Dear Families,
I hope you are enjoying some family time this vacation. Student and staff absences were at record highs the last few weeks before vacation. We had four sixth graders out several days in a row. Hopefully this break will bring us all a respite from the germs!
January and February have been full of snow days, delays and some wonderful special events and programs. We’ve tried our best to keep the continuity going inside the classroom. Here are some announcements and highlights from the last month.
Announcements
DARE Program
Donna Magdycz, Chesterfield’s new police officer has taken over the sixth grade DARE program this year and is proving herself a fantastic addition to our town police department. DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a 10-session program presented by the police department to the sixth graders every year. It is a part of our sixth-grade health class. In addition to teaching about the ills of tobacco and alcohol and other substances, the lessons focus on making positive choices and learning refusal strategies, which studies show is more effective at preventing future drug use than pure informative education. In truth the challenge for kids isn’t knowing that drugs are bad, it is how to resist the peer pressure when the opportunity arises to use them. During a recent lesson, students role-played refusal strategies such as changing the subject, walking away, or giving a reason why not to do something. Ask your child to explain these strategies to you. You can help your child practice roll playing them at home too. The students look forward to DARE, are very engaged and have formed a good relationship with Donna. We are lucky here at Chesterfield School to have such a good relationship with our town police.
Circus Residency
Troy Wunderle completed a two-week residency with Chesterfield School in February, culminating in the evening performance which many of you attended. The sixth grade had the final act: human pyramids, and Troy commented to me that this class is “incredible,” adding that they learn fast and work well as a team. This program took place during our normal P.E. block. In addition, Troy’s one-man, world-class circus show the day after the evening performance was amazing. Ask your child what their favorite part was. Some sixth graders got to be volunteers on stage!
RESPECT
For the month of February the school has focused on the “R” in Chesterfield P.R.I.D.E which stands for respect. We had an excellent conversation as a class about what respect means. But of course talking about respect is a bit easier than actually modeling it all day long. When I asked the class to rate the class on a scale of 0-5 (fist to five, I say) for how respectful we are, there were a lot of 2’s and 3’s! Sixth graders have high standards, and are also honest. They know that they often talk over the speaker, blurt out or have side conversations. They also agreed that there is a lot of sarcasm and peer-talk, comebacks and comments that can be disrespectful- sound like typical preteen behavior? Overall, I find this group to be a generally respectful group, though I admit I do sometimes pull my hair out those afternoons when I have to repeatedly stop due to side conversations! We are hoping to improve that self-assessment score.
Social Studies
Mark your calendars! Tuesday, March 6th at 6:30pm in the Music Room will be the sixth grade’s presentation to the Land Use Committee of their final recommendation on where to site an outdoor classroom on the new land. Family members are encouraged to attend to support this valuable public speaking experience. Students should arrive at 6:15pm, dressed appropriately (ie.e collared shirt, nice pants, skirt etc.). Students have finished creating the map visuals for their part of the program, created outlines and are now practicing speaking in front of others. This project is bringing together geography, technology and language arts skills, so I am having trouble figuring out what to write on the schedule each day. What subject is it when we are working on our presentation?
A couple weeks go we had a guest speaker for Social Studies. Jeff Nugent, planner at the Windham Regional Commission in Brattleboro and map enthusiast, came in to share some insight into careers involving mapping, and how he uses GIS in his work. Two interesting applications involved mapping all the culverts in a town and creating making 911 address maps for emergency services. He also shared some experiences mapping melting glaciers in Grand Teton National Park. He told me after his presentation that he was impressed with the level of knowledge of our sixth graders. Ask your child to tell you why a town might want a map of culverts and to explain some of the different symbols Jeff used to show various kinds of information about each culvert on the map.
Math
After finishing up multiplication and division of fractions we’ve moved onto decimal operations, covering addition and subtraction, as well as multiplication and soon division. In the process we’ve also reviewed some basic place value. Ordering decimals is not always intuitive. Can you place these decimals in order from least to greatest: 1.4, 1.04, 1.405, 1.45? Ask your sixth grader to share some strategies. In learning how to multiply decimals, we spent some time refamiliarizing ourselves with the area model, which we used to understand fraction multiplication. Having a visual model is important for developing number sense and understanding the tricks and procedures. Finally, we’ve also reviewed how to find the volume of a rectangular prism, which has provided some real-world application for multiplication of fractions and decimals.
Reading
Our Race and Identity unit is in full swing. This is an informational text unit. We’ve had some excellent discussions in class and students are finding the material interesting. First, I introduced the concepts of identity, stereotype, prejudice and discrimination. Students explored their own identities and examined how the way one defines oneself can differ from the way others define or see oneself. We watched part of Eye of the Storm, a 1970 documentary about third grade teacher Jane Elliot’s eye color experiment. This was very thought-provoking. Ask you sixth grader about it, and view it yourself it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gi2T0ZdKVc
After a quick introduction to some landmarks in African American history and timeline explorations to help anchor our learning, we’ve begun a series of readings, introducing some key figures- just in time for Black History Month! So far students have learned about Frederick Douglass, Matthew Henson and Emmett Till. Ask your child to tell you about these individuals. Their fascinating lives have given us much fodder for discussion. Before reading about Frederick Douglass, I told students his birth and death date and asked them to consult their timelines and make a prediction about his life. One student suggested, “He must have had a bad life because he lived during slavery.” After reading his biography we revisited this. Did Frederick Douglass have a “bad” life? Most students then stated, “yes and no”. Ask your child to explain their answer to this. One lesson that has come from reading about Douglass has been the power of positivity and determination, two key elements of Chesterfield P.R.I.D.E.
In connection with the biography of Matthew Henson (North Pole Explorer), Nathan Bowker visited the classroom to share his experiences as a science technician in at Summit Camp in Greenland. He presented a fascinating slide show. Ask your sixth grader about what they learned about life in Greenland- in the Winter! His presentation also connects to our science studies of seasons, day length and, soon, climate.
The reading standards we are addressing during this unit focus on vocabulary, summarizing, and literary elements such as imagery and metaphor.
Science
After a brief hiatus from science in December while we focused on our mapping project, we have resumed our scientific investigations. First, students discovered that the weight of a jar does NOT change even though the seeds inside grow into seedlings. (Well, actually one of the three jars changed by 1 gram but the other two were exactly the same, so there was a good discussion on the merits of multiple trials.) We then learned about closed systems (the sealed jar was a closed system- nothing could get in or out), something we will return to when studying Climate Change.
Next, through Socratic dialogue we determined the correct answer to the rotting apple probe (which I wrote about in the last post). By examining all the ways we PREVENT food from spoiling, we figured out a common thread. Every method relies on killing or slowing the growth of micro-organisms in some ways. Thus Selma (from the probe) gave the correct explanation of the rotting apple: small organisms use it for energy and building blocks. And this is the most important conceptual take away: Decomposition CANNOT happen without micro-organisms such as bacteria or fungi. Time is not enough.
Following that discussion, we reviewed proper experiment design, focusing on core concepts of independent variable, dependent variable, fair test and constant. To apply these ideas- which were introduced last fall when planning our tulip experiments- students planned experiments to test various methods of preserving food: adding sugar, salt, spices, vinegar or dehydration. And yes, some of their experiments did prove some of these methods work! Plus watching mold grow was just fun and gross (or fascinating- depending who you talk to)!
We are now focusing on the reasons for day and night and the seasons. Ask your child to tell you about the video of Harvard graduates.
Language Arts
While we could have spent the rest of the year reworking and revising the incredible fiction stories the sixth graders have written, there are other things to focus on too! We wrapped up the unit with each student submitting their story or an excerpt from their story to the Town Authors’ Contest. I’m still planning to do a celebratory Author Share in which students can share their wonderful stories in full with each other, but am going to wait until our Outdoor Classroom Presentation is out of the way, as we have a bit of a deadline for that!
The planning of the outdoor classroom presentation has focused on argument writing skills. While students are planning a presentation and therefore not developing their ideas into fully articulated paragraphs, the idea is essentially the same: Present arguments for your idea followed by supporting evidence, and then predict counterarguments and offer rebuttals to these. So, for example, students are arguing that an outdoor classroom should be shady or on flat land. Common Core standards include integrating visual information with other information, which is what students are doing when they create maps and select photographs to support and connect the ideas they will share with you in their presentation.
Thanks again for all your support,
Laura White
I hope you are enjoying some family time this vacation. Student and staff absences were at record highs the last few weeks before vacation. We had four sixth graders out several days in a row. Hopefully this break will bring us all a respite from the germs!
January and February have been full of snow days, delays and some wonderful special events and programs. We’ve tried our best to keep the continuity going inside the classroom. Here are some announcements and highlights from the last month.
Announcements
- Please schedule your parent conference for March 22 or 23rd. Reply to my email or contact me to do this. Remember, sixth graders are expected to attend their conference.
- Nature's classroom registration forms will come home the first week in March. Families will be asked to pay $164 towards the cost. Payment information and application for scholarship funds will be included in the packet of information coming home with the registration forms. The trip is scheduled for April 30th- May 4th.
- Fun Run packets went home with students last week. This is a huge fundraiser for our school. Please read the information with the packet. The Fun Run is scheduled for Saturday, May 5th.
DARE Program
Donna Magdycz, Chesterfield’s new police officer has taken over the sixth grade DARE program this year and is proving herself a fantastic addition to our town police department. DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a 10-session program presented by the police department to the sixth graders every year. It is a part of our sixth-grade health class. In addition to teaching about the ills of tobacco and alcohol and other substances, the lessons focus on making positive choices and learning refusal strategies, which studies show is more effective at preventing future drug use than pure informative education. In truth the challenge for kids isn’t knowing that drugs are bad, it is how to resist the peer pressure when the opportunity arises to use them. During a recent lesson, students role-played refusal strategies such as changing the subject, walking away, or giving a reason why not to do something. Ask your child to explain these strategies to you. You can help your child practice roll playing them at home too. The students look forward to DARE, are very engaged and have formed a good relationship with Donna. We are lucky here at Chesterfield School to have such a good relationship with our town police.
Circus Residency
Troy Wunderle completed a two-week residency with Chesterfield School in February, culminating in the evening performance which many of you attended. The sixth grade had the final act: human pyramids, and Troy commented to me that this class is “incredible,” adding that they learn fast and work well as a team. This program took place during our normal P.E. block. In addition, Troy’s one-man, world-class circus show the day after the evening performance was amazing. Ask your child what their favorite part was. Some sixth graders got to be volunteers on stage!
RESPECT
For the month of February the school has focused on the “R” in Chesterfield P.R.I.D.E which stands for respect. We had an excellent conversation as a class about what respect means. But of course talking about respect is a bit easier than actually modeling it all day long. When I asked the class to rate the class on a scale of 0-5 (fist to five, I say) for how respectful we are, there were a lot of 2’s and 3’s! Sixth graders have high standards, and are also honest. They know that they often talk over the speaker, blurt out or have side conversations. They also agreed that there is a lot of sarcasm and peer-talk, comebacks and comments that can be disrespectful- sound like typical preteen behavior? Overall, I find this group to be a generally respectful group, though I admit I do sometimes pull my hair out those afternoons when I have to repeatedly stop due to side conversations! We are hoping to improve that self-assessment score.
Social Studies
Mark your calendars! Tuesday, March 6th at 6:30pm in the Music Room will be the sixth grade’s presentation to the Land Use Committee of their final recommendation on where to site an outdoor classroom on the new land. Family members are encouraged to attend to support this valuable public speaking experience. Students should arrive at 6:15pm, dressed appropriately (ie.e collared shirt, nice pants, skirt etc.). Students have finished creating the map visuals for their part of the program, created outlines and are now practicing speaking in front of others. This project is bringing together geography, technology and language arts skills, so I am having trouble figuring out what to write on the schedule each day. What subject is it when we are working on our presentation?
A couple weeks go we had a guest speaker for Social Studies. Jeff Nugent, planner at the Windham Regional Commission in Brattleboro and map enthusiast, came in to share some insight into careers involving mapping, and how he uses GIS in his work. Two interesting applications involved mapping all the culverts in a town and creating making 911 address maps for emergency services. He also shared some experiences mapping melting glaciers in Grand Teton National Park. He told me after his presentation that he was impressed with the level of knowledge of our sixth graders. Ask your child to tell you why a town might want a map of culverts and to explain some of the different symbols Jeff used to show various kinds of information about each culvert on the map.
Math
After finishing up multiplication and division of fractions we’ve moved onto decimal operations, covering addition and subtraction, as well as multiplication and soon division. In the process we’ve also reviewed some basic place value. Ordering decimals is not always intuitive. Can you place these decimals in order from least to greatest: 1.4, 1.04, 1.405, 1.45? Ask your sixth grader to share some strategies. In learning how to multiply decimals, we spent some time refamiliarizing ourselves with the area model, which we used to understand fraction multiplication. Having a visual model is important for developing number sense and understanding the tricks and procedures. Finally, we’ve also reviewed how to find the volume of a rectangular prism, which has provided some real-world application for multiplication of fractions and decimals.
Reading
Our Race and Identity unit is in full swing. This is an informational text unit. We’ve had some excellent discussions in class and students are finding the material interesting. First, I introduced the concepts of identity, stereotype, prejudice and discrimination. Students explored their own identities and examined how the way one defines oneself can differ from the way others define or see oneself. We watched part of Eye of the Storm, a 1970 documentary about third grade teacher Jane Elliot’s eye color experiment. This was very thought-provoking. Ask you sixth grader about it, and view it yourself it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gi2T0ZdKVc
After a quick introduction to some landmarks in African American history and timeline explorations to help anchor our learning, we’ve begun a series of readings, introducing some key figures- just in time for Black History Month! So far students have learned about Frederick Douglass, Matthew Henson and Emmett Till. Ask your child to tell you about these individuals. Their fascinating lives have given us much fodder for discussion. Before reading about Frederick Douglass, I told students his birth and death date and asked them to consult their timelines and make a prediction about his life. One student suggested, “He must have had a bad life because he lived during slavery.” After reading his biography we revisited this. Did Frederick Douglass have a “bad” life? Most students then stated, “yes and no”. Ask your child to explain their answer to this. One lesson that has come from reading about Douglass has been the power of positivity and determination, two key elements of Chesterfield P.R.I.D.E.
In connection with the biography of Matthew Henson (North Pole Explorer), Nathan Bowker visited the classroom to share his experiences as a science technician in at Summit Camp in Greenland. He presented a fascinating slide show. Ask your sixth grader about what they learned about life in Greenland- in the Winter! His presentation also connects to our science studies of seasons, day length and, soon, climate.
The reading standards we are addressing during this unit focus on vocabulary, summarizing, and literary elements such as imagery and metaphor.
Science
After a brief hiatus from science in December while we focused on our mapping project, we have resumed our scientific investigations. First, students discovered that the weight of a jar does NOT change even though the seeds inside grow into seedlings. (Well, actually one of the three jars changed by 1 gram but the other two were exactly the same, so there was a good discussion on the merits of multiple trials.) We then learned about closed systems (the sealed jar was a closed system- nothing could get in or out), something we will return to when studying Climate Change.
Next, through Socratic dialogue we determined the correct answer to the rotting apple probe (which I wrote about in the last post). By examining all the ways we PREVENT food from spoiling, we figured out a common thread. Every method relies on killing or slowing the growth of micro-organisms in some ways. Thus Selma (from the probe) gave the correct explanation of the rotting apple: small organisms use it for energy and building blocks. And this is the most important conceptual take away: Decomposition CANNOT happen without micro-organisms such as bacteria or fungi. Time is not enough.
Following that discussion, we reviewed proper experiment design, focusing on core concepts of independent variable, dependent variable, fair test and constant. To apply these ideas- which were introduced last fall when planning our tulip experiments- students planned experiments to test various methods of preserving food: adding sugar, salt, spices, vinegar or dehydration. And yes, some of their experiments did prove some of these methods work! Plus watching mold grow was just fun and gross (or fascinating- depending who you talk to)!
We are now focusing on the reasons for day and night and the seasons. Ask your child to tell you about the video of Harvard graduates.
Language Arts
While we could have spent the rest of the year reworking and revising the incredible fiction stories the sixth graders have written, there are other things to focus on too! We wrapped up the unit with each student submitting their story or an excerpt from their story to the Town Authors’ Contest. I’m still planning to do a celebratory Author Share in which students can share their wonderful stories in full with each other, but am going to wait until our Outdoor Classroom Presentation is out of the way, as we have a bit of a deadline for that!
The planning of the outdoor classroom presentation has focused on argument writing skills. While students are planning a presentation and therefore not developing their ideas into fully articulated paragraphs, the idea is essentially the same: Present arguments for your idea followed by supporting evidence, and then predict counterarguments and offer rebuttals to these. So, for example, students are arguing that an outdoor classroom should be shady or on flat land. Common Core standards include integrating visual information with other information, which is what students are doing when they create maps and select photographs to support and connect the ideas they will share with you in their presentation.
Thanks again for all your support,
Laura White