Happy Holidays!

I'm going to share this week's adventure's through an array of pictures. I'll start with the boring. Even though it was the week before the holiday break, we did have some real work that we did. Here is the picture of our homework board for the week. The next activity I'd like to spotlight is one of my favorite activities of the season. Not because the art work turns out all that fancy, but because of the message that is conveyed with it. This goes hand in hand with the lesson I did based on Pearl Harbor in that it's purpose is to teach tolerance and acceptance. The more these children realize people are different and that's okay, the less hatred we'll have in the world.

In five of the different continents I have represented a different holiday. North America is Advent, South America is Christmas, Africa is Kwanzaa, Asia is Hanukkah, and Europe is St. Nicholas. Down in the Australian region I didn't necessarily represent a different holiday, but different customs. This season down is Australia falls during their Summer months so their customs are a lot different than our dreaming of a white Christmas. I also read them a New Zealand version of our Twelve Days of Christmas, thanks to one of my students last year for the gift whose family was from New Zealand, A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree.

The next couple of pictures are going to come from our final holiday activity, the "Gingerbread" house building. It was certainly a fun project that some of the students took a little more seriously than others. There were certainly a lot of them that turned out cute but pictured below are two of the better pictures my phone camera took throughout the activity.

A few serious things to note upon. I have grades online entirely up to date with what I have turned in. I have given the students missing assignments reports with the assignments attached to it. I have told them I am giving them until the second day back to get those turned in. After that, anything that was due before the break will no longer be accepted. the only reason I'm making it the second day is because I know there is going to be at least one student who forgets it at home, so I'm just making the adjustment for that now.

Finally, I want to thank you (both parents and students) for all of the fabulous gifts, and for those that didn't, don't feel bad. It was certainly not a necessity, but I'll tell you, if there's ever a time that I doubt that I'm making the difference I set out to make, this season really tells me otherwise. I with I could pay it back tenfold because these kids deserve it. I truly do care for and appreciate each and every one of them and I hope that I was able to convey that message to them without having some kind of gift to give them. Unfortunately, having bought a house earlier this year, I'm not in a place where I could afford that, but I do love each and every family that I'm working with this year and whatever it is you celebrate: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa; or even don't celebrate, I hope you have a happy break filled with lots of family and lots of love because you all deserve it so very much!

"He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree." ~Roy L. Smith

Shakespeare Unshackled Character List

For those in my homeroom, you can ignore this post. I promised Mrs. Dezember's class that I would have the parts for the play we are doing in their rotation posted today. So here it is! I ask you to realize that of the 27 parts listed on the paper, the majority of you wanted 4 of them, so I took those, along with auditions, along with what I thought would bring together a great show, and here is what I came up with. I implore you all to do the best with the part you are given as I am currently thinking that we could produce a super incredible performance with the way I have it cast! We'll see you all on Monday excited and ready to start learning your music!

December 10, 2011

December 4, 2011

I seriously cannot get over how proud I am of my students for their three performances this week. I could not have asked them to do any better. With my theatrical experiences growing up, I tend to set the bar high when I create these performances, and even though not everyone is the actor or actress the next person might be, they never seem to let me down. This year was no different. They did fantastic and I could not be more proud! I am going to be sending home an order form for both DVD copies of our play and 8x10 copies of the cast pictures. Because we had students there on some days, and not on others, I am going to make both the Wednesday and Thursday performances and pictures available, in the event that you have a preference. Here is an example of what the cast pictures will look like. This is the Wednesday cast:
With the play behind us, we can officially move on with the school year. The homework for this past week is posted above. Remember this coming week we are going to be making masks. There are also some student who are involved in an assembly we'll be putting on this Friday. I will send a note home for to the parents whose students are involved giving you more information.

Only two more weeks til Winter Break and only 22 days until Christmas! Are you ready?

"Never be too proud of who you are and what position you hold because after a game of chess the kings and pawns are tossed into the same box." ~Unknown

November 23, 2011

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

With a four day weekend ahead of us, I just wanted to take this second to let each and every one of you and your students know how thankful I am for my class and their parents this year. The students are so sweet and caring. Our class has high times and low times as any family would, but in the end we all get along with each other and we all care for one another. There is no name calling and no blatant rudeness. They are all really good kids and for that I am truly thankful. I am also truly thankful for all the volunteers we've had this year. I know I have hard times coming up with things for all of you to do, but I want you to know that I am thankful for what's been done and for what will still come. Finally, all you parents at home, I am thankful for you. My job as a teacher would not be possible without your support!

A few reminders: we perform our play next week. our final dress rehearsal is Monday. Parents, you are invited to come and see the play on Thursday at 2:45. The auditorium will be pretty full with students for the other performances, but there should be plenty of room for you on the Thursday performance. Thanks for all the support I've had with the play.

Also remember that our class store will be next Friday. If you have anything around the house your kids would like to bring in and sell, have them bring it on Friday. Also, our first class party will be the same Friday. I've not had any volunteers yet, so if you have a game, craft, or something you'd be willing to do in rotations with the kids, let me know.

It is a time of thanks, so one more time, just, thanks, for everything! I love my job and I wouldn't have it without parents, students, and a school!

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer

Veterans' Day 11-11-11

This is by far my favorite patriotic holiday here at our school. Each year the students work so hard on the Armed Forces Medley and another song to honor the Veterans. Each year it wells tears up in my eyes to hear it. This year was no different. Our Veterans deserve so much more than one day to thank them, but we do the best we can with that one day. Thank you Vets, for everything you do for us! Our play is quickly approaching. We will be performing it three different times, November 29, 30, and December 1. Please mark your calendars for December 1st. This is the performance that we're reserving the space for parents to come see it. The performance will begin promptly at 2:45. I have asked some student help on costuming. Most of it is easy things. Most of it has also already been brought in. A huge thank you to Becky Austad for all of her help with costuming. Thank you, thank you.

Also something to put in your heads, I plan on doing our first of three class stores on Friday, December 2. I am going to be bringing in some things the kids will be able to purchase with their Seussopoly money. One thing I like to do with my stores is give the kids a chance to bring things in as well. If you can think of anything you have around the house you're needing to get rid of that you think a sixth grader would be intersted in, send it in on the 2nd and let your student profit from it. You could also purchase some small things to allow your students to sell here in the class. The students really light up with the chance to sell their own items. It also helps them develop some entrepreneurship. We do keep our money from store to store so they can build up money throughout the year.

Even further out, keep in mind that I would like to make the final store a bigger one than I can produce on my own. If you'd be willing to donate items or money toward that, I certainly would not turn them down. That will not be until just about the end of the year though, so you really have some time to think about it.

That's about all I have right now. Below is our homework board for this week. Only a week and a half until Thanksgiving! I seriously can't believe how quickly this year is moving!

The courage of our Veterans is really a contradtiction of itself. It is their strong desire to live with us taking form in their readiness to die for us.

November 6, 2011

Holy Cow! There is so much going on here right now, I often wonder if I'm sinking or swimming. But here I am, on this beautiful Sunday morning, getting things caught up, so I say with grace that I am definitely swimming. First and foremost, here is our homework board for the week:

Can you believe first term is already behind us? For some reason, this first transition in terms has thrown me off! Between teaching, our play, tech club, my involvement with the additions to our auditorium, the new grading system, and, oh yeah, life away from school, it's been a busy couple of weeks. Needless to say, I'm finally getting on top of it.

Tuesday will be our first rehearsal in the auditorium where we will be script free! Talk with your students, ask them how they feel about their lines and songs, and if they seem unsure, work with them on it. I think we are going to have a fantastic performance. I am super excited for it. Remember, the calendar below, the performance for parents is going to be Thrusday, December 1, at 2:45. It will be a show you won't want to miss!

This week I will be sending home the assignment for Term 2 book report. They will not be presented until someone after Christmas Break, but it's never to soon to start thinking about it. Also, this week, we will be resuming the at-home reading of our story. This week, it's "Trapped by the Ice." Remember I'm only asking for it to be read at home one time, and it can be counted as that night's 20 reading minutes. Please make sure your students are keeping up on that as well. They should be reading 100 minutes a week, averaging 20 minutes a night.

A bit of down news, we've taken a couple of term tests in the past few weeks, and the average scores have been less than I'd thought they'd have been. I've come to the conclusion that maybe I need change some things about how I am here at school. I do like to joke around and have fun while we learn, but if the fun gets in the way of the students taking school seriously, I need to quit it. Grades are updated online. You can see how your student has done on the Term 1 Math test and the Term 1 Language test. Please have a talk with your students about these tests and see how they felt about it. I know one aspect with the math was the test was just too long. It was 50 questions in two parts and I feel it was just too much, but that's no excuse. I know we're going to struggle a bit with the change in math core this year, but that means we, including myself, have to work at things a little bit harder to get everyone to be as successful as possible. With that said, we went over the math test on Friday. I will be sending them home with a new copy this week and over the course of the week, part of their homework is going to be to redo this test as an assignment. You are allowed to help them and they are allowed to ask me any questions necessary so they understand the material that was covered throughout the term. Please be available to help them on this so we can sure they know all they need to know.

With that being said, we will truck on with term 2. Here's to another 130 or so school days together! Let's make them great!

"He who has imagination without learning has wings and no feet." ~Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

Final Calendar for "Character Matters"

October 24, 2011

I just wanted to quickly put up last weeks homework board. There were so many things I wanted to get done before I left last Wednesday and I vowed to myself that for once I was not going to come in over a long break. I didn't succeed in getting quite everything done before I left, but I did succeed in not coming in over the weekend.

Remember, the official end of the first term in this week. If your student has any last minute assignments they'd like to get made up before things are final, they'd better do it quickly. I'm looking forward to a good week this week. I hope everyone else is feeling it too!

"Just smiling goes a long way toward making you feel better about life. And when you feel better about life, your life is better." - Art Linkletter

Red Ribbon Week

Monday, October 24 - Friday, October 28

Theme: “High on Life!—Stay Drug Free!"

Monday---Get a natural high…Wear Your Favorite Jersey—make sure you wear a shirt with sleeves underneath if the jersey doesn’t have sleeves—uniform pants

Tuesday---Crazy sock day—crazy socks make you happy and keep you high on life—pink Socks if you have them—Breast Cancer Awareness Month—wear your uniform

Wednesday---Crazy hair day—Crazy hair—color it pink—Being High on Life celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness—Pink—Breast Cancer Awareness Month—wear your uniform

Thursday---Get high on life while wearing your favorite hat—can have to do with Halloween also—wear your uniform. Moosebutter concert…gets you high on life.

Friday---Backwards/inside out—pink ribbons—Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October 14, 2011

Hey everyone! Yet another successful week behind us! Just a few short things to share this week.

* Remember that fall break is next week, so we will only be in school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

* Cultural Fair is due on Monday. We will be judging Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. I'm not entirely sure if Mrs. McGuire got all of the volunteers she needed, but if you're intersted in helping out with judging any or all of those days, send her an e-mail and I'm sure she'll reply to you. (tmcguire@syracuseartsacademy.org)

* The end of the term is October 26. The last assignments for this term will be next Wednesday, 19, and the cutoff for any missing assignments for the first term will be the 26th. Report cards should go home by November 4th.

* Also remember that November 4th is the last day the students will be allowed to use scripts during the run throughs for our play, so make sure they are ready. I am still planning the performances November 21 and 22, but that might change depending on the construction in the auditorium. We are finally getting lights and curtains and I'd love to be able to use them, so if I have to push it back a week to be able to, I will.

For those who do not know, we have a student in fourth grade, Grace Hinds, who has been put into a medically induced coma to help cope with the seizures she's been having. You can see the full story on KSL (http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=17656075&autostart=y) There a few fundraisers the school is supporting to help raise money to support the family. The first is the Race for Grace. It's a 5k and Carnival going on tomorrow at Jensen Nature Park in Syracuse. There should have been a flyer come home about it today.

Also, on Monday, the Syracuse Papa Murphy's is hosting a Teachers Takeover for Grace. The teachers will be working the Papa Murphy's as a fundraiser donating I believe 15% of the money made during that time to Grace's family. I will be working there between 5 and 6, so if you're interesting in having Mr. Pratt make you a Papa Murphy's take-and-bake Pizza, that's the hour you should come by.

I believe that covers it. Come support us as at the Papa Murphy's as we try and help the Hinds family through this difficult time.

"The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all." ~Leo Rosten

October 6, 2011

Well, first parent teacher conferences are done and out of the way. Thank you all for coming in. It was good to really sit and talk with some of you parents that I haven't seen since back-to-school night. All in all we have a really good group of kids this year and it was fun to share the successes. It is also a good time to look at things we can work on, especially with the end of the term quickly approaching! (I can't believe we're more than halfway through it already.)

Things are as they are here at school. There's not been anything too abnormal. Cultural Fair is quickly approaching as well. The projects will presented October 17-19, so please make sure your students are staying on top of it. It is a really fun project, from a teacher's point-of-view, to see the heritages these students have been brought up with.

Mrs. Weidenbacher, the integrated arts specialist for our school, brought in a guest for us from Tandy Leather. He showed the students many different leatherworking projects and gave them the opporunity to pound some designs into a piece of leather. They really enjoyed getting to beat at the tools with the mallets. It's not every day that their encouraged to hit things like this. They loved it!We've got just a few other big things going on around the classroom. First off, book reports are due this coming week. I have given the students an assigned date but in the event that their paper got lost between school and home, here are the assignments again: Finally, we have our play, Character Matters. It's a very cute mix-up of a bunch of fairy tales put together in such a way that it teaches different character development and social traits. The parts have been assigned and we've run through it a couple of times in the classroom. Just so you know, here is the basic schedule I have planned out for it.
Notice that I am planning 3 performances between November 21 and 22. With limited seating in the auditorium, parents are only officially invited to the third and final one. If for some reason that absolutely cannot work for you to see it, talk to me and we'll see what we can do to fit you into one of the others, but please, do your best to come to only that one performance. Besides, it's the third performance, so it will be the best one! I will also be filming the performance and taking a cast picture that I will be offering afterward for pretty much the cost of the supplies. It is coming along really well and I'm excited to see what we can put out after a month more worth of rehearsals. It will be a show you won't want to miss!

"We've got a show, a story that features, fairy tale folk, and fairy tale creatures!" ~Character Matters Opening Song

October 1, 2011

Here's the homework board for the week. Everything is moving along. Cultural Fair has had several of its parts come due, so please make sure your student is staying on top of it.

Reminder about parent teacher conferences coming up this Wednesday and Thursday. I did have a few people change times into the open spots. Thank you for your flexibility. If you've forgotten your time or need to reschedule, please talk to me.

We have completed our Second Unit in this new Math Common Core. I feel really well about how the students did on this test. The majority of our scores were in the 80s and 90s. Congratulation kiddos! I know we've worked hard to get to that point.

I plan on continuing the at-home reading of our Basil Reading stories, however, with the shortened week this week we will not be doing one, so we'll have a break this week. Expect to have another note to sign the following week.

Beyond that, there isn't much to say. We've gotten our scripts for the play, so its coming along. I'll let you know when I've got a more firm date on performances, but we're looking sometime just before we go on Thanksgiving break in November.

I'll end by saying thank you to you parents. Teaching is a hard profession, but dealing with your kids is why I do it, and having parental support like I do from you makes it that much easier. Thanks!

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel." ~ Unknown

September 23, 2011

I've started something new this week that, should it continue to work as well as it did this week, will make it so I have a post on the blog every week no matter how short. I brought in a new little white board that is now our homework board. I have set the board up exactly as their planner is set up so there should be no problems figuring out how to fill in their planner. It also means that whether they fill in their planner or not, every Friday you will be able to see exactly what they did throughout the week. It is a little bit more work on my behalf, but I'm more than happy to do it if it makes the students more successful. Please give me your feedback letting me know how well you think it works."In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves … self discipline with all of them came first." ~ Harry S Truman, U.S. President

Character Matters Part List

This will be one of two blog posts I make this weekend, but I promised the students I'd get it up as soon as possible. We have been learning the songs for Character Matters, which is our class play for this year. Earlier in the week I had the students select the parts from a list that they would want to be in our show. Today, we auditioned. Based on the audition and the part selections, I made the list. I tried to get everyone one of the three parts they selected, but not everybody has been a given a part of their choosing.

Parents, I need your help getting the students who didn't get their first choice to understand that there are lots of parts in the show and when everyone wants the same parts, there are going to be disappointments. It is a lesson I learned early growing up in the theatre. It took me countless auditions before I was even given a part, and then had to work my way into the larger parts. They get the fortunate benefit that there are no cuts. Everyone gets a part in the show, it just might not be the part they wanted.

With that said, and with no further adieu, here is our part list:

Friday, September 16, 2011

There's certain unit I teach this time of year each year that really pleases me. The unit is a Heroes vs. Celebrities unit wrapped around a 9-11 theme. It always seems to really hit the kids exactly as I mean it to. I don't know if it's because I lived through 9-11 that my emotion conveys through the message or what, but it always has such an impact on the kids.

We start with the definition of a hero being a man or woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities. They then draw a picture of a hero in action with a sentence explaining the picture. The next day, after a short 9-11 tribute video, we discuss the many different things that will need to be done in their lifetime that would be considered heroic. They come up with such answers as curing cancer, serving in the military, donating money for charities, etc. They then create the cover of Time Magazine's Person of the Year Issue. Here's a picture of some of those: The final day I bring in a special guest. A good friend of mine from Syracuse City Fire Department has been coming to my class since I taught his daughter two years ago. He gives a firefighters perspective on 9-11 telling the students how firefighters are a close knit family and how traumatic it was losing 343 of their brothers and sisters on that day. I then present to the firemen a bound book of the pictures we drew on the first day with a letter in it signed by all the kids thanking them for their service and honoring them as our hometown heroes. Thanks again Brad for coming in and delivering this message. It really teaches these kids in a way that I couldn't without you! Beyond that, the classroom is moving along as normal. I believe they took their first quiz in science class this week and their first social studies quiz is Monday. Mrs. McGuire also handed out a packet in Arts and Tech. Cultural Fair is their first larger project of the year. The directions should have come home in a note that you had to sign. I also have assigned our first of four book reports this year. The presentations of those will be the week of October 10-14.

Be sure to keep an eye on grades: https://syracuse.usoe-dcs.org/Login/Default.aspx. It might seem early, but with as quick paced as everything is going, Term 1 will be over before we know it!

"The hero is commonly the simplest and obscurest of men." ~Henry David Thoreau

September 2, 2011

There's not a whole lot of new information to share this week. Things are cruising along pretty smooth. I'm going to post videos this week instead of pictures. Our story this week was called "Yang the Eldest and His Odd Jobs". It's a story about a boy who uses his violin talents to earn himself money at a street fair. Usually, I play the students a violin piece from my I-pod, but this year, I happened to know that we had two students who had been taking violin lessons. I asked
the two of them to come and play for the class:

I am so proud of the both of them for having the guts to stand up in front of their peers and play like this, but I am especially proud of this second one. She told me after the fact that this was the first time she had ever played in front of people outside of her lessons. They both did a fantastic job!

All in all, things are moving along at a fairly normal rate. Because of the change in math core this year, I feel that the material we are covering hits harder sooner, but for the most part the kids seem to be handling it okay, and those that are struggling don't seem to be afraid to ask questions. If we keep this attitude all year long, I have no doubt we'll be successful.

We ended this week with a short character lesson based around the book, "The English Roses," by Madonna. It's the story of the a group of girls who don't befriend another girl simply because of how pretty she is and how much better that must make her life. They come to find that her mother died when she was young and so outside of school, she has no friends, and is always at home helping her dad out around the house. The lesson to be learned is that we all have what I call "baggage". We are all dealing with something that no one else knows about, and you never know hot heavy that something is. As students in this class, we are all a family for the next 35 weeks and we will take care of each other as if this were so. We will be there to root for each other when things are great, and we will be there to pick each other up when things aren't going so well. No matter what, we will be there for each other!

"To the world you may just be one person, but to one person you may be the world!" - Brandi Snyder

August 27, 2011

We did it! We survived the first full week of school. It seemed to be a bit of a long week trying to get back into the swing of things, but here we are, moving forward and ready to go! I have a couple of pictures that I promised this week. First off, on Monday, we finished up our watercolor flowers:

We ended up using these flowers as a lesson on perspective. Each student started with the exact same picture, the exact same view finder, the same paper, and the same paints, but there wasn't a single picture that turned out looking the same. There is not one picture up there that is the "correct" picture. This is because we all see things differently and need to learn to respect that, though other people may see things a little differently, it does not make their way wrong.

The other picture I promised was what we used the cans for. Here it is:

The words "I can't" are not allowed in my classroom. Especially not now that we've made a physical representation of an "I can". I'm going to be putting a shelf up in the room and these are going to remain up for the whole year. If I ever hear somebody use the words "I can't", I will simply refer back up to the cans and say, "I know you can. There's proof right there."

I want to make sure you're aware that the state is slowly transitioning into what is called the "Common Core". This is a fantastic thing for several reasons. First off, the Common Core raises the standards. I am a firm believer that children will reach whatever bar you set for them, so this raises the bar a bit and pushes them to excel. Also, the word common in it refers to the fact that it is the same thing across the nation, or at least it will be, right now I believe it's 46 states that have adopted the Common Core. This is great! Especially for the military in the area. They're children will be able to move from school to school and not be completely lost. This year, the state has decided to have sixth grade adopt the new math core, so if you've had other students come through the sixth grade and things seem a little different, this is why. I believe 2015 is the deadline for the entire state to have adopted the Common Core through all content areas and within all grades, k-12.

Here's our week at a glance:

* In math this week, we've started into our unit on ratios and proportions.

* Our first reading story is "The Best School Year Ever".

* In science, they began diving into the Scientific Method: Question, Research, Hypothesize, Experiment, Analyze, Conclude, and Report.

* Arts and Technology has started right into the beginnings of I-Movie, which they will use to edit the newscasts and other videos they produce throughout the year.

* Social studies has started the year by teaching them about different personality types and having them figure out which personality type they were.

* In Writing and Grammar we have been learning about how to construct a complete sentence, the four sentence types, and the 6(+1) Traits of Good Writing: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Sentence Fluency, Word Choice, Conventions, and the (+1) Presentation.

All in all, I'd say it's been a pretty productive week. These kids have taken on each project with class. I truly am blessed to be teaching your students this year!

"Always shoot for the moon because then, even if you miss, you still land amonst the stars."

August 19, 2011

Well, we survived our first week! I don't know if the students felt it, but let me tell you something, we have an incredible class this year! Lots of amazing, sweet, wonderful kids waiting to have a wonderful 6th grade year. I'm right there with them. I hope this ends up being my best year yet!

Our picture from this week comes from the 6th grade team building activity we did. The classes were each given a scooter and a line of rope and told they had to cross the "crocidile infested waters", the width of a basketball court, without touching the "water". We did the activity two different days and it was truly amazing to see how much more team talking was going on the second day. They're well on their way to making our class a family.
We also started an art lesson on perspective. It won't be completed until Monday though, so more details on it will come. The rest of the week was spent learning policies and procedures, getting to know the students, and taking beginning of the year pre-assessments. You know, all of the boring, formality stuff that has to take place at the start of every year. But it's all done and I think we're ready to move forward and really see what this year has to offer!

All in all, I think if you were to ask the Magic 8 Ball, "Are we going to have a good year?" I'm positive this is what you'd see:

WELCOME TO SIXTH GRADE!

Hello Parents!

It's that time of year again! Time to fly our dragons into the 2011-2012 school year! I would like to start by welcoming us all together for what I hope will be one of your student's greatest years yet! Yes, welcome to the sixth grade. My name is Aaron Pratt and I will be your child's teacher, mentor, and confidante throughout this next year.

I am excited to be teaching here at Syracuse Arts Academy! I am more than proud to deliver what SAA has written as their charter. In my opinion, to teach the core through the arts is not doing anything special, it is just good teaching. It helps to get all corners of the child's mind into what is being learned.

I plan on being available to you and your student as much as possible. I am usually available at least an hour before and after school if either of you have questions. I am also available by e-mail or phone. My e-mail address is apratt@syracuseartsacademy.org and of course the school number is (801)779-2066. If I am unavailable to answer, please leave me a message as to what your call was regarding. I will return your calls and e-mails within 24 hours.

If you have any questions throughout the school year, please feel free to contact me. Also, keep an eye on this blog. I will be updating it at least a couple times a month.

I am looking forward to having a wonderful year together!

With warm regards,

Aaron Pratt

June 5, 2011

Well, we've finally made it through the school year. The end was very bittersweet. I am glad that we finally have summer break, but I tell you what, I will miss these kids. I know they'll miss each other as well. We had an emotional last day. Unfortunately, our class is splitting up more than any other. We only have a little more than half our class returning to SAA. It's sad, yes, but it also gives us room for growth. We can expand, meet new friends. Don't forget your old ones though.

There's an old saying goes something like this:

Some people come into our lives and quickly leave. Others stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts so we will never be the same.

Though you may not see your friends on a daily basis anymore, you never have to forget them. Keep that in mind as you move on.

I'm going to post a few videos from the talent shows, to leave us all on a good note. One, the students got to see performed, the other was performed at the junior high talent show, so they did not. Parents, you may have not seen either of them. Here they are, for the enjoyment of all.

I became a teacher to make a difference in the lives of children. Though this is only my second year, I feel as if I am doing that, and I want to end by thanking you parents for helping me know this. They always say teachers don't get paid enough, and though I'd never turn down more money, I get paid plenty in the notes I received from you and the students letting me know that I've done what I set out to do. These kids are the reasons I teach!

Thank you for a fantastic year, and students, you'd better keep in touch!

I Am Part of a Lost Generation

We had a guest speaker named Kyle Johnson come to our school and give a motivational talk about summer safety and making your own life. He shared this poem with the students that I thought was too good not to pass on. I realize it starts out negative, but trust me:

I Am Part of a Lost Generation
by Johnathan Reed

I am part of a lost generation
And I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
Happiness comes from within
Is a lie
Money will make me happy
So in 30 years I will tell my children
They are not the most important things in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
Work
Is more important than
Family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
But this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
30 years from now I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this Earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope

And this will all be true unless we reverse it

There is hope
It is foolish to presume that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It will be evident that
My peers and I care about this Earth
No longer can it be said that
Environmental destruction is the norm
In the future
I will live in a c ountry of my own making
I do not concede that
30 years from now I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
Experts tell me
This is a quick fix society
But this will not be in true in my era
Families stayed together
Once upon a time
I tell you this
Family
Is more important than
Work
I have my priorities straight because
My employer will know that
They are not the most important thing in my life
So in 30 years I will tell my children
Money will make me happy,
Is a lie
Happiness comes from within,
I realize this may be a shock but
I can change the world
And I refuse to believe that
I am part of a lost generation

May 22, 2010

This week's blog is just going to be a short, quick blurb of upcoming dates. Put them on your calendars for your records:

May 23 - Missing Assignment/Grade Sheet sent home
May 25 - Last day for graded assignments/missing work
May 26 - Field Day 1:00
May 30 - Memorial Day, No School
May 31 - End of Year Field Trip to Syracuse 6
June 1 - Awards Assembly 9:00
June 1 - Graduation 2:00
June 2 - Talent Show 9:00
June 2 - 6th Grade T-Shirt Creation
(A note with more info will be coming home)
June 3 - Yearbooks! Last day of school!

If you have any questions on any of this, feel free to e-mail me or call me here at the school. Only 9 school days left until year end! Unbelieveable!

May 13, 2011

Hello!

So that countdown that nobody is doing, there's only 14 school days left! It's unbelieveable how quickly it's gone by! It feels like just yesterday that I was really getting to know these kids and now they're going to be leaving me! I'll just have to make sure we have some fun these last few weeks so I know they won't forget me! Haha! Our picture this week comes from the work we did in my rotation. It's called a "Tree of Life". There are five kingdoms that all living things are classified into. Each branch of the tree is dedicated to one of the five kingdoms and each leaf is dedicated to something within the kingdom it's connected to. 625 or so leaves later, and our tree filled in pretty well.
As we move into next week I want to remind you that we do take our final end of level tests this week. The first section of the math test is on Monday and the second section is on Wednesday. Please do your best to be sure that your students don't miss those days so we don't need to make any tests up.

Grades are updated online as well. I am pretty close to being done giving out assignments that will be graded. There will be a few other small things, but for the most part, the lists are close to complete. There is still time to get in any missing assignments. My last day to accept any late work will be May 25. Please keep a close eye on your students and make sure they are caught up. It's a tough time of year for them to focus, so a little extra support could do them good.

A short note on things that are coming up. DARE Lagoon day is next Friday. We are pleaing with you that your students at least come to school so we can mark them here. Lagoon doesn't even open until 10:30, so if they can come until 10:00 to keep our attendance up, that would be greatly appreciated. Field Day is going to be Thursday, May 26. 6th grade will be doing their portion of field day in the afternoon. May 31 is the 6th grade end of year field trip. We will be walking up to the Syracuse Six and watching Kung Fu Panda 2. We will then head to the park right behind there and have some pizza and play some games. There is a permission slip required for this. I have about half of them in. There is also a $10 fee associated with it. The sixth grade talent show will be on June 2 at 9:00. The graduation will be held that same day at 2:00. June 3 is yearbook day. It's the final day for this school year. A day for bittersweet tears to be cried.

These last few weeks are going to go by super quick. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure your students enjoy the time we have left. I hope they do the same for me!

"But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day." ~Benjamin Disraeli

May 2, 2011

I have a few videos that I'd like to share this week. The first one comes with a huge thanks to Scott Ramsden, one of our many wonderful parents. He came in on Friday this last week and taught the kids a bit about his homeland of New Zealand. Part of that came with a wonderful demonstration of the Native Haka dance. The below video is a bit of that presentation. The last 30 seconds or so is a full on show of the dance.

The other video comes from our PE class. First off, a huge thank you, thank you, thank you to Deb Pullum who has taught out PE class for us the entire year! She has done a fantastic job with it! I had afew of the girls in the class approach me and ask if they could teach a dance during PE. Their rationalization behind it, "We did football with the boys, they can do dance with us." I was all for it, but I figured I'd let Mrs. Pullum have the final say considering she's been running our PE program for the year. She let them do it, and after one days work they produced this video. They did work on it a second week, but I promised them I wouldn't record the second one.

A few bits of important information to pass along. After a few bits of heartache on Thursday, we did finally begin end of level testing today. Our schedule has changed just a bit. We did the first Language Arts test today. We will do the second tomorrow. Because of the issues last week, on Wednesday we will now be taking both sections of the science test. We still have next week off of testing, and we take the two sections of math the following week.

The days are really winding down quick. Only 22 school days remain. It will be a bittersweet ending as I know we are all ready for summer vacation, but I really will miss these guys.

April 21, 2011

I feel as If I've been a terrible slacker at keeping you all updated here via the blog. I apologize! It's been a VERY busy couple of weeks both in and out of school The Friday before Spring Break, my wife and I signed on a house so the past few weeks, I've been leaving from school as soon as contract allows to try and get us set up in our home. Aside from the moving in, it seems we find one repair after another, and though none are major, it's still very time consuming. All in all, none of this is really an excuse for my slacking on the blog, just an explanation.

Here we are, back and at it though. We've been doing so much here! For about a week and a half of math time, we created game boards, with questions and rules, and everything! I have them being displayed in the halls right now, and I'll make sure I keep them up until conference time, so you'll have the opportunity to see them. As for what I've been teaching in math, it's all been review. Everything your student needs to learn in the sixth grade has been taught. The next few weeks we will spend reviewing some of the key materials they seem to need support in. Can you believe that end of levels are right around the corner? We're only exactly one week away from our first Language Arts test.

Here is what our testing schedule looks like as far as the last revision of the schedule goes:

Thursday, May 28 - Language Arts 1
Monday, May 2 - Language Arts 2
Tuesday, May 3 - Science 1
Wednesday, May 4 - Science 2

(We then take a week break from testing)

Monday, May 16 - Math 1
Wednesday, May 18 - Math 2

And with that, end of level testing is complete!!! With these testing days, I'm going to get down on my knees and beg that you have your students here. It makes it so much easier to have everyone here for testing, rather than trying to squeeze them into the make-up sessions. We do hold the make-up sessions for emergencies, but if at all possible, please have your students here on these days!

Also during this time, we will be having conferences. They will fall on Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6. Both of these days will be early out. These conferences are not mandatory conferences, therefore no schedule will be sent out. I will be my classroom from 1:30 to 4:30 both of those days, so if you want to conference, feel free to swing by at any time!

All in all, things are moving at a VERY rapid pace. The end of the school year is coming up quick! Only 29 days left of the school year! (Not that anyone has been counting!) It has been excellent ride this year, and I'm just going to start now with my several chances to thank each and every one of you, parents and students, for the fantastic year we've has this year! It wouldn't have been the same without all of us! We've been the only sixth grade class this year to keep all 27 students the entire year and I wouldn't have had it any other way! Thank, you, thank you, thank you!

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

March 18, 2011

The results are in! Hopefully your students have shared with you if they placed in the Science Fair. The top six places all got prizes, and the top student from each grade gets to go onto the next level of competition. In sixth grade, we actually had one student from each class, but our class was the lucky class to have two placers. Congratulations to Sami Christensen for placing fourth place in the sixth grade science fair! As I said last week though, the number one student in the sixth grade science fair came from our class as well. a HUGE congratulations to Jayden Bowles for being the top student this year with his project on "How does our lifestyle effect our pH balance and how does our pH balance effect our health?"

This week we also celebrated "National Pi Day," March 14 (3.14)! As part of reading contest, the top readers in each class got to throw a pie at the brave teachers and staff that volunteered. I, of course, was among those that did, which meant that I bravely took a pie in the face from Kristin Lawrence, our top reader in our class!

Just a few updates for this week. Most of the teachers within rotations ended their grades for Term 3 today. They should have at least close to final grades uploaded onto the gradebook. I, however, want to finish our "Genres of Literature" book for third term, so even though the assignment lists for Grammar, Spelling, and Math are complete, I have given the students one extra week to turn things in. I will be assigning the final story in the book, biography/autiobiography, this Wednesday. They will only have until Friday to turn it in before I will no longer accept it.

And with that, the third term will be over. The year is three-fourths done. I can hardly believe it. Most of the students have done really well this term. For those who could have made some improvements, use this fresh start to make them!

"For every ending, there is a new beginning." -Ancient Proverb

March 11, 2011

There's not a whole lot of news to report this week. Everything is rolling on as normal. We did have the Science Fair, and I can tell you so much as first place for sixth grade was in our class. But I can't officially make the announcement until after the assembly on Monday. I might have to have a "Special Bulliten" blog just for it.

We had a deadline put on us to have a DARE box finished by today, so the past week we worked hard to get it finished, just to find out that our DARE Officer cancelled DARE on us this week... and next week... so our finished DARE box is now finished three weeks early. Oh well, like the best of them say, "Those who finish early get the reward... of being done early." Our picture this week is a class shot with our finished DARE box.

The finished product turned out beautiful. The project was entirely student driven, and though not every student had a hand in it, I tried to make sure as many students as possible were represented in one way or another. We are all a family though, so the work of one of us, represents the work of all of us, so the whole class should be proud of this box!

I guess the big thing to keep in mind right now is that the end of the third term is just two weeks away now. March 28 is the last day. I will be having a make-up day on March 22 and the deadline for ANY work for the term will be March 25. Keep an eye on the gradebook, and I'll do my best to push the kiddos to get everything turned in on time. Let's end third term strong!

March 5, 2011

Can you believe that we're only 3 weeks away from the end of third term? Incredible, is it not? Where has the time gone? We keep moving along at the same pace, 60 minutes to an hour, yet somehow time is flying and standing still all at the same time! It's one of life's wonders.

Our picture this week is a glimpse of what's to become of our DARE box, which is a box the students can drop questions into to have Officer Penrod answer. Every year, there is a competition to see which class can design the best DARE box. Our class has come up with quite an awesome idea! Can you tell what it is from the picture? If not, you'll have to wait and see the final product.

Most of the subjects are moving along at their standard pace. For the last few weeks in grammar, we've been learning about verbs, which is also what we'll be learning about for the next couple of weeks to come: Past, present, and future tenses, participles, perfect tenses... etc. Lots of verbs to learn about in the English language. Science is continuing to learn about the planets. In reading this week, they learned about Louis Braille and how he designed the Braille reading system for the blind.

Math is continuing to march forward, but unfortunately for some, we're getting into material that I feel is leaving them behind. This is the time of year that we get into the hardest things we learn. We only have 3 weeks of math instruction left, then we use April to review for the End-of-Level testing. I tested something this month, and because of that, I'm going to ask a HUGE favor when we get closer to the end of the new month. Without the students knowing, when we reviewed for the test on Wednesday, I gave them the test, word for word, number for number, question for question, and answer for answer. Some of them noticed, others did not. Some of them did really well. In fact, I was able to award my first 100% this year for a math test. Unfortunately, they weren't all so well. You can look on gradebook to see your student's score. The fact that the scores were still all so spread out is a key indicator to me that very few of the students actually studied for the test which I gave them 100% of the answers to. This is a little disappointing. If the month goes as planned, the next review will be sent home on Thursday, March 24, for the test on Friday, March 25. Can you please keep your eye out for it and help your students study for this month's test? I won't be giving them the test question for question again, but I will be giving them questions that are worded identical to the test, just different numbers. I'd appreciate your support on this matter.

With that said, I have been very proud of these kids in many aspects: Their science test scores were up; Their Theme 4 Language test scores were up; And they had a fantastic idea for a DARE box; just to name a few. We've just got to find some way to make Math seem a little less scary.

"I never did very well in math - I could never seem to persuade the teacher that I hadn't meant my answers literally." ~Calvin Trillin

February 27, 2011

"Chugga, chugga," said the train. Or was it, "I think I can, I think I can!" Either way, it's relevant! I have two pictures to share this week. The first one comes from the author we had visit this week. His name is David Greenberg. He came in and gave an excellent talk on civil rights. I'd expect nothing less than that, considering his father was Martin Luther King's lawyer.

The second picture comes from our Pillow, PJ, Popcorn and Movie Party! We had a great time on Friday watching Despicable Me. Well, all of us except for my microwave that is. I guess 13 bags of popcorn in a row is too much for a little microwave. Luckily, once it cooled off, it worked again, good as new. At any rate, the kids earned the little bit of extra work from it and me. We just completed the Jazz/Usborne Reading Contest. We had set a class goal at 53,460 minutes, which was an hour per student per night of the contest. With a few stragglers, we not only passed our goal, we blew it out of the water, reading a grand total of 78,670 minutes. They earned every bit of that party on Friday!

As a whole, our school reached their goal as well, meaning that we will be having a jeans and movie day, coming up sometime soon (date still to be announced). We also were one of the top 10 reading schools in the contest, which means that this Wednesday at 1:00 we will have an assembly starring one the Utah Jazz players! We never know who they're sending us until they get here, but I can tell you this much... it won't be Deron Williams!!! (Bad joke, sorry :)

There's currently not a whole lot of big news for the classroom. Most things are moving along as normal. We will be taking the February Benchmark test in Math this week. Also, Science Fair projects need to be completed soon. Judging for the projects is the start of next week. They are looking for volunteers to help judge the science fair projects. Your child should have a paper with all the details. If you have any questions on it, please contact Mrs. Dezember.

Other that, class will move on like normal! I'll keep teaching, and hopefully they keep learning!

“A happy life is one spent in learning, earning, and yearning” -Lillian Gish

February 4, 2011

Onward and upward we continue! Our picture this week comes from the hall of dioramas we have set up throughout the sixth grade halls. Our story from this week was about a girl who built a diorama for a school project. This was a three day in class project I designed strictly on the basis that too many kids claimed to not know what a diorama was. I felt it would be unjust of me as a teacher to let them leave elementary school having never made a diorama. Once we started making them, most of them realized they had made one before, but oh well! They still turned out to be super cute!

They will be set up to, and most likely beyond, conferences. So when you're here to chat with us, check them out! They put a lot of hard work into them!

This was most of what we did in my rotation this week. We did have an assignment on linking verbs, but after that lesson on Monday, my room became a mess of mayhem with 130 or so dioramas being built at the same time! I'm excited with how well they turned out, but I'm not going to lie, I'm also excited to have them and the mess out of my room.

Math this week we worked a lot with integers. I reintroduced them, reminding them on Monday that an integer is any whole number, positive, negative or zero. Tuesday went into comparing them: -3 is less than 5, etc. Wednesday we added integers: -7 + -3 = -10; and Thursday we subtracted integers: -3 - (-5) = 2. Friday we did a fun graphing activity which incorporated adding integers and absolute values. Once they were done with the graphs, they had to color them with one of the sets of complementary colors: red and green, blue and orange, or yellow and purple.

Quick run down of the last couple of subjects, Mrs. McGuire's Art's and Technology groups have been moving forward on their newscasts, Mr. Albrecht's Social Studies have been moving further into Ancient Egypt, and Mrs. Dezember's Science class has been studying about the Seasons and Moon Phases! Also, keep in mind that the Science Fair projects should be in progress at this time.

Couple of big things coming up this week. Thursday is the second of our field trips this year! In conjunction with the science core, we are going to the Planetarium. It should be a fun trip! On that same day we are having the Maturation program. Both of these are things that we need permission slips for. They have gone home with the students, so if you haven't seen them, please ask for them. Also on Friday, Officer Penrod will be officially starting DARE!

He was here with a fellow officer of his today, but they held a 6th-9th assembly focusing on other topics: Bullying and Cyber Bullying, and the extremities of consequences these can have on the bully as well as the victim. They also talked about other inappropraite uses of technology going into subjects I wouldn't quite feel appropraite about posting on my class blog.. Please feel free to open a discussion with your child about any of them as I do feel these are things should be heavily talked about in the home. I hope these are things that your children, though they may not feel comfortable talking about, realize it is important to talk about, and if there is ever a problem or issue with any of them, I hope they realize they can talk to their parents, myself, or any other member of our faculty here at the school.

They said something in that assembly today that I think really made a lot of the students think. At first they referenced themselves as police officers and how their day to day job would be to sacrifice their lives for these children. Then they referenced us teachers, and talked about how we care for them so much that we would do the same. The kids questioned this during the discussion we held when we got back to the room. "Mr. Pratt, would you really be willing to give your life for us?" I do believe I would. I truly love each and every one of your children as if they were my own because for eight hours of the day, they are and there are very few minutes of any day that go by that I'm not thinking about them, and what I can do for them while they are here at my school, in my classroom. It's the life I've chosen as a teacher, and I don't for one minute regret it!

"A child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to." ~Robert Brault,

I Have a Dream!

I wanted to share with you a video we took this week. I decided this year that I wanted to do something for Martin Luther King Jr. that would mae it real to the students. So rather than just giving them some silly worksheet, I took them, as well as another sixth grade class and two fifth grade classes, into the auditorium, and after some from first hand experience from Mrs. Carlson, and some preteaching from Mrs. Lawrence, I gave the "I Have a Dream" speech. I really think it had the affect I was looking for. If your student hasn't mentioned it to you yet, bring it up with them, and see what they have to say.

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'" ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

January 15, 2011

Might I just say that this has been one stressful week... at least for me. I certainly over worried about our play, and like usual, the kids pulled everything together, and we put on not just one but TWO fantastic performances. I think that's a definite feather for our hat that word about our play made it around enough that we were asked to perform it again. Bravo to these kids, they did wonderful! I've watched it several times now and it never gets old.

Do you find yourself craving it again? Well, I have just the thing. I will be sending home an order form on Wednesday allowing you to purchase both a DVD and Photograph. There are several options for the photograph: one would have just our class in it, one would have both our class and Mr. Albrecht's class, and then I will also be offering, for Mr. Albrecht's class, one with just his class in it. Below is what the photo would look like with both classes in it.

Both the DVD and photograph are going to cost $5 each, mostly to cover my costs in producing them.

With a little less stress on our plate, we will march our way into Term 3. The deadline for any missing assignments was this last Friday, so any work we do now will go onto third term. Report cards are scheduled to go home on Monday, January 31.

When we get back on Wednesday, I will be hosting the classroom spelling bees. The top two from each class will move onto the school spelling bee, which will be held next Wednesday, January 26.

Math for the next little bit will be some review assignments on topics which last month's benchmark test told me we needed some extra work on. Next Wednesday, January 26, will be a review day for the Second Term Benchmark test which will be next Thursday, the 27.

All of the other subjects continue to March forward as well. Reading will probably not have a full story this week with it being a short week, but Science will move on into the Third term material: Seasons and Moon Cycles.

All in all right now, I am a very proud teacher. These students took all of my pushing in stride, and even dared to bring me back down to Earth when I needed it most. That brings me the first ever quote of the week from a student:

"Mr. Pratt, it's just a sixth grade play. The parents will understand if it's not perfect." ~ Anna Smith

I can't thank her enough for saying that to me. I will certainly never forget it! Enjoy the long weekend!!!

January 7, 2011

THE NEW YEAR IS HERE!!!

And the first week of it is already over. With our big play coming up, I wanted to give you a sneak peak at what was to come:


This is the setting for our stage. I spent the evening setting up the lights and sound. Unfortunately, where we share the stage with the school, some of it will have to move after rehearsal on Monday, but at least it's all works!

With all that said, I do want to remind you about the play. Little Red Riding Hood will be performed by my class with Mr. Albrecht's class as our accompanying chorus. The one and only performance will be this coming Thursday, January 13, 2011, at 10:00 in the morning. All parents are invited to enjoy. I will also be filming it and putting together DVDs and pictures. If you are interested in those, I will be sending home an order form after the performance. They will cost $5 a piece, basically to cover my expense to put them together.

Even with a big performance on the cusp, school is progressing as usual. We have been working more with fractions this week. We have learned to multiply and divide both fractions and mixed numbers. Grammar has taken a slower progression, putting the play in forefront, but we have still learned about adjectives the last few weeks: proper, demonstrative, and comparatives.

Reading continued into Theme 4 this week with an exert from My Side of the Mountain.

Science wrapped up term 2 by taking their Heat, Light and Sound test.

Social Studies has been working on their country reports as well. There are a few assignments coming up for it: a political map, and a physical map of their country. Those are due by January 13.

As a warning, the end of the term is near. The actual ending date is January 20. All missing assignments are due by the end of this coming week, otherwise they will be counted as zeros on the report card. Can you believe we're already half way through the year?!

With that, I'll bid an end to this week's blog. I hope to see you all on Thursday for the performance!

"I try to give the best bang for the buck. I love performing more than anything else." ~ Jimmy Buffett