Attention Parents - 3rd Marking Period Ends Friday, March 22
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Welcome to the web site of Mr. Kenneth Harkness, 6th Grade Social Studies
Parents, please make sure to check your child's planner regularly. Also, if you ask me to sign your child's planner then I am assuming you are checking it every night.There is usually something written on the assignment board everyday.( Test, quiz, project due, current events, etc. )
I would like to think that the students will have fun in my class this year. We laugh and joke around and even play crazy music in class. However, I also expect all the students to know when it is appropriate to have fun and when it is time to get down to do work. I also tell my students that if I give homework I will always check the homework. So, please encourage your child to do their homework for all their subjects.
Warning! Texting and cell phones have become quite an issue in school.If I find one of my students texting in my class I will take their phone ( parents can come to the school to claim the phone ) and the student texting will have lunch detention.
One thing everyone should know about my class is that I do not give retests or "do-overs" for those students that do not do well on my tests or quizzes. I always give plenty of warning before a test or quiz and I never give surprise quizzes. I also try to give opportunities for extra credit whenever possible. Unfortunately, usually the student that doesn't need the extra credit is the one that does the extra credit. So, please encourage your child to do extra credit when it is offered. Also, we will do several projects during the year. Projects count as much as a written test. So, please make sure you know when projects are assigned and when they are due.
CONTACTING ME. The best way to contact me is via email.I check my email three or four times during the day and I will answer your email the same day. That's it for now. I hope we all have a very happy and successful 2012-2013 school year.
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Grading - Parent Assistant Module(PAM). Parents can't average a student's progress report grades because teacher's grades are "weighted". Below are my weighted percentages.
Test- 25%
Projects- 25%
Quiz- 20%
Classwork- 15%
Homework- 15%
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ATTENTION PARENTS - Students are given more than enough time to find a current event article. Even the students that don't get a paper at home or who don't have internet can use the computers at school to find an article. I tell my students that "if you wait until the last minute bad things happen" and they often do.
CURRENT EVENTS - Web sites
http://www.tenbyten.org/10x10.html This site shows you the top 100 stories for the day and is updated every few hours. The stories are in pictures and once you click on the picture, it brings up articles about the event as well as videos. IT is an AWESOME site!
Socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/currentevents_education
TeenTribune.com and TweenTribune.com now provide news stories in Spanish to help students improve Spanish and English language skills. These stories cover topics of interest to kids: Animals, Entertainment, Science, Curiosities, etc. http://TTEspanol.com
Our focus this year will be the Five Strands of Social Studies and the Five Themes of Geograp
Quiz - Wednesday, March 20
Trade and it's lasting effects on civilization
Silk Road, The Crusades and Early Exploration
Reasearch Papers Due - Thursday, March 21
Feelings of Four Poem Due - Thursday, March 22
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