April 12, 2010

The middle school groundbreaking was this past weekend, if you got a chance to check it out, it was wonderful. Mrs. Swanson and Ms. Wallwork walked around trying to decide which classroom to have next year! We are very excited to see the expansion and can't wait to prepare our classrooms.

Social: We have begun our unit on Industrialism, Capitalism, and Socialism Unit. We will start off this week learning how farming became more efficient during the Industrial Revolution.

Science: Our Ocean Structure unit is underway. This week students will work on completing a model of the ocean floor and it's features with a partner and mapping out the ocean floor using the idea of sonar. Students will be assigned their at-home lab for this unit on Thursday and it will be due on Friday, April 23rd.

Language Arts: We are still preparing for MCA's. Don't forget to get a good nights sleep and eat a healthy breakfast every morning. We will begin Act IV of Julius Caesar this week and review literary terms.


Math:

Ms. Wallwork's class will be learning how to collect like terms and multiplying algebraic terms to simplify algebraic expressions.

Mrs. Swanson's class is working on fraction-decimal-percent equivalents, algebraic addition of integers, compound experiments, and ratios problems involving totals. Students will also take another assessment on Wednesday.

Reading: Monday, Ms. Wallwork's class will be previewing To Kill a Mockingbird. We will begin each lesson with the vocabulary and ending with discussion about what we have read. This is a higher content book that will create in-depth discussions.

Specialists:

P.E.: Students will be finishing up a whiffleball unit and will be continuing their preparation for the fitness test.

Music: Students are busy preparing for their spring concert. Please put June 8th on your calendars as this will be the evening that the spring concert will take place at Westwood Community Church. More information will be coming in regards to times! Thanks for your continued support of the music program at STRIDE Academy!

Updates and Reminders:

Information was handed out at conferences about the end of the year trip to Wolf Ridge. Please start filling out this information and returning it as soon as possible. In this weeks Thursday folder you will find the health form that will need to be filled out and returned.

Please remind your child to bring a white t-shirt into school by Wednesday, April 14th. Next week the sixth graders will create t-shirts to wear on MCA testing days. Those dates again are Tuesday and Wednesday April 20 and 21st for Reading and Tuesday and Wednesday April 27 and 28 for Math.