Weekly Update April 20-25

Announcements:

-Math Study Group:  There will be math group this Thursday, April 23rd as well as Thursday, April 30th. 

-Report Cards: Thank you for your patience with the quarter 3 report cards. The Skyward issue has been resolved and report cards will be coming home this Monday, April 20th.

-Badger Testing: I will send home a Badger testing schedule with the times for the test next week. Until then, here are the dates for each test:
Math: May 4th,5th, and 7th
ELA: May 12th and 13th


-JDRF Kids Walk: Our class is so excited to organize the annual JDRF Kids Walk. JDRF's goal is to improve the lives of individuals with type 1 diabetes all while finding the cure. We are partnering with a JDRF representative and have already had two Skype calls with her and her staff member. Your child is on a specific planning committee. Here are some things the students are working on: creating a website for our event, contacting businesses for donations, planning the assembly and an educational presentation, creating posters, planning entertainment for the event, and booking the venue for both the walk and the assembly! They have really taken ownership of this event and are enjoying the process!


What are we learning???

Math:
This week, we will be finishing up unit 6 with equivalent fractions and inequalities in math class. As always, I will be updating the Student Links page with games and lessons to review these skills at home. The Unit 6 test and written response will be this Thursday and Friday, April 23-24.

Science:
The students will be completing a project in which they need to research energy saving strategies for their fictional first home. They will each be researching a different component of the house and will create a poster listing energy efficient options relating to their topic. Later this week, the students will have the opportunity to do a poster walk and read each other's research. From there, they will be able to choose what energy saving upgrades they would want to do to their house. It will be very interesting to see what they come up with!

ELA:

For poetry this week, we will be analyzing and discussing three poems: Dream Keeper /Dreams by Langston Hughes (We didn't get to this one last week), Harlem Night Song by Langston Hughes, and The Amherst Train by Emily Dickinson. Throughout the week, we will continue to write various types of poems and publish them in our Poetry Notebooks




Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us

Weekly Update April 13-17

Announcements:

-Math Study Group:  There will be NO group this Thursday, April 16th. Looking ahead, there will be group Thursday, April 23rd and Thursday, April 30th. 


-Visiting Author: Buck Wilder will be at Gibraltar this Monday, April 13th! He is the author of the series Buck Wilder Adventures, and many more titles! The message he hopes to get across to students is that it is ok to make mistakes as well as how we can learn from them!

-Vaccines: The Public Health Dept. will be at Gibraltar this Tuesday, April 14th for 6th grade student vaccinations.

-Report Cards: Quarter 3 report cards are expected to go home on Wednesday, April 15th.


-JDRF Kids Walk: Our class is so excited to organize the annual JDRF Kids Walk. JDRF's goal is to improve the lives of individuals with type 1 diabetes all while finding the cure. We are partnering with a JDRF representative and have already had one Skype call with her to begin planning. Your child is on a specific planning committee. We will be working on this in class, but somethings may also need to be done at home. I will keep you updated on our progress! The walk is tentatively planned for the end of May. 


What are we learning???

Math:
This week, we will be covering the following topics in math class: order of operations, identifying parts of a number sentence, solving simple equations, and balancing expressions with the pan-balance strategy. As always, I will be updating the Student Links page with games and lessons to review these skills at home. The Unit 6 test and written response will be April 23-24.

Science:
The students will be exploring how much energy they use as a Wisconsinite, American, as well as a global citizen. They will also be thinking critically about current energy issues and use their opinion backed by research to debate with classmates. There will be a quiz on Wednesday, April 15th covering everything we've learned thus far for this unit. On Friday, we will have a guest speaker who will talk about various science-related jobs in the medical field. He is also a Type 1 Diabetic and will share his personal experiences to give us a better understanding of the diagnosis as we continue our planning for the JDRF walk.

ELA:

The students did a fantastic job teaching the 4th graders different poetry styles and analysis techniques last week! I was extremely proud of the way they interacted and taught their younger peers! One 4th grader even asked, "When will we go back to the 6th grade class for another activity?".
For poetry this week, we will be analyzing and discussing three poems: I’m Nobody by Emily Dickinson, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, and Dream Keeper /Dreams by Langston Hughes. On Friday, we will be writing All About Me poems.


Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us

Babysitter Course Information

Babysitter Course in Northern Door

This is a workshop for youth ages 12 to 15 years old where they will learn how to care for children and infants. Topics covered include child development, diapering & feeding infants, age appropriate games for kids, making snacks, first aid, what to do in an emergency, shaken baby syndrome and how to market your services. Certificates are awarded to participants.  

The cost to attend this 3 hour workshop is $10.00 per child.  Reservations are necessary as space is limited. 

Please follow this link to register

Weekly Update April 6-10

Announcements:

-Welcome Dexter! - We are excited to welcome Dexter to our class this Tuesday! He and his family have moved from De Pere. Let's be sure to give him a great Gibraltar welcome! :)

-Math Study Group:  There will be study group this Thursday, April 9th from 3:30-4:30. Looking ahead, the next study group will be Thursday, April 23rd. 

-Mind Trekkers Field Trip - An informational sheet and permission slip will be sent home on Monday, April 6th for the Mind Trekkers field trip for THIS coming Friday afternoon. Please have permission slips returned to me by Wednesday.

-Brewer's Game: An informational letter will be sent home on Tuesday with your child if he/she is attending the Brewer's Game this Saturday, April 11th, for the D.A.R.E. program. Please be sure to read it over. :)

-Scholastic orders: Scholastic orders will be sent home on Monday. Please have orders in by Friday, April 10th either electronically or in paper form. Our online class code is NFVJ8.


-JDRF Kids Walk: Our class is so excited to organize the annual JDRF Kids Walk. JDRF's goal is to improve the lives of individuals with type 1 diabetes all while finding the cure. We are partnering with a JDRF representative and have already had one Skype call with her to begin planning. Your child is on a specific planning committee. We will be working on this in class, but somethings may also need to be done at home. I will keep you updated on our progress! The walk is tentatively planned for the end of May. 




What are we learning???

Math:
This week, we will be covering the following topics in math class: finding the absolute value of a number and classifying various number systems (integers, real numbers, rational numbers, etc). The students have also been familiarizing themselves with Moby Max these past couple of weeks. Moby Max is an online website that meets each child where they are at in their math skills. We dedicate about 10 minutes of time to Moby Max about twice a week. The Unit 6 test and written response is tentatively scheduled for April 23-24.

Science:
We will be doing a few demonstrations this week on different types of energy and how energy is changed from one form to another. The students will also discover how some energy is lost when converted between different forms.

ELA:
Last Monday, we began our next reading/writing unit on Poetry! We have already completed a few introductory activities and poem writings. This week, we will review figurative language and have a chance to teach a younger grade what we have learned so far!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us

Weekly Update March 23-27

Announcements:

-Math Study Group:  There will be study group this Thursday, March 26th from 3:30-4:30.

-Jump Rope Warrior - On Thursday, we are excited to welcome  Jump Rope Guinness Book Record Holder David Fischer to Gibraltar. He will be presenting at two assemblies to the whole Elementary School in the morning and afternoon. There will be a workshop our 6th graders will be able to attend from 9:30-10am. It is guaranteed to be a fun, active, and motivating time!

What are we learning???

Math:
This week, we will be covering the following topics in math class: finding reciprocals of fractions, dividing fractions, and finding computation rules with positive/negative numbers. Through the week we will be playing a few games to learn how this content can be applicable in everyday life. The Unit 6 test and written response will tentatively be scheduled for April 23-24.

Science:
We will be entering our next Science unit on Energy. Energy consumption is all around us in so many forms. Together, we will explore the types of energies and discuss the importance of energy conservation.

ELA:
Reading - The students did an excellent job facilitating their own discussions throughout Book Club. Their Artful Artist projects are due this Tuesday and presentations will be on Wednesday and Friday.

In our reading textbook, we will be reading a memoir titled “The Pigman and Me” by Paul Zindel. On Wednesday, I will introduce the reading response options that will be due on Friday.

Writing - This week the students will be finishing up their Weebly sites. I will have all of their site links available on the blog when they are completed. The students have worked incredibly hard on not only the content, but also making sure their design is purposeful. 

On Monday, I will introduce our next reading and writing unit. This is an exciting unit that will be very different from the previous ones. More to come next week! :)

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us

Weekly Update March 16-20

Announcements:

-Welcome back: I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable Spring Break!

-Math Study Group:  We will NOT have math group this Thursday, March 19th due to a staff meeting. We will meet next Thursday, March 26th and review the skills taught for unit 6 thus far. 

-Lock-In: The lock-in is THIS Friday night. Permission forms are due TOMORROW, March 17th to Mrs. Moroney.

What are we learning???

Math:
This week, we will be doing a whole mix of things in Math! Monday, we will start with Pi Day activities since we weren't in school for the actual day (3/14). Tuesday, the students will have a chance to play the review math games Mr. Burress' students made before break. We will then begin Unit 6 with the pretest on Wednesday and begin our discovery of fraction multiplication and division.

Science:
Through our work with the body systems, several questions came up about diseases and disorders that occur in different organs and systems of our body. To help answer some of these questions and gain new understanding, we will be completing a mini-research projects on a disease/disorder of the body. They will be creating Prezi's to share their information. Presentations will be Friday, March, 20th.

ELA:
Reading - Book Club books should be completed by this Tuesday. There will be a brief discussion during Tuesday's book club and then students have the rest of the time to work on their Artful Artist projects. They will also have Friday to work on them as well. Artful Artist is due March 24th.

In our reading textbook, we will be reading a speech titled “There Is No Salvation for India” by Mohandas Gandhi. On Monday, I will introduce the reading response options that will be due on Friday.

Writing - This week the students will begin constructing their Weebly sites and inputting all of their wonderful writing! We will continue the revising process and offering feedback as we near completion of our sites.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us

Weekly Update March 2-6

Announcements:

-Read Across America week: This week, we will be celebrating Read Across America week. Throughout the week, we will be participating in various activities to encourage reading and to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday. There are also theme-based dress up days all week! Below are the descriptions for each day.

• Monday: Wear a crazy hat!
• Tuesday: Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Wear red and white!
• Wednesday: Wear wacky clothes (i.e. stripes, polka dots, etc.)!
• Thursday: Wear crazy socks!
• Friday: Mr. Grinch day! Wear green!

Math Study Group:  We will have math group this Thursday, March 5th. Depending on the need, we will either work on the math games or prepare students for the next unit on multiplying and dividing fractions. As a reminder, if your student will be attending the study group, please write a note or email confirming this and informing me of where your student will be going at 4:30pm. Thanks so much!

-Spring Break: If you are planning on leaving early for Spring Break, please call me or send me an email so I can send the work home that your child will be missing. Thank you in advance!

What are we learning???

Math:
The students will be creating games to review the 5 units we have covered this year. The directions and rubric were given out last Friday. This will be a partner project. This coming Friday, they will play each other's games. After Spring Break, they will have a chance to play the games Mr. Burress' students made. We will then begin Unit 6 with the pretest on March 17th.

Science:
We will be continuing our study of the circulatory system this week.  The test for the Digestive and Circulatory system will be Thursday, March 5th. They will be able to use their notes for the test.

ELA:
Reading - Book Club will continue to take place Tuesday and Friday. The students are encouraged to prepare for their discussions by doing some of the following: record interesting quotes, questions from the text, events in the story that are confusing, difficult vocabulary, predictions, etc. The book club project Artful Artist is due March 24th.

In our reading textbook, we will be reading a persuasive essay titled “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum. On Monday, I will introduce the reading response options that will be due on Friday.

Writing - The students have begun crafting their paragraphs for an informational website on a teen activist. Our goal for this week is to craft, edit, and polish all writing required for their websites. When we return from Spring Break, we will begin constructing our Weebly sites and inputting all of their wonderful writing!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us