Newsletter

Friday September, 2015

Mrs. FischerLanguage Arts

We started in on Lesson 4 in our Journeys book this week. We have been
working hard on learning our 10 new vocabulary words (listed below).
We also spent some time reviewing the genre of science fiction and
reading several stories that are science fiction. Every student has set a
personal reading goal for the first quarter. These are aligned to our new
40-book challenge. Students were asked to either set a goal on how many books
they would like to try and finish this quarter or they could set a goal specifying
which different genres they want to try and read this quarter. Please encourage
reading outside of school to help them accomplish their personal reading goal. Next
week we will be continuing with Lesson 4 and the skills listed below.
Lesson 4:
Main selection: The ACES PHONE
Big Idea: We all need to communicate.
Essential Question: How might a character solve a problem
listening?

by

Target Skill: Story Structure

Target Strategy: Monitor/Clarify
Fluency: Rate
Vocabulary Strategies: prefixes de- and transTarget Vocabulary: clamor, torrent, clustered, doleful, swiveled, coaxed,
transmissions, accustomed, urgent, void
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Email: sara.fischer@indianola.k12.ia.us
Phone: 961-9530 ext. 3146

Box Tops
Send to school anytime! Collection tubs are located in
Language Arts rooms and main office.

Library News-Mrs.Wanamaker

Karma.Wanamaker@indianola.k12.ia.us

Chat n Chew is a sixth grade book discussion group that meets once a
month during lunch time with Mrs. Wanamaker, the teacher-librarian and
Ms. Patrick, the childrens librarian from the public library. Students bring
their lunch and discuss their favorite books and what they are reading.
The first meeting will be on September 17th. Students can check the
posters in their language arts classes for more details or see Mrs.
Wanamaker if they have questions.

Second Step
Next week, 6th graders will continue with the Second Step curriculum by
participating in lessons 3 and 4.

Math-Mrs. Vetter
alisha.vetter@indianola.k12.ia.us

Math 6
This week we continue our work with different data sets to find
the landmarks and Unit 1 in the Everyday Math book;
Collection, Display, and Interpretation of Data. Students
continued working with line plots and stem and leaf plots and
finding data landmarks (mean, median, mode and range) using
the line plots and stem and leaf plots. Next week we will continue with Unit 1
including line graphs, bar graphs and step graphs.
Math 6/7
This week we continued reviewing Mean, Median, Mode and Range. We worked with
different data sets to find the landmarks. We also began Unit 1 in the Big Ideas
book-Numerical Expressions and Factors. Students took their first Chapter 1
quiz on Thursday. Next week we will continue with Unit 1 including Prime
Factorization, Greatest Common Factor, and Least Common Multiple. I hope to do a
quiz after lesson 6 (Least Common Multiple) possibly the end of next week or early
the following week.
Math 7/8
From Mr. Westerly6th grade students taking math 7-8we worked on some
prerequisite subjects required to get into chapter one.things such as distributive
property, combining like terms, and integers(add, subtract, multiply, divide. Starting
on Tuesday the kids will have their first book lesson.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Phone: 961-9530 ext. 3147
Have a wonderful long weekend!

Ms. Loneman Language Arts

This week students
finished and turned in the letter to themselves
began learning the lesson 4 vocabulary words
were introduced to story structure (setting, major and minor characters, rising action,
climax, falling action, conflict, resolution, and theme)
set a Personal Reading Goal (PRG)
learned about the characteristics of different genres
Next week students will
take the STAR Reading Assessment
listen to the main selection, The ACES Phone
ask and answer questions about the main selection
begin meeting with Ms. Loneman in a small group for skills practice
Important Dates:
September 7thNo School (Labor Day)
September 8thSTAR Test (done on a computer during LA class)
September 15thLesson 4 Vocabulary and Comprehension Tests (this date is subject to
change)
Reminder:
The textbook can be accessed at home by following these steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Go to: www-k6.thinkcentral.com.
Enter the state, district, and school.
Username: langarts
Password: Indianola
Click Log In.
Click on My Library
Click on Journeys Student eBook

Lesson 4:
Main selection: The ACES Phone
Big Idea: We all need to communicate.
Essential Question: How might a character solve a problem by listening?
Target Skill: Story structure Target Strategy: Monitor/Clarify
Fluency: Rate
Vocabulary Strategies: prefixes de- and transTarget vocabulary: clamor, torrent, clustered, doleful, swiveled, coaxed, transmissions,
accustomed, urgent, void
Please feel free to contact me at any time with comments, questions, or concerns.
Email: melissa.loneman@indianola.k12.ia.us
Phone: 961-9530 ext. 3134

Twitter: @msloneman (twitter.com/msloneman)

Website: msloneman.weebly.com
Enjoy your weekend!

Science Mrs.Simpson
Dorisa.Simpson@indianola.k12.ia.us
Please ask your student about the Second Step program. It was taught during science time
this week. Next week, we are going to work on a technique called Parsing a Query and then
we will continue that skill by researching an area of science.

Social Studies-Mrs. Larsen

Connee.Larsen@indianola.k12.ia.us

We are working on learning the parts of the world map that students
will need to be able to identify for an assessment that will most likely
be given Wednesday, September 16 (ODD) and Thursday, September
17 (EVEN). We are doing several activities to help them identify the
names and locations of major world map features in their GeoJournals here at school at the present time. By the end of next week they will have
completed the study guide map for the test. Pretest scores showed that many
students were just at the beginning /developing stages in their knowledge of this
content, and our goal is to have them be in the secure range.

Art-Mrs. Smith
lisa.smith@indianola.k12.ia.us

Art Class Website: www.artinspiredbylife.com

This week 6th graders experimented with a variety of drawing media so they can
make an informed choice when starting on their square1art design. We also started
memorizing the elements of art and looked at where they were already using these
elements in their artwork.
Students handed in their first drawing assignment this week which was titled Draw
a meaningful object from home. Students will be able to improve on this
assignment as they learn more drawing skills in art. The grade for this assignment
will be entered after they learn more drawing skills and have a chance to improve
their drawing if they choose to.
Next week will focus on square1art designs and an extension lesson having to do
with Dot Day!

Computers Ms. Petersen

Kathy.Petersen@indianola.k12.ia.us

In Computers, students will continue to focus on the home row keys while
using proper technique. Students will also be reviewing the parts of the
Acceptable Use Policy.

See next page for redo/retake policy

Sixth Grade Redo/Retake Policy
As a sixth grade, students will be expected to retake an assessment or redo a project/paper if they are
not proficient.
Students who are proficient may choose to retake the assessment or redo a project/paper to improve
their score.
Students are required to make arrangements for retaking/redoing with the content teacher.

Secure = 80%-100%
Nearly Secure = 70%-79.99%
Developing = 40%-69.99%
Beginning = 0%-39.99%

Secure and Nearly Secure are proficient