I, as well as the rest of Breed Middle School, am very excited to welcome the 6th Grade class this fall! We are looking forward to seeing you on September 7th! Get ready for a great year (especially in science class)!
Upcoming Space Unit Test!
Hello everyone!
This past week we were wrapping up our Space Unit which means that this week is testing time! On Monday we will be finishing our review of all the information we have learned (which is a LOT!) and on Tuesday we will have our Space Unit Test!
Be sure to spend some time looking over any topics that you’ve been struggling with (hopefully none!) on Monday night as well as get some good sleep! A good night’s sleep will help you do better on our test than spending more time looking over your study guide! Trust that you have learned all of the information already – you just have to access it on test day!
Upcoming – Midterm Reports for Quarter 2!
You and I probably both can’t believe that it’s already time for Second Quarter Midterm Reports! Midterm Reports will be sent home on Wednesday, December 14th and there will be an afternoon Open House at Breed Middle School on the following day, Thursday, December 15th. There are a few points I wanted to touch upon before we actually reach this point in the Quarter:
1.) BE SURE TO CHECK HAC (HOME ACCESS CENTER) ON A REGULAR BASIS. This system lets you check all of your (or your student’s) grades and see exactly what is missing or needed to be redone to receive the most credit possible. Many students are currently missing lots of work. I’m hoping that this changes if more students and parents check HAC regularly.
2.) MIDTERM REPORTS ARE NOT FINAL AND ARE JUST A CHECK-IN WITH WHERE THE STUDENT IS CURRENTLY PERFORMING. The grades that will be on the Midterm Reports are not final grades nor will they show up on the report card unless the student doesn’t improve. We try to take Midterm Report grades as a jumping off point to improve since every student can do a little more to meet their potential to the fullest – even those students who receive A’s I’m constantly pushing to do a little extra.
3.) AN “F” IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD ON A MIDTERM – IT MEANS THAT WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER ON FIGURING OUT WHAT YOU (OR YOUR STUDENT) NEEDS TO IMPROVE. Students are always able to see me after school to sit with me and work on any previous or current work that they would like to visit. I will spend as much or as little time as each student would like going over material and helping them. YOU JUST HAVE TO COME AFTER AND I WILL HELP IN ANY WAY I CAN! have had many students go from an “F” grade to an “A” because they had the work, they just hadn’t turned it in but students will not receive another paper if they have lost their original. This class procedure is linked to teaching responsibility, readiness and accountability.
Notice: December Homework!
Hello all! We have now entered into our Moon Phases topic therefore it is fitting to have homework related to it! But have as sixth graders it’s uncommon to have a homework quite like this…
I am asking students to use a moon journal that I gave them to record the date, time and phase of the moon that they see each night for the next two weeks (due on Friday, December 16th). I check these moon journals each day in class though so make sure they are being brought to school everyday! If there are issues with seeing the moon at night then you are able to look them up easily online – just ask Google what the moon look like tonight! We also have computer labs at school so this can be done in the afternoon or before school as well!
This homework begins to create a sense of responsibility for bringing in and completing homework each night, and once it becomes a habit it’s (hopefully) stuck!
Homework for the Week of 10/31 & 11/7
HAC NOTICE!!!!
HAC is the system parents and students use to access their grades from home. The HAC(Home Access Center) link can be found on the Lynn Public Schools website under Parent Resources or right below here (you may need to copy and paste). Students should have received the log-in information during the Open House or in school on the following day.
https://hac.lynnschools.org/HomeAccess/Account/LogOn?ReturnUrl=%2fhomeaccess
This week is highly unusual for us in Ms. Wagner’s class because we have the same homework for the next two whole weeks! Alright, homework talk….
- We NEED to make sure that all of our work is turned in. This includes:
- Completing and turning in…
- Make-up work if we were absent (if you haven’t received it yet, see me)
- Incomplete work that needed to be redone (it would show up as a 50% in HAC)
- Missing work (that which was not turned in at all)
- Coming to see me for…
- A retake on a test that earned a score below a 75% (our class goals!)
- A retake on quiz that earned a score below a 60%
- EXTRA HELP!!!! We have a test coming up quickly on Thursday Nov. 10th and if you have any doubts about any of the material, we can figure it out in the time that fits your schedule!
2. We need to complete the Waves Study Guide that will be passed out on Monday.
We will be working on some of it in class, doing small-group extra help on each section but if you feel like you need one-on-one attention come see me after-school! Two students who came to see me before the last test who felt uncomfortable with a section of the material spent 15 minutes with me and they both earned A’s on their tests! Sometimes it just takes a few extra minutes of review to really “get” something!
Wrapping Up the First Quarter!
Hello all!
We have been INCREDIBLY busy at school – from classes, to after-school events, to field trips, to…just about everything you could think of!
Currently in class we are wrapping up our second unit of study – waves! Learning about waves has been exciting for us since we have so many new resources to work with because of our grant last year! We’ve used almost 20 (!!!) different stations in labs to help us understand the way sound and light waves move, what they move through and how they are both alike and different.
As we are wrapping up our waves unit we are also wrapping up our first quarter! This means that we NEED to be checking HAC (the Home Access Center for student grades) in order to make sure we are not missing any work! Check, check, check! As always, if you have any questions about grades or anything we are doing in class, feel free to email me through the Contact tab on this website!
Attention, Attention, Homework on a Long Weekend!
We all look forward to a nice long weekend…more time for relaxing, more time for catching up on some sleep, and more time for…homework?! Well, this weekend I expect that each student works on studying for our upcoming Engineering Design Test that will take place on Tuesday.
I have created a study guide that will seriously benefit each student who completes it that will be passed out on Thursday. We may have some time in class on Friday to begin these and to ask some questions in class, but the majority if not all of this work will have to take place outside of the classroom – either after school with me to answer some questions 1-on-1 or at home with a binder full of notes and practice sheets from the past few weeks.
Thursday and Friday I will be available after school for any extra help as we enter into the final stretch before our test!
A Wonderful Week of…Engineering Design!
Oh what a wonderful week it is!
All of us here in room 1A31 have a busy week as we wrap up our Engineering Design unit! Yay! This marks our first unit (soon-to-be) completed! Another yay!
Now this week is broken into two different labs that will be covered to make sure we have absolute mastery over engineering design.
First, is the No More Squished Sandwich Lab which challenges the students to define the problem (I have an issue with the way I carry my lunch to school – it always gets smushed), and then follow the Engineering Design Process in order to design, and later redesign, a solution. So far we have seen innumerable ideas that would absolutely solve my problem with my squished sandwich, including one invention which is totally out of the box and exactly what we are hoping for!
Second, which we are just in the beginning stages of, is the Platform to Perform Lab. This is, I believe, our most challenging lab so of course I’ve saved it for last! It asks students to create a platform prototype that will be used to let a performer walk out into the crowd off of an already established stage. Now the tricky part is that they only receive 20 popsicle sticks and 15 cm, or approximately 6 in, of tape! This poses a serious challenge for students since they don’t realize how limited their resources are (like in real life with money) until they actually see it! But I promise – we will figure it out!
Where is the time going?
Hello everyone!
Sorry it has been a little while since I’ve updated you all but I’m back on track! This week we have a TON going on – in the classroom, out of the classroom and for you at home!
In class we are wrapping up our Engineering Design unit which marks our first section completed! Success! We are currently working on two different labs which are indended to show the students how we can connect our knowledge to real-life scenarios and issues, as well as adding a ton of activity, brainpower and fun to our class!
Outside of class, though still in school, my C period class will finally get the opportunity to travel to the Northeastern Rocky Shore! They have been waiting so patiently for their day and on Thursday we hope they have as much fun as they’ve been expecting. Also, Friday is the Fall Walk at school where students who have fundraised at least $10 will be able to end the day with a walk (and usually some pizza and drinks when they come back)!
Finally, at home it is a big time for students and parents alike…the first progress reports of the year will be going home with students on Thursday! If you have any questions, as always feel free to email me via this website or if you prefer at wagnerk@lynnschools.org.
Getting Into Science!
So I have been getting asked at least five times a day, “Ms. Wagner, when are we going to learn some science?” Well…we have been using the first few weeks to set ourselves up for success and now it is time to break out the science!
We begin this week going to the Northeastern University Rocky Shore on Tuesday which will be a wonderful experience! Then as we make our way back into the classroom we are going to be beginning our Engineering Design Process unit. What that means is we are going to be figuring out how we identify a problem somewhere in the world and then how we scientifically (aka systematically) figure out the best solution to it! We have begun to go over these steps that engineers, and truly everyone, takes when solving a problem. As we wrap up our week we will continue by figuring out how to identify a problem on our own since this is the first, and arguably the most important, step.
Don’t worry – we are just about to dive in!
Fall Open House Is Upon Us
Hello everyone! This post is mainly for parent/guardian, so if you’re a student reading this remember to remind your parent/guardian!
It has seemed like these first few weeks have flown by at school and I’m sure that the students feel the same way! I wanted to remind everyone that we will be having our first open house tomorrow night, September 20, from 6-8pm. Your student will be bringing home their schedule which you will need to bring with you!
Please arrive promptly so you don’t miss any of your students’ classes! You will be following your student’s schedule where you will be attending a 15 minute information session with each one their teachers. Each of the teachers will be explaining their expectations for students, a quick overview of what your student will be learning this year and how they are meeting different needs in the classroom so that every student is able to meet their full potential and succeed!
We all look forward to seeing you tomorrow evening! If you have any questions feel free to call the Main Office at 781-477-7330.
Ms. Wagner's Science Site! 