For the week of January 8th - 12th

Welcome Back!   I hope everyone had a restful break and is ready to hop back into the swing of things.   Here is what you can expect this week:

Math 1
We will be starting on Chapter 8 - Integers.  Students will have math homework every night.  

Science
We spent the latter part of last quarter going through the process of Invent Idaho.  Students are expected to complete the last two steps of the process at home (building of a model and a tri-fold board).  Completed projects are due Thursday, January 18th.   

Our next unit in science is all about the dynamic Earth, it's layers and processes.

Reading

1. The class will be starting a unit on Literature Circles.  Literature circle groups are based on the student's interest in the books provided  Each class period, students will meet with their groups to discuss what they read in the book the previous class time, share their response journal entries, respond to group members’ entries, discuss the book, and set a chapter goal for the next meeting. 
2. Grades for Lit Circles are based on preparation and participation.  
3. Student's failing to meet these 2 requirements will be given an alternate assignment to read the book on their own and complete an end of book report and project. 
4. Your child is allowed to bring home his/her literature circle book and read it.  If the book is lost or damaged, he/she will be responsible for replacing the book.

Grades for 1st Semester

1. I am having all my students in the next 2 days checking their grades on IC for any errors. I encourage parents to login as well.
2. Report cards will be going home on Tuesday, January 16th.
3. Friday, January 26th will be Parent Teacher Conferences for individuals needing extra assistance or anyone wanting a conference. 

Christmas Auction Photos

For the week of December 18th - 21st

End of the semester . . . .1/2 the year over . . . .It's hard to believe it but it's true!  Here is what you can expect this week:

Advisory
We are collecting used but clean sheets and blankets, along with pet food for the Canyon County Animal shelter.  Any donations would be greatly appreciated. 

Mrs. Warr and I will be hosting our auctions on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  In my advisory, I will be having a hot cocoa bar on Thursday.  If anyone is interested in donating to the party, please click on the link below to sign up.  Thanks :)

Mrs. Evans Hot Cocoa Bar Sign Up

Reading
We are finishing up reading Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" and will be taking the semester final on Wednesday of this week.  Students will be allowed to use their notes from all semester long to assist in taking the final.

Science
We are wrapping up the portion of Invent Idaho that can be done at school.  By Wednesday, students need to have #1-8 in their Inventor's Journal completed.  Steps #9 and #10 will need to be completed at home.  Projects will be due January 18th.  For a complete list of steps, please click the link below.

Invent Idaho Steps

Math 1
The semester final will take place on Thursday, December 21st.  There will be a review all day in class on Tuesday, December 19th.  Student will be allowed to use their math journal on the semester final. :)  On a side note, the math games day turned out amazing!  I loved seeing how the students used their ingenuity and math skills to make fun ways to practice math.

Home Econ
We have been baking up a storm on our Christmas treats unit, including coming up with our very own deconstructed turtle recipe!

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For the week of December 4th - 8th

Can you believe we are coming up on the 1/2 way point of 6th grade?  That's right!  There are only 3 weeks left until the end of the semester and the beginning of Christmas break!

Here is what you can expect:

Math
I just introduced our semester math project on Friday. Rubrics were also given in the math challenge packet. 

1. Students will be either creating a game, a poster, a song or a play using concepts, terms and problem types from any of our previously learned chapters.  This includes all of Topic 1, Topic 2, Topic 3 and Topic 7.
2. The project must be neat, clear and contain appropriate math concepts and language as discussed in class and found in the math journal.
3. It must be original and creative.
4. All projects will be presented on Friday, December 15th.
5. Projects must include 10-15 math problems or questions, as well as solutions.  If you do a song or a play, problems can be presented before, after or during the presentation.  Classmates can answer on whiteboards or be given a paper/pencil task.  

There will also be a semester final.  The final will include problems from each Topic we have covered.  The review for this final will be given to the students online and can be worked on from Thursday, December 14th until its due date on Tuesday, December 19th.  The final will be given on Thursday, December 21st. 

Reading
We will be tackling another classic in the next 3 weeks . . ..Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  Our focus for this unit, in addition to comprehension and vocab, will be prediction (a pre-reading skill), the plot, rising action and conclusions, as well as character development. 

There will be a semester final.  The final will include all the literary terms we have learned this year.  It will be an open notebook test but, it is important that the students understand what the terms mean.  We have already starting talking about what these questions will look like.


Science
We are wrapping up our unit on weather and air pressure.  The students have even had a chance to build their own pressure measuring device. Students were also introduced to the Invent Idaho challenge.  This competition is taking the place of the science fair.  All students must do a project.  Students are allowed to work in groups of up to 3 people but each student is responsible for their own inventors journal.  We have been working on the journals in class but the display board and prototype (either working or non-working) must be completed at home.  We are bouncing around science night dates for the 3rd or 4th week in January.  Winners of this competition go on to the district competition in Boise on January 27th at the JUMP center.  For more information and rules, I sent packets home or you can go online to www.inventidaho.com

There will not be a semester final in science.  All my tests are already comprehensive and built off of previous skills.


Service Project for December
The class voted on a service project for December.  They wanted to help the Canyon County Animal Shelter by collected gently used blankets, sheets, towels, and animal food.  It is also a great way to jumpstart that spring cleaning ;)