Notebook winners of the week:

                                     2nd period- M. Marshall                       4th period- S. Strong

                                     5th period- C. Stephens                       6th period- J. Minion

Dear Students and Parents,  

Last week, students were introduced to culture. We started in Europe and focused on language groups and the major monotheistic religions of the continent. 

**Parents, I try to have quizzes weekly or bi-weekly to document students' mastery of the standards. Students are allowed to check out their interactive student notebooks (ISNs) with teacher permission to prepare for quizzes and in some instances are able to use their ISNs when taking a quiz. I also send out weekly or bi-weekly study sheets that require a parent signature to ensure that students are actually studying, I have review materials available under the 6th grade tab of my website, and I send out a reminder text message the week of the quiz. 

This week we will continue our study of culture but this time in Latin America, Canada and Australia.

This week in social studies: 
Monday: Latin America culture Cornell notes and videos

Tuesday:  Finish Cornell notes; complete the "blender" template activity
*Homework- watch election results

Wednesday: ISN Quiz/ Culture concept map notes and videos

Thursday: Aboriginal archaeology activity

Friday: No school! Veteran's Day!
*4th period- Research check due Monday 11/14/2016

Homework: Continue to practice the pollution rap! Video and lyrics available on 6th grade tab. *Note= Academic study hall has been changed to Wednesdays!

Dear Students and Parents,  

Last week, students were assessed on their knowledge of environmental issues in Europe, Latin America and Canada. Students did really well on the Unit 2 Test but still need to work on differentiating between cause and effect. Also, the study guide completed AND signed was a grade last week. Please be sure to turn it in if you haven't already.

**Parents, I try to have quizzes weekly or bi-weekly to document students' mastery of the standards. Students are allowed to check out their interactive student notebooks (ISNs) with teacher permission to prepare for quizzes and in some instances are able to use their ISNs when taking a quiz. I also send out weekly or bi-weekly study sheets that require a parent signature to ensure that students are actually studying, I have review materials available under the 6th grade tab of my website, and I send out a reminder text message the week of the quiz. 

We are jumping into a new unit this week...CULTURE! In this unit, our focus will be elements of culture such as language and religion. I want students to understand why certain regions speak the languages they do and believe what they believe. We will start our culture unit in Europe.

This week in social studies: 
Monday: Team Halloween Party!

Tuesday:  Languages of Europe tri-fold + videos

Wednesday: Religions of Europe chart--Judaism information + Jewish sensory figure

Thursday: Religions of Europe chart--Christian information + Christian sensory figure

Friday: Religions of Europe chart--Islam information + Muslim sensory figure

Homework: Continue to practice the pollution rap! Video and lyrics available on 6th grade tab. *Note= Academic study hall has been changed to Wednesdays!

Dear Students and Parents,  

Last week, students learned an educational rap (written by yours truly) that covers all of the environmental issues we've learned about up until this point. We worked on it in class last week but students were also responsibile for learning and practicing the rap at home.

**Parents, I try to have quizzes weekly or bi-weekly to document students' mastery of the standards. Students are allowed to check out their interactive student notebooks (ISNs) with teacher permission to prepare for quizzes and in some instances are able to use their ISNs when taking a quiz. I also send out weekly or bi-weekly study sheets that require a parent signature to ensure that students are actually studying, I have review materials available under the 6th grade tab of my website, and I send out a reminder text message the week of the quiz. 

Our focus for this week is reviewing and preparing for our Unit 2 Assessment over environmental issues of Europe, Latin America and Canada. The test will include 10 multiple choice items, 10 vocabulary matching questions with a word bank and 10 cause or effect questions. Please also visit the 6th grade tab for review materials and study tips.

This week in social studies: 
Monday: Work on rap; finish Internet safety lesson (required by the district); my 4th and 5th period classes will be on a field trip to the Coca-Cola space science center.

Tuesday:  Environmental issues vocabulary and sort chart; musical chairs review

Wednesday: Unit 2 Assessment study guide

Thursday: Unit 2 Assessment on environmental issues

Friday: Achieve 3000 in the computer lab

Homework: Study for Unit 2 Assessment, complete study guide and have a parent sign verifying that you did indeed study. The 6th grade tab on my class website (heymrsellis.weebly.com) will have review materials and study tips. Continue to practice the pollution rap! Video and lyrics available on 6th grade tab. *Note= Academic study hall has been changed to Wednesdays!

Dear Students and Parents,  

Last week, students learned about human-environmental interaction: how we impact the environment and how the environment affects us, with a focus on Latin America and Canada. We delved into issues such air pollution in Mexico City, Mexico, deforestation in the Amazon Rain Forest (Brazil) and oil-related pollution in Venezuela. Also we covered acid rain in Canada, extraction of natural resources in the Canadian Shield, pollution of the Great Lakes, and the timber industry in Canada. 

**Parents, I try to have quizzes weekly or bi-weekly to document students' mastery of the standards. Students are allowed to check out their interactive student notebooks (ISNs) with teacher permission to prepare for quizzes and in some instances are able to use their ISNs when taking a quiz. I also send out weekly or bi-weekly study sheets that require a parent signature to ensure that students are actually studying, I have review materials available under the 6th grade tab of my website, and I send out a reminder text message the week of the quiz. 

Our focus for this week is learning an educational rap (written by yours truly) that covers all of the environmental issues we've learned about up until this point. We will work on it in class this week but students will also need to take responsibility for learning and practicing the rap at home.

This week in social studies: 
Monday: No school for students

Tuesday:  Introduction to pollution rap; annotate 1st verse of the lyrics

Wednesday:  work on the rap; annotate 2nd and 3rd verse of lyrics

Thursday: work on rap; complete environmental issues vocabulary activities 

Friday: work on rap; Internet safety lesson (required by the district);
"Pop-tastic" celebration from 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Homework: Learn pollution rap! Video and lyrics available on 6th grade tab of my class website heymrsellis.weebly.com *Note= Academic study hall has been changed to Wednesdays instead of Thursday!

Dear Students and Parents,  

Last week, students ROCKED their unit 1 tests over geography and population. I have the graded papers here at school, kept on file but if you would like to see your child's grade then I can make a copy and send it home. You can also log into Infinite Campus Parental Portal to see your child's grades. After the test, we jumped right into our next unit: "Human-environmental interaction" with a focus on environmental issues in Europe. More specifically we covered acid rain in Germany, air pollution in the United Kingdom (the U.K.) and nuclear disaster in Ukraine.

**Parents, I try to have quizzes weekly or bi-weekly to document students' mastery of the standards. Students are allowed to check out their interactive student notebooks (ISNs) with teacher permission to prepare for quizzes and in some instances are able to use their ISNs when taking a quiz. I also send out weekly or bi-weekly study sheets that require a parent signature to ensure that students are actually studying, I have review materials available under the 6th grade tab of my website, and I send out a reminder text message the week of the quiz. 

Our focus for this week is human-environmental interaction: how we impact the environment and how the environment affects us, with a focus on Latin America. We will learn about air pollution in Mexico City, Mexico, deforestation in the Amazon Rain Forest (Brazil) and oil-related pollution in Venezuela. 

This week in social studies: 
Monday: Environmental issues of Latin America tri-fold notes + summary

Tuesday:  Environmental issues "APP" performance task (will begin in class and what is not finished will become homework due FRIDAY)

Wednesday:  Canada's environmental issues cut and paste sort activity

Thursday: ISN quiz (we did not get to this last week so it was postponed to this week) + "Solution to Pollution" 4-square activity

Friday: Achieve 3000 in computer lab

Homework: Visit the 6th grade tab for study help! Thursday will be a routine 5-question multiple choice interactive student notebook (ISN) quiz check. Environmental issues "APP" performance task is due Friday.