Field Day 2012 ROCKED!

 

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Lost River Cave

We had such a great time!! Here's a little peek at some of the day's activities.

Brand Time

Every Tuesday, the teachers are paired up with a student group during BRAND time. This week, we're talking about the importance of teamwork, communication, and collaboration. Here are some pictures of Coach Dupree and my group doing activities.

i. Play Hard – Sumo position – grit teeth, bend knees

ii. Play Fair – Bend at waist with palms in praying position (Yes , Sense!)

iii. Play Safe – Baseball referee calling a player safe.

iv. Have Fun – Rock Star pose with tongue out yelling.

ESP/Anticipation the full value contract. On three turn and face each other striking the pose you think your partner will try. Task: to anticipate what full value contract movement your partner is going to do.

Team Building Activity #2 - "Traffic Jam"

Traffic Jam

There are nine spaces set up in a line with the middle space empty. For spaces, use floor tile spaces, pieces of taped down construction paper, etc. The participants are told to switch places without stepping off the spots. The Rules: only one person on a spot at a time, and participants cannot pass more than one person. Task: To switch places (get through the traffic jam) without wrecking, or stepping off the spots.

Team Building Activity #3 - "Ah, Um Game"

Summary:

Kick the “ah, um” habit and avoid these words in natural conversation.

Goal:

Avoid saying the taboo words “Ah”, “Um”, “Like”, or “You Know”.

Preparation:

- List of topic ideas

- Timer/watch

How to Play The Ah, Um Game:

1.

Separate everyone into groups of about three or four. A person must talk to their group about a certain topic for one full minute without saying the following taboo words: “Ah”, “Um”, “Like”, or “You Know”. If the person does not say the taboo words in the round, then the person can move to the second round. If they accidentally say a taboo word, then it'll be the next person's turn.

2.

Have one person in each group volunteer to be first. Use the timer/watch to track a minute and announce one of the topics listed below.

3.

Afterwards, have a different person from each team volunteer to go next and repeat the same exercise as above. The people who avoid saying the taboo words are the winners of the game.

List of Topic Ideas:

-Favorite Movie

-Favorite Animal

-Best Gift

-Favorite TV Show

-What did you do last week?

-Summer Activities

-Birthday Party

-What would you do with $10,000?

-What do you want to be when you grow up?

-What is your favorite activity?

-What is your favorite dessert?

Try to guess what pose your partner will choose.

This is a contract between everyone that they will: Play Hard, Play Fair, Play Safe, and Have Fun! Actions representing the different actions were preset. These actions describe how you are going to be as a group. Discuss how each action looks, feels, and sounds.

An Important Need

Parents,
We use the Webster's New World Dictionary and Thesaurus a lot in my classroom. Your child is learning to revisit overused or simple words and replace them with improved vocabulary. My five-year-old books, however, are falling apart. They've been taped to death at this point, so I need to order new ones. If you would like to help out and "sponsor" a thesaurus, I'll place a sticker in each hardcover book with a note honoring the student and family donating the book.

After shopping around, Barnes and Noble is offering me the best deal on hardcover books with no shipping costs. I'm ordering specific editions for $12.70. If you would like to help out, you may send that exact amount to school with your child. Please make sure the envelope states the purpose for the money.

Thanks,
Ms. Swinger

Benchmark #3

We are benchmarking this week for the third and final time. I really take pride in watching these kids grow throughout the year, so I've taught them to look at the comparison between the beginning and end of the year scores. Ask your child how he/she scored and encourage him/her to always look at the missed problems. Orchard shows them the right answer, and I make myself available to help anyone who doesn't understand. They need to learn the value of learning from their mistakes.

For encouragement, I have offered the following:
Each individual who scores 75% or above earns a pizza party.
Raise score 10% for a piece of candy.
Students will also get a grade in the grade book for this benchmark.

Yearbook: Get Yours Now!

Yearbooks are on sale! Students have an order form for you to fill out and send back to KDDC, or you can order online from Jostens by clicking this link.

Box Top Celebration

And the winner is.....

Mrs. Swinger's homeroom!!!

(The crowd goes wild!)

Just for my class, the total of Box Tops turned in was over

1200.

That is truly unbelievable!

****************Donut party will be Friday morning*************

Progress Reports

Progress reports went home today. If you want more detailed information, please check your child's parent portal account or let me know if you do not have access to the Internet. I'll be happy to print a grade report for your child. Please sign these and return them tomorrow.

Box Tops Due Feb. 5



Parents,

Please send Box Tops to school by Feb 5. These should be turned into your child's homeroom teacher. If you've already sent them, THANK YOU! We make quite a bit of money collecting these every year, and use those funds to supplement our technology and other instructional needs.

VCR?

I need a VCR for my classroom. Hopefully, someone out there still has one they don't mind unloading. I can't play videos from my DVD player through my projector unless I run a cable through a VCR. Please let me know if you can help.

80's Theme Dance

Parents,
The next school dance is February 10 from 2:45-5:00. We will be celebrating the 80's! Start educating your middle schooler on how we dressed in the "good old days" of big hair with wings and neon clothing with leg warmers. The cost is $5.

 

Week of January 23-27

1st/2nd Period
This week we will be concentrating on:

• irregular verbs
• homonyms
• synonyms
• antonyms
• subject-verb agreement rules

They have now mastered the 8 parts of speech and should be able to tell you the job(s) of each one.

3rd/5th/6th
We are finishing our "How To" speeches Monday and we'll begin discussing

• conjunctions
• compound parts
• interjections

We're moving right along.

"How To" Speeches Due Dates

We thoroughly enjoyed the 1st and 2nd period speeches in December, and now I'm looking forward to hearing speeches from my 3rd, 5th, and 6th periods. The presentation dates are Wednesday, January 18 through Friday, January 20. (If one of those days is a snow day, we'll proceed immediately upon returning.) I will assign dates to students by taking volunteers who WANT to go first, and then use my stick picks to fill in the other spaces randomly. Here are some other checkpoints that have passed, and future ones you may need to monitor:
1. Internet research dates in library    December 6-8
     -Collect 5 facts from at least 4 different websites using sweetsearch.com and TNelectroniclibrary.com
     -Only one of those must be used in the speech.
2. Rough Draft                                     December-January
     -Although they started in class, students could use Christmas break to write their rough drafts.
3. Internet Research and Rough Draft due     January 10
4. Improve vocabulary using a thesaurus      January 10-11
     -Improve at least 5 words using a thesaurus individually or with a partner.
5. Begin Note cards                             January 10-11
     -Students are taught to add words or phrases to the note cards they can use while giving their speeches.
6. Color-coded peer editing        January 12-13
     -In collaborative groups, students will peer edit the speeches using a color-coded system.
7. Practice Speeches and timing      January 16-17
8. Speech presentations/Final Drafts due    January 18-20
     -Students will present speeches in the library and turn in final drafts after the presentation.

Students have the rubric already, and it's the same as the rubric they used in 4-H the last two years. SPRING Speeches will be longer, more in depth, and open to the public.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Exams are here!

The exam schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, students will take their 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th period exams. Since 6th graders have related arts 7th period, that exam has already been given.

Wednesday (Half Day), students will take their 2nd, 4th, and 6th period exams. 4th period is a related arts class, so no exam Wednesday.

For my english exam, here are some facts:

• It is cummulative. Study guides list all the information.
• 100 questions
• Grade will appear immediately, so your child will know what he/she made, as well as, what he/she missed.
• Most questions are multiple choice, but some are multiple answer questions where the student will check all answers that apply.

Students can practice review games on the quia website by following these links:
Jeopardy
Hangman
Flashcards, Matching, Word Search
Get brave and challenge your child to a game of english jeopardy. Are YOU smarter than a 6th grader?

Orchard Benchmarking #2 Results

Students were expected to score at least 60% on the 2nd Orchard benchmark test. I am very pleased with my students' gains as a whole. Here is the breakdown.

Average difference in each class:
1st Period: 1% gain (Luis Q. had the highest gain with 18%)
          Class scores ranged from 53% - 80% (Sydney C.)
2nd Period: 4% gain (Bainbridge M. had the highest gain with 23%)
          Class scores ranged from 47% - 88% (Sabastian H.)
3rd Period: 4% gain (Maria B. had the highest gain with 23%)
          Class scores ranged from 39% - 86% (Jerry C.)
5th Period:  4% gain (Dylan S. had the highest gain with 23%)
          Class scores ranged from 45% - 76% (Dylan S.)
6th Period:  6% gain (Kelsey K. and Jessica N. tied for highest gain with 16%)
          Class scores ranged from 22% - 69% (Jackson S.)

***I gave out lots of candy because so many of these kids raised their scores!***

I love your children. They're amazing!

Writing Contest Opportunity!

The Hendersonville Optimist Club is offering an opportunity to win a $2500 college scholarship through a writing contest. For more information about the the Optimist International Essay Contest, please visit the website.

NOTE: I may do this as a class project, but snow days can get us behind, so no promises.

Orchard Benchmarking

We recently finished our second benchmark testing. When we tested in September, the goal was for each student to get at least 30% of the questions right. This time around, the goal was to hit 60%. The kids did very well. I gave them some goals to work towards. If the student made 10% higher than last time, he/she get a piece of candy. We called it the "sweet number." If the whole class made the 60% benchmark, I would treat them to lunch, soft drinks, and my homemade cookies.

I'll list some data later.

Coming Up: TAATU Day

Monday, November 14, is Sumner County's TAATU (Teens Against Alcohol and Tobacco Use) Day for the KDDC and Station Camp Middle School's 6th graders. This is one of those rare, grade specific events that your child will never forget. Permission slips went home today. Please return the permission slip and $10 for by Friday, November 11.

Parent volunteers will be needed to help out at Long Hollow Baptist that day. If interested, call Susan McDaniel at 804-7546.

Parent Alert!

Parents, while grading papers this weekend, I noticed something I want to bring to your attention. Multiple students are writing capital letters in the middle of words. For example: bottLe caPPs or caJun fooD. No letters are falling below the guidelines when they should. Jj Gg Pp Yy I'm not sure why this is happening, but we need to nip it in the bud! Please look out for this when you are checking your child's homework assignments.

As always, thanks for your support!

Extra Credit: A Rare Opportunity

This past Thursday, I was talking to a friend when she showed me the strangest picture. Take a look:

At first, I didn't get it. It looked like a typical yard sale sign to me. Then, the english teacher in me couldn't resist a good laugh! C'Mon, it's funny! It did inspire an extra credit assignment that I'm offering this week only. Students are to look for a typo or grammatical error in some sort of published print. I'm hoping that they'll find some improper pronoun usages or a subject-verb DISagreement. Only stipulation- they can't make it up themselves. Have fun with it and happy hunting!