Week of January 31st - February 4th

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR 6th GRADE FAMILIES:

A message from Deb Wretman, SEJH principal:

Attention 6th grade Parents/Guardians: Due to the anticipated snow coming, we are moving the Tuesday, Feb. 1st sixth grade parent meeting to Thursday Feb. 3 at 6:30 PM. We apologize for the change but hope that it will mean that more parents can attend. Thank you for your flexibility!


New things happening in Room 12:

~Students are hard at work researching and writing their reports on historical and scientific mysteries of our planet. Papers are due this Friday by the end of the day. Between today and Friday, we will organize information, discuss key elements in a report, create a bibliography, and go through editing and revision processes with peers.

Because the students are very excited about their topics, I am encouraging them to create alternative visuals, materials and ideas to show off what they've learned. Some will present PowerPoint presentations, others will show pictures while they read their essay. Each day, students will come home with homework tasks to complete to enhance their paper. At the end of each day, I will offer a small study hall to get the ball rolling on these tasks.

~Our new mystery object is in the box! Ask your student this week what the hints are, and see which new words are giving them the biggest hint!

~Science quizzes from our short Circulatory System unit will be passed back Tuesday of this week. Students will be bringing them home. I have made copies so they can keep these at home. Overall, students did an excellent job identifying heart parts and ways to keep our bodies healthy.

~We've started a new science unit: Microworlds! Today, we differentiated between observations, inferences and opinions. Students' careful observations will guide them as they use microscopes, magnifying lenses and more!

Have a wonderful week! Stay warm in this snow that is headed our way!

~Ms. Dobyns

Our News Flash sent home January 21, 2011

Greetings Hoover families!

As we have just gotten back into school after a long weekend, we’ve delved into a new Language Arts theme: Historical and Scientific Mysteries! As a whole class, we have been reading about Amelia Earhart and using strategies to expand our vocabulary and comprehension. Then, students selected individual choice-books to respond to. In groups, they share their reflections, and practice using reading skills independently.

I am looking forward the week ahead where students will come prepared on Monday with the topic for their next essay project. Students will research topics, like Stonehenge, Easter Island structures, The Sphinx, Robin Hood and Atlantis, in order to put together a comprehensive essay about their findings. We will practice research skills, putting together an accurate bibliography, and work on organizing our thoughts. Most of all, we will enjoy learning about some pretty incredible historical and scientific mysteries! Students will be coming home with revising, proofreading and editing tasks next week. In class, we will be conferencing with peers and growing as writers.

Speaking of mysteries….a mysterious object is hiding in our mystery box! In order to revive the joy for expanding vocabulary as well as motivate students to use the reference materials, I’ve started a mystery box that will have an object placed in it each week. I will give the class several clues (new adjectives, phrases, metaphors, etc.) to describe the object in the box. The first correct answer submitted will determine the winner, who gets to take home the object. The object may be silly, tasty, interesting or strange. If you would like to add objects at any time of the year, I am always looking for something new and exciting! It should be clean, cheep and fun, like a brownie, a colorful pen, or a used stuffed animal. If you would like to send something, you can conceal it and send it marked, mystery object. Thank you!

In Science, we continue to learn about the circulatory system. Students have used stethoscopes to listen to their heartbeats and learned about the path blood takes to become oxygenated. They have also learned about the symptoms, treatments and causes of heart disease. Today, we even looked at an animal heart up close! You can ask your student what part of the heart they noticed and what function it serves!

Reminder:

***Send in 6th grade South East Junior High forms! White sheet is due back Monday if it hasn’t been turned in, and the orange sheet is due back by February 4th.




Have a wonderful weekend!

Go Hoover Hawks!

Sincerely,


Ms. Dobyns

Welcome Back!

    What a nice break we've had and now we have exciting things to look forward to in January as we return to school.

     Last Friday, we celebrated our 15th team PBIS ticket with a pizza party luncheon.  It was a great chance to spend time together as we celebrated the respectful learning we've done as a team.  Starting this week, January 10th-January 14th, we have some great learning experiences ahead of us.  Here are some important events and dates for students:



~Monday, January 10th:  SouthEast Junior High counselors will be visiting to talk to 6th graders about what they expect as they arrive at SouthEast for 7th grade.  They will be coming after lunch to give a presentation.  You can talk to your student about what they found interesting, surprising or exciting from the presentation. As a former SouthEast teacher, I have wonderful memories of my time with the staff and students who make learning a positive experience.  Students at Hoover have much to bring to SouthEast and will be a big part of sharing their ideas and experiences with other students next year.

**6th grade students will be bringing home registration forms and a course guide. There will be a parent meeting on February 1st and forms need to be returned to Hoover by February 4th.


~Science presentations continue!   Students have wrapped up their inquiry projects and some groups have already presented their projects.  Mrs. Brownlee's and Mr. Kosier's classes have been sharing their projects with Mrs. Whittington and Ms. Dobyns' classes and have traded roles being audience members and presenters.  Some students have used PowerPoint presentations to display content. Others have used posters, skits, or demonstrations to communicate findings.  I am impressed with the interest level in these projects and am looking forward to more presentations this week!

~ 5th grade math test - Students will take the Chapter 5 math test this Thursday. You can expect your student to come home with a review this week to prepare for the test.

~6th grade math (from Mrs. Whittington's blog):

One item that needs to be completed is the Math placement. Students may be in one of 5 different levels of math. Your sixth grade student will be taking a math placement test tomorrow and Wednesday to help assess which placement might be best. Whatever recommendation is made, does NOT mean that is the placement you must choose. Our recommendation is based on how past students have fared based on particular scores. Every student is different and other placements can be made. The recommendations and the criteria for the recommendations will be provided to you in the next week to 10 days. 




Sixth graders have begun a new unit on number systems and algebra concepts. Things like dividing fractions, equivalent equations, positive and negative numbers as well as order of operations will be studied. Students seemed to have the most growth opportunity as a class in the area of dividing fractions and order of operations. Last wee your student should have brought home the family letter with an overview of the unit.

Tomorrow and Wednesday are the annual 6th grade math placement tests. These tests are administered over two days and provide a useful guideline for parents and teachers as you decide what kind of math placement to take in junior high.


~A special visitor:  Our Peace Corps Pal, Eliza, will be visiting this week!  Eliza, or Ms. Stemmler, is a teacher in La Pavana, Nicaragua. She is also a certified ELL and elementary teacher in Iowa and will be a visiting teacher on Wednesday and Thursday.  We will be incorporating Nicaraguan culture, language and geography into our literacy activities in the afternoon this week.

A look ahead at homework (the day it will be assigned):

Mon.:  Math homework, RRJ (Reader's response journal) response,  Grammar worksheet

Tues.:  Math review, homework, RRJ response, Spanish worksheet

Wed.:   Math review, RRJ response, grammar worksheet, writing response

Thurs.:  writing assignment, Spanish or grammar worksheet

Fri.:  Reading assignment, 5th grade parent letter