My name is Vicki Brown. I have taught at Gorman ISD over twenty years. I teach English, Reading and Math in grades K-12.

My 5th and 6th gade students are learning how to recognize parts of sentences. We are using those parts to construct new sentences.

We are learning to compare and contrast.

We write stories and letters to friends.

They are doing a great job!!

Of course, we continue to get ready for the TAKS testing that will be soon.

The 5th-6th math classes are working hard learning about adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.

We are working on converting measurements and time.

Decimals, fractions and percents are always fun.

We will be looking at Algebra and Geometry concepts as well.

In the 5th & 6th reading classes , we work on decoding skills and comprehension. We look at details and sequencing the order of a story. making an outline is a good way to get the important parts of a story. Letting them pick the story is the best way to insure their interest and learning.

My English II students have just finished a story entitled "The Most Dangerous Game". It is about two men who are alike in some ways and very different in others; especially when it comes to hunting the "Most Dangerous" species of all. Ask your child..they will tell you what species General Zaroff hunts. We enjoyed the story very much and made lots of inferences as we read.

The first four chapters in the Algebra book have been quite challenging.

We start students in pre-K learning about letters and then get into middle school and high school and turn the letters into numbers.

The the algebra classes we have learned how to get rid of those letters and turn them into numbers. We will continue with that concept as we add to our learning.

The Geometry class is all about shapes. We use the skills we learned in Algebra at times with geometry.

The class used different shapes to construct a blueprint for a house. They even threw in some shapely furniture. They too are doing a great job.

English I & III are in a series of books from National Geographic World of Reading.

They learn about all parts of the world while learning how to draw conclusions, make inferences, find details, compare and contrast our culture with other cultures. They have made timelines, answered factual questions and decided fact or opinion.

They do all of this while preparing for the TAKS at the same time learning about other cultures around the world.

Continuing this week, we have been reading the West Asia Book which covers Iraq, Iran and other countries we hear about in the news. I try to give the class a sense of where our soldiers are while we cover objectives.

The Second Semester of the school year has been very busy.

The 5th and 6th grade students continue to learn about parts of the sentence, but we have added the parts of speech as well. We continue to learn to put these parts together and create sentences. These sentences will be used to create stories and other writings. They continue to work hard.

The 5th and 6th grade are learning about shapes and measurement. We have talked about different geometric shapes and angles. We learned how to measure them. We continue to review adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. They really enjoy the measuring. They measure different objects in the room using estimation first and then finding the exact measurement. They are shocked at the difference in the answers they thought were right and the exact ones. It's been fun.

They continue to do well in reading. To ensure they will enjoy reading I allow them to choose a book from my collection. They enjoy reading something that interests them.

In my English II class we read and watched the movie "12 Angry Men". When I finally got the movie, the students enjoyed it very much. It was educational for them not only to see a movie made in the 1950's, but to watch one in black and white. We have started and are continuing the Shakespeare play "Julius Ceasar". This too is very educational. They are challenged by the dialogue used in the book and the movie. They are enjoying the play very much.

The Algebra classes are learning how to write linear equations. They have been studing the slope and y-intercept, using point and slope,using two points, and looking at vertical, horizontal,parallel & perpendicular lines. We are now in Chapter 7--Inequalities. This will be hard work.

The Geometry class has just finished working with geometric figures using formulas to find measurements. We are now reviewing fractions, decimals and percents.

English I & III are working on sentence structure. We have looked at punctuation and nouns. We have begun the section on verbs. Once we go through the parts of speech we can construct sentences with the correct usage and punctuation.

All of my students are doing a great job. I am very proud of them. You, as parents, play a great role in their success. I want to thank you for yor support at home. Thank you! If you have any questions or concerns please contact me.