April is Here!

Hey, all!  Recently, the third quarter has wrapped up and we are full steam into the last quarter of the school year.  Can you believe that?  I cannot believe that we are down to one-quarter of school and we have so much to do!  Just breathe, Mrs. McCarville.  Just breathe.

Currently, we have A LOT going on in our literacy block.  Students recently completed their graphic novels on their horror book club book.  I wanted to share a few on our blog, although they are hard to read.  However, I am so impressed with the amount of effort that students put into the assignment that I just HAD to share what they did.

How cool is Emily's Thirteen Chairs?

Take a peek at Domanick's Frozen Charlotte.

I am not sure if your child has mentioned our new unit that we have started in literacy, but we have recently begun reading, researching, and discussing the Holocaust.  The students are very interested in this topic and are curious to learn more.  We are reading aloud the book Daniel's Story, and we are discussing our thoughts, questions, and feelings through our online Padlet.  Check out our thoughts Daniel's Story Padlet.  In library, students will begin examining primary and secondary sources about the topic of Kristallnacht.  We will move onto discussing antisemitism, propaganda, and a few more topics before the students start their historical fiction book clubs on the Holocaust.  Look for more information on the Holocaust as we near the end of the book clubs, as there will be a culminating project at the end of the unit.

The students have been working feverishly at completing their "8-Book Challenge."  As a reminder, the students have until the end of the quarter to read eight books of their choice.  Students will write weekly reading reflections in Google Slides and I will write responses back to them.  Once students finish their books, they are required to write a reading review on our class Padlet.  I have attached our Padlet 1 to see our current reading reviews.  We have been trying our best to "steal reading" moments at school, but please encourage your child to "steal reading" moments at home.  Also, check in with your child and ask what he/she is reading?  How many books have you read for the challenge?  What does your reading response journal look like?  Continue to ask your child about his/her progress with this assignment.

Lastly, I am sending home the last set of book orders for the year.  If your child would like to order books for the book order, please send a check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs by Thursday, April 13th.  Hopefully, your child can find some good reading choices for the 8-Book Challenge or for the summer.  Thanks!

Have a great week!  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Mrs. McCarville

March Snow

Hey, all!  We have had quite an interesting winter, haven't we?  To a severe thunderstorm warning last week, to a winter storming this week!  Welcome to Iowa!

The students are very excited to be wrapping up our Iowa Assessments from last week.  Our brains were tired!  I felt exhausted and I did not even take the test!  I was impressed with the students' effort while taking the Iowa Assessments and appreciated their drive and determination.  Way to go, 6B!

We are finishing up our horror book clubs this week.  The students finished their reading with their groups last week and are glad that they FINALLY solved the mystery to their horror books.  The next step that we are going to do is recreate our horror books.  Interesting, huh?  No, we are not going to do any reenactments because that could get kind of dicey.  Instead, we are going to take our horror novels and change them into graphic novels.  Students are working in their groups to determine their books' story mountains.  Students are determining the books' expositions, inciting incidents, rising actions, climaxes, falling actions, and resolutions.  Once they complete their story mountains, they will create storyboards for their graphic novels.  Finally, students will use their storyboard "drafts" and create their graphic novels in the Storyboard That! app.  I am excited to see how they turn out!

Beginning this week, students will be given a reading assignment that will need to be completed by the end of the quarter.  In other words, the students have approximately two months to complete the assignment.  Students will be assigned the "8-Book Challenge," where they are to read eight books by the end of the school year.  Students are going to work hard at "stealing reading" moments inside and outside of school, where they find time to read more often every day.  More information will be sent home this week regarding this assignment.


In writing, students are finishing up their drafts on their explanatory/informative pieces.  Once students' drafts are completed, we will be doing some sharing with our "Read Around Groups."  Students love "Read Around Groups" because students work in groups and read everyone's writing and vote on which one is the top one and why.  (The best part is that students' names on their papers are their birthdates, so students' writing remains anonymous!)  They "vote" for the top one in their groups and those are shared with the whole class.  We can learn so much through others' writing!  We will publish our work later this week.

Lastly, the end of the quarter is on Friday, March 17th.  Report cards will be sent home on Monday, March 27th.  Please look at the report cards, sign the envelope, and return with your child.  Thank you!

Have a great week!
Mrs. McCarville

February Already!

Hello, everyone!  It amazes me that we are already in the month of February!  Yes, we have had several days of weather interruptions, so that is one of the reasons why January went so fast.  I just cannot believe we are already talking about conferences next week!  Many of you have signed up for conferences, and if you have not signed up for conferences, don't worry!  There is still some time!

Conferences will be here before we know it (Monday and Thursday, February 13 and 16).   A conference note was sent home last week, which described how to sign up online.  If you are uncertain how to sign up, you can either request a new note or call the school to sign up.  I wanted to let you know that 3^rd quarter conferences for 6th-grade students will not be held in the same manner as fall conferences.  At 1st quarter conferences, the teacher was the “expert” about your child’s learning, strengths,  and weaknesses.  Now, the students will get the opportunity to be “experts” on themselves!  They will get the chance to prove to you how much they know about their own learning, responsibilities,  and success as 6th graders.  So, it is an absolute “MUST” that your child is available for the time you sign up for conferences.  

With the student-led approach, we’d like to offer a more informal and flexible schedule.  When signing up for your child’s conference, select a time slot as normal, but you may arrive for your conference anytime during that hour block.  For example, Student 1 signed up for 3:30 under his/her homeroom teacher.  However, he/she can arrive anytime between 3:00 – 4:00 for the conference. Likewise, Student 2 has signed up for 3:50, but he/she can come as early as 3:00 if it works better.  If you have other conferences to attend, this will give you the opportunity to come a bit earlier or later to ensure you child gets enough time to lead, present and answer questions.  Please be aware that there could likely be 1 – 2 other conferences being held in the room at the same time.  No worries...privacy will be respected!

Also beginning this week will be book clubs.  All of the 6th graders will be reading books on the genre of horror.  Students have chosen a book that they would like to read and will be split into book club groups.  Within their individual groups, they will plan out their reading schedule and book club jobs.  This way, if a student is absent, he/she can stay on schedule with the rest of the group.  These book clubs will run for the remainder of the month of February.

Along with conferences next week, we will also be celebrating Valentine's Day.  Your child has the option to bring valentines into class.  If your child chooses to bring valentines, he/she MUST bring valentines for all of his/her homeroom class.  Valentines will be exchanged on Tuesday, February 14th.  Again, this is not required, but if your child chooses to bring valentines, he/she must have valentines for his/her homeroom class.  I have attached a class list, so no one is missed.  Thanks!

Lastly, please mark down the early out days for next week.  There will be an hour early out on Monday, February 13th and Thursday, February 16th due to parent-teacher conferences.  Please plan accordingly.

Have a great week!
Mrs. McCarville

January Weather

Hey, all!  Welcome to the second part of the school year.  And what a second half it has been!  We are struggling to get back into a NORMAL week, where the routines become normal again.  The weather can calm down anytime now!

Despite the wintery weather, we have been back in full force with instruction.  In literacy, we continue to build our comprehension skills.  Currently, the students are learning about the differences in determining the main idea, subject, and theme in literature.  We have been using movie clips and short stories to help us differentiate between main idea, subject, and theme.  Once students can identify the main idea and subject of a piece of literature, then they will be able to use what they know to identify the theme.  

During our Cadet Time, students continue to build their reading stamina and work on their reading skills.  Starting this week, reading response journals will once again be assigned and due on Friday(s).  Also during Cadet Time, students have started using the Read Theory website.  Read Theory is a site that focuses on reading comprehension.  Students have taken a pretest that has leveled his/her results.  Once the pre-test is taken, students read various passages and take quizzes on those passages.  Students can view his/her progress and review past reading passages and quizzes.  I began conferencing with students about his/her results and progress thus far.  With this program being new to all us, it has been an interesting learning experience for us all!

In writing, we have started discussing the four types of sentences.  Students are defining and finding examples of declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences.  The students have also been exposed to a new site called No Red Ink.  Last week, the students completed the Diagnostic Test, which assessed the students' skills in capitalization, parts of speech, and commonly confused words.  This week, the students will focus on skills in capitalization and complete the Unit Diagnostic test.  After the unit test is complete, they will be assigned practice lessons to complete.  Students will be given time in class but are encouraged to work on this site during study hall and at home.  Please ask your child about this site and ask him/her to show you a lesson and practice a skill.

Report cards will be going home on Monday.  Inside your child's report card envelope will be three papers: his/her regular report card, specials report card, and winter MAPS results.  Once you have seen those papers and have discussed them with your child, please sign the envelope and return it as soon as possible.  If you have any questions or concerns on your child's report cards, please feel free to contact me.  Thanks!

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at any time.  Have a great week!

Mrs. McCarville

Week Before Break

Hello All!  It will be a busy week with a lot of work to finish up while we are anticipating the Holiday Break.  I am going to pass along the reminders for the week so that you stayed informed and the students know what to expect.

Our time is winding down and soon it will be holiday break…. yah!  To celebrate the holidays, we have many activities planned for our last two days of school, but we need a little help from you.  On Thursday, December 22^nd, we plan on having a “Holiday STEM Day,” where we will complete various hands-on activities using skills in science, technology, engineering, or math.  Due to a large number of students and a large number of supplies needed, we are asking for any donations of these supplies.  The supplies are listed below and any donation would be greatly appreciated.  If you chose to send any of these supplies, please send them by TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20^TH.  Thanks in advance for your help and a HUGE THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY SENT SUPPLIES.

* Peppermint candies (red and white)

* Large marshmallows

* Index cards

* Gumdrop candies

* Plastic round ornaments

* Life Savers peppermints

* Tissue paper

* Scotch tape

* Masking tape

Our sixth-grade students have been participating in a whole grade book club as we are reading Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  We will complete the book on Wednesday, December 21^st, and would like to use the theme from the book to “pay it forward” in our own way.  On Wednesday, December 21^st, the sixth-graders are going to walk through downtown Cresco and place candy canes on parked cars.  We are encouraging students to show “random acts of kindness” during this holiday season by leaving sweet treats for strangers.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and warm up for our walk downtown.  We encourage students to dress warmly on that day, so please remind your child to dress appropriately for the cold weather on Wednesday.

Our Cadet Academy Celebration will take place on Thursday, December 22^nd.  We are asking all students to bring any board games from home that can be played in the sixth-grade classrooms that day.  We do ask your child to have his/her name on the box of the board game in case the game is misplaced.  PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD BRING GAMES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  

Lastly, to end our day on Thursday, students will be relaxing for the holidays by enjoying a holiday movie.  Again, if your child has any appropriate holiday movies that can be donated to our classroom for the day, we would greatly appreciate it.  We encourage students to choose a movie that has only a “G” or “PG” rating.  We do ask your child to have his/her name on the movie in case there are multiple copies of the same DVD.  Students are welcomed to bring a snack and drink to enjoy while watching the movie.

There will be no school on Friday, December 23rd, due to Holiday Break.  Please plan accordingly and have a wonderful holiday break.  

Mrs. McCarville

Welcome December!

Well, December has come in with a bang!  What a beautiful snowfall on Sunday, right?  Some of you may disagree, but I guess it IS December so we just have to grin and bear it.  Being that there is snow on the ground, students will be expected to bring and wear winter coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, and boots.  If they do not have boots or snow pants, they must stay on the hard surfaces during recess. Please encourage your child to have those items for recess. Thank you! 

The excitement has been building as children author, Katherine Hannigan, will be joining us today. Ms. Hannigan is coming to visit with grades 4-6 this morning.  We are anxious to meet her, as we have been reading her book True...Sort Of.  We are enjoying her book and are excited to meet her later this morning. 

Winter MAPS testing will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday THIS WEEK! We are taking the reading the test on Tuesday and the math test on Wednesday.  Due to testing, we are asking students to bring their chargers to school tomorrow and Wednesday.  Students sill need to charge their laptops at night so they are fully charged in the morning, but we would like the chargers at school during our testing days.  Students may also bring a snack for testing on both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings if they choose.  We are also encouraging students to get a good night's rest and to eat a good breakfast on the mornings of the tests.  Lastly, we are asking parents to chat with your child about putting effort into each test and discussing their importance. Thanks for your support!

This week, students will be bringing home a book for a whole grade book club.  All the sixth-grade students will be reading the book Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde and completing book club jobs.  Students will be receiving a December calendar that we will fill out together.  On this calendar, students will write down their book club reading assignments and book club jobs for the whole book. This will be beneficial because students will know their reading assignments, especially if they are absent. Each day of reading, students will complete their book club job and discuss their assignments in their individual discussion groups.  We are anxious to start today. 

Lastly, I am sending out December book orders and get them ordered and delivered before winter break.  If you would like to order book orders, please send cash or make checks payable to "Scholastic Book Clubs."  Along with the book orders, I am sending home a coupon that can be used when ordering books.  If you would like to order books, I would like the book orders in by THIS FRIDAY, December 9th. 

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.  Have a wonderful week! 
Mrs. McCarville

Long Time, No Blog....

Yes, you may be noticing my title for my blog post.  It has been a little too long since I have posted on the blog, but fortunately for all of us, I was able to visit with many of you for conferences.  Thank you again for coming in and visiting with me about your child's progress.  I always like seeing families face-to-face and chat with you about your child.  Thanks again for coming!

Since conferences, we are continuing to practice the book club jobs.  We are preparing the students to independently complete the book club jobs when we start our book clubs.  We have covered summarizing, questioning, visualizing, and making connections.  We will begin the word finder job after Thanksgiving.  Students have done a nice job practicing these jobs, and they are using the rubrics to try and earn a "3" on their job.  Once we come back from Thanksgiving, we will review and practice all of the jobs and then start reading Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  We will read that book as a whole class, where students receive their own individual copy.  We will plan out our reading and write our assignments on a calendar so that we know what we need to read for the day.  Then we will read either as a whole group, with a partner, or individually, and then complete a book club job.  Lastly, we will practice how to share their book club jobs in groups.  Hopefully, this will help prepare the students for their own book clubs in January.

In writing, we are wrapping up our drafts in our personal narratives.  We are writing our narratives on a lesson that we have learned in life.  We brainstormed ideas and chose a "quick write" that we wanted to share and write about.  The drafts will be due on TUESDAY, so please remind your child about this assignment.   When we come back from Fall break, we will use our drafts to practice read-around-groups, work on editing/revising and then publish the drafts.  These sixth-grade writers like to share their writing, so I will be anxious to see what they have to share.

With Fall break this week, there will be no school from Wednesday-Friday.  Enjoy your break!

Lastly, if you would like to see what we are up to or need to connect with me, please use the following.
Blog: http://footballfanaticteacher.blogspot.com

Twitter: @MrsMcCarville6

Email: cmccarville@howard-winn.k12.ia.us

Have a great break!

Mrs. McCarville