Good afternoon!

We have had a busy and exciting week. This week the students started writing their personal narratives.  We talked and watched a quick video clip on the six components that make a piece of writing a personal narrative. They will continue working on writing their paper through January. Their final work will be on display at the Academic Fair open house on Saturday, January 28th.

The students also wrapped up their Ancient Egyptian unit with a test on Thursday. Please check and sign your child's test and then have them return it back on Monday.  The students began their STEM group activity on Friday. They will continue to work on making pyramids out of toothpicks, clay, and marshmallows Monday and Tuesday.

Do not forget that Monday is the Words their Way (spelling) Test and the packet is due.


Next week will be a short and quick week. I hope that everyone has a wonderful 5 day break celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends.  (Wednesday-Sunday)

Once we get back we will dive right into Ancient India, continue writing personal narratives, and work on learning more about verbs and adverbs.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Bonner

Thursday,November 16th:  Ancient Egypt Test

Friday, November 17th: Ancient Egypt Pyramid STEM  Project starts
             -Bring in toothpicks, marshmallows, and clay (if you want)

Social Studies Quiz over pages 69-72 Tuesday, November 14th

The Social Studies test got moved up to Thursday November 16th.
Make sure you are studying hard for the test.

Stem Pyramid Activity November 17th, 20th, and 21st

   

Here is a copy of the review guide your child will come home with tomorrow for the Ancient Egypt test. The test is scheduled for Thursday, November 16th.

Ancient Egypt Review Guide

1. Know all the vocabulary terms on your list!

2. People to know:
1. Isis
2. Hatshepsut
3. Hapi
4. Narmer
5. Khufu
6. Ramses II
7. Re
8. Amenhotep
9. Ahmose
10. Hyksos

3. Locations to know:

1. Thebes
2. Memphis
3. Kemet- Egyptian name for Egypt,means “the Black Lands”
4. Nubia
5. Napata

4. Essays

1. Describe the influence of the Nile River on Ancient Egyptian Life.

2. Describe some of the achievements of the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt.

3. What did the conquerors of Egypt have that gave them an advantage over the Egyptians.

4. What rights did ancient Egyptian women have?

Good Afternoon,

I had a wonderful time sitting down and talking with all of you during conferences!

Dates to be aware of: 

Tuesday, November 7th

-Words their Way Test

-Adjective Test -(Students may make 9 note cards and hand them in for extra credit)

Wednesday, November 8th

-Center Folder due

-Adventure Book Bag Project due

-Social Studies Quiz over pages 59-67 (use your Do Nows as a study guide)

As always please contact me with any questions or concerns,

Mrs. Bonner

Good Afternoon,

The temperature has dropped quite a bit and we are sure in the season of fall.

Starting tomorrow, November 1st, the students are not allowed to wear shorts.

Parent-Teacher conferences are Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. Please make sure you signed up. This round of conferences is mandatory for every student to meet with their homeroom teacher.

In ELA we are working on strategies to analyze four of Wilbur Wrights letters to his family and the Smithsonian Institute. The students been using their inference skills along with finding textual evidence to support their statements.

We are also working on writing a DBQ. We are just in the process of analyzing six documents and will in the near future begin writing the essay.

The Adventure Book Bag project is due November 8th. The students have and will have a few days to get a start on it in class. They need to be working on it at home. The speeches will start on November 8th as well. Please make sure your student practices at home so that they are not just reading from their note cards or bag.

The students are also working on adjectives. They have  been encouraged to make note cards to help them remember the different types and use it as a great tool to study for the test.   (November 7)

In Social Studies we are continuing to learn more information about Ancient Egypt.  So far we have studied about the following topics: geography,  pyramids, religion, and the Old Kingdom. Tomorrow we will begin the process of mummifying an apple and it will take about 15 days of observation to complete the activity.

Hello,

Progress reports went home today. They need to come back with a parent signature no later then Monday. If there are questions about the grade please contact the teacher that teaches that subject. Also, please keep in mind that this grade is not set in stone. The students have until November 21st, when the trimester ends, to raise their grade. Also, another helpful took is to check in on Power School weekly will help both you and your child stay on top of your child's grades.

In Social Studies we have finished up the Ancient Mesopotamian unit and are now onto Ancient Egypt. We started this week talking about the geography of Egypt and going over vocabulary terms that we will see throughout the chapter.  I am/will be encouraging each of the students to make flashcards of the vocabulary words so that they can easily study them and become familiar with them throughout the next few weeks. During this unit we will mummify apples and make pyramids out of tooth picks and marshmallows. The students will also have to write a compare and contrast essay explaining which civilization, Egypt or Mesopotamia, was better situated based on its geography. We will also be analyzing a primary source hymns and poems to formulate and answer a DBQ (document based question)

During ELA class the students have been working really hard at understanding different pieces of literature. We have taken apart commencement addresses, poems, and short articles. The students participated in a fish bowl discussion and had a great time talking about central idea and point of view. (Who would've thought that a middle school student would think those topics were fun?? :)

During centers the students have been working at understanding nouns, learning their Words their Way words, and responding and writing to two bingo what if prompts.


As always please reach out and let me know if I can help or answer any questions.

Good Afternoon,

The students were very busy today starting their Mesopotamian Marble Run ziggurat activities. It has been wonderful to see each student working with their group members to predict, brainstorm, and reflect on the strategies they need to do to make the best ziggurat. 

I showed the students their Mesopotamian Test and those will come home early next week for a parent signature. The grades are also already in power school so please make sure to check there. The students that got lower then a C will have the opportunity tomorrow to do test corrections and earn half a point back for each one they get correct.

In ELA we read a poem by Phillip Larkin entitled, "The Failure." This really challenged the students as we worked through the older words and paraphrased each of the lines. They do have homework tonight to finish the TP-CASTT form that goes along with the poem. Tomorrow we will read "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.

Friday the students will have their second Words Their Way test and their center folders are due Monday October 9th.

Mrs. Bonner

Hello,

Here is a list of four essay questions for your Ancient Mesopotamia test next week Tuesday, however, only two of the four will appear.

1. What is a civilization?

2. What is a class structure?

3. Why do some historians consider the farming revolution to be the most important event in human history?

4. Describe some of the military accomplishments of the Assyrians.


Today each student was given a review sheet that needs to be filled out and returned on Monday 10/2

Good Afternoon!!

Here are just a few quick updates:
1. Social Studies Quiz Thursday 9/28 Over pages 26-30

2. Monthly Book Summary due Friday 9/29

3. Social Studies Test Tuesday 10/3

4. In class STEM Group Ziggurat Project 10/4-10/6
There are three students per group. They were assigned and given their group members today (9/26). They will need a marble, popsicle sticks, glue, ruler, paint, and paint brushes. (These supplies are divided among each group member)

5. Words Their Way (Spelling) Test 10/6


As always please let me know if you have any questions,
Mrs. Bonner

Good Morning,

The students are doing a wonderful job understanding systems and routines and really doing well transitioning into middle school. We will begin our first ELA unit on Overcoming Adversity and the  study of Steve Jobs on Wednesday. During this unit the students will study Steve Job's commencement speech in 2005 and various other pieces of text. We will read "Mother to Song"by Langston Hughes, "Letters of Wilbur Wright" by Wilbur Wright, and "The Story of David and Goliath" from the Bible. The students will work on many different reading strategies but here is a list of a few: picking out the central idea, having a fishbowl discussion, stating a claim and finding evidence in the text to support it. They will end the unit with writing a compare and contrast essay. Comparing and contrasting the central idea in Steve Job's Stanford commencement address and J.K. Rowling's Harvard commencement address.

The students will be assigned an Adventure Book Bag Project this week. They will need to pick an adventure book and read it by October 31st. Then they will have to use a paper bag and follow the directions that are on the assignment. Please look for this assignment sheet as it will come home and need a guardian signature this week. The paper bag and presentations will start November 8th.

In Social Studies we are learning all about the Ancient Mesopotamian Civilization. The students have a list of vocabulary words that they should be practicing and going through at home. I have a test tentatively planned for Tuesday October 3rd. They have notes that even if not assigned they should be reviewing daily so they are prepared for the test.

Thank you and as always please contact me with any concerns,
Mrs. Bonner

Good Morning,

We are well underway with procedures, routines, and understanding the daily schedule. I have begun F & P testing and will continue with it until everyone has been tested. While I am testing the students are getting a hang of the activities they will do during center time and how they have to stay focused to get the work done in class. The students will visit each center three times and after the third day if the work isn't done in class then it will become homework. Also the spelling words, Words their Way, will start to come home next week. They will have a test every ten days so the actually calendar day will change but it will all be on the sheet.

In Social Studies we have been working on vocabulary and making sure we understand the meaning of the words before we begin the unit. Today we will start with the Early Humans and dive into the difference and similarities between the past and the present.

Please help remind your student that they need to bring in a piece of cardboard for our art activity that we will start Monday September 11th.  Here is a link to the activity that we will be doing- http://harringtonharmonies.com/2014/11/ancient-babylon-art-lesson-for-kids.html

If anyone would like to donate Metallic Acrylic Paint Gold or Silver for this activity to our classroom I would greatly appreciate it!! Just give me a quick email so I know its coming at kbonner@stmatthias-milw.org


As always please contact me with any questions or concerns and have a wonderful Wednesday.
Mrs. Bonner

First three days complete!

Well we have completed the first three days of 6th grade! I have noticed how quickly the students are acclimating to middle school and how quickly they are getting organized and ready for their next class. It has been such a wonderful few days getting to know both of the 6th grade classes.

We have accomplished many things in three days. The students have learned many new procedures and rules that they will need to follow to be successful in middle school. We talked about the skills they will need to use as well as the self control they will need to demonstrate while we have the "read to self" time during ELA. We talked about how important it is to bring a book to class everyday to read.

During Social Studies class we began talking about by people migrate, the way the world's population grew since 1A.D., and the students even wrote their names in Cuneiform. The students had time to participate in a gallery walk where they had to decided what natural resource, out of the ones posted, is the most important resource and one they would migrate to.

Here is a link we watched today that the students found very interested about the population of the Earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khFjdmp9sZk

Are you excited to start the new school year?

Dear 6th grader, 

          It is almost time to start a new school year. Can you believe it? I hope you had a good summer. I hope you had time to go swimming, hiking, biking, and just time to relax. I hope you had time to spend with your family and hang out with your friends. 

          I am excited that this year I get to teach both 6th grade English Language Arts  and Social Studies. I am excited to teach both because we will really be able to dig deeper into the work and have enough time in our day to do some very intriguing STEM activities. Examples of STEM activities are to  develop your own Ziggurat marble run, mummify an apple, make your own Masada, create an ancient irrigation system, invent an ancient Greece chariot. I love to make history come alive and I hope you develop of love for Ancient history as well. We will learn about the  Ancient countries of Mesopotamia, China, India, Greece, Rome, Egypt. Then end the year learning about the Middle Ages. 

         We are going to start a new ELA curriculum that will really push you and help you to develop the necessary skills to prepare you for 7th grade. The new curriculum will bring in  different articles and readings that will allow you to relate to a topic a number of ways.  We will begin learning about Steve Jobs and what he had to overcome to become the famous and successful "Steve Jobs." We will work on citing answers with textual evidence, supporting a claim, identify the central idea, dig into the point of view. You will also develop and strengthen your writing skills by writing  many different papers such as a compare and contrast,  narrative, and argumentative essays. 

           This year we are also switching the spelling program and will begin working with Words Their Way. This is a program that move with you at your pace. It is a proven program that will help you to strengthen your spelling skills and learn a word for your life not just for the test. 

Well these are just a few of the things you will learn this year. I hope you are as excited as I am. 

See you soon, 

Mrs. Bonner