Volcano Experiment

Community Service = Diamondbacks

All 6th graders from our district had to do 5 hours of community service in order to go to a Diamondbacks game. Here is a list of some of the things that students did...

• Read books to kids to expand literacy


• Helped other kids with homework


• Cleaned yards to beautify the community


• Cooked for a family member


• Served food at a shelter


• Cleaned the park


• Made crosses to donate to a church


• Made cards for soldiers


• Cleaned the park


• among many other things.

Every student that went to the game received a free ticket to watch a D-backs game, D-backs T-shirt and a free meal from the concession stand.


We first gathered at a park near Chase Field to have a Rally. Baxter was there hyping up the kids... (they really didn't need help getting loud) One student from every school won a BIG prize for giving the most outstanding service. Our very own Ashlie was the winner from our school. Her service was making crosses for a church & cards for soldiers. Ashlie won a backpack full of LOTS of goodies like a D-backs jersey, t-shirt, d-backs bat, bracelets, d-backs rattle and other things. For many of our students, it was the very first time they had ever seen a baseball game at Chase Field.

Air Masses Experiment

Our objective for this experiment was to investigate what happens when air masses of different temperature and humidity conditions meet."

JOE: I liked this experiment because I enjoyed playing with the fire. It was cool to see how the smoke moved slowly to the top with cold air masses and it went fast with hot air masses.




PABLO - It was fun. I learned that two hot Air Masses in the convection tubes become foggy.


JULIA says... Event though the smoke filled air smelled nasty that I couldn't breath, but it was a good experiment because it was fun and educational.

ERICK: I noticed that when the air masses meet they moved around a lot. It was kind of like they were dancing.

BERTHA says... We were working with Air Masses. I was able to lean what happens when hot air and cold air meet.

ALVARO says... It was so cool and I learned something new about the consequences when Air Masses meet.

JESSICA says... I agree with the bad smell and it gave me a headache but it was fun because we didn't have to write a lot but we did have to experiment how the Air Masses move.

RUBEN: I learned that Science is actually pretty fun. I have enjoyed working with my group because we help each other out a lot.

JUAN: We used a punk stick to create smoke (clouds). The smoke from the hot tube pretty much moving around and the smoke from the ice was kind of hiding.

DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE!!!

Teamwork always gets the job done right!

The Preamble

My students were given plenty of time to learn the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. Only five out of twenty-five students memorized it by the due date. Way to go to those students that did it! Two students worked together to learn it in a song form, which I thought was rather cute and clever!

(push play to hear Ruben & Alvaro sing)

Words of the Preamble & What the Words Mean

We the people of the United States

all citizens of the US

In order to form a more perfect union
to make everything in our country as perfect as possible

Establish justice
begin fairness for all

Insure domestic tranquility
promise that everything in our country will be peaceful

Provide for the common defense
give protection to everyone

Promote the general welfare
care for those in need


Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity
make sure freedom and fairness continues for ourselves and all our children and their children and their children and every generation to come

Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America
approve of and begin the Constitution of the United States

Field Day

We had a fabulous time on field day. Each grade level had their own activities. The 6th graders got to watch a juggler then they went outdoors for fun some activities. They had several rotations which included...

1. Egg Toss (kinda messy.. but fun)
2. Sponge Race (where you fill a bucket of water with a sponge)
3. Sack Races (many fell.. but they all got up and finished the race - yay for perseverance!)
4. Tug a War (Mr Medina's class were the champs - they beat us hands down!)
5. Egg on Spoon Race
6. "Pie" eating contest (it wasn't really a pie.. it was just whipped cream & they had to find a 'prize' inside the pie tin under all the whipped cream - this too got super messy)

After the fun field-day activities, we had the privilege of having food grilled for us outdoors. THANKS! It was delicious! The students were able to eat their lunch outside under a tree. It was a little windy, but the kids enjoyed being outdoors instead of in the cafeteria.



Unfortunately I didn't get around to taking any pictures with the exception of the pie eating.

Creating a Vortex

For Science we have been learning about Catastrophic Events.

One of the may things that students have learned is that many large thunderstorms come together over ocean water and begin to swirl like a vortex. When this vortex becomes powerful enough, it is called a hurricane.

One of the several experiments that we have done in class was to create a vortex. Through this experiment, students also learned that in order for the water to flow down - the air must flow up.

I absolutely love to see my young scientists completely engaged in their learning!

This was a great success and students really enjoyed this hands on experiment.

NBA Challenge

The NBA Challenge was a great experience for many students. To be eligible to participate in this big event - students had to eat healthy, exercise & do community service. Students had to get a sheet signed off after they did these things every day, which was a challenge in itself.


It was tough for some students but they were able to get it done. From our school - the challenge started out with over 200 students and only 25 students endured to the end. Our entire class was able to attend the challenge. I was so proud of all the students that 'survived' till the end.

There were about 3,000 students from all around the Phoenix Area in the Suns arena. All the students were able to watch an exciting game. Every single student there received a goodie bag as well as a jersey and a lanyard. At the game they were able to visit with each other, eat dinner for free and enjoy the amazing dunk contest by the various mascots that were there. During half time our students enjoyed watching a concert by Corbin Bleu. It was a very long evening, but well worth it.. My kids did a fabulous job and they deserved it. Well done my happy campers!

Pearl Harbor

Throughout the week we talked about Pearl Harbor. Students were interested in the topic and were very engaged in the various activities that we did. Several students had never heard of Pearl Harbor, so it was a wonderful learning opportunity for them. Some of the students related the attacks of Pearl Harbor to 9/11. Even though it wasn't in the lesson plan to talk about 9/11, we did have the opportunity to compare and contrast the two horrific events. Some students said it reminded them of the Titanic with the boat sinking and many innocent people dying. I truely love when my my kids make connections.

As a class we discussed what we already knew about Pearl Harbor. The following day we talked about Pearl Harbor in detail. I was impressed to know that several students had actually went home and researched it or asked their parents about it. I love that they are over achievers!! Students were then put in groups of four. As a group they had to gather information so that they could make a chart the following day with what they have learned or know about Pearl Harbor. They had the opportunity to use any resources that we had in the classroom. They used almanacs, encyclopedias, and Internet to find statistics and more information about Pearl Harbor. It was a rewarding experience for me to see every one of my kids actively engaged in this activity.

Students now had now gathered enough information to make a chart. They wrote detailed information, they illustrated what they had learned and some wrote statistics or made graphs. I love that these students are creative and eager to learn new things.

Towards the end of the week, students (in pairs) made a PowerPoint presentation about Pearl Harbor. I am so amazed at how well my students did on this project. They are fast learners!

Thanksgiving Meals

I gathered adds from four different grocery stores. Students had a set number of guests and as they worked in pairs, they had to plan a Thanksgiving day meal with a $50.00 budget. This activity used many math skills (especially multiplication, where the prices of turkey are given in per lb.) They had to compare the prices from the different grocery stores adds so that they could get the cheapest and best deal. They also had to figure out how much of everything they needed so that their guests would all have enough food. This was a fun project for them to do with real world connections.

Comparing prices between Safeway and Ranch Market.

Trying to decide what pie is cheapest.

Trying to decide if mashed potatos in a box would be cheaper than buying potatos.

They decided that Ranch Market had the best deals.

Adding up prices to save money.

Cuting out the adds after comparing prices.

Looking for mouth watering pies.

Discussing what items to purchase.

Writing down prices to do the math after a coupon they found.

Very excited on the deals they have found.

Wow! I really like the way that pie looks... which is cheaper?

Math=Fun

As a supplement to our math, our classroom is using VmathLive. With VmathLive students can practice and sharpen their math skills, prepare for high-stakes tests, and play in real-time competitions of speed and skill - all exciting, web-based environment which creates confident, independent learners in math.

VmathLive is an exciting technology component that builds math skills in a fast-paced, online environment. Students are able to access VmathLive at school, home, the library—anywhere they can get online.Fatima: "It helps me learn more."

VmathLive's game-like environment engages and motivates students to improve their math skills. Students compete against themselves to beat their own scores.

Erick: Vmath Rocks!

Ashlie: It's awesome.

Carlos: "It's good for my brain and helps me answer questions fast."

Sindy: "I learn more things."
Jessica: "It makes concepts easier to memorize."

Ruben: "It's fun to learn online."
Julia: "It makes learning fun."
Arintzy: "It makes me work faster."
Angelica: "It's awesome. It teaches me stuff."
Lupita: "I can learn multiplication & division."

Writer's Workshop

Writer's Workshop is a teaching technique that invites students to write by making the process a meaningful part of the classroom curriculum. In Writer's Workshop, students organize thoughts to create a story or write about a given topic and develop it into an understandable narrative with a voice and focus that present information to the reader. Students are able to use writing mechanics comfortably and the shift in their cognitive abilities to higher order thinking allows them to develop a more sophisticated sense of what makes good writing.

Mini-Lesson
A Mini- Lesson is usually a 5-10 minute whole class activity and may be as simple as doing guided writing from a story, or how revision codes are used. For instance, today's mini lesson was about punctuation. One of the many sentences I used was..

The student said the teacher was crazy

Students had to figure out where the punctuation went. Of course they said it needed a period at the end of the sentence. The student is the one making the statement if the sentence does not have any commas.

After a discussion, the students realized that if we inserted commas, it would completely make the sentence mean something different. This is what the class decided on...

The student, said the teacher, was crazy.

When the students added the commas, it set off the dependent clause. It was a fun mini lesson the the students enjoyed.

Welcome to 6th Grade

The first week of school we did a lot of get to know you games and ice breakers. The one that the students enjoyed the most was the human knot. Our objective was that students would practice cooperative learning skills as well as find a solution to the group’s “knot”. It took a while for them to figure it out but after much trial and error, they realized that the only way to get out of the knot was to work together as a team.

Students had to form a circle. (it had to be an even number of students in the circle) Each student held out their right hand and grabbed the right hand of the person cross from them as though the two were shaking hands. Then each student held hands (left hands) with a person standing next to them or anyone in the circle. Each student had to hold hands with two different people. The goal of this warm up was for the students to untangle themselves from their situation so that a human circle would be formed.

The rules were that the physical hand to hand contact that they had with their partner couldn't be broken in order to facilitate an "unwinding movement". Sometimes students in the final circle ended up facing alternating directions, which was OK.