News Detail

UE Academics

"Click here" to learn more about what is taking place in 5th- and 6th-Grade Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Tutorial this week.

Language Arts

 
Ms. Bennett's Language Arts class begins a new list of spelling words focusing on number prefixes: bicentennial, bilingual, bipartisan, centimeter, centigrade, centipede, monopoly, monologue, monotonous, multicultural, multimillionaire, multimedia, polygon, polygraph, polysyllabic, quadruple, quadrant, unicycle, unison, and universe. Students will practice relating the syllables to similarly related words such as monosyllabic, trilingual, and millimeter. The test over these words will be on Thursday, March 17. Our next list of vocabulary words from Wordly Wise consists of the following: adapt, deplete, efficient, fatigue, gait, glare, habitat, oblivious, outmoded, prominent, quench, rigor, sear, transport, and wend. Students will practice matching the words to their definition, selecting the correct word to be inserted into a sentence, and the reading section that accompanies this list is about the desert. The quiz over these words will be on Thursday, March 17. Students are completing an enjoyable study of Three Cups of Tea. It has been wonderful to incorporate the comprehension skills of cause and effect into our classroom conversations. The boys enjoy the adventure, outdoors, and cultural aspects of the book. It has also been fun to look at the photographs included in the reading. We continue working on fluency while reading aloud; there have been great opportunities to practice nonsense words since all the names and places in the book are from the Arabic language. Students continue to participate in a daily writing prompt that allows them the opportunity to compose and edit each day. We are also practicing planning longer essays since the ERB will be at the end of this month.
 
This week in Ms. Clark’s Language Arts class: Phonological Awareness- The students have completed their SPIRE Level 8 assessments. As a class we will be completing the last 3 lessons in the book. This week we are focusing on i=/y/ and ch=/k/, /sh/. Phonics- The class is practicing words that have the i sound of /y/. These are words such as million, opinion, rebellion, regional, and genius.  Vocabulary- This week the students have a new vocabulary list containing words from the novel The Lost Hero. They will be completing vocabulary activities using these words both in class and for homework over the next two weeks. There will be a quiz on these words on Friday 3/18. Written Expression- Students are continuing a new writing prompt this week. They are still in the planning and outlining phase. This step of the writing process with be completed this week and students will begin their rough drafts. Reading Comprehension- This week the class is discussing Chapters 38-42 in The Lost Hero. The class is continuing to focus on drawing conclusions from the plot and character interactions. The students are also working on the map they have created which sequences the locations and new characters that the main characters meet along their quest.
 
Mrs. Hayes' Language Arts: Phonemic Awareness- Students are beginning work on the prefixes -dis and -mis.  The phonogram cards with these prefixes will be added to our stack of around 30 phonogram cards that we use to practice sounds daily.  Students will also use tiles to build words with the prefixes and decode words in their reader. Spelling- New spelling words include disappoint, discuss, distract, distress, distant, disagree, disadvantage, disrespect, mispronounce, misbehave, misplace, and mismanage. Vocabulary- Students were assessed on vocabulary words from our last SPIRE unit and words from Brian's Hunt by choosing seven words and using them in meaningful sentences.  New vocabulary words include distinction, discrepancy, discriminate, disembark, distortion, and misallocate. Comprehension- Students wrapped up reading and demonstrating comprehension of Brian's Hunt by taking an AR test and answering written comprehension questions about the book.  The boys all agreed that this was a favorite book read this year.  We are now looking at novels and giving our top three picks to decide on our next class novel. Written Expression- Students are using a graphic organizer to record the title, introduction, beginning, middle, end, details and conclusion of ideas so that they may plan for their narrative writing samples.
 
This week in Mrs. Hibbs’ Language Arts Class:  Phonological Awareness- We are continuing our study of the suffix -ic in SPIRE Level 8.  Students are determining the number of syllables in each word and working to pronounce these multisyllable words while reading.  Phonics- Students drill with phonogram cards to reinforce the suffixes we have learned.  They will also build the words with letter tiles.  Vocabulary- In addition to learning new vocabulary while reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, our list of -ic words will be used for vocabulary practice.  We will have a vocabulary quiz on Friday over our -ic word list.  Written Expression- As we continue to practice writing skills, we will focus on sequence and transition words this week.  Students will edit their work for fragments and run on sentences.  Reading Comprehension- Students have worked to identify symbolism in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  In addition, they will answer “wh” discussion questions after reading assigned chapters.  
 
This week in Mrs. Howard's Language Arts class, the students completed daily writing prompts utilizing our sequencing skills and transitions and descriptive words in preparation for upcoming ERB testing. We continued to work on 5-paragraph essay organization. Spelling- Students took a spelling quiz on Thursday over Spellography Lesson 22. Spellography Lesson 23 was introduced on Friday. In this lesson student will focus on the spelling of /ow/ by the position of the sound in a word. They will also review homophone and usage, syllables and accent and split personality words.  Our grammar focus continued on regular and irregular verbs and specifically on the rules for the verb be; both past and present tenses.  Reading Comprehension- Students enjoyed our oral reading of Chapters 11-15 in our class novel study, Tuck Everlasting. Students are encouraged to use best voice and show emotion and flow while reading. We continued to practice our inference strategies and rereading as part of a group discussion for stronger comprehension. As part of our active reading, students summarized the main characters and the feelings of each character. They made story cubes that represented the main literary elements including the main characters, setting and conflict. Student also responded to the reading by writing personal responses and analyzing the literature with written recall and interpretation responses. Class time was given for students to complete Accelerated Reader tests. Students are required to complete two tests per month.
 
Ms. Kienzle’s Language Arts class: We will continue focusing on the SPIRE sound -ie as in pie and chief. Vocabulary: Students will learn -ie vocabulary words by providing definitions, using words in meaningful sentences, and providing synonyms and antonyms. Students will also review vocabulary words from Number the Stars by Louis Lowry. Comprehension: Students have completed reading Number the Stars. They will review vocabulary, characters, and events from the novel and prepare to take a final test. Written Expression: Students will prepare for ERB testing by responding to daily writing prompts. Students will be encouraged to use prewriting, writing, and editing strategies from Story Grammar Marker. Phonological awareness: Students will segment target -ie words into individual phonemes or sounds. Beginning, middle, and ending sound identification, as well as rhyming will be targeted. Phonics/Spelling: Spelling will be targeted each day during SPIRE lessons and written expression activities. 
 
Mrs. Lewis' Language Arts Class: Reading Comprehension: This week we will read the final story in our Journeys and Quests unit of Open Court 5.  The students have been practicing the skills of predicting and asking questions to guide their comprehension while reading. We are also spending a lot of time learning to identify the author's purpose. They are learning to distinguish between writing that is written to entertain/narrate, inform/describe, and persuade. Learning these different purposes helps the students know what kinds of questions to ask while reading. It also has helped them in the organization of their own writing. Written Expression: The students are learning to read a writing prompt and identify what kind of writing they will be doing. This helps them choose the appropriate form of outline in their planning.  We are continuing to practice our pre-writing strategies in homework. The students are learning to use the form of the prompt to guide the structure of their response.
 
Mrs. Prewitt’s Language Arts class continues with SPIRE 7. The class is starting with Phonics (Sound/Symbol Relationships) SPIRE 7 ei (ee, and a sounds), eigh, and open vowel sounds i (ee and i). Phonological Awareness (Awareness of the different sounds in words, and the understanding of the relationships of the sounds) ei, eigh, and open vowel i (reindeer, ceiling, neighbor, alligator, and radio).  Fluency (Using appropriate expression and speed in reading): Students will read decodable words, sentences, and short stories and essays from the lessons including “Henry Wadsworth Longfellow” and “Reindeer”. Vocabulary: Students will continue the unit including words with ct, ei, eigh sounds including: receipt, caffeine, conceit, neighborhood, concoct, beige, feign, reign, perceive, neigh. Written Expression: Grammar with Daily Oral Language which includes editing in a multiple choice format and paragraph format. Students continue practicing ERB style prompt writing in stages with a concentration on the editing. Story Grammar: Students will continue to discuss and read, Leepike Ridge. Students have read through Chapter 4 as a class. Students are collaborating to create an Inspire flipchart following the story outline with an In a Nutshell page format where the students may also analyze figures of speech and other types of additional information related to this story. 
 
Phonics (Sound/Symbol Relationships): The students in Mrs. Ralston’s class are reviewing the two exceptions to open syllable i: when i appears at the end of the second syllable and is followed by a consonant in the next syllable (Ci/C), it usually is pronounced /ih/; and when i appears at the end of the second syllable and is followed by a vowel in the next syllable (Ci/V), it is usually pronounced /ee/.  Phonological Awareness (Awareness of the different sounds in words, and the understanding of the relationships of the sounds):  Phonemic awareness drills focused on syllable segmentation and blending.  For example, evidence would be segmented into three syllables pronounced /ev/ -  /ih/ - /dence/ and then blended together as evidence.  Fluency (Using appropriate expression and speed in reading):  The students are working on their Ci/V concept fluency drill nightly.  This Friday they will take a second posttest for Ci/C and their first posttest for Ci/V.  Vocabulary:  The boys are completing vocabulary maps in class and for homework targeting Frindle vocabulary terms using the laptop programs Comic Life and ActiveInspire.  They will take their Accelerated Reader vocabulary test when they complete this vocabulary project.  Comprehension:  The students took an Accelerated Reader 36-question, multiple choice, literacy quiz on the novel Frindle.  The open note checking progress quizzes helped prepare them for this online quiz.  Written Expression:  The students are in the composing stage of their written summaries for the class novel Frindle.  They have typed their IVF topic sentences and are currently turning each JOTT into a supporting sentence. 
 
Mrs. Richter's Language Arts class is finishing the i open syllable phonics (sound/symbol relationship) lesson in Level 7 SPIRE. When i is not the first open syllable it makes two sounds.  The two sounds are short i as in alligator and long e as in radio.  Open syllable is a syllable that ends in a vowel sound.  Phonological Awareness: (awareness of the different sounds in words, and the understanding of the relationships of the sounds) Counting syllables, breaking words into syllables, and changing sounds were the skills practiced this week.  For example, say visitor but do not say /er/.  What word do you have? visit  Fluency: (using appropriate expression and speed in reading)  Students read multisyllable words that followed the i open syllable patterns.  Vocabulary: Students are compiling unfamiliar words from the SPIRE reader and novel study.  Students will have a vocabulary test after Spring Break.  This week students completed a crossword puzzle using elevated words from the text. Comprehension: Students read “An American Aviator” and answered questions about Amelia Earhart. Students also read Chapters 5 and 6 in Brian’s Winter and answered questions. Spelling: The words are indicate, animal, fascinate, investigate, difficult, radio, studio, period, ingredient, and obedient.  The spelling test will be tomorrow, March 11.  Written Expression:  Students write in their journals every day and practice grammar skills using Daily Oral Language warm-up drills.  This week students wrote a paper about creating their own theme park.  They had to include attractions and a description of the layout.  In grammar this week students are concentrating on adding descriptive details to their supporting sentences.
 
Ms. Rigdon's Language Arts class finished the novel study on Number the Stars.  Phonics/Spelling: The class is finishing the study of the sounds /oi/ and /oy/.  Each student claps for every syllable and is desperately trying to recognize the different pieces of the multisyllabic words.  Fluency: SPIRE stories are to be read aloud at home with attention to punctuation, paragraphs, pausing at commas, and stopping at periods as well as reading with emotion.    Reading Comprehension has been closely tied to their writing plans.  They are looking to see what the main idea of the prompt is and how to best answer the question.  They are paying close attention to details in order to better support their objective/purpose of the paper and to add interest to their papers.
 
Mrs. Rose’s Language Arts: Students will continue to read Shipwrecked! this week and aim to finish before Spring Break. Students will participate in class discussions to aid comprehension. Students will complete short vocabulary exercises in class and will answer discussion questions both in class and at home. In grammar, students are still working with verbs. This week, students will use Inspiration, a program on their computer, to create a diagram of verbs and verb forms. Students will be encouraged to use various forms of verbs in their writing. Students also worked diligently to create an outline on their computers using the information from the “Organizational Game” they used last week. Students began typing their outlines into paragraph form and will display their finished writings in our classroom. These activities will help prepare students for the ERB, a writing test that will be given in a few weeks. 
 
Last week in Miss Southard's Language Arts class, students focused on completing their final project for their novel study on Three Cups of Tea. Each student was asked to create a children’s book that would summarize the novel. The class did a fantastically creative job of constructing children’s books from their own point of view. The class also created a novel time line which will soon be placed in the hallway. This week, students will focus on taking practice tests for the ERB. The class will be asked to view previous writing assignments and grade those assignments according to ERB standards. Students will also refresh their Step Up to Writing skills by editing papers and outlining their own written work.
 
In Mrs. Yessick’s Language Arts, the class is wrapping up the phonemic focus on ur.  Next, the students will have a reinforcement lesson on all these irregular r-controlled phonemes:  ar/arr, er/err, ir, and ur.  Students will use the phoneme-grapheme sheets to indicate syllable breaks as well as consonants and vowels within each syllable.  It is in the reinforcement lesson that students are given a passage to read that is filled with words containing the phonemes being studied.  This week’s passage is “Ferrets:  Pure Fun for the Serious Pet Owner.”  After reading the passage, students will complete questions for comprehension.  Students have been given a new spelling list of words containing these same phonemes.  Continue to practice the one-minute fluency drills at home.  Each Friday, students are assessed on these fluency drills and their improvement is charted.  The class is enjoying Frindle and have tried to throw some “thought grenades” to derail our discussion!  This week, Chapters 4, 5, and 6 will be read and the vocabulary in each chapter will be practiced along with the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, and Why).  There will be a quiz on these chapters on Friday, March 11.  In addition to Daily Grams to review grammar and punctuation, students are completing practice tests which look similar to standardized tests that will be taken this spring.  When students begin testing, the format and instructions will be familiar.  In written expression, students are continuing to write on ERB prompts.  One such prompt was about a bus trip where they were dropped off at the wrong stop and adventures they had before returning home.  Topic sentences and concluding sentences will be emphasized.  
 

Math

 
A job well done to Ms. Bennett's Everyday Math class as we have completed a geometry unit. We'd also like to thank Mrs. Ralston for visiting and presenting a fun class about using compasses. Perhaps we have some future drafters and engineers in our midst! We are eager to begin Unit 8: Rates and Ratios. This officially moves us into Journal 2 which is an event the students have been excitedly anticipating. Our first lesson reviews the application of finding rate. We will talk about per-unit rates and also use a table method for finding rates. We will also begin to relate rates to proportions using familiar objects such as how many pages a printer can print in a minute and how many pages can be read from a book in a certain amount of time. The computation review with this skill is multidigit division.
 
This week Ms. Clark’s Math class is continuing a geometry unit. This unit will last for several weeks and cover area of many different geometric shapes as well as volume of certain three dimensional shapes. They have begun with learning about polygons and quadrilaterals and are now learning about the radius, diameter, and circumference of a circle. Students will then be learning about area of circles and moving into parallelograms by the end of the week.
 
Students in Mrs. Hayes' Math class are continuing to review fractions, multiplication with two digits, reading graphs, estimation and long division.  Students are taking one page practice tests that require them to complete the problem and find the answer in a multiple choice format to help them gain confidence with standardized testing. New Saxon lessons will show students how to solve rate word problems using multiplication, will review estimation, and will show them how to find either the rate or the amount of time in a rate problem that involves time and for which the total is given.  Our next Saxon test reviews factors, percent, multiples, perimeter, computation with decimals, order of operations, square roots, and line segments.
 
This week in Mrs. Howard’s Math class we reviewed fractions, percents and measurement with a hands on cooking from scratch activity. We began Unit 6 in the Everyday Math book, Using Data. Our initial focus is to use data from surveys to begin stem and leaf plots and to investigate the effect of sample size. Students also completed an interactive bulletin board, creating their own questions for fellow classmates to solve.  Application and Concepts: Students completed daily math drills to improve fact fluency and also began daily computation problem solving to review computation skills. Students practiced these skills interactively as a whole group and independently with online assessments and games, including FASTT Math and Zorbow.
 
Mrs. Lewis’ Math: Homework this week continues to focus on practicing a variety of application and computation skills as presented on the Curriculum Based Assessments. The students have had fun competing with each other to review the variety of different problems they are presented with.  The current focus of our unit is learning to divide multidigit decimals. This multiple step process is difficult to follow through with, so we are using a lot of repetition to practice the steps.
 
In Mrs. Prewitt’s class, we’ll be combining Unit 5 and 6: Decimals and Mixed Numbers. Computation: Students will continue to practice different types of mixed computation including new concepts. Students will continue to practice computation with fractions. Students will begin to use decimals and mixed numbers for computation. Concepts and Applications: Students continue to add to their “Cheat Codes” books, which is a self made dictionary of definitions and examples of mathematical terms used in the Transitional Mathematics book (ie: relating fractions, percents, decimals, and money). Students will create a poster with their own saying for Order of Operations to display in the room. Students will practice different types of learned concepts in multiple choice format and word problems.  Fact Fluency/Automaticity: Students continue FASTT Math in division and subtraction. Students will complete speed drills rotating multiplication, subtraction, division, and addition on paper and online. Students will concentrate on subtraction this week. 
 
Students in Mrs. Richter's Math class are working on individual computation skills.  Some are finishing three-digit by two-digit multiplication while another group is multiplying and dividing fractions.   The multiplication group will have a test tomorrow, March 11.  The fraction group will have a test Wednesday, March 16.  Every day students start class computing problems from previously taught computation skills.  This week students continued to practice the following concepts and applications identifying money, making correct change, place value, and finding mean, median, and range. The new concept is converting fractions to decimals and percentages.  In addition to this students spend time working every other day on FASTT Math, which is a computer software program designed to strengthen students math fluency with facts.  Students spent this week reviewing 0s - 7s.
 
Ms. Rigdon's Math class continues to use FASTT Math to improve fluency of facts with the fact families 6-12 by practicing the opposite of multiplication which is division.  The students have been using the 9-Lines to image their facts and build the relationships between division and multiplication and to further understand their divisibility rules.  Yay!  Now that a strong foundation for fractions has been laid, the students are learning the differences between proper, improper and mixed numbered fractions.  The students are also learning GCF (greatest common factor), LCM (least common multiple), and LCD (lowest common denominator) in order to adequately reduce or rename their fractions. 
 
Mrs. Rose’s Math: In concepts and application, students continue to practice using arrays to calculate large groups of numbers. In computation, students will begin to look at basic decimals to the hundredth place. Students will begin to add and subtract using decimals this week. They will also begin to look at percentages such as 10% and 100% and their relationship to decimals such as .10 and 1.00. Students will be asked to identify digits that are in the tenth or hundredth place and will learn how to compare decimals. 
 
Last week in Miss Southard's Math class, students focused on multiplication of decimals. This week students will focus on division of decimals. Students will also complete an activity using the ActivInspire Board in order to strengthen their skills in converting fractions, decimals, and percents. The wiki will be used a good bit in math this week, in order to quiz students on new material like division of decimals and percents. A quiz will be scheduled for decimals, fractions, and percents before spring break.
 
In Mrs. Yessick’s Math class, the division prompts of D, M, S, Ch, and B are becoming as familiar as the ABC’s.  The class is wrapping up the concentrated study of long division and these guys have shown tremendous growth.  Since division is always a part of warm up problems in computation, there will be constant review.  The class will focus next on fractions which is just another way of writing a division problem.  Students are familiar with fractions, because they have been a part of computation problems and in the study of measurement.   For the fraction study, the class will be using Making Math Real materials as well as Key to Fractions curriculum.  Students will have a notebook which will provide great examples and reference.  To help prepare students for standardized tests in the spring, the class will complete practice tests which are formatted similar to the standardized tests.  In the measurement study, students will be playing a game called “The Inch Hop.”  The class will be able to share this game with you so that you can play at home.  The only items needed are a ruler, paper clip, and different colored pen or pencil for each player.  Have fun playing and practicing reading the ruler with your child!
 
 

5th-Grade Science Lab

 
Students received a self-evaluation sheet today that is due next Tuesday.  You should spend this week working on your display.  The self-evaluation checklist is an excellent way to make sure each component of the project is done and ready to turn in Tuesday, March 15.  Remember if you have any questions about the project e-mail the homeroom teacher or me.  My e-mail is michele.richter@curreyingram.org.
 
In lab class, fifth graders are studying Unit C, Chapter 2, Lesson 2: Molecules and Compounds and Lesson 3: The Periodic Table.  Students spent this week making their own models of the Periodic Table of Elements from Fun Noodles.  Students love this project.  The models will be on display in the hallway by Eskind Library.  Next week students will make models of molecules and compounds using toothpicks, candies, and marshmallows.
 
5th-Grade Science
 
Students in Mrs. Hayes' Social Studies class are continuing to learn about how inventions and industry changed the way of life for Americans in the late 19th Century and early 20th century. Vocabulary words include monopoly, corporations, shareholders, labor unions, and strike.  Students are learning how the influx of immigrants coming to the United States during this time period also changed the face of America.  Students will be taking a virtual tour of Ellis Island on their laptops to learn about the early process of immigration.  This will help them learn about how the U.S. dealt with immigration in those days and how laws continue to change today. Parents, be ready for questions about ancestry and your family history.
 
Ms. Rigdon's Science class continues to work with their Science Projects.  The next sheet will come home on March 11 and will be due back on March 15.  Science lab discoveries deal with molecules and their role in the atom.  Also, if there are any concerns or questions concerning the Science projects or the red folder due dates, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Richter or myself.  Thank you for all you do in assisting your students in the evenings.
 
Mrs. Rose’s Science: This week, students begin to discuss atoms and elements from Unit C, Chapter 2, Lesson 1. Students will continue to discuss new terms including atoms, electrons, nucleus, proton, neutron, electron cloud model, and chemical symbols. Science project sheet #5 will be assigned on Thursday, March 10. Students will be asked to evaluate their projects using a scale and to make final decisions regarding the presentation of their projects. Students should also be completing their science experiments at home this week. Science projects are due March 15.
 
6th-Grade Science Lab
 
Students are studying Chapter 3: Chemistry, Lesson 1: Properties of Matter.  Students finished an experiment involving water’s reaction with iodine, baking soda, and vinegar.  Students recorded observations such as fizzing, bubbling, and change in color.  Students also made their own invisible ink using an equal measurement of water and baking soda.  After it dried, students rubbed grape juice over the paper.  When baking soda comes in contact with grape juice there is a change in color revealing the hidden message or picture.  Students also studied Chapter 3, Lesson 2: Ionic and Covalent Bonds.  Students used toothpicks, candies, and marshmallows to demonstrate ionic and covalent bonds between the electron clouds of atoms.  Next week students will conduct an experiment measuring the pH value of various household objects.  
 
6th-Grade Science
 
A job well done to everyone in Ms. Bennett's Science class. Each student did a fantastic job with our second quiz that was comprised completely of diagrams, graphs, and pictures. It was wonderful to be able to incorporate everyone's drawings into the final product. We had a great time doing additional research into the different usage for expansion joints. Students were able to watch videos showing various types of expansion joints, where they are made, and how they are used. We also participated in several fun class demonstrations showing the effect of thermal expansion and contraction on basic household items such as drinking glasses.
 
This week Ms. Clark’s Science class concluded Lesson 1 of Chapter 2 in Unit C, and began Lesson 2. The class is learning about conduction, convection, and radiation, and where we can find examples of them in our daily lives. They are also studying different forms of energy such as potential and kinetic. 
 
Mrs. Lewis' Science class: Last week in science, the students completed their "quest" on energy vocabulary. They studied and worked hard! We are now moving into chemical properties and will begin building our knowledge of science terms such as atom, nucleus, and matter.  In science lab, the students are testing different materials to see how they react with one another. 
 
Last week in Miss Southard's Science class, students completed their Unit C, Chapter 1 test. The test covered three lessons on energy, radiation, and light. Students will take time this week to begin their Ancient Rome unit in Social Studies. Science studies will resume the week before Spring Break.
 

5th-Grade Social Studies

 
Students in Mrs. Hayes' Social Studies class are continuing to learn about how inventions and industry changed the way of life for Americans in the late 19th Century and early 20th century. Vocabulary words include monopoly, corporations, shareholders, labor unions, and strike.  Students are learning how the influx of immigrants coming to the United States during this time period also changed the face of America.  Students will be taking a virtual tour of Ellis Island on their laptops to learn about the early process of immigration.  This will help them learn about how the U.S. dealt with immigration in those days and how laws continue to change today. Parents, be ready for questions about ancestry and your family history.
 
Ms. Rigdon’s Social Studies class will be researching Big Industry and the Industrial Revolution. The new inventors were backed by the philanthropists.  The students are getting to know such influential men such as John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie.  Students will be studying all week, using their notes and manipulatives throughout the week in order to get to know the influential inventors of the Industrial Revolution as well as getting to know the present day movers and shakers changing the face of industry and commerce today.  
 
Mrs. Rose’s Social Studies: Students discussed Jane Addams this week and the Hull House, the first settlement house in the United States. Students worked on an activity at home in which they matched up inventors with their inventions. Students continue to work on invention brochures this week. Using teacher guided research, students included important information in their brochures including where the invention was created and how it is useful to us today. 
 
6th-Grade Social Studies
 
Ms. Bennett's Social Studies class continues to do an excellent job preparing for quizzes with multiple choice questions. The students are doing a fantastic job incorporating various types of technology into their reviews as well. Each student is able to create a flipchart using Active Inspire. Students use this program to create their own quiz questions with four different answers. The most fun part is choosing a creative way to reveal the answer! All of these opportunities reinforce skills of test taking along with the information we are currently learning about Rome. Our next quiz will be over Chapter 9, Lesson 3: The Roman Empire. The students will fill out a study guide to help them prepare, and the quiz will be on Thursday, March 17.
 
This week Ms. Clark’s Social Studies class is learning about the government of Ancient Rome. The class completed a skit of the legend of Romulus and Remus, and performed it for the other sixth-grade classes on Tuesday. During class the students are making several diagrams using Inspiration 8 to show the set up of government in Ancient Rome. They are also comparing the Roman Republic with the government in the United States today. 
 
Mrs. Lewis’ Social Studies: We have created our time-line of important events in Ancient Egypt and Greece to ground us in where Ancient Rome fits into what we have studied so far. The students are beginning their study of Ancient Rome by learning about the geography. They are beginning to build their vocabulary as well.  This weekend, the students will be reading some interesting articles on current events and articles focusing on Women's History month for their homework.
 
This week in Miss Southard's Social Studies class, students are beginning their Unit on Ancient Rome. Students completed an interactive time line on Miss Southard's Social Studies wiki, virtually dressed a Roman soldier, and listened to the story of Romulus and Remus. In class, students will read Chapters One through Three on Roman geography, the rise of the Roman republic, and the Roman Empire. Vocabulary includes aqueduct, dictator, census, gladiator, Pax Romana, consul, tribune, senate, and more.
 

Tutorial

 
Ms. Bennett's Tutorial class continues to participate in a daily writing prompt. Some of this week's topics are about explorer Amerigo Vespucci, scientist Albert Einstein, and President James Madison. The prompts highlight an aspect of each of their lives, and ask the students to respond. This gives excellent composition practice, especially for the ERB coming up at the end of the month. After writing a paragraph, each student prints the paragraph and edits their work independently. After completing the independent edit, Ms. Bennett works with the student to make all necessary corrections. This is a great opportunity for feedback about organization and mechanics.
 
This week in Ms. Clark's Math Tutorial, the students are beginning to learn about parallel lines, polygons and other geometric shapes. Students are also making a chart to classify quadrilaterals. They will be using these shapes to begin finding perimeter and area of shapes as well.  All students are also continuing fact practice of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 
 
Students in Mrs. Hayes' Writing Tutorial are using a graphic organizer to record the title, introduction, beginning, middle, end, details and conclusion of ideas so that they may plan for their narrative writing samples.  Special instruction and attention is given to using more descriptive words and phrases in our writing so that we "show" the reader instead of simply "tell" the reader our story.
 
Mrs. Howard's Problem Solving and Critical Thinking Tutorial class: This week students worked together to complete a bridge structure using coffee cans, raw spaghetti, masking tape weights, and cardboard. Students had to discern a plan that would incorporate all pieces and all 6 students working together in an assigned time frame to complete the structure. Additionally, we focused on judging accuracy in written statements as well as listening activities. Students also used deductive reasoning skills to solve problems.
 
Mrs. Lewis’ Tutorial: The students are continuing to build their mental math skills with fact fluency strategy games. We are taking a short break from our house project to build our computation skills with decimals and fractions. The students are learning how to take percentages of whole numbers and dollar amounts, add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions, and apply these skills to word problems. They are also learning mental math strategies to aid in their computation.
 
Mrs. Richter’s Tutorial class is a focus on written expression with an emphasis on generating ideas and adding details to writing. Students spent this week editing and typing their final copy about being stranded on a deserted island and three items they would want with them.  When finished with this writing assignment, students were asked to write a fun, creative fictional story about waking up one day to discover that their toothbrush is talking to them. 
 
Ms. Rigdon's Tutorial class continues to work on organization as well as their introductions and conclusions.  They are learning how to identify the main points to recognize in a writing prompt and answer accordingly, adding their own personal knowledge to the prompt.  The students are having an easier time conceptualizing the different paragraphs by splitting them up onto separate cards in order to make the most effective argument.
 
Mrs. Rose’s Tutorial Students began working on a video podcast of Someone Is Eating the Sun. Students will work together to choose the music and to narrate the recorded story. Students also played their LEGO fluency game in which they are asked to read a fluency phrase with proper pacing and expression. Students will begin to partner read each week and will be guided in how to give constructive feedback to one another. The students are working very hard on their fluency and have made tremendous growth. 
 
This week in Miss Southard's Tutorial class, students completed their poetry projects. Each student's poem, colorfully represented his or her personality, strengths, and interests. This week, students will also focus on strengthening their skills for the ERB. Each student will take a practice ERB test in class and will then be asked to edit his or her work using Step Up to Writing skills. Students will also take a look at previously completed ERB tests by anonymous writers and will analyze the strengths of the papers.
 
In Mrs. Yessick’s Math Tutorial, students are practicing geometric analogies which are similar to those found on many standardized tests.  An example of these analogies would be to start with a square which has a small dot on the upper left hand corner.  The next square has the dot on the upper right hand corner.  The student is then to complete the analogy by drawing where the dot will be located within the square in the next picture.  Students will also be using patterns to make three-dimensional shapes, which will require the group to communicate clearly to complete the shape.  Each student will be given a different pattern and with assistance from classmates, they will fold the pattern into the proper shape.
Back

List of 1 items.

Currey Ingram Academy is an exemplary JK-12 day and boarding school that empowers students with learning differences to achieve their fullest potential. Since 2002, the school has been located on an 83-acre campus in Brentwood, Tennessee, just miles from Nashville and Franklin. Families from 33 states and eight countries cite the school as their primary reason for moving to Middle Tennessee.

Currey Ingram Academy is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and AdvancEd/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).