Happy Friday!
This week, our class had a fun and educational experience at the NatLab. Students got a glimpse of what it’s like to work in a lab through hands-on activities, and the feedback I received was that they really enjoyed it. Next week, on Thursday, we will visit the Literature Festival. Details about this trip are below.
During the parent evening, we shared a number of field trips we hope to take this year. However, with the new language program, some of these trips may need to be postponed or canceled. Our goal is to provide students with many enriching experiences outside the classroom while keeping in-class learning as our top priority. I will talk with students about these changes and keep you updated as the year goes on.
Literature Festival
Looking ahead, our class will attend the International Literature Festival on September 18th along with the fifth graders. Thank you to Wendy for volunteering to join us. We will hear a reading of Weird Rules – so wie ich bin by Canadian author Kim Spencer. This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of Mia, an Indigenous girl growing up in 1980s British Columbia, and explores themes of friendship, racism, classism, and identity.
Books will be available to purchase at the festival, or students may bring a copy from home to have signed. The author will personally introduce and read from her book. Afterwards, students can ask questions and have their books signed if they wish.
The event costs 5 euros per child and will take place at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele in Schaperstraße (Ubhf. Spichernstraße). The cost will be covered by our class account. We will leave school at 8:15 am and return around 1:30 pm. Students with early release permission may go home at that time. We are looking forward to this wonderful experience!
Upcoming Bake Sale
We are hoping to host a bake sale on Friday, September 26th. I am waiting for final approval from administration, but please save the date. We will be looking for donated treats to sell in support of our 6A class trip to Jumphouse on October 17th (the last day before Fall Break). I will confirm the date soon to give everyone time to plan their contributions.
Homework Planners
After the parent evening and your requests, we have restarted our routine of writing in our homework planners during homeroom. Please check your child’s planner regularly to make sure they are recording their assignments. A few students still do not have a planner, if your child is one of them, please help them get one as soon as possible. This is an important step in building the executive functioning skills they will need in secondary school.
English Homeroom
This week we continued reading Refugee, held discussions about its themes, and worked on our realistic fiction stories. Students developed characters, focusing on their likes and dislikes, and began building conflicts around these traits. Some have also started planning their settings and practicing how to hook readers using vivid language.
Most students have joined our English Google Classroom, but if your child has not, please encourage them to do so. Important items like the reading schedule will be posted there. Our reading test on Refugee will be on Tuesday, October 14th during our double-hour session. The topics will be reviewed in class the week before to help students prepare.
English Differentiation
Students worked on key vocabulary from Refugee using the Frayer Model. These words, distributed Monday, will be part of their final reading test and should be kept in their notebooks. On Wednesday, students had their first spelling quiz and received their next list of words. We are looking for ways to make spelling more meaningful and less about memorization, with a focus on root words and morphemes. We will discuss this new approach during our regular session next Wednesday.
In grammar, we reviewed capitalization rules and began working on commas, focusing on lists, introductory statements, and combining independent clauses using coordinating conjunctions.
Students were also given a Google Classroom code for our English Diff group. I will post support materials there periodically and students are encouraged to check it especially if they are absent for the spelling words that they may have missed. The code for that Google Classroom is: t6u7mcrm for those that still may need it to join.
Math
We finished Topic 1: Numeration. Students completed their third independent practice assignment and received a review packet. They will continue working on it Monday, and it will be due Tuesday. After that, we will begin our next topic on using variables to write expressions and exploring the properties of operations. Our first math test will be on October 16th during our double-hour session. A study guide will be available on Google Classroom the week before.
Social Studies
This week, we learned how glaciers formed and shaped the German landscape. Students also began studying the four main landscapes of Germany: the North German Plain, the Central Uplands, the Alpine Foothills, and the Alps. Next week, we will explore the industries and geographical features of these regions.
Art
Students continued creating their fantasy maps and met Helene Wires, a 12th-grade student completing a passion project with our class through the National Honor Society (NHS). This program allows students to give back to their community through volunteering and passion projects.
Helene’s main project will take place on October 2nd during our double art hour. For this, students are asked to bring in clean materials that can be repurposed, such as empty egg cartons, tin cans, plastic bottles with lids, and glass jars. Helene will also host a fundraiser to purchase tea lights, canvases, and other supplies to support our class during this special art session.
Wishing you all a great weekend ahead!