Friday May 24

Team Aurora has a new blog post!

We had a very busy week on Team Aurora, but I am happy to announce that we are FINISHED with sbac testing!!!!!! It was a rough two weeks, but we did it. Everyone worked super hard and for many many hours.

We also wrapped up our argument unit on Friday with our post assessment writing about "Should 13 year olds have access to social media accounts like facebook and twitter?" Students read three articles and used them for evidence. Ms. Lamb will grade all of the essays and short answer responses and return them Tuesday. This is a big report card grade, so students will have the opportunity to improve their answers using the rubric.

We are currently growing seeds in hydroponic bottle gardens in science. We will continue to watch them next week.

On June 14, we are GOING TO THE BEACH! North Beach in Burlington that is. We will be joining Team Epic for a wing beach party. We will be asking for a $10 donation to cover the cost of renting the pavilion, hiring two lifeguards and buying food for a cookout. More information on this will come home next week with students.

We talked more about our end of year trip in 6th grade. It seems that students are leaning towards going to Ottawa for one night. We will reach out to parents next week before making the final decision. That trip requires at least 10 parents to come with us. The cost is about $125 per person (adult or child) to cover the bus, four museums, and lodging. Students will also need more cash to buy three meals.  Start thinking about this. Our other option is a trip to Plimoth, MA for an overnight at Plimoth Plantation. The cost is similar.

We still have 15 days of school. Please let us know if students are unable to attend on June 17. We will be having a schoolwide field day that day, but some students need to start camps.  June 3rd is move up day for 4th graders. Fifth graders are expected to stay at school and sixth graders stay home to accommodate. We hope to switch rooms for the day with Team Momentum to check out our new rooms.


Enjoy your three day weekend!
Team Aurora

Friday May 17, 2019

Team Aurora has a new blog post!

What a week. We had SO MANY tests. We finished three of our four days of SBACS. Many many students worked very very long and hard. Actually, everybody worked hard...and the tests were tricky. We celebrate our undaunting perseverance with a WRAD on Monday. A "WRAD" is Write and read all day. Students who wish to wear pajamas, may. Just remember we have a bus evacuation drill and recess, so wear shoes and plan to go outside.

On Tuesday, we will have our final math SBAC test. Thank you to everyone who donated extra snacks. The lovely snack table helps us feel supported.

We also had a super awesome field trip to Ethan Allen Homestead for Conservation Day. The sun came out and we all learned a lot.

When we finally finish the tests, we continue with our awesome science unit on the environment. We are currently watching corn sprout, learning about the weight of air and how a tree grows to the size of 15 elephants.

In math, we continue with decimals and fractions.

In reading, we continue with our fantasy unit and work to wrap up argument writing. We have a new word study packet which will be due next Tuesday. Book club books should be finished by Monday at 1:40 for our final club meeting where we will complete a group poster. We are having some excellent conversations about magic, problems and themes.

We are currently thinking about our big sixth grade trip. Today, we had a preliminary vote on three possible trips: Camp Keewaydin (and environment sleep over camp for 4 nights in September), Ottawa, a one day sleep over at the University of Ottawa with four museums, or a reenactment trip to Plimoth Plantation. We will be reaching out to parents soon to see their thoughts.

Friday May 10

Team Aurora has a new blog post!

We feel so appreciated on the teacher appreciation week. Thank you for the lovely cards and gifts and the wonderful play that Abe, Haily, Annie and Emma put together (will Eli on tech crew.) It was a delight.

This week we practiced a bit to prepare for our ELA SBACS next Monday and Tuesday. Math SBACS for us will be the following week on Tuesday and Wednesday. The best thing you can do to prepare is get a good night's sleep.

We are deep into our fantasy book club books. Students should be at least 2/3 through the book today and finished by next Friday (Bunnicula was to be finished today as it is shorter.)  We read together Carter's Holler for our pre-assessment and discussed story elements and author's craft moves for fantasy like a quest structure and obstacles.  Many students are excited to move onto the second book in the series. If we don't have it, it is begin ordered. We will continue with fantasy until June.

In math, we continue with our study of fractions. We got new math menus this week.

Science has begun. We are studying the environment. As part of this unit we get to go on a field trip on Wednesday to the Ethan Allen Homestead to participate in the Winooski River Valley Conservation Days.  Please get your permission slips in by Monday.

We are pretty wet lately, so students should have a pair of dry clothes at school, particularly socks and shoes.

There will be no big assignments due for the next two weeks due to all the testing. The only due dates are word study due Tuesday (we will start a new one on Wednesday this week) and reading your book to finish by next Friday. We will have time in school to do both of these tasks.

Have a great weekend.

Friday May 3, 2019

Team Aurora has a new blog post!

What a wing science fair we had today! It was a great way to spend a rainy week, taking our sbac science tests and getting our science fair projects ready. Everyone was fantastic. We hope many of you take your projects to the school science fair on Wednesday. Here is that plan. Science Fair Schedule.

Aurora will be moving next year. Our new location in is the back wing of the school. We will be near the new combined team of Epic and Endurance (new name tbd).

We began our fantasy novel book clubs this week. Students should be finished with one third of the book by today. We will have our first meetings on Tuesday.

Word study was a bit short on time this week, so we will be extending the lesson for two weeks.

Weekend homework includes reading and upgrading your science fair project for the school science fair (optional, but highly recommended.)

Have a great weekend.