Science Fair

Science Fair judging starts tomorrow! Please keep in mind that students will not be with their projects during judging hours or visiting hours. Therefore, display items of value that could be included with the project are discouraged. Remember that the poster should say it all! Also include the research paper, notes, and the science fair notebook to illustrate all the hard work and research you put into the project.

Please come on Friday during the hours of 8:00 - 5:00 to see Butler 5th and 6th Grade Science Fair!

Assignment Board 1/26

Assignment Board 1/23

January Book Report and Science Fair Projects

I've decided to extend the due date of the January Book Report to February 2nd. I think this will help those who are behind on their science fair project.

We've asked that the science fair projects be completed by Friday, Jan. 27th, because I would like each student to have the opportunity to share their poster board/project with the class in a brief, informal presentation. However, the firm, immovable date that students must have all their completed project at school is February 1st.  "Complete" projects include a poster board displaying the elements of the scientific process, the completed "MY SCIENCE FAIR NOTEBOOK", a research paper with bibliography, and any additional notes, drawings, plans, data organized into a folder or notebook.

Please note that candy/treats displayed with the project are completely unnecessary.  Any realia displayed with the project should exclude the following items, as per the SLVSEF guidelines:

• living organisms, taxidermy specimens, human/animal body parts or bodily fluids
• no food is permitted at the display
• no raw plant materials, living dead or preserved
• no chemicals, including water, hazardous substances or devices, highly flammable material, sharp items, or glass

At our school fair, the students will not be with their project during the day. Children will be escoorted by their teachers, but we need to be mindful of curious little hands.

Thanks for your help with this.

Science Fair Judges

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time to help judge our school science fair. However, we are still in need of 10 to 12 volunteers to serve as judges . Following is the schedule of the judging times.

 We've planned to have the school science fair on February 1, 2 and 3rd. Each student from grades 5 and 6 will have an entry. We will have the projects set up in the activity room on February 1st by noon, and the building will be open until 6  for judges only to come in and judge through the day and evening at their leisure. Volunteers can continue judging the morning and afternoon of February 2nd until 3:00. After school on Thursday, we (the teachers) will go through the results, and award the finalists and honorable mentions. Friday, February 3rd will be an open house for the community, and for grade levels who would like to visit.  We will keep the building open until 5:00 on this last day.

With enough volunteers, each judge will need to evaluate about five projects.  Based on last years' feed back,  five projects should take about 1/2 hour to an hour to judge. We want this to be convenient for judges, so we hope the extra judging hours will work well with your schedule.

Please e-mail me if you are able to help us with this very valuable activity. 

1/19 Assignment Board

January Book Report - Historical Fiction

Below are copies of the papers needed for January book reports. The second one gives directions and suggestions for a "newspaper" page they will create, based on their historical fiction novel.

Assignment Board 1/18

Snowmen Craft Day Friday, January 27th

We are having another fun craft day in sixth grade.

The following list of items needed went home last week, but here it is posted, as a reminder. In addition, it helps to have several glue guns, so if you can loan us one for the day we'd greatly appreciate it. Just be sure it has your name on it.

We could use a couple of volunteers as well. Please email me if you are interested in visiting the classroom for this activity.

Assignment Board 1/13

University of Utah Treasure Chest of Rare Books Visit 1/9/12

Slideshow design made with Smilebox

Upcoming Events!

This week:
Monday 1/9 - Students will have the opportunity to examine rare books thanks to a visit from the University of Utah.
Tuesday 1/10 - Students have been invited to attend the Butler Middle school dance performance. We will be walking over to Butler Middle right after lunch.

At the end of January, sixth graders will have a Craft Day. we will be making some cute snowmen. Look for a materials list to come home at the end of this week. I'll post it too.

Valentine's Dance will be on Friday, February 10th during school. A note was sent home last week announcing a meeting for parent volunteers on Monday Jan. 9 at 3:15. If you can't make it, but you would like to help out, just send a note with your student, and I'll forward your information to the committee heads.

Winter Benchmark Testing

We are reviewing for winter benchmark testing that will be given towards the end of this week and into next week. This benchmark testing is comprised of 4 different timed tests, 2 that measure math skills and and 2 that measure reading comprehension and fluency. In class we have been giving several "prompts". Ask your student to bring home the  examples of "MCAP, MCOMP, and DAZE " prompts. The concepts and format of these prompts follow the district tests that we are required to complete. 


The benchmarks are a minimal standard that we want all students to meet in order to  have a good shot at success with grade level material and end of year testing. You can help at home by reviewing concepts on the math prompts, and having your student read aloud to you in one minute blocks. One of the tests is a fluency reading test, so just having your student read aloud to you will with help with this test. Go over the same passage a few times and encourage them to read it a bit more quickly and accurately each time. 


Thanks for your help at home!

January 6th Assignment Board

Jan. 3 Assignment Board