Thank you students and families for all your hard work this school year.  We wish you a fun and safe summer and hope to see you in the fall.  Mark your calendar for our 2020-21 Open House on Tuesday, August 18.

The sixth grade teachers have been working hard to come up with creative learning opportunities in all subjects for our awesome students.  I know it will be tricky for all of us to get into a new pattern, but working together, we can ensure your child(ren) develop a good routine that balances academics, fun, and family.  I myself now have two teenage boys at home, so I understand how hard it is to make them get up out of bed in the morning, do schoolwork, eat good meals at regular times, and — most difficult of all! — go to bed at a decent time.

To help you as you develop your new at-home routine, here are the details on how classes will “work” in sixth grade:

GENERAL SIXTH GRADE STUFF

1.  All sixth-grade teachers will have the day’s activities posted by 8:15 a.m. each morning on their individual Google Classroom pages (math, English, science, etc.).

• **NOTE: the Google Classroom pages are different from these SPSL homeroom pages (the page you are reading now).
• Students should know how to access all of their Google Classroom pages, but please reach out to teachers if your child is having trouble accessing them.

2.  Activities are meant to take 20 minutes each day and will be posted Monday-Friday.

3.  Due dates for assignments will be included with the activity information.

4.  Students will need to check their own personal student email accounts at least once each day for additional information and communication that might be sent by teachers.

SPECIFIC ENGLISH/GUIDED READING INFORMATION:

1. I will post most English and Guided Reading instruction in the form of videos on the English and Guided Reading Classroom pages.  My cats are sure to make an appearance in these videos.  My house, too.  Maybe my children (I will have to catch Ethan unawares).  It is fun for kids to catch a glimpse into their teachers’ home lives, so I’m sure watching my videos will become the highlight of your child’s day.

2. On days when a video is not posted (sad!), detailed written instructions will be posted on the Classroom pages along with any needed materials.

3. English and Guided Reading homework can be submitted in a variety of ways, including typing up a document, taking a picture of hand-written work, posting a video, and more.  I will post videos on how to turn in homework and model how to do it.  Students and parents should email me if they need help.

4.  I plan to reserve every Friday in English to read a novel out loud and have the students complete journal entries responding to prompts about what we’ve read.  Students can also respond to each others’ writing by leaving comments on the Classroom page.  This is meant to encourage community learning and thoughtful discussion between students, similar to what we’d do if we were in class together.  PLEASE NOTE: I will give detailed instructions on the type of comments that will be acceptable in these online discussions, but you can help by making sure to review with your child what is appropriate to post in an academic discussion:

• No emojis (this seems silly, but I know I’ll just get chains of emojis of I don’t ban them all)
• Comments must be serious thoughts about, reactions to, and/or analysis of the book we are reading or another student’s comments
• Comments about another student’s writing must be constructive
• No insults, swearing, argumentative language, violence, or negativity
• No “random” comments, like “Hi!” or “yo, whassup???!!!!!”
• Inappropriate comments will be deleted and an email notice will be sent to parents

QUIZ BOWL NOTES:

Unfortunately, I don’t know when and if the Quiz Bowl tournaments will resume this year.  I will keep you updated as I find out information.

I’m so happy to be teaching in the sixth grade again this year at St. Pius X/St. Leo School.  I started teaching in this classroom in January of last year, so this will be my first full year as a sixth-grade teacher.

I will be teaching language arts to all sixth graders this year.  This will include guided reading, vocabulary, literature, writing, and English grammar.  Students will see me twice each day: morning classes will focus on guided reading and vocabulary, and afternoon classes will include whole-group literature, English grammar, and writing.

Each day, the students will be completing projects and activities that stimulate literacy across the spectrum — not only traditional reading and writing assignments, but also hands-on activities in which they apply what they learn, make new creations, and share their opinions.  It’s going to be a great year!