Sunday, April 8, 2019

Mr. Sassman's 6th Grade Class Blog

Woodriver Elementary School

Last week...

Was a busy one and spring is certainly in the air. On Monday, Mr. Ribbens took charge of the class and Tuesday, Mrs. Marshall (the sub) did a fine job covering. The kids seemed to like her and she gave a good report. I was in Soldotna, Alaska for professional development. My return Wednesday felt great and we had some visitors from UAF. They delivered another nutrition lesson and the kids learned a lot about caloric intake and what it takes to burn said calories. Thursday, Mrs. Brashear was in the room for life skills, and Friday was the Woodriver Speech Contest Finals. Congratulations to Brenna for making it to the District competition, as well as three others. Next week, Brenna will be at Anne Wien Elementary School, so feel free to go and support her. It is on Saturday, from 9:30-11:00. Her speech is amazing and it would be great to see you there.

Our read-a-thon fundraiser concluded and so far I have received funds from seven students. I am hoping this week, I will see some more donations come in, so we can take more field trips in May. It's up to you and the kids. Checks can be made out to Woodriver Elementary School and cash is okay too. (If every student raises fifty dollars, we will have enough money) Thanks again.

This week...

Admittedly, I have fallen behind on grading and I am spending most of my spare time today and tomorrow getting caught up. We have also started our fourth quarter "Island Project." It is a cross-curricular project in Reading, Writing, and Social Studies and will be a major fourth quarter grade. The kids are tasked with creating a fictitious island. It must have a minimum of eight natural features, a minimum of four manmade features, a compass rose with cardinal and intermediate directions, lines of latitude and longitude, and it must use alliteration. These are the major details of the posterboard and so far, they are awesome. The second part of the project is a narrative that describes the island, it's history, and the culture of its inhabitants. This should be epic.

Classroom speeches will start this week. We have Nevaeh, Dom, Izzy, Aaliyah, Chris, and Wallace on the agenda. The kids that entered the speech contest will also receive extra credit on both reading and writing final grades (those students have already presented).  

We have a field trip to UAF this Friday for a career panel and tour of some of the facilities as part of the Kids2College program. The trip is already paid for.

Mr. Ribbens will be trading places with a fellow intern in the UAF SOE graduate/student-teaching program for two weeks starting tomorrow. If you see him in the halls, his name is Mr. Joe Bifelt, and we welcome him.  

Next week...

PEAKS state testing will happen on Tuesday and Wednesday, with make-ups on Thursday. Please make sure your kiddo gets plenty of rest the nights before and eats a hearty breakfast the mornings of. It will help tremendously. Thanks.

April is officially National Poetry Month and I would like to host a Pie-n-Poetry Slam towards the end of the month. More details to follow.

HERE is a link to Ryan's Online Class Registration

Monday looks like:

9:00 - 9:20

10-Minute writing prompt

Class Meeting

New Jobs

New Seats

9:20 - 10:30

Topic 12-7 (Pentominoes)

10:30 - 10:40

Break - Snack

10:40 - 12:00

Island Projects

12:00 - 12:30

Eat

12:30 - 1:00

Play

1:00 - 1:40

Read Aloud

TDL

1:45 - 2:15

P.E.

2:15 - 3:30

TDL

Outside

MATH HOMEWORK 

Tuesday, April 9, 2019
--Practice 12-7 Review
Wednesday, April 10, 2019

--Topic 12 Review
Thursday, April 11, 2019
--Topic 12 Test
Friday, April 12, 2019
--None

Please regularly check your child’s grades in PowerSchool and update the Web and Technology Use forms. I would appreciate it if you gave permission for your child’s picture to be published on the class blog. The forms are located under the Registration section. Please refer to this link for details: https://www.k12northstar.org/Page/3162  

DATES TO REMEMBER (more to come)

Friday, April 12, 2019
Field Trip to UAF - Kids2College Program Visit

Thursday, May 9, 2019
Field Trip to Tanana Lakes - UAF Outdoor Day (6th graders only)

Friday, May 10, 2019
Lock-in at Woodriver (This is a rewards-based event, students with DRs will not be able to participate)

It's a good life!

--Mr. Sassman