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Welcome to Room 221!
Please use this site to check for important classroom information, look at what we are currently doing in class, browse some student work, and check assignment due dates!

{plan.pdf} {tips.pdf}
Welcome to Room 221!
Please use this site to check for important classroom information, look at what we are currently doing in class, browse some student work, and check assignment due dates!

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Lit Circle Photo Stories
Group 1

Welcome to Room 221!
Please use this site to check for important classroom information, look at what we are currently doing in class, browse some student work, and check assignment due dates!
Elementary School {cbltw_blue2.jpg} Click here to visit the district website.
Copyright © 2008-09
Brian Swank

appropriate section. You may include a brief description of the website that you have found! Thank you! Pod
Pod casting
Audacity software download
Podsafe Music Network

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Please add useful links that you find to view the presentation document from Back To School Night Swank Back to School Night
http://teach.fcps.net/trt2/Webquests/earth_day_scavenger_hunt.htm
Class Notes Introductions Writing Lesson
Human and Cultural Geography Chapter 3
Human and Cultural Geography chapter 3 Continued
Europe and Russia Chapter 14
European Travel
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Audacity software download
Music Network
Podsafe
Podsafe Audio
Internet
Internet Archive Audio
Creative
Creative Commons Search
Free
Free Music Network
ccMixter
The
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The FreeSound Project
Sounddogs
The
Sounddogs
The Recordist
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Please use the discussion page to respond to general questions.

Check back daily for assignments and due dates!
YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES OF READING TO DO EVERY NIGHT!
March 2 - 6
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Copyright © 2008-09
Brian Swank

11-18-08
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent - Teacher conferences are under way and will continue through Monday, November 24th. A conference reminder should have come home in the last Thursday folder. If you are not certain of your time, you may check the schedule here. If you have a conflict and will not be able to attend, please email or call me to reschedule a time that is convenient for you!
Students have turned in their "Five Themes of Geography - European Country" folders, and they look great! Following the Thanksgiving break, we will be continuing our study of Europe. Students will examine several different European cultures and create travel infomercials to present to their classmates. In writing we are nearly done with the first rough draft of our "Time Magazine - Person of the Year" mock assessments. Following the completion of the written piece, students will create a multi-media presentation to accompany their oral speech. I hope that your families enjoy the upcoming break and that your children have the opportunity to "recharge" before our final push towards the winter break!
11-10-08
End of Marking Period One
The first marking period is coming to a close! It is hard to believe that we are one-quarter through the year. We have had a lot of fun and we have worked very hard here in Room 221. The Halloween Howl and our Room 221 Halloween Party were both outstanding! A HUGE thank you to the parents that volunteered to help make both events successful!
We wrapped up our study of ecosystems and pollution and we are now studying Europe and the Five Themes of Geography. This week students will be completing a "Five Themes Folder" for a European country of their choice - please look over the project directions and rubric with your son/daughter. This afternoon we took the "Survival" theme test in reading and students began their first mock Sixth Grade Assessment.
Just a friendly reminder that we use rubrics for many assignments that we complete. Please remind your student to CHECK THEIR WORK AGAINST THE RUBRIC before they submit the assignment to me for grading. Students have lost a number of points on recent assignments due to their failure to read the rubric thorougly or for forgetting to read ALL of the directions.
We will continue to be very busy in the coming weeks leading up to our holiday breaks. Please help your child stay organized at home by periodically taking a look through their folders and school work. Parent-Teacher conferences will begin next week. Please look for your confirmation slip in the next Thursday Folder.
10-6-08
Did You Know?
As the year progresses we will continue to integrate new technology into our classroom. The incorporation of technology into our daily lives has many benefits. Current sixth graders are what we commonly refer to as "Digitial Natives" - they have grown up in the age of the internet and other technological resources. They are unable to fathom a world without computers, cell phones, and ipods. As we continue through the 21st century, technology will continue to grow and change. Becoming comfortable using new resources will be an important life skill that is needed for our future generations to succeed.
We will not be completing everything online, however, more and more we will use appropriate web resources. For instance, blogging allows for our students to respond to prompts, and then respond to their peers in a way that promotes discussion - leading to new understandings. Our class website provides a look into our classroom at the things that we are doing - and soon it will show examples of the work we have completed. Students now recognize that their work may potentially be published to the web for all to see. The idea of having their work on display has many students striving to do their very best on each assignment - as they know that it could be viewed around the world (or at LEAST by their parents and peers).
The video below does a nice job of showing what the next generation will face in terms of school, careers, and technology changes and choices.
10-3-2008
Students Excited to Begin Pod Casting!
A huge thank you to Elizabeth Burke! Elizabeth is an eighth grader at Unami Middle School. She joined us for an hour this afternoon to train our class on the Audacity pod casting software. Elizabeth has a tremendous amount of experience with the program - as she has worked with Mr. Jason Jaffe to teach workshops to Central Bucks faculty across the district. After Elizabeth's presentation, she stayed and helped our class explore the program as they worked on creating their very own podcasts. Everyone had a great time!
We are looking forward to using the software in the coming weeks. We will use the software to help our writing "come to life." We will be creating presentations, radio programs, and practicing our public speaking with the use of this tool. Feel free to download the software on your home computer (See "Helpful Links") and let your student show you all that they learned!
Today in Math we completed our Unit One test - be on the look out for the graded test next week. It will need to be signed and returned. We will begin Unit Two on Tuesday. This unit focuses on computation.
In Science this week we completed our first hands on lab. Students brought in water samples from various locations around our community. We then built our own water filtration systems to see how well we could clean the water from our local watershed and tributaries.
Next week is another short week. We have no school on Thursday, October 9.
9-29-2008
Survivor Night a Huge Success!
Students had a GREAT time on Friday evening! The kids had fun working together and competing against their peers in a series of exciting events! It was a pleasure to see the students enjoying themselves and showing their "Team Spirit." Mrs. Leuthe did a great job with the events, and the parents that volunteered their time were absolutely terrific! The events were organized and run very well! Thank you to all of the parents that made this event so successful! The Halloween Howl is right around the corner!
In the classroom we have been working VERY hard! In language arts the students wrapped up the rough drafts of their "Ropes Course Narrative" piece on Friday. We are heading to the computer lab this week to complete the final copies and prepare our work for publishing! Check our website soon for student work! We will also be writing letters to European Embassies requesting information for our upcoming social studies unit.
We are about half way through the book Hatchet. This book has been very exciting - we are enjoying making predictions about Brian Robeson's actions while he is stranded in the Canadian woods. Furthermore, students have done an excellent job making connections to the text and identifying various traits that they see in the characters.
In science we completed our clean streams test and overall the class did very well! This week we will be starting our hands on study of water. Be sure to speak to your child about the exciting labs that we are completing in class.
We are nearing the end of our first math unit - the unit test is tentatively scheduled for Friday (10/3/08). Students will come home with a complete review guide prior to the test.
Remember, this will be an abbreviated week - there is no school on Tuesday!
9-25-2008
Time is Flying!
It's hard to believe that we have been in school for nearly four weeks! Our field trip to Peace Valley Nature Center was terrific (Photos are online!) The students did a phenomenal job on their Town Hall Meeting presentations - the staff at the Nature Center (and Mr. Swank!) were VERY impressed! Students enjoyed seeing all of the things that we had learned about in class, really come to life! Students had a great time investigating the stream quality and working together to identify macroinvertebrates.
Last week we had the privilege of traveling with the entire sixth grade to Camp Diamond Ridge for our annual Ropes Course Excursion (Photos are online!) Students conquered their fears, and achieved more than they could have imagined. This trip will prove to be an invaluable experience for our class as we continue through sixth grade. The students learned to trust their peers and to respect the abilities and skills of each individual in our classroom.
9-12-2008
The Personal Hygiene Talk...
Today in class we had a discussion about the importance of maintaining our own personal hygiene. Our classroom gets crowded with 27 individuals in the room at once. After a fun 30 minutes on the playground our room can get pretty smelly! We revisited the importance of showering daily and remembering to always wear deodorant. Parents, please discuss with your child the importance of daily hygiene and overall cleanliness. Thanks so much!
9-5-2008
First Week a Tremendous Success
The students of Room 221 had a very busy first week! We spent time getting to know our new classmates, getting acclimated to our new surroundings, and WORKING very hard! With our first field trip, to Peace Valley Park, quickly approaching we have been busy learning about pollution sources, our local watershed, and our impact on the planet.
We are all getting used to waking up early, completing homework, and staying organized!
Copyright © 2008-09
Brian Swank