January 19-22

Jan. 11- 15

Egypt Festival

Egypt Festival 
To culminate our study of ancient Egypt we will hold an Egypt Festival in which our classroom becomes a museum gallery dedicated to Egyptology.
You will research an element of Egyptian culture and create a museum-type display for this event. You must show depth of knowledge of some element of ancient Egyptian culture and civilization. You will gain this knowledge through research and note-taking.

The festival will be held during your class time on February 12, 2016. Since the Festival is an “event” (with invited guests), you MUST have your project ready on time. Late work is NOT accepted.

 Deadlines (models the skill of splitting a big task into smaller ones):

1. Choose Topic-5 pts. due 1/11/16 : 
Write a sentence or question that defines what aspect of ancient Egyptian culture you will research.
 Examples: I will research the process and cultural symbolism of mummification.
 -OR-
 How and why did the Egyptians mummify people? 

• Include Parent Signature **with a statement signifying that the parent is aware of the project and its due dates. 

2.  Research-60 pts. due 2/3/16 (with a research check-in the week of 1/25/16):
 Gather your materials and do your library research. Use a minimum of six sources. 

**Remember to record source information on the provided worksheet for each book you use. Near the end of the research period, you will sort your notes into sub-topics.
Your project must include SIX important sub-topics about your chosen topic. The notes you take will be organized into these sub-topics and turned in on February 4, 2015.

We will make a bibliography from your source worksheets in class on February 8. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you present. You may need to do more research after I have reviewed your information.

3. Project Plan-10 pts due 2/5/16: 
This project is a museum display. 

Displays of this type are intended to be visually appealing and convey information. You must assure that your project clearly portrays the information you have learned about your chosen topic. Your task is to figure out how your project will present this information to visitors in an interesting way.

On the due date above, turn in a Project Plan that explains how you will do that. Additional instruction will follow. (.)

 Festival (held during your class time on February 12, 2016): Make sure your project is delivered to McMurray no later than your class time on the day of the festival. Your display must show your research and include your bibliography. (65 pts.)

Happy New Year! January 4-8 2016

Dear Santa, Did You Get My Tweet?

Dear Santa, Did You Get My Tweet?

Dear Santa, did you get my tweet of presents I would think are sweet? And what about my Facebook post of toys and stuff I want the most? Dear Santa, did you read my blog? That's where I keep a running log of all the times that I've been good and doing things I know I should. I hope you saw my Instagram, my email wasn't flagged as spam, you've seen my YouTube channel too and all my texts have made it through. Wait, does the North Pole even get computers and the Internet? I hope it does. I mean, it better, or I might have to write a letter. --Kenn Nesbitt

December 14-18

This is the last week of school before our break. You will return to school on January 4th. Have a wonderful break making memories with your loved ones.

December 7-11

Click on this picture to enlarge it.

Thanksgiving Week

Thank you THANK you all for being so cool about the many guest teachers this week! Field trips and off island adventures made it tough on me, but clearly my kiddos excelled despite the variety of teachers in class. AWESOME JOB!

On Tuesday November 24th we will conclude our study of Early Humans with an epic cave painting adventure. YOU MUST BRING AN APRON OR SMOCK TO PARTICIPATE!

Please note: The grading period ended on November 13th. Any work that was due before the 13th will no longer be accepted for scoring.Your final Term One grades will not be posted until November 30th, to give teacher 2 weeks to finish scoring assignments and catch up on entering grades. What you see on Skyward now IS NOT your final grade. I will be sure to let you know when your Humanities grade is completed.

Click on this picture to read the schedule.
Technology is not my friend.

November 9 to 13

November 2 - 6

This is a little early, as I will not be at work for the next two days. 

Hopefully you've received your new R.V.F. and it has been discussed and reviewed with your home learning team.

Tuesday is a big day: There will be a BIG FAT TEST on The Eye of the Crow, and the Detective's Notebook is due.

October 26 to 30 and Dig Day photos

DIG DAY PHOTOS!

October 19- 23

October 12-16

Next Thursday, October 15th our class will have a simulated archaeology dig day. 

There are two parts to this assignment: 

The first part is to collect, plan, and bury items following your group’s theme. I will assign you a site, and in that site you will bury items at varying depths (Remember, the older it is, the deeper it goes.) for another group to uncover. You and/or your team will need to bury items in your assigned site in an area that is approximately 3’ wide 3’ long, and no more than 2’ deep. YOU WILL DO THIS BEST ON YOUR OWN TIME! However, I will allow your team to bury items during class time on Wednesday, if time allows, at the very end of the period if no one in your group can get to your burial site at any other time. 

 To collect artifacts to bury, I suggest you dig through your junk drawers and the bottom of your toy box, or visit Granny’s to find items. Do not bring in valuable, dangerous, or meaningful items. Discuss items you have with your team before you bury them to make sure you all agree that they follow the theme and are placed at the correct depth. 

The second part is your group uncovering artifacts that a different team buried for you. For this mock dig your team will practice the methods real archaeologists follow: 
1. study 
2. develop a hypothesis 
3. make a plan 
4. find a site 
5. excavate the site 
6. analyze the data 
7. come to a conclusion 
8. tell a story 
There will be documentation sheets for you to use during the project. 

 Parents: This is a busy and messy day. I’d LOVE to have some help on dig day! Please message me if you’re available to assist us on Thursday. Also, you may want to send a change of clothes for your student, as we will be outside digging rain or shine. 


Have you been checking grades on Skyward? Great! Please note that I enter completed assignments quite often. Because of this, any work that is turned in after I’ve collected a particular assignment goes at the bottom of the grading pile. It might take time for it to show-up, but it will eventually get there!

Finally, The DIBELS reading Fluency screen is given to all 6th graders at the beginning of the year. Each student will three different 6th grade level passages read to an adult. The reading passages are timed, which identifies students that may need further assessments in reading, either for comprehension or fluency. Volunteers are needed to help with this process. It will be given on one day to all 6th grade students. All day and half volunteers are needed. Ms. Stendahl would like to give the screen on Tues. October 20.

October 5-9 (Pssst... read all the way to the bottom of this post later in the week for an extra credit option!)

Below are our daily activities for the coming week. We will have a guest teacher Monday, and later in the week I will be posting an extra credit optional activity for you. 

PLEASE NOTE: If you are ever absent, or turn in work late for ANY reason, it will be graded when I have completed grading of all other assignments in my stacks. Late work is at the very bottom of my pile. Be patient, take a deep breath, it'll be posted eventually.

September 28 to October 2

This week we have a lot going on at McMurray! We have another week filled with funky schedules, but block days and P.D.D. days are no big whoop for us now! We're in week FOUR of our school year!

On Wednesday Ms. Stendahl will give the Dibble's reading assessment to ALL 6th graders, so we will have an independent class activity while kids are coming and going from our room.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE improve writing your names on your assignments. I counted 21 papers (of 68) with no names this week. Middle school teachers have a lot more students than elementary teachers. If you don't write your name on your work, it will not be scored. PLEASE double check that you've got your name on every assignment you turn in.

Don't forget: Back to School night is THIS WEDNESDAY! If The Boss of You shows up to hear my spiel you'll get a free homework pass! Wahooo!

September 21-25

Wow! 

We're moving into week THREE already!

Excellent work Honey-Bunnies!

Thank goodness it’s Friday! I say this almost every Friday of the school year, but truthfully, I am having such a great time getting to know your children that I’m not really stoked for the week to end. This year feels like I’ve won the student lottery: Your kiddos are so engaging and fun! My job is awesome.

The second week of school was a busy one for the kids. We had a different schedule each day, and ended the week with McMurray’s action-packed Community Day. Your kids took all these changes in stride. In Humanities we had two assignments completed, collected, and scored.  The first was a scavenger hunt created to get the kiddos familiar with their school, the other students, and my classroom procedures. The second assignment was an “All About Me” poster. Your student created a poster highlighting interests, dreams, and thoughts about who they are today; then they shared it with their class. You’ll get to see your child’s work on display at our back to school night on September 30^th.

If you’re curious about the grades your student has earned thus far, please be sure to access the district Skyward website. I update grades often, and try my best to have them current each Friday. If you have questions about grades, please ask your student before you ask me. If you see a zero score, it means your child was absent or neglected to turn the assignment in. This year I will accept late work (within reason) for all assignments.

On Wednesday your child will bring home their first research assignment. It is a simple enough task, but it may require some parental involvement. If you don’t see it in your student’s backpack Wednesday night, please ask about it. We will work on it in class and at home. It is due Friday.

If you’ve yet to visit www.msfilanoski.blogspot.com please do! I post my lesson plans for the upcoming week, including due dates. Keeping current with what your child is doing in class is a very effective way to encourage success. Have conversations about what we’re doing in class at dinner, ask your student questions about what you see; most important, talk about school! Show your student that you’re interested and they will be more successful.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them with your student. If together you’re still in question, don’t hesitate to contact me. My email address is sfilanoski@vashonsd.og

September 14-18

What a great first week we had! Thank you all for being such studly students- I'm really looking forward to a great year with y'all!

Below is the lesson plans for next week. 

If you cannot see the picture well enough to read it, click on it and it will enlarge.

You should share the QR code videos we watched in class with The Boss of You: The links are below.

1. Brain Pop "5 Themes of Geography" (AKA: Orange Juice Flood):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-81X25x1XQ

2. Mr. Nicki "5 Themes of Geography" Rap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIqC79WrpKg

A new classroom for a new school year!

 

If you have found this page, you're probably looking at your Scavenger Hunt page.

Please follow the instructions on it, in order to earn your points.

 

 

May 4-8

Pictures from our Archaeology Dig Day

Last week we had a great time putting our archaeological skills to work in a mock dig.

Students removed artifacts from the ground systematically, using a variety of tools and methods. They carefully collected and analyzed the artifacts to infer the type of civilization that inhabited their dig site in the past.

It was a fun day in education!