Friday, March 10, 2017 Students began their novels in verse this week. Some of the students have been shocked by how much they actually like poetry!
Throughout this unit, we will be focusing on the themes about family that can be found in our novels-in-verse. We began this work by reading The Way a Door Closes By Hope Anita Smith and identifying the themes throughout the story. Students will be writing a literary analysis tracing a family theme across this text and their novel-in-verse.
Friday, February 24, 2017 This week, students began their study of poetry! We began the poetry unit by discussing our past experiences with poetry, both positive and negative. We then practiced analyzing the poem "Ode to Family Photographs" By Gary Soto using a four-part strategy.
Next week, students will begin reading novels in verse in book club groups. They will be reading one of the following novels in verse:
Booked By Kwame Alexander Crossover By Kwame Alexander Under the Mesquite By Guadalupe Garcia McCall Brown Girl Dreaming By Jacqueline Woodson All The Broken Pieces By Ann E. Burg
Friday, February 10, 2017 This past week, students have spent much of their time in Writing Workshop, organizing and drafting their food argument. They will complete their draft, revisions, and final draft next week.
After the completion of our argument unit, we will begin our study of poetry.
I hope to see you all at Parent Teacher Conferences next week!
Friday, January 27, 2017 Over the past two weeks, students have split their time between researching a food-related topic and tracing/ evaluating arguments made by other authors.
During our research, students used a variety of academic sources to find information about topics such as: GMOs, fast food, added sugars, school lunches, and child obesity. They wrote a claim statement describing what they will attempt to prove, using this research.
We have also spent time evaluating the arguments of others. This week we read an article that discussed the Pro's and Con's of adding warning labels to sugary drinks. Students wrote a paragraph describing which side had the stronger argument.
Next week, students will begin writing their own argumentative piece!
Friday, January 13, 2017 Welcome back 6th graders!
This week in Language Arts, we began our Argument Unit. Students have already had a lot of practice writing arguments in Social Studies class so we began by reviewing the pieces of an argument.
During this unit, students will be researching a topic that has to do with food, forming an opinion about that food topic, and arguing their point in an essay. To prepare for this, students watched two videos in class: "Weight of the Nation: The Great Cafeteria Takeover" and "TED Talk: Jamie Oliver". Both of these videos focused on school lunches and the health of children in America.
Next week, students will choose a food-related topic and begin researching.
Friday, December 16, 2016 We have spent the majority of our time over the past couple of weeks discussing moral dilemmas. We have analyzed moral dilemmas in the short stories we have been reading in class and written our findings in a lierary analysis that answers the question: When faced with a moral dilemma, how were a character's actions justified?
When we return from break, we will begin our argument unit.
Friday, December 2, 2016 We have officially started Term 2 of 6th grade!
Over the past few weeks, students have been reading a number of narrative short stories. Students then chose one of these short stories to rewrite from a different character's perspective. Students are nearing the end of their revisions now and their narrative is due on Monday, December 5th.
Beginning next week, students will begin a second writing assignment in which they will analyze how a character responds to a moral dilemma.
Thursday, November 10, 2016 Students spent the majority of last week preparing for and then writing their On-Demand Literary Anaysis. This task required students to connect ideas across their survival novel and A Long Walk to Water By: Linda Sue Park to answer the question: What character traits are needed to help prevail when faced with adversity? This was our first literary analysis of the school year and will not be entered in to the gradebook. It will be used as a starting point to see how students grow as writers over the course of the year.
We are now beginning out narrative unit. In this unit, students will focus on plot structure, perspective, and genres. We will read several short stories and students will complete a literary analysis and a narrative of their own.
Friday, October 28, 2016 Congratulations to the students on completing their first major writing project of the year! Students created a Google Slides presentation showcasing their research and writing. On Wednesday, students had an opportunity to participate in a "Chunk and Slide" Gallery that allowed them to meet with several other students to share (and celebrate) their hard work.
Next week, students will be taking the On Demand Writing Assessment. This assessment is given across District 65 and we will spend the days beforehand organizing evidence and preparing for the test. Good Luck 6th graders!
Friday, October 14, 2016 Students will finish reading their Survival novels next week! As they wrap up their reading, students have begun researching a topic related to their novel. This research is meant to help them better understand the non-fiction topics within their book.
After completing their research, students will begin work on a Google Slides presentation to showcase their knowledge and research. This project will be our first assessment of the year and our first full writing assignment of the school year.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Students began reading their Survival novels this week! I continue to be impressed with the reading stamina and passion that students exhibit in the classroom. I have had multiple students ask if we could spend an entire block (80 minutes) just reading independently!
Over the next couple of weeks, students will have the chance to meet both with their book club and with me to discuss their Survival novels and answer our essential question: How does one respond or change in order to survive?
Also during our survival unit, students have been listening to the read aloud, A Long Walk to Water By: Linda Sue Park. This novel is based on a true story of survival during the Sudanese Civil War.
Friday, September 16, 2016 As we wrap up our launch unit, students have been working on creating their "Writing Territories". A Writing Territory is a subject, genre, or experience that a student could write about with authority. Students spent time developing a list of their Writing Territories and then chose a subject and began writing.
Next week, we will begin our Survival Unit. Students will choose from four different survival themed books and work in book clubs over the next few weeks to answer the question: How does one respond or change in order to survive?
Students will choose to read one of the following books: I am a Taxi By: Deborah Ellis Trash By: Andy Mulligan Ninth Ward By: Jewell Parker Rhodes Shooting Kabul By: N.H. Senzai
Friday, September 2, 2016 We survived our first full week of 6th grade! We spent time over the past 2 weeks talking about how to choose books and setting up our daily independent reading time. Students read everyday for 10-20 minutes and so far, the students are showing some real reading STAMINA!
This week, students have been creating "Reading Timelines" of 8 books that are important to them from throughout their lifetime.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Welcome to 6th grade! Check back on this page throughout the year for biweekly updates about what is going on in our classroom. Click on the homework tab to stay up-to-date on assignments and feel free to contact Ms. Gillaspie with questions or concerns.