Week of October 27

This week we will finish our study of the story, "Bad Characters," and move into an African folktale entitled, "Chura and Marwe." Chura, a boy "with a face like a toad's" and Marwe, a beautiful girl, are two slave children who pine for each other's company. They face tremendous hardships and, as a result, Marwe throws herself into a pool of water which takes her down into the underworld. She finds that she is treated better in the underworld than she had been in the past; even so, she longs to return to her past life in order to be with Chura again. This story is full of places which demonstrate to the students how the same passage can be interpreted by different students in various ways.

We will end this week by learning about Habit #5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood. This habit focuses on the importance of good listening skills, something most 6th graders have not yet developed. After learning about this habit on Friday, the students will be responsible for demonstrating their understanding of this habit next Friday when they put on skits focusing on good and bad listening habits. I can't wait to see where the students' imaginations will take them on this assignment!

I hope you all have a fun-filled and safe Halloween!

Week of October 20

On Wednesday of this week, we will be at the end of the 1st quarter of middle school! Students took a mid-term exam last Friday covering the material in the first half of this course. This week we will begin a new story entitled "Bad Characters." We will need a couple of days to read this story, as it is a bit longer than some of the other ones, and then we will delve deeper into the story by taking directed notes and comparing students' thoughts about the story. By Thursday we should be able to hop right into our shared inquiry discussion about this story. There will be no school on Friday because it is a teacher's planning day. I hope you all have a nice, relaxing long weekend!

Week of October 13

I wanted to give you a head start on this week since it is the week of mid-term exams.  We'll begin this week going deeper into our study of "The Mysteries of the Cabala."  We'll also spend a day reviewing the highlights of this course in preparation for the mid-term exam which, for this course, will be given to your child on Wednesday.  We will wrap up our story on Thursday and jump into Habit #4 on Friday.  

It's hard to believe that we're already half way through the first semester of middle school! Hopefully by this point your child has gotten comfortable with what is expected of him/her in middle school and is adjusting to all the changes.  As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about your child.  As I continually remind the students, my goal is to help them reach their goals!

Week of October 6

This week we finished up our study of "A Likely Place" with a Shared Inquiry discussion.  Our tables were turned (literally) as we rearranged our room and tried out a new seating arrangement for this activity.  After wrapping up our study of this story, we turned the page and jumped back in time to the early 1900's where we met 2 young Hasidic Jewish boys in Warsaw, Poland in the story, "The Mysteries of the Cabala."  These 2 boys each try to outdo each other with their imaginative story-telling.  When one of the boys goes so far as to claim to have mysterious knowledge of the Cabala, he realizes not only the religious dangers of his claims but also the impending threat to his boyhood friendship for having been caught in a lie.  

On Thursday, 3 of my classes went to the auditorium with the rest of their team to learn all about the upcoming science fair project.  As for my other 2 classes, my 2nd period class and I had a lively discussion on what it means to be labeled "gifted" while my 4th period class gained insight into the 3 learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) and the "8 Ways of Knowing."  As usual, Fridays find us studying up on our "7 Habits" and this Friday was no exception as we learned all about the Relationship Bank Account (RBA).  Be on the lookout for a deposit that your child may be attempting to make this week into his/her RBA with you!