Quarter 3, Week 5, 2/29 to 3/4

(This may change from day to day depending on how much we actually get done in class so check back often to make sure a deadline or assignment or homework wasn't changed at the last minute.) 

 Last updated on Sunday, February 28, 2016, 7:20pm

Please bring your Choose-A-Thon pledges to the office so we can get an accurate count! Don't worry if you don't collect all the money right away, your contribution will still be counted, just turn it in as soon as you get it. Thank you!

Oh, and reminder for next week - March 8 and 9 will be Early Release days and March 8 from 5pm to 7pm is our Back to School Night at the middle school gym! See you there!

 Daily Schedule

1st per - 7:45am to 9:05am
Homeroom -  9:09am to 9:19am

2nd per - 9:19am to 10:39am 

Lunch - 10:39am to 11:09am 

3rd per - 11:12am to 12:32pm 

4th per - 12:36pm to 1:26pm 

5th per - 1:30pm to 2:20pm
(Click here to see Early Release Day Schedules)

6th grade Science Monday - Today we were supposed to be working on, or at least starting, the Lesson 8 lab but many, too many, 6th graders still need to complete their Lesson 7 CER conclusion.  I might just change the Energy and Forces assessment and start assessing students this week because we need to wrap up this unit so that we can start our Environmental Studies unit.  I'm also working with students on commenting and responding to each other's learning on their blogs and our Shivtr online discussion forum. AND We have also started a world solutions blog and website based on students desire to share their ideas to help solve the problems facing our world! More to come as students start blogging their ideas. HW - Finish your lesson 7 conclusion if you didn't finish last week or today in class. Tuesday through Friday - For the rest of the week students will be turning in their Lesson 7 CER conclusions, continue commenting and responding to each other's online work, blogging for our world solutions project, and taking Energy and Forces assessments so that we could wrap up that unit!  I know! Busy week. :) This week period 3 will do the fish trapping activity. Students will set traps on one day then retrieve the traps the next day to identify and count any fish we catch. We will return the fish to the creek and record the counts to send to the Jefferson Conservation District.

6th grade Exploratory Technology Lit Monday - Group A - Ask your child if he or she is playing World of Warcraft yet. If your child says no, ask him or her why it's taking so long to finish the pre-game-playing assignments? For those who are not yet playing WoW, their goal is to get all their preliminary work done so they can start playing the game and getting immersed in the story!  Those who are already playing will continue to play and level up their characters in the story. Students will be working in the computer lab every day this week. HW - None, unless you are not yet playing World of Warcraft. If you are not yet playing the game, finish the preliminary quests at home so you can start playing. Tuesday - Group C Wednesday - Group B Thursday - Group A Friday - Group C

Email me with any questions.

Quarter 3, Week 4, 2/22 to 2/26

(This may change from day to day depending on how much we actually get done in class so check back often to make sure a deadline or assignment or homework wasn't changed at the last minute.) 

 Last updated on Wednesday, February 24, 2016, 7:35pm

 Daily Schedule

1st per - 7:45am to 9:05am
Homeroom -  9:09am to 9:19am

2nd per - 9:19am to 10:39am 

Lunch - 10:39am to 11:09am 

3rd per - 11:12am to 12:32pm 

4th per - 12:36pm to 1:26pm 

5th per - 1:30pm to 2:20pm
(Click here to see Early Release Day Schedules)

6th grade Science Monday - Today teams will share the data they collected last week. With everyone's data, we will be able to determine the best way to make our motors lift the most washers they can lift. Today teams will finish lesson 7 by calculating the amount of force their motors can generate. HW - Keep collecting pledges for the Choose-A-Thon this Friday (this information was sent home last week)! Here's the pledge form in case you lost it. Tuesday - In order to complete Lesson 7 and the 3D GameLab quest, students will need to write up their conclusions using the CER method. Wednesday - Today I will have a sub while I go to Seattle for the Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE) conference. Besides attending some great training, I am also presenting a workshop for teachers on using 3D GameLab with their students! While I'm gone students will be working on their 3D GameLab quests! :)  Here are the quests students need to complete for the Lesson 7 Lab: How Strong is Your Motor? The Force of a Motor Motor Force Blog Thursday - Students need to complete Lesson 7 by typing their CER conclusions. Once they are done with their conclusions they can work on their other 3D GameLab quests. Many students are doing very well reading each other blogs and commenting as well as responding to each other's work on our Shivtr class discussion forum. Friday - Today we will have the Choose-A-Thon fundraiser to raise money to allow CMS to continue to offer Cispus to future 6th graders!  We should be done by 2nd-period so my 3rd-period class can work on their 3D GameLab Science work today. This week period 1 will do the fish trapping activity. Students will set traps on one day then retrieve the traps the next day to identify and count any fish we catch. We will return the fish to the creek and record the counts to send to the Jefferson Conservation District.

6th grade Exploratory Technology Lit Monday - Group C - For those who are not yet playing WoW, their goal is to get all their preliminary work done so they can start playing the game and getting immersed in the story!  Those who are already playing will continue to play and level up their characters in the story. Students will be working in the computer lab every day this week. HW - None, unless you are not yet playing World of Warcraft. If you are not yet playing the game, finish the preliminary quests at home so you can start playing. Tuesday - Group B Wednesday - Group A Thursday - Group C Friday - Group B

Email me with any questions.

Quarter 3, Week 3, 2/15 to 2/19

(This may change from day to day depending on how much we actually get done in class so check back often to make sure a deadline or assignment or homework wasn't changed at the last minute.) 

 Last updated on Thursday, February 18, 2016, 9:42pm

 Daily Schedule

1st per - 7:45am to 9:05am
Homeroom -  9:09am to 9:19am

2nd per - 9:19am to 10:39am 

Lunch - 10:39am to 11:09am 

3rd per - 11:12am to 12:32pm 

4th per - 12:36pm to 1:26pm 

5th per - 1:30pm to 2:20pm
(Click here to see Early Release Day Schedules)

6th grade Science Monday - No School - President's Day HW - None, if you are all caught up. Spirit Week!   Tuesday - PJ's;  Wednesday - Camo;  Thursday - Grade Color (8th grade - black, 7th grade - blue, 6th grade - white);  Friday - Sports Logo School Dance Friday,  2/19,  2:30 – 4:30 pm – Tickets will be available in the office beginning Tuesday, 2/16. $6 or $5 with ASB Card. Tuesday - Today students will continue to work on the commenting activity we started last week. Students are practicing reading and responding to each other's work. In this way students will learn from each other and give each other feedback on their work! Wednesday - Today we are all going to start Lesson 7, The Force of a Motor, together. I will guide the student teams through brainstorming the different variables we can test, then teams will choose which variables they will each test. Once teams decide which variable they will test students will write their Problem question, their Hypothesis, and begin writing their step by step procedure. Thursday - Once teams complete their procedure and data table and get those approved by Mr. G, they will begin their experiment and collect data tomorrow! Friday - Student teams will conduct their experiments and start collecting data on their motors today so that we can see how their variables affect the motor's ability to lift washers. There will be no fish trapping activity this week.

6th grade Exploratory Technology Lit Monday - No School - President's Day HW - None if you are already playing World of Warcraft. Tuesday - Group A - For those who are not yet playing WoW, their goal is to get all their preliminary work done so they can start playing the game and getting immersed in the story!  Those who are already playing will continue to play and level up their characters in the story. Students will be working in the computer lab every day this week. Wednesday - Group C Thursday - Group B Friday - Group A

Email me with any questions.

Quarter 3, Week 2, 2/8 to 2/12

(This may change from day to day depending on how much we actually get done in class so check back often to make sure a deadline or assignment or homework wasn't changed at the last minute.) 

 Last updated on Tuesday, February 9, 2016, 8:55am

 Daily Schedule

1st per - 7:45am to 9:05am
Homeroom -  9:09am to 9:19am

2nd per - 9:19am to 10:39am 

Lunch - 10:39am to 11:09am 

3rd per - 11:12am to 12:32pm 

4th per - 12:36pm to 1:26pm 

5th per - 1:30pm to 2:20pm
(Click here to see Early Release Day Schedules)

6th grade Science Monday - Today I will go over the Lesson 6, Friction, conclusions and reflections questions.  It took longer than I expected to go over the responses to the lesson 6 reflection questions. Many students did not complete their conclusion Friday so we spent most of the period working on that as I taught and showed students how to write a conclusion with a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER). Only those who were done got to work on their 3D GameLab quests. Most students were still working on their conclusions. Here is a list of the assignments that are due: Battery Charging Time More About Batteries Energy The Essentials of Energy Lesson 4, Question 2 Projectiles Energy Saving Light Bulb! The RiverXchange Part 2 Elastic Force and Gravity Gravity and Falling Objects Simple Machines Ocean Science Forces Friction Friction Knowledge Probe Older Quests Check Here HW - None, unless you are falling (or have fallen) behind. Tuesday - Today we are going to continue practicing how to write conclusions using the CER method. Then students who need to finish their lesson 6 conclusions will have time to do that. Those who are done with their conclusion will work on 3D GameLab. Wednesday & Thursday - We are going to start working on the Lesson 7 lab called The Force of a Motor.  Students will design an experiment to determine the best way to get our little motors to lift the most washers they can lift. We will work on selecting the variables and writing the problem questions and hypotheses together. In order for teams to get equipment and start testing their hypotheses, I will need to approve their procedures and data tables. That was the plan for Wednesday and Thursday. Since many students didn't finish their conclusions for the Lesson 6 labs on Friday when I had a sub it took us off course. Instead of rushing Lesson 7 I will wait until next week to start it. This week we will focus on writing conclusions and discourse via our online discussion forum and blogs. Students are going to practice using our online discussion forum and our Science blogs for engaging in discourse. We will use the I Notice..., I Wonder... method for replying to each other's responses and for commenting on our blog posts. Friday - No School - Snow Make-Up Day. HW - No School Monday either because it's President's Day! Have a great 4-day weekend! This week period 3 will do the fish trapping activity. Students will set traps on one day then retrieve the traps the next day to identify and count any fish we catch. We will return the fish to the creek and record the counts to send to the Jefferson Conservation District.

6th grade Exploratory Technology Lit Monday - Group B - For those who are not yet playing WoW, their goal is to get all their preliminary work done so they can start playing the game and getting immersed in the story!  Those who are already playing will continue to play and level up their characters in the story. Students will be working in the computer lab every day this week. HW - None unless you need to catch up. Tuesday - Group A Wednesday - Group C Thursday - Group B Friday - No School - Snow Make-Up Day. HW - No School Monday either because it's President's Day! Have a great 4-day weekend!

Email me with any questions.

Quarter 3, Week 1, 2/1 to 2/5

(This may change from day to day depending on how much we actually get done in class so check back often to make sure a deadline or assignment or homework wasn't changed at the last minute.) 

 Last updated on Monday, February 1, 2016, 11:08am

 Daily Schedule

1st per - 7:45am to 9:05am
Homeroom -  9:09am to 9:19am

2nd per - 9:19am to 10:39am 

Lunch - 10:39am to 11:09am 

3rd per - 11:12am to 12:32pm 

4th per - 12:36pm to 1:26pm 

5th per - 1:30pm to 2:20pm
(Click here to see Early Release Day Schedules)

6th grade Science Monday - No School Today - Semester Break! HW - None  Tuesday & Wednesday - We will be on Early Release schedule both today and tomorrow. Student teams will be working on the third lab in our Friction series, Inquiry 6.3, testing whether the Surface Area has an effect on the sliding friction. Thursday - Today students will complete Lesson 6 on Friction by answering the reflection questions and writing their conclusions! Once students are done they can work on their 3D GameLab quests. Friday - I will have a sub today to work on the grant writing course that I helped develop.  Students will be working on their 3D GameLab assignments. Here is a list of the assignments that are top priority: Battery Charging Time More About Batteries Energy The Essentials of Energy Lesson 4, Question 2 Projectiles Energy Saving Light Bulb! The RiverXchange Part 2 Elastic Force and Gravity Gravity and Falling Objects Simple Machines Ocean Science Older Quests Check Here

6th grade Exploratory Technology Lit Monday - No School Today - Semester Break! Tuesday - We will be on Early Release schedule today. Group C - For those who are not yet playing WoW, their goal is to get all their preliminary work done so they can start playing the game and getting immersed in the story!  Those who are already playing will continue to play and level up their characters in the story. Students will be working in the computer lab every day this week. HW - None unless you are NOT playing WoW yet. We are half way through the year and by now ALL students need to be playing the game to learn the story.  Wednesday - We will be on Early Release schedule today. Group B today. Thursday - Group A Friday - Group C - Since I have a sub today students will need to wait to have their 3D GameLab quests approved. Those students who are playing will be fine.

Email me with any questions.