PREPARING FOR STATE ASSESSMENTS

THE TIME IS APPROACHING FOR STUDENTS AT CGMS TO TAKE THE INFAMOUS KANSAS ASSESSMENTS IN READING AND MATH. SIXTH GRADE READING ASSESSMENTS WILL BE GIVEN TUESDAY, MAR. 6, THURSDAY, MAR. 8, AND MONDAY, MAR. 12. MATH ASSESSMENTS WILL THEN BE ON TUESDAY, APR. 3, THURSDAY, APR. 5, AND MONDAY, APR. 9. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS TO EAT RIGHT AND GET A GOOD NIGHT'S REST DURING THESE TESTING DAYS.

IN MY READING CLASSES, STUDENTS HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD ON OR WILL BE WORKING SOON ON READING SKILLS THAT WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO KNOW IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE ASSESSMENTS. SOME OF THESE SKILLS INVOLVE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, TEXT TYPES, TEXT STRUCTURES, AND TEXT FEATURES, PREFIXES/SUFFIXES, CAUSE/EFFECT, COMPARE/CONTRAST, AND FACT/OPINION TO NAME A FEW. THEY HAVE BEEN DOING WEEKLY FORMATIVES TO PRACTICE FOR THE REAL DEAL!!

THE TIME WILL BE HERE BEFORE WE KNOW IT! I AM EXPECTING GREAT THINGS FROM MY STUDENTS!

Spelling Bee Participants

Congratulations to the sixth grade spelling bee participants! Everyone did a great job during the spelling rounds! Our school spelling bee will be held on Thursday, January 26. Participants are listed below in no particular order.

Carlos Solis

Natasha Boyce

Payton Cunningham

Carson Watts

Sam Kirk

Elizabeth Mayhill

1st Alt.- Melissa Filkin
2nd Alt.- Christian Helton

"All Summer in a Day"

In reading class, students have begun reading a new short story entitled "All Summer in a Day". It is a science fiction story set on the planet of Venus where it has not rained for seven years. Children await the moment that the sun will come out.

In the story, our main character, Margot, has lived on Earth unlike the other children; these other children ostracize her and bully her because she is different. She misses the sun coming out due to the fact that the children have locked her in the closet and have forgotten about her.

In the end, the children realize the mistake they have made in treating Margot in this manner. It is a story with an important message to our students.

Various activities my sixth graders will participate in while studying this story include creating a storyboard, comparing and contrasting the short story to the video clip, and completing a character analysis using Margot and her classmates.

WELCOME TO SIXTH GRADE!!!

WELCOME STUDENTS AND PARENTS TO THE 2011-2012 SCHOOL YEAR!! I AM EXCITED TO GET THIS YEAR UNDERWAY, AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH YOU ALL! PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS BLOG SITE AS IT WILL UPDATE YOU AND KEEP YOU INFORMED ON CLASSROOM HAPPENINGS AS WELL AS HOMEWORK EACH DAY. AT VARIOUS TIMES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, THIS BLOG WILL ALSO HOLD STUDENT WORK SAMPLES AND ONLINE PROJECTS! IT CAN ALSO BE USED AS AN INTERACTIVE TOOL BY ALLOWING YOU AS PARENTS OR AS STUDENTS TO COMMENT ON MY CREATED POSTS. THANK YOU PARENTS FOR ALLOWING ME TO BE PART OF YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING EXPERIENCE THIS YEAR!

Why I Became a Teacher

Teacher.  Not a career choice that I had always dreamed of becoming one day.  It wasn't until my freshman year of college that I decided to make elementary education my major course of study.  I believe it was after a conversation that I had had with a former high school teacher and coach of mine in which he simply said to me, " I think you would make a wonderful teacher.  Have you ever thought of pursuing the teaching field as your career choice?"  Truly, only a few brief moments after being asked this question, I found myself pondering the thought. Within the next few days, I had changed my major to elementary education.  One thing I had known all along was that I wanted to make a difference someday, somewhere, somehow.  I had thought youth ministry, social work, but now at this point, education is where I was being lead.  I told myself that even if I made a difference to only a handful of children, even one child, it would be well worth it!  Thus, marking the beginning of a new adventure.