September 27, 2010

La Paloma Academy
6th Grade Newsletter
 September 27, 2010
Mr. Festerling

COMMUNICATION
Communication between school and home is important for each 6th grader's success. Parents can email Mr. Festerling directly from the La Paloma website, lpatucson.org, or call him before or after school at 520-721-4205. Additionally, as mentioned in previous newsletters, the student's planner is a great vehicle for communicating daily assignments, test scores, or written notes to parent or teacher.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Now that students can name the difference between the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age, 6th grade is now turning attention to written history and the earliest civilizations. The students will do detailed map work including comparing where the oldest civilizations were located compared to present day countries. These countries are in the news on a daily basis.
MATH
Fractions and decimals are a part of daily mathematics for the 6th graders. As the 6th graders know, success comes from organizing math problems properly and double checking answers (amongst other things). This is especially true with proper decimal placement and multiple step problems. Decimals and fractions are reinforced daily with practice problems and real life word problems.

READING

There are so many components to being successful in reading . . . from affixes (prefixes and suffixes) to literary elements like point of view, from setting to using context clues, to name a few. Sixth graders will apply these and other concepts by reading two more non-fiction adventure selections this week, one by Jon Krakauer, the other by the familiar author, Gary Paulsen. The students will also discuss the parallels between the challenges the authors faced in the wild compared to the life of a 6th grader.

WRITING

After an extensive look at multiple methods of prewriting, the first and ever important step in writing, students will target "showing, not telling" with their word choice in writing pieces. The other focal points for their writing this week (and always) are what is the topic, who is the audience, why am I writing this (purpose), and how am I best going to accomplish the purpose (form).

SCIENCE
The students' wonderful diagrams of atoms are on the bulletin board in the classroom. If you stop by the classroom be sure to locate your child's so he/she can tell you the main parts of an atom. Sixth graders will concentrate on "changes in matter" through reading, note taking, and hands-on experiments.
CHARACTER COUNTS

Ben Franklin said, "The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, a conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity." This week the students will take a closer look at the character trait "respect," which is foundational to one's character in relationships and life. 

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