Ms. Tovey's Blog

Miss Blough has finished her time with me and will be joining Mrs. Sullivan today.

English - This week we will start the chapter on adverbs. This is the last Chapter in the English book.

Writing - On Friday the children filled out a questionnaire on a specific Mercury 7 astronaut. We will write the biography as a class this week. Monday - introduction and paragraph 1, Tuesday - paragraph 2, Wednesday - paragraph 3 and closing paragraph. All rough drafts are due on Thursday. Friday the children will type their biography in the computer lab and insert two pictures into their report.

Science - Last week we discussed the beginnings of the Space Race (Russia launching Sputnik 1 and America getting involved with the launch of Explorer 1). We also did the vocabulary for the chapter together. This week we will begin covering the Mercury Program.

Each child has been given a space booklet that will be theirs to keep, with all the information about America's five space programs. The booklets are being collected after each period and kept in my room (I don't want to take the chance that a booklet may get misplaced) If you would like to see the booklet your child may bring it home. I just ask that it be brought back the next day.

The children have also set up a timeline for the Space Race and each day will add two dates. At the end, they will have a complete timeline of Space Travel displaying the most important dates.

Finally, the hardest part of this Chapter will be learning the years that the major events happened. (They are only American events) I had the children set up an important dates page in their notebook and will have them record the years and the events on this page as we move through the Chapter. Below is a list of the years and the events if you would like to get a jump on reviewing them with your child.

1957 - Russia launches Sputnik 1, Space Race begins

1958 - America launches Explorer 1, NASA is founded

1961 - Alan Shepard becomes first American astronaut in space

1962 - John Glenn becomes the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth

1967 - Apollo 1 fire kills Grissom, Chaffee and White

1969 - Neil Armstrong becomes the first man on the moon.

1981 - First space shuttle Columbia is launched

1986 - Space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds into lift-off

2003 - Space shuttle Columbia explodes during re-entry

Miss Blough has finished her time with me and will be joining Mrs. Sullivan today.

English - This week we will start the chapter on adverbs. This is the last Chapter in the English book.

Writing - On Friday the children filled out a questionnaire on a specific Mercury 7 astronaut. We will write the biography as a class this week. Monday - introduction and paragraph 1, Tuesday - paragraph 2, Wednesday - paragraph 3 and closing paragraph. All rough drafts are due on Thursday. Friday the children will type their biography in the computer lab and insert two pictures into their report.

Science - Last week we discussed the beginnings of the Space Race (Russia launching Sputnik 1 and America getting involved with the launch of Explorer 1). We also did the vocabulary for the chapter together. This week we will begin covering the Mercury Program.

Each child has been given a space booklet that will be theirs to keep, with all the information about America's five space programs. The booklets are being collected after each period and kept in my room (I don't want to take the chance that a booklet may get misplaced) If you would like to see the booklet your child may bring it home. I just ask that it be brought back the next day.

The children have also set up a timeline for the Space Race and each day will add two dates. At the end, they will have a complete timeline of Space Travel displaying the most important dates.

Finally, the hardest part of this Chapter will be learning the years that the major events happened. (They are only American events) I had the children set up an important dates page in their notebook and will have them record the years and the events on this page as we move through the Chapter. Below is a list of the years and the events if you would like to get a jump on reviewing them with your child.

1957 - Russia launches Sputnik 1, Space Race begins

1958 - America launches Explorer 1, NASA is founded

1961 - Alan Shepard becomes first American astronaut in space

1962 - John Glenn becomes the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth

1967 - Apollo 1 fire kills Grissom, Chaffee and White

1969 - Neil Armstrong becomes the first man on the moon.

1981 - First space shuttle Columbia is launched

1986 - Space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds into lift-off

2003 - Space shuttle Columbia explodes during re-entry

Miss Blough has finished her time with me and will be joining Mrs. Sullivan today.

English - This week we will start the chapter on adverbs. This is the last Chapter in the English book.

Writing - On Friday the children filled out a questionnaire on a specific Mercury 7 astronaut. We will write the biography as a class this week. Monday - introduction and paragraph 1, Tuesday - paragraph 2, Wednesday - paragraph 3 and closing paragraph. All rough drafts are due on Thursday. Friday the children will type their biography in the computer lab and insert two pictures into their report.

Science - Last week we discussed the beginnings of the Space Race (Russia launching Sputnik 1 and America getting involved with the launch of Explorer 1). We also did the vocabulary for the chapter together. This week we will begin covering the Mercury Program.

Each child has been given a space booklet that will be theirs to keep, with all the information about America's five space programs. The booklets are being collected after each period and kept in my room (I don't want to take the chance that a booklet may get misplaced) If you would like to see the booklet your child may bring it home. I just ask that it be brought back the next day.

The children have also set up a timeline for the Space Race and each day will add two dates. At the end, they will have a complete timeline of Space Travel displaying the most important dates.

Finally, the hardest part of this Chapter will be learning the years that the major events happened. (They are only American events) I had the children set up an important dates page in their notebook and will have them record the years and the events on this page as we move through the Chapter. Below is a list of the years and the events if you would like to get a jump on reviewing them with your child.

1957 - Russia launches Sputnik 1, Space Race begins

1958 - America launches Explorer 1, NASA is founded

1961 - Alan Shepard becomes first American astronaut in space

1962 - John Glenn becomes the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth

1967 - Apollo 1 fire kills Grissom, Chaffee and White

1969 - Neil Armstrong becomes the first man on the moon.

1981 - First space shuttle Columbia is launched

1986 - Space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds into lift-off

2003 - Space shuttle Columbia explodes during re-entry

English
We will continue the chapter on adverbs this week.

Writing
The children completed their Mercury 7 biographies last week. The overall writing was very good. However, the grammar and punctuation needs quite a bit of work. This week we will do some short writing assignments and next week we will begin a compare and contrast essay.

Science
Last week we completed the section on the Gemini Program. This week we will be starting the Apollo Program. It seems this is the section the children have been looking forward to the most. Please continue to review the notes with your child as often as possible.

English
We are continuing with the chapter on adverbs this week. I am moving very slowly with this chapter because I want to be sure that all the children grasp the difference between an adjective and an adverb. I also am spending some time on speaking correctly.

Writing
The writing assignment for this week will be a compare and contrast essay. A couple of weeks ago Rick Reilly, a journalist for Sports Illustrated, wrote a phenomenal article contrasting two sixth grade boy's basketball teams. We will be reading this article as a class and then writing a compare and contrast essay based on the article. Each child will be given a copy of the article. If you get a chance please ask your child to read it. I think you will thoroughly enjoy what he has to say. If all goes as planned the children will be typing their essays on Friday.

Science
Last week we concentrated very heavily on the parts of the Apollo spaceship and the three astronauts. This week we will be discussing the actual moon landing. The children will also be making an Apollo spaceship with the moon in the background.

Let me begin by apologizing for my late blog. The internet was up and down all last week due to the rewiring project.
Happy Opening Day and Go Cubs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

English
We spent last week working on when to use good and when to use well. It took a while but I do believe most of the children now understand the difference between the two words. This week's English class will have a baseball theme to it. Friday, we read Casey at the Bat. The children are working with partners to write a newspaper article about the poem. They will have to summarize the game and perform and interview with Casey after the game. Tuesday, we will be reading Casey: Twenty Years Later, and Wednesday, we will be reading the classic Abbott and Costello skit, Who's on First.

Writing
I have graded all of the compare and contrast essays and have found them to be very good as a whole. The children received their graded paper last week, so please be sure to ask them for it. Wednesday, the children will be using the computer lab to research a topic of their choice. It will be the first time this year that they will be completely on their own to do their research and to write their paper. Topics can be just about anything. (famous people, places, history of a sport, authors, etc.) Please, ask your child what topic they chose.
When we return from Easter Break the children will begin writing their papers. The paper will be required to have an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Science
The quiz was given last Tuesday on the first half of the chapter on Space Travel and overall the grades were very good. On Wednesday the children watched the IMAX movie: Space Station (except for my homeroom, there wasn't time because of the funeral). It was filmed live on board the International Space Station and gives a first hand look at what life in space is like. It also tells a great story of partnership and how important it was for the sixteen participating countries to work together.
We also covered America's fourth space program: Skylab. This week we will begin discussing the Space Shuttle. As part of the section on the space shuttle we will also cover the two tragedies that occurred; Challenger and Columbia.
I had really hoped to have this chapter finished before Easter Break but that is not possible. Unfortunately we will have to continue when we return from break. If possible please take some time over break to review the notes to date.