NASA Survey

Students, click on this link to take the survey for the NASA Virtual Field Trip:

http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/feedback/

Chess Tournament

We put on a chess tournament for the kids to participate in at recess time. It was fun to see them improve their thinking skills as they learned the game and how to strategize. These are a few of the pictures to spotlight the very best of our chess players. Meet, The Chess Masters:

A thank you from a soldier

Robert Fletcher, an officer in the Air Force, came to offer his appreciation for letters honoring his companies service in Iraq. He also presented the school with a flag flown in every mission his company went on and a framed appreciation certificate thanking us for our support. Here's a few pictures. It was neat for the kids to see how appreciated their letters can be.

                                                              Jackson and Trevor

Ammon and Trevor

Wednesday morning we had the privilege of having Trevor Moss, a University of Utah football player, come to the sixth grade to talk to the kids about the importance of working hard and setting goals in life.  He then had some of the most "decked out" Utah fans compete in wall sits to earn a signed University of Utah football.  The kids were pretty tough, we were all impressed!  Jackson was the winner in the end, with Ammon and Kate being tied for second place.  

Kick Ball

The kids have enjoyed being able to play kick ball on the field during their enrichment time. Here's some pictures of them in action

Sarcophagus Art

The kids have finished their Sarcphagus. Here's some of their projects.

Stinky Science

Bacteria culture on a potato

Mold growing on white bread

Mold growing on french bread

Since we are learning about microorganisms right now, we are culturing (growing) our own bacteria and mold samples. Here are a few of the magnified pictures of what we are observing.

Exceptional Essays On Egypt

Mrs. Simmons highlighted 9 students who wrote exceptional essays on Egypt. Although there were many students worthy of the honor, Niall, Stockton, Lauren, Brooklyn, Braden, Audrie, Jessa, Troy, and Tara stood out above the rest.

Here's a picture of these wonderful students after they read their essay to Mr. Anderson.

Sixth Grade Impressions

Before the first day, I was excpecting it to be a lot harder. But now that I'm here it's easier than I thought. And I LOVE it! The first day was a little overwhelming, but then the teachers really, really helped me. Even though we have higher expectations, it makes me push harder to do good.
I am looking forward to haveing a great year. I am so excited for the things my sisters have told me about like, the sixth grade store, DARE, shakspere, the Valintines dance and much, much more. I LOVE all the teachers and my classmates are great!

The beging of 6th grade

The night befor 6th grade I thought it was going to be hard .Then when i got there it was easy on my 1st day.I was expeting for all the teachers to be really mean.then I meet them and there really nice.6th grade is geting you ready for middle school so you have to rotate classes.Then its hard careing around all of your books.What Im looking forward to in 6th grade is a lot more fun and a lot of hard work.

Week Beginning June 15th, 2009

My printer is out of ink so progress reports will hopefully go home on Monday.

This coming week we will be focusing on problem solving skills for math. We did three weeks of this a month ago, and I would like to integrate calculator skills and coordinate plane skills along with this. Also, I pushed the statistics project deadline to Monday so they can have the weekend to polish anything they would like. This project has yielded a lot of very competitive work. It has exceeded all of my expectations and I'm sure most of the kids will be proud of their work.

There will be a vocabulary and 4 spelling assignments due this coming week (3x each, word scramble, word search, and crossword). The new word Vocabulary sheet is available for extra credit in vocab or spelling. We usually take 10 minutes each day to spotlight any new words that people have discovered.

We will continue work with poetry and compile a portfolio of their work. We will be working on free verse and clerihews. They should have completed 3 cinquains with illustrations by writing on Monday.

On Wednesday the school will celebrate the 30th birthday of Sprucewood by having a 70's day. Thursday we will have an assembly closing out the birthday followed by an open house from 6:30-8:00 pm for the community.

I hope you have a great week and please don't hesitate to let me know of any questions or concerns.

Week Beginning June 8th

I appreciate the kids working so hard this week to get their work caught up. Thank you so much for you support in this matter. Hopefully everyone has caught up what they need. If not I will have them stay in for recess on Monday to continue to get caught up on their work. A missing work report will go home again today so they will need it signed for Monday.

We finished our CRT's and so the students will be required to complete 4 spelling assignments and a vocabulary assignment again. We have also started an extra credit assignment where the students can research words they hear or read and don't understand. We will also be doing a statistics project where they group, analyze, and present data we acquired through a 40 yrd dash. A due date is pending on this assignment. In writing we will be working on poetry.

Have a great week and let me know of any questions you have.

Week beginning May 26

Thanks for all of you who worked so hard to get your kids ready for Shakespeare. It was a smashing success. 

I extended the deadline for the typed and illustrated short story to this coming Tuesday. I think the extra time might help some of the students to sharpen it up this weekend. Their Science review packets will be corrected on Tuesday. 

We will begin the Criterion Referenced Tests on Wednesday. We will start with the Language Arts Test, then do the Science Test, and end with the Math test sometime next week. If at all possible, please have the kids well rested, fed, and present for the coming week. Making them up can be a difficulty. In math we will continue to review skills, mostly coordinate plane (most had a hard time with this).

If you would like me to burn a DVD of Thursday's performance, you can send a blank DVD or a dollar and I'd be happy to give you one.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Week Beginning May 18th, 2009

Our Shakespeare performance is finally here!

The kids have put in many hours to put on a great production and I think they're excited to share it with you. The times are as follows:

Mon May 18, 1:30

Tue May 19, 9:30

Wed May 20, 9:30

Thu May 21, 1:30 

There are still some kids that don't have costumes and I would hate for them to not have one for the performance. If there is anyone that needs help tracking something down please let me know by Monday.

The kids will have 2 spelling assignments due again this coming week. They will also have a vocabulary assignment that will be due. Most everyone has their rough draft and an illustration for their 15 paragraph short story. We will work on adding descriptions and making revisions. Their final draft will be due on Friday May 22nd. It needs to be typed and illustrated. We will continue to do some math skills review from previous concepts this year. They also have their science packets due this Friday May 22nd. These packets include everything they will be tested on for their science tests and reviewing concepts would help a bunch.

Our Criterion Referenced Tests will begin May 26th. That's the day after memorial day.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Mr. Emett  

 

 

Week Beginning May 11th, 2009

Parents, Many of the kids have slacked on assignments lately and it's showing up on their missing work report. Please sign these and return them so I know you are seeing them. It should be in their binder, as they had them hand delivered on Friday.

This coming week we will begin our dress rehearsals for Macbeth. The kids are excited to perform the play and these dress rehearsals will be a great time to polish up our play. The kids are responsible for a costume on Monday, May 11th. I hope this doesn't become too big a burden. Old clothes, big sleeved shirts, tights, exercise wear, baggy pants, chain necklaces, etc. would all be great. Please let me know if there is a problem or you would like help in tracking down a costume. Times for plays are as follows:

Mon May 18, 1:30

Tue May 19, 9:30

Wed May 20, 9:30

Thu May 21, 1:30

The kids will be responsible for two spelling assignments (Word Search/Crossword) and their Vocabulary worksheet. They also have an Essay due on Wednesday about their goals and how the NOVA principles will help them achieve these goals.  In addition, next week Friday, May 22nd they have a typed,  illustrated, and at least 15 paragraph short story due. This is worth 3 writing assignments so it will be an important part of their grade. If you have any questions about these assignment please feel free to.

Off Track and Week Beginning May 4

First off I would like to say I hope you have a great off track. This will be their last.

The kids were amazing before we went off track! They have really matured in the way they deal with each other lately and I'm so pleased that they have been showing so much respect. I hope we can continue this when they return. I think they have learned that privileges come when you are responsible and put forth extra effort.

We have had a problem with gum as of late and so I am petitioning for your help. Please do not let them bring gum to school. Many of their bank accounts have dwindled because they refuse to respect this rule. We have had gum engrained into our new carpet 2 times in my classroom and we've only been in my classroom for 8 weeks. Again, please don't allow them to bring gum to school. 

I've been worried that the kids won't remember their lines for Shakespeare. If you could help them with their lines I think it will really help them to be prepared for when we perform. Beyond memorization, they really can work on expression and volume. If you need another script I will attach it to your email. We need everyone to really project loudly. Any coaching on this would be greatly appreciated. Also, rehearsals start on May 12th, so be thinking about costumes.

Let me know of any questions at all through johnemett@gmail.com

Sincerely, 

Mr. Emett

Week starting April 13, 2009

This will be the last week of school before we go off track. I would like to stay focused this coming week on Macbeth. I would really like to do a walk through with the kids in the middle of the week without their scripts. Because I want them to really focus on this I only want them to complete two spelling assignments. So their homework next week will be a math assignment where they find a unit for distance (i.e. their hand) find its conversion ratio for a standard unit (inches, centimeter) and then use their hand to calculate how long 4 things are in the standard unit, using their conversion ratio. Then they will have a choice of 2 spelling assignments and their vocabulary. We will continue our short stories but I doubt we will finish by the end of the week.

They have their missing work reports again and next Friday they will get their progress report. Thank you so much for your help in bringing attention to their missing work. It was an eye opener for a lot of the kids and they got their work in before it was too late.

Hope you have a great week. Let me know if you have any questions.

Week starting April 6, 2009

This week will be a short week and so we won't have spelling and vocabulary. In place of these assignments we will be making progress on a short story that we began last week. Your kids should have the characters, setting, conflict, and theme mapped out and planned. They should also have a 5 block storyboard that includes 10 details in each block. These details will help them as a foundation for ideas when they begin drafting. If you would like to look over these and assure they have it to be checked off on Monday it would be appreciated.

We have also been through Macbeth twice and I want to get through it one more time with the kids moving in and out of the scenes this week. As they are memorizing lines please coach them to be LOUD and SLOW. They have shown great passion and I feel it is headed to be a success if the kids can control themselves during practice time. The lines should be memorized before we go off track as we will try one walk through without scripts the week of our track change.

Your kids have 3 missing work reports that needs to be signed and turned in Monday. Looking through them I've noticed a lot of missing work. Hopefully this last leg before middle school some of the students will help to turn a corner when it comes to responsibility for schoolwork.

In math we have begun working with measurement. This is the last foundation piece before we use all the tools of 6th grade math for discovery and engineering projects. They will study ratios of measurement units (E.g. 5.3 inches to 1 of my hands) and use these ratios to calculate additional units for distance and other units related to distance. This has strong implications to the physical sciences so I will try to integrate the sciences as much as I can.

The kids also struggled with the coordinate plane assesment, especially when it came to graphing y= equations, so we will be re-addressing this with problem solving warm-ups and with our projects the last two months. I only weighted the test at 12 points so it won't impact their grade if they remain engaged in the problem solving questions throughout the week.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

Week of March 23

It'll have to be quick this week as I've been busy with prepping for grades this coming Thursday and Friday.

This week we will go to a shakespeare production of Twelfth Night on Friday. We will send a consent form on Monday so keep an eye out for that. The letter will have all the details.

We are also going to be taking the state writing assessment on Tuesday morning. If you could give them any last hints for their writing and make sure they get good sleep and healthy food it would be appreciated. We have been very focused on organizing our most important ideas, so hopefully their writing will come out clear and concise.

Hope all is well. I look forward to meeting with you on Thursday/Friday. If you haven't signed up, be sure to let me know when you would like to conference. There are still 7 that haven't signed up.

Sincerely, 

Mr. Emett

Week beginning March 16th

Sorry it took me so long this week. 

This week we will finish country reports. It will be nice to get these out of the way and do more with Shakespeare and writing. We will hold tryouts on Wednesday. My brother will do the casting to try and form objective decisions. We have begun reading Macbeth and the kids seem to have loved it. It was surprising to me how well they have taken to it! Any encouragement from home for this behavior would be appreciated. 

I have given them all their spelling and vocabulary for the week. Sometimes we won't have classroom time to accomplish this, so it may need to be completed at home. 

We are working on graphing equations on the coordinate plane but many of them are still struggling with plotting ordered pairs. Any help with this would be beneficial. I'll try to post a link for them to work on coordinate plane. This is a pivotal concept to be familiar with for middle school. The test will probably be next week on geometry and coordinate plane skills. 

Have a great week.

Mr. Emett

Week starting March 9, 2009

Last week was pretty chaotic. We had a middle school trip, country reports, and business day. In fact, the last two weeks we have had our normal routine interrupted by some sort of special event.

Last Friday also marked the end of term two and so the kids were not given a missing work report to have signed. Monday will be the 1st day of term three. I look forward to meeting all of you again at parent teacher conferences and hope we can continue to make strides with their education.

Hopefully all of you have decided what middle school your child will attend as well as the courses you would like them to be enrolled in. If you have any questions at all please contact me soon, as I've already sent all the registrations I have into the middle schools. Also, if you didn't fill out a blue consent form about a prevention survey for the state office of education, please send them on Monday. The kids will get a reward for bringing them back.

We finished watching Macbeth. Next week we will begin reading it and the following week my brother will hold auditions for desired parts.

For vocabulary, we will be studying the phrase -phobia. In math we will continue to work with the coordinate plane.

We will be spotlighting those who demonstrate behavior in the class that we believe will help students succeed in middle school. Hopefully this will prepare them to deal with some of the challenges they face next year.

Hope you all have a great week.

Mr. Emett

Week starting February 2nd

I wanted to start updating the blog weekly to let everybody know what's going on.

We started on our production of Macbeth this week by watching it in class. The kids have been good about understanding the plot as we've talked about themes and meanings as the story progresses. Hopefully we'll finish the video and start reading the abridged script that the kids will produce.

We finished the geometry part of our unit in math. We've been learning about properties of shapes and polygons, especially triangles and quadrilaterals. Now we will apply these concepts to the coordinate plane and also reuse negative numbers.

The kids should have finished their writing assignment they started this past week. I've been focused on the five paragraph essay and this assignment was an extension of these organization concepts. 

I've started to try and run the kids for 5 minutes before our math lesson. This has proven to be a great way to keep them engaged throughout their math lesson and it has become much easier to get through. I also haven't had any kids miss a math assignment since I've started this.

They all should have a missing work report that they brought home on Friday. Please take special notice as there are eight kids that haven't returned a signed copy for 4 or more weeks. Many of the kids have a lot of missing work that needs to be made up by the end of the week to bring their 2nd term grades up.

This Monday the kids will get to go to Indian Hills Middle School to learn about registration and expectations. Even though all the kids won't attend Indian Hills, this should still be a good experience for everyone. If the kids haven't returned their permission slips it should be on their missing work report. We will also have a business day on Tuesday. Business licenses have been issued for those who would like to run a business.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mr. Emett

Country Reports

Just as a reminder, country reports will begin when we come back off track on Tuesday.

The kids will need:

A flag that should be poster size so the whole class can see it at once. Colored and as detailed as possible. 

A cardboard doll that shows what a person might look like in their country. Traditional clothes and at least 12 inches tall

A travel brochure as a way to advertise your country's tourist attractions. Include three or more attractions. Brochure must be in color. Watch spelling.

A map that shows surrounding countries, capital, and major landforms. Map should include a legend.

An informational chart that tells the name, cities, capital, population, area, currency, religion, government, and at least two other facts.

An outline of your research going over the facts, sources, and anything else important to the presentation of the country. I Name  II History  III Topography  IV Customs  V Lifestyle 

VI Economics

The presentation should be pleasing to listeners. It should last 10-20 minutes.

The rubric and instructions were sent home at the beginning of the year so if you need another copy I have some in my filing cabinet.