Already the End of Second Quarter!!!

Here we are at the end of the second quarter, half way through the year already. There are many things coming up and we want to be prepared so that students have the best experiences possible. We will be heading to the planetarium on Friday. Please remember to cancel lunch for your scholars, we will be back in time just to grab a bag lunch and go home!

We will be in full gear for the science fair over the next few weeks. Scholars will be handing in final details on their experiments today and will need your help to get their experiments accomplished over the next weeks. Please help them by being their personal photographer. All students need photos of THEMSELVES doing the experiment. Without that documentation they will be eliminated from the competition.
On that note, we are in need of judges for that evening. I have my emails going out today to past judges. Parents or relatives of students in the school MAY NOT JUDGE, but if you know of someone that would be interested, or is a scientist by trade, we would love to have them join us. Please have them email me and I can give them details. We will feed them that evening and be sure to thank them for their support of our program. The science fair is slated for February 27th at GFA with judges training at 6:00.

Parent University for Singapore Math his this Thursday the 16th. I will be asking students if they would like to participate today as part of the mental math section of the evening. If you would like your scholar to show off their mad skills please encourage him or her to participate! :)

Have a great week!

Revolution!..or is it Just a PHASE ?

Role play is one of the more creative ways to allow students to experience the history that they are studying. Today the scholars practiced some expeditionary learning as they practiced the "luck of the draw" and were placed in categories based on their social class prior to the French Revolution. First estate clergy was only 10% of the class. 20% of the class fell into the second estate, or nobility and aristocrats and the rest fell into the bourgeoisie. They were required to pay taxes, many lost their homes and had to double and triple up to live with others. The aristocracy tried to help some of the peasants by offering to let them serve them and be their footrests. Other bourgeoisie that had income less than their tax burden were hired by clergy to fan them and keep them cool.

Eventually when the majority of the bourgeoisie had enough of the taxing and living paycheck to paycheck, they decided to come up with a plan that if the clergy and aristocracy did not accept, they would follow through and drag them to Madam de la Guillotine. Their offer to hold off the violence was that the first two estates would have to give back half the taxes they took, and they would pass a flat tax as a country where everyone would have to pay a percentage of their income to support the country, no matter how much they made.

Of course the clergy would not accept that because they did not work, but lived off of the tax funds from the third estate.
Chaos ensued and the bourgeoisie succeeded in taking power.

Later in the day we reviewed the phases of the moon with Mr.Lee's Moon Phases rap and took turns displaying the phases. Your scholar can tell you each phase from the photo. 

Paying Taxes

The Clergy - First Estate

Having to double up in their homes

Suffering homeless

Taxation out of control

Revolution ensues

cleaning up the mess of a revolution

These are the phases of the moon!

January's Calendar and Such!

Scholars hit the ground running yesterday as we made up for some lost time in December. Our most marked work was in the realm of the French Revolution that are just embarking upon. Your scholar will be reading the famous Scarlet Pimpernel, as well as hearing A Tale of Two Cities during our read-a-loud time. We will be studying the revolution in detail in our history unit. This unit tends to be one of the favorites for scholars as there are so many deep activities involved. We are out to have some serious enjoyment while we learn.

We are also getting into the nitty gritty of astronomy this month. We have a field trip to Clark Planetarium on the 17 and currently we only have one driver who can transport three students. We need drivers or I will have to cancel, and I hate to do that. If there is any way you can help us, please let us know!

Scholars have chosen and are reading their books for their book report at the end of the month. This month is a written report and they have been given the outline form to attach to the written report. It is mandatory that those two pieces are handed in together on the 28th.

Scholars are also back to full essay writing as of this week. They are writing a persuasive essay regarding the topic of the bill they are drafting for student congress. I expect these essays will be powerful.

Thank you again for your patience as I catch up with all the grading and gaps from my time of absence in December.



Calendar for the month!
8 - Science Project Idea submitted in writing
10 - Assembly/spelling test/vocab test/essay due/  Geo Bee at 1:45
14 - Science Test, Earth, Moon, Sun
15 - Latin Test/ Calling Cards Due
17 - Planetarium Trip/Seasons/moon phases
20 - No School for students
21 - Math Test Unit 7
24 - Essay due
28 - Written Book Report Due
30 - History Test - French Revolution
31 - Spelling test/vocab test/essay due/ BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION for Dec and Jan birthdays

If there are changes I will alert you by email and change the blog!

Happy Day to you all! :) 

Davis County Students and Parents Please Plan for This!

Thank Yous, Happy Holidays, and onto 2014!

Thank you parents and students for the kind notes, thoughts, and prayers after the passing of my mother-in-love. She was an amazing lady, and our loss is heaven's gain. We miss her terribly and will be heading to NY in the spring to lay her in her final resting place. We were blessed by your heartfelt sympathy.

We will have some work to make up when we return on Monday. Certain pieces that are essential to the Core Knowledge sixth grade curriculum will be covered over the first week back. We will then jump headfirst into our new units. I will post the calendar early in the week.

In review... right before I left the 6th grade hosted the monthly assembly. Service was our theme and we were blessed to have raised over one thousand dollars for the PTO to share with needy families in our school.

Then, while I was gone the scholars had a trip to Mountain Ridge Assisted Living in Ogden. They played checkers with the residents and made some new friends!

Then when I returned we headed to The Christmas Carol at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse. We enjoyed the play and the next day had a great time watching the movie. We had time to celebrate the holidays and share company with each other. Enjoy the photos!

Mountain Ridge

Making Friends

Enjoying the movie

Green and Purple Pillows! :)

Dreidel

Update

Hello Families.
I am sorry I needed to leave town in a hurry. My mother-in-love is in hospice and will be earning her wings soon. I appreciate your patience as I am gone and there are varying subs in the classroom. I will return as soon as possible.

Thank you,
Mrs. Goers

More Celebrations, Birthdays and Hanukkah!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Before the break we were able to celebrate two scholars who had birthdays in November. Tyler and Zach were both "chaired" as we sang and celebrated their lives!

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Hanukkah, a Jewish celebration that we studied in history earlier this year, began the Wednesday before Thanksgiving this year. We have the final three days to celebrate in the suite. We enjoyed lighting the candles, learning a bit of Hebrew, and playing Dreidel! Gabby, being the youngest in the class, earns the honor of lighting the menorah each day.

Spin Dreidel Spin....I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay....

Gimel!!!!

lighting the candles!

We will be getting ready for our assembly to take place on Friday. Come on out and watch your scholars as they present a service assembly for the student body. We will also be heading to Mountain Ridge Assisted Living next Monday, the 9th to spend some quality time with the seniors. Please let Mrs. Carlson know if you are available to drive, 1:30 to 3:00 is the window of time that we would need you! Thank you!