12/5/25

    Announcements - 

• 12/8 - Classroom spelling bee
• 12/11 - School spelling bee at 11:30
• 12/8-12/12 - Lower School raffle, tickets can be purchased by students each morning
• 12/18 - Lower School Winter Concert 8:45 am
• 12/21-1/6 - Winter Break
• 1/7 - School resumes
• 1/19 - No School
• 2/3-6 - 6th Grade Denis Sullivan field trip (afternoons)

 - Ask Your Child About - 

• Morning Meeting, wellness/personal growth
• SEL lesson about forming pathways in the brain (the more you do something the stronger the pathway). It's helpful for students to understand they may need to practice something over and over before it feels easier. They played a fun game like "telephone" but with a physical message! The more they did the signs, the easier it was to remember.
• Team building games

• Math
• Progress check for rounding and decimal place identification, exponents
• continued practice, tessellations

• English
• 6th grade authors continued to draft short stories with a twist 
• Formal email writing practice - especially important when writing to teachers :)
• Reading chapter 3 from the Epic of Gilgamesh
• Latin root -flect, flex-

• Science
• Formation of the planets and gravitational relationships of the planets/sun
• recording data and graphing results

• Social Studies/Global Perspectives
• SS projects identifying the G.R.A.P.E.S. of Mesopotamia

PHOTOS:

No photos this time.  We were busy, and they were in to making funny faces if I tried!

11/21/25

   Announcements - 

• 11/24-28 - No School - Fall Break
• 12/8 - Classroom spelling bee
• 12/11 - School spelling bee
• 12/8-12/12 - Lower School raffle, tickets can be purchased by students each morning
• 12/18 - Lower School Winter Concert 8:45 am
• 12/21-1/6 - Winter Break
• 1/7 - School resumes

 - Ask Your Child About - 

• Morning Meeting, wellness/personal growth
• SEL lesson about identifying stress responses (fight, flight, freeze) and what that can look and feel like, and how our brains can sometimes trigger the wrong response (like panicking at a test or giving a presentation).
• Native American Heritage - highlighting Native American heritage and specific individuals that have made an impact
• Teambuilding Fall activities - Pictionary, Native American stick game, team word writing

• Math
• Algebra test
• Multiplication review/practice
• MashUp Math challenge puzzles

• English
• 6th grade authors continued to draft short stories with a twist 
• Mini-lessons on remembering how to build up characters and add a theme to their stories

• Science
• Science Fair discussions - final project decisions
• Using spring scales to measure Newtons
• Gravity, measuring weight and mass

• Social Studies/Global Perspectives
• Hammurabi's Code
• Later people's of Mesopotamia

PHOTOS:

11/14/25

   Announcements - 

• 11/20 - Lower School Taste of Thanksgiving 
• 11/21 - No School - faculty workshop
• 11/24-28 - No School - Fall Break
• 12/8 - Classroom spelling bee
• 12/11 - School spelling bee
• 12/18 - Lower School Winter Concert 8:45 am
• 12/21-1/6 - Winter Break
• 1/7 - School resumes

Reminders: 

- Please do not send food items in glass containers. We have had a few fall and break during meal time.

- Science Fair topics due - We have had some great ideas confirmed so far! If your child still needs an idea or is unsure about the one they have, please encourage them to see me. Brainstorming together has generated some new ideas and even excitement!

 - Ask Your Child About - 

• Morning Meeting, wellness/personal growth
• The 6th Grade did a great job with their Friday Gathering skits! 
• SEL lesson about Anger, identifying things that are triggers for angry/frustrated feelings and maybe even actions that occur. Students thought about what angers them and why it makes them angry. They also learned some things they can do to "cool off", or avoid getting overly angry in situations.
• Native American Heritage - highlighting Native American heritage and specific individuals that have made an impact
• Veterans day- Students were reminded that Veteran's Day was originally Armistice Day, and is held annually to support and honor all who have served in the Armed Forces. They had a Zoom "visit" from an Air Force Captain (Veteran) and a Colonel, currently serving in Japan.

• Math
• Algebra! This week we learned our final topic of the Algebra Unit, comparisons (X > 7)
• We also completed several review sessions for the test on Tuesday

• English
• Latin root -struct-, -stru-
• Unit 2: short story "Hey You Down There" - read final passages, discussed theme and twist ending
• Generated outlines for their own short story with a twist 

• Science
• Science Fair discussions
• Intro to Unit 3 - Forces and Energy

• Social Studies/Global Perspectives
• Innovations/Achievements of Sumer
• Practiced Cuneiform writing!

PHOTOS:

11/7/25

  Announcements - 

A Christmas Carol - Opening Weekend is this weekend!! Come let GHCDS students entertain you with their awesome talent!  See flyer below.

FRIDAY GATHERING- This next Friday, Nov 14th, 6th graders will be presenting information about five Harvest/Thanksgiving festivals from around the world, that they researched and presented on this last week. There are still a few items we might need. Here is a list of the festivals and items we might need to borrow. You can check with your child to find out what group they are in and what they plan for their outfit. 

Madeira Flower Festival (Portugal) - Floral hat, full skirt (floral or plain), white or colorful shirts for the boys

Indonesian Rice Harvest - straw hats, white shirts, solid or colorful bottoms

Nigerian Yam Festival - yams (I will purchase a couple for the scene), boys in solid or African print shirts or tunics, girl in solid or African print (colorful) shirt and skirt/pants

South Korea Chuseok - solid or print full skirt, white or black women's jacket, solid color shirts for boys, plain solid bottoms

Argentina Vendimia Grape Harvest - White shirts, solid bottoms, red scarves or bandanas, a wooden half barrel or bucket for "grape stomping" (I have one but just thought I'd see if there is another available), and if anyone wants to volunteer to send in a bag or two of grapes that would help. The kids can eat them as snack later :)

• 11/20 - Lower School Taste of Thanksgiving 
• 11/21 - No School - faculty workshop
• 11/24-28 - No School - Fall Break
• 12/8 - Classroom spelling bee
• 12/11 - School spelling bee

 - Ask Your Child About - 

• Morning Meeting, wellness/personal growth
• SEL lesson about Stress! Students identified what being stressed feels like, what things can stress us out, and what of those things they can and can't control
• Native American Heritage - highlighting Native American heritage and specific individuals that have made an impact

• Math
• Algebra! Solving equations to find the value of the variable (ex: X-7= 21)
• Students were challenged to solve more complex algebra problems 
• (ex: 3 (X-2) + 4 (5+X) = 28) Even though some found these more challenging, it was special to hear the "Math talk" happening and the problem solving occurring as we worked through some step-by-step. Their final test won't have anything this difficult, just the basics

• English
• Unit 2: short story "Hey You Down There", read and studies extracts 4-9
• Discuss standard vs. non-standard English, how authors choose just the right names for their characters, how the characters in our story all had different understandings of a situation
• Reflecting on a characters speech, accent, education level; wrote a short letter in the voice style of a specific character

• Science
• Test went great!
• Intro to Science Fair!

• Social Studies/Global Perspectives
• Presented GP projects and reflected on slide design and speaking portions
• Began Mesopotamia unit! Geography and beginning of the world's first civilization

PHOTOS:

10/31/25

 Announcements - 

Science Test Tuesday - We spent a few days reviewing the material in class and the students have been provided a study guide

Ship Ahoy! We have our dates set for our adventure on the Denis Sullivan! Mark your calendars that your child will have an adjusted schedule the week of Feb 2-6. We will spend the afternoons on the ship (Tues-Fri), so they will need to be picked up by you at Gallows Bay.

• 11/3 - No School Bull and Bread
• 11/21 - No School - faculty workshop
• 11/24-28 - No School - Fall Break
• 12/8 - Classroom spelling bee
• 12/11 - School spelling bee

 - Ask Your Child About - 

• Morning Meeting, wellness/personal growth
• Highlighted David Hamilton Jackson, Dia de los Muertos
• The class participated in a lesson about bullying, identifying a definition and what to do if they see or experience bullying. They participated well and we even discussed presenting the topic at a future Friday Gathering for the LS students.
• Note-taking skills

• Math
• Algebra! Substitution games, combining terms, distributive property, Halloween math

• English
• Latin root: -spect, spec, spic-
• Unit 2: short story "Hey You Down There", read and studies extracts 1-4
• studied scripts and practiced performing one
• Chose an extract and turned it into a written script that they performed for the class!

• Science
• Halloween Witches Blood mystery potions (pH lesson)
• Review and study time, test on Tuesday 11/4

• Social Studies/Global Perspectives
• Group Challenge Project - culminating project for this unit (Research, Communication)
• Each group is researching all about a harvest festival from another culture and creating a slideshow presentation. They will present these next week.

PHOTOS:

10/24/2025

    Announcements - 

Ms. Alma tries to keep certain books out of reach due to content or reading level. If your student would like to be able to look at and check books out from another section, please email Ms. Alma Nieves directly and she will gladly let them visit during free times to pick out a book.

Ship Ahoy! We have our dates set for our adventure on the Denis Sullivan! Mark your calendars that your child will have an adjusted schedule the week of Feb 2-6. We will spend the afternoons on the ship (Tues-Fri), so they will need to be picked up by you at Gallows Bay.

• 10/24  Parent-Teacher Conferences 
• 10/31  Halloween Ghost Walk (costume parade) and Boo Bash/Trunk-or-treat (I don't plan to have a "party" in class, as I know the sweet treats are flowing over several days for some of your children, but if a parent wished to send in a healthy afternoon snack that would be fine.)
• 11/3 - No School Bull and Bread
• 11/24-28 - No School - Fall Break starts

 - Ask Your Child About - 

• Morning Meeting, wellness/personal growth
• GHCDS practiced an earthquake and a tsunami drill
• Our class played a version of The Floor is Lava to practice teamwork and communication

• Math
• Continued Algebra work: expanding brackets, distributive property, substitution property, collecting like terms

• English
• Latin root: -scrib-, -script- (scribble, subscribe, transcript, described)
• Editing adventure stories
• Publishing Party to celebrate each others stories! 

• Science
• Matter: Elements, compounds

• Social Studies/Global Perspectives
• One day challenge! Groups had to research how to do something and create a way to teach it to us (all chose slide shows)
• Students reflected on their own group work and gave feedback to each other about how their information was communicated ("glows and grows")

PHOTOS:

10/17/25

   Announcements - 

• 10/24  Parent-Teacher Conferences 
• 10/31  Halloween Ghost Walk (costume parade) and Boo Bash/Trunk-or-treat (I don't plan to have a "party" in class, as I know the sweet treats are flowing over several days for some of your children, but if a parent wished to send in a healthy afternoon snack that would be fine.)

 - Ask Your Child About - 

• Morning Meeting, wellness/personal growth
• Visit from Ms. Bird! Ask your student about the project they completed about the brain
• Discussed/shared thoughts about bullying, individual student thoughts on how they would define it and their experience with it 
• Assigned new "leaders" for the classroom jobs, discussed each job duty and received helpful feedback from individuals who were previously assigned

• Math
• Continued Algebra work: making and evaluating expressions and equations, vocabulary (coefficient, variable, constant, term)
• Multi-digit multiplication review

• English
• Adventure stories! Revising and editing
• Sentence Stalking: evaluating mentor sentences

• Science
• Discussed the properties of the elements they researched
• Diagrams of the water cycle
• Review of Matter concept so far: particle theory, changes of state

• Social Studies/Global Perspectives
• Continued lessons on research and communication: using websites for research, identifying good and bad resources, what makes for good communication
• Read about 2 Hispanic astronauts and answered questions about the articles

PHOTOS: