Welcome back! (a little belated). Both 6th and 7th grade have started the Spring semester studying expository, or information, text. From understanding different organizational patterns to determining an author’s purpose, main idea, and supporting details, everything students are learning about right now will help them in ALL of their other classes.
RIF Read-a-thon – Students at O. Henry have the awesome opportunity to turn something they’re already doing (reading and recording pages) into something that really helps others out (giving under-privileged kids their very own books!). Students should all have the RIF handouts and envelopes for collecting money. Now all they have to do is get adults to pledge an amount per page they read and they will be well on their way to raising money for less fortunate AISD students. Please contact me or our librarian, Ms. Stevenson, if you have any questions. Or you can visit www.bookspring.org for more information.
Below are some specifics on what we’re covering in each grade, along with links to prezis and other docs we have used or will use.
6th grade
This week we are studying Pompeii, beginning by reading the historical fiction “The Dog of Pompeii” by Louis Untermeyer, and later reading various articles and watching a few videos about the tragedy specifically and volcanoes in general. The main homework assignment asks students to create a timeline of 7 events from the story, but students should also be reading and recording minutes/pages as well. Reading logs are due FEB 20!
This week’s prezi – http://prezi.com/gkrtjyjm_gwr/6th-gr-week-of-11712/
Last week’s prezi – http://prezi.com/tvhsxwxxtyip/6th-gr-week-of-15-and-19/
This week’s vocabulary- http://archive.austinisd.org/schools/stafffiles/download.php?id=45877
7th grade
7th grade has mostly been working out of their yellow interactive readers, so you should be seeing those at home as students learn about expository text and it’s many, many features. Tonight’s homework focuses on an article by Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, that discusses the many misconceptions people have about sharks (many of them based on Benchley’s novel!).
Last week, students completed instructional texts that gave easy to follow directions. I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen so far, but am a little disappointed as several students have still not turned in the assignment. If your son or daughter has an “msg” for that assignment, it hasn’t been turned in yet and is counted as a zero at the time. Any papers not turned in by Friday will remain as a zero.
This week’s prezi – http://prezi.com/bfipqqlzzxel/7th-gr-week-of-11712/
Last week’s prezi – http://prezi.com/9ii39ooyrkap/7th-gr-week-of-15-and-19/
Week of October 24
Greetings. All classes have begun the process of writing personal narratives, or short, personal reflections from students’ own lives. Students completed a pre-writing assignment where they brainstormed items from their own lives that they associated with specific memories. The items should have fit into the following categories, something: warm; from a long time ago; that makes you laugh; that makes your cry; or as precious as gold. Once students chose an item, they wrote a half-page or so describing the memory that the item makes them think about.
This week, students will be either expanding on one of their memory writings to create a personal narrative or planning a different story using other memories from their lives. Whatever story students choose to tell, they should be able to answer the following questions about it: who are the people in the story; what main experience will you write about; when and where did the experience take place; and why (or how) did the experience change you?
7th grade prezi for the week – http://prezi.com/c_axg-3hrrjt/7th-gr-week-of-1024/
6th grade prezi for the week – http://prezi.com/i4hfe6mry-mw/6th-gr-week-of-1024/
Week of October 11
Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!
Both 6th and 7th grade classes have started learning about life stories – biographies and autobiographies. We’ve begun by discussing the differences between the two, and will continue to look at their distinguishing factors as we gear up to write our very own personal narratives.
Both classes should continue work on their reading log. I will occasionally check those for a daily grade (20%) to make sure that they are keeping up with their reading. The check at the end of the six-weeks will count as a quiz grade (35%). There is an electronic version of this in the important documents page.
6th grade – students are finishing up their summaries of the short story “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros. This two paragraph essay summarizes the events from the story and discusses how the first person point-of-view affected how the story was told. These will be finished tomorrow in class.
Prezi for the week – http://prezi.com/yyfaidbzzz6e/6th-gr-week-of-1011/
7th grade – students will be given a short vocab quiz on Friday. The words that the quiz will cover will be posted in the vocab page. I’ve started to put all 7th grade vocab on a chart like I do with 6th grade. Students should keep those charts in the vocab section of their binders.
Prezi for the week – http://prezi.com/zlob3w48yajw/7th-gr-week-of-1011/
Week of 9/19
My apologies for the late update this week.
6th grade
This week, we have been learning about imagery (how authors use the 5 senses in writing), text support (using evidence from writing to support our claims – not help in writing text messages), and figurative language (metaphor, simile, hyperbole, etc.). It’s been a busy week! On top of that, we had a visit from the counselor to go over our agendas, and today we went to the computer lab for orientation. Students got their first look at the AISD ‘Cloud’, and learned about how they will be able to access their school work at home.
Here is the prezi we’ve been using this week – http://prezi.com/lrtfv3uagsl0/6th-gr-week-of-919/
Also, next week is the last week of our first six-week grading period! That means reading logs are due on Monday! 6th grade reading log
7th grade
We have been reading “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling and discussing suspense and foreshadowing in that story. We have also been using that same story to practice predicting what will happen next in a story. Many students finished reading “RTT” today, but if they didn’t they should have brought their Interactive Readers home to complete the story by Friday.
I’ve pushed the 7th grade reading log due date to Monday, Sept. 26, and students were told today that they need 720 minutes and 400 pages (instead of 900 and 500 respectively). 7th grade reading log
7th grade prezi – http://prezi.com/ywsxdbwllck7/7th-gr-week-of-919/
Please feel free to contact me with any questions!
Week of September 6, 2011
6th Grade -
This week we will be discussing the parts of the story, specifically setting, characters, and conflict. As the week moves on we will be talking more about the elements of plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Students will be reading the short story “The School Play”, by Gary Soto, and applying their knowledge of story elements. Also, we will continue our work in our writer’s notebooks and be enjoying some silent sustained reading (SSR). Students should be keeping up with their reading logs – Pre-AP should have 6 hours read by the end of the week and grade-level classes should have 4 hours read.
Follow along with our progress this week at this prezi – http://prezi.com/etp6ck1cyrrq/6th-gr-week-of-9611/
Documents
Notes parts of a story and happens in a story2 fillin blan…
7th Grade –
Seventh grade classes will be discussing the writing process as well as parts of a story. Students will develop a plot line in their writer’s notebooks and should continue to record entries in their reading logs. Supplies (writer’s notebook, binder, homework folder, agenda) will be check on Wednesday. Four writer’s notebook entries will also be checked on that day.
Follow along with our week with the following prezi – http://prezi.com/hrmf1tl-yy-s/7th-gr-week-of-9611/
Documents
Welcome New Students and Parents!
Ready or not, the 2011-2012 year is upon us. I’d like to take a moment to welcome my new parents and students. This site will be the place to access classroom assignments and to learn what we are working on in class. New this year – I am teaching both sixth and seventh grade ELA classes (although the blog title still only says 6th grade – I haven’t figured out how to change that yet!). When looking at assignments under homework and and vocab, be sure to look for the right grade level. The best way to follow what’s going on in class is to follow my prezis. Prezi is a wonderful web-based presentation app that’s super easy to use. Everything we do in class is covered in the prezi for that week. It’s important to note that the prezi is simply an outline of class, not a substitute for it. Parents, it’s best to view prezis with your son or daughter to have them explain what we were doing in class. I will provide further instructions for using prezi on Back to School Night – Tuesday, August 30.
Seventh Grade Prezi for this week – http://prezi.com/fk5rdp57l2ry/7th-gr-week-of-aug-22/
Sixth Grade Prezi for this week – http://prezi.com/kejvp0hbb8gx/6th-gr-week-of-aug-22/
TAKS is HERE
Well, it’s finally here. On Wednesday morning, your child will be asked to demonstrate their understanding of the many things we learned this year. They will be asked to think critically, to read meaningfully, and to form conclusions based on information provided them. It will be a challenging test for them, but my mind is at ease on the eve of this exam because I have seen every one of your children grow in their understanding of the English language, many making remarkable gains and others continuing the steady progress they have made in the past. I can truthfully say that I do not have a single student who is not capable of passing the TAKS test (in my humble opinion, I believe that almost all are capable of being commended on it!). My hope now is that all will do their best, and I believe that you, as their parents, play a huge role in that. Here are a few ways you can ensure that your child will do their best on the TAKS tests Tuesday and Wednesday:
- Make sure they eat a healthy breakfast! The TAKS tests are strenuous because they are longer (around 40 questions covering multiple readings) than other exams and cover topics covered over the entire year. Brilliant minds are like engines – they need fuel to run!
- Keep them rested! Much like eating a good breakfast, a well-rested brain will do better during this endurance race of a test. They shouldn’t have any homework during the tests, so getting to bed early should not be a problem.
- Discuss good test-taking strategies. We’ve been talking about these in class nonstop, but reviewing at home is never a bad idea. Taking short breaks between sections and reviewing your answers before turning your test in are both great places to start. See what other strategies your child can think of and encourage them to go into the test thinking positively,
- Review RNRPEG with your son or daughter. This is the acronym that we have discussed in class and it stands for: Read the passage; Number the paragraphs; Read the questions and underline important words; Place a star next to important paragraphs; Eliminate two answers from each question; Go back to the passage and look for the answers to each question. Students who have used this strategy have consistently done better on practice tests.
As I’ve said already, I am extremely optimistic about your child’s ability to excel on this round of TAKS tests. We are still a day out from the ELA exam, so please feel free to email me if you have any questions!
Fractured Fairy Tales and TAKS
Fractured Fairy Tales
This past week we began a new major assignment—Fractured Fairy Tales. What this means is students will be taking any traditional story—folk tales, fairy tales, fables—and changing key elements to where the story remains familiar, but is significantly changed. An example discussed in class was “The 3 Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig”, but students are encouraged to be creative in how they change their stories.
While many stories will have a humorous tone, all must contain a universal theme, a lesson that it intends to teach its reader. The idea of the theme being universal would mean that it would be applicable to people from most generations and regions. An example of universal theme would be “True beauty comes from within,” as displayed in “Beauty and the Beast”.
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills – Wednesday, April 27
TAKS season is here! Of course there is no reason to panic, however, as students have been learning the essential skills for becoming excellent readers and writers. The sixth grade TAKS test focuses on reading, and students will be given several passages to read, followed by questions that check the students’ understanding and analysis. Put simply, students will be asked to make sense of a text, and identify the many elements that we have taught them this year—purpose, audience, plot, conflict, resolution, theme, and many others amongst them.
Our current focus is on discovering the meaning of unknown words in a text using context clues. Often authors will use complex language to communicate and idea, but will leave clues in the text to help readers understand their meaning. Students have been learning how to identify these situations, and in turn are getting more out of their reading. Since students are seeking new vocabulary, we will not likely have VSAs up through the TAKS test in three weeks. Homework will be assigned in class and students should be recording their assignments in their agendas. It will also be posted on my website.
Reading Logs
Reading logs were assigned at the beginning of this six-weeks and students have been expected to be reading regularly and for sustained periods of time (25 minutes t]o an hour). These reading logs are due on Friday. I would encourage you to check your child’s reading log early this week to be sure they are on pace to complete the required amount of reading (either an hour or three hours a week, depending on the class). It may be possible that your child has read for more time than they have recorded. I am willing to work with students who need help properly filling out these logs during tutorials this week, Monday after school and Monday, Tuesday, or Friday during lunch.
Capitalization Prezi
Below is the prezi we used to learn nine of the most common capitalization rules. Enjoy!
http://prezi.com/umzt1xdhxoug/9-capitalization-rules/
Week of January 18
Week three is underway with a continuation of our discussion of expository (informational) texts. Our first quiz was last Wednesday and students overwhelmingly did well. If your child would like to improve their grade (posted on gradespeed later today) they must come in for tutorials, after school on Mondays or at lunch by appointment only. Here’s a few things that we’ll be working on this week.
Vocab
We will continue our vocabulary that relates to expository texts this week and have a quiz on Thursday. All vocab words can be found at http://mrscho.wordpress.com/vocab/.
Immigration Unit
Pre-AP students should have already chosen their immigration novels and should be looking for them now. Grade-level students will be reading Lupita Manana, which will be provided for them. There will be a big project that goes along with reading these books that I will send information out about next week.
Reading is Fundamental
O. Henry is again participation in the RIF Read-a-thon, a program that puts books into the hands of our less fortunate AISD elementary students. Students wishing to participate should be getting sponsors signed up now (they were given all of the necessary forms in class). The deadline is Friday and students will begin the read-a-thon on Monday.
That’s about it. As always, please let me know if you have any questions!
