Happy New Year,

My apologies for not updating my website yet this year.  Our class has been very busy already this semester!

In reading, the class began Unit 4.  We are already on week 3.  We continue with the same routine of having the spelling pretest on Monday with homework due Thursday; introduction of new vocabulary is also on Monday which is always due the next day.  Generally, there are 4 skills reviewed or learned with each unit and story we read.  Our vocabulary, spelling and comprehension tests will be on Fridays.

The class has already completed a descriptive essay review for writing.  Fiction writing is our next mode, and we started that this week.  The short stories the students write will be realistic fiction.

Tomorrow I will hand out the book report requirements for third quarter.  The students have already picked out science fiction books to read.  The projects will be due February 27.

I am hoping your child has told you about the mini research we are doing in class as a pre-reading activity for our next differentiated book.  If your son/daughter has not told you about it, ask them to!  Most groups have slide shows or scripts on google and they can pull it up to show you!  The groups have been AMAZING, and I can’t wait to see their presentations tomorrow.  They are learning so much from their resources and even more from each other!  I am so proud of every one of them!

Thanks for your continued support!

One more week until the end of the first semester!  We finished our peer editing today, so your son/daughter should be making their final edits/revisions this weekend.  We will print it off here at school either Monday and turn them in.  This has been a long process, but the papers look great so far!

Remember our Unit 3 test is Wednesday and Thursday next week, so please remind your students to study vocabulary and grammar.  We also have 2 more discussions on Al Capone, we will finish that up before the break as well 🙂

Have a great weekend!

This has certainly been a super busy week for the sixth graders!  In Wonders we have skipped U3W2 because many of the skills were repeated from U3W1.  We are currently working on U3W3 and will test on that on Friday.  I will hand out the vocabulary and spelling only for U3W2 on Friday, and we will test over those two objectives next Tuesday before the break.

We are working very hard on our research reports this quarter.  We will finish taking notes from our books, on-line resources and websites by Thursday, then Friday we will begin organizing our papers with a program called Inspiration.  It is a great tool to teach kids how to make outlines.

Aside from that, we are working on our book reports.  As I posted earlier, we will be giving 2-4 minute book talks over the most exciting part of our book.  The students are signing up for days to give their reports.  The following have already signed up and I am waiting for the rest to sign up.  If they don’t sign up by Monday I will be assigning them times between now and December 12.

Nov. 24-Ben, Madalynn and Bree; Nov. 25-Kai, Sudy and Alexa; Dec. 2 Jonah Dec. 3-Ella Dec. 4-Corynn and Bree; Dec. 8-Joe and Zoie; Dec. 9-Maddy A.; Dec. 10-Brady;  Dec. 11-Toni, Samavi and Josh; Dec. 12-Wei-Qi, Elizabeth, Revelation.  If you don’t see your child’s name on here, please encourage them to sign up as soon as possible.

Stay Warm!

It’s hard to believe it is the end of October already.  The kids sure are excited about a weekend filled with candy and fun 🙂

Please remember that next week will be our Unit 2 test.  We will test over meaningful sentences (vocabulary), comprehension, and grammar.  It would be extremely helpful if you took time to go over the grammar packets and vocabulary words, even if it is only 5-10 minutes a night.

I wasn’t about to attach a copy of the book report packet, but I am going to copy and paste the requirements in this email.  The students were given a pink packet with the pages they need to fill out, as well as the speaking guide that is referred to in the pink packet.  We talked at length about the project yesterday.  Pre-planning would be best, if they are ready they could give their book talk next week, then they would be done for the sememster!

Have a great weekend!

2ND QUARTER BOOK REPORT DIRECTIONS:

Now that you have finished reading your myth book, it’s time to work on your first book talk. This packet outlines the requirements for the book talk. The pages in the packet will have to turn in COMPLETED on the day of your scheduled book talk to receive credit.

1) You will need to complete a plot chart for your book. All sections   must be done to receive full credit.

2) Write a summary, no more than one page. You may use the page attached, or type it on Googledocs. You will need to include the resolution and theme in your summary, I will be the only one to read it, so you won’t spoil the ending for others.

3) You will choose one character from you book to portray during your book talk. The person you choose SHOULD NOT be the main character, but it should be a significant character that you know a lot about. To help you understand your character better, you will complete the “Considering Characterization” page included in this packet. Doing this chart will help you understand your character so you can tell others about your adventures.

4) A visual aid will need to accompany your project. This can be a poster or a costume representing the character you are portraying. You may not bring weapons of any kind to school, so keep that in mind when thinking of your visual aid.

5) The presentation should be between 2-4 minutes long. It will be timed, so you will want to practice to make sure you are within the allotted time frame. You might choose the most exciting scene or most important part of the book to present to the class. You will want to include your feelings, and most importantly, how you see things from your point of view. The book talk SHOULD NOT be a summary of the whole book.

GRADING: You will receive 2 grades on your book talk. The first one will be based on the “Speaking & Listening Rubric/Scoring Guide.”

Students will develop, apply, and refine speaking skills and strategies to communicate key ideas. This will be worth 100 points.

 The second grade will be on the packet.

            Plot chart-10 points

            Summary-40 points

            Character chart-40 points

            Visual Aid-10 points

The book report is worth a total of 200 points.

Please make an appointment to share your book talk as soon as you are ready. No need to wait until December! I will begin assigning days for those who have not completed their book talk the end of November.