June Newsletter!

Student of the month field trip - June 5th

iPad turn in - June 6th (need iPad, charging cord, charging block, iPad case, and it needs to be cleaned out)

Last day of School - June 11th (½ day schedule)

Summer Vacation - June 12 - August 26th

First Day of School 25/26 Year - August 27th

Homework Haven is held every Thursday from 2:00-4:00 p.m. and a Late Bus is available.

Mrs. Bedard sarah.bedard@rsu4.org

Mrs. Collins allyson.collins@rsu4.org

Ms. Cornish madelyn.cornish@rsu4.org

Mrs. Dupee carolyn.dupee@rsu4.org

Ms. Pfeffer beth.pfeffer@rsu4.org

Mrs. Richardson jen.richardson@rsu4.org

Wow. Just wow.

What a year it has been in ELA. I am so proud of your students for the work that they have done this year and the growth they have had. I can't believe the year is already over!

They created incredible, realistic fiction narrative stories based on two characters we were introduced to in our first book of the year. I loved to see how they created a future for Max and Annie.

Some students stole my heart when it came to their historical papers that contained real-life facts with a student's mix of fiction. I got to see students pick topics and people who relate to them. Allowing me to see a small piece of who they are. These stories made me laugh, cry, and jump with joy at just how well students did.

Their autobiographies stopped me in my tracks. The questions they were able to generate about themselves, how they were able to organize their papers, and the facts they felt comfortable sharing with me and their peers had me astonished. I was so proud of them.

All through this, we did recoveries of parts of speech and certain punctuation forms, along with remembering when to capitalize certain things. Then we learned new skills like semicolons and colons, vague pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and comprehension strategies. They have also worked on summarizing, getting started on writing pieces, and working to create longer writing pieces.

I am so proud of their growth this year, and I hope they are too!

The students have entered “The Golden Age of Athens”! They have been taking a tour of six cultural tour sites from ancient Athens. Upon visiting each site, they learn about that piece of culture by reading about it and answering questions related to the reading. From there, they complete an activity that furthers their understanding of each concept. Students are also working through vocabulary on their tour.

I will give you a sneak peak into the tour! When the students visit Delphi, they learn about nine myths from ancient times and how many of our root words today come from Greek roots. To learn this, students play a memory game matching the Greek myth to the word we use in the English language today. They then write a postcard home about their tour using two of the new words they learned!

During their visit to the Acropolis, students learn about the Parthenon as well as how temples were constructed during this time period. To practice their architectural skills, students put the pieces of a Greek temple together and draw three different types of columns that were used.

While at the marble workshop, students reconstruct two different statues whose parts are mixed up. They then use what they learned in the section to figure out which statue was older and which was newer.

At the Theater of Dionysus, students were asked to act out a portion of a Greek play. The play was left at a cliffhanger, so it was their job to finish the play!

The Agora was a place that Greeks went to shop and socialize. They spoke of their philosophical beliefs while in this public venue. Students were able to have a conversation with the famous philosopher, Socrates while at the Agora. Socrates spoke, relaying three different statements that the students were asked to try to understand.

Finally, the Panathenaic Games were a real treat! Students were able to be a part of the games! They each were given the opportunity to take part in five events, the 200 yard dash, discus throw, javelin throw, and broad jump. If they won at least three of the events, they were eligible for wrestling (They just circled yes or no depending on whether they qualified or not.). Each student was given a score card to record their scores.

The memento that they created at each tour site will be added into a scrapbook the students will be making. This final project will also include illustrations and facts from their trip.

This unit is my favorite of the year! Students are able to learn in so many different ways! There is really something for everyone!

We finished the year with a study of Geology. Students worked in groups to learn about different famous places such as: Mt. Everest, Nile River, Niagara Falls, Colorado Plateau, the Maldives. In their study, each student was given a landform or water feature to research and study. They researched how their topic was created geologically, and we discussed how a long time in geologic time (millions of years) is not the same as a long time in human years. Students also created a model showing the interaction between their landforms and water features with a diorama. This will be our last big project of the year, please check in with your children to ask them about their area of study.

As we presented, students asked great questions of their peers and were very respectful in using their listening skills. They also represented their school well at the Children’s Water Festival in Portland. We had 2 students out of approximately 700 students who correctly identified animal pets. Only 5 students correctly identified the pelts all day! Students worked enthusiastically to answer questions posed by science experts, and to work interactively to model real world problems in science. Some topics studied included threats to puffins, pollution in water, threats to animal safety, identifying insect larva, and water quality testing.

We will finish the year with some reflective activities geared towards their study of science. I am so proud of how far they have come in terms of science writing, asking questions and finding answers, and documenting their thinking as scientists!

I am beyond proud of these 6th graders; soon to be 7th graders. Having the opportunity to have them for 2 yrs was an amazing journey and opportunity. I have seen some incredible growth in writing skills, reading levels, and maturity! We are wrapping up this school year with our Nonfiction Unit: The Life of Maya Angelou. Students were able to make some great connections from last year’s unit on Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” and The Civil Rights Movement and this year's unit about Maya Angelou. They learned about her life, her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, her friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr. and how she overcame many challenges throughout her lifetime and legacy to be the role model she is today. Students will wrap-up this unit with a Post Assessment on May 27th and Literature notebooks are due May 28th. Students glued the checklist in their notebooks on Monday, May 19th and all of the assignments for this unit were posted on Google Classroom. We will finish the last 2 weeks of school by doing some fun writing and sharpening some skills that may need sharpening. Thank you for sharing your child with me. Have a happy and healthy summer!

We wrapped up Unit 6 while completing our NWEA testing in May. The unit focused on Equations and Expressions using coefficients, variables and formulas to create a data set that could be plotted on a graph. Students used a variety of specific math skills and strategies to solve real world problems.

All students grades 5-8 participated in the Xtramath.org challenge with prizes awarded to students who complete the entire program. Prizes were awarded to students at the school wide assembly.

We will use the remaining days of the school year to review a variety of math concepts and preview the first 7th grade unit in preparation for next year.

I am proud of student progress this year. Many have shown tremendous growth through hard work and determination.