It is a relatively easy process, with a lot of information from Google about how to protect your young user. If you do create an account for your student, please make sure they know the user name and password. This way they can create a completely secure AdobeSpark project, and access the Google tools from school to work on and save assignments. 

If you have any questions about creating a Google account, please do not hesitate to reach out. I have a link to my school account to the right of the screen. I'll be sure to answer any email questions as promptly as possible. 

Thank you for all your support this past week. I am looking forward to seeing your students tomorrow morning!

Computer Lab Expectations

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