Drums- "Good News, Bad News"

Here is the link:  (It recorded extremely loudly so turn down your volume so I don't blast your ears!)
https://soundcloud.com/mlauer44/good-news-bad-news

This week's Bills Deal

If the Bills win by 3 or more points AND have a rushing touchdown, then no homework next week! 

I have a Castle Learning waiting to be assigned so we will see what the Bills can do!

Drums Chapter 6- "No more Vacation"

Part 1:
https://soundcloud.com/mlauer44/drums-chapter-6-part-1

Part 2:
https://soundcloud.com/mlauer44/drums-chapter-6-part-2

Vocabulary List for chapters 1-3

We will be having a quick quiz on Thursday! 


1. Asphyxiate:  to cause to die or lose consciousness by impairing normal breathing


2.  Concoction:  a mixture of various ingredients


3.  Ambitious: eager to achieve or obtain success


4. Torrent:  a rushing, violent stream of something


5.  Leukemia:  a form of cancer that deals with the blood and bone marrow

Drums and "Slip or Trip?"

This was an excellent first week.  I am really happy with the way our new first unit is playing out.  The students seem to be responding really well to the book, many of them have been pleading to read ahead.  At this point in the book, Stevens brother Jeffrey has been diagnosed with Leukemia.  We had a quick discussion and many students were willing to share, I see a lot of very meaningful discussions in our future.  We watched the following video to gain some quick background on the disease. 

Students have also been doing a great job on our "Slip or Trip?" lesson.  We started off working in groups examining a crime scene to identify evidence that will help us to form arguments.  We will be finishing our final arguments on Monday. 

Off and Running

These first two days have been a fantastic start to the school year.  It is always entertaining to watch 6th graders in such a brand new environment for them.  Here is some quick information about my blog:

• I will update it every couple of days
• My posts will give a quick summary of what we are doing in class.  This helps students who are out sick and ensures that when parents ask what their kid what they did in class, they can't say "ummm, nothing."  
• I will also post review material, extensions of what we have learned, or other things that I think are cool or funny.  
• When we have assigned reading for homework, I will always try to record and post the chapter on the blog.  I started doing this last year, and it ended up being a great tool for kids.  Just please make sure that they have their book in hand and are reading along with the recording, I will tell them this over and over!  

These first two days are a great "getting to know you" period.  Students are getting to know me, I'm getting to know them and they are getting to know each other.   Learning environment is huge for me so these three days are big.  I want my classroom to be a place that students are excited to come to and learn from me and each other as well.
We have talked about how I want my students to take risks and fight through struggles that they have in facing the challenges that they are presented head-on.  A positive learning environment is a vital part of that.

Our first unit will be focusing on using evidence to develop arguments.  We will be reading the book Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie  as part of the unit.  Below is a trailer for the book (a movie wasn't really made based on the book)