11/24/08

Puff-Mobile Contest

The latest physical challenge for our tribal competitions was the Puff-Mobile Contest.

November 12, 2008

The South Vienna School spelling bee will be held Tuesday, November 25^th at 9:30 a.m. in the gymnasium.  Students from grades 5 – 8 will compete to become the South Vienna champion.  The winner will then move on to a regional competition.

11/10/08

txtN lang aint 4t clsrum

  Being in the age of text-speak, our children are writing with many grammatical and spelling mistakes.  Research shows anxiety about spelling inhibits a child’s writing.  Research also shows that some children lacking spelling skills have not had much exposure to reading and writing.  Seeing and using words frequently is the best way to improve spelling, so Read, Read, Read, and Write, Write, Write!

            Sixth grade teachers are attempting to address the issue of poor spelling.  Your child receives a weekly spelling list on Mondays.  Tribes compete on Fridays to find the highest spelling average.   Please encourage your child to review the list each night to prepare for the test on Friday.

Spelling List – Week of November 10 – 14

11/5/08

Beginning The Second Grading Period On A Good Foot

Now that the first grading period is over, it is time to start fresh.  All classroom points, demerits, and study tables are wiped clear and clean at the end of the each grading period.  It is also a time for our students to reflect on what went well academically and what did not.  Here are a few suggestions for students and parents to help make the second grading period better than the first:

·       Always write the objective and assignment in your assignment notebook.  Parents, look at this often and a lot.

·       Always make corrections to math and science homework the day that it is returned to you.  This is a great habit that avoids procrastination.  Parents, you can check up on your son/daughter through Progress Book and encourage them to take advantage of making corrections to homework for FULL CREDIT.

·       If there is something that you do not understand, use the first ten minutes of lunch to go to that teacher and ask for a little one-on-one help. 

·       Ask questions when you do not understand something that is presented in class.

·       Try to use tribe time to organize yourself, your locker, your notebooks, or your assignment book before you go home to do homework.

10/28/08

Next Tuesday morning, Election Day, we will be holding our school election throughout grades one through eight.  All students and staff are invited to vote.  There will be three issues on our ballot; President, U. S. House of Representatives, and Northeastern Permanent Improvement Levy.

Middle School student council members will be helping to run this.  We will try and have students vote early in the day.  We hope to first have the elementary and then the middle school students voting right after each group arrives at school.  As is being taught to the older students, we will have the election run on the electoral system.  Therefore, each child will vote as part of their class, or state.  Each class will be given a certain electoral number set up by how many students are in that homeroom.  Adults will be divided into three states; elementary school, middle school, and Mr. Justice’s office.  Mr. Justice wanted to be Montana.  He got his wish and one electoral vote. 

We will try and do this quickly and not take up too much of your time.  We will announce the results right before the elementary students go home.

October 24, 2008

October 15, 2008

The Sixth Grade teachers have implemented a new program this year called, Tribe Time, in hopes of building a more lasting and meaningful relationship with their students.  Each teacher has been assigned a set number of students (between 12-22) that they meet with every day.  During this time, the teachers are attempting to keep students better informed on their progress in the classroom.  Students are being offered a time each day to meet with their teachers to receive help in any subject.  As yet another means of getting to know each student a little better, the Sixth Grade team chose to request a conference with all sixth grade students.  The Parent Conferences were held on the evenings of Wednesday, October 8th and Monday, October 13th.  After completion of these first round conferences, the results are as follows:

Mr Eaton-- 10 conferences out of 12 requested
Mrs. King--15 conferences out of 19 requested
Mrs. Heims--18 conferences out of 22 requested
Mr. Creamer--18 conferences out of 21 requested
Miss Wilson--19 conferences out of 21 requested
Mrs. Ashworth--16 conferences out of 17 requested

The results show that out of 112 total students, 96 had a parent or parents attend a conference with at least one of their teachers.  This shows an 86% success rate for the Sixth Grade team in their efforts to meet with all of their students.  In closing, efforts are still being made to reschedule a conference with those families not attending their child's conference.  If you would like to schedule a conference with one, or all, of your child';s teachers, please contact the South Vienna Middle School at 937 568-4765.

Thanks!

6th Grade Quarterly Test
October 9, 2008

September 29, 2008

The 6th grade students have been divided into “tribes” this year.  Tribes meet daily for forty minutes.  During tribe meetings students can get extra help with assignments, work on organization, and check their grades.  The tribes also compete in competitions such as highest average on a specific test or assignment and in physical challenges.  Mrs. Heims’ tribe, The Money Makers are in the lead right now with 5 points.  Mrs. Ashworth’s tribe, The Purple Puma Pirates are in second with 2 points.   The tribe with the most points at the end of the quarter will receive a reward!

All sixth grade students should be receiving their ProgressBook passwords by the end of this week.  Each student will be receiving hands-on training, in the computer lab, for using this password.  Please keep your password in a safe and secure location at home.  When accessing ProgressBook, type in the username and password, your child's progress in all academic classes can be tracked from home.  If you lose your password, please contact pbhelp@nelsd.org

Conference Week!
September 25, 2008

Conferences for the sixth grade will be held on Wednesday, October 8th and Monday, October 13th.  In order to be able to meet with the parents of all sixth graders, conferences are being scheduled by Tribe.  Parents will be meeting with his/her child’s Tribe teacher.  The Tribe teacher will be prepared to discuss all academic areas as well as any other concerns.  If you have not received a conference form, please contact your child’s tribe teacher.  We look forward to meeting all of the sixth grade parents!

Open House Survey Results
September 24, 2008

A big thank you to those families who came to 6th grade open house!  A special thanks goes out to those families who completed the survey.  Your comments and suggestions are much appreciated!

Open House Survey Results

Do you feel that we should continue the dinner?

Yes =   55                    No = 12

Positive Comments:

*The presentation was very informative

*Open House was a lot of fun and a great way to open the school year

*The evening was well organized

* I liked the student participation activity.

Suggestions:

*Allow time for parents to have a question/answer session

*I would like to have time for my daughter to explore her new hallways and classrooms

*It should not be the same day as the high school Open House

*Go over supply list

*I would like to meet all of the teachers

*Talk about the schedules

*It was difficult to find some of the rooms because the names were not on the doors

*Hand out forms to fill out

*More info. on classes and not the point system

*I had not planned on staying to eat, but we were sent to the cafeteria first

*Have an info sheet for the parents who miss the Open House

*The notices for the Open House should go out earlier J

*Send info home at the end of 5^th grade so parents know what to expect in the fall.

*Have someone guide families to the cafeteria or gym.

*I would have liked to explore text books with my student.

The sixth grade team has embarked upon an exciting new way to tackle some of the difficulties and issues that children entering into middle school often face.  Students have been broken down into smaller groups and assigned to meet with the same teacher everyday during intervention time to handle topics such as organization, homework, study skills, and personal relationships.  This is called “Tribe Time.”  There are six tribes in all.  They are:  Mrs. Ashworth’s “Purple Puma Pirates,” Mr. Creamer’s (AKA Mr. Warm and Fuzzy) “DeJa Blues,” Mrs. King’s “Gold Diggers,” Mrs. Heims’ “Money Makers,” Mr. Eaton’s “Orange Vikings,” and Miss Wilson’s “Infernos.”  This time will also be used as a time of friendly competition between tribes that are academic as well as physical.  Keep an eye open for more to come about this exciting new adventure in the 6^th grade.