TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, AND FRIDAY, May 12th-15th
Monday - Hand out the final checklist for the cause/effect essay; Final essays are due between Monday, June 1st, and Friday, June 5th!!!!!
All week - students work on their essay organization packet from last week and rough drafting their essays Friday - Spelling packets due, spelling quiz Monday, May 11th, 2015
Hand out this week's spelling packet, due Friday
Students continue working on the body paragraph planning sheet
Wednesday, May 6th, AND Thursday, May 7th, AND Friday, May 8th3rd round of NWEA MAP Testing
Tuesday, May 5th, 2015
Students continue working on the body paragraph planning sheet handed out last week
SUBSTITUTE WORK - THURSDAY, APRIL 30TH AND FRIDAY, MAY 1ST AND MONDAY, MAY 4THThursday - Students will read pages 150-160 in textbook (Author Study: Gary Paulsen and Older Run)
Answer questions on page 161: #1 (all four questions!), #2, 4, 6, 7 Friday - Weekly spelling packet due, substitute will give the spelling quiz Students will read pages 163-169 in textbook (A Life in the Day of Gary Paulsen, Woodsong) Answer questions on page 170: #1 (all four questions!), #3, 4, 5, 6 Monday - Students will read pages 125-131 in textbook (Ghost of the Lagoon) Answer questions on page 132: #1 (all four questions!), #2, 4, 5, 6, 7 Wednesday, April 29th, 2015
Begin taking notes for writing the rough draft of the body paragraphs - I will go over a Powerpoint and students will use a packet to "dissect" their research and take out what they need for the body of their essay; THIS WILL BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, April 28th, 2015
MSTEP Practice in the classroom -
Teacher will show students examples on the computer of the MSTEP "performance task" where they will have to write an essay Students will fill out the "Three Types of Writing" Venn Diagram for MSTEP practice - students need to know how to write based on what type of essay the test asks them for; use the attached PowerPoint to fill out the Venn
Monday, April 27th, 2015Hand out this week's spelling packet - due Friday, May 1st
Laptops in room for students to do additional research for their cause/effect topic
Friday, April 24th, 2015
Students were to start bringing in their research today
After spelling quiz, students begin working on their research - locating cause, effect, signal words, filling out charts, etc. Thursday, April 23rd, 2015
Go over organization structures - three different types of graphic organizers to organize information for the cause/effect essay. Students will choose which of the structures will fit their topic and research best
For practice - students will use the shark attack article from yesterday to choose one of the three organizational structures and put it in their W.N.
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015
Start collecting all completed cause/effect topic slips
Students will work on an informational article about shark attacks to practice locating cause/effect AND central idea in order to practice for their own research for their topics BY FRIDAY, I would like students to begin bringing in some of their own research for their chosen topic
Tuesday, April 21st, 2015
Hand out cause/effect topic slips for students to fill out - DUE WEDNESDAY
Students paste c/e relationships in your topic sheet into W.N. - use this to ask questions to find c/e relationships in your chosen topic Students, in groups, will categorize facts about shark attacks into cause or effect
Monday, April 20th, 2015
Finish brainstorming Cause and Effect topics - as a class, we will narrow down to 5 topics. Students can choose one of those topics for their C/E essay
Hand out weekly spelling packet due Friday - there will be a spelling quiz on Friday
Friday, April 17th, 2015
Finish class discussion on what is brainstorming
Students begin brainstorming for their future cause/effect essay by making three lists in their W.N.: 1.) What do I enjoy? 2.) What do I know about? 3.) What do I want to know about? I will check lists on Monday Thursday, April 16th, 2015
One last cause/effect article as a full class discussion - climate change
Introduce concept of brainstorming with a how not to/how to brainstorm video
Wednesday, April 15th, 2015
Class discussion and class work - look at two informational articles that deal with cause/effect - students locate signal words, causes, and effects
Tuesday, April 14th, 2015
Class discussion - what is cause/effect? Examples, signal words
Homework assignment - finish both sheets, the cause/effect example sheet and, using one of those examples, the cause/effect relationship chart
Monday, April 13th, 2015
Introduce the next unit - Informational Essay (Cause/Effect)
Pre-test = students write a cause/effect essay on a chosen topic of personal interest Thursday, April 2nd, 2015
Early Release Schedule
Students will take the informational reading post test - reading an article and writing a summary Wednesday, April 1st, 2015
Early Release Schedule
Students will be comparing two different articles to each other about the same topic; should or should not people be allowed to own pit bulls? They will read the articles and complete the comparing informational authors chart
Tuesday, March 31st, 2015Class discussion - what is content specific vocabulary? Words that are specific to the topic you are studying or reading about, need to be part of the summary
Students will read an article - "The Highs and Lows of the Antiquities Act" - and pick out FOUR content specific words and break them apart using the Freyer's model chart
Monday, March 30th, 2015
Final day for working on "Summer of Fire" Summaries
There will be a post test summary essay on Thursday before Spring Break over an informational article - attached is the rubric I will use to grade, I handed out this rubric to students and let them know that they can use it on the test on that day
Friday, March 27th, 2015
Day 2 of writing summaries: students will finish the chart from yesterday together and then move on and actually write a summary of "Summer of Fire", the article from Wednesday
Thursday, March 26th, 2015
Day 2 of discussing central (main) idea in informational reading - we will pick up where we left off on Tuesday
Afterwards, we are starting Day 1 of writing summaries; today we will discuss how to pick out only the most important details to write about when doing a summary and how to get rid of the "extra fluffy" details Students will BEGIN an important detail chart, it will be continued in class tomorrow
Wednesday, March 25th, 2015I am out of the building today, there will be a sub
The students will be reading an informational article in their textbook, "Summer of Fire", pages 115-120 Afterwards, students will answer the following questions on page 121: #1 (all four parts), 2, 3, 5, 6, and the timeline on the right side of the page Tuesday, March 24th, 2015
Day 1 of discussing Central (Main) Idea in Informational reading - what is the primary purpose of the article, what the author wants you to know?
Students will read two different info articles today and extinct animals and the ability to bring them back. While and after reading, students will work on the following questions, all of them in their Writer's Notebooks - WE WILL NOT FINISH ALL OF THESE TODAY, WE WILL RESUME WHEN I AM BACK IN THE CLASSROOM ON THURSDAY 1.) For the first three paragraphs (stopping at the heading “Correcting Mistakes”, jot down what you think the main or central idea of each paragraph is. You should have a total of 3 main ideas. 2.) Now, based on those 3 paragraphs, what do you think the main or central idea of the entire top half of the article (stopping at the heading “Correcting Mistakes”) is? 3.) For the bottom four paragraphs (starting at the heading “Correcting Mistakes”, jot down what you think the main or central idea of each paragraph is. You should have a total of 4 main ideas. 4.) Now, based on those 4 paragraphs, what do you think the main or central idea of the entire bottom half of the article (starting at the heading “Correcting Mistakes”) is? 5.) Now that you have done the entire article, what do you think the main or central idea of the ENTIRE article is? 6.) Flip to the second article – there are three paragraphs total. Do the same thing – what is the main or central idea of each individual paragraph? 7.) What is the main or central idea of the entire article? 8.) Now, make a Venn diagram comparing the two articles with each other – make your Venn diagram large enough to actually write details in 9.) Still in your W.N., answer the questions below the Passenger Pigeons article 10.) Now, fill out an entry for both articles in the reading log you pasted into your W.N. – YOU SHOULD BE FILLING OUT TWO ENTRIES! Monday, March 23rd, 2015
Day 2 of Text Structures lesson. In groups of 4 or 5, students are given 12 sample paragraphs to sort into the 5 categories.
Weekly homework handout - due Friday - spelling list with words that end in a silent "e" when you add a suffix to the end
Friday, March 20th, 2015Introduce and give students notes for their Writer's Notebooks about Text Structures - the 5 ways that writers organize informational text
Class discussion sorting 5 paragraphs into the 5 categories
Thursday, March 19th, 2015
Students work on the Text Features Scavenger Hunt sheet in their textbooks together. DUE FRIDAY!
Wednesday, March 18th, 2015
Discussion - what is the purpose of informational reading? Introduce the 2 day lesson on informational text features, what are they? What do they look like? (see handout) Students will use handout tomorrow for a text feature scavenger hunt
Tuesday, March 17th, 2015
Fall and Winter NWEA MAP Score comparisons, goal setting for spring testing
Set up Writer's Notebook for Informational Reading unit with two handouts: Reading Community guidelines and reading log
Monday, March 16th, 2015
Introduce informational reading unit and give unit pre-test
Thursday AND Friday, March 12th-13th, 2015
Students will read the nonfiction biography "Matthew Henson at the Top of the World", page 101 in textbook
Over two days, students will complete questions #1 (all parts), 2, 4, 5, and 7 on page 111 On Friday (half day) students will watch corresponding video on the North Pole expedition Tuesday AND Wednesday, March 10th-11, 2015
Students, in groups, will read "President Cleveland, Where Are You?" in their textbooks, page 35
They will answer questions #1 (all parts), 2, 5, 6, and 7 on page 45, complete sentences, plus complete the handout
Monday, March 9th, 2015Collect all final Literary Essays
Hand out this week's information article - a flyer on carbon monoxide - DUE FRIDAY Students will work on in class today
Friday, March 6th, 2015
Literary Essay unit test - multiple choice
Last day that I am editing rough drafts in class - ALL ESSAYS DUE MONDAY 3/9 EVEN IF NOT EDITED Wednesday AND Thursday, March 4th-March 5th, 2015
Both days - students are finishing rough drafting, beginning final copies, while I am editing all student essays
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015
Happy birthday to me!
Step 10 - students will rough draft the Conclusion of their essay - one paragraph, see example handout for guidelines and for an example I will also hand out the study guide to the multiple choice portion of the test on Friday
Monday, March 2nd, 2015
Step 9 - students will rough draft the Introduction of their essay - one paragraph, see example handout for guidelines and for an example
Thursday AND Friday, February 26th and 27th, 2015
Step 8 - students who are ready will begin rough drafting the 3 paragraph body of their essay (one paragraph for each of their reasons, as done in the step 6 outline)
Students will get an example handout of the 3 body paragraphs to use as a guide
Wednesday, February 25th, 2015
Step 7 - difference between paraphrasing and using direct quotations in your essay
Group activity - using two different color highlighters, groups locate and differentiate between direct quotations and paraphrasing
Tuesday, February 24th, 2015
Step 6 of the Literary Essay Unit - Organizing your three reasons (from step 5) into chronological or priority order and creating an outline of your essay
Tuesday AND Wednesday, February 17th AND 18th, 2015
BOTH DAYS - students will continue to work on the first five steps of our literary essay research in order to help everyone get caught up AND because many students will be absent Wednesday for the band trip.
To recap: Step 1 - Two character theory sheets in Writer's Notebook (this was already due and graded last Thursday) Step 2 - Brainstorm possible ideas for essay claims - will be graded Wednesday Step 3 - Pick a claim for your brainstorm list and have it approved by me - will be graded Wednesday Step 4- Complete claim worksheet in Writer's Notebook, titled "Collecting Evidence", due Thursday Step 5 - Complete "Identifying Reasons" Worksheet, due Friday Thursday, February 12th, 2015
Continue working on all the steps so far, add in the next step: Identifying Reasons worksheet, students can begin if they are finished with all other steps
Wednesday, February 11th, 2015
Continue to work on brainstorming claims for your future essay about your main character. Once students have chosen a claim, I need to approve the claim. They can then begin working on the claim worksheet, which will be continued tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 10th, 2015
Continue yesterday's work on character theories, students should be working on the theories for the main characters in their own personal book. I WILL BE GRADING THESE THEORY SHEETS ON THURSDAY
Introduce next topic - using your three theories to brainstorm some possible claims about your character for your future essay. Teacher examples. Students can begin brainstorming once they finish all three theories. Students also will paste a literary essay checklist into their Writer's Notebooks
Monday, February 9th, 2015
Continue character theories from Friday; finish the theories for the main character of Scout's Honor and then begin making theories about the main character for their own personal book
Hand out weekly HW - informational article on Katy Perry's costume during the Superbowl halftime show; students need to watch 2 minute YouTube clip to go along with the article
Friday, February 6th, 2015
Class discussion of theories - what is a theory, in literature how can we form theories about our main characters?
Students revisit the short story "Scout's Honor" and begin forming theories about the narrator based on evidence using the Character Theory chart
Wednesday AND Thursday, February 4th-5th, 2015
Both days have shortened schedules (early release and half day)
Both days are make-up NWEA testing for kids who did not finish previously Thursday - library book check out Tuesday-Friday, January 27th-30th
Tuesday - test over Narrative Reading Unit
Wednesday - go over answers to yesterday's test, take the pre-test for the next unit, Literary Essay Unit Thursday - reading the 1st half of Scout's Honor in textbook, begin work in Writer's Notebook over the story Friday - reading the 2nd half of Scout's Honor, continue Writer's Notebook work, hand out packet over the story to be due on Monday
Monday, January 26th, 2015
Last day before narrative reading unit test. Class will go over study guides and correct answers.
Hand out informational articles due Friday - "High School QB Sues School Over concussion" Class will work together on a practice activity for tomorrow's test - read short story "Snow Birds" and answer various questions using the terms and skills from this unit; students will have to do same thing on tomorrow's test over a different short story
Monday, January 19th-Friday, January 23rd, 2015
Monday - No School
Tuesday - Read Alouds, continued. Students choose from six poems to prepare for a presentation in front of the class tomorrow. When I grade presentations, I will be looking for what we've discussed in class, such as tone, emphasis, pauses. etc. Wednesday - Poem presentations, students can work on study guides for next Tuesday's test Thursday - NWEA MAP Testing Friday - NWEA MAP Testing Friday, January 16th, 2015
Read Alouds in class - how does your understanding change based upon reading a story silently and hearing it read aloud?
Students will read a short story, Spaghetti, by themselves and then do a pair/share read aloud Thursday, January 15th, 2015
Discussion of the purpose of "scenes" in storytelling - what do we learn from scenes in particular. Students analyze two scenes in "A Bad Road for Cats" and what purpose they serve
Students answer the following questions in their Writer's Notebook: •1.) Look back at pages 57-58 – what information do you learn in this scene? Why is it important to the story? •2.) The author shifts from Magda looking for the cat to description about Magda – what is the purpose, do you think, of this descriptive scene? •3.) What is the connection between this scene on 57-58 and the title of the story? •4.) Now look at 58-59; why is this section important? What information do you learn in this scene? What do you understand now that you didn’t before? •5.) That scene on 58-59 involved what is called a flashback – how do flashbacks add to a story as a scene? Wednesday, January 14th, 2015
Discussion of dialogue in stories
How does dialogue help the reader to understand a story? What purpose does it serve? What do you learn about characters? Why do authors use dialogue in some scenes but not others? Students will study and discuss dialogue through two different short stories: "Wendell" and "Virgil" Tuesday, January 13th, 2015
Last day of discussion of 1st person vs. 3rd person POV
Students will read two short stories, "Ana" and "Papa's Parrot" and compare the two How did their understanding change due to one being written in 1st and the other being written in 3rd? Monday, January 12th, 2015
Second day of teaching 1st person vs. 3rd person Point of View
Students will write true stories about an event in their life using 1st person point of view After a quick discussion, the students will rewrite the exact same scene, switching it to 3rd person Class discussion: What effect did the POV switch have on their story? Which POV do they prefer and why?
Friday, January 9th, 2015
1st day of teaching 1st person vs. 3rd person Point Of View
Students take notes in their writer's notebooks on definitions Class read of short story "Kim" Discussion - the effect the story has since it was written in 1st person Notes and Definitions that Students Copied: --1.) First person – allows readers to identify with the main character since you know their thoughts and feelings, gives more depth, the reader knows the internal and external story; told with pronouns such as “I”, “We”, “Us”, “Me”, etc. --2.) Third person – main character doesn’t have to be in every scene; readers have to infer the characters’ thoughts and feelings; reader studies what is going on in the story without the use of characters’ perspectives; told with pronouns such as “Him/Her”, “Them”, “They”, “He/She”, etc. --3.) Narrator – the person telling the story; in 1st person, it’s the main character; in 3rd person, its an unknown, unseen storyteller Wednesday, January 7th, 2015
Class lesson - what is tone? How does an author convey tone in a story? How can readers infer the tone of a story?
Students take notes on tone, read short story, work together on tone activity Notes from the worksheet on tone: Writers choose specific words to convey their message. Readers infer the tone or meaning based on an author’s word choice. Writers convey messages and are very specific in their word choice. Readers infer the tone of a scene by watching how the characters act, not only what they do, but how they do it. Authors have a tone in mind and then choose words to write to convey this tone to the reader. Don't tell the tone, show it!
Tuesday, January 6th, 2015
Opening handouts of the new Narrative Reading Unit
Students paste in, class discussion
Monday, January 5th, 2015
Introduce new unit - Narrative Reading Unit.
Students take pre-test on unit Hand out this week's Article of the Week - NYC Rats Much Bigger Problem Than Feared
Wednesday, December 17th-Friday, December 19th, 2014
All classes finish and hand in bio poems while watching a PG film for a Christmas "gift".
Tuesday, December 16th, 2014
Students continue working on Biopoems from Friday
They can start final copies on blank white paper and begin decorating Monday, December 15th, 2014
Spelling Bee! Class spelling bees will be held today in to determine the winners that will take part in the school spelling bee on Tuesday, January 6th.
Friday, December 12th, 2014
Collect both the "Bionic Eyes" article and the questions from the 3 poems
Students are introduced to "Biopoems", are shown an example, and begin rough drafting one of their own Thursday, December 11th, 2014
Continue yesterday's discussion on all 3 poems
Students continue working on yesterday's questions, will be collected tomorrow Wednesday, December 10th, 2014
Read three short poems that all deal with the idea of identity, how do others view us, how do we view ourselves, and how do we want to be viewed. Starting on page 195 in the textbook, we will read the following: "I'm Nobody, Who Are You?", "It Seems I Test People", "Growing Pains"
Afterwards, students work on the following questions: Page 195 - all 3 questions Page 198 - #1 (all four parts), 2, 3, 5, and 6 We will continue to work on these questions tomorrow in class along with a full discussion about what these poems might mean Tuesday, December 9th, 2014
Introduce informational text articles. These will be done every other week. This weeks is DUE FRIDAY
Monday, December 8th, 2014
As a class, we will continue to discuss "All Summer in a Day" by discussing theme, figurative language, mood, etc. in a variety of in-class activities
I will be handing out the list of words for the class Spelling Bee which will be next Monday
Friday, December 5th, 2014
Finish watching the "All Summer..." short film
Students begin working on the "All Summer..." worksheet questions, these will be due next Tuesday
Thursday, December 4th, 2014
As a class, we will read "All Summer in a Day" (page 209) together
Begin watching 25 minute movie based on short story (movie is part of the textbook series) Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014
Students complete plot graph of "Aaron's Gift"
On backside of plot graph, please complete "Vocabulary and Spelling" questions AND "Spelling Strategy: Final Y Words and Suffixes" - pg. 258
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014
Group activity - students answer the following questions regarding yesterday's story "Aaron's Gift":
pg. 248 - answer the "Connect to Your Life" question pg. 257 - answer #1 (all four parts), #3, 4, 5, and 7; complete the chart from the bottom of 257, use the completed chart to complete a one paragraph description of Aaron in your own words Monday, December 1st, 2014
Begin unit of short stories - students need textbook every day through Christmas
Students read "Aaron's Gift", page 248, as a class Wednesday, November 26th, 2014
Students take their argument unit post test
Last day to turn in argument paragraphs Monday, November 24th, 2014
Day 3 of rough drafting/teacher editing -
We will be in the media center all day for students to get last research done, type final copies, etc. Friday, November 21st, 2014
Day 2 of rough drafting/teacher editing
Students will receive the 30 point rubric I will use to grade the essays
Thursday, November 20th, 2014
Day 1 of working on rough drafts of argument
I will edit when done with rough drafts - all final copies due by Wednesday, Nov. 26th Students get study guide for next Tuesday's vocabulary test
Wednesday, November 19th, 2014
Class discussion and notes over how to cite sources in their argument
Students will have to use in-text citations with their research Tuesday, November 18th, 2014
Students continue to look at and evaluate websites for credibility, choose different types of evidence
Students can begin working on apostrophes/crossword puzzle worksheet to use throughout the week
Monday, November 17th, 2014
Students discuss the sheet of notes on what the word credible means and the five questions to ask to tell if a website is credible to be used as secondary research
Students will work in pairs in the media center, looking at a list of 10 pre-selected websites and evaluate whether or not they are credible Friday, November 14th, 2014
-Classes finish the "Dissecting the Writing Prompt" activity if not finished yesterday (mostly 4th and 6th hour)
-Students hand in their topic ideas for the argument prompt, using this model: "Develop an argument for why ______________ should or should not __________________. Begin by making a clear, debatable claim. Provide at least three pieces of evidence to support and prove your claim, including one piece of evidence from a credible, secondary source. End your paragraph with a strong statement that summarizes your point." -Lesson of the day - how to write a claim sentence -Claims need to be narrow, not broad. How do writers narrow their claims? Be specific, use a because sentence, make it focused -Students will prewrite about their topics in order to develop their claim sentence, through the following activity: In your writer’s notebook, respond to each of the following questions: 1.) What is your opinion on the topic of year-round schools (or whatever your topic is) 2.) Do you believe year-round school (or whatever) is a good or bad idea? 3.) How come? What aspects of year-round school (or whatever) affect your opinion the most? 4.) Do you attend a year-round school (or whatever)? What has your experience been? If you don’t attend a year-round school (or whatever), what do you imagine the experience would be like? 5.) Do you know other people who have attended year-round school (or whatever)? What do you know about their experience? 6.) Write your claim – one sentence, make it narrow, use a because statement Thursday, November 13th, 2014
Collect and check HW
Hand out the checklist for the 2nd round of Writer's Notebook checks (beginning this upcoming Monday) Class discussion - picking their own topics for the argument assignment Dissecting the writing prompt - classwork picking apart the prompt
Wednesday, November 12th, 2014
What is an argument? It must have a claim (your opinion) and evidence (facts to back it up)
What are the 5 types of evidence? Class pastes 2 sheets of notes into their Writer's Notebook Homework - complete the Types of Evidence double-sided sheet
Tuesday, November 11th, 2014
Introduction to the Argumentative Paragraph Unit
What are the differences between a fact and an opinion? How do writers use both in their arguments? Locating the differences
Monday, November 10th, 2014
Argumentative Paragraph Unit Pre-Test
Wednesday, November 5th-Friday, November 7th, 2014
Camp Storer/Camp Kennedy
Monday, November 3rd, 2014
Independent Reading Post-Test
Multiple Choice Test/Plot Graph Homework - Plot Graphs due today Friday, October 31st, 2014
Last day of Silent Reading in-class for this reading unit
Students will complete a reader's reflection journal about their progress during this independent reading unit, continue studying for Monday's test Thursday, October 30th, 2014
1/2 Day of School of Parent-Teacher Conferences
Students will review for the upcoming test Wednesday, October 29th, 2014
What is theme?
The deeper message or central idea of a story What is the author trying to tell/teach you? Students will locate recurring images or ideas in their stories to help them come up with theme Handout due Friday
Tuesday, October 28th, 2014
How does our opinions change as readers as we progress further into a book? Do we change our minds about the characters, what type of person they are, what their motivation is?
Students will revisit their character graphs (handed out last week) and add to those charts today based on new opinions and new information after 20 minutes of SSR Monday, October 27th, 2014
Discussion of "plot" and the 5 plot stages
Hand out plot graph to be worked on all week as students finish their books - plot graph due NEXT Monday In addition - the unit's post test will be next Monday as well, the 3rd of November - ALL books must be finished by that point
Friday, October 24th, 2014
Copy down terms and definitions for vocabulary:
¨Character traits – what a character is like; their personality, physical features, etc. ¨ Character motivation – why a character acts or does the things they do ¨ Narration – the part of a story where the author is giving you background information, details, thoughts, descriptions ¨Scenes – the “moments” or “events” in a story, when characters do something or say something ¨ Plot – the series of events in an entire story, from beginning to end ¨ Exposition – the beginning of story, introduces the characters, setting, what sets the story into motion ¨Rising Action – increasing tension in a story, things are heating up ¨ Climax – the point of highest tension in a story ¨ Falling Action - things start to calm down; the problem might still exist, but tension is decreasing ¨ Resolution - the end of the story, all plot lines are resolved 20 Minutes SSR At end of class, collecting last week's "My Reading Voices" sheet as classwork grade Thursday, October 23rd, 2014
Class discussion of scenes and narration - what are they? What's the difference?
Example passage from Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl During 20 minutes of SSR, students look for and write down notes on their books' scenes and narrations
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2014
Early Release Day
Students continue examining their main characters today - today's focus: What is your character's motivation? What do they say, do, and think to show their motivation?
Tuesday, October 21st, 2014
Students will be analyzing their main characters today. How do we connect to our characters as readers? How are we similar? Why do we like our characters? What are some of their characteristics?
In addition, announcements: I would like independent reading books to be finished or almost finished by Friday, October 31st.
Monday, October 20th, 2014
Students will be one-on-one data conferencing with me today. These conferences will go over their current grade in class, their NWEA scores on Reading and Language in comparison with the 6th grade average score nationally. This data will be available at parent-teacher conferences.
Tuesday, October 14th-Friday, October 17th
Students will be in Media Center for the remainder of the week for 6th Grade Library Boot Camp with Ms. Kubiak and myself
Monday, October 13th, 2014
Class discussion - what is interactive vs. distracted voice when reading?
How do we refocus after being distracted? Teacher hands out "Voices" Sheet and shows his own responses Silent reading - 20 minutes
Friday, October 10th, 2014Class discussion - how to become a better reader
Definitions of "Volume" and "Stamina" when it comes to reading Handout and paste in Writer's Notebook the handout "6th Grade Independent Reading Unit Guidelines" Create a reading log in the back of our Writer's Notebook for use during this unit
Thursday, October 9th, 2014
How to choose a "just right" book for you class discussion and activity
Paste handout into Writer's Notebooks Students practice 5 Finger Test and Fluency Test with their groups
Wednesday, October 8th, 2014
Early release schedule - also, lots of Rachel's Challenge Activities lead to very shortened class time
Students continue/finish working on the Memories of Reading Timeline from Monday Tuesday, October 7th, 2014
I will be out of the classroom, but in the school, planning the 6th grade camping field trip
Students will have substitute work from their textbooks: Read the short story "Eleven" on page 27 and the short story "Who's The New Kid" on page 30 Answer the following questions on page 31 in complete sentences: #1 (all 3 parts), 3-8 Due Tomorrow Monday, October 6th, 2014
Introducing the new unit: Independent Reading Unit
Class discussion - what does Independent Reading mean? How do you see yourself as a reader? Students fill out a sleep about their own relationship with reading - what have they read recently? Thoughts/opinions about reading? Begin activity - Timeline of Memories of Reading Teacher models their own timeline Students begin working
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Monday, September 29th-Friday, October 3rd, 2014
All week, students are finishing their personal narrative essays. After finishing a rough draft of the opener, middle, and closer, students will exchange notebooks and peer edit/conference. After that, I will personally read and conference with all students regarding their rough draft. Finally, they will write a nice, polished final copy, either on loose-leaf paper or typed at home. All final essays due by Monday, October 6th.
Friday, September 26th, 2014
Class discussion over what makes a good closer to a story - how do writers want to end their personal narratives?
Rough drafting a closer
Rough drafting a closer
Thursday, September 25th, 2014
Go over grades on their Writers Notebook
Begin rough drafting their personal narrative's middle - the body of the story
Use dialogue, imagery (5 senses), details, etc.
Begin rough drafting their personal narrative's middle - the body of the story
Use dialogue, imagery (5 senses), details, etc.
Monday, Tuesday, AND Wednesday, September 22-24th, 2014
Students will be taking the Fall round of NWEA MAP Testing to show student growth throughout the year
Note: I will be checking and grading the students' Writers Notebooks during this time
Note: I will be checking and grading the students' Writers Notebooks during this time
Friday, September 19th, 2014
Class discussion - why do we write so much? Purpose of multiple rough drafts.
Discussion - opening your story/narrative - how do you grab your readers' attention?
Group activity - read the openings to 3 narratives - make a list of 3 things the writer does well to grab/hook you
Independent writing - Rough draft an opening to your narrative - 2 or 3 paragraphs
Discussion - opening your story/narrative - how do you grab your readers' attention?
Group activity - read the openings to 3 narratives - make a list of 3 things the writer does well to grab/hook you
Independent writing - Rough draft an opening to your narrative - 2 or 3 paragraphs
Thursday, September 18th, 2014
Finish class discussion - what does sequential order mean and why important for personal narrative?
Students will have group conferencing (use group conferencing handout - only have to do senses and vivid details on the bottom half)
Conference sheets due for a grade
Students will have group conferencing (use group conferencing handout - only have to do senses and vivid details on the bottom half)
Conference sheets due for a grade
writingconferenceworksheet.pdf | |
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Wednesday, September 17th, 2014
Whole class discussion -
1.) Using sensory details to create imagery
2.) Zooming in - focusing on smaller moments to create better detail
3.) Rubric for grading the writer's notebook
Students will paste "What To Do When Finished" and "Writer's Notebook Rubric" into their notebooks
1.) Using sensory details to create imagery
2.) Zooming in - focusing on smaller moments to create better detail
3.) Rubric for grading the writer's notebook
Students will paste "What To Do When Finished" and "Writer's Notebook Rubric" into their notebooks
whenimfinishedrubricgoals.pdf | |
File Size: | 151 kb |
File Type: |
Tuesday, September 16th, 2014
Rachel's Challenge Assembly for all 6th graders - 10:30-11:30
Students will work on finishing all 3 rough drafts so far
Students in groups will read examples of other personal narratives for ideas
Students will work on finishing all 3 rough drafts so far
Students in groups will read examples of other personal narratives for ideas
Monday, September 15th, 2014
Class discussion - what is small, focused storytelling vs. larger, drawn out storytelling?
Hand out examples to be pasted into writer's notebook
Students revisit their rough drafts to see where they can focus in
Hand out examples to be pasted into writer's notebook
Students revisit their rough drafts to see where they can focus in
smallfocusedstories.pdf | |
File Size: | 277 kb |
File Type: |
Friday, September 12th, 2014
Personal Narrative Work - Important Place
Students brainstorm/map out a list of places with special meaning/memories
Complete rough draft story about that place
Students brainstorm/map out a list of places with special meaning/memories
Complete rough draft story about that place
Thursday, September 11th, 2014
Finish important person/memory brainstorming
Share with table groups
Write/begin writing rough draft of this story
Share with table groups
Write/begin writing rough draft of this story
Wednesday, September 10th, 2014
Early Release Day - Shortened Class Schedule
Begin the Writer's Notebook 1st Unit - Personal Narrative
Today and tomorrow's topic - Important person in your life - teacher demonstrates/models on board
Students begin brainstorming important people in their lives and memories associated with those people
Begin the Writer's Notebook 1st Unit - Personal Narrative
Today and tomorrow's topic - Important person in your life - teacher demonstrates/models on board
Students begin brainstorming important people in their lives and memories associated with those people
Tuesday, September 9th, 2014
Library book check out - 1st half of class
Paste the "Ways We Share" and "Great Writers Checklist" into Writer's Notebook
Paste the "Ways We Share" and "Great Writers Checklist" into Writer's Notebook
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Monday, September 8th, 2014
Finish contact papering pictures and decorating Writer's Notebooks
Create the Table of Contents inside the Writer's Notebook
Begin page 1 and 2 - paste "Ways We Live in Our Notebook" notes, personal responses to "Ways We Live" on the next page
Create the Table of Contents inside the Writer's Notebook
Begin page 1 and 2 - paste "Ways We Live in Our Notebook" notes, personal responses to "Ways We Live" on the next page
waysweliveinournotebooks.pdf | |
File Size: | 115 kb |
File Type: |
Friday, September 5th, 2014
Begin class decoration of composition notebooks - turning them into our Writer's Notebooks - contact paper used to hold down pictures
Thursday, September 4th, 2014
Classroom "Selfie" Activity - draw a "selfie" of yourself and describe what kind of person you are
Homework: Any parent signed procedure sheets not turned in today must be turned in tomorrow!
Homework: Bring in photos, magazine pictures, printed pictures off Internet tomorrow to use when we decorate our Writer's Notebooks
Homework: Any parent signed procedure sheets not turned in today must be turned in tomorrow!
Homework: Bring in photos, magazine pictures, printed pictures off Internet tomorrow to use when we decorate our Writer's Notebooks
selfieactivity.pdf | |
File Size: | 123 kb |
File Type: |
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014
Finish class introductions
Go over rules and procedures sheet, must be signed by parents and brought back
Begin introductory "selfie" activity
Go over rules and procedures sheet, must be signed by parents and brought back
Begin introductory "selfie" activity
chesserprocedures.pdf | |
File Size: | 241 kb |
File Type: |
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014
1/2 Day of school
Introductions to classroom and myself - who am I?
Introductions to classroom and myself - who am I?
about_me.pptx | |
File Size: | 951 kb |
File Type: | pptx |