Hey Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

Reader’s Workshop

We will be wrapping up our unit on the Deep Study of Character by studying motifs and themes and how those show up in stories and affect characters.

Writer’s Workshop

The writers will be finishing up their final literary essay. It will be due on Wednesday.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

The kids will finish our unit on rational numbers by studying shapes on the coordinate plane, common factors, and common multiples. We will have an end of unit test on Thursday.

History

We will finish our study of ancient India by studying for the assessment on Wednesday. The kids (if we have time) will make an Indian-inspired art piece.

Science

We will study for our weather assessment in class on Monday before the weather test on Tuesday.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

Reader’s Workshop

We will continue studying how setting influences characters in our deep study of character unit. The kids will continue to read their own books each night and do work in their reader’s notebook. I will check their reader’s notebook on Thursday and there will be an assessment on what we have been studying on Friday.

Writer’s Workshop

The students will work on their second literary essay which will focus on writing a theme about a story. Each student will have one of two stories to pick out themes from. Their partner will have the other one and they will work together to pick out themes before they write.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

We will continue our unit on rational numbers. The kids will learn about writing, solving, and graphing inequalities, and will begin studying all four quadrants of the coordinate plane. There will be a homework quiz on Friday.

History

We will continue studying India and learn a little about Buddhism and a lot about some of the aesthetic and intellectual traditions that began in Ancient India. Later in the week the kids will make a study guide to prepare for next week’s assessment.

Science

We will study more on weather and complete our weather unit. The kids will make a study guide in preparation for next week’s assessment.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

Reader’s Workshop

We will continue with our deep study of character unit. We will shift our focus toward how setting shapes characters. We will look at the precise language authors use to describe the setting, how characters are torn by the pressures of places, and how settings change both physically and psychologically over time. The kids will continue reading each night and working in their reader’s notebooks.

Writer’s Workshop

The students will finish their first full literary essay and turn it in on Wednesday. They will be using mentor texts and their argument writing checklist to revise. By the end of the week we will start on our next literary essay where we will try to lift the level of complexity in the writing.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

We will start a new unit on Monday (Rational Numbers- See Family Preview). This unit will focus on negative numbers, inequalities, absolute value, the coordinate plane, and common factors and multiples. We will also continue to review basic skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division or whole numbers, fractions, and decimals and order of operations). In addition, I will be working on a new layout for the gradebook in math. I will out line this new system in a video I will send out as soon as possible so please look out for that.

History

We will start a new unit: Ancient India. In this unit, we will study the major beliefs and practices of Brahmanism (and how that evolved into early Hinduism) and the important aesthetic and intellectual traditions of Ancient India.

Science

We will continue looking at weather this week specifically the factors that influence weather and the characteristics of cold fronts and warm fronts.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

Reader’s Workshop

We will continue our deep study of character unit. The kids will be interpreting which character traits matter the most to our characters, trying to lift the level of the way we write about reading, and consider the myriad pressures that are affecting characters. I’ll check their notebooks at the end of next week to see what work they have done.

Writer’s Workshop

The kids will use their claims from this week to draft and finish their first literary essay.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

We will wrap up our unit on expressions and equations by learning about exponents in expressions. We will review on Thursday before the end of unit assessment on Friday which will cover exponents, the distributive property, writing expressions, and writing and solving equations.

History

We have a light week for history and will do a tiny project regarding the gods of Greek mythology.

Science

We will start a new unit on weather.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

Reader’s Workshop

We will begin our Deep Study of Character Unit. This is an in-depth 6th grade level unit on analyzing characters, setting, and theme. Students will be reading fiction books throughout the unit and should be working each day in their reader’s notebooks as well as logging their reading.

Writer’s Workshop

We will begin our Literary Essay Unit. This unit will tie in closely with the Deep Study of Character Unit as students will be growing ideas about characters and themes to write about. I am hoping to have a celebration for this unit just before spring break.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

The kids will continue our expressions and equations unit (algebra) with the study of the distributive property and have a mid-unit assessment on Thursday. We will also continue to review basic skills.

History

The kids will write their argument on whether or not Alexander the Great was really “great” and we will study Greek mythology.

Science

We will continue working on the water cycle unit. We will have our last lesson together this week on the water cycle. I will give out a study guide and probably take a quiz on the water cycle on Friday.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

More information on GSPD.

Reader’s Workshop

The kids will reflect on their identity (what makes them who they are) and think about the characteristics that make up their lives as a way to study how we can do that same kind of thinking for characters. This will lead up to our 6th Grade Deep Study of Character Unit which will take us to spring break. In this unit we will analyze characters in depth and how characters interact with setting and theme.

Writer’s Workshop

We will do some reflection on the identity of characters we will study in reader’s workshop and then we will begin our 6th grade unit on Literary Essay. Much of this work will hinge on the work being done each and every day in reader’s workshop. Students who are doing 6th grade level work in reading will benefit in writing.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

We will continue our expressions and equations (algebra) unit this week. We will begin to solve equations that contain a variable.

History

We will do a short unit (just this week) on Alexander the Great and ask the question, “Was Alexander the Great really great?”. We will look at documents and argue a side.

Science

We will continue working on the water cycle unit.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

Tuesday Morning:

Other Important Information:

Your children LOVE receiving letters from you!  The address to send them to is:

Thousand Pines Outdoor Science School

PO Box 3288

Crestline, CA  92325

c/of Woodbury and write your child’s name on the letter.

If you have any other questions, please let me know as soon as possible.  It’s going to be a great week.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

NO SCHOOL MONDAY AND TUESDAY

Reader’s Workshop

In reading, we will continue to practice strategies to grow ideas about characters. The kids will prepare for a discussion on wednesday and turn in their preparation notes. They will also have a quiz on growing ideas about characters at some point in the week (maybe Wednesday or Thursday).

Writer’s Workshop

The kids will review and celebrate the literary essays they wrote on Friday and then begin their next literary essay more independently which they will finish by Friday the 31st.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

The kids will make it through the gauntlet of winter testing with an end of unit assessment for our arithmetic in base ten unit on Tuesday. We will begin the next unit (expressions and equations) later in the week.

History

We will wrap up our initial study of Ancient Greece. On Thursday we will review important figures in the arts and sciences of Ancient Greece as well as a review of the entire unit. There will be an assessment on Friday.

Science

We will start working on the water cycle unit.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

NO SCHOOL MONDAY AND TUESDAY

Reader’s Workshop

We will be continuing a unit in fiction books on getting to know and understand characters. This will lead us to a Deep Study of Character Unit which we will study in February and March.

Writer’s Workshop

We will be continuing a short unit tying in with our Reading Unit. This Unit will begin our study of literary essays where we will explore theme or characters.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

We will continue with division of decimals. Also, we will be taking 2 test for the district (all 6th graders take these). A mid-year basic skills test on Thursday and a mid-year standards test on Thursday.

History

We will continue learning about Ancient Greece. The kids will be contrasting the direct democracy found in Ancient Athens with a representative democracy more like that of the United States today. We also will start looking at significant figures in the arts and sciences of Ancient Greece.

Science

It’s a short week but we will try to start a unit on the Water Cycle which will continue into the last week of January.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray

Dear Parents,

We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements:

Reader’s Workshop

We will be starting a unit in fiction books on getting to know and understand characters. This will lead us to a Deep Study of Character Unit which we will study in February and March.

Writer’s Workshop

We will be doing a short unit tying in with our Reading Unit. This Unit will begin our study of literary essays where we will explore theme or characters.

Math

Math Answers and Help Here

We will continue our unit on Arithmetic in Base 10. Our focus this week and next will be on multiplying and dividing decimals.

*Note- There are several tests coming up in math (some in our class and some for the district). More information on these tests is on the podcast. There should not be extra stress associated with these tests. There are just a lot because of the district’s timing with their

History

We will be starting a unit on Ancient Greece!

Science

No science this week.

Thank you,

Mr. Gray