New Independent Reading Book

The sixth grade students will be introduced to a new independent reading project.  We will once again be practicing "Text Marking" while reading a novel.  The students are expected to have a new novel by Friday, March 1st.  Below are the directions for the assignment and the grading Rubric.

Sticky Notes

Bookmark

Directions:  Choose one of the following after each chapter or about 10 pages.  
You must have at least 10 Post-It notes total, some may be used twice.

A.  Describe how the main character looks and acts.
B.  What is a prediction that you can make after learning about a character?
C.  Write two unanswered questions.
D.  What is the main problem so far in the novel?
E.  Write a 1-3 sentence summary of important events on the chapter or pages?  
F.  What does the title mean to you?
H.  Make any personal/media connection to the book?  Explain the connection.
I.  Describe a character’s actions.  Was it a good or bad choice?  Explain. 
J.  Give an example in the book that made the main character happy, sad, or angry. 
K. Which part of the book would you change?

Sticky Notes Checks
You must have at least 10 Post-It notes total some may be used twice.  Please number your notes and label your choice.
Date	You Need
Thursday 3/7	3 Post-It Notes ---------- /(6) 2 points each
Thursday 3/14	3 additional  Post-It Notes ---------- /(6) 2 points each
Thursday 3/21	4 additional  Post-It Notes ---------- /(8) 2 points each
Friday 3/22	Final Accelerated Reader Test due

Writing in MATH!

The sixth grade students have completed the math unit on Integers.  For a culminating assignment, the students will be writing a RAFT.  This will be a creative writing project the students will be completing in class.  The acronym RAFT, stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic.  The students make decisions on their writing before they begin.

Directions for this RAFT:

1. R- role of the writer-  Who are you?- for this RAFT the students can choose to be a type of integer (any positive or negative number, or zero).
2. A- audience- To whom is this written?- the students can choose to write to any type of integer ( a positive could be writing to a positive, or a positive can write to a negative, or maybe a zero is writing to a negative).
3. F- format- What form will it take?- the students can write a News Story, a Journal/Diary, a Cartoon, or Commercial.
4. T- topic + strong verb- the student can be writing to complain, demand to plead, excite, or scare. 

After some time to brainstorm using a graphic organizer, we are asking the students to finish their rough drafts over the weekend.  On Tuesday, 2/19, the students will be typing their final RAFT on their Google Drive accounts.

Adverbs

The sixth graders will be finishing up our short unit on Adverbs this Wednesday.  We will be taking a quiz to include the following topics.

Lesson 7:  Adverbs,  page 197

• students will identify adverbs and the verbs they modify.
• Adverbs that modify verbs answer these questions: How?, Where?, When?. 
• ex:  Alma left quickly.  The adverb is left.  Left modifies left.

Lesson 8:  More About Adverbs, page 199

• identify adverbs and the adjective or adverbs they modify.
• When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it usually tells to what extent. 
• ex:  A very large crowd gathered quite quickly. (very is modifying large, and quite is modifying quickly)

Lesson 8:  Comparing with Adverbs, page 203

• use the comparative and superlative adverbs correctly
• comparative forms use -er, more, less
• superlative forms use -est, most, or least
• There are also irregular forms for comparison. 

Lesson 9:  Negatives, page 206

• use negatives correctly in sentences
• identify and correct double negatives in sentences

Lesson 10:  Adjective or Adverb, page 209

• distinguish adjectives from adverbs
• use adjectives and adverbs correctly in sentences.