Boots For Beth

We recently finished reading the story "Boots For Beth". In this story, a pig named Beth is in search of the perfect pair of boots! We used a pair of boots from home as inspiration post-story to write sentences describing these boots. Watch the videos to hear us read our writing aloud.

Book Buddy

The 9th Age girls joined us yesterday and brought their favorite holiday books to share. Take a peak at some of our time together:)

"Dear Tomie,"

Our November and December "Author of the Month" was Tomie DePaola. We loved learning some Italian language as we read many of his stories. We chose our favorite character or story and drew a picture for Tomie! We will follow this up by writing a letter, which we will send along with our pictures. Some of our favorite characters were (none-other than) Strega Nona, Bill (of Bill and Pete), and the Dragon and the Knight. The students looked through many of Tomie DePaola's books for inspiration as they were drawing.

Many of the students enjoyed learning more about Tomie DePaola by visiting his website- you can find a link to this under "Educational Websites" on the left side of this blog. Below are photos of us hard at work as we draw for Tomie.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Today we celebrated the first snowfall of the year on the playground at recess! What a festive way to begin the weekend:)

Hanukkah

Our class has been learning about Hanukkah, fondly referred to as the Jewish "Festival of Lights". We colored menorahs and glittered Stars of David. Did you know that the Star of David is a six pointed star made up of two triangles? It is also called "Magen David", meaning "shield of David" in Hebrew, by the people of Judiasm. The blue Star of David symbol is a part of the flag design of Israel and is a symbol of unity.
Here is a photo of our class with our stars!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The 6th Age celebrated Thanksgiving my performing in a Pilgrim/ Native American play last Wednesday for Grandparents and families. 6D made their own Native American headdresses, vests, and necklaces. We even got our faces painted! I am so proud of you for being brave on stage, singing loudly for all to hear, and for remembering your lines. You all did a terrific job! Take a peak at us performing "Oh, Beautiful" below.

Fine Motor

We have been strengthening the muscles in our hands and practicing our handwriting by creating letters by using shaving cream, paint, pipe cleaners, and beans. We were in small groups and rotated to different areas of the room to complete this project. Can you guess which letters were created using each material?

Timeline

As a teacher of young children I am often asked about time. How long is reading? How long is the school year? How long is a month? What month comes after this one? Time can be a hard concept to explain, but a yearly timeline has proved helpful for students. The timeline begins with the month of September (when school starts). Icons or symbols for each month are placed below the name of each month. The students now have a reference area in the room to answer many of their questions about time!

The 6D Tree: The Season of Fall!

The 6D students visited their class tree last week. We noticed how much the tree has changed in the past few weeks: the leaves are changing colors and falling off the tree, not to mention we needed to wear a warm jacket when we were coloring our picture for our journals. We are looking forward to visiting our tree in the seasons of winter and spring this year.

The Loop Game

The Sixth Age readers play a variety of games at the beginning of class, to refresh their brains with vowel sounds or sight words previously studied. A favorite game to play is called the "loop game". To play, a student reads their card. A new word is read at the end, to which a new student reads their card. The loop game ends when all students have read their cards and the loop returns to the first student. Reading begins with "I have (blank). Who has (blank)?" We have been studying the short /o/ sound, and here is an /ock/ family loop. The readers did a terrific job!

Halloween

Halloween was celebrated on Friday at Calvert! The Man With the Yellow Hat stopped by 6D with George- he was being very curious and really enjoyed the mid-morning party. I hope all of my 6D friends had a safe Halloween and enjoyed time trick-or-treating with friends and family.

Soccer Excitement

This weekend I went to a soccer game of two students (luckily they were on the same team, so I didn't have to do double duty in the cheering section). What excitement and energy they had as goaley and offender! Thanks for letting me spend this time with you:)

"Let me show you around!"

Mrs. Liotta's 5th Grade class visited 6D today. It had certainly been awhile since many of these boys were in a 6th Age classroom (5 years to be exact!). The 6D students took them on a tour of the room, showed them some of their favorite games to play, and even took time to show their 5th grade friends their journals. Every month, the 6th Age students choose special pieces of their work they would like to add to their journal. Today they were asked to choose four out of a possible eight projects. The 5th graders had wonderful feedback and insight on the 6th Age journal contributions. Thank you for spending this time with us!

Partner Reading

Students were asked to partner read the current story in their reading textbooks. They each chose a quiet place in the room to spread out and enjoy the time together.



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5th Grade Partnership

Throughout the year, we will meet up with Mrs. Liotta's 5th Grade boys homeroom in the middle school. A few weeks ago, we traveled across the street to see our new friends. 6D was a little nervous and scared on the walk over(especially the girls- I do have to say- I think an entire classroom of boys intimidated them at first), and were as quiet as mice when we traversed through the corridors into Mrs. Liotta's room. Upon our arrival, however, we were warmly greeted by everyone inside. Each 5th grade student was paired with a 6th Ager. They took their new friends on a tour of the middle school and even introduced them to some other middle school students in the hallway (a huge highlight!). Laptops and lockers were opened, and conversations and laughter could be heard pouring from the middle school. It was such a delight to see the students getting to know each other! What a fun afternoon!

Shades of People

I recently read the story, SHADES OF PEOPLE by Shelley Rotner and Shelia M. Kelly. This book takes you on a fun-filled photographic journey of various skin colors, shades, and tones. As a follow-up to this story, each student chose a paper doll that best represented their skin color. Googly eyes and faces were drawn later. Each student worked hard to stencil and cut out paper doll clothing. We adorned our paper dolls with glitter, stickers, and buttons. I am so proud of 6D's efforts and encourage you to take a peak at our marvelous paper doll display as you walk down the hallway.

Spirit Day!

6th Age celebrated their "Spirit Day" this past Friday, October 15th. Students enjoyed dressing down in their respective banner colors: yellow, white, black, blue, green, and red; had a delicious (and colorful!) cupcake at snack, and recited their cheer for the first time. 6th Agers painted a replica of their banners prior to Spirit Day. We enjoyed celebrating this time with our friends!



Click on the video link to see the students at recess cheering for 6th Age!

A Friend from Alberta Visits 6D!

A grandmother of a student visited 6D this afternoon. She traveled to Baltimore from Alberta, Canada! We were so fortunate to spend this time with her. Thank you for visiting Calvert and we hope you will be back again soon!

Trail Mix Sorting

We made trail mix with Mrs. DeLorbe's math class on Monday. For this particular mix we used marshmallows, M&Ms, goldfish, yogurt raisons, and pretzels- how delicious!

Each child received about 1/2 cup of trail mix in a small bag. From there, the mathematicians were asked to sort the item by food, color, shape, size, and even by taste (sweet or salty). We had such a great time completing this project together!
Below is a photo of Mrs. DeLorbe reading us a math book about sorting before our project together.