Where I Come From.

In history this week, we pulled all of our knowledge of immigration together in a mini-project. We read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco to help us understand what heritage and traditions are. In the past, I have made actual quilts with my classes, but this year I decided to take a break and try something new. However, some people really wanted to make heritage quilt squares, so we decided to let people choose to make a paper quilt square or head outline that reflected their heritage. There will be photos next week of our display! I have had this wonderful classic stuck in my head all week. Check out George Ella Lyon's poem, Where I'm From. We will actually explore this poem as a class later on! 

One student brought in a painting that a family member did of their family crest! 

In math, we tackled algebra vocab and the major differences between expressions and equations! Ask your student to share the difference with you! Here is an example of our notes where we color coded and labeled all the parts of an equation to review and prepare us for solving them next week! 

Other exciting things this week: 

• These wonderful handmade cards for A.B. Westrick to thank her for her visit to CES!

• Another lost tooth! 
• Students helping each other out and sharing their materials! 

Ms. D's Weekend Snapshot: 

This is what your car looks like when you have worked all four jobs all weekend long!

Celebrated this sweet lady's birthday! 

How awesome is this cake!?

Played in the leaves this weekend with this sweet boy! 

Boo.

What a great week! They just keep flying by! It's going to be Christmas before we even know it (Mrs. Thomas and Ms. Nelson won't complain about that I'm sure!).

This week we took a look at some major challenges of immigration. We discovered that tenements, overcrowding, a huge influx of immigrants, sanitation, and political corruption were some problems, just to name a few. Sanitation issues grossed us out the most! We read one of my favorite stories about Boss Tweed, Ely Beach, and Thomas Nast. Ask your student to share with you! Boss Tweed is quite the interesting character and I think students were shocked at how mean spirited and corrupt people could be during this time period. We also took a look at tenement life through the eyes of Jacob Riis and analyzed his photos using sticky note responses. Check out the result below!

In math, we knocked some integers out of the park! We have really been working hard on our non-verbal communication skills and here are some pictures of students communicating the answer to a comparing integers question without using their words!

Other exciting things this week: 

Cruella Deville and one of the 101 Dalmations visited on Halloween!

October was Principal Appreciation Month. The entire school participated in a community art piece to honor Mrs. Cromer! 6th graders wrote on stars to tell her how she has inspired them for their futures!

Ms. D's Weekend Snap Shot:

Turning everything in on Friday sounded like a good idea...until I saw this! Got it done and now I can enjoy a relaxing weekend with a shift at the BRR, reading, and an extra hour of sleep on Sunday! 

I got to go to the Shelor Motor Mile Growing the Future Talent Show Saturday night and watch this beauty perform!

I also ran into a few people we know who got to snag a photo with Danny, Zach, and Monica of the K92 Mornin' Thang!

Red Ribbon Week.

What a STELLAR week. It was full of excitement, positive energy, and learning! 

We started our immigration unit in history this week by first understanding the term, then learning the difference between an immigrant and an emigrant. Ask your student to find out! We also took a virtual tour of Ellis Island!

In math we tackled a review of order of operations, putting our new exponent knowledge to good use, as well as learning some new grouping symbols!

Other exciting things this week:

Here are CES' dreams of what a bully and drug free world would look like!

CES' pledge to be bully and drug free! We all put our thumb prints!

How CES was going to give bullying and drugs the boot (things we would do instead of giving into either)!

6th grade signing our daily Red Ribbon Week posters after lunch! 

Mrs. Keith inviting 6th and 7th graders in to join her class on a brain break! 

Pig masks on Red Day (not worn inside). 

The Blues Brothers coming to CES on Throwback Thursday!

• One 6th grader's sibling having a staring contest with the lights. He claims he won. 

• DJ CJay spinning for us at the 5th-7th grade dance on Friday (pics to come soon)!

Ms. D's Weekend Snapshot: 

The sun and leaves were gorgeous on Saturday!

I pretty much forced my sister and brother-in-law into some impromptu pictures because Saturday was so beautiful! 

Romeo: Keeper of dirt piles on the farm. 

We have a monthly singing at my church! That stage has seen more talent than I can even name! 

My house has siding, a finished back porch, and basement stairs now!

What a Week!

Oh my! What a wonderful week! So many exciting things happened and real learning occurred in our classroom. I know what you are thinking...isn't all learning real learning? Of course, but I what I mean by this is we all challenged ourselves, tackled some tough topics, and did some real soul searching that coincided with our learning. 

Our history discussions this week centered around segregation and discrimination. We first used m&ms to help us figure out at the end of the day we are all humans in this world that deserve love, respect, and kindness no matter the color of our skin, the religion we practice, or what we look like. We also watched the Sneetches by Dr. Suess to define the terms and conclude that segregation is a form of discrimination. Our last discussion for the week centered around Jim Crow Laws and the idea of "separate but equal." Part of our discussion was about how we still see similar issues in our world today and what we can do to take small steps to a better world in which equality and love overpower discrimination and hate. I can't put into words the moment that brought cold chills and tears of joy to my eyes as students literally joined me in my example of showing that small actions make small steps, but overtime you eventually reach the goal! 

In math, we also used some tasty treats to help us gain a better understanding of why perfect squares are called perfect squares and how they relate to the exponent two! There were definitely some creative ways that students created their squares. Students also played Exponent War or Exponent Blackout with cards to have some fun while practicing our skills. Another tool we used er some coloring sheets in which the answers coordinated to a color that would turn into an image in the end! I had the most fun listening to students guess what the pictures would be or what the parts they had already figured out were! 

These guys were working extremely hard to figure out the components of their picture! There guesses were everything from goal posts to giant feet to cheerleaders (it was a football related image). 

As promised, here are a few samples of our maps from last weeks project! I'm not sure why they have turned they way they have, but it won't let me fix it! 

 

 

Other exciting things this week: 

Our Monday Meeting was a discussion about how each of us are gifted. We all took sticky notes and wrote a way we thought someone in our group was gifted! 

I tried Minestrone soup this week when Mrs. Lovitt took Ms. Griffith, Mrs. Westrick (author), and I out to dinner before her CES visit!  

Author A.B. Westrick came to CES to discuss her novel Brotherhood and give us some insights into why she wrote this book! 

Even though it was chilly, we all still enjoyed being outside in this beautiful fall weather. 

Ms. D's Snapshot: 

Mrs. Conroy, Nurse Andrews (aka my sister), and I went to the I Love the 90s concert!