6th Grade Update

March Math-ness is tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11th from 5-6 pm in the Multi-use room! Bring your whole family to play math-focused games, score points, and earn prizes. Open to all grades! Whether you love math or are learning to love math, mark your calendars and don’t miss March Math-ness!  See you this Wednesday!!!
Mrs. Laffey's students will receive extra credit for attending.

Cold/Flu/Virus Season - please be aware that we are cleaning the desks regularly and I am encouraging students to wash hands and use hand sanitizer. If your child is sick, please keep them home so other students don't catch what they have. I will do my best to keep all students up to date on their lessons, and students who are absent due to illness will not be penalized for late assignments.

Weathering, Erosion, Deposition Lab
Thank you to all of the families who donated to the science funds at the beginning of the year. You made it possible to purchase equipment for this lab and more. 

September Events

Hello 6th Grade Families,

We have some upcoming events. Back to School Night is Wednesday, September 11, 2019, from 5:00pm-7:00pm. The evening will start in your child's first period class. Dinner will be available for purchase from The Napa Deli. You are invited to the gym during PE or after visiting classrooms, to get information on attendance, College and Career, counseling, PTC, and more.

MAP (Measure of Academic Progress)  testing in Math began today. This test happens 3 times per year in Fall, Winter, and Spring.  Please make sure your student has their Chromebook and that it is charged.

The Suisun Marsh Field Trip is on September 23rd. The paperwork went home today. There is a parent letter, a green field trip permission slip for GVMS, a blue permission slip for Solano RCD, and a half sheet that tells how students should dress the day of the field trip. We need to ask for $10.00 donations per child to cover the costs of the bus. We are also in need of chaperones, so if you would like to go with us, please check the box on the back of the blue permission slip and I will send home the parent volunteer form. Students will not be allowed to go in cars and we need all chaperones to ride on the bus with us.

This week we will be having the second Suisun Marsh lesson taught by a guest teacher, Allison Martin, from the marsh. Here are some of the pictures from last week where students learned about the Watershed.

Last Week Before Break

Math Test:  Friday is the math test on Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying and Dividing Decimals. We are practicing in class and doing Khan Academy Assignments. Students should also study at home, read through notes and do practice problems. A good website for practice pages is https://www.math-drills.com/search.php?s=decimals&page=1&sort=weekly

Khan Academy: I will no longer be accepting late Khan Academy Assignments as it is too difficult to keep track of them all. I give students time in class and during tutorial do these assignments (they can also be done at home) and some students are not taking advantage of this time. No exceptions. I will also not be accepting late assignments in math or science after the test has been administered for that section.

21st Century Skills : I am incorporating 21st Century Learning Skills into each class. These skills include Communication, Collaboration, and Conduct. These skills are valuable for each student to learn for their future. Please see the rubric HERE. Please refer to this chart if you are wondering why points have been deducted. I am trying to teach skills. I am not trying to be punitive. This is meant to give students motivation for participating in class, being on task and behaving appropriately, based on the grade level standards.  Students can earn 30 points per week.
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Spiral Math: Students are now receiving homework each night for math called "spiral math". There are 6-10 math problems per day. Each day is due the next day. I am doing the first day of the week with the students to make sure they have seen each type of problem. They are welcome to ask for help during tutorial or during class when time allows.

February 27, 2019

Girl Powered Robotics
I wanted to inform you of an opportunity for Girl Powered VEX Robotics Workshop at Google. Please see the link below. There are other opportunities for coding and robotics, as well. (Thank you Mrs. Canones for sending that information). 
https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/workshops/RE-WORKSHOP-19-7904.htm

Math Diagnostics Testing Project (MDTP)

Every 6th grader will be given a 40 question multiple choice diagnotic math test. I am administering the test  the week of March 11th.It is timed for 45 minutes. The purpose is to determine your child's math reasoning and logic skills for math placement as a 7th grader. Seventh grade math options are: 

Common Core 7th 

Accelerated 7th/8th

Accelerated math means ALL of 7th and half of 8th Grade math as a 7th grader and the rest of 8th and ALL of High School Math 1 as an 8th grader. Many students are good in math, but cannot keep the pace of an Accelerated program. There is no preparation for the Math Diagnostic test and calculators are not allowed. 

Progress Reports

Progress reports have been submitted. They should be posted soon if not already. Remember that this is a picture of the student's progress on that moment in time. Grades change daily, so the best way to monitor progress is by checking aeries/parent portal here:

https://abip.fsusd.org/ParentPortal/LoginParent.aspx?page=default.aspx

Happy Holidays

Hello 6th Grade Families,
This is my last blog entry for 2018. I want to wish you a safe, happy, and fun time over the break. School will be back in session on January 7th. See you then.

I want to remind you to look on aeries/parent portal over the break as final grades for this semester will be available (probably next week). Report cards are no longer mailed home. Your student came home yesterday with the final grades for my classes for this semester.
Here are some things you should know:

• In spite of my daily reminders and emails sent home to all families, several students failed to complete the Khan Academy lessons by the extended due date. The Unit 2 lessons were due December 4th and 5th so that students would be prepared for the test. 
• Upon seeing that many students had not completed the Khan assignments, I sent an email stating that I would extend the due date until Friday, December 14th.  All assignments were due on this day and my grade book closed, as stated in the email. Students were given time in class to work on the Khan Academy assignments AND I still gave extra time for students to complete the Khan Academy assignments and did not check them in until Monday. I checked the assignments again on Monday December 17th and  final grades were uploaded for the semester.
• Any assignments done after the grade book closing will not be counted for the semester grade. 

Here is what students can do to prepare for next semester:

• Buy new composition books if yours are messy or full. 
• Students who had Mrs. Perriatt for 3rd period this semester will be coming to me for next semester, unless they are in leadership. They will need an additional composition book or notebook.
• Replenish pencils, paper, erasers, etc. 
• Organize backpack to start fresh.
• Have everything ready to go for January 7th. 

See you then!

We're in the Home Stretch!

We only have a few weeks left in the semester. Students should be checking aeries to see if they are missing any assignments.
Science: Today we did a notebook check for the Lunar Cycle section. Students turned in their notebook tracker if all notes/assignments were complete. If they were note complete they are to go into Google Classroom and complete them by tomorrow. The test for Lunar Cycle is on Friday.

Math: Our schedule got slightly off track because of the day we had off due to the smoke from the fires. Therefore, we will not be having the math test this Friday, but next Wednesday instead. This gives a couple of more days to prepare. Ratios can be confusing, so students should be staying on top of their work and studies, as well as asking questions. They can ask to meet with me before or after school and during tutorial. We have been doing the homework during tutorial, so this is an opportunity to ask questions.

In today's daily bulletin:

Reminder Please bring your charged chromebooks to school EVERYDAY.  

If you borrow a chromebook from the library for the day, it MUST be returned by 2:40 THAT SAME day!!!

Our Toys for Tots Drive with Officer Holcek CONTINUES! Please donate to help those less fortunate in our area!  Thank you to those that have already donated!!! Raffle tickets will be given to those that donate an new, unwrapped toy to the main office before Wednesday, December 19!

College and Career Spirit Week continues!  Remember that the student store open in Room G104 on Friday!

Tuesday- Twin Day- you and your twin wear the same college shirts!

Wednesday- Military and 1st responders day!  Wear Camo or 1st responders gear!

Thursday- College Rep Day!  Wear your favorite college shirt

Friday-Vacay Day!  Wear your favorite vacation gear, which can include jammies and slides (as long as they are appropriate and you bring PE shoes!!)

November 9th Update:

Chromebooks:

• Please, please, please make sure that your child has a charged Chromebook each day. As soon as I say please take out your Chromebook, I have at least 4 or 5 students ask if they can charge theirs or go to the library to check one out. Every minute of class time is precious and we can not afford to have these interruptions. If a student is having trouble with their Chromebook, it should be brought to the library before school, at lunch, or after school. If a charger is lost or broken, it is the student's responsibility to replace it. Thank you!

Math: 

• I am allowing students to do "fix-ups" on the Cool downs for Unit 2. They can fix their mistake and explain why it was a mistake for a half point credit per problem. Students can do the fix-ups during tutorial or for homework and turn them in to the turn in box.
• Upcoming schedule for math: 
• Nov. 13 - Lesson 10
• Nov 14 - Lesson 11
• Nov 15 - Lesson 12
• Nov 16  - Lesson 13
• November 19-23 Thanksgiving Break
• Nov 26 - Lesson 14
• Nov 27 - Lesson 15
• Nov 28 - Lesson 16
• Nov 29 - Lesson 17
• Nov 30 - Test for Unit 2

Food Drive and Toy Donations:

• It's that time of year again when we, at GVMS, do our best to support those in need!  We are currently collecting canned food for our Canned Food Drive and new, unwrapped toys for our Toy Drive with Officer Holecek!  Contests for the most cans donated are happening and those that bring in new, unwrapped toys to the office  are entered into a random drawing!  Thank  you for all of your generosity!!

More important information at the  GVMS Blog:

•  https://gvmsfamilies.blogspot.com/