Students worked diligently on their Literary Element posters today. They were given the entire class to work on it with their groups, if they did not finish it is homework due tomorrow. They will be presenting their posters to the class tomorrow and then we will review for a language arts test they will have Tuesday December 20th. I will send home a study guide for them to complete over the weekend in class tomorrow. This test will cover the stories ¨The School Play¨, ¨Tuesday of the Other June¨, story vocabulary, conflict (categories and types of), and Pyramid of Action.  All answers can be found in their Reading ISN or in their Literature books. They may check out a Literature book from me to take home if needed.

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log (due tomorrow!!!)
• 10 more Read Theory quizzes by December 23rd! (we will have computers in class tomorrow and next week to help students complete this requirement, please encourage your student to continue with this program once they complete their required 10 though!)

Students began their Literary Elements poster today.  They are in groups of 3 and worked really hard their first day! They will get all class tomorrow to finish and they will present their posters on Friday! If they do not finish tomorrow they will take it home for homework.

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log
• 10 more Read Theory quizzes by December 23rd! (we will have computers in class Friday to help students complete this requirement, please encourage your student to continue with this program once they complete their required 10 though!)

Today we continued with types of conflict and began work with genre. Tomorrow, we will begin a literary elements poster project with small groups. They will pick one story we have read in class and analyze it for it’s literary elements (pyramid of action, conflict, protagonist, antagonist, etc.). This will be due on Friday for a summative grade and they will present their posters to the class.

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log (reading logs are still homework due Friday even though they had a snow day yesterday!)
• Read Theory quizzes…10 due by next Friday!

Today we learned the 4 types of conflict (man vs. self, man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. society). Tomorrow, we will read a story and apply this concept with a partner.

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log (we are back to 5 responses this week!!!)
• 10 more Read Theory quizzes by December 23rd! (we will have computers in class periodically to help students complete this requirement, please encourage your student to continue with this program once they complete their required 10 though!)

This week we have been working on the Pyramid of Action (plot diagram) and understanding the different components of a story.  Today we got out marking period 2 grades. Many students grades have gone up, but some have dropped due to lack of turning in homework or retaking assessments. Grades for marking period 2 are posted and we are now in marking period 3.  We took a closer look at the student’s Argumentative writing scores and I helped them to better understand. Since writing rubric are performance based, I do not look at their scores from an A, B, C, D, E point of view.  When looking at their performance on a writing assignment, they lie in 4 different categories:  Advanced, Proficient, Partially Proficient, and Unsatisfactory. Advanced (100%-94%) means they went above and beyond what was asked and are writing above a 6th grade level. Proficient (93%-70%) means they met all of the requirements of the essay. Partially Proficient (69%-50%) means they may have missed a certain part (or two) of the requirements. Unsatisfactory (49%-0%) means they missed a lot of requirements for the essay or did not turn in a complete essay. Please note students were given two weeks to complete this assignment, as well as the option to work on it over Thanksgiving Break. Students will be conferring with me in the coming weeks to look at their graded rubric and better understand what their score means and set goals for future writing assignments.  Due to the fact that the district rubric is performance based, I opted to weigh the assignment in the grade book to be more fair and it didn’t impact their grades as much as a quiz or test would have.

Homework

• LIBRARY TOMORROW!!! Please bring all library books, they will be late if you don’t!
• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log (we are back to 5 responses this week!!!)
• 10 more Read Theory quizzes by December 23rd! (we will have computers in class periodically to help students complete this requirement, please encourage your student to continue with this program once they complete their required 10 though!)

Happy Friday! Today we learned about the pyramid of action (exposition, rising actions, climax, falling actions, resolution) and applied that to “Little Red Riding Hood” and then our “good fit” books during Daily 5 time. We wrote our Article of the Week C.E.R. responses with our opinions. The article can be found here (https://newsela.com/articles/moana-disney-diversity/id/21081/ ) and due to the fact that many did not finish this assignment because they were working so hard on it, I am posting the Essential Question and sentence starters below so they can finish over the weekend.

All missing assignments should now be turned in. Today was their last chance to turn in anything that’s been missing during the marking period. Grades will be updated by Sunday night.

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log (4 responses this week, due Friday)
• 10 more Read Theory quizzes by December 23rd!
• Article of the Week response, if not turned in at the end of class.
  • EQ:   Do you think movies should cast actors that match the culture of the character they are playing?
    • (indent) I think movies should/shouldn’t have to cast actors that match the culture of the character they are playing. I think this because in the Newsela article it says, _______. This makes me think __________. Another example from the article is when they said that ____________.  This means_________.  In conclusion____________________.
      • Response outline should follow this format:  1. Make your claim 2. Support with evidence from article 3. Reasoning (explain how your evidence supports your claim) 4.  Support with another piece of evidence from article 5. Reasoning (explain how your evidence supports your claim) 6. Wrap up your final thoughts on the topic in a conclusion sentence. (If, then statement would work too)

Today we learned narrative vocabulary. We took notes about plot, setting, conflict, protagonist, and antagonist. We applied this new learning to our “Good Fit” books during Daily 5 time and then read our Article of the Week. We are continuing to discuss Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning as the year goes on with our articles, even though our argumentative unit is over.  All argumentative essays will be graded by Friday in time to go on their report cards!

End of marking period is this Friday! All missing work needs to be turned in by Thursday so I can have time to grade it!

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log (4 responses this week, due Friday)
• 10 more Read Theory quizzes by December 23rd!

Conjunction/Interjection Quiz Retakes – LAST CHANCE!

• Wednesday – before school (7:30 am) and after school
• Anyone can retake but I am now averaging the two scores together to encourage studying and best effort the first time!
• Must have a parent signature on the original quiz in order to retake!

EXTRA CREDIT

• Teachers are running low on supplies! Any student that donates a box of tissues or disinfecting wipes will get 1 point extra credit on their last quiz! Thank you in advance!

We are beginning our new unit about narratives. Today we investigated our new unit vocabulary words and presented our investigation to the class with our groups.

End of marking period is this Friday! All missing work needs to be turned in by Thursday so I can have time to grade it!

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log (4 responses this week due Friday)
• 10 more Read Theory quizzes by December 23rd!

Conjunction/Interjection Quiz Retakes

• Tuesday – before school (7:30 am) and after school
• Wednesday – before school (7:30 am) and after school
• Anyone can retake but I am now averaging the two scores together to encourage studying and best effort the first time!
• Must have a parent signature on the original quiz in order to retake!

Tomorrow is our last day to finalize our essays and turn them in to be graded. Students will revise their rough drafts tomorrow in class. This is not homework!

Students were sent home a worksheet to help them study for a brief interjection & conjunction quiz tomorrow (worth 10 points).  Their quiz will be similar to their worksheet so they should use that as a guide as well as the resources below:

Conjunction resource (click here)

Interjection resource (click here)

Homework

• 20 minutes of reading and response on reading log
  • Many students are losing points because they are not fully responding in 2 or more sentences. Please check your students reading log to make sure they FULLY responded or this will lose them points.
• Conjunction and Interjection worksheet (we will review answers before the quiz tomorrow)
• Review videos above for tomorrow’s quiz
• 10 Read Theory quizzes are due TOMORROW!

We are working on peer editing until Monday. Students were given a rubric to use to evaluate their partners essay and give positive, helpful feedback on how they can improve. Final copies will be finalized on Tuesday before we go on break so they can relax!  The reading log they will receive today is due November 28th due to next week being so short!

Homework

• Read for 20 minutes and respond on reading log (due November 28th)
• readtheory.com  10 quizzes due by Tuesday!!! (summative grade)

Reminder! Tomorrow is a late start day!!! School begins at 9:00 am!!!

Today we continued with our Argumentative essays and wrote our body paragraphs. They learned how to use their claim as a “road map” for their paper like a thesis statement. We also worked on explaining the evidence we provide which is something many were missing in their beginning of year essays. Many are working on making their writing stronger. Not everyone finished their body paragraphs in class and are going to finish at home or come in at 7:30 am tomorrow to continue their work. Our rough drafts should be done by tomorrow! We will work on the editing and revising stage next! These papers should be finalized by Tuesday November 22nd. Access to Google classroom can be found on my post from yesterday (November 14th post – I bolded the important log-in information!)

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log
• Finish body paragraphs if you didn’t in class!!
• 10 ReadTheory quizzes due by November 22nd

We had quite a busy day today! Today we learned different techniques on how to “hook” a reader. We typed up our Introduction paragraph on Google Classroom as well. Many students persevered with this new topic and I was very impressed with their hard work.  Not all students were able to finish their introduction in class and have a sentence or two to finish up before class tomorrow.  Please allow for them to sign into their Dearborn Google accounts (click here) and either open up their document at https://classroom.google.com OR go into their drive and open up their argumentative essay from there. It will be easier to find on our classroom though. Please be sure to sign into their Dearborn Google accounts (again, it can only be accessed from this website) BEFORE trying to go to our Google Classroom.

For interesting ways to hook a reader, visit this page:   https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ucnhefjqGrw/VpLPKrW04nI/AAAAAAAAMBk/mUCJ21otoJE/s400/hook%2Byour%2Breader%2Bdefinitions.png

Thesis = Claim (what is your opinion and what are your reasons for thinking this?)

Introduction paragraph format:

1. Hook your reader
2. Introduce your topic (background information, explain what your topic is)
3. End with your claim (I believe ______ because __(reason 1)__, __(reason 2)__, and __(reason 3)__.

The number of reasons they need is based on their color group. They were informed of this in class today.

They may also come in at 7:30 am tomorrow if they wanted to work on their introductions with me in class before school begins!

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on reading log
• Finish Introduction paragraph if you didn’t in class!!

Happy Friday! We had a great time in Language Arts today! The students discussed their argumentative essay topics in small Socratic circles. They had meaningful conversations with each other and helped each other understand their topics better by teaching each other about it.  I took some photographs of my afternoon classes and will post on the blog this weekend (my iPad wouldn’t connect to Wifi today!).  At the end of class we wrote our final responses to the Article of the Week. Some students did not finish this in class and needed to take it home for homework. The response should answer the EQ at the top of their graphic organizer and be written in a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning paragraph (CER). These sentence stems should help guide their thinking if they are stuck:

I strongly believe___.  In the article it says____and that makes me think_____.

Another piece of evidence from the text is_____this means_______.

Furthermore, if we_____ then _____.

There are also sentence frames on their graphic organizer to help them out. Basically they state their claim (opinion) on the topic first. Explain why they think this with evidence from the text (at least two pieces of evidence). Then end with their reasoning for why this makes sense. (How does the evidence support their claim?)

Homework:

• Read for 20 minutes and respond on reading log!
• Finish Article of the Week CER response if you didn’t turn it in Friday (Due Monday!)

Today the students finished their argumentative essay research and picked a side they were leaning towards right now for their argument. Tomorrow, we will discuss our topics in small Socratic Circles before making a final opinion on the topic and begin writing about it. We will begin our rough drafts on Monday and peer edit by the end of the week. They will have Thanksgiving break to finish their final copy (if it isn’t already done and turned in by then) and turn in by the Monday we return. I will update you more as we get closer to these dates.

Homework:

• Read for 20 minutes and respond on reading log!

We are researching for our argumentative essays right now. Students read both sides of their argument and tomorrow will finish their research. We will discuss our topics in small Socratic Circles later this week before making a final opinion on the topic and write about it.

Homework:

• Read for 20 minutes and respond on reading log!