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

December 17, 2010

WINTER BREAK IS HERE!!!!!

YAY!!!

Let's start off with our picture from this week. It is actually from an activity we did today. Every year I do a Holidays Around the World activity where the kids color and create a globe with picture representations of the different Holidays. As they are coloring, I teach about the many different Holidays: Christmas, Advent, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Saint Nicholas. We also talk about how Christmas is celebrated down in Australia where they don't dream of a white Christmas, they dream of a nice hot summer day. We had a special guest in this year to add to the discussion as to why Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate any. Again, much thanks for that! Below is a picture of one of the students working on her picture:

Just a few announcements to make before I wrap it up for the next few weeks. With the movie day at hand, I was able to get in just about all of the missing assignments to this point in the year. Thank you to the students (and parents whom I'm sure supported them) for getting those in. It'll be nice to be able to start the new year off fresh.

Our class play has finally been scheduled. Please keep your schedules clear for January 13 at 10:00. That will be our one and only performance of "Little Red Riding Hood". Our class is doing the acting, and Mr. Albrecht's will be our choir. It finally looks like it's coming together and will be a great performance! With that in mind, I have talked with the students about what they will need for their costumes. Please do your best to work with them to get in the parts that I need them to bring. Again, I truly appreciate all you do from home to support us here at school!

I wanted to take just one quick second to say thank you for all the gifts that were brought. It touches my heart and really just brings it home to me why I teach. These kids mean everything to me, and these gifts are a great reminder that I really am making a difference for them. Thank you so much!

With that, I will bid you all a happy break! Our class's grades are as updated as they can be online. Take a look at them, and be proud of your students for getting their work caught up before the break!!!

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love." ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

December 12, 2010

Only one week left until the biggest break of the year! Are we all excited for it?! I realize that Thanksgiving break just happened, but I think we're all in need of Winter break. If nothing else, it will clear our minds (hopefully not literally), and let us begin the new year fresh.

A lot has been happening at the school the last little bit. I think it might be easiest just to give you a quick run of pictures. A few weeks back, the students had a visit from author Frank Cole, who wrote the Hashbrown Winter series. The first picture is during his assembly.

A week or so after that we had a visit from the University of Utah's Tanner Dance clinic. It was a fun assembly because it was their students, ages 5 to 15, performing for our students.

The final picture I have is actually a bit of a collage. With just a few to be made up this week, we have most all of our masks completed. They turned out super cute! Can you find your student's mask?

With that quick run down of the exciting parts of the last few weeks, let's take a quick look at the future. This week, we will have only a couple of math lessons, one on fractions and decimals, and one on finding the percent of a number. The week will conclude with a day of review and then the December benchmark test.

In reading this week they will be doing The Skill of Pericles, which is based on Greek Mythology. This is the last story of the theme which means on top of the story quiz, we will also be taking the Theme 3 test this week.

Science is continuing even further into the heat, light and sound unit. This week they are having a fun activity where they are going to be making tin can phones. Mrs. Dezember has asked that each student bring in one can, like a soup can, for the project. If your student has already, thank you, if not, please send one. If you can't for whatever reason, I know there's at least a few students so far that have brought extras.

Arts and Tech will moving on with the Newscasts.

Social Studies should be wrapping up their unit on Mesopotamia this week.

All in all, the craziness is continuing. With one week left until the break, I hope we can come in, work hard Monday thru Thursday, and then have an enjoyable day, with some fun activities on Friday. This hint should give part of Friday away to the students: They'll want to make sure they have no missing assignments on Friday!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

"What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it." ~Thomas Simmons