TWIS 9/26-9/30

Parents,

   First and foremost, I hope you and your families are safe and secure during this flood.  Our class had a great discussion on Thursday afternoon about how we can be leaders in the community in many different ways during our canceled school day Friday- one of our values in the 6th grade is volunteering and looking for opportunities to assist in our communities.  Look for more information along those lines as we progress through the school year.

   I am in the process of figuring out what kind of reader your student is- their likes, interests, reading levels, and habits.  We'll be diving into Book Clubs this week- continue to plan for your student to have 30 minutes of reading homework (and journaling) every night.  It's an ambitious goal; but I fully believe a powerful reading base will give our students the best opportunities to succeed in Junior High/ High school.  With that, here's This Week in Switzer:

#TLDR: New Book clubs, plenty of writing, Landform Test, and Science experiments.  I'm looking to add STEM and WIN groups this week.

Math: Switzer Math is half-way through Topic 2- we take a daily quiz over the previous night's lesson.  Students in Switzer's class are in charge of deciding their own homework for the night- homework is self checked and is not worth any points towards the grade.  Quizzes (and CFA's), however, are worth points and are directly related to Mastery on the report cards.  We took a CFA over Exponents last week, and will most likely take another CFA over Mental Math Properties and Order of Operations soon (possibly Tuesday or Wednesday).  I've included links for both of these concepts in Khan Academy (Click here for Mental Math Properties, Here for Order of Operations) and IXL (Mental Math, Order of Operations) if you feel your student needs some extra practice.

Math WIN: Win is a time for students to have more opportunities to prove they know the content on a Math CFA.  This week is Exponents- we'll continue to teach the kids that don't know it yet, and give some opportunities for other students to explore math-related concepts.  WIN groups change weekly.

Social Studies: Students have a test over Landforms in the United States on Monday.

Writing: Students are working on their Personal Narrative Drafts in class.

Science: We are talking about Claims and Evidence, and how good scientists make Claims on how the world works after collecting and observing Evidence (We did a mystery activity on Google Classroom with Mario and his Missing Super Star).  Later in the week, I'll ask students to make an observation about something very important to me: why my coffee gets cold so quickly, and what we can do about it.  Make sure to ask your students about claims and evidence.

Reader's Workshop: We've spent the first month of school practicing reading, picking "just right books," reading with our minds awake, and journaling our ideas (great reading involves great writing).  We'll begin Book Clubs on Monday, where your student will read a book with another couple of group members, talk and write their ideas, and encourage each other in the process.  Like I said above, plan for your student to have 30 minutes of reading and writing every night.  I've intentionally cut down on assigned homework in other subjects with the intent that we focus on the most important stuff at home- reading and thinking.  If you're curious about the number of pages your student has read (and logged), please click here and look for your student's name across the top of the page.  Your student should be around 250 total pages by the end of the weekend.

Iowa Youth Survey-  Our 6th graders will participate in the Iowa Youth Survey this week- CLICK HERE for more information.

School Pictures for 1st through 6th graders is on Thursday this week.  Pre-K and Kinders will have pictures on Friday.

From the Office: 

The District continues to work to get the online lunch payment system up and running as soon as possible. Although the online payment system for meal accounts is currently unavailable; cash, check, and credit card payments are accepted at all buildings. You or your child can bring cash or a check to the office or you are able to call your building secretary to make credit card payments over the phone.

Have a great week and stay safe!

--

Matthew Switzer

6th Grade Teacher, 

Southdale Elementary

TWIS (This Week in Switzer) 9/19-9/23

Parents,

   We have a fantastic week of school planned!  Here's what you can expect your student to work on This Week in Switzer:

Math: Most students have finished up Topic 1 and we are beginning to work through Topic 2.  We'll be giving a CFA (Common Formative Assessment- that's teacher talk for a mini-quiz that everyone takes) over Exponents.  We use the quiz information to see who gets the concept of exponents, and who needs a little more work on it.  Our goal is that every 6th grader will pass the CFA for Exponents by mastering the concept.  We'll keep working with students that don't master this skill until they do-

Science: We're wrapping up talk on Hypothesis, Independent and Dependent variables, and control variables.  We'll take a CFA over those concepts on Monday.  Then we begin to look at Claims and Evidence- how we, as scientists, can only make valid claims with the support of empirical evidence (and not literary, or fictionalized, evidence).  We'll look at some "mystery" stories to figure out "who dunnit?" using evidence from the text.

Reader's Workshop: Your student should be reading towards their weekly goal every night.  Most of my students said they would like to read 25+ minutes a night (about 23 pages worth).  It's an ambitious goal, and we're thankful for parents that set aside a time for their student to read each night.

  We're journaling our thoughts from our reading and learning how to analyze literature more deeply.  I'm also FAST testing students this month, and doing some work with students to help them find their "just right reading level."

Social Studies:  Students are wrapping studies on landforms and will move into early U.S. History soon.

Writing: Students are working on drafting stories and using peer editors to improve and collaborate on a final draft.

Look for a School picture form to come home Monday afternoon- school pictures are Sept. 29th.  Forms need to come back to school that day with payment (if you choose to purchase pictures).  The Iowa Youth Study survey will take place soon as well (in class)- it's a State Dept. of Health survey that looks at the social and emotional habits of students in middle school and high school.

Finally, here's our 6 day cycle schedule in Mr. Switzer's Class:

Day 1,4- music (around 11:55-12:30 most days)

Day 2,5- PE 

Day 3- Art (around 9:55-10:45)

Day 6- Media

Monday is a Day 4.  Have a fantastic weekend!

TWIS 9/12-9/15

Parents,

   Action packed week this week!  A reminder that there is no school Friday for teacher inservice.  Also, I am currently taking Box Tops for Education and Hy-Vee receipts for school- your student can bring those in anytime.  Also, your student is beginning to access our 6th grade website, Southdale6.com.  Many websites students and parents will use for 6th grade, and CF Schools, are linked on this site- this includes my classroom blog.  Here's This Week in Switzer:

Switzer Math: Students in Mr. Switzer's math class are taking a Topic 1 test and a Topic 2 pre-test on Tuesday.  We begin diving full force into Topic 2 Wednesday.

Science:  We're wrapping up a mini-experiment using pennies to gain an understanding of the Scientific Method, specifically looking at Testable Questions, Independent and Dependent Variables, Fair tests, and Controls.  We will have a mini-quiz over these concepts Tuesday.

Social Studies: Students finished their North American Landform Google presentations and should be studying for a quiz this week.

Writing: Students are completing a rough draft/ final draft of their summer vacation activities.

Reader's Workshop: Students need to read everynight- this is the most important homework they can do. Please set aside a time for your student to devote to reading each night.  Many nights, students will also be required to journal about their reading- we're still learning how to effectively journal in class, so expect those journal entries to continue getting better.

Have a fantastic week!  

--

Matthew Switzer

6th Grade Teacher, 

Southdale Elementary

TWIS 9/6-9/9

Parents,

   What a week we had!  I do want to say, after getting to know you a little better, and after talking with your students- what a great bunch we have!  Thank you for sending your student to me everyday.  I know that as a parent, our children represent the best of our hopes and dreams- I'll do my best to honor those hopes and build worth into your child every time I interact with them.  This is part of my mission statement.

   Speaking of mission statements, here's This Week in Switzer:

We worked on 3 big things last week, and those are coming due this coming week:

1- Classroom Contracts- We brainstormed and played games to figure out what kind of classroom culture we wanted this year, what we expect from Mr. Switzer, and what we expect from ourselves.  Our ideas have been drawn into a contract, which should've come home this weekend.  Please review the contract with your student, sign, and return it by Friday, September 9th.  The contract is designed for us to have a common language of expectations and procedures that we agree to uphold.

2- Acrostic Name Mission Statements- Students began working on their Mission Statements- and turned them into an acrostic with their name.  These Mission Statements will be due by Friday as well.

3- Symbol Slides- Students are creating a Google Slide full of symbols and colors that represent who they are and who they aspire to be.  We'll use the slides to learn more about each other and begin conversations about symbolism in writing and literature.

Math: We've jumped into Topic 1 in math; there are two new 6th grade skills covered in this chapter that we'll assess for the report card: Exponents and Multiplying with 10's, 100's, and 1000's.  

   Students have been moved into math classrooms based on what they know about the Topic- we are supporting students who are seeing Topic 1 for the first time in Mrs. Braley's and Mrs. Brunsen's classrooms, and for students who understand much of the Topic already, we are diving deeper into the concepts in Mr. Switzer's math class.  We'll adjust classrooms again before the each new topic/ chapter.  To us, we want to support the students where they are at- we don't want to make students do work they already know how to do, and we don't want to move too quickly for students who aren't ready to move yet.  Our goal is to make sure every student can score at least 80% or higher on math tests this year- and we'll continue to work with your student to make sure that happens.

Social Studies: Students are working with Mrs. Brunsen on Landforms in North America.  Look for study guides to come home this week.

Writing: Mrs. Braley is working with our class on a summer vacation writing project.

Reader's Workshop: We took some time this week to set ambitious goals as readers for the year.  I've had time to confer with your student and guide them in their goal writing, and I will email your student's goals to you ASAP.  I'll also share a Google Doc with you showing your student's progress towards their goals.  This doc will be updated in real-time, so keep it bookmarked or saved.