Week 3
Welcome back to another exciting week! It’s great to see that students are following the 5 Golden Rules, keep it up! Students are also settling in well into their classrooms and are quickly getting use to class routines and schedules. Thank you parents for helping with the transition back into school. Students are beginning to work hard and push forward as we continue meeting common core state standards each week. Last week, students completed their NWEA testing for the beginning of the year. Students will need to continue putting in hard work to ensure that 6th grade will be a successful year.             Parents, as of next week please remember to check your child’s agenda and homework folder every night for teacher notes and homework. This will ensure all homework is brought back and complete. As teachers we need to work closely with parents in order to create the best learning environment for our students. 

 Students have now been assigned a cubie. Each student will utilize this cubie space to store their school folders and notebooks. Students’ have the option of taking their books home, however, it is the responsibility of each student to make sure they have the required books in school for the day they will be used.

Attached you will also find a detailed lesson plan for Language and Math for the week. Science and Social studies alternate weeks and will be written about only during the week of. This should assist the parents with understanding what is happening inside of our classrooms each week.    

As a teacher I believe it is imperative to focus on five main divisions in English Language Arts (ELA): Reading, Comprehension, Writing, Vocabulary and Grammar. Therefore, I have created a learning plan that I believe incorporates each division thoroughly.  In the first week we will focus on Reading, Comprehension and Vocabulary and in the second week we will focus on Writing and Grammar. These weeks will alternate throughout the year. It is important that students try to write and read as much as possible as this will help them improve their reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammar skills. So, if you see the same story coming home every day to be read,  that is because I want the child to start practicing those new 6th grade sight words and be able to quickly and readily be able to read back to me every morning. Remember, practice makes perfect!

This week in ELA , we will be reading a variety of literature, including the short story Aladdin. Students will learn how to cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and as well as draw inferences from the text. Students will also determine a theme or central idea of text and how it is conveyed through particular details. By the end of the week students should be able to create a summary that is separate from their own personal opinions and judgments. Students have all week to practice their spelling words with a pre-test of only 4 words a day. If students get a perfect score during all 4 pre-tests, than they do not have to write the final test on Friday. To those students who do not do so well throughout the week on the pre-test will have a final chance on Friday to write the spelling test. Only the final test will be scored. 

Spelling Words: 

1.     Tailor                                                            5. Tales                                         9. magician

2.     Inquires                                                      6. Tackling                                    10. manipulate

3.     Embraced                                                7. Monarch                                    11. cartographer

4.     Obeyed                                                    8. Observed                                    12. hemisphere


This week in Math, students will be learning about the Greatest Common Factor, the Least Common Factor and Distributive Property. By the end of the week students should be able to find the biggest number that will divide two or more numbers exactly in order to find the Greatest Common Factor.  Students should be also able to find the smallest number that is the multiple of two or more other numbers in order to find the Least Common Factor. And lastly, students should also be able to distribute a number into an addition number to solve and to use the distributive property to rewrite and solve an addition problem. There will be a Math assessment on Monday, September 23rd and will cover all 3 topics.

 This week in Science, students will be taking a look at the importance of safety in the lab and on the field when conducting a science experiment as well as the step by step procedures of the scientific method. By the end of the week students will conduct their own mini-science experiment. There will be a short quiz on Friday to test their comprehension of the material. It will be an open book test.

Week 2
Greetings Grade 4 Parents! I hope your children enjoyed being part of our classroom as much as I enjoyed having them! Last week we spent a lot of time getting to know one another as teacher and student. It is important to get to know one another as it allows the student to feel comfortable in the classroom. By making the child comfortable in the classroom, we are able to set up a learning environment that will enable the student to succeed.

Quick Reminders:
 End-of-the-Day Dismissals – For safety reasons, your child is NOT allowed leave their teacher at the end of the day unless they are “walkers” or leaving with the parent/guardian listed at the school. Your child’s safety is my first concern and responsibility and I want to make sure they are never put in a dangerous situation. If your child is going home with someone else, you MUST inform the teacher or school by either sending a note to me the morning of or calling into the school.

School Uniforms – A.I.S. has a dress code that will be strictly enforced. Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately.

School Supplies – Students should have all school supplies in by this week. If you could not find some items on the supply list, please let me know as soon as possible. 

Important News: 
Golden Rules: As a class, we worked together to create classroom rules and procedures. It is important to allow the students to take part in making decisions in the classroom as it teaches students responsibility and accountability. It also allows students to follow the classroom rules, as it was each student’s choice to have the following list as rules in our class.

• Respect Yourself. 
• Respect your Teacher. 
• Respect your   Classmates.
• Respect Others. 
• Respect your School 

             
Assessments:

• Tuesday: NWEA Testing
• Wednesday: NWEA Testing
• Thursday: NWEA Testing

Week 1
Welcome to Grade 6! My name is Ms. Makkawi and I will be your child’s teacher for the 2013-2014 school year. As parents you might be curious as to who will be educating your child this year, so here is a bit of information about me: I graduated from the University of Windsor with my Bachelors of Arts in English Language & Literature and my Bachelors of Education. I am certified to teach in Michigan and in Ontario, Canada. I spent a couple of years working and living in the Middle East as an elementary teacher and I have just recently moved back to North America. With that said, it is a pleasure to have your children as students in my classroom as this upcoming school year should be filled with a lot of learning and excitement! Here is a few friendly reminders and notes: 

Snacks - Please make sure your child has a healthy snack as their will be time set aside daily for nourishment. Water bottles are allowed in the classroom. Your child will use his/her 

Agenda – Your child will use his/her agenda every day to record homework and reminders.  The agenda is an excellent communication tool between parents, students and teachers.  Please read it nightly and return it to school each day.  If there are any concerns, questions or information I need to be aware of, or if you would like to schedule a meeting with me, please write them in the agenda.

Homework – Students in my class are expected to do daily homework.  However, there will be time scheduled in daily for students to work on class-work and homework and to ask me for assistance. Completing homework at this grade level helps students begin to develop good study habits. Language and Math homework will be assigned daily and students are encouraged to read in English every night for at least 15 minutes.  This reading may include the Language homework, a read aloud with a parent/sibling, or silent independent reading.  This will help student’s vocabulary and comprehension grow throughout the year. Other homework, assigned as required, may include Science or Social Studies assignments, unfinished class work and test preparation.