"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.

Auditory Processing

After our lunch recess in the afternoons, 6D will take a quiet rest in the room. Following this quiet time, I will "awaken" the student's bodies and brains with an auditory processing activity. This can range from listening and responding to listening and paraphrasing, problem solving and remembering details. Awhile ago the questions I asked had YES or NO answers. This gradually moved into TRUE or FALSE responses. Now the questions are open-ended with multiple responses. Take a peak at this video to hear the interesting ways in which they responded to the following questions: 1) What floats?
2) What can you do with paper?
I am always so surprised and interested to hear what they will say!

An Active Weekend!

I visited 6th Age friends playing soccer and field hockey this weekend. I had fun seeing you in action on the field!

Sink Versus Float

We have been learning about sorting in math. There are multiple ways to sort an object, including by color, shape or size. We performed an experiment this week where we sorted objects based on whether they floated or sunk when placed in a container of water. Some items we used were:
an uncooked lima bean
a rubberband
a washer
a wooden craftstick
a toy car
a rubber dice
a marble
We had fun working together and guestimating which items would sink and which would float. Nice teamwork, mathematicians!

A mathematician recording the items: F stands for Float, S stands for Sink.

Bird Feeder

We made bird feeders this week in 6D. We used the following materials:
1) 1 piece of bread
2) assorted cookie cutters
3) bird seed
4) an egg white and paintbrush
5) a pencil
6) ribbon for hanging
We began by cutting a cookie cutter shape into a piece of bread. Once punched through the cutter, we used a pencil to create a hole through the middle. A ribbon was placed through the hole and tied off. We painted egg white onto the top of the bread, and then sprinkled on a bit of bird seed. We made sure to press the bird seed into the bread. We left the bread out for a day- it hardened and the bird seed adhered to the top.
There are many fabulous places you can hang your bird feeder, including a tree in your yard at home. Send me any photos of your bird feeder at your house and I will post them to the blog!

Mrs. Whitman

Mrs. Whitman visited 6D this week and talked about germs. She gave us important tips to stay healthy throughout the year, including:
1.) Coughing into the bend of our elbow instead of our hands. (It is easier to spread germs through our hands)
2.) Washing our hands with soap and water. Sing the "Happy Birthday" song when you wash your hands to make sure they are thoroughly cleaned.
3.) When drinking water from a water fountain, keep your mouth and lips away from the metal part of the fountain- lots of germs hang out here!

Thanks for visiting, Mrs. Whitman, and thanks for the healthy tips!

Dr. Martire visits 6D

Dr. Martire read to 6D this week. We enjoyed hearing the story about trying new foods. Dr. Martire challenged 6D to try one new food per week in the cafeteria during lunch or snack time. Some friends already took him up on the challenge- congratulations! Keep up the good work!

Something Yellow

This week's sharing was something yellow. Here are a few cute photos of a yellow lacrosse helmet and yellow stuffed animal.

9th Age Collaboration

During the 2010-2011 school year, 6D will be visiting with Miss Preston's 9th Age girl's class. Yesterday we met in 9A for the first time- we were looking forward to this all day! Once we arrived, we were paired up with a 9A girl and took a tour of their classroom. We are already anticipating our next group activity with 9th Age.

The Skin You Live In

I read the story THE SKIN YOU LIVE IN, a wonderful children's book. Take a look at this class picture of all of 6D's beautiful skin tones. What a lovely variety!