About me

My Name is Kurt Litsinger and this is my teacher blog. I am currently teaching 6th grade Special Education at Salmon Bay K8. I started this blog to help students and parent connect with me about assignments, class expectations, and activities.

How to use this blog...

This blog is a listing of the assignments and activities that happened in 6th grade. Students and parents can look at any given day to find a summary of lessons, goals, activities, assignments, and other information they may need.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Yes, 6th grade does in fact have homework

Some 6th grade students seem to be confused about how to use their time at home.  Salmon Bay does in fact have homework!  There are ongoing projects that require students to follow through and work outside of class times.

In Math, 
for Jon, students are working on graphing.  They have a chow where they are designing a floor layout for a house.  
for Kurt's Math class, I am now having students do Ixl online at home if possible.  Right now I want them to finish section D-Properties.  This is largely practicing fact families as number sentences.  This supports our more difficult class work on equations and expressions.

In ELA,
Students are still working in Short Story Packet groups.  This often involves reading the story at home and filling out a short sheet.  This has to be done prior to class to participate in the group.  Student are really focusing on finding claims about characters and plots in these short stories.

For Social Studies,
Students went to the library on Monday to find sources for their biography project.  Students are expected to become experts on the famous person they have chosen.  They will need to read their sources, write notes, and compose a speech that they will perform from memory.  In the years I have taught Special Education, I have never seen a student who did not memorize a speech and perform it.

And in science,
Students are diving into ecology.  This involves invasive species. food webs, and the effects of disasters on ecosystems.  They are doing most of their work in class, but must finish it at home iuf they are not using their time wisely.  They also still have current events to do on their own time ever week! 

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Correction on short story groups

We are not meeting again until next Tuesday.  Jennifer has a sub tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Language Arts Short Story Groups

A new thing is happening in 6th grade language arts.  We are doing short story clubs. Right now they are meeting on Tuesday and Thursday, but when WEP is over, they will meet on Tuesday and Friday.

Students are personally responsible to be prepared for these groups.  They must read the passage ahead of time and fill out the assignment sheet they are given. This means the dreaded bane of every student: HOMEWORK!!!  Students all have been given reading packets and sheets.  They also have plenty of time between meetings and the passages were picked to be readable by all students.  Any reason for not finishing is an excuse.

There is no time given in class to reading the story and preparing the sheet.  Students will need to manage their time so they are prepared to share and don't let their group down.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Auction items

6th grade homerooms are putting together auction items.  Unfortunately, we got some pretty late notice on this and they are due next Thursday!!!  Ask your student what his or her homeroom's theme is.

Kurt's homeroom's basket theme is coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!