Week of December 11th

Reminder:  Barter Market will be held December 21st after lunch
                   A second reminder handout was sent home in the Friday Folders for more details

ELA:  This week will will finish up Figurative Language with a focus on Personification
           Next will be a Peer Review lesson in Study Sync
           After that will apply Peer Review to several "Blasts" in Study Sync
           Friday will be the last Book Club meeting for our first round of Book Clubs, we will also take  AR tests on the books after the meetings

Social Studies:  Mesopotamia
1.  7 features of civilizations
2.  Hammurabi's code of law
3.  Sumerian Architecture

Week of Dec. 4th

Note for Parents:
1.  Book Clubs:  This is our 3rd week now on our first Book Club book of the Year.  Make sure your child is reading the correct number of pages per night Monday thru Thursday.  They meet every Friday to talk about the pages of the week.

2.  Barter Market:  (Connection to Mesopotamia) Hope you are having fun making the Barter Market items.  Make sure your child brings them to school on Thurs. Dec. 21st

ELA this Week:  We will be finishing up Figurative Language.  We will be using our latest Turning Point Paragraph in google classroom for Deployment on Tues. and Wed.
Thursday is Turning Point Re-Write with feedback.  Friday is Book Club.

Social Studies this Week:  Mesopotamia-Our first early Civilization
We will be doing Vocabulary, Kahoot online quiz game, 7 Features of Civilizations

Week of Nov 27

Hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving Holiday!

ELA:  Book Clubs - this is week 2 of book clubs so make sure your student is reading the correct         amount of pages per night
Study Sync: We are reading about Jackie Robinson and the close read is to discover the "turning point" and then discuss positive and negative effects it had on him and others (Monday)
Google Classroom:  Paragraph on "turning point" in the Jackie Robinson read (Tuesday,Wednesday)
We will use this paragraph for "Deployment" next week with the entire 6th grade
Figurative Language Lessons for Thursday and Friday: Simile, Metaphor, Personification

Social Studies:
Mesopotamia Begins-Farming, Surplus, Job Specialization
We will also introduce the "Barter Market Day" that will take place the last day before Winter Break
How to...research online to get students thinking about what they would like to start working on for the next 3 weeks in order to be ready for Barter Market Day

Week of Nov 13

Notes:

Friday is the last day of Trimester 1.  So, please check Aeries this week and set up a plan for your student to turn in any "missing assignment" by Friday.  I always have extra copies and I always accept late work for full credit.


ELA:
Turning Point in Maroo paragraph/rubric reflections (Google Classroom)
Narrative Writing:  Write a new "last chapter" for Maroo (Google Classroom)
Vivid Verbs discussion and practice
Figurative Language Lessons (Personification, Simile, Metaphors)
Improv Pro/Con Discussion Training and Practice
Literature this Week:  Jackie Robinson (Study Sync)


Social Studies:
Finish up Prehistory with Mastodon Extinction Theory
Play Hunter Gatherer Game
Transition to Early Civilizations
Intro to Mesopotamia

Week of November 6th

Logistical Reminders for this week:
Wed. Minimum Day
Fri. No School

Aeries:  Please check Aeries Weekly with your students.  I am starting to see lots of missing assignments per class and many students grades have been falling.  Its not too late to fix any problems you see, as I always accept late work!

ELA: 
We will be finishing Maroo this week
We will finish the "story mountain" for Maroo which deals with Elements of Plot
I graded both writing assignments for the week "Study Sync" and "Google Classroom" and we will be going over the results rubrics and taking the feedback for a chance to redo both assignments
We will do a new writing assignment -
Topic "Does the idea of Boys Work vs. Girls Work still exist in our Modern Society?"

Study Syc:  I am going to a meeting this week to see where we go from here as a sixth grade


Social Studies:
Identify Late Paleolithic Tools
Rank Tools in order of Importance
Design your own Paleolithic Tool
Lesson: Fabulous Fire
Lesson: Mastodons and Modern Times
Play: "Hunter/Gatherer Game"

Thanks for Reading,
Mr Franey

Week of October 23rd

Its Conference Week!  We are doing "Student Lead Conferences" this year, so at least one parent or guardian needs to be present, along with your Scholar.  All students are reporting to their 3rd period Advisory Teachers.

ELA:  Study Sync Lessons with Island of the Blue Dolphins
           Skill Lessons:  "Context Clues", "Cite Evidence", "Point of View", "Comprehension", "Blasts"

Soc. Studies: Pre-History, Maroo, Cave Paintings in South France, Making Artifacts

Thanks for Looking
Email me any Time:  mfraney@ttusd.org

Week of Oct 16th

Big News!!!  Chrome books go home today-Woot Woot!

Reminders:  Make sure you set up a charging station in your home.  Chrome books should come to school every day fully charged.  Make sure your scholar shows you how to check Aeries and ConnectED assignments along with Google Classroom.  These are the best bookmarks for you to look at in order to stay up to date with your child's assignments and progress.

This Week:

ELA:  ConnectED (study sync) portal
           Hatchet First Read - Annotate Vocabulary (skill -Context Clues)
                         Second Read - Filter 3rd Person omniscient or limited omniscient
                         Think Questions
                         Connections to Maroo

Soc. St:  Hunter/ Gatherer Societies
              Connections to California History and Today
              Connections to Maroo
              Read Maroo Ch 9-10

Week of Oct 8th

We are back from Shady Creek!  Thanks for all the support in order to make this trip a success.

ELA:  This week we started with a Shady Creek Jots assignment in Google Classroom.
           We are also reading Maroo Ch. 7 and maybe 8
           Lastly, we are starting the first Unit in our new Study Sync Online Textbook Program
           Unit 1 Turning Points
           Essential Question:  What happens when life changes direction?

Soc. Studies:  Research Hunter-Gatherer Societies and make connections to Maroo and ourselves

Week of September 25th

Reminders and Notes

1.  This is the last week of school before Shady Creek- We leave Tue Oct 3rd
2.  Weekly folders:  Update- I've decided to keep all of your students work here at school until conference week.  That way your scholar will have plenty of work samples to go over with you at the student lead conference.  After conference week, I will start sending home a weekly folders every Friday.

ELA- Class Novel Maroo Ch 5,6,7 Focus on comprehension and Elements of Plot

Soc. St - We will start using the text book this week Ch 1 and 2 dealing with Prehistory.  We will be weaving Prehistory in with Maroo.  It ties in really well.

Welcome Back August/September

Welcome back and/or Hello new 6th grade parents!
Ok so the district had a block on me but now its opened up again....glitches.

Anyway, by next week I should have a "google classroom calendar link" here as well as a quick summery of the work we will be doing for the the week in both ELA and Social Studies.

ELA:  We are reading Maroo of the Winter Caves Ch 3,4,5  Our Skill Lessons will deal with Setting and Vocabulary (along with comprehension) For Example in Chapter 4 the focus question will be:
How does the setting affect the characters and events in the story?

Social Studies:  We are studying Archaeology and Early Humans in the prehistory era.  We are doing lessons on classifying, analyzing and making inferences using artifacts.  The students are really enjoying this and are having great conversations using artifacts as evidence.

Weeks of May 29th and June 5th

State Testing is over and regular curriculum is back in full swing!

Big Middle School Fundraiser Dance is this Friday!  Call the office if you would like to help...

Parent Survey: Please take it if you have not

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F5DB322 English

https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/TQYWKJZ Spanish

ELA: Novel, The Giver is being read as a class and we are doing lots of fun lessons connected to the daily/weekly readings

Soc. Studies:  China Philosophy (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism)

May 15th to 26th (State Testing Weeks)

Testing:

ELA Week of the 15th
Math Week of the 26th

Next week we will be studying Figurative Language and Poetry in ELA - Also, week are reading a class novel together -The Giver

In Social Studies we are still studying China

Week of April 24th

*Open House is Tuesday Night this Week 5pm to 7pm (Classrooms open at 6pm)


ELA:  Argument Writing:  "Video Game" Essay (Go over "hits and misses")

                                            "School Uniforms" Essay- Pro/Con Improv activity
                                                                                        Socratic Seminar
                                                                                        Clock Partners
                                                                                        Argument Essay Organizer
                                                                                        Final Copy in Google Classroom

Social Studies: China (5 intro. lessons/activities in Google Classroom)

Week of January 30th

Welcome back everyone...Here's what we're doing this week after we get everything back together.

ELA: Argument Writing a 5 Paragraph Essay
          Paragraph #1 - Opening Sentence (The Hook)
                                   Claim
                                   Thesis Statement
                                   Elaborate (optional)
                                   Closing Sentence

*We are working on 11 ways to hook the reader


Soc. Studies:  We finished Mesopotamia and we are starting EGYPT

Thanks for looking,
 Mr. Franey