April 7th ~ 11th

As I glanced at the calendar for the remainder of the school year, I realized that we only have five "full" weeks until school is out. The rest of the weeks range from 3 1/2 to 4 days per week. Wow!

We begin our NWEA testing this Friday, starting with the Language test. We will take the Reading and Math tests next Monday and Wednesday.

I am sending home Scholastic Book Order forms this week. Orders should be returned by next Monday (14th). Our class code is GKDT8 if you wish to order books online. Remember that your orders help earn points to build our classroom library.

Pajama Day & Waffles ~ On Thursday April 17th, I am planning another Pajama Day with a waffle breakfast served before the kids leave for the Easter weekend. The 17th is an early out and we will have breakfast before dismissal at 12:00 noon. The kids may bring electronics to use for the last 45 minutes of the day.

Mr. Monson's last day in our room is May 1st. He has become such an integral part of our classroom and we will miss him a ton!

I want to let you know about a change for next year. I have accepted a curriculum position with our district and I will be leaving Poly Drive in exchange for a cubicle at Lincoln Center. I will have the opportunity to help develop curriculum materials, provide professional development seminars, and work in classrooms with teachers in our district. I must admit that I will really miss working daily with "my kids" and parents, but I am looking forward to this new adventure. Poly Drive is an incredible place, with amazing administration and staff . . . and of course, I certainly could not have asked for a more wonderful group of kids to spend this year with as I transition to my new role with our district. You are all very special to me and I have been blessed!!

Spelling ~ Unit 29: We will take a pretest on Tuesday, complete written assignments on Wednesday and Thursday, and take a final test on Friday. Because we have so many shorter weeks, it is important for the kids to take extra time to study for their spelling tests.
5th - Suffix -ion
6th - Prefixes de- and trans-
Language ~ The 6th graders will have written assignments on Tuesday and Thursday.
5th - The kids will be working in their Lead21 Practice Companion books.
6th - Sequential Order and Root Words clude/clus, herb
Reading ~
5th - The students will continue working with Unit 6 of the Lead21 resource - identifying text structures, extending vocabulary, and working with comprehension strategies.
6th - The kids will finish reading Code Talkers and Sweetgrass Basket this week.
Math ~
5th - Students will review multiplication and division of fractions, will take a quiz on Wednesday, and work with graphs and charts on Thursday
6th - We will study the different types of charts and graphs, determining which type is best for various circumstances. We will complete hands-on, real world scenarios this week.
Science ~
The 6th graders will work with speed, acceleration, and units of measure this week. Cubits and marbles galore as we study Physics.
Social Studies ~
6th graders will begin our study of ancient China by completing a Geography Challenge.

Have a great week!