May hopefully will be the fulfillment of April's promise, trees and flowers blooming all around us.

The next couple of weeks will find us quite busy!!

• Julia Morin represented the sixth grade at the Enfield Women's Junior League Spelling Bee on April 22nd. She did us proud. She competed against some 20 plus fifth and sixth graders and came in third place. Well done, Julia!!
• Then comes Grandparents Day on Wednesday, May 1st. This is a day that I always look forward to because of meeting the important people in my students' lives.
• The following day, Thursday, May 2nd, we're off to New Britain to watch a Rock Cats game.
• Later that evening Rebecca Villanueva and Tyler Esposito       will read their essays about their favorite place in Connecticut at the Enfield Library. This contest was sponsored by Senator Kissel for all sixth graders in Enfield schools. After reading all the essays entries I was so very impressed. Choosing just two entries to be submitted was very challenging because of the quality of work. They were well written, enlightening, and enjoyable.
• To end the week, on Friday, May 3rd the sixth graders will be the readers at the school's First Friday liturgy.

We will be reading another book together this month. The story "Freak the Mighty" is about two young men, one smaller than a yardstick and the other outgrowing size thirteen shoes who though very different strike a powerful friendship. Their story is about the strength of their friendship, family, intelligence, and life.

We have begun our Family Life Program.... this will necessitate          your participation in sharing thoughts and history with your child.

Science projects are coming in the week of April 22nd and the students will be making an oral presentation to class during the following week.

Just reminder...With our trip to Boston about one month away the monies need to be in by the end of the second week of May. Thank you.

March came in like a lamb, let's just hope it goes out the same way.  We all know that we've seen our share of snow this year to last us until next winter!!  March promises to be a busy month for the students.

March is the official month for IOWA's.  We will begin our schedule of testing on Monday, March 11th and conclude on Thursday March 21st.  During these days, please, make sure your child has had plenty of sleep, a good breakfast, and is in school on time as many days we will begin testing at 8:35 AM.  It would be greatly appreciated that all doctor and dentist appointments not be made for these mornings.  Anyone who has to make up the tests for a particular day may have to stay after school.

On Sunday, March 17th, Megan Ferreira will represent our class at the Knights of Columbus Spelling Bee in Newington.  Good luck, Megan, and Thank You.

This year the sixth grade has been invited to the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Hartford on Tuesday, March 26th.  The permission slips will be going home after March 12th...our trip to East Catholic high school's presentation of "Fiddler on the Roof."

The Living Stations will be on Friday, March 22nd and we will have a handful of sixth graders participating this year in the crowd that calls for Jesus to be crucified.

In the next week or so we will begin a new unit in Science.  It will be on our universe and outer space.  I will be giving the students the opportunity to choose their topic for the next project.  The project may be done in pairs or individually.  This project will consist of having a 3-sided board to display their pictures and TYPED explanations.  If the topic lends itself, also to have a 3-D display of the topic.  The list of topics are as follows: 1) our four seasons and what causes them, 2) the Hubble telescope, 3) the life cycle of a star, 4) solar flares, 5) lunar eclipse, 6) solar eclipse, 7) the anatomy a black hole, 8) sunspots, 9) products which are the result of space technology, 10) space probes, 11) the space station, 12) auroras, and 13) the big bang theory.  This project's due date will be the Monday we come back from our spring vacation, April 22nd.

On April 7th the sixth graders will be reading at the 10:30AM Mass at St. Bernard Church.  They will be reading the First Reading and the Petitions.  I hope many of the students will be able to come to that Mass.

As you know our end of the year class trip has been booked and we are looking forward to it.  It promises to be not only a good learning experience but a fun time.  Hopefully, spacing out the payments has helped you with the cost.  I will have to send in our payment early May so, please, plan accordingly.

Happy New Year!! We are beginning another year and so in class we are about to embark on some new projects.

In Religion once we take our Unit Test at the beginning of next week, we will begin to concentrate on Egypt. We will be looking at the role Moses had in getting the Israelites released from Egypt. Our culminating project will be the telling of the story of Moses and the freeing of the Israelites in comic strip form. Much of the work will be done in school, but some time may have to be given at home for the completion of the project. A rubric for the grading of this project will be given to the students.

The students will be beginning their oral talks on the person that they read about for their biography also in the next week. Just a reminder that the students are to tell the person's life story in the first person..as if they were the person telling their story. The students are encouraged also to bring in something / wear something that will identify them with the person they are portraying.

In English we will be looking at the writing of a limerick. The students will practice writing some original limericks - one of which will be about the person in their oral presentation.

In our Science curriculum we will now explore the makeup of the Earth's surface and what causes such things as volcanoes and earthquakes.

Looking out the sixth grade window one will see a "sea" of wind vanes and rain gauges. We will be leaving them there for the next few months. We are planning on collecting information from the different rain/snow gauges and incorporating it into our Math classes in making different kinds of charts.

In Math we will be reviewing the process of working with fractions both with like and unlike denominators. I cannot stress enough how important the knowledge of the multiplication tables will be to this skill which is used in our everyday life. Please, please, go over the times tables up to 12 x 12 with your child.

Grade 7 Literature

Mid terms are just around the corner!!! In the next two weeks we will be reviewing and preparing for the Literature exam. We will be working in class and the students will also be working at home reviewing. You should note that success or lack thereof will play an important role in their upcoming report mark. As teachers and parents we understand the importance of these test. Some students tend to overlook their value. So as their parents I'm asking you to take a particular interest in their literature homework over the next few weeks. As always I appreciate your help.

During the Thanksgiving month of November we have so much for which to be thankful.

With that being said I am thankful for this class and the co-operation that they exhibit every day. As I've suggested before, you are the ultimate role model for this behavior, and I'm thankful for as well. By now I feel that the students are settled in and "in the swing of things" academically. These past two months have been basically review for the most part in Language Arts, Math, and some Literature or Reading skills. In those particular subjects I have noticed a retention from previous years

I will be handing out the guide lines for a book report in the next few days. I am putting these guide lines on this page just in case the student misplaces his or hers. Originally, I had said that there would be no written book report, but I have changed my mind. There will be a written book report. It is as follows:

Your biography report should include the following aspects. A. Tell the date and place where your character was born and raised. Include some family details or details about habits and hobbies.

B. Describe the early life of your character. Tell about what kind of person he or she was. What was it about your character that helped him or her to succeed? Did your character know what he or she wanted to become in the future? How did your character prepare for his or her future?

C. Tell about the work your character did. Tell why his or her contribution was important, why the work was important. Did he or she invent something or teach others? Did he or she change the world? What lasting effects did your character have on the lives of others?

D. What should we all know about your character? How do we benefit today from him or her? What do you think was the most impressive thing about your character? Tell how your character has inspired you. In what ways would you like to be him or her? If you could meet this person what question(s) would you ask him/her?

If the biography you read did not contain some of this information, please look it up online or in an encyclopedia. The answers to these questions should be incorporated into your report. Please don’t make your report just the answers to these questions.

The culminating activity will not only be a written report but an oral presentation dressed as the person and giving facts about his/her life. The written book report will be due December 10th. After that date we will begin the oral presentations.

November is also the time that we are able to discuss your child’s progress thus far. As student enter the junior high phase of school there level of participation needs to be increased. One of the ways that they can participate in their own school life is to attend the parent/teacher report conference. I do recommend this. I am looking forward to seeing you then.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your family.