Please feel free to email me at bergstrom_s@af.k12.wi.us

 

Parents, your child is currently reviewing their basic multiplication facts. While many students "knew" these facts back in 3rd grade, many have not practiced, and have lost the ability to recall these essential facts. Please help your child review their facts daily.  (Unfortunately, there are still a number of students who do not have these facts down pat.) When your child has the basics down, they will be exposed to higher levels of math computation. If you would like to have a set of flash cards at home, please give me a call. By working together, your child will succeed!

 

You can also visit me at my Google Site

Future Information

 

 

 

FrontPage

Lessons may change due to what was covered or not covered in class each day. Parents should ask to see any practices that are listed. Practices prepare students for assessments and are part of the work habit grade. The Sixth grade math book is used primarily a reference for the student. Students will also use notes, Math Labs, games and technology in order to advance their learning of mathematics.

 

 

 

Math:

 

 

PRACTICES

Students will usually have a practice every day; most are finished in class. The following day, they will usually have an "E-Slip" (entrance or exit slip) that will show if they accomplished the practice. These mini-assessments are 6-8 problems in length.

 

Importance of Memorizing Facts

As parents of all grade levels know very well, it is extremely difficult to for students to learn higher level math algorithms when they are not fluent with their basic facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). If students are not automatic in responding to math facts, their attention is necessarily taken away from the multiple steps necessary to solve more complex problems. Please work with your child 5-10 minutes nightly on their basic facts. If you have the internet, please check out the math links on this site. If you need math flash cards, please let me know!

 

WRITING IN MATH

 

Writing should be an integral part of teaching all subjects. Writing is used as a tool to help students think about ideas.

Progress has been slow in the area of writing in mathematics. Mathematics is seen as a subject that communicates through the manipulation of symbols in orderly ways, not as one that uses words to express ideas. This view is unfortunate - and misleading.

The process of writing requires gathering, organizing, and clarifying thoughts. It demands finding out what you know and don't know. It calls for thinking clearly. Similarly, doing mathematics depends on gathering, organizing, and clarifying thoughts, finding out what you know and don't know, and thinking clearly. Although the final representation of a mathematical pursuit looks very different from the final product of a writing effort, the mental journey is, at its base, the same - making sense of an idea and presenting it effectively.

 

Writing can assist math instruction in two ways - by helping children make sense of mathematics and by helping teachers understand what children are learning.

 

Math Links

Please check out math websites under the math links bar! Practice the concepts that we are focusing on in math.

 

Year long Math Learning Goals:

 

LG: To perform ongoing review of basic mathematical concepts

LG: To use journal writing to make sense of mathematics

LG: To be active participants in their mathematical education

 

4/16/12 Students will be reviewing adding mixed numbers if necessary. Students will begin to review how to subtract mixed numbers. Our next learning goal will focus on Statistics (mean, median, mode, and the interpretation of graphs).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Arts

 

What is the importance of the Language Class?

Students need to understand that the language process is integral to learning and developing skills in all fields of study, not just English. Language is not static or one-dimensional. Students need to know that language varies depending upon the audience (parents, peers, teachers). Language has structural rules, patterns, and conventions, and changes over time with continued use. It entails speaking, listening and writing. It requires the speaker, the listener and the writer to respond, interpret, assess and integrate. In today's information age, media and technology play important roles. Books, newspapers, radio and television, the Internet, CDs, DVDs and personal computers provide information.

 

Students need to understand that writing is hard work and requires patience and persistence. A well-written paper takes thought and preparation, and shouldn't be rushed. The steps in the writing process help produce a well-crafted, interesting paper. Explaining each step will help students write better papers in all their classes, not just in language arts.

 

Year Long Language Arts Learning Goals:

 

LG: To beable to write for a purpose in a clear, consise manner.

LG: To review parts of speech in order to become a more fluent writer.

 

4th Quarter Learning Goals:

Integrated Newspaper Project

Cross-Curricular: Social Studies & Language

Students are expected to be active participants in this integrated Language/Social Studies Newspaper Project. Expectations include active listening, reading assigned articles, participating in discussions, and completing all assigned practices.

 

Students may come in for extra help before Advisor, Academic Intervention, and during recess (with prior permission).

 

Standards:

Students will write effectively for a given purpose.

Students will use conventions correctly.

 

Students will focus on a different component of the newspaper every week during this six week unit. The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, India, Aztec, Inca and Maya will be used as the basis of their newspaper project.

 

Students will begin each class period by reading a required section from an online newspaper.

 

Students will be reviewing the writing process during each section. Students will be completing the final copy using an online program.

 

TBAT write an obituary of an historical figure.

TBAT write a news article informing readers of an ancient news worthy event.

TBAT to write a Sports story covering an ancient sporting event so that the reader feels that they are there.

TBAT give a supporting argument of an historical controversial event or individual.

TBAT describe how an invention/achievement increased an ancient culture’s economic climate.

TBAT inform the public on a current festival or community event.

 

Students will also be completing a Sitton Spelling Unit each week.

 

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

 

                            Mr. Amundson                 Mrs. Bergstrom              Mrs. Johnson

 

 

Ideas for your project: 

 

Feature News Article 

China:Marco Polo,Terra Cotta Army,  Mongols, Silk Road, Emperor Qin, Forbidden City, book burning

 

Egypt:  Menes, Flooding of the Nile, Building of the Sphinx, Mummies, Tut, Ramses,  Cleopatra

 

Rome:  Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Romulus and Remus, Writing of the Twelve Tables, Punic Wars,Colosseum, Circus Maximus, Gladiators

 

Greece: Sparta vs Athens, Marathon, battles, olympics, trial of Socrates, 

 

Mesopotamia:  Hanging Gardens, Hammurabi, Code of Hammurabi, Assyrians, 

 

India:  Harappia, Aryan, construction of Taj  Majal, Mother Teresa,

 

Inca/Aztec/Maya:  Floating Gardens, Tenochtitlan, city states, temples Stelas,

  Sapa Inca, Terrace Farming

 

 

Obituary:   

China:  Qin, Confucius, Genghis Khan, Empress Wu Zetian, Shi huangdi, Saragon, 

 

Egypt:  Tut, Menes, Hatshepsut, Khufu, Ramses II

 

India:  Ashoka, Siddhartha Gautama

 

Rome: Julius Caesar, Remus, Romulus, Marc Antony, Cleopatra. Augustus Caesar, Hannibal, Constatine, 

 

Greece:  Plato, Socrates, Alexander, Hippocrates, Aristotle, Homer, 

 

Inca/Aztec/Maya:  Montezuma I

 

Mesopotamia:   Hammurabi

 

 

Sports: 

Rome:  Gladiator competitions

 

Greece:  Olympics

 

Aztec/Inca/Maya: Ball game

 

  

Business: 

China:  paper, silk, matches, wheelbarrow, gunpowder, decimal system, sundial, astronomy, porcelain china, pottery wheel, fireworks, paper money, compass, seismograph, kites, playing cards, cross box

 

Egypt:  irrigation, shaduf, cartouche, pyramid, written language, number system based on 10, mummification, use of textiles to make clothing

 

Greece:  Democracy, columns, architecture, olympics,

 

Mesopotamia:  wheel, sailboat, first written laws, Hammurabi’s code

 

Rome:  concrete, paved roads, road signs (milestone)

 

India:  button, plough, wells, bathhouses, grainary, 

 

 

Community: 

holidays, festivals, marriage customs, myths, 

 

Opinion:  

India: sacred cow, Hinduism vs Buddhism..... 

 

Newspaper Printing Press

 

http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=110&title=:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please read for at least 20-30 minutes every night.

 

What is a Lexile® Measure?

A Lexile measure is a valuable piece of information about either an individual's reading ability or the difficulty of a text, like a book or magazine article. The Lexile measure is shown as a number with an "L" after it — 880L is 880 Lexile.

• A student gets his or her Lexile reader measure from a reading test or program. For example, if a student receives an 880L on her end-of-grade reading test, she is an 880 Lexile reader. Higher Lexile measures represent a higher level of reading ability. A Lexile reader measure can range from below 200L for beginning readers to above 1700L for advanced readers. Readers who score at or below 0L receive a BR for Beginning Reader.
• A book, article or piece of text gets a Lexile text measure when it's analyzed by MetaMetrics. For example, the first "Harry Potter" book measures 880L, so it's called an 880 Lexile book. A Lexile text measure is based on two strong predictors of how difficult a text is to comprehend: word frequency and sentence length. Many other factors affect the relationship between a reader and a book, including its content, the age and interests of the reader, and the design of the actual book. The Lexile text measure is a good starting point in the book-selection process, with these other factors then being considered. Lexile text measures are rounded to the nearest 10L. Text measures at or below 0L are reported as BR for Beginning Reader.

The idea behind The Lexile Framework for Reading is simple: if we know how well a student can read and how hard a specific book is to comprehend, we can predict how well that student will likely understand the book.

When used together, Lexile measures help a reader find books and articles at an appropriate level of difficulty (visitFind a Book ), and determine how well that reader will likely comprehend a text. You also can use Lexile measures to monitor a reader's growth in reading ability over time. http://www.lexile.com/about-lexile/lexile-overview/:

 

 

Social Studies

 

 

 

Learning Goals / Activities

Year long goals in Social Studies:

LG: To be able to be to identify the location of the ancient civilizations within the modern world.

LG: To be able to show understanding of how historical cultures shaped the world in which we live in.

LG: To be able to explain the major contributions of each ancient civilization studied.

LG: To be show a general understanding of historical events.

 

Students are rotating between Mr. Amundson, Mrs. Johnson and myself as they study a different ancient civilization each month. 

All lessons are designed to meet the above learning goals and students will be assessed on each. Students will be asked to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in different ways. Some assessments may be project based. 

When your child is with Mr. Amundson for Social Studies they will be studying Ancient China. 

When your child is with Mrs. Johnson they will be studying Ancient India. 

 

 I am teaching the unit on Ancient Inca, Aztec, Mayas and Cahouka. Your child was given a syllabus at the beginning of this unit of study. Please ask your child to share it with you.

 

 

The following questions will be used as a final assessment after the study of each civilization is completed.

Use a variety of maps and atlases to gather and compare information

Summarize technological achievements in _____________’s society.

Choose the technological achievement you feel was most important and explain how it impacted ________’s society.

Justify why the technological achievement you chose was more important than the other achievements during that civilization.  

Summarize events that changed ___________________’s society.

Choose the event you feel is most important and explain how it impacted ____________________’s society.

Justify why the event you chose was more important than the other events during that civilization.

Summarize the governmental structure of ______________’s society.

Explain the advantages of this form of government.

Explain the disadvantages of this form of government.

How are the structures of __________________’s government interrelated?

Explain how the various parts of ____________________’s government rely on each other to function.

What are the key resources or geographical features or natural resources of _______________?

What natural or geographical resources enabled ____________ to develop and succeed? Explain why.

Rank the geographical elements/natural resources crucial to __________’s development and justify your ranking.