A Fresh Face in Sixth Grade

Welcome to Ms. B

I am so excited to announce the arrival of our student teacher, Tiffany Brungardt. She will be with our class through the end of the year, and will return in the fall. She is doing a great job helping me keep kids on track for the end of the year. Please read below to learn more about Ms. B.

My name is Tiffany Brungardt, otherwise known as Miss B! I am a student at Concordia University in Portland working on my masters degree. I received my undergraduate degree from Portland State University in Child and Family Studies. I am a Scappoose High School graduate and attended Peterson as a child! I am so excited to be returning to this wonderful school and to give back to the community that helped shaped the person I am today!

Six-plus years of ​working in the early childhood education world has brought me to teaching elementary students, and I can say with pride that nothing fills my heart with passion and happiness more than teaching. I love watching my students learn and grow and take pride in helping my students succeed. I am recently engaged and love spending time with my family, hiking, reading, and playing cards. I look forward to learning from Mrs.Kinsman and your children!

Middle School Announcements 

I just learned the middle school has a dance team! Please read below for more information about try-outs.

Any student who will be in grades 6th or 7th next year are welcome to tryout for the Middle School Dance team!  Interested boys or girls - it will be May 25th & 26th at Scappoose HIGH SCHOOL.  Please email Taren Darr-Weigandt or Pamela Didier for more information and a registration form.      taren.darr@gmail       or     pdidier@scappoose.k12.or.us

Also, SMS is hosting an open house on Tuesday, May 24, at 7:00 pm. You and your students are invited to tour the school and learn more about what to expect next year. 

It's Been a Long Time

With all the emails I have been sending, I haven't taken the time to write a blog post. Here are some updates (and pictures!) of the happenings in our classroom.

In social studies, we finished our Maya simulation. Students were put into "city/states" and had to trade various goods to earn corn and increase their populations. Our winning city/state, Chichen Itza, had a glorious final sacrifice, and will be joining Chac (me) for a chicken pizza lunch on Friday.

This week, we are beginning our Aztec, Inca, Maya project. The students are working in small groups to research one of these ancient civilizations. Then they will work together to create Google Slide presentation to share with the class. Each student will take notes on the presentations and compare the research of their peers to their own. As the pictures show below, they are working hard on note taking.

In two weeks, we will be starting state math testing. Most of the classes are currently studying the use of input and output charts to graph data. Students are also doing an excellent job of completing and turning in their math homework. The end of the year field trips are a great source of inspiration for the kids who struggle with study skills. Thank you for your support in this area!

In language arts, we are continuing a five-story unit about different ancient cultures. We have read about the Vikings, Chinese, Greeks, Egyptians, and will end with a piece about Mt. Vesuvius. Your students are applying skills like identifying main idea and cause and effect relationships. As we get closer to the end of the year, we will begin a fun unit on super heroes. I can't wait!

We have also been working on finishing a piece of writing on the use of plastic, paper, and reusable bags. After watching a number of short videos on the topic, and using information from various print resources, the students are now putting their notes into a five-paragraph persuasive essay. This will be due next week. 

Your student might have mentioned that we have a student teacher joining us in May. Ms. Brungardt is a Petersen graduate herself and is excited to have this opportunity to support her hometown community. It will be nice to have the extra help in the classroom as we enter the end-of-year excitement. 

Have a great week,
Ms. Kinsman

Science Fair Help

Science Fair Boards

Below, I have included some pictures of science fair boards to help those of you overwhelmed by the example in the science fair packet. The key areas to include are:

• A Title (with your name)
• Question
• Hypothesis
• Materials
• Data (Presented in a chart or graph; we went over how to do this in class)
• Results & Analysis (I sent home a paper to help with this today for homework)

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to email or call. I am here to help. 

Science Fair & Human Growth and Reproduction: It's an Exciting Time in Sixth Grade!

Science Fair

As mentioned in the previous post, science fair season is upon us. In order to help keep the students on track (and have the best projects in the sixth grade!), I have decided to tie the upcoming week's homework and computer lab time into science fair project completion. 

Please look through and reference the schedule below. I believe this will help keep our students on track. If your child has still not come up with a science fair project idea, I will be meeting with them today and tomorrow to come up with a plan. 

Blue = Work Done at Home    Orange= Work Done at School

Human Growth & Reproduction

This afternoon I will be sending home our Human Growth & Reproduction information letters. On the front is a brief description of the information we will be covering, while the back provides Oregon legislation regarding the material we are required to teach each year. 

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me via email or telephone call. If you would like to exclude your student from the unit, please return the form by Friday, March 11. An alternative project will be assigned. 

Science Fair is Just Around the Corner!

Science Fair

This week will begin talking about the upcoming science fair. On Tuesday afternoon, students will be receiving a packet of information about the upcoming event, and how to plan a successful science fair project. For homework this week, I am asking students to come up with a question, hypothesis, and basic outline of a procedure for their project. This is a rough, rough draft, but it will give me time to look through their ideas over the weekend and provide helpful feedback to ensure their project is a success. Unfortunately, the sixth grade information packets were not ready after school, hence the Tuesday start date.

I believe most of the students are excited to participate. Many years ago, I was invited to attend a week-long science fair symposium at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. It was an amazing trip; students who are eager to enter the STEM fields should look at a science fair as an opportunity to explore an area of interest and to learn more about the scientific process. 

Our science fair night will be help on March 31, 2016. As the weeks progress, I will include helpful information through the classroom blog to help students stay on track. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know how I can help.

Doernbecher Days & Clam Chowder Sales

We are currently in the midst of two fundraisers. This week our Doernbecher fundraiser includes a talent show (Monday), Burgerville Give Back Night (Tuesday), Survivor Night (Wednesday) and Lip Sync Battle (Thursday). Event information can be found on the district website. If you would like to donate money to the cause, our classroom collection jar is fairly empty. It could use a little help. Any donations are welcome!

In addition, the fourth grade has started their annual clam chowder sale. Order forms are available in our classrooms. If your students would like to participate, please have them grab a form. I can direct them to the correct location.

Have a great week,

Ms. Kinsman

Homework

Homework 

This week I am asking students to complete assignments from class as their homework. We have been reading Freedom Walkers for the past two weeks and have completed a number of activities from the students' Reader's Notebooks. In order to move on to the next story, I am going to ask students to complete the reading and Notebook pages at home and turn them in on Friday.

Here is a list of pages must be completed. Most of this work was supposed to have been completed in class.  If you student is struggling with the reading, please feel free to offer support. This is a challenging text, with a lot of vocabulary and topics new to the kids. 

Student Notebook Pages: 121-130, 132-133, 138,143-144

Thank you for your help in getting this story wrapped up. Please be sure your student takes very good care of their book. It is important that we keep these in good shape for the upcoming years. 

Valentine's Day

Thank you to all the family members who were able to help at this year's Valentine's party. The sixth grade team appreciates all of your support. Thank you also for all the gifts. The thoughtfulness of the kids is touching.

This Week

In social studies, we are continuing our study of ancient China. Students will be writing the scripts, and begin recording, their multi-media presentation on one Chinese dynasty.

In math, we are continuing operations with fractions. Expect homework practicing these skills.

In language arts, we will be starting a new realistic fiction piece and focus on understanding how the author develops theme in their writing. 

In health, we are finishing the chapter on smoking prevention.

Have a great week!
Ms. Kinsman

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

On Friday, we will hold a grade level Valentine's Day party. There will be music and dancing in the commons, iPads, games, and snacks in the classrooms. Before the party begins at 2:00, students will be allowed to pass out Valentines to their classmates. Remember, this is an optional activity. I have provided large envelopes for students to decorate at home.

If you would like to volunteer to help out at the party, please let me know. We will need assistance with snack preparations and supervision. It should be a lot of fun!

Box Tops

If you have any box tops lying around the house, the final day for turn in is February 26th. We have a nice collection started, but could always use more. I appreciate any donations!

Pencils & Homework

Thank you so much to the families who sent in pencil reinforcements. We are working on being more diligent about how pencils are placed in our desks, and getting pencils off the floor each afternoon. Hopefully, we have enough to make it until the end of the year!

I also wanted to remind families that this week's writing homework requires a parent signature. Please take a moment to read through your student's assignment and discuss any edits or revisions that might be needed. For weeks with a good amount of writing required on the homework, I pass out writing awards to those students I feel showed improvement, or went above and beyond on their assignment. This gives the students the privilege of having a buddy lunch with the iPad. I'm looking forward to reading their work from this week's prompt. 

Have an excellent week!
-Ms. Kinsman