The address is listed on the links page.  It is http://agnesgraysix.pbworks.com/.  Visit us!

Every child worked hard with the support of an adult and myself to develop a goal and a series of steps to meet that goal.  Now we have to keep focused on these goals and action steps to be sure that each of us moves toward our goals.

I have also had the opportunity to sit with a mentor and work on my goals.  Having worked with you and heard your reflections on class, I have made some new goals.  I want to share some of them with you, so here are some of mine and the ways I will work toward them.

• Always treat each and every one of you with respect.  When I make a mistake, find a way to fix it.
  • Pay attention to the signals you give me.  Listen carefully to what you say.
  • Ask for your help by respectfully letting me know when you notice I make a mistake that bothered you or someone else.
  • When I become aware of a mistake, apologize and find a way to put it to rights.
• Improve my teaching of literacy skills.
  • As my students know, I am taking a class about effective literacy teaching.  I will work hard to apply what I learn to my classes.  The main focus of this is to use the workshop model when I teach.
  • Have Mrs. Liimatta and Mrs. Ellsworth observe my teaching and conference with me about what they see.  (Just as you share your work and conference with Mrs. Toita, a peer, a parent, and me!)
  • Visit other classrooms so I can apply what I see to my teaching.  (Just as you read mentor texts to apply what you read to your writing!)

Thanks for being such a great community of learners!!

Mr. Light

Students have completed most of their research, but some still have some loose ends to tie up.

We have had mini-lessons and practice thinking about different aspects of the story.  We started by learning about the importance of having a problem to drive the plot.  In the story, “The Three Little Pigs” the problem was how to keep safe from the wolf.  In our sea stories, the problem should relate to what was found out about the animal.  For example, a barnacle may be afraid of its predator, the dog whelk.  Students brainstormed ideas for problems that could be central to their stories and were encouraged to choose one.

We discussed setting and how to choose words and phrases that help the reader visualize the setting.  In this phase we found out that some students find out more about their animal’s habitat.

Over the last couple of days we have discussed characters.  What chtaracters will be important in your story?  What will be their characteristics be?  Students identified some important characteristics to think about including physical characteristics, relationships between characters, and personality.

Next week, students will plan out their plot so they will be ready to start writing their first drafts.

Conferences are officially scheduled to start Thursday at noon, but the sixth grade is special and we will be starting Wednesday afternoon!  It is a challenge to schedule all 30 conferences, but all except 3 are now set up.  Please be aware that we need to stay with the 20 minute time scheduled so I can keep on track.  You are invited to sit spend another ten minutes at your childs desk or looking at some of the displays in the classroom.  The time of your conference will be sent home Monday on a “goldenrod”-color sheet. Please complete the sheet and bring it to the conference.

I am looking forward to meeting with all of you next week.

My Life on the Sea Shore

Project Description:  You will be assigned an animal that lives on the coast of Maine.  You will do research to answer questions about the animal and then you will imagine you are the animal and write a story about your life that incorporates the information that you gathered.

Things to Find Out.  (Answer as many questions as you can.)
o What is the name of your animal species
o How is it classified?  What other animals is it related to?
o What does it look like?
o How big or small is it?
o Where does it live?
o How does it move?
o What does your animal eat?
o How does it capture and eat its food?
o What eats your animal? (What are its predators?)
o Fun facts

Research Question:
You need to choose a question which you will be able to answer using the information you collect.  Some examples of possible questions are:
o Is it difficult for your animal to survive in its habitat?
o How well adapted are you to survive in your environment?
o Is your animal important to the ecosystem?
o Is your animal a powerful predator?
After you have completed your research, you will come up with an answer (your thesis) which is supported by your data.  Your character might start the story by asking itself the question and go back to that question throughout the story.  For example, Charlie the Chiton might start by saying, “I look around me and there are all these animals that have special talents.  Peter the Prawn can flip his tail and scoot away fast.  Stephanie the Starfish has hundreds of tube feet that help her move and pry open clams.  What do I have?”

Sources of Information:
Use the books I have available in the classroom, encyclopedias, and web sites which I have bookmarked at www.portaportal.com (guest name: westparis).  You should use at least three sources of information including one book and one internet site.  Keep track of the sources of your information on the note-taking guides.  Use “Citation Maker” to help you make your bibliography.  You can find it by going to www.portaportal.com and entering the guest name “westparis”

Final Product:

Your final product will be a picture book describing  “a day in the life” of your animal.  It should be a first-person narrative.  Your story must include all the information you researched and pictures which go along with your story.  We will look at picture books in class which show what to aim for.

The book needs:
o A cover page with title, author, and an illustration.
o 8 pages with at least 3 original illustrations or photographs.
o Back cover with author information.
o Bibliographic information (using the MLA format) on the inside back cover.

Use the rubric to help guide you in preparing your book.

• Saying “Hi!” to Mr. Light, Mrs. Toita, other sixth graders and their families.
• A tour of the classroom, including the new creatures, the pillow stick, our class library, a couple of lovely plants, and 30 student desks!  (Hosted by your child.)
• Learn about our schedule and look at your child’s work.
• Donate your bottles and cans to the sixth grade retreat!
• Find out how you can volunteer in the classroom.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Mr. Light

Ocean Field Trip

Our science unit focuses on adaptations and classification of living things with a focus on the ocean environment.  We will be taking our first field trip Tuesday, 9/15!!  The class will start with a visit and scavenger hunt on the Portland Waterfront where students will find out about transportation and some of the businesses on the coast.  We will spend the afternoon exploring the rocks, sand, and tidepools at Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth.  We need several parents to come along to help chaperone, so please join us if you can.

Camp Trip

We will be heading to the Bryant Pond 4-H camp early in October.  We still need to raise some money.  You can help by bringing in your bottles and cans.  Kate’s Dad, Clay, will bring them to a spot where we can get 6 cents a can.  He also helped us out by putting backs on a couple of our bookshelves so our books won’t disappear behind them.  Thank you!

The donation page was just updated.  Please take a look!

Thanks to Colin’s Mom for bringing in a plant for the classroom!  I’m hoping to get more, but we need to make sure they aren’t poisonous.  For example, philodendrons are beautiful and help clean the air, but are poisonous.   A watering can for these plants would also be welcome.  Thanks also to the families that sent in classroom supplies.  We got a bunch, including staples, stickies, and paper clips.

Each student brought home a collection of papers for you to fill out and return.  A school handbook was also included.  Please go over it with your child and both of you should sign and return the sheet on the front of the handbook.  Parents have homework, too!  Students should also be interviewing you tonight about their “reading history”.  I sent home a sheet with questions to help them do this.

Thank you for sending such wonderful children to school!  I look forward to getting to know all of you.

One thing we did was go on field trips.  The bus ride look familiar?

We went to Pemaquid to visit the museum, fort, and archaeology dig.

Here we are listening to Ken, the archaeologist who did a lot

of the work here, explain the site.

Here I am outside the Bowdoin Art Museum.

So what do you think this photo represents?  The contents of the bucket to the right in the first photo shows in the second photo.  If you think you know what this is, post a comment and tell us!  If you know why it was particularly tricky to use this, tell us that, too!

We spent 4 hours most days listening to a lecture about one of the

biographies we read.  Afraid I didn’t have a photo of us, so I borrowed

this one from creativecommons.org.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all!  I plan to post a blog with a mystery from a local cemetery next week, so stay posted!

Mr. Light

We did some clearing of the room, and uncovered the beautiful slate blackboard! Some of the artists made a welcome sign for us!

I suggested that we paint a couple of the book cases to brighten the room up.  Two years ago, my class decided to do this and just painting a couple of the bookcases really brightened the room up!  The kids decided on orange on the inside and green on the outside!  Our school colors!!

The hard work was when we sat down with “maps” of the room and experimented with different arrangements.  We agreed to start with the plan below.

We are hoping that we will be able to get large bookshelves similar to what were in my old room so we can display books nicely.  Of course, this plan may change.  Once the radiators are out and the new fire exit is finished, we will be able to move things into the room and see how it works.

After we finished our planning, everyone helped move boxes.  I am hoping that by early August, we will be able to move into the room.  We’ll get together again to do this.

Thanks to everyone who helped out!  Besides the kids, Katie’s dad helped moving some of the large items and with thinking about bookshelves.  Colin’s mom picked up the pizza.  Mallard Mart gave us a very good deal on the pizza!

Here are some ways that families can help us:

• We would love to have some hanging plants (and a watering can) donated to spruce up the room.
• We need paint and brushes.  I will contact some of our local businesses to see if I can get donations.
• The district maintenance folks are looking for some bookshelves or wood to make shelves with.  If they don’t find what we need, we will need: 2′ square 3/4″ plywood for corner shelves for 3-ring binders and, if possible, boards to build book shelves with.
• Parents who would help paint some of our shelves.
• Katie’s dad has volunteered to help building shelves.  It might help to have someone else who’s willing to help out.
• We will need all sorts of help to move in!  I’ll plan a “moving party” later in the summer.  Perhaps we could have a welcome back potluck on that day.  Some parent organizers would be great!

I am incredibly excited for next year!  What a great group of kids the Agnes Gray sixth graders are!