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October 23, 2009
www.sixthgradevoices.weebly.com DeLaurentis/Marnell

Ask your child about:

Our Class Blog Homework
Parent & Teacher & S tudent =
Archaeologist Visit S uccess !
Jason & The Argonauts Dear Families,
play on Wednesday 10/28
Boy, have we had a busy October so far! It’s hard to believe
First Writing Celebration!
that November is right around the corner. With jam-packed
New Dell Mini Laptops! schedules, time is flying and each day brings new treasures.
We’d like to remind you of some things going on in Rooms
Meet our NEW Class 103 & 104. Please discuss them with your child!
Historians, Bloggers,
Photographers and
Newscasters in this Progress reports will be coming home soon! Parent-
issue: teacher conferences have started! Two more days are
coming up, 10/29 and 11/3. We’re looking forward to
NEWSCASTERS meeting with you! Parent + Teacher + Student = Success!
*Alex P. We’re all in this together! Keep us informed and
*Emily F.
connected!
Please check out our class website & blog. With our
PHOTOGRAPHERS new Dell Mini Laptops (read the next page!), we will be
*Jordan B. utilizing technology in the classroom on a daily basis.
Students will be navigating and posting information on our
*Michael K.
website. It will become our virtual classroom. Keep up with
our website and blog, check it periodically and ask your child about
BLOGGERS new updates. Have them “show you around!”
*Michael M.
See Ms. Marnell’s math & science updates on page 3.
*Aria H.
There are many things to look out for over the next few
weeks!
HISTORIANS
*Brandon F.
Need extra resources? Want a head-start on the next
unit? Not sure what to write about? Not sure how to
respond to your reading? Visit
www.sixthgradevoices.weebly.com to find materials!

Please keep in touch with us through email! We look

forward to hearing from you soon!
 Sixth Grade Voices Page 2
*Breaking Classroom News from Alex P.
On Friday, October 16th in Ms. DeLaurentis’ class, we did
News* a mock archaeological dig. We decorated our clay pots.
Everyone drew a different symbol on it like basketball,
favorite food, etc.
We now have Monday we broke the pots and teachers hid them in the
our Dell Mini dirt. Then we used tools to find the pieces in the dirt. All
Laptops! the kids got their own archaeologist notebook.
We did this project because we are learning about
News from Ms. D… ancient civilizations. All the kids had a lot of fun doing
This week we received our this dig project.
brand new Dell Mini
Laptops. As you can
imagine, it’s a very
exciting time in Room 104
right now!
Michael M. & Aria H. are our BLOGGERS!
Students will be using Go to our website and check out their blog!
their laptops on a daily
basis. As part of growing
and learning in the 21st Michael M. blogged about a new “hit” series SKELETON
century, it is our hope to CREEK! The book is published by Scholastic and is a hit
use technology as much as across the nation. It is a thriller/mystery that leaves you on
possible in the classroom. the edge of your seat. It’s written in journal form but also
includes videos to watch as the main character figures out
Class work and homework clues to the mystery. Michael says it’s a “must read!”
in reading, writing, and
social studies will now Michael included a poll on the blog. Go check it out and
include using the vote!
computer. Students will
not be able to bring
laptops home. However, I Aria H. blogged about a special visitor, Mrs. Bernard. Mrs.
highly recommend that Bernard came from Bruce Museum to discuss archaeology.
each student bring a flash She had many hands-on tools that all students loved
drive to school every day. learning about. We took many pictures too. Go check them
It’s one of the easiest ways out! 
to save and transport files
from school to home.
 Sixth Grade Voices Page 3
News updates
from Emily F. Ms. Marnell’s MATH &
Don’t forget!
Social Studies: This week
we have been learning SCIENCE Updates!
about Archaeology. Ms.
DeLaurentis set up 7 Math= We will be working on discounts, tax, tip and commission in
digging sites. We were set order to get ready to set up our stores. As a heads-up: the students
up in small groups will be working in groups of 2-3 and will need a tri-fold per group in
according to which pot we order to complete this project.
made a symbol on.
We separated the bin into
four different squares and Science= After looking at fingerprint patterns and discussing their
skimmed each layer of soil importance to us, we are now learning about acids and bases and how
until we found an artifact. we can relate this chemistry topic to our crime scene. The students will
This project was really be introduced to DNA next week and our guest speakers have been very
enjoyable and fun! helpful. Heads up: After students finish their investigations, they
will write a report on their conclusion. They can write their report
Science: In science we in the viewpoint of a detective or news reporter.
have been learning about
detecting a crime. Last
week, a special visitor came
in and taught us all about
detective work and
different ways to figure out
crimes. He told us ways to
HISTORIAN CORNER
Reported by: Brandon F.
trick people into admitting
they committed a crime. In
our “Case of a Missing
Millionaire” crime scene, Currently in Social Studies, we have been archaeologists.
we have been detecting
fingerprints and searching
We recorded information on the artifacts we found. On
for clues. Tuesday, a special visitor came in to tell us about
archaeology. She told us that she was an archaeologist
Math: We have been and about the tools and weapons people used in the old
working on fractions,
ages.
decimals and percents. We
learned how to change a She brought in copies of artifacts so we could see what it
fraction to a percent and a
fraction to a decimal. It is a
really looked like. It was exciting to have a real
little tricky but Ms. Marnell archaeologist come in!
makes it fun and enjoyable!

Reading: Everyone loves

relaxing on the carpet and
listening to a read aloud!
We are reading The Tiger
Rising by Kate DiCamillo.
Every time we read, we
stop and jot about the
story. (Feelings,
personalities, etc.)
Writing:
We are writing personal narratives. They are small moments that we stretched
out and added detail to. We had story surgery which was really fun! We had to cut
and paste in our newly added revisions. We moved on to typing our drafts and
now finally edited our piece. We are hoping to have a celebration soon for
publishing our work. These first two months of school have been REALLY fun!
 Sixth Grade Voices Page 4

Pictures from Photographer Jordan

Above: Mrs. Bernard talking to Jacob about a rock he found.

Below: Mrs. Bernard talking to the class.
Skull from the early ages

Above: Battle Ax getting passed around at

Archaeologist Visit
Below: Alex, Jacob and Jordan putting their
pot together after they dug up the pieces

Pictures from Photographer Michael K.

Some flint even cuts paper
(shown by Mrs. Bernard) Our publishing celebration was
great (especially the cookies!)

Above: Team building activities

were a success!
Below: Some rocks from the
Neanderthal Age