Friday the fourteenth of October. The early dismissals this week made our time together so brief. The sixth grade team enjoyed speaking with some of your parents today. What a joy to share stories about the children in our care. And we do.

This week's goal was to be able to understand a writer's implicit message in addition to the explicit message. Remember the prefix -ex means "out" so think of explicit as what the author comes out with, straight up, on the page. The implicit meaning, you must dig for and figure out. Know what I mean?

Today, an American poet, Bob Dylan, was awarded a prestigious international award, The Nobel Award for Literature. Here are some of his lines. Can you figure out the rhyme scheme. Write it down, hand it to me, and if you're right, I'll hand you something back in return.

May God keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
ou grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young

          Bob Dylan

The 2016-2017 school year has begun! The sixth grade teachers agree that our new boys and girls are wonderFUL and we look forward to getting to know you even more during our year-long journey of discovery and learning. 

Our embryonic beginning in English this year began by reviewing vowel letters, then the affixes, and now the word.

Stay tuned for updates.

Alright kiddos, now is the time. Now is the time to show what you know. I know what you're thinking. Just do it. Tough nerds don't get taken down. Don't be lazy. Work it and you'll get paid. Word by word...idea...trust.

Consider the following website to enrich your writing.

http://www.wikihow.com/Think-Like-a-Lawyer

Hello! My thanks to classrooms 6-4 and 6-5 for writing your thank-you letter to Mr. and Mrs. McGeogh. Usually, people enjoy receiving letters and email. Mr. G. surely did. We hope the Captain Underpants books are making reading more enjoyable and less difficult. Keep up the good work. Don't forget to log your reading!

Sorry to say, there was still more disrespectful behavior this week! Remember that talking is OK most of the time, but not while others are talking. That's rude.  Please be more considerate of everyone. Remember to respect your school in the hallways.

A vocabulary word we analyzed this week was duality. Good-bad, big-small, bright-dim, ying-yang, man-women, hot-cold, love-hate...the Do Now word relationship analogy. But did you know your electronic devices also utilize the concept of  duality ? Binary is another word you should know. The prefix "bi-" means: two.

Binary data is the system that computer scientists formulated to break down information into a matrix of 1's and 0's; that runs all of our computers, sending texts, pictures, videos over fiber-optic wires.  Inside fiber-optic and computer systems these 1's and 0's flash ON/OFF ( on=1   off=0.) They say we live in a digital age. 1's and 0's we know to be digits.

Remember to always consider the mind of the author. What is he or she saying explicitly and implicitly.

Finally, congratulations to Adrien Poperechny of 6-5 for the his answer to the $1 brain puzzle. The man in the field was wearing a parachute! Kudos also to classroom 6-4 for gaining the Friday surprise. Still a lot of work to do. Gear up.

I almost forgot. Remember to turn off your electronics while you do homework. All your friends DO NOT ALWAYS KNOW that you are studying! And yet, they are interrupting your focus--sometimes dozens of times, or more! Be smart and let your mind concentrate without constant interruptions. We know from experience.

Well today ended with thorns and roses. The thorns were the excessive talking by some students, and therefore, a lack of listening, and therefore, a lack of understanding. The roses included, but not limited to...the aha moments shared with certain students who came to an understanding of the words explicit and implicit. These are moments teachers live for. And we don't live that long, I am told. Create your own aha moments. Ask a question. Get answers.