Weekly News, February 21 - 24, 2012

"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither."

                                                                                                                        --C.S. Lewis

Students did not receive the pink weekly cards on Thursday. (We were afraid they would not return on Tuesday.) They will go home on Tuesday. Please be sure these cards are returned to us each week. These help us to communicate personally with you about your child.

Language Arts

The publisher's website for review of all Grade 6 vocabulary words, complete with word games and flashcards is http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/games.cfm?sp=student&level=A  We will complete Unit 9 of Vocabulary next week.

In Grammar, we will continue to study adjectives and adverbs. We will learn how they are used correctly, nouns and verbs which "dress-up" like adjectives, and emphasize that great writing uses creative adjective and adverbs! As always, we will review verb tenses, pronouns and sentence structure regularly, and diagram sentences to reinforce our lessons.

For a complete list of Verb Tenses, please click: 12 Verb Tenses

We have begun our next novel, to be tied in with Lent and the Passion of Christ: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. This is a book which can be read on many levels. C.S. Lewis was one of the greatest Christian theologians of the 20th century. Join us in reading this book, and, for grown-ups, Mere Christianity is a wonderful companion to it.

Math

On Tuesday we will review for the test on Wednesday over chapter 7. Please be sure your child has a protractor for the test. I will collect these after the test for safekeeping until our final exam. All math worksheets and papers should be kept in your child's math folder for review before the exam, please do not throw them away. On Thursday we will begin chapter 8 on ratios and proportions. Please be sure your child has their calculator. It will be considered a missing assignment if they come to class unprepared.

Religion

In Religion, we begin our study of Lent on Tuesday. In class we will discuss not only what we will "give up" for Lent but also one thing we can work on that will bring us closer to Jesus by Easter Sunday. Perhaps it will be daily prayer or scripture reading. Please find out what your child will focus on and encourage them throughout Lent. We also will be sending home a Lenten Calendar with little things to do each day. This is a wonderful family activity! Also this week, we will continue to study King David but this time we will take a look at the beautiful psalms he created. We will use these for meditiations of our own as we read through chapter 12.

In keeping with our Catholic traditions, we are also learning the Ave Maria, which is the Hail Mary in Latin. (The kids already know the Sign of the Cross in Latin and use it frequently.) Here it is for practice:

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedictus tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesu. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Social Studies

Remember that our Hindu god biography, in which we also create a Rangoli design for a Catholic saint and write a prayer for our prayer cloths, is due February 24. (Click HERE to download complete assignment.) Thank you Mrs. Sanders, our terrific Art teacher, Mrs. Traver, our computer wizard, and Mrs. Kissner, our idea-filled librarian, for complementing our curriculum with their great plans! Most of all, a huge thank you to our Fr. Dominic for his excellent presentation on India and Hinduism.

We are now undertaking our study of Ancient China and Buddhism. We are looking forward to another exciting section of Social Studies!

Science

And I thought I would have a test this Thursday...The students have been working so hard on the experiments in class that I am moving the test to next week. On Tuesday, we will go over last week's experiments and begin to study the rest of the chapter. I planned a few more experiments for the students to finish the chapter including some with mining for minerals and what this does to our planet for Wednesday and Thursday. Look for worksheets to review all of these mineral identifications just about every night. There is plenty of vocabulary to study in case your child is bored.

Specials Notes:

Phys. Ed.

Music

We are working on enharmonics and whole/half steps.  6R's assignment is due on February 3rd. 6B must turn in the Activity 2 (#3-5) on February 8th.  Click here to watch a movie about enharmonics and whole/half steps.  You may also use the keyboard below to help.  As always.... I am here to help you with your work.  You may come in early any day (from 7:15-7:45) or stay after school with me any day (except Tuesday).  It will probably take about 15 minutes for you to finish the assignment.

Homework

Visit our homework page for each night's assignments.