Advice from Dorian

Dear Future Sixth Graders,

I thought sixth grade was going to be tough but it was actually pretty easy and all the teachers are very nice.  You might get to be in athletics which is a lot of fun.  In athletics you lift weights, run around the track, exercise, and play football.  Just don't be late to athletics or you and everyone else are gonna have to run around the track for the whole period.

A scary thing that happened this year was when Mrs. Schauer's snacks were invaded by tons of ants.  They were everywhere--the desk, the floor, the shelves...it was crazy!

When you get into sixth grade one great thing is that you don't have to do AR anymore.  You can just read whatever books you want, any time you want.

My advice to you is:

1.  Pay attention in class.
2.  Don't fight.
3.  Don't be mean to the teacher.
4.  Don't get in other peoples' business.
5.  Don't mess with the high schoolers.
6.  Don't upset the principal.
7.  Don't cuss.

Just pay attention and don't be absent a lot and you should make it to the seventh grade.  That's all the advice I have for you.

~Dorian

Advice from Trent

Dear Future Sixth Graders,

Next year you can expect to have a lot of fun.  Mrs. Schauer’s class is pretty easy but the other classes--not so much.  If you have Coach Ramirez for Social Studies you’re lucky because he’s nice and a good teacher.  My favorite teacher is Mrs. Schauer!  Just be careful when she’s in a bad mood.  Don’t talk in band or Mr. flores will yell at you.  Math starts out OK but gets really hard in the middle of the year.  

Good luck next year,

Trent

Advice from Samuel

Dear Future Sixth Graders,

Hello.  One thing about what to expect in sixth grade is that your schedule might take some getting used to and most of the teachers are pretty cool.  It all starts with PE.  You will probably stay there for a couple of months and then if you’re lucky you’ll get to go to athletics.  Athletics is really fun.  You lift weights, run, play football and do a lot of different exercises.  After PE I went to Science with Mrs. Camden.  She is really cool.  We did a lot of projects, watched videos and sometimes did papers.  After that I had Mrs. Schauer for two periods.  She is really fun if you don’t make her mad and she jokes around with you.  In her class you will get to read a lot of really good books.  

I was going to write more, but I ran out of time.  Good luck in junior high!  

Sincerely,

Samuel

Advice from Miranda

Dear Future Sixth Graders,

I’m going to tell you a little bit about sixth grade.  The teachers are really nice.  My first day I got lost twice but I asked a few people where to go and they were nice enough to tell me.  I thought older kids were going to make fun of me because I’m so short but nobody noticed.  

Here are some things to avoid:

1.  You need to watch out who you hang around with because if they get caught doing something bad then people are going to think you were in on it and you’ll get in trouble too.  

2.  Do not make Mrs. Schauer mad when she is having a bad day because let me tell you, it’s not pretty when she’s mad.  

Here are some good things about sixth grade:

1.  You get more freedom.  

2.  In some classes you get to listen to music while you work.  

Something that was funny AND scary was that at the beginning of the year, Mrs. Schauer fell into a hole in the concession stand floor.

If you like to read, then I suggest you get Wattpad, which is an app for your phone that has a lot of free books.  

Now to tell you a little bit about the teachers.  Coach DeCamp is nice most of the time, unless you make her mad.  Mrs. Camden is really nice and awesome and sometimes in her class she’ll let you do experiments.  Coach Ramirez is funny and he’s a really nice teacher but if you act bad, watch out!  Trust me, you do NOT want to be on his dark side.  Mrs. Schauer is an awesome teacher.  She makes really hard stuff seem kinda easy.  It’s still work, but the way she teaches it makes it fun.  Mr. Flores is nice sometimes and he’s a good band director.  I think my favorite teachers are Mrs. Schauer and Coach Ramirez.  

Good luck!

Miranda

Advice from Matti

Dear Future Sixth Graders,

It’s awesome up here because there is so much more freedom and the classes get easier.  I have to say the worst thing to me is Math because math stinks.  Nobody likes Math!  Mrs. Schauer is awesome.  She makes everything seem easy and she will give you...well...I can’t say GOOD books, because I hate to read, but anyway she will give you books that relate to you so it’s not that bad.  Social Studies is not that hard if you get Coach Ramirez, but if you get Mr. Flores that is a different story because I heard he makes you write a lot of notes.  Mrs. Camden is really cool too--I don’t really know how to explain it, but she’s just awesome.  7th period is tutorials and that’s fun because if you’re passing all your classes, you get to go to the black top and play, so you still get to be a little kid.  We have five minutes between each class period so we have time to talk and mess around.  Don’t leave good stuff in the locker room because people will steal it or mess with it.  You get to have your phone with you all day, even at lunch unless you have red dot. I recommend that you  carry perfume and a brush--just stuff to freshen up.  The first day of school was the scariest day of my life because I didn’t know where to go or what to do so I just ran everywhere and stayed in a group of friends. I suggest you do that too so you’re not lost or alone.  After the first week or so you get really used to it and it’s no big deal.  

Note to self:  Do not mess with the older kids because they will hurt you.  

Have fun in sixth grade,

Matti

Advice from Logan

Dear Future Sixth Graders,

Sixth grade is a BIG change from elementary school.  In sixth grade you will have a lot more freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility.  Now with that said, you may think that everything is going to be breeze, but if you think that, you are wrong!  It may seem super easy at first, but it gets really hard after a while.  Now don’t let that pressure you--it gets easier once you get to know your teachers.  Getting to know your teachers helps you know how to act around them.  Some are more strict and some are more fun.  Now Mrs. Schauer is AWESOME.  She’s the best.  She works us but she makes it fun.  Sixth grade has its ups and its downs so be prepared.  

Sincerely,

Logan

Advice from Joseph

Dear Future 6th  Graders,

OK, well sixth grade isn’t that bad.  PE is a total drag so if I were you I would get out of it the first chance you get.  The only thing they do is sit in the gym during PE, but when you’re in athletics you’re always moving, playing football, lifting weights or running.  It sounds tiring but it’s really not that bad.  Band is really boring the first semester but after that it gets really fun.  Just make sure to choose a really good instrument because you’re going to play it forever.  Ahhhhh JK JK.  :)  Mrs. Schauer’s class is probably the funnest class you will have.  She sells stuff, so make sure you bring money.  Coach DeCamp’s class is really hard so I would just wing it if I were you.  Coach Ramirez is a good teacher and I’m pretty sure you are going to like his class.  

Have fun in sixth grade,

Joseph

Advice from Jakobe

Dear Future Sixth Graders,

If you are lucky you will get some of the same teachers I had and you will love most of them.  First I’ll talk about the teachers.  My favorite teacher in 6th grade is Mrs. Schauer because she is the nicest teacher out of all the others.  She is very nice and she loves to read a lot if you ask me.  Now Mrs. Camden is a cool teacher too and she is nice too.  She will teach you a lot about science and you will do some science experiments.  Oh and Mr. Ramirez is the greatest Social Studies teacher ever.  You will like math as well.  All the teachers are pretty nice now that I think about it.  

Now is when I tell you the scariest thing about sixth grade for me--it was signing up for athletics.  At first I was very shy but then I started getting used to it.  Oh and if you join athletics, prepare yourself for a lot of running and also lifting weights and working out.

One thing you need to watch out for in sixth grade is that there are some bullies--but if you stand up to them they leave you alone. Try to stay out of trouble and don’t be late to class three or more times or you will be sent to ISS.  

Well, that’s all you need to know about sixth grade.  

Your friend,

Jakobe

Advice from Caleb

Dear Future Sixth Graders,

The main thing you need to know about sixth grade is that none of the teachers up here will tolerate silliness.  If you do well in school you may become their favorite student.  I was not here very long.  I went to school here in elementary, but then left and only came back three months ago.  

My biggest piece of advice is to not put money in the drink machine that’s in the “C” wing because it doesn’t work.  I lost a dollar in there when I first came back to school here.  Also, always bring your phone and ear buds to school because if you’re good, some teachers let you play on your phone or listen to music.  

If  you have any questions next year just note that most of us are still here but in 7th grade, so you can just ask us.  

Sincerely,

Caleb

Advice from Alexis

Dear Future 6th Graders,

I am going to tell you what to expect in 6th grade next year.  It is really cool up here, especially during tutorials because you get to play or talk with your friends.  My favorite subject was Social Studies because it’s really easy as long as you pay attention.  You will either get Mr. Flores or Coach Ramirez for Social Studies.  I had Coach Ramirez and he was really cool.  Mrs. Camden was my favorite teacher.  We did this really cool project one time where we used string as intestines and I found out that your body holds seven meters of intestines.  The library has a lot of books that you might like.  Mrs Schauer is the librarian and also one of the sixth grade teachers.  She is my second favorite teacher--she helped me find books I liked to read.  She will also let you read books on your phone.  I read on my phone all the time using an app called Wattpad.  It has a lot of books--I’ve read over 53 books on there!  It has all kinds of books like werewolf books, vampires, zombies and lots of others too.  I’d have to say that I dislike Math the most, but mainly because I just really don’t get it.  At the end of the year we did a tessellation project where we made patterns and turned them into things.  I turned mine into turtles and unicorns.  

Good luck next year,

Alexis

Pass the Positive, Please!

This past week, each student was given a sheet of paper with a list of every student in the sixth grade.  Beside each person's name, they wrote one (or more) positive things about that person.  What follows is the result.  On Monday, each student will be given a laminated page of all those great thing that their classmates think of them.  There's also one in there for Mrs. Camden and me.  <3   As one student stated, "This will be so cool! If we're ever having a bad day, we can pull this out to make ourselves remember how awesome we are."   

Enjoy!  

SWINDLE, by Gordon Korman

Swindle, by Gordon Korman.
Review by Leo M., 6th Grader

Swindle, by Gordon Korman, is a realistic fiction book.  It is filled with action and a little bit of mystery.  When Griffin and his friend Ben find a unique baseball card, they think it will be the answer to a huge problem they have.  See, Ben might have to move from his hometown and his friends, but maybe the money from the sale of this unique card might help his family out enough so they won't have to move.

They decide to take the card to a shop to sell it, which they do, for $120.00. Then they see the guy who bought it from him on TV, being interviewed.  He's talking about how the card is worth a lot of money and will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. This makes the boys realize that they need to pull off the ultimate heist.

Will they get back what's truly theirs, or does S. Wendell get away with swindling an eleven year old kid out of an incredibly valuable card?

Read the book to find out!

What? How is it already October?!

Holy Cow!  It seems like yesterday we were bemoaning the fact that summer was ending, and here we are, already wrapping up our first six weeks! I guess time flies even faster when you're being productive along with having fun...

This week we've had quite a few people finishing up long books, and we're discussing how to write good book recommendations. I love this phase of our "class vibe" development, because as more of us finish books, more books are shared and swapped, and our personal "Books I Want to Read" lists grow longer and longer. An interesting dynamic occurs in a classroom that reads.  We become like a little family and start having these great bonds that are formed over books. When you bond with someone over a shared "book experience," it's a really special thing--and it's so much fun to witness and of which to be a part.  Hopefully before too much longer, we'll be sharing some reviews/blog posts about some of those books here on our classroom blog.

During English, we are continuing to make connections between the books we've read together and the narrative writing process.  We've been discussing the importance of using elaborate details for describing story critical characters, settings and objects, while being careful to not use irrelevant details, simply for the sake of adding more words to our writing. Hopefully next week we'll begin devoting more time to word study--it's just so hard to get it all in during our 100 minutes together!  I swear, sometimes I think the clock goes faster within these four walls...

Today, when the bell rang to go to lunch, and the kids ran out, leaving everything where it landed, I decided to stop, relax, and spend my lunch period doing what I love best...READING!  Those are my blue toes peeking out of the fluffy house slipper flip flops I wear in the classroom--and yep, I'm taking advantage of that wonderful couch!

Have a fantastic rest of the week!

~Mrs. Schauer

Reading: Listening Writing: Talking!

This is the first time I've ever been responsible for teaching writing to kids that are older than eight, and WOW is it fun!

We're working on narrative writing right now, and something I find myself repeatedly saying to my students is, "When you're writing, just act like you're talking!"  I also say, quite often, "When you're reading, try to imagine the author is talking directly to you."  Once they began to wrap their heads around the concept that reading is listening and writing is talking, it's like a bunch of little light bulbs started going of in our classroom.

I think that many times, people get freaked out over writing, because they make it so much more difficult than it really has to be.  If someone in my class says, "I don't know how to write," my reply will typically be along the lines of, "DUDE!  I know darn well you can TALK--you've actually proven that you are quite good at it! Just write it down instead of saying it!"

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.  I know I'm ready for some Lady Eagle volleyball, and then heading home for some rest and relaxation.  Have a great one!

~Mrs. Schauer

Settling Into Our Routines

Having our Reading and English periods back to back is great because it gives us time to finish stuff before we have to rush out the door, which always seemed to be the case last year.  Most importantly though, we have more time to read books we love.  Each day it seems a couple of additional students get "sucked in" by a book that completely captivates them.  (Some kids are tougher to crack than others, but I'm pretty tenacious when it comes to matching kids and books--and I've been "matching" longer than they've been "resisting.")  :)   In addition to reading though, we have time to write--about the books we're reading. Some of the students are starting to have some pretty amazing conversations with me about the books they're reading, through the letters that we write to one another.

In English, we are wrapping up learning characteristics of different genres of writing.  We've covered personal letters, journal entries, character-problem-solution narratives, personal experience narratives, and expository writing.  Tomorrow we will begin learning abut various summarizing frameworks.  We will also begin what will be an ongoing study of homophones.

Today, during class, I took a panoramic video of each of my classes as they worked.  The first group's video was taken during the last ten minutes of the period, so by that time everyone was settled pretty deep into their books.  The second group's video was taken as they started our independent reading/writing time, so some are reading and some are writing.  In both videos, one thing is the same:  It's SILENT!  :)  Gosh, I love it when the routine kicks in!

6-1 (3rd/4th Period)

                          6-2 (5th/6th Period)

Audio Books? Absolutely!

Currently in room B-3, quite a few students are using audio books during our individual reading time. Audio books are not a good fit for everyone, but for some kids, they can be powerful tools that help increase reading stamina, comprehension and speed. Some people may think that using an audio book might be considered "cheating," but I completely disagree!  Here are some reasons why I think audio books are fantastic additions to a middle school Reading classroom, and why I encourage my students to give them a try:

1.  Audio books of today are a lot different than many people might think they are.  I know that we all have memories of listening to some mono-toned guy droning on while we tried to follow along in our textbooks.  Professionally recorded audio books are nothing like that! If you have never listened to one, I encourage you to give it a try.  I think you'll be surprised at the quality.  Many times professional actors, or even full casts of actors lend their voices to the audio recording. Sometimes the actual author of the book does the reading, and that's awesome because it's read in the exact voice that the author had in his/her own head when they wrote the book.

2.  Sometimes, for kids that are easily distracted, it's difficult to "fall into" their book because of what's going on around them in the classroom.  In our room, I'm typically always talking to someone about either their writing or their book, and for some kids, that distraction keeps them from remaining completely focused on their own book.  The headphones and the sound of someone reading in their ear, combined with  following along in their actual book, make the distractions all but disappear for that particular reader.

3.  For slow, careful readers, listening to an audio book while following along in their own book, helps them with fluency and speed.

There are lots of reasons to give audio books a try, but the main one--for some people is, they just work!

Before, After...and AFTER!

I was told during the last few weeks of school last year that I'd be switching classrooms with another teacher.  At first, I wasn't very happy, because it meant moving all my books.  If you've ever been in my classroom, you know that I have a LOT of books!  The more I thought about it though, the more excited I became, because it meant that I would get to be next to two of my good friends, who also happen to be teachers in Pettus. (Mrs. Camden and Mrs. Staples)  Also, most of the time, change is good! Sometimes, change can mean an opportunity to start over fresh, and that's the outlook I took on switching rooms. At first, I was just going to arrange the furniture and paint a bookcase or two...let's just say...I got a little carried away.

My daughter Hailee came up and helped me get started with the painting.  I don't think either of us expected a couple of coats of paint to make such a huge difference to the overall vibe of the room, but it really did! We were pretty darned pleased with how cute everything turned out.  We took pictures before, and then again after, to show the transformation.

Before:

After:

As I collapsed into my chair today, during about the last ten minutes of my last class,  I just sat there for a minute, looking at all the stuff going on at the same time, and I realized something.  The "after" photos from the summer makeover can't hold a candle to  what that same classroom looks like when it's occupied and in full use by it's students.  

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!!!

Letters, Letters, Letters

We are finishing up our first week of letter writing, and I have to say that this year is off to a fantastic start!  I've always had my kids write, but this is the first year, I've let them use the computers instead of doing everything with pen and paper, and I'm super excited about the results!  Each week, each student is responsible for writing a letter to me, about the book they're currently reading.  Then I read their letters and write back. Some of the kids in room B-3 are definitely on their way to being terrific writers!  I just love getting to know each and every one of the little beings that come across that threshold five days a week, and can't wait to see everything that this year brings.

Tomorrow is... Hump Dayyyyyyyyyy!

Anyone who works in a school, knows that, thanks to the popular (and overplayed!) Geico commercial, someone will walk into the classroom every Wednesday yelling, "What day is it," followed by several kids hollering, "Hump Dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"   Someone today said, "Guess what day tomorrow is?"   I knew what was coming next and commented that I was so sick of that camel.  Then another kid asked, "How do they know it's on Wednesday?"  Yet another one answered, "Because it says 'happier than a camel on Wednesday.'" (Kind of in a way that had the tone of, "well DUH?")

As I listened to their conversations, I realized that there was a pretty big chance that few, if any of them, had ever even heard the term "hump day" used before seeing (and repeating) that commercial.  If they had ever heard it, it was probably highly unlikely that many of them knew the original meaning behind the words.  So I asked them.  I was right.  No one knew!  They just said, "I don't know...the camel says it."  LOL!  So I made this little graphic to share with my second group of the day.  We had a great discussion about how climbing a hill is a great metaphor for the school week.   The first two days and part of Wednesday seem to take forever and once you're over the "hump" of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday just seem to fly by.   I wonder how many other things we say all the time, actually have little to no meaning to kids?  Things that make you go hmmmmmmm.

Wow! Crazy Busy Day!

What a busy Monday!  It's finally starting to feel like we're being productive.  We're getting into our routines with the laptops, and the fact that we're all doing different things each day.  Some of us are reading, some are writing, and some are conferencing with the teacher.  It's still a little bit chaotic, but it gets better every day.  :)

I just had to share this today, because it made me laugh.  The bell rang for lunch, and we were spread out all over the place with books.  These photos show what my room looks like right now--I yelled, "Just leave everything where it is and go to lunch!"

They did exactly that!

Agustin

Hi, my name is AGUSTIN and I’m from Victoria, Texas. My favorite classes are science and reading. I’ve always had a hard time telling the difference between fiction and nonfiction, but I know Mrs. Schauer can fix that. I love reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I like to play football and basketball. My favorite game is Call of Duty Black Ops 2.  I like to eat at Chucky Cheese with my cousin Mason. I have three sisters named Ana, Cece, and Ashlynn. I have a brother name Zaydian.