Dear Parents and Students s5

Moyer’s Monthly Memo

January 3, 2016

Dear Parents and Students, Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that the holidays are behind us and we are knee-deep in winter. I miss the sun and longer days. I hope that the holidays provided a time to reconnect with loved ones. I am excited to be back. I must admit that I did miss seeing and working with this wonderful class! Students earned the silver spoon in November and December. Students, challenge yourselves to “go for the gold” in the cafeteria by: eating quietly, keeping a clean space, and listening to directions while in the cafeteria. In social studies students answered why historians classified ancient Sumer as a civilization by creating a brochure (using word or PowerPoint) that encourages people to move to ancient Sumer. The following seven characteristics: stable food supply, social structure, government, religion, arts, technology and writing were featured on the brochure. A picture and a caption accompanied each of the seven detailed paragraphs. This project was done in lieu of the workbook pages and quiz for Unit 5. Since September students completed two oral presentations called Anchoring the News (ATN) on a news story of interest and were assessed using the Sixth-Grade Assessment Rubric. We are now shifting our focus and working on editing a grammatically incorrect sentence every day (Mug Shot). I thoroughly explain the corrections. Every Monday students will revise a paragraph with the same grammar concepts that were reviewed from the previous week. Students are encouraged to use their workbook (with corrections) and Write Source 2000 book while taking the quiz on Mondays. On Monday, December 12 students shopped at the Holiday Boutique for gifts. Special thanks to Mrs. Lieb (Juhasz) and Mrs. Trichon for lending a helping hand and helping to cash us out and wrap our gifts. The winter concert on Tuesday, December 20 was fabulous! We certainly enjoyed the performance by the choir, band, and orchestra. The following students were involved in the performance: Alan Bai, Kade Cimakasky, Kris Gallagher, Nina Harris, Sammie Holmen, Anthony Loria, Spencer Lund, Kevin Lytvnynov, Jack Mabrey, Ava Marquez, Emma Penizotto, Nate Pipes, Alex Trichon, Alli Troth and Naomi Watson. It was music to our ears. Alex Trichon and Naomi Watson were two of 10 students who beautifully accompanied Mr. Gromball playing sleigh the bells during the Holiday Sing on Friday, December 23. We walked through the hall on Monday, December 19 to see gifts and food for 19 local families. Thank you to all the students and families who gave so generously to the Adopt- a – Family and holiday basket collection. Making a difference is a great feeling. Nurse Mary Horvath does so much work behind the scenes to make this project successful. Special thanks to the following families for volunteering to make our holiday party on Thursday, December 22 so special by sending in treats and paper goods: Bai, Foster, Gallagher, Haring, Hood, Loria, Lund, Lytvnynov, Marquez, Munari, Penizotto, Peri, Pipes, Schellhorn, Trichon and Troth. Mrs. Cimakasky, Mrs. Lund, Mrs. Schellhorn and Mrs. Trichon were present to make sure the party flowed well and the students’ needs were taken care of. We welcomed Grace DiMattia from Morrisville, PA on Friday, December 23. We look forward to getting to know Grace and working with her. Congratulations to the following nine students for joining Reading Olympics this year: Alan Bai, Van Foster, Nina Harris, Sammie Holmen, Courtney Juhasz, Isabella Munari, Roshan Peri, Alli Troth and Naomi Watson. Challenge yourself to read as much as possible. Congratulations to the following seven students for getting at least 35 words correct in the Spelling Bee Pretest: Alan Bai, Kade Cimakasky, Kris Gallagher, Sammie Holmen, Tyler Hood, Anthony Loria and Jack Mabrey earned this distinction. We are very proud of all of you. Study daily so that you will be ready for the next round on Friday, February 8, 2017. Our class is scheduled to go through the Sixth-Grade Assessment in May (1-8). Students will: research and draft a five- paragraph paper, revise their written work, create a PowerPoint that answers the research question and present their paper and PowerPoint to a team (Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Danko and I). It is essential that your child get a good night’s sleep (at least 10 hours) each night and eat a hearty, nutritious breakfast and lunch each day. Please encourage your child that this will be a wonderful learning experience; an extra hug and kind words of encouragement go a long way. I will read over each paper as well as grade sheet and make a list of what skills each child needs more assistance with. Between that point and June 13, I will work with your child to bring those areas to at least a level of proficiency while challenging those students who have attained a level of proficiency to move to an advanced level. Daily homework and a classroom calendar of events can be accessed via School Wires. Please encourage your child to access both daily. Students are expected to access the January calendar from School Wires, record the events that pertain to them in the January calendar and keep the calendar in their take home folder. Please make sure your child comes clothed appropriately for 30 minutes of outdoor recess which is from 12:00-12:30 p.m. A heavy coat, hat, gloves, and a scarf are needed for the winter temperatures. Additionally, kindly make sure your child has a nutritious snack every day which provides that extra jolt of energy needed to be at our best. As a follow up to reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, students are creating an aesthetic Book Jacket. They are working collaboratively with a peer on drafting the summary of the novel. Students will use their chapter summaries to create one summary of the novel. In addition, students will independently create a sequel to the novel by developing a new character, new setting, and new problem. This project will be completed primarily in school but students have been expected to work on it nightly for 15 minutes since December 7. We will vote on the most aesthetic cover on Monday, January 30. The student who is selected will be awarded 50 Moyer’s Mentionables. Parents, please feel free to come in and look at these works of art. The next read aloud is titled, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. This fantasy story is about a family named Tuck (Angus, Mae, Miles, aged 109 and Jesse aged 104) who accidentally stumbles upon a spring in a wood which has the ability to give eternal life. They don’t realize at first what they have drunk until they see that their bodies are not aging and they cannot be hurt or harmed in any way. They travel quietly around the countryside, never staying in one place too long so that people will not realize their secret. Into this family comes Winnie Foster, an eleven- year old girl in search of freedom. Winnie wants to do something interesting, something that’s all hers and something that would make a difference in the world. She learns their secret and falls in love with them so deeply that she will do anything to protect them. The family and Winnie then must face a villain, the man in the yellow suit, who would steal their secret for himself. Since Thursday, December 15, in science, we’ve delved into the Earth’s Changing Surface (ECS) which is a hands-on unit. Students have been following the scientific process to discover, investigate, problem solve, and work collaboratively. After every three lessons, a quiz will be issued. Highlighting key words and phrases is a skill students are working to become proficient with. We will be having a small Valentine’s celebration on Tuesday, February 14. For four days prior to that (beginning on Wednesday, February 8) each child will create five clues about him/herself each day and give a small gift (approximately $1 per day) to another student in the class. On day five, (Tuesday, February 14) the mystery Valentine will be disclosed and a larger gift (about $5) will be given. The focus is not the gift; it is creating clues and trying to figure out who is writing to one another. This is voluntary; should your child not want to participate, kindly send a note alerting me.

Moyer’s Corner

1. I have an older sister named Anna (rhymes with Donna) whom I adore. She got married November 2011. Anna lives with her husband, Perry, in Toronto, Canada. 2. I was born on my father’s birthday and my sister was born on my parents’ first wedding anniversary. 3. I love summer; it affords me the opportunity to travel, broaden my knowledge base, and learn about different cultures. 4. In the winter, I enjoy shopping for sweaters. In the summer, I enjoy shopping for unusual sandals and try to purchase a pair while abroad/on vacation. 5. Reading, spending time with family and friends and travelling are some of my favorite activities.

Congratulations to the proud recipients of the December classroom award: Alan Bai, Kris Gallagher, Anthony Loria, Kevin Lytvynov, and Peyton Schellhorn. We are very proud of you. Continue to soar to success.

YOU can, YOU will, SUCCEED!

Rachel Moyer “Live while you can. For time passes quickly and nothing happens on its own. Forge what you want from the time and resources that you have, while you are able. Love and appreciate every minute you share life with those you care about.” David VanZant