The Business of Being in Ms. Kinsman's Room

We are now well underway and having a great time. Again, I am so impressed with our class. They are working hard and adjusting well to the demands of sixth grade. 

I want to thank those families that made it to Back-to-School Night. Most of my presentation focused on work expectations, grading, and special sixth grade events- namely Outdoor School. I have included a slideshow about grading below. If you have any follow up questions or concerns please let me know. I do not have much information about Outdoor School at this point, other than we will be going sometime in the spring. As we hear more information, we will pass it onto families.

First, please note the link below. After Back-to-School night, families were provided with log on information for Synergy, our grade reporting software. As your students prepare for middle school, I think it is important for students and parents alike to be aware of how to check assignments. If you have problems logging in, please contact the main office, and they will help you out.

Secondly, it is important to understand how to interpret the ParentVue information. The program is not well suited for reporting proficiency grades (i.e. does your student exceed, meet, nearly meet, or does not meet the sixth grade standard). In order to help avoid confusion, I created the following guide. Please use this information when reviewing your student's scores. 

Again, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about your child's performance. I want to ensure they all have a successful year!

Geography Links

Geographic Terms Slide Show

The True Size Of...

Oxfam Globe Unwrapped

PlaceSpotting

Back in Action

Whew! What an awesome first week we had! I am so impressed with all of your children and cannot say enough good things about our class. The kids were studious, enthusiastic, and dedicated all week. I hope they were able to get some rest this weekend. I know I was exhausted.

This week, we will be starting a more normal routine. We will start our regular language arts instruction, possibly start groups for math, and will continue with our first science and social studies units. I also will pass out our first writing homework for the year on Friday. I will make sure expectations for the homework are clear, but know that I will be going over this routine at our Back-to-School Night.

I also wanted to explain our specials schedule. Your student may have explained we are now following an ABC routine. Today is a B-Day, meaning we have library. Tomorrow we have P.E. I will be helping the students record the days in their planners each afternoon.

A-Day = Music
B-Day = Library
C-Day = P.E.

Thank you for returning all the forms for the beginning of the year. I am finding your notes, and the students reflections, to be very helpful. I am still familiarizing myself with each of your kiddo's needs, but if you have any concerns that have not yet been addressed, please let me know. 

Have a great week!
Ms. Kinsman

It's That Time Again

It is my favorite time of year: Back to School! Welcome to the sixth grade and to my class blog. I am so exited to have your student in my room this year and cannot wait to see their eager/excited/terrified/dread-filled/exhausted faces come Tuesday morning. I hope your students remember our fly-up day meeting from June and are excited and ready for sixth grade. I know I am!

Supplies

A couple of quick notes as we get prepared for the first week of school. We will not be holding a Meet the Teacher Night or a supply drop off. As a result, your students will need to haul all their supplies to the classroom on Tuesday morning. I'll have areas for supplies labeled and ready to go. Here's how I separate the supplies...

In Your Desk or Cubby (labeled with student’s name)	Storage (Items are for specific uses. Students will have access as needed)
Folders, Binder, Notebook Some Paper (about half a small pack) 10 Pencils Calculator Pencil Pouch/Box Colored Pencils Markers Scissors Highlighters Watercolors Glue	Dry Erase Marker Sharpies Extra Paper Extra Pencils White Paper Facial Tissue Hand Sanitizer Sanitizing Wipes Ziplock Bags Emergency Food/Water
Special Instructions	Special Items for Ms. Kinsman’s Class
Please put your headphones in a ziplock bag, and label it clearly with your name in Sharpie. I’ll store these in a special basket.	One spiral notebook One composition book

First Day of School

Drop off and pick up times have remained the same this year. Students enter the classroom at 8:15 am and are released at 3:00 pm. Please also make sure your student knows how they will be getting home on the first day of school. Here's a helpful link to the bus routes. Parent drop-off and pick-up is in front of the gym. Walkers will exit through the front doors.

On Tuesday afternoon, I will be sending home all types of information with your students. Just in case it doesn't make it home, I have included some of the documents below. It would be great to have this information returned by Friday morning, as it helps me to get to know your students and set them up for success. 

Class Notes

Whoooo is Your Child?

Whoooo Can Volunteer?

Welcome Back Scavenger Hunt

Back-to-School Night

For all other information about our day-to-day classroom procedures, please join us on Wednesday, September 19, from 6-7:30. I will provide a short, yet informative, presentation on myself and our classroom. It should answer questions about homework, grading, and fun events unique to the sixth grade. I will also be available to answer questions. 

If you have any concerns between now and back-to-school night, please do not hesitate to email or call. There is a 'contact me' link on the right side of the page, or you can call the school at 971-200-8003, ext. 3204. I always try to call or email back before the day is over.

We will see you soon!

-Ms. Kinsman

It's the End of the Year as We Know It

We are in the final weeks of school, and we are absolutely rocking it! Believe it or not, the students have been incredibly studious this last week, and we are already off to a great start this morning. We were luck to have a fun art literacy lesson on Friday and have many fun events coming up next week!

The Serious Stuff

A number of important assignments will be wrapped up over the next few days. This include a persuasive writing piece, the Newbery Book Reports, a persuasive writing assessment, and the final chapters of A Wrinkle in Time. In addition, we'll be finishing our nutrition unit and personal finance simulation. Be sure to be asking your students about how they did managing their checking and savings accounts!

The Fun Stuff

Here is a list of fun events the students have in the coming two weeks. If you would like to volunteer to chaperone the field trip, please let me know. I can bring five parent helpers this year, and I only have one spot reserved. 

Wednesday, June 6: 4th Grade Play and Final Spirit Assembly

Friday, June 8: Last Day of Math Groups

Monday, June 11: Kick-ball game (with professional kick-ball pitcher!)

Tuesday, June 12: Fly-Up Day (morning)

Wednesday, June 13: Field Day & Staff vs. Student Volleyball Game

Thursday, June 14: All day field trip to Oaks Park

Friday, June 15: Last Day of School; Dismissal at 12:45

What to Expect at the End of the Year

Book Reports & Homework

This week, students should have finished reading their Newbery Award winning titles. We have been working on the rough draft of the book report in class, and will continue to work on finishing the final draft next week. 

I originally thought we would have enough time in class to finish the reports by Tuesday, May 29, but with our busy schedule, there has not been enough class time to make this happen. In order to ensure the book reports are completed in a timely manner, I will NOT assign writing homework for next week. Instead, I will ask that students finish specific parts of the book report they are not able to finish in class. I will assign these parts each evening. Be sure to check with your students (and their planner...yep, we still fill these out each day) to see which portion of the project is due. If it has already been completed in class, your student will not have homework. 

Examples of the finished project.

Other Announcements

Please be checking in with your student about flyers and other end of the year communication in their mailboxes. Many forms about camps and summer events are being sent home each week. Today, an envelope to order yearbooks should be coming your way. If you have any questions about summer activities, please let me know. We have a number of great offerings in Scappoose.

Math Night, Book Reports, and Other End of the Year Events!

Math Night

Don't forget, tonight is Family Math Night and the OPPO bake sale. It should be a fun and relaxed event, with many delicious treats for sale. I look forward to seeing students and families this evening. The event begins at 6:00 pm and runs through 7:30 pm.

Book Reports

Hopefully your student has mentioned a new project we started this week, the Newbery Award Winner Book Report. We had a "book tasting" on Monday, where students enjoyed cookies and milk, while also sampling some new stories. They had over 50 titles to choose from, all Newbery Award winners or honor books. We did our best to ensure everyone has a book they will enjoy and will be able to finish on our tight timeline.

Students should finish reading their titles by Wednesday, May 23. This is the official "three weeks from when we all started our books" date. I had the students take the number of pages in their novel and divide the amount by 21. We now all know the number of pages to be read each day. I am working to give at least 20 minutes a day for silent reading time.

The report portion of the project will be due on Tuesday, May 29. Most of this project will be completed in class. However, if I notice students falling behind, I may ask them to bring home their work. I'll try to also let parents know if I have concerns about project completion.

I will post a digital copy of the note sheet soon. I have to get a little more technological to make that happen! The final project pages will be available once the notes are completed and checked off.

Field Trip

This afternoon, I also sent home information about our two end of the school year field trips. We will be headed to a Timber's game next Friday, May 18th. In June, we will celebrate the end of elementary school with a fun day at Oaks Park. Please be sure to ask your student for the forms. Both permission slips are on the same sheet of paper, but both sides need to be signed.