Expository Writing

This week the students began writing a short expository composition to get ready for their upcoming expository speeches. Students chose a famous person or interesting animal to write about and research. We wanted students to have some freedom in their writing to make the composition fun and interesting. We hoped to introduce and develop of the following skills in their four paragraph expository composition. *Write an engaging introduction that tells the main idea. *Create a paragraph for each main topic. *Support each topic with at least two facts or examples. *Write in the third person. Focus on facts, not opinions. *Use your own words. Don't plagiarize! *Show how your ideas are connected. *Write a conclusion that sums up the main idea of your report. *Include a bibliography.

Literature Circles in Reading

The sixth grade Reading students have begun Literature circles in Reading class. Each student was assigned a book and a group to complete the reading and task. Students will have time in class to read the books and work on the tasks. It is our goal to get kids to learn from kids. Before, during, and after reading, it is our goal to get the students to talk to each other about the books. The theme of the books is disabilities. All the main characters in the book have a different disability. Here are some of the guidelines shared with the students. You will enjoy your experience with literature circles if your group has successful discussions. We must learn how to have good discussions. That may sound kind of silly, but many people do not communicate well during a group discussion. We've all met these people before...they do not listen or pay attention to others, they cut other people off mid-sentence, or they might only talk about what is on their minds and not respond to other people's comments. Picture yourself in the middle of a literature circle discussion. You want to be a positive member of your group. What should you do? This is the first assignments given after reading the the first few chapters of the novel. Bookmarks:  Open-Ended “FAT” questions to ask your group  Inferences you made while reading (things you figured out about the storyline by using what you already know)  Literary or story elements  Advice you would offer a character  Vocabulary words – unfamiliar words, interesting words,  Connections you made with the text – about your life, other books, movies  Author style critique – evaluating the way the author wrote the story

Prepositions in LA.

Sixth grade students are finishing up the English unit on Prepositions. We encourage that students try to memorize as many prepositions are possible. There is a great chart on page 315 which we asked students to record in their LA notebooks.

We have practiced identifying prepositional phrases, adding them to sentences to elaborate meaning, using them correctly, and recognizing the difference between a preposition and an adverb.

Prepositions make a phrase that ends with an object (noun or pronoun).
*into the room
*by the desk
*near the school
*to the store and home

After Spring Break

Enjoy Spring Break next week!

When we return, the sixth graders will continue with Grammar Lessons. We will introduce Prepositions on Monday. We encourage students to memorize as many prepositions as possible to make identifying prepositional phrases easier.

In reading, we will begin a new writing format. The sixth graders will practice responding to Literature and reading a short story. We will also be visiting the IMC to choose new silent reading books. This is a "free choice" book but must be an Accelerated Read book. The students will be asked to take an AR test once they have completed the novel. If they choose to take notes while reading, they are allowed to use the notes while taking the test.

Have a wonderful Spring Break. See you in April!

Compare and Contrast Brochures

The sixth grade Language Arts student working on creating a Compare and Contrast 4 paragraph composition. Today and on Monday the students will be turning the composition into a brochure to share with the class.

Each student chose a compare and contrast two famous people, two places they visited, or two snack foods.

A great compare-contrast composition includes the following:

*an engaging introduction that name the two subjects
*corresponding details fro each subject
*topic sentences to state the main idea of paragraphs
* transitional words and phrases to compare and contrast
*a conclusion that sums up the main ideas in a satisfying way

Fun in LA!

To break up ISAT week, the sixth graders will be doing a Newspaper Scavenger Hunt in LA. The purpose of the Newspaper Scavenger Hunt is to find as may as possible of the items on the list. Some of the items include; an editorial, a weather forecast, an account of a school board meeting a quotation by the president, an article about anything happening in a European country, and an ad for a free kitten.

The purpose of this lesson is to allow students to use cooperative learning stratiges and navigate through a local newspaper. We would like studnets to be more aware of the section and articles in a newspaper while working in a small group.

ISAT are coming

The students in the RtI Math class are getting ready for ISATs by practicing short and extended response questions. We have worked on a number of short response questions using multi-step problem solving methods. We are asking students to remember to show their work and be sre to circle their final answer. Extended response questions can be trickier. The students will need to ask a math questions showing proficent math knowledge, strategic knowledege, and explain what steps they used to solve the problem and why they took the those steps. We askthe students to try and use just words to explain the steps instead to telling the numbers.